Massey-ferguson Industries Limited

Massey-ferguson Inc.

Alexander Crawford

Method and apparatus for forming bales. The baler (10) which performs the method includes a bale chamber (16) having a forward inlet end. Mounted forwardly of the bale chamber are conveying means (26) which may include a crop pickup (76). Feeding means (28) are disposed between the conveying means and the inlet end of the bale chamber, the feeding means simultaneously engaging opposed surfaces of a rearwardly conveyed mat of crop material while alternately feeding opposed surfaces of the mat in a rearward direction to a location adjacent the inlet end of the bale chamber. Moving means (46) are provided to move the fed mat of crop material back and forth across the inlet end of the bale chamber to form successive layers of folded crop material within the bale chamber. The feeding means includes a pair of parallel rollers (32) on which saw tooth like feed elements (40) are supported, the elements being so arranged that they more aggressively feed the mat when moved in a direction towards the inlet end of the bale chamber (16) than when moved away from the inlet end. The rollers are carried by common supports (48), and the moving means, which may be hydraulic cylinders (50), move the common supports and the rollers back and forth across the inlet end of the bale chamber.

Method and apparatus for forming bales

Method and apparatus for delivering twine to a baler knotter. The baler (10) which performs the method includes a bale chamber (16) having a forward inlet end. A knotter (64) is disposed to one side of the bale chamber and the baler is of the type having feeding means including a pair of rollers (36) which are moved back and forth across the inlet end of the bale chamber. A portion (90) of the twine is supported on the lower feed roller as the rollers are moved back and forth across the inlet end of the bale chamber. A pickup needle (110 or 302) is associated with the knotter, and at the initiation of the tying cycle moves from an at rest position towards the lower roller to pick up the twine and then to a position above the twine disks (140) of the knotter to deliver the twine to the knotter and then returns to its at rest position. The twine is tensioned by a twine drag (144) and a pigtail type tensioning mechanism (146) both during the formation of a bale and during tying.

Method and apparatus for delivering twine to a baler knotter

An apparatus for coordinating the operation of the bale tying mechanism with the feeding apparatus of a baler. The baler (10) includes a bale chamber (16), feeding means (26) including a pair of feed rollers (36) which are moved back and forth across the inlet end by reciprocating means (46, 48) including a hydraulic cylinder. The bale tying means includes a knotter (64), a pickup needle (110), and a knotter shaft (76) capable of driving the knotter and the needle. The actuating means which is capable of actuating the bale tying means includes a bale length metering mechanism (202 to 218), a constantly driven sprocket (230), and a single revolution clutch (220), the actuating means being capable of initiating the operation of the clutch (220) to cause rotation of the knotter shaft (76) when the bale length has been achieved. The coordinating apparatus of this invention which is capable of preventing the operation of clutch (220), except when the pair of rollers (36) have been reciprocated to their desired position, includes a bell crank (238) and a slidable link (236), both normally spring biased to a stop position but capable when one end of the bell crank is engaged by the reciprocating means to enable operation of the single revolution clutch (220).

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Mississauga, Canada

Alexander Crawford