A drive system for an agricultural baler that includes a power take off (PTO) shaft configured for being operably connected in between an agricultural vehicle and the agricultural baler and for supplying motive power to the agricultural baler, a gearbox configured for being mounted on the agricultural baler and connected to the PTO shaft for receiving motive power from the PTO shaft, a pickup drive shaft operably connected to the gearbox and configured for being operably connected to a reel of a pickup unit of the agricultural baler, at least one sensor associated with the pickup drive shaft and configured for sensing a rotational movement of the pickup drive shaft, and an electrical processing circuit operably connected to the at least one sensor. The electrical processing circuit is configured for disconnecting motive power to the reel.

A waste compaction apparatus may include a housing and a connector arm. The housing may define a drive chamber and a compaction chamber and the connector arm may include a drive piston portion movably positioned within the drive chamber and a compaction piston portion movably positioned within the compaction chamber. The drive chamber may be selectively fluidly coupleable to the near-vacuum of outer space, such that the compaction piston portion of the connector arm is configured to move within the compaction chamber to compact waste material contained within the compaction chamber in response to movement of the drive piston portion of the connector arm within the drive chamber.

A storage receptacle can include a storage bin and a pedal mounted to the receptacle. The pedal can rotate downward when pressure is applied in order to pull on a first cable coupled to the pedal. The first cable is connected to a spring, and the spring is connected to a second cable. The second cable connects the spring to a door via an upper pulley of the receptacle. The second cable causes the door to open when the second cable is pulled based on force applied to the pedal. A bottom pulley can be coupled to the pedal via the first cable and configured to translate an upward pull of the first cable to a downward pull of the spring and second cable. The spring controls the motion of the door such that the door does not open too quickly upon a force being applied to the pedal.

A feed device is for use on a baling press (1) and is for a loose fiber material (2) to be compressed. The feed device (4) has a movable and driven and possibly guided feed element (14, 15). The feed device (4) is assigned a protection device (3), which protects the drive area and possibly the guiding area of the feed device (4), in particular the bearing (19) thereof, against airborne fibers by using an opposing airstream (27).

A multiple strapping device that provides an uninterrupted ejection cycle for a bale while at the same time strategically placing the straps, or wire ties, onto the bale, through use of a series of corkscrews which hold the straps or wire ties and advance the strap, or wire ties, as the corkscrew is rotated therein releasing the strap, or wire ties, onto the bale.

A baling press having a rope tying system with a loop supply member for forming a loop of the second rope material across the bale pressing channel to the first side of the bale pressing channel and a loop of the first rope material at the first side. The loop supply member is suspended on the second side of said bale pressing channel and movable along a straight path between an extended position projecting across the bale pressing channel and a retracted position. The loop supply member has a turn guide for forming and guiding the loops in the first and second rope materials and a spreader for, when the loop supply member is in the extended position, holding the rope materials guided so that portions in the knotting area are spaced from a free end portion of the loop supply member.

A baling system for baling crop material includes a baling chamber. Moveable doors partly define the chamber and the shape of the bale. Hydraulic tension cylinders extend and retract to apply a force to the moveable doors and the growing bale, and transducers measure the lengths of the tension cylinders. An electronic control unit receives the lengths from the transducers, and communicates via a display at least a relative difference between the lengths for consideration in steering the baling system. In particular, the lengths being equal indicates the growing bale is substantially straight and the baling system should be steered straight, and the lengths being unequal indicates the growing bale is developing a curvature and the baling system should be steered in the direction of the cylinder having the shorter length. The transducers may be located external or internal to the cylinders, and may measure the lengths continuously or periodically.

A bale-forming chamber for an agricultural baler includes: a compacter configured to form collected crop material into a bale; and a pair of sidewalls each defining a respective boundary of the bale-forming chamber, at least one of the sidewalls including a dimpled surface having a plurality of dimples formed therein that each define a contactless region relative to the bale being formed in the bale-forming chamber.

A method of controlling a travel path of an agricultural baling system including a baler and a tow vehicle includes: receiving a first bale density signal indicative of a first bale density of a forming bale at a first location in a baling chamber; receiving a second bale density signal indicative of a second bale density of the forming bale at a second location; receiving a windrow signal indicative of a width of a windrow; comparing the first bale density to the second bale density; determining a difference between the first bale density and the second bale density exceeds a threshold difference; and outputting a steering signal to a steering mechanism of the tow vehicle to adjust at least one steerable wheel of the tow vehicle by an adjustment when the determined difference exceeds the threshold difference, the adjustment being based at least partially on the received windrow signal.

Density control system for an agricultural baler having a baling chamber including a plurality of walls with at least one movable wall section, an intake duct leading into the baling chamber, and a plunger for compressing charges of crop material to a package in the chamber, an actuator for adjusting the position of the at least one movable wall section in response to an output of the density control system to vary the density of said package, wherein the density control system has a sensor for measuring the position of the at least one movable wall section, a comparator for comparing said position with a threshold position and a decision module configured to stop the movement of the actuator means when the position exceeds the threshold position.