WO2025229439A1

WO2025229439A1 - Bale shape analysis for square baler

Info

Publication number: WO2025229439A1
Application number: PCT/IB2025/053783
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin J Hamilton; Brian BUSENITZ
Original assignee: AGCO Corp
Current assignee: AGCO Corp
Priority date: 2024-04-30
Filing date: 2025-04-10
Publication date: 2025-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 2026-10-30

Abstract

An agricultural baler 102 configured to take cut plant material from the ground and move the plant material to a baling chamber 110 and compress the plant material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger 108 into a growing bale and eject a finished bale 502 out a discharge end 114 of the baler onto a roller chute 116. The baler includes a bale shape monitoring system 210 configured to measure dimensions of the finished bale as the finished bale leaves the baling chamber. The shape monitoring system includes at least one upper length monitoring devices 212 and at least one lower length monitoring device 214 mounted on a baler frame 208 at the discharge end of the baler. Each of the upper and the lower length monitoring devices includes a star wheel 302 having a shaft 304 journaled for rotation on an arm 306 such that the star wheel interacts with the finished bale as the bale is pushed onto the roller chute and a sensor 318 to detect and provide a signal relative to the rotation of the star wheel.

Description

BALE SHAPE ANALYSIS FOR SQUARE BALER

BACKGROUND

Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to agricultural harvesting machines such as balers and, more particularly, to a bale shape monitoring system for a baler.

Description of Related Art

[0002] Large square balers as they are commonly called are used in the agricultural industry to create large, substantially rectangular, bales of crop material by moving over crop windrows to collect loose crop material, compress it, and form it into bales that are then tied and ejected from the baler. To that end, a baler is typically mechanically coupled with a tractor, and a power take-off (PTO) mechanism transfers power from the tractor's engine to drive the baler's operation. A rotary pick-up at the front of the baler picks up the loose crop material and moves it into a stuffer chamber. Once the stuffer chamber is full, its content, which may be referred to as a “charge,” is moved through a stuffer chute into a baling chamber. A reciprocating plunger compresses the charge of crop material into a growing bale. Once the bale reaches a predetermined length, which could be eight feet, it is tied and ejected through a discharge outlet to fall onto the ground behind the baler. The process continues to create the next bale.

[0003] However, crop windrows are not always perfectly uniform across their widths, so charges with volumes that are uneven from one side to the other are sometimes fed into the baling chamber. Additionally, crop windrows may have uneven densities and the accumulated crop material collected in the stuffer chamber may be moved into the baling chamber before the stuffer chamber is completely full causing a smaller charge. Smaller charges tend to result on more crop material in the upper portion of the baling chamber causing the bales to be uneven top to bottom. Furthermore, even when the crop windrows are substantially uniform, operators sometimes deviate from perfect positioning over them, which can also result in the charges having uneven densities. When uneven charges are incorporated into growing bales, components of the baling system can experience uneven stresses, and the finished bales may be curved or otherwise misshapen which can adversely affect securing them with twine and subsequently handling and stacking them. Uneven feeding has also been known to cause density loss in the baled crop due to uneven compression in the bale. Without some form of feedback, there is no practical way for an operator to know of the problem and take actions to correct it.

[0004] U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,356 describes a means of identifying when uneven loading is occurring and notifying the operator so he can steer the baler in such a way as to compensate for the unevenness and thereby minimize the problems associated with charges having uneven densities. This is accomplished by using transducers to monitor the compressive loadings at spaced-apart locations on the reciprocating plunger during the compressive stroke, and attributing differential loadings to uneven charges. When the loadings differ from one another by a predetermined amount, the operator is notified so he can take corrective action. This notification takes the form of lighting either a left arrow or a right arrow on a display in order to tell the operator which direction he should steer to make the charges more uniform and thereby correct the load imbalance. Unfortunately, bales may still be produced with significant side-to-side curvature. For some operators, the arrows may seem to be either too sensitive or not sensitive enough, and if the operator does not continuously follow the arrows, then the loadings on the reciprocating plunger may equalize and provide incorrect information regarding the shape of the bale. In some scenarios, this feedback look can simply be too inaccurate, especially when the operator is pushing the baler to its capacity. Additionally, this process only presents an instantaneous value without the ability to view performance of the entire time of forming the bale.

[0005] U.S. Patent No. 9,913,432 describes a baling system that includes moveable doors that partly define the chamber and the shape of the bale. Hydraulic tension cylinders extend and retract to apply a force to the moveable doors and the growing bale, and transducers measure the lengths of the tension cylinders. An electronic control unit receives the lengths from the transducers, and communicates via a display at least a relative difference between the lengths for consideration in steering the baling system. In particular, the lengths being equal indicates the growing bale is substantially straight and the baling system should be steered straight, and the lengths being unequal indicates the growing bale is developing a curvature and the baling system should be steered in the direction of the cylinder having the shorter length.

[0006] Such systems can be costly and require additional maintenance and operator attention. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a means and method for sensing the shape of a bale with an accurate measurement. BRIEF SUMMARY

[0007] In one aspect the invention is directed to an agricultural baler 102 having a pickup assembly 104 and a stuffer assembly 106 configured to take cut plant material from the ground and move the plant material to a baling chamber 110 and compress the plant material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger 108 into a growing bale and eject a finished bale 502 out a discharge end 114 of the baler onto a roller chute 116, the baler includes a bale shape monitoring system 210 configured to measure dimensions of the finished bale as the finished bale leaves the baling chamber, the shape monitoring system 210 includes at least one upper length monitoring devices 212 and at least one lower length monitoring device 214 mounted on a baler frame 208 at the discharge end 114 of the baler 102, where each of the upper and the lower length monitoring devices includes a star wheel 302 having a shaft 304 journaled for rotation on an arm 306 such that the star wheel interacts with the finished bale outside of the baling chamber as the bale is pushed onto the roller chute and a sensor 318 to detect and provide a signal relative to the rotation of the star wheel.

[0008] This summary is provided to introduce concepts in simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the disclosed or claimed subject matter and is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the disclosed or claimed subject matter. Specifically, features disclosed herein with respect to one embodiment may be equally applicable to another. Further, this summary is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Many other novel advantages, features, and relationships will become apparent as this description proceeds. The figures and the description that follow more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a side view of a baler for formation of a bale of agricultural material;

[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates a perspective view of a rear portion of the baler of FIG. 1 showing a bale shape monitoring system in accordance with one embodiment; [0012] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bale length monitoring device according to one embodiment;

[0013] FIG. 4 is a side view of the bale length monitoring device of FIG. 3;

[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates a top view schematic of the baler and bale shape monitoring system; and

[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates a side view schematic of the baler and bale shape monitoring system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The invention will now be described in the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, wherein preferred embodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention. Although the invention is described with reference to these specific preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, the invention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents as will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description. Many of the fastening, connection, processes and other means and components utilized in this invention are widely known and used in the field of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a person skilled in the art, and they will not therefore be discussed in significant detail. Also, any reference herein to the terms "left" or "right" are used as a matter of mere convenience and are determined by standing at the rear of the machine facing in its normal direction of travel. Furthermore, the various components shown or described herein for any specific application of this invention can be varied or altered as anticipated by this invention and the practice of a specific application of any element may already by widely known or used in the art by persons skilled in the art and each will likewise not therefore be discussed in significant detail.

[0017] As used herein, the singular forms following “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “may” with respect to a material, structure, feature, or method act indicates that such is contemplated for use in implementation of an embodiment of the disclosure, and such term is used in preference to the more restrictive term “is” so as to avoid any implication that other compatible materials, structures, features, and methods usable in combination therewith should or must be excluded. As used herein, the term “configured” refers to a size, shape, material composition, and arrangement of one or more of at least one structure and at least one apparatus facilitating operation of one or more of the structure and the apparatus in a predetermined way.

[0018] As used herein, any relational term, such as “first,” “second,” “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “beneath,” “side,” etc., is used for clarity and convenience in understanding the disclosure and accompanying drawings, and does not connote or depend on any specific preference or order, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0019] As used herein, the term “about” used in reference to a given parameter is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the given parameter, as well as variations resulting from manufacturing tolerances, etc.). As used herein, the term “substantially” in reference to a given parameter, property, or condition means and includes to a degree that one skilled in the art would understand that the given parameter, property, or condition is met with a small degree of variance, such as within acceptable manufacturing tolerances. By way of example, depending on the particular parameter, property, or condition that is substantially met, the parameter, property, or condition may be at least 90.0% met, at least 95.0% met, at least 99.0% met, or even at least 99.9% met.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, an example agricultural baler 102 is shown into which embodiments of the present invention may be incorporated. Broadly, the baler 102 may be configured to move over a field and collect previously cut plant material and to compress, shape, and secure the collected plant material into a plurality of bales. The baler 102 may generally include a pickup assembly 104, stuffer assembly 106, a reciprocating plunger 108, and a baling (or compression) baling chamber 110. Additionally, the baler 102 may be hitched to a towing vehicle (not shown) by a tongue 112, and power for operating the various mechanisms (e.g., the reciprocating plunger 108) of the baler 102 may be supplied by a power take-off of the towing vehicle. The baler 102 is depicted as an “in-line” type of baler wherein crop material is picked up below and slightly ahead of baling chamber 110 and then loaded up into the bottom of baling chamber 110 in a straight-line path of travel. The finished bale may be ejected from a discharge end 114 of the baling chamber 110 rearwardly onto a roller chute 116 and then dropped to land on the field behind the baler 102 for subsequent collection. The pickup assembly 104 is positioned under the tongue 112 on the longitudinal axis of the machine, somewhat forwardly of the baling chamber 110. The pickup assembly 104 has a pair of ground wheels 118 (one shown) that support the pickup assembly 104 as the baler 102 advances along the ground.

[0021] The stuffer assembly 106 includes a charge forming stuffer chamber 120 that in one embodiment is curvilinear in shape. In some embodiments, the stuffer chamber 120 may comprise a straight duct configuration, among other geometries. For instance, the stuffer chamber 120 extends generally rearwardly and upwardly from an inlet opening just behind the pickup assembly 104 to an outlet opening 122 at the bottom of the baling chamber 110. The plunger 108, as is known, reciprocates within the baling chamber 110 in compression and retraction strokes across the opening 122 at the bottom of the baling chamber 110. In the portion of the plunger stroke forward of the opening 122, the plunger 108 uncovers the duct outlet opening 122, and in the rear portion of the stroke, the plunger 108 completely covers and closes off the outlet opening 122.

[0022] The stuffer chamber 120 defines an internal passage (also, referred to herein as a passageway) through which crop material travels from the pickup assembly 104 to the baling chamber 110 during operation of the baler 102. In one embodiment, a top wall of the stuffer chamber 120 is defined by a series of laterally spaced apart wrappers that extend downwardly and forwardly from the baling chamber 110 and terminate in forward most upturned front ends generally above the inlet to the stuffer chamber 120. The rear of pickup assembly 104 has a centrally disposed discharge opening defined in part by a transition pan, in fore-and-aft alignment with the inlet to the stuffer chamber 120, as is known.

[0023] The baler 102 may further comprise a known feeding mechanism for moving crop materials through the stuffer chamber 120. Such feeding mechanism may, for example, comprise a suitable rotor associated with a cutter mechanism, or it may comprise other apparatus or be omitted in some embodiments. In some embodiments, the feeding mechanism may include a packer 124 as is conventional and well understood by those skilled in the art. The packer 124 is used to receive materials from the pickup assembly 104 and pack the same into the stuffer chamber 120 for preparing a precompressed, preshaped charge of crop materials that conforms generally to the interior dimensions of the stuffer chamber 120 while the opening 122 to the baling chamber 110 is closed by a holding element.

[0024] The stuffer assembly 106 includes a stuffer 126 comprising a rake 128 with plural tines (also, referred to as forks). The stuffer 126, as is conventional and well understood by those skilled in the art, cooperates with the passageway of the stuffer chamber 120 and, in particular, functions to sweep through its own kidney shaped path of travel the prepared charge of crop material collected in the stuffer chamber 120 up into baling chamber 110 via opening 122 between compression strokes of the plunger 108 when the opening 122 to the baling chamber 110 is uncovered. One having ordinary skill in the art should appreciate in the context of the present disclosure that the example stuffer assembly 106 and cooperating elements and/or subassemblies are merely illustrative, and that other types of configurations may be implemented in some embodiments.

[0025] The reciprocating plunger 108 may be configured to compress the plant material from the charge-forming opening 122 into a growing bale. In one implementation, the plunger 108 may be configured to reciprocate within the baling chamber 110 in repeating compression and retraction strokes across the outlet opening of the charge-forming opening 122. As the plunger 108 retracts, the outlet opening is uncovered and an additional flake, charge, or other subunit of plant material enters the baling chamber 110, and as the plunger 108 contracts the outlet opening is covered, and the additional subunit of plant material is compressed into the growing bale.

[0026] The baler 102 may include a system configured to sense parameters of the crop material in the stuffer chamber 120 such as the density of the crop material in the stuffer chamber 120 and control operation of the stuffer assembly 106 so that flakes in the bale produced by the baler 102 have a desired uniformity such as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Patent No. 9,167,750 entitled “Stuffer Chute Fill Indicator.”

[0027] Turning now to FIG. 2, the baling chamber 110 is formed with a floor 202, a roof 204 and opposing side walls 206. The reciprocating plunger 108 may be configured to compress the plant material from the charge-forming opening 122 into the space between the floor 202, the roof 204 and the side walls 206 of the baling chamber 110. As is known in the art, the floor 202, roof 204, and side walls 206 of the baling chamber 110 form a compression chamber controlled by hydraulic cylinders (not shown) mounted on a baler frame 208 and a suitable controller (not shown). Desirably, the baling chamber 110 squeezes the top, bottom, and outside sides of the bales to achieve the desired weight and size of the bale. The plunger 108 compresses crop material into what is known in the art as individual flakes having a thickness determined by the degree to which the plunger 108 compresses the loose material. The height and the width of each flake is determined generally by the width and height of the bale baling chamber 110. The plunger 108 forms successive flakes which are stacked end to end as they move through the bale baling chamber 110. After the bale reaches the desired length, the stack of flakes are secured by strands of binding material such as twine with a suitable knotter mechanism (not shown) resulting in a finished bale as would be understood by one skilled in the art. Control of the length and weight of the bale formed in the baling chamber 110 may be achieved by a suitable bale monitoring system which senses the parameters of baler components and provides an indication of any need to vary the flow of crop material into the baling chamber 110. The finished bale is then ejected rearwardly out through the discharge end 114 of the baling chamber 110 and onto the roller chute 116.

[0028] In accordance with the present invention, the baler 102 has a bale shape monitoring system 210 configured to measure different dimensions of the finished bale as the bale is pushed onto the roller chute 116. As the finished bale leaves the confines of the baling chamber 110, the baled crop material tends to expand, stretching the binding material used to bind the bale. The bale shape monitoring system 210 interacts with a finished bale outside of the confines of the baling chamber 110 when the crop material is expanding against the force of the binding material. In one embodiment, the shape monitoring system 210 includes right and left upper length monitoring devices 212 and right and left lower length monitoring devices 214 mounted on the baler frame 208 at the discharge end 114 of the baler 102.

[0029] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate an embodiment of one of the upper length monitoring devices 212. The lower length monitoring devices 214 may be of substantially similar design, so a separate description of the lower length monitoring devices 214 is not necessary. As herein illustrated, the upper length monitoring device 212 includes a star wheel 302 having a shaft 304 journaled for rotation on an arm 306 with a suitable bushing 308. Referring also to the schematic plan view in FIG. 5, the arm 306 is attached to the frame 208 of the baler 102 with suitable bolts 310 such that the star wheel 302 interacts with the finished bale 502 outside of the baling chamber 110 as the bale 502 is pushed out of the baling chamber 110 onto the roller chute 116. The arm 306 of the upper length monitoring device 212 is pivotably mounted on a ledge 312 of the mount 314 such that the arm 306 and star wheel 302 mounted thereon are pivotable about pivot 402. A spring 316 is used to bias the arm 306 and star wheel 302 into engagement with the bale 502.

[0030] As is known, the star wheel 302 has a plurality of individual points around its outer circumference that project into the finished bale 502 causing the star wheel 302 to rotate in response to longitudinal movement of the bale 502 out of the baling chamber 110. The star wheel 302 is desirably designed using sound engineering judgment with a sufficient number of points so as to provide an optimum and accurate measurement of relative movement of the bale 502 with respect to the frame 208 of the baler 102. A sensor 318 is mounted on the arm 306 to detect and provide a signal relative to the rotation of the star wheel 302. The sensor 318 can be any known sensor used to measure rotation understood by one skilled in the art. The sensors 318 generating the rotational signal in the upper and lower length monitoring devices 212, 214 are connected via connections 504 to an ECU 506 which, in turn, is connected to a display 508 via line 510.

[0031] Differences in the bale length measured by the upper or lower length monitoring devices 212, 214 on the right side of the baler 102 with respect to those on the left side of the baler 102 are determined by the ECU 506 and indicate that crop material was not being fed into the pickup assembly 104 evenly across the transverse width of the baler 102 thereby causing the bale 502 to be uneven side-to-side as seen in the exaggerated schematic of FIG. 5.

[0032] Turning also now to FIG. 6, differences in the length of the bale 502 measured by the right upper length monitoring device 212 with respect to the right lower length monitoring device 214 or the left upper length monitoring device 212 with respect to the left lower length monitoring device 214 are determined by the ECU 506 indicate irregularities in a height dimension of the bale 502 along a length of the bale and indicate that crop material was not being fed into the baling chamber 110 evenly top-to-bottom by the stuffer assembly 106. For example, if the rake 128 actuates before the stuffer chamber 120 is completely full of crop material, the stuffer assembly 106 may deliver more crop material into an upper portion of the baling chamber 110 than into a lower portion of the baling chamber 110. As the plunger 108 compresses the flake in the baling chamber 110, the upper portion of the flake will be denser than the lower portion of the flake. When the bale 502 exits the baling chamber 110, the crop material expands against the force of the binding material causing a crown 602 in an upper portion of the bale 502 as shown in the exaggerated schematic of FIG. 6.

[0033] The shape monitoring system 210 provides information to the operator on the display 508 related to the shape of the finished bale 502 so that corrective actions may be taken for future bales if the shape is determined to be unsatisfactory. The information provided on the display 508 may take a number of forms, including the use of shapes, colors, warning lights and other suitable indicia apparent to those skilled in the art that can be used to guide the operator. Corrective action may be in the form of making adjustments to baler components in the pickup assembly 104 or the stuffer assembly 106 or by steering the tractor 514 to alter the inflow of crop material into the baler 102. These corrective actions may include making changes to the stuffer trip set point, changing roller chute 116 dimensions by altering the wrapper geometry with manual changes performed by the operator or through automatic adjustments such as taught in U.S. Patent 11,044,851 entitled “Adjustable Stuffer Chute.” Adjustments may also include changing settings for operation of the baler 102 such as flake count targets or changing the travel speed.

[0034] The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. An agricultural baler 102 having a pickup assembly 104 and a stuffer assembly 106 configured to take cut plant material from the ground and move the plant material to a baling chamber 110 and compress the plant material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger 108 into a growing bale and eject a finished bale 502 out a discharge end 114 of the baler onto a roller chute 116, the baler comprising: a bale shape monitoring system 210 configured to measure dimensions of the finished bale as the finished bale leaves the baling chamber, the shape monitoring system 210 comprising at least one upper length monitoring devices 212 and at least one lower length monitoring device 214 mounted on a baler frame 208 at the discharge end 114 of the baler 102, wherein each of the upper and the lower length monitoring devices comprises a star wheel 302 having a shaft 304 journaled for rotation on an arm 306 such that the star wheel interacts with the finished bale as the finished bale is pushed onto the roller chute, and a sensor 318 to detect and provide a signal relative to the rotation of the star wheel.

2. The agricultural baler of claim 1 wherein the sensor generating the rotational signal is connected to an ECU 506 and a display 508.

3. The agricultural baler of claim 1 wherein differences in the length in the top surface of the bale and in the bottom surface of the bale indicate a crown 602 in the finished bale.

4. The agricultural baler of claim 3 wherein the shape monitoring system provides information on the display related to the crown in the finished bale so that corrective actions may be taken for future bales, wherein corrective action is in the form of making adjustments to baler components in the stuffer assembly.

5. The agricultural baler of claim 1 wherein the star wheel is mounted on an arm 306 that is pivotably mounted on the frame such that the arm and star wheel are pivotable about a pivot 402, and further comprising a spring 316 configured to bias the arm and star wheel into engagement with the bale.