Housing for Holding a Supply Roll of Large Round Bale Wrap Material

The present invention relates to a mechanism for enveloping large round bales, formed in a bale-forming chamber, with a wrap material such as plastic sheet or net and more particularly relates to a housing for holding a supply of such wrap material in a position for being fed into the bale-forming chamber.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,503, granted to Josef Frerich on Sept. 8, 1987, discloses a surface wrap housing structure, of the type described above, mounted on the rear of a round baler discharge gate and incorporating a pivotable arm having a portion disposed for engaging the periphery of a roll of wrap material located in the housing, the arm being biased against the roll by a spring so that it acts as a brake for preventing the roll from rotating, due to its momentum and in response to the action of the cut-off blade striking the wrap material, once sufficient wrap material has been pulled from the roll for wrapping a completed bale. While this structure operates satisfactorily to prevent unwanted unwrapping of wrap material, it has the drawback of involving several parts for accomplishing this simple task and, hence, adds undesired cost to the structure.

According to the present invention, there is provided an improved housing for holding a supply roll of surface wrap material for large round bales, and, more particularly, there is provided a housing incorporating a brake structure which represents an improvement over the brake structure disclosed in the above-mentioned patent.

An object of the invention is to provide a surface wrap housing incorporating a simply constructed braking structure.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a surface wrap housing including a floor shaped to frictionally engage a supply roll of surface wrap material such that a substantially constant braking force is imposed on the roll as the diameter of the roll decreases as a result of the material being fed into the bale-forming chamber for wrapping bales formed therein.

These and other objects will become apparent from reading the ensuing description together with the appended drawings.

FIG. 1 is a left rear perspective view of the rear portion of a large round baler equipped with surface wrap material supply roll housing constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a right side elevational view of the supply roll housing showing the housing cover in an upwardly pivoted, open position, showing the supply roll loading bail or arm in a downwardly pivoted, roll loading position and showing a core of a depleted roll resting on a lower forward end portion of the curved bottom of the housing.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 but showing the supply roll loading arm in an upwardly pivoted, roll deposit position and showing a full roll of wrap material that has been deposited on an upper rearward end of the curved bottom wall of the housing.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a rear portion of a large round baler 10 of a type including an expansible bale-forming chamber 12 formed in part by a plurality of side-by-side mounted, endless belts 14, in part by opposite sidewalls (not shown) of a forward portion of the baler supporting a first set of belt support rolls and in part by opposite side walls 18 of a bale discharge gate 20, these walls supporting a second set of belt support rolls including a lower rear roll 21 (FIGS. 2 and 3). A pair of ground wheels 22 support the baler for being towed over the ground by a tractor.

Referring now also to FIGS. 2 and 3, a bale wrapping mechanism 24 is shown mounted to the rear and lower portions of the discharge gate 20. The mechanism 24 includes opposite support walls 26 having forward, upright, transverse flanges bolted to similar flanges formed at the respective rear ends of the gate sidewalls 18. Extending between and having their opposite ends rotatably mounted in the support walls 26 are a pair of wrap material feed rolls 28 and 30, with the roll 28 being disposed above and forwardly of the roll 30 such that a material flight path, defined by a plane located tangentially to the rolls at their bite or nip, extends substantially into a bite or nip area 32 defined by a guide pan portion 34 and a portion of the belts 14 engaged with the lower rear support roll 21 carried by the gate 20. Located forwardly and above the upper feed roll 28 is a spreader roll 36 having its opposite ends rotatably supported by respective bearings (not shown) mounted in an upper forward location of the support walls 26 by respective bolts 37, the roll 36 carrying spiral flights (not shown) at its opposite ends with the flights being of opposite hand so as to spread wrap material engaged therewith to the full width of the spreader roll.

The bale wrap mechanism 24 includes a supply roll housing 38 having a front wall 40 defined by a vertical panel extending between and bolted to the rear ends of the gate sidewalls 18. The housing 38 further includes a downwardly and forwardly extending bottom wall 42, the bottom wall 42 and the front wall 40 converging toward a wrap material passage 43 defined between a forward edge of the wall 42 and the wall 40. The bottom wall 42 has an upper surface 44 curved convexly from front to rear with the curvature being specially selected to cooperate with the front wall so as to frictionally engage a roll of wrap material in a manner and for a purpose explained in more detail below. A pair of L-shaped straps 46 having out-turned upper ends are respectively secured to upper rear portions of the support walls 26 by a pair of spaced bolts 48. Upper rear locations of the curved housing bottom wall 42 overlie and are bolted, as at 50, to the out-turned ends of the straps 46. It is here noted that the rear end of the bottom wall 42 is bent downwardly so as to form a rounded corner 52 for engagement by a new supply roll of wrap material being loaded into the housing, in a manner described below. The wall 42 has its forward end captively engaged in respective notches or recesses 54 provided in upper forward locations of the support walls 26. A third point of support for the bottom wall 42 is provided by respective corners 56 defined at respective intermediate locations along upper edges of the walls 26. A roll of wrap material resting on the bottom wall 42 has its sideways movement limited by opposite containment plates 58, each being mounted to the support walls 26 by the pair of bolts 48 and by the bolt 37. The upper portion of each of the containment plates 58 is bent outwardly, as at 60, so that a rounded corner will be presented to the ends of the roll of wrap material being contained by the plates.

A wrap material roll loading bail or arm 62 is vertically pivotally mounted to upper rear locations of the support walls 26. Specifically, welded to respective upper edges of the walls 26 and defining a horizontal pivot axis are a pair of transversely aligned washers 64. The arm 62 is defined by a rod formed so as to define opposite legs 66 curved arcuately at a radius approximating that of a complete roll of wrap material, the legs terminating at respective out-turned ends 68 received in the washers 64 and provided with respective holes receiving containment pins 70. The ends of the legs 66 opposite the out-turned ends are joined together by a transverse section which serves as a handle 72. When the loading arm 62 is in a lowered, roll receiving position as shown in FIG. 2, the curved legs 66 will be disposed at a relatively low height for having a roll of wrap material 74, including a tubular core 75 made of cardboard or the like, placed thereon either from the ground or preferrably from a truck or wagon bed or the like so as to minimize or eliminate the need for lifting the roll, it being noted that a complete roll may weigh from 75-80 pounds. Once the roll 74 is cradled by the arcuate legs 66, the roll can be deposited on the bottom wall surface 44 by lifting up on the handle 72 and pivoting the handle to its raised, roll deposit position shown in FIG. 3. It is to be noted that the arm 62 is structured about its pivot axis such that the maximum lifting force needed to lift the roll is about one-half the roll weight and, that once the arm is in its roll deposit position it will remain there due to the action of gravity. In any event, a cover 76, here shown in an upwardly pivoted open position, may be lowered about respective pivot connections 78, its upper forward corners have with angle brackets 80 bolted to the rear edges of the gate walls 18, to a closed position wherein the cover will be proximate the arm so as to prevent it from moving from its raised position. It is here noted that a pair of gas springs 82 are connected between the cover 76 and the brackets 80 such that the springs are moved over center as the cover is moved between its open and closed positions and thus act to bias the cover to its open position when it is open and to it closed position when it is closed.

The operation of the curved bottom wall 42 is now briefly stated. Assuming that a complete roll of wrap material 74 is located on the curved bottom wall surface 44, as shown in FIG. 3, a length of the material will extend downwardly from the front of the roll, pass across the front of the spreader roll 36, then rearwardly over the upper feed roll 28 and then forwardly between the feed rolls 28 and 30 where its free end is located. Assuming then that a bale has been formed in the chamber 12 and it is desired to wrap the bale, a drive means (not shown) for the feed rolls will be engaged and the rolls will act to pull wrap material from the roll and impel it towards the nip area 32 where it is grabbed by the rotating bale chamber belts 14 and carried along the guide pan 34 and other guide structure (not shown) until the wrap material enters the bale-forming chamber throat where it is directed between the belts and the formed bale so as to be grabbed and pulled by the action of the rotating bale and belts. When the desired amount of wrap has been applied to the circumference of the bale, a cut-off knife (not shown) is actuated to cause the knife blade to impact the wrap material in that segment stretched between the feed rolls 28-30 and the nip area 32. Once the material is cut, the belts 14 will continue to be driven only long enough for the last portion of the material to be pulled into the bale-forming chamber. The belt drive is then discontinued and the discharge gate opened to deposit the wrapped bale on the ground, all in a manner well known in the art.

During the above-described wrapping cycle, the roll of wrap material will have been prevented from rotating freely due to the braking force imposed on the periphery thereof due to its frictional engagement with the bottom wall 42 and the front wall 40, it being noted that the surface 44 of the wall 42 is curved and oriented such that the weight of the roll 74 tends to wedge it between the walls 40 and 42. Furthermore, the shape and orientation of the wall 42 relative to the wall 40 is such, that as the wrap material is used up and the weight and diameter of the roll decreases, the amount of wedging action increases so that the braking force due to the frictional resistance of the roll to rotation remains substantially constant to the point where nothing but the tubular roll core 75 remains, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings.