PICKUP UNIT WITH A WINDROW CONDITIONING ROLL FOR AN AGRICULTURAL BALER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to agricultural balers, and, more particularly, to pickup units for such balers.

Agricultural harvesting machines, such as balers, are used to consolidate and package crop material so as to facilitate the storage and handling of the crop material for later use. In the case of hay, a mower-conditioner is typically used to cut and condition the crop material for windrow drying in the sun. In the case of straw, an agricultural combine discharges non-grain crop material from the rear of the combine defining the straw (such as wheat or oat straw) which is to be picked up by the baler. The cut crop material is typically raked and dried, and a baler, such as a large square baler or round baler, straddles the windrows and travels along the windrows to pick up the crop material and form it into bales.

On a large square baler, a pickup unit at the front of the baler gathers the cut and windrowed crop material from the ground. The pickup unit includes a pickup roll, and optionally may include other components such as side shields, stub augers, wind guard, etc.

A packer unit is used to move the crop material from the pickup unit to a duct or pre-compression chamber. The packer unit forms a wad of crop within the pre-compression chamber, which is then transferred to a main bale chamber. (For purposes of discussion, the charge of crop material within the pre-compression chamber will be termed a "wad", and the charge of crop material after being compressed within the main bale chamber will be termed a "flake"). Typically such a packer unit includes packer tines or forks to move the crop material from the pickup unit into the pre-compression chamber. Instead of a packer unit it is also known to use a rotor cutter unit, which chops the crop material into smaller pieces.

A stuffer unit transfers the wad of crop material in charges from the pre-compression chamber to the main bale chamber. Typically such a stuffer unit includes stuffer forks which are used to move the wad of crop material from the pre-compression chamber to the main bale chamber, in sequence with the reciprocating action of a plunger within the main bale chamber.

In the main bale chamber, the plunger compresses the wad of crop material into flakes to form a bale and, at the same time, gradually advances the bale toward the outlet of the bale chamber. The plunger reciprocates, back and forth, toward and away from the discharge end of the baler. The plunger may include a number of rollers, which extend laterally outward from the sides of the plunger. The rollers on each side of the plunger are received within a respective plunger slot formed in the sidewalls of the bale chamber, with the plunger slots guiding the plunger during the reciprocating movements.

When enough flakes have been added and the bale reaches a full (or other predetermined) size, a number of knotters are actuated which wrap and tie twine, cord or the like around the bale while it is still in the main bale chamber. The twine is cut and the formed baled is ejected out the back of the baler as a new bale is formed.

When the baler is used with narrow windrows, the windrow may be offset relative to the center of the pickup unit, and the crop material can be picked up by one side of the pickup unit. The pickup unit transfers the crop material to the precompression chamber, and sometimes the crop material tends to fill one side of the precompression chamber more than the other side. As the crop material is transferred from the precompression chamber to the main bale chamber, this can in turn result in the formation of an uneven or lopsided bale.

It is known to utilize an auger in front of the pickup roll on the pickup unit to more uniformly spread the crop material prior to being picked up by the pickup roll. For example, referring to EP 0043156, an auger placed in front of the pickup roll is equipped with 2 counter-rotating flightings which spread the crop material laterally outward. Each flighting has a laterally inner end which is located near the center of the pickup roll. The 2 flightings join each other at their laterally inner ends, and create in effect a hook that snags the crop material as the auger rotates, which tends to wrap the auger with the crop material. This can occasionally require the baler to be shut down, and the operator disembarks from the operator cab to manually remove the wrapped crop material.

What is needed in the art is an agricultural baler with a pickup unit which better spreads the crop material to ensure the formation of a uniform bale, without wrapping of the crop material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an agricultural baler with a windrow conditioning roll positioned at the front end of the pickup unit. The windrow conditioning roll is configured to spread the crop material across the width of the pickup roll, without wrapping of the crop material around the roll.

The invention in one form is directed to a pickup unit for an agricultural baler, including a frame; a pickup roll carried by the frame; and a windrow conditioning roll carried by the frame and positioned in front of the pickup roll when in an operating position. The windrow conditioning roll includes a center core and a pair of counter-rotating flightings surrounding the center core. The pickup unit is characterized in that the flightings are connected together with each other in a manner such that wrapping of crop material around the windrow conditioning roll is inhibited.

An advantage of the present invention is that the windrow conditioning roll spreads the crop material across the width of the pickup roll when harvesting narrow windrows.

Another advantage is that lumps within a windrow are spread out.

Yet another advantage is that the windrow conditioning roll provides an increased harvesting capacity in light, big volume windrows (e.g., barley straw, hay, etc).

A further advantage is that the flightings on the windrow conditioning roll join with each other in a manner that avoids wrapping of the crop material around the roll.

A still further advantage is that the flightings on the windrow conditioning roll join with each other in a manner that defines a neutral area, whereby the crop material is not substantially moved laterally outward from the neutral area.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following description of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

• Fig. 1 is a perspective cutaway view showing the internal workings of a large square baler, which can be configured with a pickup unit of the present invention;
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a pickup unit of the present invention which can be used with the baler shown in Fig. 1, including an embodiment of a windrow conditioning roll of the present invention;
• Fig. 3 is an end view of the pickup unit shown in Fig. 2;
• Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the windrow conditioning roll used on the pickup unit shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and
• Fig. 5 is an end view of the windrow conditioning roll shown in Figs. 2-4.

Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention, and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a perspective cutaway view showing the internal workings of a large square baler 10. The baler 10 operates on a two stage feeding system. Crop material is lifted from windrows into the baler 10 using a pickup unit 12. The pickup unit 12 includes a rotating pickup roll 14 with tines 16 which move the crop rearward toward a packer unit 18. An optional pair of stub augers (one of which is shown, but not numbered) are positioned above the pickup roll 14 to move the crop material laterally inward. The packer unit 18 includes packer tines 20 which push the crop into a pre-compression chamber 22 to form a wad of crop material. The packer tines 20 intertwine the crop together and pack the crop within the pre-compression chamber 22. The pre-compression chamber 22 and the packer tines 20 function as the first stage for crop compression. Once the pressure in the pre-compression chamber 22 reaches a predetermined sensed value, a stuffer unit 24 moves the wad of crop from the pre-compression chamber 22 to a main bale chamber 26. The stuffer unit 24 includes stuffer forks 28 which thrust the wad of crop directly in front of a plunger 30, which reciprocates within the main bale chamber 26 and compresses the wad of crop into a flake. The stuffer forks 28 return to their original stationary state after the wad of material has been moved into the main bale chamber 26. The plunger 30 compresses the wads of crop into flakes to form a bale and, at the same time, gradually advances the bale toward an outlet 32 of the main bale chamber 26. The main bale chamber 26 and the plunger 30 function as the second stage for crop compression. When enough flakes have been added and the bale reaches a full (or other predetermined) size, knotters 34 are actuated which wrap and tie twine around the bale while it is still in the main bale chamber 26. Needles 36 bring the lower twine up to the knotters 34 and the tying process then takes place. The twine is cut and the formed bale is ejected from a discharge chute 38 as a new bale is formed.

The plunger 30 is connected via a crank arm 40 with a gear box 42. The gear box 42 is driven by a flywheel 44, which in turn is connected via a drive shaft 46 with the power take-off (PTO) coupler 48. The PTO coupler 48 is detachably connected with the PTO spline at the rear of the traction unit, such as a tractor (not shown). The PTO coupler 48, the drive shaft 46 and the flywheel 44 together define a portion of a driveline 50, which provides rotative power to the gearbox 42. The flywheel 44 has a sufficient mass to carry the plunger 30 through a compression stroke as power is applied to the drive shaft 46 by the traction unit (not shown).

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, there is shown an embodiment of a pickup unit 60 of the present invention, which may be used on the baler 10 shown in Fig. 1 in place of the pickup unit 12. Similar to the pickup unit 12 shown in Fig. 1, the pickup unit 60 includes a frame 62, and a pickup roll 64 which is rotatably mounted to the frame 62. A windguard roll 66 is pivotally mounted to the frame 62, and may be positioned in front of the pickup roll 64. More specifically, a pair of pivot arms 68 each have an inboard end (not numbered) which is pivotally connected to the frame 62, and an outboard end (not numbered) which rotatably carries the windguard roll 66.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a windrow conditioning roll 70 is also pivotally mounted to the frame 62, and may be positioned in front of the pickup roll 64 when in an operating position. In the illustrated embodiment, a pair of mounting plates 72 are mounted to the outboard ends of pivot arms 68, and the windrow conditioning roll 70 is rotatably mounted to and extends between the mounting plates 72. The mounting plates 72 are rigidly mounted to the pivot arms 68, but could also be pivotally movable relative to the pivot arms 68, and suitable actuators used to move the mounting plates 72 relative to the pivot arms 68. Alternatively, the windrow conditioning roll 70 could be directly mounted to the frame 62, rather than indirectly mounted by way of the pivot arms 68. The windrow conditioning roll 70 is a driven roll in the embodiment shown, and can be driven using any suitable configuration of mechanical components, such as a chain and sprocket, belt and pulley, hydraulic motor, electric motor, etc.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 5, conjunctively, the windrow conditioning roll 70 includes a center core 74 and a pair of counter-rotating flightings 76A and 76B surrounding and attached to the center core 74. The flightings 76A and 76B are connected together with each other in a manner such that wrapping of crop material around the windrow conditioning roll 70 is inhibited. In contrast with conventional designs, the flightings 76A and 76B are connected together with each other with an absence of any hooked arrangement which would cause wrapping of the crop material around the windrow conditioning roll 70.

More specifically, each flighting 76A and 76B has a corresponding laterally inner end 78A and 78B. One laterally inner end 78A or 78B extends longitudinally past the other laterally inner end 76A or 76B, and vice versa, such that the pair of flightings 76A and 76B overlap with each other. The laterally inner end 78A is connected with the other respective flighting 76B, and conversely the laterally inner end 78B is connected with the other respective flighting 76A. In the illustrated embodiment, each laterally inner end 78A and 78B is connected with the other respective flighting 76A or 76B along an intersection line 80A and 80B, generally on opposite sides of the center core 74 (i.e., approximately 180° apart on opposite sides of the center core 74). The laterally inner ends 78A and 78B are each bonded with the other respective flighting 76A or 76B using a suitable connection, such as with a metallurgical bond (e.g., welding, brazing, etc.).

Each flighting 76A and 76B has a pitch defining a complete revolution of the flighting. Each flighting 76A and 76B overlaps with the other flighting a predetermined portion of a revolution. In the illustrated embodiment, each flighting 76A and 76B overlaps with the other flighting for approximately half of a revolution; thus, providing a combined overlap with each other of approximately a complete revolution.

Each flighting 76A and 76B overlaps with the other flighting in a neutral region 82. As apparent from studying Figs. 2 and 4, rotation of the windrow conditioning roll 70 in a direction causing spreading of the windrow (as indicated by arrow 84) also results in the flightings 76A and 76B moving the crop material in opposite directions within the neutral region 82. That is, the portion of the flighting 76A within the neutral region 82 moves the crop material in one laterally outward direction, while the portion of the flighting 76B within the neutral region 82 moves the crop material in an opposite laterally outward direction. This results in a neutral region 82 where the crop can be spread out, but not conveyed substantially out of the neutral region 82. The neutral region 82 has a preselected width extending in a longitudinal direction of the windrow conditioning roll, depending on an extent of overlap of the flightings 76A and 87B. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 2-5, the neutral region 82 has a preselected width of between approximately 100 to 500 mm.

It will be appreciated that by varying the pitch of the flightings 76A and 76B, the width of the neutral region 82 will likewise vary. Moreover, it may be possible (although unlikely) for the flightings 76A and 76B to have different pitches. Other design variations are also possible.

While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.