The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 29, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 18, 1996
Howard J Ratzlaff, Hesston, KS (US);
J Dale Anderson, Canton, KS (US);
Hay & Forage Industries, Hesston, KS (US);
Abstract
A round baler has a pickup header that is wider than the baling chamber and its inlet so that over-width windrows can be picked up by the machine in spite of its relatively narrower chamber. In order to reduce the width of the crop stream for introduction into the chamber, the machine is provided with a pair of laterally spaced apart, axially aligned, transverse stub augers that engage opposite outboard margins of the stream and converge them inwardly toward the main body of the flow. At the point where the outboard materials are discharged into the central body of the stream, a stuffer mechanism takes control of the stream and charges the materials up into the baling chamber. The augers are driven in such a direction that their front portions rotate down and under the auger shafts so that the outboard crop materials are likewise fed down and under the augers as they are converged toward the center. The inwardly augered materials are released by the augers down at the operating level of the stuffer, contributing to positive, orderly flow of materials through this region and into the baling chamber.