PRESS WITH SCREW CONVEYOR

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a press, in particular an agricultural baler, having at least one roller on the circumferential surface of which screw flights are provided which wrap around the roller at least in regions in opposite directions for conveying material, and having at least one roller, a flexible pressing means wrapping around the roller and at least one screw conveyor.

[0002] Screw conveyors are well known. They are used, for example, on presses to convey material, particularly loose material. If a screw conveyor is used on an agricultural press, the loose material is usually harvested material, such as hay, straw, or silage. If the press is an industrial press, it can be used, for example, to press paper, cardboard, waste, or textiles. Such screw conveyors usually extend across the width of a press's pressing chamber and are designed as a roller with two counter-rotating screw flights arranged on their surface. The screw conveyor is set in rotation when the press is in operation, so that the screw flights carry the loose material and transport it to a predetermined area of ​​the pressing chamber. This is usually an edge area or a central area of ​​the pressing chamber.There, the product or material is then fed, if necessary again, into the material stream to be pressed. For example, DE-A1-4113311 shows a screw conveyor located in the immediate vicinity of a roller, scraping off any material accumulating on the roller and feeding it to a discharge point.

[0003] Further presses and screw conveyors are known, for example, from the following documents: US 2016 / 286726 A1, DE 40 19 335 A1 and US 2021 / 084824 A1.

[0004] With conventional screw conveyors or presses with such screw conveyors, it can happen that the material is not conveyed optimally, for example, depending on the press design or the respective harvesting conditions. Furthermore, or alternatively, depending on the press design, the accumulating / conveyed material or the pressure exerted by this material on the pressing device can lead to increased wear, for example in the form of abrasion and / or increased wear, particularly of the pressing device.

[0005] The object underlying the invention is therefore to provide a screw conveyor and a press by which the aforementioned disadvantages are overcome.

[0006] The object is achieved according to the invention by the teaching of patent claim 1.

[0007] Further advantageous embodiments and developments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

[0008] In this regard, a screw conveyor for a baler has at least one roller, on the circumferential surface of which screw flights are provided, which at least partially wrap around the roller in opposite directions for conveying material. The screw flights are designed in such a way that they collect the material in two collection areas arranged outside a central area of ​​the screw conveyor, thereby improving the conveyance of the material and thus preventing excessive stress on a pressing means in a central area of ​​the screw conveyor and possibly increased wear. The baler can be, in particular, an agricultural baler, for example, a baler for forming round-cylindrical bales. The material to be baled is, in particular, hay, straw, or silage.However, it is also conceivable that the press is designed as an industrial press, such as those used for forming bales of waste, paper or textiles.

[0009] It is particularly advantageous if two screw flights are provided, which preferably overlap each other at least in some areas. With such a configuration, the material collects in the areas where the overlap ends. It is particularly advantageous if the screw flights overlap at least substantially in a central region of the roll. In this way, the screw flights, especially when arranged in opposite directions, convey or distribute the material over or beyond the central region, thus preventing an accumulation of material in the central region.

[0010] It is particularly advantageous if the collection areas are located at least substantially adjacent to the central area. If one of the screw flights ends in one of the collection areas, it conveys the material it carries to this collection area, where it is combined with the material conveyed by the other screw flight.

[0011] A particularly simple structure and / or a particularly uniform conveyance of the material results if the screw conveyor and / or the screw helix is / are designed symmetrically, in particular symmetrically to a central axis of the screw conveyor, which is preferably aligned perpendicular to a rotational axis of the screw conveyor.

[0012] It is advantageous if a press with at least one roller and a flexible pressing means wrapping around the at least one roller has a screw conveyor as described above. In this way, material which accumulates, for example, on one side of the pressing means can be brought together in two collection areas and from there fed to a material flow or a pressing process without overloading and / or increased wear of the press or the pressing means. The press is in particular an agricultural baler for forming round-cylindrical bales, in particular from harvested material such as hay, straw or silage. Such a press can be pulled by another vehicle or be self-propelled. Alternatively, such a press can also be used in the industrial sector, for example to form bales of paper, waste, fabric or other materials.

[0013] According to the invention, the press has a variable pressing chamber, which is formed in sections by the pressing means. The pressing means has an inner side facing the pressing chamber and an outer side facing away from the pressing chamber. The screw conveyor is preferably arranged on the outer side of the pressing means, so that it gathers the material or product accumulating on the outer side into the two collection areas.

[0014] The pressing means can be formed in one piece. However, according to the invention, the pressing means comprises a plurality of, in particular three, pressing belts, with a gap preferably being provided between at least two of the pressing belts. If at least one of these gaps correlates at least substantially with one of the collection areas of the screw conveyor, material located in the collection area can pass through the gap from one side of the pressing means to the other side or to an inlet of the press, from where it can preferably be fed to the pressing chamber or a pressing process.

[0015] If the screw conveyor is arranged at least substantially adjacent to one roller, it can interact with it, for example, by preventing the accumulation / adhesion of material / product on the roller or by entraining and / or removing material adhering to the roller. If the at least one roller or the screw conveyor is arranged above an inlet into the pressing chamber, material / product conveyed by the screw conveyor and / or removed by the roller can enter the pressing chamber via the inlet and be fed into a pressing process.

[0016] It is conceivable for the screw conveyor to extend only partially into the press chamber, for example, only into an edge area. However, particularly uniform conveying is achieved if the screw conveyor extends at least substantially across the width of the press chamber. The screw conveyor and / or the roller can be provided as movable relative to the press itself or a press frame, or alternatively, with respect to the press itself or a press frame. However, it is particularly advantageous if the screw conveyor or the roller, and in particular both the screw conveyor and the roller, are provided as stationary.

[0017] Advantageously, the roller and / or the screw conveyor are provided with a drive mechanism. It is particularly advantageous if the screw conveyor can be driven in such a way that the material to be conveyed is conveyed through the screw flight toward the center area. In suitable applications, however, conveying toward the end areas of the screw conveyor is also conceivable.

[0018] The invention as well as further advantages and advantageous developments of the invention and embodiments of the invention are described and explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, which shows an embodiment of the invention.

[0019] It shows: Fig. 1 a side view of a press with several rollers arranged in a housing, a pressing means wrapping around them and a screw conveyor, Fig. 2 an enlarged three-dimensional view of the screw conveyor, an adjacent roller and the pressing means wrapping around it and Fig. 3 the screw conveyor from Figure 1 .

[0020] In the Figure 1The drawing shows an embodiment of a press 10 which has a frame 14 carrying a housing 12, which is supported on the ground 18 via a chassis 16. The press 10 shown is designed in the manner of a round baler and can be used both in the agricultural and industrial sectors for producing a bale, usually referred to as a round bale, in particular a round-cylindrical bale, from harvested material, but also from waste, paper, fabric or textile, cotton, tobacco, etc. Such a press 10 can be pulled by a work vehicle (not shown), preferably in the manner of an agricultural tractor, or it can also be self-propelled.

[0021] According to the present embodiment, a drawbar 20 is provided on the front of the frame 14 to enable the baler 10 to be attached to a tractor (not shown) and pulled across a field. A receiving device 22 in the form of a pick-up serves to receive crop material lying on the ground 18, e.g., hay or straw laid in a swath. The crop material received by the receiving device 22 is fed via an inlet 24 into a baling chamber 26, where it is spirally rolled into a round-cylindrical bale, tied, and then deposited on the ground 18.

[0022] At the inlet 24 of the pressing chamber 26, a lower, stationary roller 28 and two upper rollers 30, 32 are positioned. The pressing chamber 26 is further formed by an endless pressing means 34, which according to the present embodiment is designed as three adjacent pressing belts 34.1, 34.2, 34.3 (see Figure 2(the drawing) and is guided around a stationary roller 36 and a plurality of stationary and movable rollers 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56. The pressing means 34 has an inner side 34a facing the pressing chamber 26 and an outer side 34b. Two pressing belts 34.1, 34.2, 34.3 define a gap 35.1, 35.2 between them. Adjacent to the stationary roller 36, on the outer side 34b of the pressing means 34, a screw conveyor 58 is provided, which will be discussed in more detail below.

[0023] While the pressing chamber 26 is essentially surrounded on the circumference by the pressing means 34 and the rollers 28, 30 and 32, it is laterally delimited by side walls not shown.

[0024] The pressing means 34 assumes an initial state in which it is stretched straight and bridges the inlet 24, and a final state in which it wraps itself around a bale (not shown) like a large loop. The baling chamber 26 is thus variable in size, i.e., its diameter increases with the size of the bale. During its formation, the bale is located in the pressing chamber 26 and is largely wrapped around by the pressing means 34, but falls backward from the pressing chamber 26 onto the ground 18 as soon as the bale formation process is completed and a counterclockwise pivoting discharge flap 60 of the baler 10 opens.

[0025] It will now also be on the Figure 3Reference is made to the drawing, in which the screw conveyor 58, which is provided adjacent to the roller 36, outside the pressing chamber 26 defined by the pressing means 34, is shown in more detail. According to the embodiment shown, the screw conveyor 58 has a cylindrical hollow body or a roller 62, with a peripheral surface 64, a first and a second edge region 66a, b, a central region 68 and end faces 70a, b. Adjoining the end faces 70a, b of the roller 62 are end regions 72 which are designed such that they can be rotatably received in bearings (not shown) on the frame 14 of the baler 10. The screw conveyor 58 can also be set in rotation during operation by means of a drive (not shown).

[0026] On the circumferential surface 64 of the roller 62, a first and a second worm spiral 74a, b are provided, which wrap around the roller 62 starting from the end faces 70a, b in the direction of the central region 68. The worm spirals 74a, b wrap around the roller 62 in opposite directions, i.e., the first worm spiral 74a wraps around the roller 62 counterclockwise when viewed from the end face 70a, and the second worm spiral 74b wraps around the roller 62 clockwise when viewed from the end face 70b. Both worm spirals 74a, b extend beyond a central axis M of the roller 62, so that they overlap in the central region 68 and each end or run out in a collecting region 69 adjacent to the central region 68.

[0027] These collection areas 69 are arranged in such a way that they correlate with gaps 35.1, 35.2 between the individual press belts 34.1, 34.2, 34.3. How it works:

[0028] During operation, the screw conveyor 58 is rotated by the drive (not shown) in such a way that material located on the outer side 34b outside the pressing chamber 26 is conveyed by the screw flights 74a, b in the direction of the central region 68 of the screw conveyor 58. This is shown in Figure 3 the drawing is illustrated by the arrows A pointing from the end faces 70a, b to the central region 68 of the screw conveyor 58.

[0029] Material accumulating in the central region 68 is conveyed by the overlapping arrangement of the screw flights 74a, b in the central region 68 in the direction of the end faces 70a, b, as indicated by the arrows B.

[0030] Due to the opposing conveying directions of the screw flights 74a, b, the material is collected in the collection areas 69. Since the collection areas 69a, b are arranged in such a way that they correlate with the gaps 35.1, 35.2 between the press belts 34.1, 34.2, 34.3, the material collected and accumulated in the collection areas 69 can pass through the gaps 35.1, 35.2 to return to the inlet 24 of the press 10. The material then enters the pressing chamber 26 via the inlet 24 and is fed into the actual pressing process. Word list

[0031] 10 press 36 stationary roller 12 Housing 38 - 56 rollers 14 Frame 58 screw conveyor 16 chassis 60 Ejection flap 18 Underground 62 role 20 drawbar 64 circumferential area 22 Recording device 66a, b peripheral area 24 inlet 68 Midrange 26 Press room 69 Collection area 28 lower stationary roller 70a, b End faces 30 first upper stationary roller 72 End areas 32 second upper stationary roller 74a, b screw flight 34 Pressing agents M center axis 34.1, 2, 3 Press belt D axis of rotation 34a inside AWAY arrows 34b outside 35.1, 35.2 gap

Claims

1. Press (10), in particular an agricultural baler, having at least one roller (36), a flexible pressing means (34) winding around the roller (36) and at least one worm conveyor (58), wherein the press (10) has a variable pressing chamber (26) which is formed, in some regions, by the pressing means (34), wherein the pressing means (34) has an inner face (34a) facing the pressing chamber (26) and an outer face (34b) remote from the pressing chamber (26), and the worm conveyor (58) is preferably arranged on the outer face (34b) of the pressing means (34), wherein the pressing means (34) has a plurality of, but in particular three, pressing belts (34.1, 34.2, 34.3), wherein the worm conveyor (58) has at least one roll (62), screw flights (74a, b) winding in opposing directions at least in some regions around the roll being provided on the peripheral surface (64) thereof for conveying material, characterized in that the screw flights (74a, b) are configured such that they bring together the material in two collecting regions (69) arranged outside a central region (68) of the worm conveyor, wherein a gap (35.1, 35.2) is provided between at least two of the pressing belts (34.1, 34.2, 34.3), said gap correlating with one of the collecting regions (69) of the worm conveyor (58).

2. Press (10) according to Claim 1, characterized in that two screw flights are provided, said screw flights preferably overlapping one another in some regions, in particular, however, at least in the central region (68).

3. Press (10) according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the collecting regions (69) are provided to be adjacent to the central region (68), wherein in each case one of the screw flights (74a, b) terminates in one of the collecting regions (69).

4. Press (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the collecting regions (69) are configured symmetrically to a central axis (M) of the worm conveyor (58) and / or the worm conveyor (58) or the screw flights (74a, b) is / are configured symmetrically, in particular to the central axis (M), wherein the central axis (M) is oriented perpendicular to a rotational axis (D) of the worm conveyor (58).

5. Press according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the worm conveyor (58) is provided to be adjacent to the roller (36) and / or the at least one roller (36) and / or the worm conveyor (58) is arranged above an intake (24) into the pressing chamber (26) .

6. Press according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the worm conveyor (58) extends at least substantially over the width of the pressing chamber (26) and / or is arranged in a stationary manner relative to the pressing chamber (26).

7. Press according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the roller (36) and / or the worm conveyor (58) are provided to be drivable.