Package making – Methods – Forming or partial forming a receptacle and subsequent filling
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-14
2003-02-04
Sipos, John (Department: 3721)
Package making
Methods
Forming or partial forming a receptacle and subsequent filling
C053S469000, C053S567000, C053S576000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06513307
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention concerns a method for sheathing bales of plants, fodder or other, under a plastic film.
This invention also relates to the material used for sheathing bales of plants, fodder or other, under plastic film, round bales as well as parallelepipedic bales.
This material consists on the one hand of a storing and drawing frame for the plastic film in order to form a kind of funnel, as described in the document CA-111 546 for round bales and, on the other hand, loading means that enable placing the bales one after the other into said funnel.
The drawing frame is mounted on a carrier that is, moreover, suitably arranged upstream of said drawing frame, for accommodating, centring and guiding each bale as it is pushed into the funnel whose inlet is formed and held open with sufficient diameter by said drawing frame.
The carrier can be moved as the bales are inserted, as described in the document GB-2 227 220, by a step corresponding to the length of these bales, directly by the vehicle that handles the bales, i.e. a transport vehicle such as a farming tractor fitted for example with a loading arm or similar.
Handling these bales on the fields does not enable accurate positioning of the bales on the carrier or reliable sheathing; the latter operation calls for a certain skill on the operator's part.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention suggests means that enable simplification of this sheathing operation and especially ensure fast execution of said operation.
Besides, the method according to the invention enables improvement of the compacting of the bales with respect to one another inside the sheath. Preferably, this sheath is made of plastic material; it is preferably stretched to enable insertion of the bales and then, after leaving the drawing frame, it resumes its normal position while compressing the periphery of the bales.
The sheathing method according to the invention using a sheath-carrier that moves as the sheath is being filled, consists:
in handling a bale by means of a transport vehicle fitted with a handling tool that is for instance equipped with spindles,
in laying the bale on the carrier, upstream of the plastic film storage supports making up said sheath,
in pushing the bale inside the sheath, resting against the previous bale,
in moving the carrier by a step matching the length of the bale, which operation that consists in pushing the bale uses the handling tool equipped to that effect with a pusher-ejector device whose movement causes, by reaction, the reverse motion of said vehicle by means of said handling tool, whereas said tool is arranged to drive and move the sheathing carrier simultaneously over a distance corresponding to the length of the bale laid last on said carrier.
This method enables using a relatively simple tool. The sheathing carrier does not need any permanent energy source. It has a passive role throughout the sheathing operation.
The invention also relates to the handling tool mounted on a vehicle such as a farming tractor or similar, for implementing the method, which tool comprises a frame on which is mounted at least a pair of spindles, a pusher-rejector integrated to the spindle-carrying frame, behind said spindles, which frame comprises fastening means to the three-point coupling system, at the front or the rear of the tractor or still, according to the situation, to the end of a loading arm with which said tractor is equipped.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the pusher-ejector device consists of a pair of compasses retracted inside the frame of the handling tool and that extend under the effect of a hydraulic actuator, for instance, controlled form the tractor by the operator, the pair of compasses extend over a distance that is at least equal to the length of the bale, in order to eject said bale from the spindles and to move simultaneously by reaction, the tractor and the sheathing carrier by a step corresponding to the distance travelled by the pusher, i.e. at least the length of the bale ejected.
Still according to the invention, the pair of compasses consist—of a first leg whose length corresponds more or less to the width or the diameter of the bale, which leg is articulated at one of its ends on an axle integral with the spindle-carrying frame and, —of a second leg articulated at the other end of the first leg, and that is fitted at its free end, with a pusher centered more or less on the longitudinal axis of the tractor, which first leg is mobile under the effect of an actuator that is mounted don the spindle-carrying frame and this first leg causes, when moving, the second leg to extend so that said pusher remains more or less centered on said longitudinal axis throughout its travel.
Still according to the invention, the second leg extends using a chain or cable that winds around a pulley section that is centered on its axis of articulation, at the end of the first leg of the pair of compasses, which cable is integral at one of its ends, with said sector of the second leg and at its other end, with the spindle-carrying frame at one point selected to enable displacement of the pusher along the longitudinal axis of the tractor, i.e. along a line more or less on the middle vertical plane of the spindles, or still the middle vertical plane of the bale to be laid on the sheathing carrier and picked up by said spindles.
Under certain operating conditions, the cable of the pusher may become slack and leave its guiding system at the angle of the pair of compasses.
This invention suggests using a roller chain, a double chain for instance, to ensure extension of the pair of compasses, which double roller chain advantageously maintains high stiffness on a plane that is perpendicular to the axis of its rollers, i.e. on the extension plane of the pair of compasses, which plane is for example horizontal.
Still according to the invention, the spindle-carrying frame comprises at its lower section, a crosspiece in the form of a heel or shoe that, on the one hand, serves as a marker to the operator with respect to the ground, to enable accurate spindling of the bales and, on the other hand, serves as a coupling means for pulling the sheathing carrier, by reaction during the ejection of the bale pushed onto the spindles, which member co-operates to that effect with a stop integral with said carrier.
The invention also concerns the sheathing carrier for implementing the method, which carrier co-operates with the handling tool and comprises, upstream of the drawing frame, a kind of base plate consisting of the upstream section of the rails integral with the frame of said carrier, and that extend over a length equal to at least twice the length of a bale, which rails are cantilever at their downstream end, i.e. on the sheathing side, and they comprise a fixed or removable stop system at their upstream end that co-operates with the heel or shoe of said tool in order to move said carrier by reaction, when the bale is ejected by means of the pusher of said handling tool.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the position of the stop on the rails is adjustable to suit the length of the bales and these rails may also comprise a second stop arranged downstream, preferably removable to enable sheathing of the last bale for example; this second removable stop is situated at a distance from the upstream stop that is at least equal to the length of a bale.
Taking into account the size and the weight of the bales, the invention suggests a stop system that makes handling of the bales easier, and in particular their placement on the carrier.
To that effect, the carrier comprises an area for laying the bales in the form of a base plate, made preferably of two rails separated by a distance that corresponds more or less to the radius of said bales; these guiding rails are situated as low as possible with respect to the ground and are extended downstream of the base plate in order to form a tilted plane at the inlet of the carrier; the space between the upstream extensions of the rails
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