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EP-4736630-A2 - ROUND BALER

EP4736630A2EP 4736630 A2EP4736630 A2EP 4736630A2EP-4736630-A2

Abstract

A round baler comprises a bale chamber having a plurality of pressing elements configured to compress bale material to form a round bale. A binding apparatus is configured to apply a film binding material to a cylindrical surface of a bale formed in the bale chamber, and a cutter device is configured to cut the binding material after the bale has been bound. The feed device includes a feed mouth that receives the film binding material and is configured for movement between a feed position adjacent a feed opening of the bale chamber and a retracted position spaced from the feed opening. The binding apparatus includes a bundling device that is configured to bundle the film binding material so that a cut end of bundled film binding material forms a tongue that has a reduced width.

Inventors

  • VAN DEN HURK, Nick Franciscus Johannes
  • VAN DEN BOOMEN, Benny Petrus Lambertus Martinus

Assignees

  • Kuhn-Geldrop B.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20210426

Claims (15)

  1. A round baler (2) comprising a bale chamber (20) having a crop mouth (21) for introducing bale material into the bale chamber (20) and a plurality of pressing elements (16, 18, 56, 60, 62, 64) configured to compress bale material in the bale chamber to form a round bale, a binding apparatus (24) configured to apply a film binding material (F) through a feed opening (58) to a cylindrical surface of a bale formed in the bale chamber (20) to bind the bale, and a cutter device (26) configured to cut the film binding material (F) after the bale has been bound, wherein the binding apparatus (24) includes a supply device (28) comprising a support (30) arranged to support a supply (32;40) of film binding material (F), and a feed device (42) that feeds film binding material (F) from the supply (32;40) to the bale chamber (20), wherein the feed device (42) includes a feed mouth (50) that receives the film binding material (F) and is configured for movement between a plurality of operational positions, said plurality of operational positions including (i) a feed position adjacent the feed opening (58) of the bale chamber, which the feed mouth (50) adopts when feeding film binding material (F) into the bale chamber (20), and (ii) a retracted position spaced from the feed opening (58), which the feed mouth (50) adopts during cutting of the film binding material (F) after the bale has been bound, the cutter device (26) being configured to cut the film binding material (F) between the feed opening (58) and the feed mouth (50) when the feed mouth (50) is in the retracted position; characterised in that the binding apparatus (24) includes a bundling device that is configured to bundle the film binding material (F) before the film binding material (F) is cut, so that after the film binding material (F) is cut, a cut end (T) of bundled film binding material forms a tongue (T) that extends from the feed mouth (50), wherein the tongue (T) has a width less than the width of the unbundled film binding material.
  2. The round baler according to claim 1, wherein the tongue (T) has a width less than 20%, or less than 10%, or less than 5%, of the width of the unbundled film binding material.
  3. The round baler according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the feed device (42) includes a pull-off device (44) that is configured to draw film binding material (F) from the supply (32;40).
  4. The round baler according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the feed mouth (50) receives film binding material (F) from the pull-off device (44) and is configured for movement relative to the pull-off device (44).
  5. The round baler according to any one of claims 34 to 37, wherein the feed mouth (50) is configured for pivoting movement.
  6. The round baler according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the bundling device is located before the pull-off device (44).
  7. The round baler according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the supply device (28) includes a pre-stretcher device (38) configured to stretch the film binding material (F) before the film binding material (F) is applied to the cylindrical surface of the bale, and preferably the pre-stretcher device (38) is located before the feed device (42).
  8. The round baler according to claim 7, wherein the pre-stretcher device (38) is configured to increase the length of the film binding material (F) by a factor of 1.3 to 1.8, or 1.4 to 1.6, or about 1.5.
  9. The round baler according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein during binding of the bale the pull-off device (44) is driven to draw the film binding material (F) at a speed that is less than the circumferential speed of the bale in the bale chamber (20).
  10. The round baler according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the feed mouth (50) includes first and second gripping elements (52,53) that are configured to grip opposite sides of the film binding material (F).
  11. The round baler according to claim 10, wherein the first and second gripping elements (52,53) comprise lips (52,43) that are pressed together to grip the film binding material (F).
  12. The round baler according to any one of preceding claims, wherein the operational positions of the feed mouth (50) further include (iii) a binding position between the retracted position and the feed position, which the feed mouth (50) adopts during binding of a bale in the bale chamber (20).
  13. The round baler according to any one of preceding claims, wherein the feed opening (50) is located between adjacent press elements (60,62).
  14. The round baler according to any one of preceding claims, wherein the feed opening (58) has a width between the idler roller 60 and the press roller 62 in the range 25-50mm.
  15. The round baler according to any one of preceding claims, wherein the crop mouth (21) has a width in the range 300-400 mm.

Description

The present invention relates to a round baler having a binding apparatus for applying a binding material to a cylindrical surface of a bale formed in the bale chamber of the baler. A binding apparatus for a baler has a cycle of operation in which the leading end of the binding material is presented to the outer surface of the bale when the bale has reached a desired size or pressure, the binding material is wrapped at least once around the bale, and the supply of binding material from the apparatus to the bale is severed when the required binding of the bale has been completed. It is known to provide devices for applying binding material to the outer surface of the bale, which enter the binding material, such as film or netting, into the bale forming chamber in which the compressed bale is formed. The binding material is used to bind the compressed bale to prevent expansion of the compressed material after the bale is ejected from the bale chamber. An apparatus for applying a binding material to the outer surface of an agricultural bale is described in EP1776860A1. This apparatus has a cycle of operation in which the leading end of the binding material is presented to the outer surface of the bale when the bale has reached a required size, the binding material is wrapped at least once around the bale (typically 2-3 times for netting or 4-5 times for film), and the supply of binding material from the apparatus to the bale is severed when the required binding of the bale has been completed. The apparatus comprises a support for a supply reel of binding material, such as netting, a pull-off device that draws binding material from the supply reel, and a feed mouth that feeds and guides the binding material to the outer surface of the bale. The feed mouth is moveable between an operative feeding position near to the outer surface of the bale where the binding material is presented by the feed mouth to the outer surface of the bale, and a retracted position which the feed mouth takes up when binding has been completed so that the supply of binding material can be severed. This type of feeding system is generally reliable when netting material is used as the binding material. Once the bale has been bound, it can be ejected from the bale chamber and in the case of silage it may be subsequently wrapped with a stretch film material. Lately, the demand for silage bales that are bound with film instead of net binding material has increased, owing to the fact that when such bales are subsequently wrapped with stretch film for full coverage only one type of material is used for both binding and wrapping of the bale. Then, when the bale is to be used as silage, the film binding material and the film wrapping can be peeled off in one operation and can be more easily disposed of or recycled. Simply replacing the net binding material with film binding material on this kind of feeding device will however lead to reliability problems. Especially, the correct feeding of the film binding material cannot be reliably ensured owing to the fact that the film is more slippery than the net binding material and cannot be gripped so easily between the bale and the press roller at the start of the binding operation. As a result, the leading end of the film, called the tongue, that extends from the feed mouth can slip over the rollers, and between the rollers and the bale, with the result that the film will not be pulled off the reel. Further, as film is more flexible than net binding material, the tongue tends to hang straight down when it comes out of the feeding mouth, so that the roller below the entry point of the binding material cannot then grip the tongue and cannot transport the film binding material into the bale chamber. Because the film binding material needs to be pre-stretched before it is entered into the bale chamber (to provide a tight binding on the bale), when the film is severed the length of the tongue hanging out of the feed mouth will decrease as the stretched film contracts again after severing. This decrease of the tongue length will vary depending on the type of the film, the stretch ratio, the working speed and the environmental conditions. This will result in a variation in the length of the tongue, which will exacerbate the problems described above. In particular, if the tongue extending from the feed mouth is too short, it will not be possible for the bale and the press rollers to gain a sufficient grip on the tongue and the film binding material will not then be pulled from the reel. On the other hand, an excessively long tongue may be difficult to enter precisely into the bale chamber as the tongue will be bent by the roller and the roller will not be able to transport the tongue into the bale chamber. The aforesaid problems, resulting from a variation in the length of the tongue that extends from the feed mouth, may also be present even when net binding material is used. Therefore, providing control over