US-12622360-B2 - Gear assembly for a square baler

US12622360B2US 12622360 B2US12622360 B2US 12622360B2US-12622360-B2

Abstract

A gear assembly for a square baling press. The gear assembly drives a ram arranged movably between end positions in a pressing channel of the square baling press and at least one additional working unit of the square baling press. The gear assembly comprises two side gears and at least one reduction gear that is downstream from the particular side gear and may be connected on the output side to a crankshaft on which the ram is mounted. At least one flywheel is interposed between the particular side gear and the reduction gear downstream thereof. At least one of the reduction gears comprises a shiftable overload clutch which is designed to brake the reduction gears downstream from the flywheels to a standstill when a mechanical overload occurs.

Inventors

Volker Fuchs
Michael Schulte

Assignees

USINES CLAAS FRANCE S.A.S

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20231215
Priority Date: 20221216

Claims (18)

1 . A gear assembly for a square baling press configured to drive a ram positioned movably between end positions in a pressing channel of the square baling press and at least one additional working unit of the square baling press, the gear assembly comprising: two side gears; at least one reduction gear that is downstream from at least one of the two side gears and that is configured to connect on an output side to a crankshaft on which the ram is mounted; at least one flywheel positioned between the at least one of the two side gears and the at least one reduction gear downstream thereof; and at least one shiftable clutch device positioned between the at least one flywheel and the at least one reduction gear connected downstream thereof; wherein the at least one of the reduction gear comprises at least one shiftable overload clutch configured to brake the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel to a standstill responsive to a mechanical overload; and wherein the at least one shiftable clutch device is configured to be in a disengaged shift position during braking.
2 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reduction gear comprises a first reduction gear and a second reduction gear; and wherein one or both of the first reduction gear and the second reduction gear comprise the at least one shiftable overload clutch.
3 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a control device configured to: automatically detect the mechanical overload; and responsive to automatically detecting the mechanical overload, automatically control the at least one shiftable clutch device to be in the disengaged shift position.
4 . The gear assembly of claim 3 , wherein the control device is further configured to actuate the at least one shiftable clutch device responsive to detecting a standstill of the at least one reduction gear in order to transfer the at least one shiftable clutch device from the disengaged shift position to an engaged shift position by progressive closure.
5 . The gear assembly of claim 3 , wherein the control device further configured to: responsive to automatically detecting the mechanical overload, automatically actuate the at least one shiftable overload clutch to brake the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel.
6 . The gear assembly of claim 5 , wherein the control device, responsive to automatically detecting the mechanical overload, is configured to simultaneously: (i) automatically actuate the at least one shiftable overload clutch to brake the at least one reduction gear; and (ii) automatically control the at least one shiftable clutch device to be in the disengaged shift position.
7 . The gear assembly of claim 5 , wherein the control device, responsive to automatically detecting the mechanical overload, is configured to control the at least one shiftable overload clutch and the at least one shiftable clutch device so that the at least one shiftable overload clutch brakes the at least one reduction gear and the at least one shiftable clutch device is in the disengaged shift position at least partly simultaneously.
8 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one shiftable clutch device is positioned directly between the at least one flywheel and a gear input of the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel.
9 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one shiftable clutch device comprises a hydraulically-actuated clutch device.
10 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , further comprising pin-shaped shear elements configured to detect the mechanical overload.
11 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one shiftable overload clutch comprises a hydraulically-actuatable clutch device; wherein the at least one shiftable overload clutch comprises a disk pack and a piston configured to be subjected to hydraulic pressure and in which at least one spring element is arranged; wherein the piston is configured to be held in a position spaced apart from the disk pack by the hydraulic pressure counter to spring force of the at least one spring element; and wherein the at least one shiftable overload clutch is configured to be depressurized responsive to detecting the mechanical overload.
12 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one flywheel comprises at least two flywheels; wherein the at least two flywheels are positioned one behind the other on an output drive of the at least one of the two side gears; wherein another clutch device is positioned between the at least two flywheels.
13 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reduction gear is designed as planetary gears or as multi-stage spur gears.
14 . The gear assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reduction gear comprises at least two reduction gears; and wherein the least two reduction gears are each designed with a respective shiftable overload clutch.
15 . A gear assembly for a square baling press configured to drive a ram positioned movably between end positions in a pressing channel of the square baling press and at least one additional working unit of the square baling press, the gear assembly comprising: two side gears; at least one reduction gear that is downstream from at least one of the two side gears and that is configured to connect on an output side to a crankshaft on which the ram is mounted; at least one flywheel positioned between the at least one of the two side gears and the at least one reduction gear downstream thereof, wherein the at least one of the reduction gear comprises at least one shiftable overload clutch configured to brake the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel to a standstill responsive to a mechanical overload; and a control device configured to: automatically detect the mechanical overload; and responsive to automatically detecting the mechanical overload, actuate the at least one shiftable overload clutch to brake the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel.
16 . The gear assembly of claim 15 , further comprising one or more sensors assigned to one or both of the gear assembly or to the at least one additional working unit and configured to generate sensor data; and wherein the control device is further configured to receive the sensor data and to automatically detect the mechanical overload based on automatic analysis of the sensor data.
17 . A square baler comprising: a drivetrain comprising a gear assembly and configured to drive one or more working units of the square baler, and to drive a ram positioned movably between end positions in a pressing channel of the square baler; wherein the gear assembly comprises: two side gears; at least one reduction gear that is downstream from at least one of the two side gears and that is configured to connect on an output side to a crankshaft on which the ram is mounted; at least one flywheel positioned between the at least one of the two side gears and the at least one reduction gear downstream thereof; and at least one shiftable clutch device positioned between the at least one flywheel and the at least one reduction gear connected downstream thereof; wherein the at least one of the reduction gear comprises at least one shiftable overload clutch configured to brake the at least one reduction gear downstream from the at least one flywheel to a standstill responsive to a mechanical overload; and wherein the at least one shiftable clutch device is configured to be in a disengaged shift position during braking.
18 . The square baler of claim 17 , wherein the at least one reduction gear comprises a first reduction gear and a second reduction gear; and wherein one or both of the first reduction gear and the second reduction gear comprise the at least one shiftable overload clutch.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to German Patent Application No. DE 102022133713.8 filed Dec. 16, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The application is related to U.S. utility application Ser. No. 18/541,981, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gear assembly for a square baler and to a square baler with a drivetrain that comprises such a gear assembly. BACKGROUND This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art. Square balers may be used in agriculture to: pick up or collect, for example, semi-mature harvested material such as straw, hay, grass or the like, which has been deposited in a swath; shred it further; and compress or press it into square bales. For example, US Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0157434 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,478 each disclose square balers, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. For this purpose, the square balers have various working units which serve for the required conveying and/or further processing of the harvested material. Such working units are, for example, a cutting rotor for shredding the collected harvested material, a feed rake for pre-compacting and feeding the harvested material shredded by the cutting rotor into a pressing channel of the square baler, a ram which is movably arranged in the pressing channel and presses the pre-compacted harvested material located in the pressing channel into a square bale, and a knotter which binds the pressed bale. These working units are usually drivingly connected with a central drivetrain of the square baler, which is connected to a power take-off shaft of an agricultural production machine, such as a tractor, when the square baler is in operation. To drive working units of the square baler, such as the ram, a gear assembly is provided which drives the ram arranged in the press channel of the square baler so as to be movable between end positions, and at least one further working unit of the square baler. Such square balers conventionally comprise a so-called flywheel, which serves as a damper and energy store between a drive unit of the agricultural production machine providing the drive output of the square baler and the working units of the square baler. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present application is further described in the detailed description which follows, in reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limiting examples of exemplary embodiment, in which like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein: FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic and exemplary representation of a square baler in side view; FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic and exemplary representation of a gear assembly of the square baler according to FIG. 1; FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic and exemplary partial sectional view of an embodiment of the gear assembly according to the invention; and FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed view of one of the reduction gears according to FIG. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As discussed in the background, square balers may include a so-called flywheel, which serves as a damper and energy store between a drive unit of the agricultural production machine providing the drive output of the square baler and the working units of the square baler. Efforts are being made to develop increasingly powerful and larger square balers which compress harvested material that has been transferred to the pressing channel and pre-compressed into a square bale with a very high pressure. These efforts may lead to the fact that ever higher drive outputs must be supplied to the ram using the drivetrain of the square baler, which may, in turn, lead to the fact that ever larger and heavier flywheels must be installed in order to be able to provide the required drive outputs at all and to reduce any loads on the drivetrain of the square baler during operation. However, the use of larger and heavier flywheels leads to an increase in the weight of the square baler, and a very high drive output is required to accelerate the flywheel from a standstill. At present, such flywheels are arranged or positioned on a drive shaft of the square baler, which is often designed as a cardan shaft and is connected to a torque input connection at which the drive output of the drive unit of the agricultural production machine is provided using a power take-off shaft. The drive shaft carrying the flywheel may be mechanically connected to the