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:
Dec. 24, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 21, 2001
Walter Schlepfer, Winterthur, CH;
Nikolaus Lagler, Winterthur, CH;
Reto Kummli, Pfãffikon, CH;
Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG, Winterthur, CH;
Abstract
A method for operating a bale opening machine ( ) includes the step of defining a desired normal or operational take-off depth for the take-off device or extraction member ( ) to be applied to all of the bales ( ) of the bale lie. An actual take-off depth is computed for predetermined positions along the bale line as a function of the normal take-off depth and factors computed for the respective positions to take into account bale height differences and density differences between the bales. With respect to the bale height differences (4MAX−aMIN), the take-off factors have a proportional value based on a bale height at the respective positions compared to a total bale height difference between the highest and lowest bales. A total bale height is recomputed prior to each pass of the take-off device and the actual take-off depth factors are set to a value of 1 if the computed total bale height difference is reduced to at least the magnitude of the normal take-off depth. The bale density factors are applied simultaneously with the height take-off factors and are computed based on a percentage of bale height and a perceived density characteristic of each bale.