Forage compacting method and apparatus

Abstract

A forage compactor for compressing forage or crop into bales of increased crop density for transportation. A crop feed area feeds crop to a conveyor where it is moved to a scale area for proper bale weight. An indexer severs the crop while moving it from the scale area to the compression chamber. The crop is compressed and moved to a strapping chamber where straps are applied to the compressed crop. The bound bale is manipulated as desired at the product handling area downstream from the strapping. chamber. The crop is provided with substantially constant stress during compression and moisture sensors in the strapping chamber sense the moisture content of the severed crop within the bale to be bound. The weight of the crop within the compression area may be reduced to reduce machine overloading. Keyway plungers provide reduced side loading on the main ram used for crop compression. The feed inlet area is located on the same side of the. compression chamber as the exit chamber to allow for more efficient operation and area utilisation.

We claim:  
     
         1 . Forage compactor to compress forage into bales comprising a crop inlet area, a scale, a conveyor to convey crop to said scale, an indexer to convey said crop from said scale to a compression chamber, a compress plunger to compress said crop in said compression chamber and an eject plunger to eject said compressed crop from said compression chamber, said compressed crop being ejected from a crop outlet area downstream of said compression chamber, said crop inlet area and said crop outlet area being located on the same side of said conveyor.  
     
     
         2 . Forage compactor as in  claim 1  and further comprising at least one pump to provide hydraulic fluid to said compress plunger, said pump having a pressure compensator, said pressure compensator being operable to allow said compress plunger to exert a substantially constant pressure on said crop within said compression cylinder for a predetermined time period and a hydraulic fluid relief sensor to relieve said pressure on said crop following said predetermined time period.  
     
     
         3 . Forage compactor as in  claim 2  and further comprising a moisture sensor downstream from said compression chamber, said moisture sensor sensing the moisture in said bale.  
     
     
         4 . Forage compactor as in  claim 3  and further including a container controller to determine the total weight to be held by said container, the number of bales to be held by said container and the optimal weight of each of said bales to be held by said container to obtain said total weight, said container controller being operable to increase the weight of bales if said weight of some of said bales is less that said optimal weight.  
     
     
         5 . Forage compactor as in  claim 4  and further comprising a sensor to determine hydraulic fluid pressure within said compression chamber during compression of said crop within said compression chamber and the weight of said crop within said compression chamber, said sensor reducing the weight of said crop within said compression chamber when said fluid pressure exceeds a predetermined limit.  
     
     
         6 . Forage compactor as in  claim 5  and further comprising a keyway in said compress plunger and said compression cylinder, and a key extending between said keyways.  
     
     
         7 . Forage compactor as in  claim 6  and further comprising platens at said strapping chamber to hold said compressed crop and a strapping assembly mounted for reciprocal movement adjacent said platens, said strapping assembly being operable to install at least one of a plurality of straps on said compressed crop within said platens.  
     
     
         8 . Forage compactor as in  claim 7  and further comprising bagging apparatus operable to install bagging on said compressed crop downstream of said platens.  
     
     
         9 . Forage compactor as in  claim 8  and further comprising a bale chamber between said strapping chamber and said compression chamber, said bale chamber being operable to hold said compressed crop upon ejection of said crop from said compression chamber.  
     
     
         10 . Forage compactor as in  claim 9  wherein said strapping assembly includes quick connect electrical fasteners and a hydraulic cylinder removable from said strapping assembly, said strapping assembly being movable on rails adjacent said strapping chamber and being removable from said rails upon disconnection. of said hydraulic cylinder.  
     
     
         11 . Forage compactor as in  claim 10  wherein said compression chamber has a wall, said wall and said load indexer having complementary knives to sever said crop during movement of said crop by said load indexer from said scale horizontally into said compression chamber.  
     
     
         12 . Forage compactor as in  claim 11  and further comprising a plurality of hydraulic pumps to provide hydraulic fluid pressure to said compress and eject plungers and a controller to sense the power required by said compression chamber, said controller initiating operation of more of said plurality of hydraulic pumps during relatively low power required by said compression chamber and fewer of said plurality of hydraulic pumps during relatively high power required by said compression chamber.  
     
     
         13 . Forage compactor as in  claim 12  wherein said compress plunger has a compression stroke and an eject stroke and further comprising a sensor to determine the position of said compress plunger during said eject stroke, said sensor initiating deceleration of said compress plunger during said eject stroke when said compress plunger reaches a predetermined position.  
     
     
         14 . Forage compactor as in  claim 13  wherein said compactor includes a plurality of movable components being movable manually, said controller prohibiting interference of said movable components during said manual movement.  
     
     
         15 . Forage compactor as in  claim 13  wherein said manual movement takes place within an operating cycle, said manual movement being monitored by said controller and wherein said manual movement is terminated, said controller completing said cycle of operation following termination of said manual movement.  
     
     
         16 . Forage compactor as in  claim 15  and further comprising a hydraulic manifold having an inlet port and an outlet port and being operably connected to said compression cylinder, said hydraulic fluid passing directly from at least one of said inlet or outlet ports directly to said compression cylinder.  
     
     
         17 . Forage compactor as in  claim 16  and further comprising a bale configuration assembly, said bale configuration assembly comprising a first elevator to receive a compressed bale, a first rotator to rotate said compressed bale, a first slider to move said compressed bale in a nonrotated position from said elevator, a roll down plate to receive said compressed bale and being operable to rotate said compressed bale, a second slider to move said compressed bale in a non-rotated position from said roll down plate or elevator and a second rotator to rotate said compressed bale from said roll down plate.  
     
     
         18 . Forage compactor as in  claim 17  wherein said compression chamber comprises walls, a top and a bottom, said top and bottom being connected by removable bolted connections.  
     
     
         19 . Forage compactor to compress crop within a compression chamber by a compress plunger operable within a compression cylinder, said compactor comprising a plurality of pumps to supply hydraulic fluid to said compression cylinder and being operable to move said compress plunger to a compression position, one of said pumps having a pressure compensator, said pressure compensator being operable to allow said compress plunger to exert a substantially constant pressure on said crop within said compression cylinder for a predetermined time period and a hydraulic fluid relief sensor to relieve said pressure on said crop following said predetermined time period.  
     
     
         20 . Forage compactor for compressing crop into bales within a compression chamber, said compactor further comprising a strapping chamber downstream from said compression chamber, said strapping chamber having a moisture sensor to measure the moisture of said crop of said compressed bale within said strapping chamber.  
     
     
         21 . Forage compactor for compacting crop into compressed bales, said compressed bales including bales exiting a crop outlet area at a first predetermined time and previous bales exiting said crop outlet area at a second predetermined time, said second predetermined time being subsequent to said first predetermined time, a container for holding a predetermined number of said compressed bales, said compactor including a scale for weighing crop, a compression chamber for compressing said weighed crop into said previous and subsequent bales, a crop outlet area downstream of said compression chamber for receiving said previous and subsequent bales and a controller for determining the individual weight of said bales comprising said total number of bales, said controller being operable to increase the weight of said subsequent bales if said previous bales are underweight.  
     
     
         22 . Forage compactor to compress crop into bales comprising a scale to weigh said crop, a compression chamber to compress said weighed crop during a compression operation, a pump to provide hydraulic fluid under pressure to said compression chamber and a sensor to sense the pressure of said hydraulic fluid during said compression operation and to control said weight of said crop if said pressure of said hydraulic fluid in said compression chamber exceeds predetermined limits.  
     
     
         23 . Forage compactor to compress crop into bales comprising a compression chamber defined by a compression cylinder and a compress plunger reciprocal within said compression cylinder, at least one keyway in said compress plunger, at least one keyway in said compression cylinder, and a key extending between said keyways.  
     
     
         24 . Forage compactor as in  claim 23  wherein said key extends axially along said compression cylinder and said compress plunger.  
     
     
         25 . Forage compactor as in  claim 24  and further comprising a second keyway in said cylinder, a second keyway in said compress plunger and a second key extending between said second keyways.  
     
     
         26 . Forage compactor to compress crop comprising a compression chamber, a compress plunger to compress crop within said compression chamber, a strapping chamber downstream of said compression chamber to strap said compressed crop, said strapping chamber being defined by platens holding said compressed crop on opposite sides of said compressed crop, a strapping assembly mounted for reciprocal movement along said platens, said strapping assembly being operable to install at least one of a plurality of straps on said compressed crop within said platens.  
     
     
         27 . Forage compactor as in  claim 26  wherein said strapping assembly includes quick connect electrical fasteners and a hydraulic cylinder removable from said strapping assembly, said strapping assembly being movable on rails adjacent said platens and being removable from said rails upon disconnection of said hydraulic cylinder.  
     
     
         28 . Forage compactor as in  claim 27  and further comprising bagging apparatus operable to install bagging on said compressed crop downstream of said platens.  
     
     
         29 . Forage compactor for compressing crop into bales in a compression chamber, said compactor comprising a crop outlet area to receive crop ejected from said compression chamber in the form of a compressed bale, a crop holding station to hold said bale and a strapping chamber to strap said bale upon movement of said bale from said holding station to said strapping chamber, said bale ejected by said compression chamber being moved to said strapping chamber by a movement length defined by approximately two bales.  
     
     
         30 . Forage compactor to compress crop comprising a compression chamber having a wall and an indexer to move said crop into said compression chamber through said wall, said wall and said indexer having complementary knives to sever said crop as said crop moves through said wall into said compression chamber.  
     
     
         31 . Forage compactor as in  claim 30  wherein said indexer moves said crop to said compression chamber through said wall in a substantially horizontal movement, said complementary knives having horizontal relative movement while said crop is severed.  
     
     
         32 . Forage compactor to compress crop in a compression chamber comprising a compression chamber, a compression cylinder, a compress plunger movable in said compression cylinder, a plurality of hydraulic pumps to provide fluid pressure to said compression chamber and a controller to detect the power required by said pressure of said fluid within said compression chamber, said controller initiating operation of more of said plurality of hydraulic pumps during relatively low. power required by said compression chamber and fewer of said plurality of hydraulic pumps during relatively high power required by said compression chamber.  
     
     
         33 . Forage compactor to compress crop within a compression chamber comprising a compress plunger having a compress stroke and an eject stroke, sensors to determine the position of said compress plunger during said eject stroke, and controllers operable from said sensors to initiate deceleration of said compress plunger during said eject stroke when said plunger reaches a predetermined position.  
     
     
         34 . Forage compactor as in  claim 33  wherein said sensors are proximity sensors.  
     
     
         35 . Forage compactor to compress. crop within a compression chamber, said compactor comprising a plurality of movable components and a controller, said components being movable manually, said controller being operable to prevent interference between said components during said manual movement of said components.  
     
     
         36 . Forage compactor as in  claim 35  wherein said components move within an operating cycle, said manual movement being monitored by said controller and wherein said manual movement is terminated, said controller completes said cycle of operation.  
     
     
         37 . Forage compactor to compress crop within a compression chamber, said compression chamber having a compression cylinder and a compress plunger movable within said cylinder, said cylinder being supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure from a manifold, said manifold having inlet and outlet ports, said manifold being connected directly to said compression cylinder, said hydraulic fluid passing directly from at least one of said inlet or outlet ports to said compression cylinder.  
     
     
         38 . Forage compactor bale configuration system comprising a first elevator to receive a compressed bale, a first rotator to rotate said compressed bale, a first slider to move said compressed bale in a non-rotated position from said first elevator, a rolldown plate to receive said compressed bale and being operable to rotate said compressed bale, a second slider to move said compressed bale in a non-rotated position from said rolldown plate and a second rotator to rotate said compressed bale from said rolldown plate.  
     
     
         39 . Forage compactor comprising a compression chamber defined by walls, a top and a bottom, said top and bottom being connected by removable bolted connections.