Round bale transport device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In modern times, hay is baled in large round or square bales that weigh a half ton or more. After the bales are created by conventional baling machines, they are deposited in the hay field and must be picked up thereafter for storing or for feeding purposes. Small pick up trucks and light tractors may not have hydraulic systems or sufficient horsepower to enable these heavy bales to be moved. In some areas of the United States, farms are still operated through the use of horses. Horse drawn equipment is not designed to lift and carry bales of the above described magnitude.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide a bale transport device that will lift and carry a heavy bale without recourse to hydraulic or other auxiliary power systems.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A hay bale carrier has a horizontal U-shaped wheel supported frame. The frame is comprised of separate parallel arms, with the arms being connected by a forward cross beam.

A hollow tongue extends forwardly from the frame and has an elongated tongue member slidably mounted therein with its forward end protruding from the forward end of the tongue. A post structure is pivotally secured to the cross beam and has at least one bale penetrating bar secured thereto and extending in a rearward direction. A first pulley is located on the upper end of the post structure, a second pulley is located on the forward end of the tongue, and a third pulley is located rearwardly of the tongue. An elongated cable has one end secured to the tongue and is thence threadable about the first, second and third pulley with a second end secured to the tongue member whereby the post structure can be pivoted with respect to the frame when the tongue member is pulled outwardly from the tongue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the device of this invention;

FIG. 2

is a side elevational view thereof before a bale is loaded;

FIG. 3

is a view similar to that of

FIG. 2

but shows the device when the bale is initially loaded;

FIG. 4

is an elevational view similar to that of

FIG. 3

but shows how the bale is raised and tilted for transport purposes;

FIG. 5

is a plan view of the device of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 6

is an elongated sectional view of the tongue and tongue member when the tongue member is extended from the tongue;

FIG. 7

is a sectional view similar to that of

FIG. 6

but shows the tongue member withdrawn into the tongue; and

FIG. 8

is an enlarged scale sectional view of the brake system attached to one of the wheels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to

FIG. 1

, a horizontal U-shaped frame

10

is comprised of two spaced parallel rearwardly extending arms

12

which extend from the opposite ends of horizontal cross beam

14

. Ground wheels

16

are rotatably secured by any convenient means to the rearward ends of arms

12

. The numeral

18

designates the rearward ends of arms

12

.

A hollow tongue

20

is secured by its rearward end to the center of cross beam

14

. A tongue member

22

is slidably mounted within tongue

20

and has a hitch

24

on the forward end thereof.

A post structure or frame

26

is comprised of two spaced parallel upright posts

28

having lower ends

30

. Hinge brackets

32

pivotally connect the beam

14

to the post structure

26

(FIG.

1

). Horizontal bale penetrating bars

34

are welded to or otherwise secured to the mid-point of post

28

. A horizontal frame member

36

is rigidly secured to the upper end of post

28

.

A diagonally disposed frame channel

38

is secured by its lower end to the top center of frame member

36

. A pair of diagonal braces

40

are secured to the frame channel

38

and extend downwardly for connection to the upright posts

28

(FIG.

1

).

A normally vertical brace member

42

is pivotally secured by pin

44

to frame channel

38

(FIGS.

2

and

3

). The lower end

46

of brace

42

is adapted to swing forwardly and engage the upper surface of tongue

20

when the bale is lifted from the ground as shown in FIG.

4

.

A first pulley

48

is rotatably mounted on the upper end of frame channel

38

. A second pulley

50

is rotatably mounted on bracket

51

located on the forward end of tongue

20

. (FIG.

3

). A third pulley

52

is rotatably mounted at the center of cross beam

14

immediately behind the rearward end of tongue

20

. An elongated cable

54

has a first end

56

secured to the rearward end of tongue member

22

(FIG.

7

). The cable

54

then extends over the pulley

52

and then forwardly over the tongue member around pulley

50

; thence upwardly around pulley

48

; and thence downwardly for connection to tongue

20

by means of belt tightener assembly

62

(FIG.

1

). A conventional round bale

64

is shown in

FIGS. 4 and 5

.

A latch mechanism

66

is pivotally secured to bracket

68

on the forward end of tongue

22

. The latch mechanism

66

further comprises an L-shaped lever

70

which is pivotally secured to bracket

68

by pin

72

(FIG.

7

). A tension spring

74

has one end connected to lever

70

and the other end connected to cable tightener assembly

62

to maintain the lever

70

in the position shown in

FIG. 7. A

line

76

is secured to the upper end of lever

70

and extends forwardly to permit movement of the lever

70

from a remote position forwardly of the device. A lock pin

77

is secured to the lower end of L-shaped lever

70

and is adapted to be raised and lowered by the pivotal movement of lever

70

into and out of aligned locking apertures (not shown) in tongue

20

and tongue member

22

. A similar aperture (not shown) is near the rearward end of tongue member

22

.

A brake mechanism

78

is shown in

FIG. 8. A

rod

80

extends rearwardly from pivotal attachment to lever

70

and has its rearward end pivotally connected to a lever

82

rigidly mounted on its lower end to a transverse shaft

84

(FIG.

1

). Shaft

84

is pivotally mounted for rotation about its elongated axis by bearings

86

mounted on the top of cross beam

14

. Bars

88

(

FIG. 1

) are rigidly secured to the ends of shaft

84

. Elongated rods

90

extend through suitable apertures in bars

88

and extend rearwardly towards the wheels

16

. As best shown in

FIG. 8

, a shaft

92

is welded or otherwise secured to the rearward end

18

of each arm

12

. The shaft extends laterally across the arm

12

. A bearing

94

is rotatably mounted on a protruding end of shaft

92

. A bar

96

is welded at a forward end to bearing

94

and extends rearwardly therefrom. An upstanding flange

98

is welded to the bar

96

and pivotally receives a rearward end of bar

90

. When the apparatus is in the position shown in

FIG. 3

, the lever

70

is in the position of

FIGS. 3 and 7

. When the operator pulls line

76

, lever

70

pivots forwardly which pulls the rod

80

in a forwardly direction to pivot the lever

82

in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG.

7

. This movement of lever

82

rotates the transverse shaft

84

in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in

FIG. 7

, which in turn causes the bars

88

to pull the rods

90

in a forward direction. With reference to

FIG. 8

, the forward movement of rod

90

pivots the bar

96

to an upward position where it binds against any one of the lugs

100

on the rim of wheel

16

to lock the wheel against rotation.

As tongue member

22

is pulled out of tongue

20

, (FIG.

6

), member

42

swings forwardly so that its lower end

46

binds against the top of tongue

20

(FIG.

4

), and serves as a transport lock. When the tongue member

22

is in the position of

FIG. 6

, the locking pin

77

snaps into the aperture (not shown) on the rearward end of tongue member

22

through the energy of spring

74

. This causes the rod

80

to be pushed rearwardly which reverses the braking action described above.

In operation, the device in the configuration of

FIG. 2

is backed towards the bale

64

whereupon the wheel

16

and arms

12

move past the sides of the bale

64

while the bars

34

penetrate the bale. It should be noted that the post structure

26

is in a substantial vertical position in both

FIGS. 2 and 3

.

The operator then pulls on the line

76

to move the lever

70

from the rearwardly extending position to the forwardly extending position of FIG.

6

. This pulls the locking pin

77

which locks tongue

20

to tongue member

22

, and frees the tongue member

22

for longitudinal sliding movement out of the tongue

20

. A conventional latch (not shown) on cross beam

14

holds frame

26

in an erect position, and is released when line

76

is pulled to set the brakes and when the locking pin

77

is pulled to release tongue member

22

. The operator then drives the team of horses, pick up, or tractor forwardly to pull the tongue member

22

out of the tongue

20

to the position of FIG.

6

. The forward movement of the tongue member

22

in the tongue

20

causes the cable end

56

to move forwardly from the position of

FIG. 7

to the position of FIG.

6

. At this point, the wheels

16

become unlocked as described above since the brake linkage including the bar

96

moves in directions opposite to the braking procedure. This pulling action on the end

56

of cable

54

exerts a turning moment on the upper end of post structure

26

through the cable being threaded over the pulleys

48

,

50

and

52

. This causes the frame structure

26

to tilt forwardly as shown in

FIG. 4

, thus exerting a lifting force on the bale

64

through the bars

34

.

It should be noted that the brake mechanism

78

, as described above, is in effect while the device is in the configuration shown in FIG.

3

and until the tongue

20

and tongue member

22

are in the configuration shown in

FIG. 6

, at which time the brake mechanism is released, as described above.

From the foregoing, it is seen that the device of this invention will permit an extremely large and heavy bale to be lifted and transported by a prime mover consisting of a team of horses, a light pick up or a light tractor. It is therefore seen that this invention will achieve at least all of its stated objectives.