Vertical chamber, open throat round baler having no starter roll

Abstract

The vertical chamber of the open throat, vertical chamber baler has its bottom inlet opening devoid of a starter roll. A resilient rotary rake tine assembly positioned below and ahead of the inlet opening picks up crop material from the ground and delivers it to a rigid tooth feeder spaced below the inlet opening in vertical alignment therewith. At the beginning of each bale forming cycle when the chamber is small and empty, the rigid tooth feeder propels the crop material into the chamber and against the upwardly moving rear belt stretch which encourages the material to tumble forwardly against the downwardly moving front belt stretch. The oppositely moving surfaces presented by the front and rear belt stretches encourage the tumbling material to coil into a bale core, which ultimately forms a larger bale. In the event loose material drops through the bottom inlet opening during core starting, such material is immediately returned to the chamber by the rigid tooth feeder along with other material delivered to the rigid tooth feeder in the meantime.

We claim: 
     
       1. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler comprising: an initially relatively small and generally upright baling chamber having an inlet located adjacent the bottom of the chamber,   said chamber being defined in part by a pair of oppositely moving, front and rear surfaces wherein the front surface moves generally downwardly toward the inlet and the rear surface moves generally upwardly away from the inlet when the chamber is small at the beginning of each bale forming cycle,   said inlet being defined in part by the space between a pair of transverse rolls that are separated from one another in a generally fore-and-aft direction,   the bale being disposed above said rolls throughout each bale forming cycle including the initial stages of formation when a small core is starting in the chamber and the latter stages of formation when the bale has a crosssectional diameter that greatly exceeds the width of the inlet;   a resilient rotary rake tine assembly positioned below and ahead of the inlet for lifting crop materials off the ground and feeding them toward the inlet as the baler moves across a field; and   a rigid tooth feeder positioned below and in vertical alignment with the inlet between the resilient rake tine assembly and the rear roll for projecting materials from the rake tine assembly into the chamber,   said resilient tine assembly and said rigid tooth feeder being spaced below the front roll of the pair of rolls and cooperating with the front roll to define an open, non-compressive throat on the upstream side of the chamber that leads to the inlet,   said chamber being devoid of a starter roll in the space between said pair of transverse rolls.   
     
     
       2. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 1, said front surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       3. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 2, said rear surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       4. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 1, said rigid tooth feeder comprising a stuffer fork that operates in a generally kidney-shaped path of travel in successive stuffing and return strokes,   the fork having teeth that project up into the throat while moving toward the inlet and retract down out of the throat during each return stroke while moving generally away from the inlet.   
     
     
       5. A no starter roll, open throat vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 4, said front surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       6. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 5, said rear surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       7. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 6, the stretch of belts that define said front surface of the chamber being looped under the front roll of the pair of rolls.   
     
     
       8. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 6, the stretch of belts that define said rear surface of the chamber being looped under the rear roll of the pair of rolls.   
     
     
       9. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 8, the stretch of belts that define said front surface of the chamber being looped under the front roll of the pair of rolls.   
     
     
       10. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 1, said rigid tooth feeder comprising a rotor that operates in a circular path of travel,   said rotor having teeth that project outwardly from the axis of rotation of the rotor and sweep into and through the throat generally toward the inlet during each rotation of the feeder.   
     
     
       11. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 10, said front surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       12. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 10, said rear surface of the chamber being defined by a stretch of flexible belts.   
     
     
       13. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 12, the stretch of belts that define said front surface of the chamber being looped under the front roll of the pair of rolls.   
     
     
       14. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 12, the stretch of belts that define said rear surface of the chamber being looped under the rear roll of the pair of rolls.   
     
     
       15. A no starter roll, open throat, vertical chamber round baler as claimed in claim 14, the stretch of belts that define said front surface of the chamber being looped under the front roll of the pair of rolls.