Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application is a division of applicant&#39;s co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 10/434,048, filed May 8, 2003 and titled LARGE ROUND BALE WRAPPED IN PROTECTIVE WRAPPING AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SUCH A WRAPPED BALE, which application is pending. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to protecting bales from the deteriorating affects of an outdoor environment, and more specifically relates to protective coverings for bales. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   One widespread method of storing forage crops is to package them in large cylindrical bales. Much of the appeal of this practice comes from the bales&#39; inherent ability to shed rainfall and other elements. Contrary to widely held perceptions however, losses due to weather exposure on round bales are quite high. In research trials carried out in the eastern United States, large round bales stored outside without protection for six months or more were commonly found to experience dry matter losses of 30 percent or greater. 
   Numerous solutions to reduce these storage losses have been proposed, with various degrees of success. These solutions include wrapping the circumference of a bale with twine or plastic net or film material, covering the top of the bale with plastic “caps”, or the complete envelopment of the bale in plastic film. None of these methods work to reliably prevent crop loss in dry hay baling, but the complete envelopment process has shown to be successful in baling high moisture hay or silage. 
   Concerning crop loss in dry hay baling, absorption of rainfall and/or wicking of soil moisture creates most losses due to spoilage, mold, etc. Losses from complete or circumferential solid film wrapping results from internal moisture trying to escape from the relatively dry hay, then condensing as it hits the plastic. This condensed moisture results in exterior portions of the bale remaining damp for extended periods of time, causing spoilage in these outer layers. Such spoilage has been shown to be similar to unprotected bales in some studies. 
   The problem to be solved then is to provide a protective covering for a bale which effectively prevents crop loss from the environment while being cost effective. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   According to the present invention, there is provided a covering for a bale which overcomes the problems of the prior art coverings. 
   An object of the invention is to provide a wrapping which will shed essentially all liquid water while allowing water vapor given off by the crop to escape freely without condensation. Materials for accomplishing this are commonly referred to as being semi-permeable and include thin films of certain plastics, micro perforated plastic film, Tyvek®, Gortex®, and other woven or bonded fiber materials. In many, perhaps essentially all cases, application of at least one wrap of semi-permeable material should protect the exterior of the bale of crop from water penetration while allowing the water vapor leaving the crop to escape freely. 
   It is another object of the invention to provide a bale covering which will provide additional protection to the bottom of the bale from the possibility of ground water or soil surface moisture. This is done by providing an area of overlapped wrapping material or other means of making the bottom portion of the wrap essentially impermeable to moisture. The permeability of some plastic materials diminishes with the number of layers and/or the thickness of the plastic sheets. In the case of micro perforated plastic sheets, the permeability depends on the number and size of the perforations and diminishes with additional layers because of the misalignment of perforations. Therefore, it is proposed that when micro perforated plastic sheeting is used, the region of the bale, which is to be in ground contact, would be wrapped with an additional layer of plastic with the combined layers of plastic resulting in a covering which is essentially impermeable to moisture. 
   When an additional layer of wrapping material is placed on the bale in a region of the bale that is to be placed onto the ground, it may be desirable to mark the bale in a region opposite to that to be placed in ground contact so as to aid in the bale being moved, either by the bale discharge arrangement or by a device separate from the baler, to the correct position for storage. 
   These and other objects of the invention will be evident from a reading of the ensuing description together with the appended drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a somewhat schematic right side elevational view of a large round baler equipped with a bale wrapping mechanism for applying a covering in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a right side elevational view of the rear portion of the baler of  FIG. 1  showing structure operative for applying a visual marker to a bale during the wrapping process. 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic representation of a control system for controlling operation of the bale marking device. 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a large round bale wrapped in a semi-permeable material in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is an end view of the bale illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a large round baler  10  equipped with a bale wrapping device  40  for wrapping a bale  100 . 
   The baler  10  includes a main frame  12  supported on a pair of ground wheels  14 . A tongue  16  is fixed to, and projects forwardly from, the frame  12 . An agricultural tractor (not shown) would normally be coupled to the front end of the tongue  16  for towing the baler  10  along windrows of crop to be baled. The frame  12  includes a pair of transversely spaced sidewalls  18  terminating in respective upright rear edges. Mating with the upright edges of the sidewalls  18  are respective upright front edges of a pair of transversely spaced sidewalls  20  forming part of a bale discharge gate  22  having an upper forward region that is mounted, by a pivot assembly  24 , to an upper rear location of the sidewalls  18  for establishing a horizontal transverse axis about which the discharge gate  22  is pivoted between a lowered working position, as shown, and a raised discharge position, for permitting the bale  100  to drop onto the ground. Cooperating with the fixed sidewalls  18  and the discharge gate sidewalls  20 , so as to define an expansible baling chamber  26 , are a plurality of bale-forming belts  28  disposed in a side-by-side arrangement across the width of a plurality of belt support rolls, some of which extend between the fixed sidewalls  18  and some of which extend between the discharge gate sidewalls  20 . For the purposes of this application, the only belt support rolls assigned reference numerals are lower rear gate roll  30  and lower front gate roll  32 . The belts  28 , where they engage the lower front gate roll  32 , define the rear side of a baling chamber crop inlet  34 . A crop pick-up unit  36  is carried by the main frame  12  in a location for conveying crop into the inlet  34 . 
   The bale wrapping device  40  is mounted to the rear and underside of the bale discharge gate  22 . Referring now also to  FIG. 2 , it can be seen that the wrapping device  40  includes lower and upper feed rolls  42  and  44 , respectively, with the upper feed roll  44  being located forwardly of the feed roll  42 . A wrapping material directing arrangement  46  is provided for directing the wrapping material toward a nip  48  defined between the belts  28 , where they engage a lower rear region of the lower rear gate roll  30  and a wrapping material guide assembly  50  positioned beneath, and having an upper guide surface in contact with a lower side of a run of the belts  14  extending fore-and-aft between the lower rear gate roll  30  and the lower front gate roll  32 . 
   A supply roll  51  of wrapping material  52  is supported at a location above the feed rolls  46  and  48 . A length of wrapping material  54  extends downwardly from a rear side of the supply roll  51 , about a lower region of the rear feed roll  42 , through the nip of the feed rolls  42  and  44 , about the upper region of the feed roll  44 , and down through the material directing arrangement  46 . Adjacent the lower end of the material directing arrangement  46 , a shear bar  56 , preferably constructed of a relatively hard synthetic plastic or rubber material, is mounted such that it extends transversely across the rear of the discharge gate  22 . A knife assembly  58  is mounted for pivoting about the rotational axis of the upper feed roll  44  and has a knife edge  60  disposed parallel to the shear bar  56  and located for pressing the length of wrapping material  54  against the shear bar  56  for separating the wrapping material that is being wrapped on a bale from the supply roll  51  when the knife assembly  58  is caused to move from its stand-by position, shown in dashed lines, to its cutting position, shown in solid lines, at the end of the wrapping cycle or process. The length of wrapping material  54  is shown at an instant just prior to being severed wherein it extends along the guide surface of the guide assembly  50  and into the baling chamber  26  where it is caught between the bale  100  and the bale-forming belts  28 . While not necessary for the present invention, the baler  10  and wrapping device disclosed here are constructed so as to respectively accommodate and feed wrapping material which is wider than the baling chamber  26  so that the wrapping material  54  is folded over the opposite ends of the bale  100 , as shown at  62 . For the details of such a baler and wrapping device, one may refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,764. 
   Depending on the characteristics of the particular semi-permeable wrapping material  54  used, a different number of layers of the material may be required to obtain the protection desired. Further, in cases where the bottom region of the bale  100  is wrapped with an additional layer of material, it is desirable to know the location on the bale  100  where the additional layer of wrapping exists, so that the bale may be stored with this region on the ground. For the purpose of accomplishing this, the baler  10  is equipped with a marking device  64  located centrally between opposite sides of the bale discharge gate  22 . The marking device  64  includes a single-acting hydraulic cylinder  66  having a piston rod  68  coupled to a dispenser for a roll of adhesive marking tape  70  having perforations (not shown) at evenly spaced locations along its length to make tape segments that are separable one from the other with very little resistance. An end of a segment of the marking tape  70  is exposed at  72  and is selectively pressed into engagement with the length of wrapping material by momentary actuation of the cylinder  66  during the time that the bale  100  is being wrapped. The cylinder  66  will remain actuated for a time sufficient for the tape  68  to enter the nip  48  and then will be deactivated, with a coil compression spring  74  located in the cylinder then acting to retract the piston rod which causes rearward movement of the tape roll  70  and the tearing off of the leading segment of the tape  70  from the remainder of the roll. The torn off segment then travels into the baler with the length of wrapping material  54  and is captured between the length of wrapping material  54  and the bale  100  and serves as a visual marker  76  ( FIG. 4 ) to indicate where any extra layer of wrapping material  54  is located. Of course, this assumes that the wrapping material  54  is a clear plastic or other material through which the marker can be seen. Otherwise, the marking device  64  may be placed on the opposite side of the wrapping material  54  so that the marker  76  is on the exterior of the bale  100 . 
   For the sake of visibility, it is desired that the marker  76  be located diametrically opposite from the region where the extra layer of wrapping material  54  is located. This is achieved by timing the actuation of the cylinder  66  so that the marker  76  is adhered to the correct location on the wrapping material  54  as it passes by the marking device  64  during a given wrapping cycle for being located at the desired location on the bale  100 . Referring now also to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a control system  78  including a first microprocessor  80 , which is preferably mounted on the baler  10 , a second microprocessor  82 , preferably located on the towing tractor, a data link  84  connecting the two microprocessors  80  and  82  together, and a power supply  85 , which may be the tractor battery or a separate battery, for example. The first microprocessor  80  serves a control function and is coupled to a solenoid-operated, two-position valve  86 , that when de-energized, couples the marking device cylinder  66  to a sump, and when energized by a control signal, couples the marking device cylinder  66  to a source of fluid pressure. A switch  88  is mounted adjacent the path taken by the length of wrapping material  54  when the latter is fed into the nip  48 , the switch  88  having an element  90  located for being contacted and moved by the tensioned material  54  so as to close the switch  88  and complete a circuit to an indicator so as to apprise the operator that a wrapping cycle has successfully begun. At the same time, a signal is provided to the microprocessor  80  which starts a countdown timer circuit. The time-out period of the countdown timer is dependent upon the size of the bale to be wrapped, the number of complete wraps of material to be placed on the bale before a partial wrap is applied, the distance between the nip  48  and the inside of the baling chamber  26  and the speed at which the wrapping material  54  is being fed into the baler. A number of key pads  90  are provided on the microprocessor  82  so that the information concerning the size of bale, the number of wraps to be applied, and the distance between the nip  48  and the baling chamber  26 , can be keyed into memory. The speed of delivery of the wrapping material  54  to the baling chamber  26  is approximately that of the belts  28 , which is determined by a speed sensor  92  located for determining the speed of rotation of the lower rear belt support roll  30 . With this information, the microprocessor  80  calculates how long after receiving the signal resulting from closure of the switch  88 , that the marking device cylinder  66  should be actuated to apply the visual marker  76  to the wrapping material  54 . 
   Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , there is shown a bale  100  wrapped with one complete layer of wrapping material  54  and including a bottom region  94  where a second layer of the wrapping material  54  is applied. This is the disposition of the bale for storage with the extra layer of material  54  affording extra protection to the bale from ground water or soil moisture. If after being discharged from the baler  10 , the bottom region  94  is not at the bottom of the bale, the operator can easily determine this unwanted position of the bale by seeing the location of the visual marker  76 . A correct positioning of the bale  100  can then be achieved by using a loader, or other appropriate equipment, to manipulate the bale  100  at a storage site so that the visual marker  76  appears at the top of the bale. 
   It should be understood that other ways of marking the bale  100  are possible. For example, a dye sprayer could be provided at the front of the baler  10  for applying a marking dye to a desired location of the circumference of the bale  100  prior to the desired location becoming covered with the material  54 , with the control of the sprayer being similar to that of the marking device cylinder  66 . 
   Having described the preferred embodiment, it will become apparent that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

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