Dual density system for double baler

Abstract

A baler (102) has a splitter knife (302) in the baling chamber forming first and second bale-forming compartments (212), (214) to concurrently form two bales. A pressure system (216) acts on the enclosures of the baling chamber to control the density of the bales. The pressure system includes a hydraulic circuit (502) that separately acts to adjust the density of the bales being formed. A controller compares the measured weight of the formed bales and separately causes the pressure system to adjust the density of the bales being formed in the first and second bale-forming compartment to obtain a desired weight of subsequent bales formed in the first and second bale-forming compartments.

Description

DUAL DENSITY SYSTEM FOR DOUBLE BALERBACKGROUNDField

[0001] This disclosure relates to agricultural harvesting machines such as balers and, more particularly, to a double baler that concurrently forms two bales of crop material.Description of Related Art

[0002] Picking up and baling of material in a field is an internal aspect of farming and is an expensive and labor-intensive process. The material normally is forage such for example, hay, biomass, alfalfa, straw, coastal Bermuda, and corn stalks and is referred to herein as crop material. Typically, crop material picked-up by machinery and fed to a baling chamber where the crop material is compressed and tied to form bales. To that end, a baler is typically mechanically coupled with a tractor, and a power take-off (PTO) mechanism transfers power from the tractor's engine to drive the baler's operation. “Square” bales are often preferred in that the square-shouldered bales facilitate stacking, delivery and use and as used herein, square bales means bales having square shoulders. Conventional square hay balers include a bale forming chamber and a reciprocating plunger that slides into and out of the chamber. As the chamber receives loose hay material, the plunger slides into the chamber during a compaction stroke to compress the charge of loose hay material into the form of a bale. Such balers typically include a drive train that transmits power to the reciprocating plunger. Once the bale reaches a predetermined length, it is tied and ejected through a discharge outlet to fall onto the ground behind the baler. The process continues to create the next bale.

[0003] Attempts to improve baling efficiency have included the production larger balers that produce very large, high-density bales. These large square bales are heavy and impossible to move by hand, making them undesirable for the small hobby farmer. Attempts have been made to take a larger baler and convert it into a double baler that simultaneously produces two bales of a reduced size such as by U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,203 to Klemm et al.

[0004] However, crop windrows are not always perfectly uniform across their widths, so charges with volumes that are uneven from one side to the other are sometimes fed into the baling chamber. Furthermore, even when the crop windrows are substantially uniform,operators sometimes deviate from perfect positioning over them, which can also result in the charges having uneven densities. When uneven charges are incorporated into growing bales of a double baler, the bale formed in one side of the baling chamber can have a significantly higher weight than the bale formed on the other side of the baling chamber. Even with substantially uniform windrows, problems may arise when baling in the morning when the dew is on the crop material and the sun is coming up. During these hours, there is considered a sunny side and shaded side of the windrow. When baling with a double baler, the bale from the shaded side will weigh more than the bale from the sunny side because the dew is already leaving the crop as the sun is hitting the crop material.

[0005] Accordingly, there is a need for an independent density system so different pressure / tension can be applied to either side so that the bales produced by the double baler end up weighing substantially the same. This background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art.BRIEF SUMMARY

[0006] In one aspect invention is directed to an agricultural baler having a pickup assembly configured to take cut plant material from the ground and move the plant material to a baling chamber and compress the plant material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger, the baling chamber being formed with a plurality of enclosures includes a floor, a roof and opposing side walls, and where the finished bales are ejected rearwardly from a discharge end of the baling chamber onto a bale chute carried behind the baler. The baler includes a stationary splitter knife mounted in the baling chamber extending between the floor and the roof and intermediate the side walls of the baling chamber such that plant material moved into the baling chamber is split by movement of the plunger relative to the splitter knife and pushed into first and second bale-forming compartments to concurrently form a first bale in the first baleforming compartment on one side of the splitter knife and a second bale in the second baleforming compartment on an opposite side of the splitter knife, where the bales urged from the first bale forming compartment are received onto a first receiving platform of the bale chute and the bales from the second bale forming compartment are received onto a second receiving platform of the bale chute. The baler includes a pressure system configured to act on at least one of the plurality of enclosures of the baling chamber to control the density of the bales being formed in the first and second bale-forming compartments. The pressure system includes a hydraulic circuit that causes the pressure system to separately act upon the first and second25018W0 bale-forming compartments to separately adjust the density of the bale being formed in the first bale-forming compartment and the bale being formed in the second bale-forming compartment. The baler includes a first load cell that interacts with the first receiving platform so as to measure the weight of a bale on the first receiving platform, and a second load cell that interacts with the second receiving platform so as to measure the weight of a bale on the second receiving platform, and a controller. The left and right load cells are connected with the controller, where the controller compares the measured weight of the bales on the first and second receiving platforms with a desired bale weight, where when the measured weight of the bale formed in the first or second bale-forming compartment is less than or greater than the desired bale weight. The controller causes the pressure system to adjust the density of the bale being formed in the first or second bale-forming compartment to adjust the weight of subsequent bales formed in the first or second bale-forming compartment.

[0007] This summary is provided to introduce concepts in simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the disclosed or claimed subject matter and is not intended to describe each disclosed embodiment or every implementation of the disclosed or claimed subject matter. Specifically, features disclosed herein with respect to one embodiment may be equally applicable to another. Further, this summary is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. Many other novel advantages, features, and relationships will become apparent as this description proceeds. The figures and the description that follow more particularly exemplify illustrative embodiment.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the figure number in which that element is first introduced.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of an example baler machine configured to receive loose plant material and shape and secure the material into a bale;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a baling chamber of the baler of FIG. 1 ;

[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates is cutaway perspective view of the baling chamber of FIG. 2.

[0012] FIG. 4 a rear elevation view of the baling chamber showing a bale chute for use with the baler of FIG. 1 ;

[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a hydraulic circuit for the baler of FIG. 1 ; and

[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of a controller.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] The invention will now be described in the following detailed description with reference to the drawings, wherein preferred embodiments are described in detail to enable practice of the invention. Although the invention is described with reference to these specific preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to these preferred embodiments. But to the contrary, the invention includes numerous alternatives, modifications and equivalents as will become apparent from consideration of the following detailed description. Many of the fastening, connection, processes and other means and components utilized in this invention are widely known and used in the field of the invention described, and their exact nature or type is not necessary for an understanding and use of the invention by a person skilled in the art, and they will not therefore be discussed in significant detail. Also, any reference herein to the terms "left" or "right" are used as a matter of mere convenience and are determined by standing at the rear of the machine facing in its normal direction of travel.Furthermore, the various components shown or described herein for any specific application of this invention can be varied or altered as anticipated by this invention and the practice of a specific application of any element may already be widely known or used by persons skilled in the art and each will likewise not therefore be discussed in significant detail.

[0016] In this description, references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Separate references to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are not mutually exclusive unless so stated. Specifically, a feature, component, action, step, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments but is not necessarily included. Thus, particular implementations of the present invention can include a variety of combinations and / or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

[0017] As used herein, the singular forms following “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “may” with respect to a material, structure, feature, or method act indicates that such is contemplated for use in implementation of an embodiment of the disclosure, and such term isused in preference to the more restrictive term “is” so as to avoid any implication that other compatible materials, structures, features, and methods usable in combination therewith should or must be excluded. As used herein, the term “configured” refers to a size, shape, material composition, and arrangement of one or more of at least one structure and at least one apparatus facilitating operation of one or more of the structure and the apparatus in a predetermined way.

[0018] As used herein, any relational term, such as “first,” “second,” “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “above,” “beneath,” “side,” etc., is used for clarity and convenience in understanding the disclosure and accompanying drawings, and does not connote or depend on any specific preference or order, except where the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0019] As used herein, the term “about” used in reference to a given parameter is inclusive of the stated value and has the meaning dictated by the context (e.g., it includes the degree of error associated with measurement of the given parameter, as well as variations resulting from manufacturing tolerances, etc.). As used herein, the term “substantially” in reference to a given parameter, property, or condition means and includes to a degree that one skilled in the art would understand that the given parameter, property, or condition is met with a small degree of variance, such as within acceptable manufacturing tolerances. By way of example, depending on the particular parameter, property, or condition that is substantially met, the parameter, property, or condition may be at least 90.0% met, at least 95.0% met, at least 99.0% met, or even at least 99.9% met.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, an example agricultural baler 102 is shown into which embodiments of the present invention may be incorporated. Although the example baler 102 is a towed square baler, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present invention may be incorporated into other types of balers (e.g., self-propelled) with few or no changes. Broadly, the baler 102 may be configured to move over a field and collect previously cut plant material and to compress, shape, and secure the collected plant material into a plurality of bales. The baler 102 may generally include a pickup assembly 104, a stuffer chute assembly 106, a reciprocating plunger 108, and a baling (or compression) baling chamber 110. Additionally, the baler 102 may be hitched to a towing vehicle (not shown) by a tongue 112, and power for operating the various mechanisms (e.g., the reciprocating plunger 108) of the baler 102 may be supplied by a power take-off of the towing vehicle.

[0021] As is known in the art, the pickup assembly 104 may be configured to collect the cut plant material from the field. The stuffer chute assembly 106 may be configured to direct the collected plant material into position to be moved into the baling chamber 110. In one implementation, the stuffer chute assembly 106 may include a charge-forming charge forming duct 114 extending from an inlet opening adjacent to the pickup assembly 104 to an outlet opening into the baling chamber 110. The crop material is moved into the baling chamber 110 where the reciprocating plunger 108 may be configured to compress the plant into a growing bale. In one implementation, the plunger 108 may be configured to reciprocate within the baling chamber 110 in repeating compression and retraction strokes across the outlet opening of the charge-forming duct. As the plunger 108 retracts, the outlet opening is uncovered and an additional flake, charge, or other subunit of plant material enters the baling chamber 110, and as the plunger 108 extends the outlet opening is covered and the additional subunit of plant material is compressed into the growing bale such that compacted bales are formed by making successive compaction strokes. Finished bales are ejected from a discharge end 116 of the baling chamber 110 rearwardly onto a bale chute (see FIG. 4). Rearward movement of each bale is detected with a sensor such as a starwheel (not shown). Bale movement sensors such as starwheels are known in the art and need not be discussed further herein. A controller 118, which may be on the baler 102 or on the towing vehicle is configured to measure the weight of the finished bales as will be discussed below.

[0022] Turning now to FIG. 2, the baling chamber 110 is formed with a plurality of enclosures comprising a floor 202, a roof 204 and opposing side walls 206. Thus, the enclosures comprising the floor 202, roof 204 and side walls 206 cooperate to substantially define the baling chamber 110 and to form and contain the growing and finished bales. As is customary, the floor 202 and the roof 204 are formed using spaced slats 208 separated by gaps to allow for components of a knotter system (not shown) to pass between the slats 208 in order to wrap a binding material such as twine around the finished bale as is known in the art. The reciprocating plunger 108 may be configured to compress the plant material coming from the charge forming duct 114 into the space between the floor 202, the roof 204 and the side walls 206 of the baling chamber 110.

[0023] In one embodiment, a dividing partition 210 splits the baling chamber 110 into a left bale forming compartment 212 and a right bale forming compartment 214. The dividing partition 210 is generally in a plane parallel with the side walls 206 of the baling chamber 110.Desirably, the dividing partition 210 has a length that extends to a discharge end 116 of the baling chamber 110. The dividing partition 210 is secured in the baling chamber 110 with suitable mounting means in the roof 204 and the floor 202 using sound engineering judgment.

[0024] As best seen in the view of the baling chamber 110 illustrated in FIG. 3 having portions of the left side removed for clarity, the plunger 108 pushes the crop material against and past a stationary splitter knife 302 which extends in the baling chamber 110 between the floor 202 and the roof 204 in a plane substantially parallel with the side walls 206. In one embodiment, the dividing partition 210 extends rearward from the splitter knife 302. As the plunger 108 moves rearwardly, the plunger 108 comes close to contacting the splitter knife 302 but, preferably, does not contact the knife. Thus, the plunger 108 mashes the flakes of crop material against the splitter knife 302 to split each flake as it enters the bale forming portion of the baling chamber 110. The compressed crop material split by movement of the plunger 108 relative to the splitter knife 302 is pushed into the separate left and right bale-forming compartments 212, 214 to concurrently form first and second bales, with the first bale formed in the left bale forming compartment 212 on one side of the splitter knife 302 and the second bale formed in the right bale forming compartment 214 on the other side of the splitter knife 302.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, a pressure system 216 acts on at least one of the enclosures of the baling chamber 110 to aid in controlling the density of the bales formed in the left and right bale-forming compartments 212, 214. In the illustrated embodiment, the pressure system 216 acts upon the roof 204 and the floor 202. In an alternated embodiment, the pressure system 216 may act on the side walls 206 of the baling chamber 110. The illustrated embodiment of the pressure system 216 includes a left cylinder 218 configured to adjust the density in the left bale forming compartment 212 and a right cylinder 220 configured to adjust the density in the right bale forming compartment 214. The left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 are configured to exert forces on the roof 204 of the left and right bale-forming compartments 212, 214 respectively in order to facilitate compressing and forming the bales. In the illustrated embodiment, the pressure cylinders 218, 220 are hydraulically operated. However, one skilled in the art will understand that the pressure cylinders may be mechanically or otherwise extendable and retractable. One skilled in the art will understand that in an alternate embodiment, the cylinders may act on the side walls 206 using sound engineering judgment.

[0026] Slats 208 forming the left and right side of the roof 204 and floor 202 may present a forward end 222 which is pivotably mounted, and a rearward end 224 which is relatively free to move. The forward end 222 may be pivotably mounted using, e.g., a hinge, rod, or similar pivot mechanism 226. Each of the left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 may be mounted so as to act on an area of its respective roof 204 that is closer to the rearward end 224 of the roof 204 than to the forward end 222. Thus, as the left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 extend and contract to maintain a desired force on their respective slats 208, the forward ends 222 of the roof 204 pivot about their mountings pivot mechanisms 226 and the rearward ends 224 move downwardly or upwardly (relative to the baling chamber 110). Downward movement of the slats 208 act to further compact the space that the crop material is fed into and thereby increase the density of the bale. Conversely, upward movement of the slats 208 act to decrease the density of the bales. As is known in the art, each of the left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 may include a first portion 228 and a second portion 230 that may be hydraulically, mechanically, or otherwise extensible from and retractable into the first portion 228 in order to produce the desired force on the roof 204. In the illustrated embodiment, hydraulic fluid is applied to the left cylinder 218 from a left branch line 232 of a hydraulic circuit 502 (FIG. 5) and to the right cylinder 220 from a right branch line 234 of the hydraulic circuit 502. The force may be transmitted to the roof 204 through plates 236 controlled by the respective left and right cylinders 218, 220.

[0027] Desirably, each side of the pressure system 216 includes an upper bar 238 and a connecting linkage 240 that connects to a lower bar 242 that interacts with the slats 208 that make up the floor 202 of the baling chamber 110. The connecting linkage 240 is able to transmit forces from the respective left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 to the floor 202 on each side of the baling chamber 110. Accordingly, the pressure system 216 is able to control a force on both the roof 204 and the floor 202 to effectively squeeze the bales being formed in the left and right bale-forming compartments 212, 214. The connecting linkage 240 can be of any suitable design understood by one skilled in the art.

[0028] Turning now to FIG. 4, the finished bales are ejected rearwardly from the discharge end 116 of the baling chamber 110 onto a bale chute 402 carried behind the baler 102. The bale chute 402 positions the finished bales so that they are placed on the field behind the baler 102 for subsequent collection. The bales urged from the discharge end 116 of the left bale forming compartment 212 are received onto a left receiving platform 404 and the bales from the rightbale forming compartment 214 are received onto a right receiving platform 406 of the bale chute 402. As the bales are urged rearwardly off the left and right discharge platforms 404, 406 a sufficient distance to no longer be supported by the bale chute 402, the bales fall to the ground.

[0029] The left receiving platform 404 has a weigh table with at least one left load cell 408 (shown schematically) that interacts with the left receiving platform 404 so as to measure the weight of a bale on the left receiving platform 404 as the bale leaves the left bale forming compartment 212 of the baling chamber 110 and is positioned on the bale chute 402. The right receiving platform 406 has a weigh table with at least one right load cell 410 (shown schematically) that interacts with the right receiving platform 406 so as to measure the weight of a bale on the right receiving platform 406 as the bale leaves the right bale forming compartment 214 of the baling chamber 110 and is positioned on the bale chute 402. The left and right load cells 408, 410 are connected with the controller 118 (FIG. 1). The controller 118 compares the measured weight of the bales with a desired bale weight. If the measured weight is less than or greater than the desired bale weight, the controller 118 notifies the operator of the baler 102 or takes automatic corrective action to adjust the weight of subsequent bales as will be discussed below.

[0030] Turning now to FIG. 5, a hydraulic circuit 502 is shown that is configured to control the force applied by the left cylinder 218 and the right cylinder 220. The hydraulic circuit 502 is configured to separately actuate the left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 and may include a pressure line 504, a return line 506, a left pressure control valve 508, and a right pressure control valve 510. The left pressure control valve 508 feeds the left branch line 232 to supply hydraulic fluid to the left cylinder 218 and the right pressure control valve 510 feeds the right branch line 234 to supply hydraulic fluid to the right cylinder 220. The left and right pressure control valves 508, 510 are controlled by the controller 118. Hydraulic fluid may be selectively added (from a reservoir, not shown) via the pressure line 504 to increase hydraulic pressure, and may be removed (to the reservoir) via the return line 506 to decrease hydraulic pressure. Each of the left and right pressure control valves 508, 510 may be coupled with the pressure and return lines 504, 506, and may be further coupled with a respective left and right pressure cylinders 218, 220 via left and right branches 232, 234, and may be openable to allow hydraulic fluid in a respective hydraulic cylinder 218, 220 to move into or out of the cylinder 218, 220 via the branch lines 232, 234. The controller 118 may increase or decrease thehydraulic fluid pressure in a particular hydraulic cylinder 218, 220 to raise or lower the density of the bales formed in the left and right bale-forming compartments 212, 214. One skilled in the art will understand that the hydraulic circuit 502 may be configured such that the left and right hydraulic cylinders 218, 220 may single acting cylinders or double acting cylinders without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0031] Often it may be the case that uneven charges are incorporated into the growing bales of the baler 102 such that the bale formed in the bale forming compartment one side of the baling chamber 110 can have a can have a weight that is more or less than the desired weight at the finished bale length even when the bale formed in the other bale forming compartment has the desired weight. The controller 118 determines the weight measurements for bales from both bale forming compartments 212, 214, and if one side is not producing bales of the desired weight, can use the pressure system 216 to adjust the cylinder 218 or 220 on the appropriate side, as necessary. Thus, the left and right cylinders 218, 220 are individually and separately controlled so that bales of the desired weight can be produced from both bale forming compartments 212, 214 even when the crop conditions coming into the bale forming compartments are not equal.

[0032] Referring now to FIG. 6, an embodiment of the example controller 118 depicted in FIG. 1, which comprises a computer architecture is shown. It should be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that the controller 118 depicted in FIG. 6 is one example illustration, and that in some embodiments, fewer, greater, and / or different computer architecture components may be used. Also, it should be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that certain well-known components of computer systems are omitted here to avoid obfuscating relevant features of the controller 118. The controller 118 is configured with application software 602 that receives measurements from the left and right load cells 408, 410 of the left and right receiving platforms 404, 406 to calculate the weight of the finished bales. The application software 602 observes the weight of each bale to determine if the weight is within a desired range of the desired bale weight. The application software 602 may monitor the bale weights to either take a number of samples to determine an average weight reading.

[0033] In one embodiment, the controller 118 comprises one or more processing units 604, input / output (I / O) interface(s) 606, and memory 608, all coupled to one or more data busses, such as data bus 610. The memory 608 may include any one or a combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., random-access memory RAM, such as DRAM, SRAM, and SDRAM,etc.) and nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., ROM, Flash, solid state, EPROM, EEPROM, hard drive, CDROM, etc.). The memory 608 may store a native operating system, one or more native applications, emulation systems, or emulated applications for any of a variety of operating systems and / or emulated hardware platforms, emulated operating systems, etc. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 6, the memory 608 comprises an operating system 612 and application software 602. The application software 602 comprises executable code that receives input from the load cells 408, 410 corresponding to the weight of the bale. The application software 602, calculates the bale weight value. Additional software may be used in some embodiments, including graphical user interface (GUI) software, browser software, communications software, etc. It should be appreciated that the application software 602 may be distributed among one or more software modules in the controller 118 or distributed in whole or in part in a remote computing device. In some embodiments, a separate storage device may be coupled to the data bus 610 or coupled via the I / O interfaces 606, such as a persistent memory (e.g., optical, magnetic, and / or semiconductor memory and associated drives).

[0034] Execution of the application software 602 is implemented by the processing unit 604 under the auspices of the operating system 612. In some embodiments, the operating system 612 may be omitted and a more rudimentary manner of control implemented. The processing unit 604 may be embodied as a custom-made or commercially available processor, a central processing unit (CPU) or an auxiliary processor among several processors, a semiconductor based microprocessor (in the form of a microchip), a macroprocessor, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), a plurality of suitably configured digital logic gates, and / or other well-known electrical configurations comprising discrete elements both individually and in various combinations to coordinate the overall operation of the controller 118. Note that the controller 118 may comprise additional functionality, including one or more of the functions provided by the control system.

[0035] When certain embodiments of the controller 118 are implemented at least in part in logic configured as software / firmware, as depicted in FIG. 6, it should be noted that the logic can be stored on a variety of non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by, or in connection with, a variety of computer-related systems or methods. In the context of this document, a computer-readable medium may comprise an electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical device or apparatus that may contain or store a computer program for use by or in connection with a computer-related system or method. The logic may be embedded in avariety of computer-readable mediums for use by, or in connection with, an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions.

[0036] The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. An agricultural baler (102) having a pickup assembly (104) configured to take cut plant material from the ground and move the plant material to a baling chamber (110) and compress the plant material in the baling chamber with a reciprocating plunger (108), the baling chamber being formed with a plurality of enclosures comprising a floor (202), a roof (204) and opposing side walls (206), and wherein the finished bales are ejected rearwardly from a discharge end (116) of the baling chamber onto a bale chute (402) carried behind the baler, the baler comprising:a stationary splitter knife (302) mounted in the baling chamber extending between the floor and the roof and intermediate the side walls of the baling chamber such that plant material moved into the baling chamber is split by movement of the plunger relative to the splitter knife and pushed into first and second bale-forming compartments (212), (214) to concurrently form a first bale in the first bale-forming compartment on one side of the splitter knife and a second bale in the second baleforming compartment on an opposite side of the splitter knife, wherein the bales urged from the first bale forming compartment are received onto a first receiving platform (404) of the bale chute and the bales from the second bale forming compartment are received onto a second receiving platform (406) of the bale chute;a pressure system (216) configured to act on at least one of the plurality of enclosures of the baling chamber to control the density of the bales being formed in the first and second bale-forming compartments, the pressure system comprising a hydraulic circuit (502) that causes the pressure system to separately act upon the first and second bale-forming compartments to separately adjust the density of the bale being formed in the first bale-forming compartment and the bale being formed in the second baleforming compartment;a first load cell (408) that interacts with the first receiving platform so as to measure the weight of a bale on the first receiving platform, and a second load cell (410) that interacts with the second receiving platform so as to measure the weight of a bale on the second receiving platform; anda controller (118), the left and right load cells connected with the controller, wherein the controller compares the measured weight of the bales on the first and second receiving platforms with a desired bale weight, wherein when the measured weight of the bale formed in the first or second bale-forming compartment is less than or greater than the desired bale weight, the controller causes the pressure system to adjust the density of the bale being formed in the first or second bale-forming compartment to adjust the weight of subsequent bales formed in the first or second baleforming compartment.

2. The baler of claim 1 wherein the pressure system acts upon the roof and the floor.

3. The baler of claim 1 wherein the pressure system includes a first cylinder (218) configured to adjust the density in the first bale forming compartment and a second cylinder (220) configured to adjust the density in the second bale forming compartment.

4. The baler of claim 3 wherein the left and right pressure cylinders are configured to exert forces on the roof of the left and right bale-forming compartments respectively in order to facilitate compressing and forming the bales.

5. The baler of claim 4 wherein the hydraulic circuit is configured to separately actuate the left and right pressure cylinders.

6. The baler of claim 5 wherein the hydraulic circuit comprises a pressure line (504), a return line (506), a left pressure control valve (508), and a right pressure control valve (510), wherein the left pressure control valve (508) feeds a left branch line (232) to supply hydraulic fluid to the first cylinder and the right pressure control valve (510) feeds a right branch line (234) to supply hydraulic fluid to the second cylinder.

7. The baler of claim 6 wherein the controller controls the pressure system to adjust the first or second cylinder.

8. The baler of claim 1 further comprising a dividing partition (210) extending rearward from the splitter knife.

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