Bale tensioning apparatus in a rotary baler

Abstract

Forming belts and an overhead device within the chamber of the baler apply a compacting force to the bale during its formation, the belts also serving to drive the bale in a rolling motion so as to coil up new hay material continuously being presented to the chamber. The position of opposed, oppositely moving stretches of the belts essentially determines the variable horizontal dimensions of the chamber, while the position of the overhead device, which draws together and retains the belt stretches, essentially governs the vertical dimension of the chamber. Both the belt-retaining device and a slack-takeup roller for the belts are carried by a common support that progressively swings further and further from the bottom of the chamber under resistance during bale growth to pay out additional belt length and to continue compaction of the bale. The support has a special lever at its outer end which carries the retaining device on one side of the fulcrum point of the lever and the takeup roller on the opposite side of the fulcrum point such that, if necessary during the forming cycle, the lever can rock to the extent necessary about its fulcrum point under a light-spring resistance to accommodate the entry of sudden slugs into the baling chamber without the paying out of undesired amounts of slacks to the belts. Bale density may be adjusted via an arrangement which permits adjusting the effective length of a force-transmitting crank located between the springs that provide tension for the belts and the slack takeup for the belts themselves.