Charging system for an automatic bedding system

Abstract

In a loading system (1) for an arrangement for distributing bedding in an animal stall, comprising a bale magazine (3) which in use holds several bales of compressed bedding material, and a transfer unit (2) which is designed to feed the bales individually and successively to the distribution arrangement, wherein the transfer unit (2) has a feed track (5) on which, in use, a bale removed from the bale magazine (3) lies and is moved in a conveying direction up to the distribution arrangement, it is proposed that the bale magazine (3) be designed as a vertical magazine, with a bale table (4), and with a sensor, and with a transport carriage which is movable back and forth between a rest position and an end position.

Description

Description:

[0001] The invention relates to a loading system for an arrangement for distributing bedding in an animal stable.

[0002] It is common practice to automatically distribute bedding in animal sheds. For example, a distribution system for this purpose can be designed as a distribution vehicle that travels along a predetermined path at a distance above the animals and distributes the bedding over a large area using a turntable. Straw, compressed and bound into bales, can be used as bedding.

[0003] A loading system is used to feed such a distribution arrangement. In practice, the bales are held ready in a bale magazine, where they lie horizontally in a row, for example, on the barn floor in a separate area from the animals. The frontmost bale is prepared by cutting and removing the bands holding it together. The bale can then be opened, namely loosened or shredded. The bale opener is located near a transfer unit, to which the empty distribution wagon returns to be loaded with the straw of a new bale.The loading system therefore comprises both the bale magazine and the transfer unit and also a feed track on which the bale is transported until it is transferred to the discharge arrangement or on which the bale is transported to the bale opener if such a bale opener is provided as part of the loading system.

[0004] The invention is based on the object of improving a generic loading system in such a way that it enables the loading of a spreading arrangement with bedding as economically as possible.

[0005] This object is achieved by a charging system according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are described in the subclaims.

[0006] In other words, the invention proposes designing the bale magazine so that the bales are stacked one above the other. This achieves significant space savings, which is economically advantageous. The bale magazine has a bale table on which the bales are stacked. The bale table is then raised so that the top bale reaches at least the level of the feed track.

[0007] A sensor limits the upward movement of the bale table by automatically registering the height to which the top bale in the bale stack has been raised. The sensor automatically detects when the top of the top bale has reached a so-called detection height. This detection height is located at such a height above the feed track that the height difference between the feed track and the detection height is at least equal to the height of one bale. This ensures that the top bale can be easily pushed off the bale stack and onto the feed track.

[0008] Using a transport trolley, the top bale is moved away from the bale stack and onto the feed track. Because the bale is still held together by belts at the time the transport trolley comes into contact with the bale, the bale does not unravel prematurely, which could lead to uncontrolled distribution of animal bedding and impair the function of the loading system. The transport trolley moves over the bale stack or over the bale table to a final position. The transport trolley then returns from its final position to a rest position so that the bale table can be raised again until the next bale in the stack triggers the sensor and stops the bale table from moving upwards again. When several bales have been removed from the bale stack one after the other and the bale table is empty, the bale table is lowered so that it can be filled with a new bale stack.

[0009] The transport carriage can initially move along a curved path (e.g., an oval one) from its rest position to its final position, thereby transferring the top bale from the stack to the feed conveyor. It can then continue along the curved path back to its rest position without reversing its movement, but with a reversal of direction. Alternatively, it can move back and forth in an oscillating motion, which supports a particularly economical and reliable design of the loading system.

[0010] The transport carriage can grasp the top bale using a pair of tongs, a gripper, or the like and move it from the stack to the feed track. In one embodiment considered advantageous, the transport carriage is designed as a feed carriage. It moves at a height such that it grasps the top bale and pushes it onto the feed track. Particularly gentle handling of the bale is achieved because the transport carriage only acts as a pusher, moving the bale horizontally. This also ensures that the straps holding the bale in shape do not cause interference, as could be the case, for example, if they were to collide with the tines or gripper jaws of a pair of tongs, thereby impairing the secure hold of a bale in the tongs.

[0011] In practice, straw bales with different dimensions are common, for example with bale heights of either 70 or 90 cm. Particularly economical operation of the loading system is made possible by the fact that both bale heights can be processed by the loading system and that this does not require any conversion of the loading system; rather, these different bale heights can occur either exclusively or mixed in any order within the stack. For this purpose, the detection height of the sensor is located so high above the feed track that even the taller bales are at least level with the bottom of the feed track when they trigger the sensor. For taller bales, this means that they can be moved from the stack to the feed track at practically the same height. For shorter bales, this means that they are located a certain distance above the feed track.If they are then moved from the bale stack onto the feed track, for example by being pushed, they tip over the edge of the bale below and initially reach the feed track at an angle until the rear edge of the top bale in the direction of movement also leaves the bale stack and the bale in question now lies flat on the feed track.

[0012] A separate transport device to move the bale on the feed track in the conveying direction is not required if the drive is via the next bale, in that the transport carriage, in particular if it is designed as a feed carriage, pushes the bale being loaded against the one or more bales on the feed track and thus also moves the bale lying on the feed track further in the conveying direction.

[0013] The bands are only cut once the bale is on the feed track. An economically advantageous, fully automatic design of the loading system is supported by the fact that the bands are cut automatically. For this purpose, the feed track is designed with a slot so that a knife can be guided through this slot and moved from one side of the feed track to the opposite side. The knife projects upwards through the slot, thus penetrating the bale from the underside. In this context, the invention is based on the consideration that the taut bands are not located on the outer circumference of the bale, but rather have been slightly pressed into the bale. The knife projects far enough above the feed track to be able to reliably grasp and cut the bands.

[0014] In one embodiment, the knife has a rotating blade disc. This allows for a cutting speed that is higher than the speed at which the knife moves along the slot, allowing the belts to be severed particularly reliably.

[0015] When using such a rotating knife disc, in one design of the loading system, the knife can be moved along a rack. A drive gear, which drives the knife along the slot and along the rack, meshes with the rack and has a smaller diameter than the knife disc. Both the knife disc and the drive gear are located on the same shaft and therefore run at the same speed, namely the shaft speed. The different diameters ensure that, as explained above, the peripheral speed of the knife disc and thus its cutting speed is greater than the movement speed of the knife.

[0016] The knife can be height-adjustable and raised to penetrate the bale from the slot. A technically simple and economically advantageous design of the loading system is supported by the fact that the knife can be moved into a rest position, i.e., a position in which it is not engaged with the bale, with this rest position being located to the side of the feed track. For such a design, the exemplary design with a rack and drive gear merely requires a corresponding extension of the rack and the guide elements that guide the knife along the rack, allowing it to be moved beyond the guide track into the rest position.

[0017] Fully automatic operation of the loading system is further supported in one embodiment by the fact that the initially severed straps are automatically removed from the bale and collected. For this purpose, the loading system has strap hooks which, like the knife, can be moved transversely to the feed track. However, the strap hooks are arranged at a distance above the feed track and at such a height that they are just below the top of the bale. As they move, the strap hooks therefore move into the bale close to the top and thus grasp the straps, even if they have pressed into the bale slightly. Since the straps have been severed on the underside of the bale, they can be removed from the bale using the strap hooks.

[0018] In this context, across the feed track means, as is the case with the knife, that the belt hooks can be moved from one side to the other side of the feed track.

[0019] The movement doesn't have to be linear, although this is advantageous, and it doesn't have to be at a 90° angle to the conveying direction, although this is advantageous due to the shortest possible distance. Rather, it is essential that the knife and the belt hooks move across essentially the entire width of the bale being processed, so that the belts can be reliably gripped by both the knife and the belt hooks.

[0020] The aforementioned ability to process bales of varying heights in the loading system is supported in one design of the loading system by the height-adjustable belt hooks. For this purpose, the belt hooks are mounted on a collection carriage, which serves to collect the belts and can also be moved transversely to the feed track. The collection carriage is guided along an inclined guide, namely a guide device that runs upwards in the conveying direction, allowing the collection carriage to be positioned at different heights above the feed track.

[0021] The most economical design of the loading system for such a collection wagon can be supported by ensuring that the height is not adjusted using electronic sensors and an electric drive, but rather purely mechanically. For this purpose, the loading system in one design has a stop plate that is inclined against the conveying direction, i.e. extends diagonally upwards against the conveying direction. The bale, which moves in the conveying direction on the feed track, therefore comes into contact with the stop plate and pushes it upwards, causing the collection wagon to move diagonally upwards along the inclined guide in the conveying direction. As soon as the lower edge of the stop plate is level with the top of the bale, the stop plate and thus the collection wagon are no longer raised, so that the belt hooks are now at a defined height in relation to the top of the bale.

[0022] In order to offer the bale as little resistance as possible on its way over the conveyor belt, so that the loading system can be operated with the least possible energy consumption, the stop plate in one embodiment has a sliding skid which is formed by the lower edge of the stop plate in that the lower edge is angled in the conveying direction.

[0023] The belt hooks grasp the belts that circulate around the bale in the conveying direction and lift these belts so that the belts are released from the bale. For this purpose, the belt hooks run diagonally downwards in their direction of movement so that the belts are pushed upwards on the belt hooks as the belt hooks move through the bale. The belt hooks can have a stop against which the belts are guided so that the belts are in a defined position on the belt hooks. In one embodiment, however, separate collecting hooks are assigned to the belt hooks which have the stop function. The collecting hooks are movable together with the belt hooks and extend upwards and in the direction of movement of the belt hooks so that the belts are caught in the collecting hooks as the collecting trolley moves.

[0024] The collecting hooks are not designed as sections of a strap hook, but rather as separate elements. In one embodiment, they are offset from the strap hooks, perpendicular to the direction of movement of the strap hooks. This reduces the unwanted entrainment of fibers from the bale along with the straps. The collecting hooks extend to a height lower than the upper edges of the strap hooks. This ensures the secure grip of the straps resting on the strap hooks.

[0025] In order to remove the straps gripped by the strap hooks and / or the collecting hooks from the collecting trolley, the loading system in one embodiment has a winder. The winder is rotatable about a horizontal axis, which is essentially aligned in the direction of movement in which the collecting trolley moves with the strap hooks and any provided collecting hooks. The winder has several carriers that are driven to rotate about this axis. The strap hooks and collecting hooks are arranged far enough apart from each other that the winder can reach between adjacent strap hooks and collecting hooks with its carriers without colliding with such a hook. Instead, the winder grips the straps using its carriers and winds them into a ball.

[0026] To remove the ball of wound straps from the carriers, almost any device can be used, such as pincer-like grippers or a pin that inserts into the ball and then pulls it away from the carriers. In one embodiment, the carriers extend through holes in a stripper plate and are movable relative to this stripper plate. They are spring-loaded in the direction of movement of the strap hooks and are urged by the spring force into a position in which they protrude from the stripper plate and toward the strap hooks. The carriers can be moved through the stripper plate, counteracting the spring action, in the direction of movement of the strap hooks.

[0027] For this purpose, at least one actuator is provided which is movable together with the strap hooks and, for example, strikes a holding structure to which the carriers are held together. Upon further movement of the strap hooks, e.g. of the collecting trolley to which the strap hooks can be attached, this actuator presses the holding structure and thus all the carriers in the direction of movement of the strap hooks, so that these are moved through the stripping plate against the spring action and the portion of the carriers effective for winding up the straps is continually reduced. In this way, it can be achieved that the ball falls off the carriers under the aid of gravity, so that no additional drive element needs to be provided in the loading system and instead the movement of the strap hooks also causes the straps to be removed from the winder.

[0028] When the belt hooks are then returned for a new working cycle, the drivers are also automatically returned to their starting position by the force of the spring, which is now relaxing again.

[0029] In a variant of this stripping arrangement, the stripping plate is not separately driven, but rather is mounted so that it can rotate freely. When the winder's flights are set in rotation, the stripping plate rotates automatically, as the flights extend through the holes in the stripping plate. When the flights are retracted by the stripping plate as described above, so that their effective portion is reduced and the sliver ball is stripped off, this movement of the flights is limited so that the flights cannot completely emerge from the stripping plate. This prevents an angular misalignment between the flights and the holes in the stripping plate, which could otherwise subsequently prevent the spring-assisted return of the flights to their working position.With this design, the drivers can therefore be retracted against the spring action to a maximum extent that their tips are still in the bores and the drivers therefore always remain in engagement with the stripper plate.

[0030] In order to design the stripper plate with a low wall thickness while using as little material as possible in this embodiment, the stripper plate can have a greater wall thickness only in the area of ​​the bores by providing it with sleeves there, specifically on the side of the stripper plate facing away from the strap hooks. In this way, the drivers can be retracted as completely as possible without protruding beyond the front of the stripper plate facing the strap hooks, even if the stripper plate is basically designed as a plate with a low material thickness of, for example, 3 mm. The wall thickness of the stripper plate, which is locally increased by the sleeves in the area of ​​the bores, reliably ensures that the drivers remain in engagement with the stripper plate even when retracted a correspondingly far. This avoids the rotational angle offset mentioned above.

[0031] As an alternative to mounting the stripper plate for free rotation, one embodiment can provide a rotationally driven synchronous with the drivers. This prevents a rotational angular misalignment between the drivers and the holes in the stripper plate, even if the drivers can be retracted so far that they emerge from the rear side of the stripper plate and disengage from the stripper plate.

[0032] The invention is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment of a charging system and purely schematic representations. Fig. 1 a side view of the embodiment of the charging system, Fig. 2 a front view of the loading system, seen from its bale magazine, Fig. 3 a perspective view of the entire charging system, Fig. 4 a perspective view of the area of ​​a feed carriage of the loading system, Fig. 5 a perspective view of the area of ​​a feed track of the loading system, Fig. 6 a perspective view of the area of ​​a knife of the loading system, Fig. 7 a perspective view of the area of ​​a collection vehicle of the loading system, Fig. 8 the area of ​​the collection vehicle from a different perspective, and Fig. 9 the area of ​​a winder of the charging system.

[0033] Fig. Figure 1 shows a side view of a loading system 1, which serves to fully automatically feed baled bedding to a spreading arrangement (not shown in the drawing), so that the spreading arrangement can spread the bedding in an animal stable. The spreading arrangement is designed as an overhead conveyor, so that a transfer unit 2 of the loading system 1 is arranged at a corresponding height above the ground.

[0034] In Fig. 1 on the left shows a bale magazine 3, which has a bale table 4 that serves to hold a bale stack, for example a stack of straw bales. The bale table 4 is in Fig. 1 in its raised position, in which it is located at the height of a feed track 5. Below the feed track 5, a knife 6 can be seen, which can be moved transversely to the conveying direction of the feed track 5. The conveying direction of a bedding bale taken from the bale stack is directed from the bale magazine 3 to the right, over the feed track 5 and up to a bale opener 7, which has a downwardly open discharge opening 8, from which the bedding can be transferred into a storage container of the spreading arrangement. Above the feed track 5, a collecting carriage 9 can be moved transversely to the conveying direction of the feed track 5 and to a wrapper 10, and can also be moved vertically along an inclined guide 11.

[0035] Fig. 2 shows a track 12 that extends to the left beyond the bale magazine 3. A feed carriage 14 is movable along this track 12.

[0036] Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the bale table 4, which in the illustrated embodiment is raised by a multi-shot hydraulic ram 15, but not to its highest position, in which it is at the level of the feed track 5 and in which the last, lowest bale is to be moved from the bale table 4 to the feed track 5. Fig. Rather, Figure 3 shows an intermediate position that the bale table 4 assumes, for example, when there are still two bales of bedding on the bale table 4 and only their upper bale is to be brought onto the feed track 5. The feed carriage 14 is used for this purpose. This can be moved along the track 12 to the side of the bale table 4, where it assumes a rest position in which it does not load a bale from the bale stack in the bale magazine 3. From the rest position next to the bale stack, the feed carriage 14 can be moved along the track 12 to the feed track 5.

[0037] Deviating from the illustrated embodiment, the bale table 4 can also be adjusted by means other than the illustrated hydraulic ram 15 or any hydraulic lifting technology. Purely as an example, an electric gear motor with a chain hoist and a counterweight can also be used as an alternative to raise or lower the bale table 4.

[0038] In Fig. 3 also shows one of two crescent-shaped stops 16 above the bale table 4. During operation, the bale table 4 is raised by means of the hydraulic ram 15 until the upper side of the top bale in the bale stack touches the stops 16, so that these serve as tactile sensors in a limit switch function.

[0039] The stops 16 thus define a detection height at which the presence of the top bale in the bale stack is detected. When the stops 16 are triggered by the bale and due to its upward movement and emit a switching signal, the height at which the triggering occurs represents the detection height of the stops 16. The height difference between the detection height and the feed track 5 is dimensioned such that the top bale in the bale stack has its underside at the level of the feed track 5 or higher when its top side rests against the stops 16. Due to their function as limit switches, which are connected to a control system of the loading system 1, the stops 16 trigger a switching signal upon contact with the bale, which is processed by the control system.By means of the control system, the further upward movement of the bale table 4 is automatically stopped, and the feed carriage 14, which is located in its rest position next to the bale magazine 3, is automatically started and moves toward the feed track 5. The feed carriage 14 pushes the top bale off the bale stack and onto the feed track 5.

[0040] The detection height of the stops 16 is structurally selected so that the tallest bale of different heights can be pushed onto the feed track 5 by the feed carriage 14. Bales of lower height can also be processed without requiring a change in the loading system 1. When the stops 16 are triggered, their lower edge is higher than the feed track 5 by the amount by which these bales are lower than the tallest bale that can be processed in the loading system 1. Accordingly, such a flatter bale, when pushed off the bale stack or, in the case of the lowest, last bale, off the bale table 4, tips down onto the feed track 5 by this amount.

[0041] Fig. Figure 4 illustrates the arrangement of the feed carriage 14 on the track 12 and shows a front impact surface of the feed carriage 14, which comes into contact with the respective bale and is designed as a lattice construction with a surrounding frame and several struts arranged within the frame. Fig. 4 Furthermore, it can be seen that the feed track 5 to the bale magazine 3 has a starting slope that rises in the conveying direction.

[0042] Fig. 5 shows a perspective view from below of the feed track 5. The feed track 5 is delimited laterally by guide plates 17 which project upwards from the plane of the feed track 5 and extend over the length of the feed track 5. The guide plates 17 are provided with a recess open at the bottom, and the feed track 5 is also interrupted at this point by a slot which extends transversely through the feed track 5. A knife 18, which is designed as a rotating knife disk and driven by a knife drive 19, can be moved back and forth along a knife guide 20 transversely below the feed track 5. The knife disk extends through the slot in the feed track 5 so that the knife 18 can penetrate from below into a bale lying on the feed track 5 and can sever bands which run around the bale 5 in the conveying direction.

[0043] Above the feed track 5 is Fig. 5 shows an inclined guide 21 which runs diagonally upwards in the conveying direction. A collecting carriage 22 can be moved along the inclined guide 21 by means of rollers. Connected to the collecting carriage, in front of the inclined guide 21 in the conveying direction, is a stop plate 23 which extends diagonally upwards, counter to the conveying direction. The stop plate 23 extends over such a height that cuboid bales of different heights located on the feed track 5 come into contact with the stop plate 23 with their front and upper edges. As such a bale is fed further forward, the stop plate 23 and thus the entire collecting carriage 22 is pushed upwards and runs up the inclined guide 21 until the bale is below the stop plate 23 and can be moved further in the conveying direction along the feed track 5.

[0044] The bale then moves underneath the collecting carriage 22. In this position, further advancement of the bale on the feed track 5 is interrupted. The knife 18 is now automatically activated, both in rotation and in movement transversely to the feed track 5. The collecting carriage 22 is also automatically activated, also transversely to the feed track 5, and grips the bale with strap hooks 24 and collecting hooks 25. The strap hooks 24 rise diagonally upwards. They grasp the straps severed by the knife 18 and carry them along in the direction of movement of the collecting carriage 22. Due to the diagonally rising upper edge of the strap hooks 24, the straps slide upwards on the strap hooks 24. In the illustrated embodiment, each strap hook 24 and the associated collecting hook 25 are designed as a single bent sheet metal part whose contour is laser-cut.

[0045] The collection hooks 25 are assigned to the belt hooks 24. They have a substantially C-shaped profile, open to the front in the direction of movement of the collection carriage 22, and extend lower than the upper edge of the belt hooks 24. Due to the C-shaped profile, the belts are grasped and collected in a defined arrangement.

[0046] Fig. Figure 6 shows, from a different perspective, that the knife drive 19 includes, among other things, a drive gear 26 that meshes with a rack 27 extending along the knife guide 20 transversely beneath the feed track 5. The drive gear 26 is mounted on the same shaft that also rotates the knife 18, so that the drive gear 26 and the knife 18 run at the same speed. The drive gear 26 has a smaller diameter than the knife 18, and the knife 18 cuts into the bale and the bands with a pulling cut from below.

[0047] Fig. Figure 7 shows that a winder 28 is arranged at the level of the collecting carriage 22. This winder has a rotatable stripping plate 29 provided with holes through which carriers 30 extend toward the collecting carriage 22. The winder 28 is mounted on a frame 31, on which the collecting carriage 22 can be moved transversely across the feed track 5 and which, together with the collecting carriage 22, can be moved vertically along the inclined guide 21.

[0048] Fig. 8 shows in comparison to Fig. 7 shows a view of the feed track 5 and the winder 28 from the opposite side. The collecting carriage 22 can be moved along the frame 31 transversely to the feed track 5. For this purpose, a drive motor 32 is provided which drives a chain 33 so that the collecting carriage 22 can be moved back and forth depending on the direction of rotation of the drive motor 22, initially approaching the winder 28 and then returning to its starting position, in which it has the greatest distance from the winder 28.

[0049] Fig. Figure 9 illustrates the function of the winder 28. A shaft 35 is rotated by a gear motor 34, which shaft carries a drive plate at its end opposite the gear motor 34. The drive plate is axially movable with respect to the shaft 35, but is connected to the shaft 35 in a rotationally fixed manner, so that it can be rotated together with the shaft 35. Drives 30, which extend through the holes in the stripper plate 29, are mounted on the drive plate 34. A helical spring 36, designed as a compression spring, urges the drive plate toward the stripper plate 29.

[0050] As the collecting carriage 22 approaches the winder 28, the strips held on the collecting hooks 25 enter the capture range of the drivers 30, which rotate together with the driver plate. As it continues to move, the collecting carriage 22 pushes the driver plate against the action of the spring 36 toward the gear motor 34, so that the driver plate is displaced axially toward the shaft 35. As a result, the drivers 30 are drawn into the stripper plate 29, so that a ball formed from the wound strips is automatically stripped off the drivers 30 and falls downwards due to gravity. Since the winder 28 is arranged laterally next to the feed track 5, the free fall of the ball is not impeded, so that the ball can, for example, fall into a collecting tray.

[0051] During the time during which the bands were automatically removed from the bedding bale by means of the knife 18, the collecting carriage 22 and the wrapper 28, the feed carriage 14 automatically moved along the track 12 to its rest position. The hydraulic ram 15 was then automatically raised further until the next, now uppermost bale in the bale magazine 3 hit the stops 16, so that a new feed is automatically triggered and the feed carriage 14 moves from its rest position towards the feed track 5. The bale pushed from the bale magazine 3 onto the feed track 5 now forms a rear bale on the feed track 5 and in turn serves as a drive for the non-driven front bale already on the feed track 5, the bands of which have been removed by the collecting carriage 22. This front bale is thus pushed further along the feed track 5 in the conveying direction and reaches the Fig. 1, which can be designed in a conventional manner and, in the illustrated embodiment, has two opening rollers arranged one above the other that shred the bale. The fibers fall out of the bale opener 7 through the discharge opening 8 into a storage container of the dispensing assembly. Reference symbol: 1 charging system 2 transfer unit 3 bale magazine 4 ball table 5 Feed track 6 knives 7 bale openers 8 Dispensing opening 9 collection vehicles 10 winders 11 Inclined guide 12 lanes 14 feed carriages 15 hydraulic rams 16 stops 17 Baffle 18 knives 19 Knife drive 20 Knife guide 21 Inclined guide 22 collection vehicles 23 Stop plate 24 strap hooks 25 collecting hooks 26 Drive gear 27 Dental splint 28 winders 29 Stripper plate 30 carriers 31 frame 32 drive motor 33 Chain 34 Gear motor 35 Wave 36 spring

Claims

[1] Loading system (1) for an arrangement for distributing bedding in an animal stable, with a bale magazine (3) which, during use, holds several bales of compressed bedding material, and with a transfer unit (2) designed to feed the bales individually and successively to the spreading arrangement, wherein the transfer unit (2) has a feed track (5) on which, in use, a bale removed from the bale magazine (3) lies and is moved in a conveying direction to the discharge arrangement, characterized by , that the bale magazine (3) is designed as a vertical magazine, • with a ball table (4), ◯ which has dimensions to accommodate a bale ◯ and on which, in use, a stack of bales is placed, consisting of several bales arranged one above the other, ◯ and which is height adjustable, • and with a sensor, ◯ which is designed to detect the top of a bale at a detection height, ◯ and which is arranged at a distance above the bale table (4), ◯ and wherein the detection height is at a height which is at least the height of a bale above the height at which the feed track (5) of the transfer unit (2) is located, • and with a transport carriage that can be moved back and forth between a rest position and an end position, ◯ wherein the transport carriage is movable from the rest position towards the feed track (5), ◯ and wherein the transport carriage is movable in such a way that during its movement between the rest position and the end position it grasps the top bale of the bale stack and brings it onto the feed track (5). [2] Charging system according to claim 1, characterized by , that the transport carriage is designed as a feed carriage (14) and is arranged at such a height that during its movement between the rest position and the end position it grasps the top bale of the bale stack and pushes it onto the feed track (5). [3] Charging system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by , that the bale magazine (3) is designed to accommodate bales of different heights, and the detection height of the sensor is at a height which is at least the height of a highest bale above the height at which the feed track (5) is located. [4] Charging system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized byin that the feed track (5) has a slot which crosses the feed track (5) and in which a knife (18) is movable from one side of the feed track (5) to the other, the knife (18) extending upwards beyond the feed track (5) in such a way that the knife (18) cuts into the underside of a bale lying on the feed track (5) and above the slot. [5] Charging system according to claim 4, characterized by that the knife (18) has a rotating knife disc. [6] Charging system according to claim 5, characterized by , that the knife (18) can be moved along a rack (27), and is connected to a drive gear (26) which meshes with the rack (27), and that both the knife (18) and the drive gear (26) are mounted on a drive shaft, wherein the diameter of the knife (18) is larger than the diameter of the drive gear (26). [7] Charging system according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized by that the knife (18) is movable into a rest position located next to the feed track (5). [8] Charging system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that at a distance above the feed track (5) belt hooks (24) are movable transversely to the feed track (5) from one side of the feed track (5) to the other, wherein the belt hooks (24) are arranged at such a height above the feed track (5) that they dip into the upper region of the bale in such a way that they grasp belts circulating around the bale during their movement transversely to the feed track (5). [9] Charging system according to claim 8, characterized by , that the belt hooks (24) are held on a collecting carriage (22) which can be moved transversely to the feed track (5), and that the collecting carriage (22) is guided on an inclined guide (21) in such a way that it is movable along the inclined guide (21) in the conveying direction and upwards. [10] Charging system according to claim 8 or 9, characterized by , that the strap hooks (24) run diagonally downwards in their direction of movement, and that the strap hooks (24) are assigned collecting hooks (25), which are movable together with the strap hooks (24) and which extend upwards and in the direction of movement of the strap hooks (24). [11] Charging system according to claim 10, characterized by that collecting hooks (25) are arranged transversely to the direction of movement of the strap hooks (24) and offset at a distance from the strap hooks (24) and extend downwards to a height which is lower than the upper edges of the strap hooks (24). [12] Charging system according to one of claims 9 to 11, characterized by , that the collecting carriage (22) is connected to a stop plate (23) which is arranged in front of the collecting carriage (22) in the conveying direction and extends counter to the conveying direction and upwards, wherein the stop plate (23) extends over such a height that a bale moved in the conveying direction over the feed track (5) comes against the stop plate (23) and lifts it, and wherein the inclined guide (21) extends upwards so far that the stop plate (23) can be raised above the bale. [13] Charging system according to claim 12, characterized by that the stop plate (23) has a lower edge which is angled in the conveying direction and forms a sliding skid. [14] Charging system according to one of claims 8 to 13, characterized by , that the tape hooks (24) are movable to a winder (28), which is rotatable about a horizontal axis aligned in the direction of movement of the strap hooks (24), and a plurality of drivers (30) which are driven to rotate around the axis. [15] Charging system according to claim 14, characterized by that the drivers (30) • extend through holes in a stripping plate (29), • and are mounted so as to be spring-loaded in the direction of movement of the belt hooks (24), and that the collecting carriage (22) acts on the drivers in such a way that at the end of the movement path of the belt hooks (24), the drivers (30) are moved in the direction of movement of the belt hooks (24) and against the spring action through the stripping plate (29). [16] Charging system according to claim 15, characterized by that the stripping plate (29) is freely rotatable, and that the mobility of the drivers (30) in the direction of movement of the belt hooks (24) is limited such that the drivers (30) always protrude partially into the stripping plate (29). [17] Charging system according to claim 16, characterized by , that the stripping plate (29) has sleeves on its side facing away from the strap hooks (24) which extend the bores, and that the mobility of the drivers (30) in the direction of movement of the strap hooks (24) is limited in such a way that the drivers (30) always protrude partially into the sleeves. [18] Charging system according to claim 15, characterized by that the stripping plate (29) is rotationally driven synchronously with the drivers (29).

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