Round Bale Twine Arm Control for Uniform Wrap Spacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Agricultural balers often apply binding material, such as twine, inconsistently, leading to misshapen bales and crop loss due to uneven spacing, which affects stacking, storage, and transportation.
Innovation Solution
A baler system with a dispensing arm controlled by a controller that moves in specific patterns and speeds to ensure consistent twine spacing, using actuators and gear trains to adjust for varying resistive and assistive forces during the bale binding process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the dispensing arm moves at high speed to increase productivity, then the binding material application speed increases, but the spacing consistency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic speed control of the dispensing arm based on real-time position feedback. The arm speed is not constant but varies during the binding cycle - faster during certain phases and slower during others - to maintain consistent twine spacing while maximizing overall productivity. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction between speed and precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses position sensors to continuously monitor the dispensing arm's location and feeds this information back to the controller. The controller adjusts the arm speed based on this feedback to ensure the twine is applied at the correct spacing intervals, maintaining precision even at high operating speeds.
2Device complexity
If the dispensing arm follows a simple arc motion, then the device complexity is reduced, but the twine spacing uniformity deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces simple arc motion with dynamic, variable-speed motion along a controlled path. The dispensing arm follows a predetermined trajectory but adjusts its speed dynamically to compensate for the changing geometry of the motion, ensuring uniform twine spacing. This adds complexity to the motion control while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the speed parameter of the dispensing arm during the binding cycle based on the arm's position and the required twine spacing. By adjusting the speed parameter dynamically along the motion path, the system achieves uniform spacing without requiring complex mechanical adjustments.
3Reliability
If multiple binding material applications are made to ensure complete coverage, then the bale securing reliability improves, but the binding time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements continuous binding material application throughout the entire bale formation and binding process. The dispensing arm remains active and continuously applies binding material as the bale is formed and compacted, rather than applying material in discrete separate steps. This continuous action ensures complete coverage and reliable securing while minimizing total binding time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies binding material in advance during the bale formation phase before final compacting. By starting the binding process early and continuously, the material is already in place to secure the bale structure, eliminating the need for separate post-compacting binding operations and reducing total time.
Data Source
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AI summary
A baler has a dispensing arm movably mounted to a frame and configured to dispense twine to wrap a bale of crops. The bale has a first end, a second end, a center, and a rotation axis extending along a longitudinal axis of the bale. The twine arm is moveable between a stowed position, a first position near the first end of the bale, and a second position near the second end of the bale. A controller is operatively coupled to the dispensing arm to control movement of the dispensing arm between the first end, a first and second catch position, and the second end. The controller is programmed to move the dispensing arm with a fast stroke at portions of the bale and a slower apply stroke a different portions of the bale to wrap the bale with twine having consistent spacing along the longitudinal axis of the bale.