Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a baler, more particularly relates to a round baler having fixed chamber for forming bales from the agricultural crop material.

Back ground and prior art of the invention

Round balers generally have a bale forming chamber defined by a pair of opposing side walls associated with an array of side-by-side belts, transverse slats trained on chains, a plurality of transverse rolls or a combination of these various elements, e.g., rolls and belts. During field operation, windrowed crop material such as hay is picked up from the ground and fed into a fixed or variable diameter chamber. The hay is then rolled into a cylindrical package, wrapped with twine, net or the like and ejected onto the ground for subsequent handling.

Round hay balers come in three different types, viz. ground roll baler, expandable chamber round pickup baler and fixed chamber round pickup baler. U.S. Patent No. 5,444,969 discloses an expandable chamber round baler of the general nature. This particular type of baler consists of a pair of sidewalls, and a plurality of side-by-side belts cooperating with a plurality of transverse rolls, mounted between a pair of pivotally mounted arms. The chamber includes an inlet opening in the front through which crop material is fed. The aforementioned arrangement of rolls and arms is commonly referred to as a sledge assembly. Also shown in the disclosed baler is a pair of take up arms pivotally mounted on the main frame, between which arms a pair of guide rolls are journalled. The outer surfaces of the guide rolls are urged against the belts to maintain belt tension and thereby prevent slack from occurring in the belts during expansion and contraction of the chamber.

In U.S. Patent No. 4,176,596 a baler is disclosed in which the bale forming chamber is defined by a plurality of similar groups of side-by-side conveyor belts arranged around the periphery of the chamber. The conveyor comprises a pair of opposing chains between which a plurality of parallel crop engaging slats are mounted. The chamber in U.S. Patent No. 4,212,149 is defined by a continuous slatted conveyor in combinations with a pair of floor rolls, in which an inner run of the conveyor is guided along a fixed path along a major portion of the periphery of the chamber. A third type of apron assembly, shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,599,844, consists of a plurality of adjacent rolls arranged transversely in a generally circular array to define a cylindrical chamber.

Although the above described invention provides the mobile fixed chamber round baler still they leave the scope of improvements in enhanced performance, simplified construction and improved durability and also in the appearance of bales that have been formed. Object of the invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide a movable round baler with fixed chamber for enhanced performance, simplified construction and an improved durability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a round baler which consumes less horse power from the tractor. Summary of the Invention

The present invention discloses a round baler with fixed chamber having a fixed front chamber and a movable rear chamber. The baler comprises of a pick-up unit, a baling unit, a sensing unit, a binding unit, a discharging unit and a power transfer unit. The hay is collected by the pickup unit and transferred to the baling unit where the bale is formed. The formation of bale is sensed by sensing unit and the binding unit is manually started to bind the bale with twine. The bound bale is then manually discharged from the baler. Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of the round baler with fixed chamber.

Fig. 2 is a one side view of round baler with fixed chamber.

Fig. 3 is another side view of round baler with fixed chamber.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the initial bale formation.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the completed bale formation. Detailed description of the invention

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompany drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments, as depicted in different figures as described above and of being practiced or carried out in a variety of ways. It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

A round baler with fixed chamber consists of a pick-up unit (10), a baling unit (17), a sensing unit (12), a binding unit (11), a discharging unit and a power transfer unit. The baler (20) is attached to a tractor through a single point linkage and is transported by means of a drawbar point.

Referring to the drawing fig. 1, the power transfer unit is for delivering power to said pick-up unit (10), baling unit (17), sensing unit (12), binding unit (11) and discharging unit. The power transfer unit consists of a PTO shaft, a propeller shaft and a gear box (21) with an input shaft (16) and output shaft (14) and plurality of bevel gear. The round baler (20) is attached to a PTO (Power Take Off) shaft of the tractor through one end of said propeller shaft and the other end is rotatably connected to one end of said input shaft (16). The output shaft (14) of the gear box (21) is rotatably engaged with the other end of said input shaft (16) by means of a bevel gear. From the output shaft (14) the power is finally delivered to said pick-up unit (10), baling unit (17), binding unit (11) and discharging unit of the baler (20) by means of plurality of bevel gear, chain and sprocket combination.

The pick-up unit (10) comprises of a rotor (9) and plurality of pick-up members (19) having ground engaging rake type teeth being mounted on a frame (22) at front side of said rotors (9). The pick-up members (19) collect the agricultural hay material and send it into the compression chamber (15) of the baling unit (17) located at the rear side of said pick-up unit (10) as directed in Fig. 2. The pick-up unit (10) optionally comprises of rake (6) at either front lateral side of said rotors which provides a path for the agricultural hay material to be picked and introduced in the compression chamber (15) of the baling unit (17). The agricultural hay material introduced in the baling unit (17) is taken up by means of a plurality of rotating rollers (13) situated on the inner side of said compression chamber (15).

The sensing unit (12) with a plurality of sensors is located above the pickup unit (10) and said sensor senses the completion of the bale formation in the baling unit (17). The sensing unit (12) is enabled with an alarm system, which produces a warning sound to notify that the bale has been formed.

The binding unit (11) is located on the top of the baling unit (17) and it is for the binding twine upon the completely formed bale. The binding unit (11) comprises of a pulley (8) (as shown in fig. 3), a rope arrangement which acts by dispensing to bind the bale formed in the baling unit (17) and a twine cutting member. Upon pulling the rope arrangement the binding unit (11) is turned on and binds the bale and then the cutting member cuts the twine after the bale has been bound., Said rope arrangement for starting the operation of the binding unit (11) is located above the pick-up unit (10) adjacent to the sensing unit (12).

Referring to Fig. 2 and 3, the round baler (20) is mounted on a pair of wheels (3) which provides support to the structure of the baler (20) and the compression chamber (15). The baler (20) has a front chamber (1) which is fixed and stationary and a rear chamber (2) which is movable and opens up during the discharge of the formed bale. The said front chamber (1) makes up a part of the baling unit (17) while, the said rear chamber (2) makes up a part of the discharging unit along with a double acting cylinder (5) located above the wheel (3) for function of the opening and closing of the discharge unit door.

The baling unit (17) has the compression chamber (15) which is lined up at periphery with plurality of rollers (13) having sprockets (4) connected to the chains mounted to travel along a continuous path. The rollers (13) rotate through the movement of the sprockets (4) engaged in the chain. A single acting cylinder (7) located in the pick-up unit (10) which helps in lifting and lowering of the rotors (9).

The optional feature comprising of rake (6) as an extra attachment is also shown in fig. 2. The rake (6) helps the pick-up unit (10) to pick more amount of hay, thus increasing the efficiency of the machine.

Referring to fig. 4, the initial bale formation stage is shown. The agricultural hay picked from the ground is transferred into the compression chamber (15) by the help of the rollers (13). The final stage of bale formation is shown in the fig. 5 after which the alarm is sound by the sensing unit (12).

In operation of the round baler (20), the power from the PTO shaft is transferred to the input shaft (16) of the gear box (21) by means of the propeller shaft and from the input shaft (16), the power is further transferred to the output shaft (14) by means of a bevel gear and from the output shaft (14) the power is finally delivered into pick-up unit (10), baling unit (17), binding unit (11) and discharging unit of the baler (20) by means of a plurality of bevel gear, chain and sprocket combinations. The single acting cylinder (7) is used to lower down the rotors (9) to the ground and adjust the height of the pick-up unit (10) and the rotors (9) leads to the rotation of the pick-up members of the pick-up unit (10) bringing up the agricultural hay from the ground and transporting it into the compression chamber (15) of the baling unit (17) with the aid of the rollers (13) lining up the periphery.

The rollers (13) rotate with the aid of sprockets (4) engaged in the chain.

The input of the agricultural hay material into the baling unit (17) continues until the sensing unit (12) senses the completion of the bale formation and the warning alarm starts and the baler (20) is stopped to bind the bale.

Once the bale formation is completed, the said rope arrangement is manually pulled to start the binding unit (11) to bind the twine around the completely formed bale. When the binding is completed the cutting mechanism like knife in the binding unit (11) automatically cuts the twine, by means of the cutting member.

The double acting cylinder (5) of the discharging unit is used to lift the end of the rear chamber (2) of the baler (20). The completed bale is discharged from the baler (20).

In another embodiment, the pick-up unit (10) comprises of a rake (6) on the either side of the pick-up members (19). The rake (6) increases the efficiency of the baler (20) by increasing the intake of the agricultural hay in a certain predetermined path and also by preventing clogging of the pick-up members (19) by excessive agricultural hay intake.