ROUND BALE PRESS

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a round baler, in particular an agricultural round baler with a variable baling chamber for producing cylindrical round bales, with at least one rotating baling means and at least one sensor device with a pivoting device, a pickup which is pre-tensioned on the pivoting device in the direction of the baling means so that it is in contact with the baling means, and a sensor for determining the position of the pivoting device.

[0002] Round balers are used to collect crops or baled material and form them into cylindrical bales. These types of round balers are often used in agriculture to collect straw or hay that has been laid in swaths on the ground. The external shape of the round bale depends on the evenness of the baled material feed. If the material feed is uneven, the baling device can be subjected to one-sided loading, causing the round bale to rotate. This results in not only the movement component in the direction of travel of the baling device but also a transverse movement component that may cause the baling device to run at an angle. Such an angled movement of the baling device can lead to the baling device tearing or, if several baling devices are placed parallel to one another on the rollers, the rollers crossing over each other.Damage to the baling device can occur particularly if the baling device comes into contact with a side wall or frame of the round baler due to the slanted running.

[0003] From US Pat. No. 4,224,867, it is known to detect the shape of the round bale using sensors that determine the tension of the baling device, which is designed as a belt, and to provide an operator with a corresponding indication of the round bale's irregularity by means of a visual or acoustic display. The operator can supply more baled material to the side of the baling chamber that is lacking in baled material by changing the loading, e.g., by adjusting the driving style. Such sensors may not function optimally if the baling device is running at an angle. A round baler according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from EP3 760 032 A1.

[0004] The object underlying the invention is therefore to provide a round baler by which the aforementioned disadvantages are overcome.

[0005] The object is achieved according to the invention by the teaching of patent claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments and developments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

[0006] In this regard, a round baler with at least one rotating pressing means has at least one sensor device, which in turn has a pivoting device, a pickup, and a sensor. The pickup is mounted on the pivoting device pre-tensioned in the direction of the pressing means, such that it is in contact with the pressing means in order to pivot the pivoting device depending on the tension of the pressing means. The sensor is used to determine the position of the pivoting device. The information provided by the sensor can enable conclusions to be drawn about the shape of the formed bale, so that, for example, an operator and / or a control unit can influence the crop feed or the loading of the round baler. The sensor device also has a deflector that pivots the pivoting device upon contact with the pressing means, regardless of the tension of the pressing means.In this way, the deflector can pivot the pivoting device if or as soon as the baling means no longer rotates optimally, for example, shifts diagonally, particularly towards a side wall of the round baler. The sensor then provides corresponding information so that the operator and / or the control unit can influence the operation of the round baler. In particular, the round baler is an agricultural round baler for producing cylindrical pressed bales. However, it is also conceivable that it is an industrial round baler, for example a baler for producing bales of paper, textiles, waste, or other materials.

[0007] It is particularly advantageous if the swivel device is swivelled by the deflector in a manner different from the pickup, preferably more strongly, and / or if the sensor, when swivelled by the deflector, provides information different from that provided by the pickup, so that the operator or the control unit can recognise that a situation differing from the normal operating situation exists, in particular in the sense of a skewed running of the pressing means.

[0008] If the deflector is provided at least substantially adjacent to the sensor on the swivel device, this can promote a compact design of the sensor device.

[0009] If the round baler has at least one side wall and the sensor device is located adjacent to the side wall, the sensor device can provide corresponding information when the baling means shifts its desired path toward the side wall. Alternatively or additionally, the deflector can be located on a side of the receiver facing the side wall, so that it comes into contact with the baling means when the baling means shifts toward the side wall.

[0010] It is conceivable for the receiver to be rigid. However, improved functionality is achieved if it has at least one roller, particularly a rotating one. Such a roller can be in contact with the pressing means and preferably rotate at least partially with it. This can result in improved guidance and / or reduce friction and thus wear on the pressing means and / or receiver.

[0011] It is particularly simple in construction if the pickup and the deflector are connected, preferably firmly, with a common pivot shaft.

[0012] It is particularly advantageous if the sensor device has a mounting bracket. The sensor device can be attached to a frame of the baler, for example, via the mounting bracket. The pivoting device can be pivotably mounted on the mounting bracket. For example, the pivot shaft can be rotatably mounted in a bearing device provided on the mounting bracket.

[0013] It is advantageous if the sensor is designed as a potentiometer. For example, the sensor can detect a pivoting movement of the pivoting device relative to the round baler and / or the mounting bracket.

[0014] The preload of the pivoting device can be easily achieved by means of a spring element, wherein the spring element preferably engages the pivoting device with a first end, preferably via a pivot arm, and the bracket with a second end. The spring element is preferably designed in the form of a tension spring.

[0015] It is conceivable for the round baler to be equipped with only one sensor device. However, it is particularly advantageous if the round baler has two sensor devices, each arranged adjacent to a side wall of the round baler. The baling means can be designed as a single piece, whereby the sensor devices can be arranged such that they interact with respective edge regions of the baling means. Preferably, however, the baling means has two baling belts, with one of the sensor devices interacting with each of the baling belts.

[0016] 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.

[0017] It shows: Fig. 1 a side view of a round baler with several rollers arranged in a housing, a pressing means wrapping around them and a sensor device with two sensor devices, Fig. 2 an enlarged, perspective view of one of the sensor devices, Fig. 3 a-b an enlarged detail view of the pressing means having two pressing belts and one of the sensor devices in a first position viewed from above or below the pressing means and Fig. 4 a, b the Figure 3a , b corresponding representation of the pressing means or the pressing belts and the sensor device in a second position.

[0018] In the Figure 1an embodiment of a round baler 10 is shown, which has a housing 12 and a frame 14 supported on a chassis 16. A drawbar 18 is arranged on the front of the frame 14 in order to be able to attach the round baler 10 to a tractor and pull it across a field. A receiving device 20 in the form of a pick-up serves to collect crop lying on the ground, e.g. hay or straw laid in a swath. The crop picked up by the receiving device 20 is fed to the inlet 22 of a baling chamber 23, where it is spirally rolled into a round-cylindrical bale, tied, and then laid on the ground. A lower, stationary roller 24 and two upper rollers 26, 28 are positioned at the inlet 22 of the baling chamber 23.The baling chamber 23 is further formed by an endless pressing means 30 in the form of two pressing belts 32 arranged directly adjacent to one another, which are guided around a number of rollers 34-54 and which have an inner side 32a facing the bale to be formed and an outer side 32b. While the baling chamber 22 is essentially surrounded circumferentially by the pressing means 30 and the rollers 24 to 28, it is laterally delimited by side walls 56.

[0019] Four of the rollers 46 to 52 are freely rotatably mounted at the lower end of a delta-shaped carrier 57, which is pivotally mounted about its upper tip about a rotational axis A running horizontally and transversely to the forward direction and is driven by an actuator (not shown) from the Fig. 1 shown bale formation position into a bale ejection position pivoted backwards and upwards.

[0020] A tensioning mechanism for tightening the pressing means 30 comprises a tensioning arm 58, two rollers 38, 42 movably arranged at the radially outer end region of the tensioning arm, and a tensioning element (not shown). The tensioning arm 58 is pivotally mounted in a bearing 60 in the region of the side walls 38 above and in front of the rotational axis A about an axis extending horizontally and transversely to the forward direction and extends below the plane in which the stationary upper rollers 34, 36, 44 are arranged. The tensioning element is conventionally designed as a mechanical spring or a hydraulic motor.

[0021] The upper rollers 26, 28 and the roller 54 are attached to a pivotable pivot frame 64, which is mounted in its central region around a shaft 62 extending horizontally and transversely to the forward direction. The roller 54 and the rollers 26, 28 are freely rotatably mounted in the pivot frame 64, with the roller 26 extending coaxially to the shaft 62. The pivot frame 64 can be pretensioned into a specific position by means of a tensioning element (not shown).

[0022] The pressing means 30 is always applied so tightly to the rotating, stationary roller 34 by means of the tensioning arm 58 that its movement is ensured. The roller 54 is also driven in rotation. The pressing means 30 assumes an initial state in which it is stretched straight and bridges the inlet 22, and an end state in which it wraps itself around the bale 36 like a large loop, approximately as in the Figure 1shown. The baling chamber 12 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 baling chamber 12 and is largely wrapped around by the pressing means 30, but falls backward from the baling chamber 12 onto the ground as soon as the support 57 with the movable rollers 46 to 52 pivots upward in a counterclockwise direction (as viewed in the drawing).

[0023] In a region 66 of the baling chamber 23 facing the drawbar 18, a sensor device 68 is provided for detecting a tension in the pressing means 30. The sensor device 68 has a sensor device 70 adjacent to a first and a second side wall 56 of the housing. The sensor devices 70 are essentially identical, although mirror-imaged, with only one of the sensor devices 70 being described in more detail below.

[0024] It will now also be on the Figure 2 Reference is made to the drawing, in which the sensor device 70, arranged on the left as viewed from the direction of the drawbar 18, is shown in more detail. The sensor device 70 has a holder 72, via which the sensor device 70 is attached in a known manner to the frame 14 of the round baler 10, and a pivoting device 74. The pivoting device 74 comprises a pivot shaft 76, a receiver 78, a deflector 80 and a pivot arm 82. The holder 72, in turn, has a bearing device 84 rigidly connected to it, in which the pivot shaft 76 is rotatably received, which extends from the holder 72 essentially horizontally in the direction of the baling chamber 23.

[0025] The pivot shaft 76 has a first end portion 76a adjacent to the bracket 72 and a second end portion 76b opposite the first end portion 76a. A sensor 85 is provided on the bracket 72i, which interacts with the first end portion 76a of the pivot shaft 76 such that it can determine a degree of pivoting between the pivoting device 74 or the pivot shaft 76 and the bracket 72. Preferably, the sensor 78 is designed as a potentiometer, which interacts with a control unit (not shown) of the round baler 10 and provides the control unit and / or an operator with information about the degree of pivoting of the pivot shaft 76.

[0026] The pivot arm 82 is fixedly connected to the pivot shaft 76 adjacent to the first end region 76a, and the receiver 78 is fixedly connected to the second end region 76b. The receiver 80, in turn, is provided between the two end regions 76a, b and is also rotationally fixedly connected to the pivot shaft 76. The pivot arm 82 is arranged offset from the receiver 78 or the deflector 80 by at least approximately 180°.

[0027] A spring element 86 engages the pivot arm 82 with a first end 86a. A second end 86b of the spring element 86 is connected to a shoulder 88 of the holder 72, which shoulder projects away from the latter in the direction of the pressing chamber 23, in such a way that it preloads the pivot shaft 76 and thus the deflector 80 and the receiver 78 in the direction of the pressing means 30. For this purpose, the spring element 86 is preferably designed as a tension spring, but can also be designed in another suitable manner.

[0028] Two rollers 90 are rotatably mounted on the receiver 78 in a region facing away from the pivot shaft 76, which rollers 90, in a substantially normal operating situation, bear against the pressing means 32 or against the outer side 32b of one of the pressing belts 32 in order to interact with the latter.

[0029] The deflector 78 has a support 92 extending essentially parallel to the receiver 78 away from the pivot shaft 76. A double-angled holder 94 is fixedly attached to the support 92 and extends from the support 92 in the direction of the holder 72. The holder 94 is angled such that, adjacent to the support 92, it has a surface 96 which is essentially flush with an upper side of the rollers 90. Adjacent to this surface 96 is an upwardly rising contact surface 98 which terminates in an end region 100 which is angled downwards in the direction of the holder 72 and which runs at least essentially parallel to the surface 96.

[0030] The following will now describe in more detail the functioning of the sensor devices 70. In this regard, reference will also be made to the Figure 3a , b and 4a , b of the drawing, in which only one of the sensor devices 70 is shown. The operation of the second sensor device 70 corresponds to the operation of the first sensor device 70.

[0031] The Figure 3a , bshows one of the sensor devices 70 in an operating situation of the round baler 10 in which the pressing means 30 or the pressing belt 32 interacting with the respective sensor device 70 runs as straight as possible or parallel to a longitudinal axis (not shown) of the round baler 10. The sensor of the sensor device 70 rests against the pressing belt 32 or its outer side 32b and pivots the pivot shaft 76 depending on the tension of the pressing belt 32. If the tension is higher, the pivot shaft 76 pivots more than at a lower tension. This pivoting is recorded by the sensor 85 between the holder 72 and the pivot shaft 76. The sensor 85 transmits values ​​or information representing the tension state to a control unit (not shown). The opposite sensor device 70 also determines corresponding values ​​for the opposite area of ​​the pressing means 30 or the second pressing belt 32.In such an operating situation, the pressing means 30 or the pressing belt 32 does not act on the deflector 80.

[0032] Based on the determined information or differences in the values, conclusions can be drawn about the shape of the bale. For example, increased tension in one of the baling belts 32 indicates that the bale is larger in the area of ​​this baling belt 32 than in the area of ​​the second baling belt 32 and / or exceeds a maximum value. The control unit or an operator can then, based on the determined values, adjust the crop feed / loading accordingly. This can be done, for example, by the round baler 10 or a tractor (not shown) changing its track in order to adjust the pickup of a swath of crop accordingly.

[0033] However, it may also happen that the pressing means 30 or in particular one of the pressing belts 32, particularly due to uneven feeding and the resulting transverse forces, no longer runs parallel to the longitudinal axis or at an angle and shifts, for example, towards the corresponding side wall 56 of the round baler 10. In this situation, it may be that the contact between the pressing belt 32 and the sensor 76 is partially or completely lost and / or that misleading values / values ​​not adapted to the operating situation are recorded or that such information is provided via the sensor 85. According to the illustration in the Figure 4a , bThe press belt 32 now comes into contact with the deflector 80. In particular, the press belt 32 acts on the contact surface 98 of the deflector 80. The further the press belt 32 is displaced toward the side wall 56, the greater the influence of the press belt 32 on the contact surface 98 and the more the deflector 80 and thus the pivot shaft 76 are pivoted.

[0034] In such an operating situation, see Figure 4a , b, the pivot shaft 76 pivots independently of the sensor 78 due to the contact of the baling belt 32 with the deflector 80, which, without the action of the deflector 80, would potentially provide incorrect and / or misleading information due to the oblique or suboptimal path of the baling belt 32. Due to the rising shape of the contact surface 98, the pivot shaft 62 pivots particularly sharply, so that the values ​​provided by the sensor 85 significantly exceed those provided in a "normal" operating situation. These values ​​are made available to the operator and / or the control device, allowing manual and / or automatic control of the operation of the round baler 85. Word list

[0035] 10 Round baler 12 Housing 14 Frame 16 Chassis 18 Drawbar 20 Pick-up device 22 Inlet 23 Baling chamber 24 Lower, stationary roller 26, 28 Upper rollers 30 Endless pressing means 32 Press belt 32a Inside 32b Outside 34 - 54 Rollers 56 Side walls 57 Delta-shaped support A-axis 58 Tension arm 60 Bearing 62 Shaft 64 Swing frame 66 Area 68 Sensor device 70 Sensor devices 72 Bracket 74 Swing device 76 Swing shaft 76a, b End areas 78 Pick-up 80 Deflector 82 Swing arm 84 Bearing device 85 Sensor 86 Spring element 86a, b End 88 Shoulder 90 Rollers 92 Support 94 Holder 96 Area 98 Contact area 100 End area

Claims

1. Roundbaler (10), in particular an agricultural roundbaler, having a variable pressing chamber (23) for producing cylindrical round bales, having at least one circulating pressing means (30) and having at least one sensor device (70) that has a pivoting device (74), has a pick-up (78), which is received on the pivoting device (74) so as to be preloaded in the direction of the pressing means (30) such that it is in contact with the pressing means (30), and has a sensor (85) for determining the position of the pivoting device (74), characterized in that the sensor device (70) has a deflector (80) which, upon contact with the pressing means (30), pivots the pivoting device (74) independently of the tension of the pressing means (30).

2. Roundbaler according to Claim 1, characterized in that the pivoting device (74) is pivoted by the deflector (80) differently than the pick-up (78), preferably more intensely, and / or the sensor (85), in the event of pivoting by the deflector (80), provides information different than the information brought about by the pick-up (78).

3. Roundbaler according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the deflector (80) is provided in a manner at least substantially adjoining the pick-up (78) on the pivoting device (74).

4. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the roundbaler (10) has at least one side wall (56) and the sensor device (70) adjoins the side wall (56) and / or the deflector (80) is provided on a side of the pick-up (78) that faces the side wall (56).

5. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pick-up (78) has at least one roller (90).

6. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pick-up (78) and the deflector (80) are connected, preferably fixedly, to a common pivot shaft (76).

7. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor device (70) has a holder (72) and the pivoting device (74) is provided pivotably on the holder (72).

8. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensor (85) is in the form of a potentiometer and / or picks up pivoting of the pivoting device (74) with respect to the roundbaler (10) and / or the holder (72).

9. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivoting device (74) is preloaded by means of a spring element (86), wherein the spring element (86) preferably acts on the pivoting device (74) at a first end (86a), preferably via a pivot arm (82), and acts on the holder (72) at a second end (86b).

10. Roundbaler according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the roundbaler (10) has two sensor devices (70) which are each arranged so as to adjoin a side wall (56) of the roundbaler (10), and in that the pressing means (30) has preferably two pressing belts (32), wherein in each case one of the sensor devices (70) interacts with one of the pressing belts (32).