A rotary drive transmission is provided for a baler including a bale chamber, a plunger that compresses bale material in the bale chamber, a drive mechanism that drives reciprocating movement of the plunger, and a flywheel connected to a rotary input of the drive mechanism. The rotary drive transmission includes a rotary drive part, a rotary driven part that drives rotation of the flywheel, and a torsional drive transfer device that transfers rotary drive between the rotary drive part and the rotary driven part. The torsional drive transfer device includes a resilient element and is configured to allow limited relative rotation in the drive direction between the rotary drive part and the rotary driven part against a reaction force provided by the resilient element.

A rotary drive transmission is provided for a baler including a bale chamber, a plunger that compresses bale material in the bale chamber, a drive mechanism that drives reciprocating movement of the plunger, and a flywheel connected to a rotary input of the drive mechanism. The rotary drive transmission includes a rotary drive part, a rotary driven part that drives rotation of the flywheel, and a torsional drive transfer device that transfers rotary drive between the rotary drive part and the rotary driven part. The torsional drive transfer device includes a resilient element and is configured to allow limited relative rotation in the drive direction between the rotary drive part and the rotary driven part against a reaction force provided by the resilient element.

A system and method for evaluating individual subunits of material incorporated into a bale and, based thereon, assigning a weighted average quality value to the overall bale. A baler receives, aggregates, compresses, shapes, and secures subunits of a plant material into a bale. An NIR testing system receives and analyzes near-infrared radiation reflected by the plant material, and generates subunit evaluation data reflecting properties of the material in the subunits. A computer receives and combines the subunit evaluation data to produce overall evaluation data reflecting properties of the bale, and assigns the overall evaluation data to the bale. Combining the subunit evaluation data includes assigning weights to the subunit evaluation data and then averaging the weighted subunit property values. Weighting may be based on the amount of time the NIR testing system is exposed to the material in each subunit, and the amount of time may be mechanically determined.

A system and method for evaluating individual subunits of material incorporated into a bale and, based thereon, assigning a weighted average quality value to the overall bale. A baler receives, aggregates, compresses, shapes, and secures subunits of a plant material into a bale. An NIR testing system receives and analyzes near-infrared radiation reflected by the plant material, and generates subunit evaluation data reflecting properties of the material in the subunits. A computer receives and combines the subunit evaluation data to produce overall evaluation data reflecting properties of the bale, and assigns the overall evaluation data to the bale. Combining the subunit evaluation data includes assigning weights to the subunit evaluation data and then averaging the weighted subunit property values. Weighting may be based on the amount of time the NIR testing system is exposed to the material in each subunit, and the amount of time may be mechanically determined.

A baler having a compression system for forming a bale includes a plunger that reciprocates within a baling chamber between an extended position and a retracted position. The baler also includes a controller configured to detect and calculate the amount of work exerted by the plunger as it reciprocates within the baling chamber. The controller generally calculates the work exerted by the plunger by determining the force applied to the plunger and the distance the plunger has traveled with respect to the baling chamber.

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.

A square baler has a baling chamber, a plunger reciprocable at one end of the baling chamber, a pre-compression chamber within which charges of crop are amassed and pre-compressed by a rotor prior to transfer into the baling chamber, and a pickup roller having radially projecting tines for picking up crop from the ground and advancing the crop to the rotor. A torque sensor is connected to at least one tine of the pickup roller to produce an electrical output signal indicative of the torque experienced by the pickup roller, and a processing circuit is operative to estimate the rate of crop flow into the chute by analyzing the electrical output of the torque sensor only at times when the position of the tine lies within a predetermined angular position of the pickup roller.

A baler a chute assembly extending in a rearward direction from a baling chamber configured to simultaneously receive first and second bales as the bales are urged out of the baling chamber. The chute assembly includes a rail assembly and an opposing shelf assembly, the rail assembly and the shelf assembly cooperating to form a cavity therebetween. The rail assembly includes an upper rail and a lower rail with the lower rail offset from the upper rail in a horizontal direction toward the cavity, and the shelf assembly includes a horizontal first surface, an ejection plate, an angled second surface and a guide rail. As the first and second bales are urged from the bale chamber the first bale engages the rail assembly and the second bale engages the shelf assembly. The chute assembly rotates the first and second bales as the bales drop from the chute assembly in a single line of bales arranged in an end-to-end orientation.

A method for the operation of a self-propelled agricultural working machine has at least one working element and a driver assistance system for generating control actions within the working machine. A sensor arrangement for generating surroundings information is provided, and the driver assistance system generates the control actions based on the surroundings information. The sensor arrangement comprises a camera-based sensor system and a laser-based sensor system, each of which generates sensor information regarding a predetermined, relevant surroundings area of the working machine. The sensor information of the camera-based sensor system is present as starting camera images. The starting camera images are segmented into image segments by an image processing system according to a segmentation rule, and the segmented camera images are combined by a sensor fusion module with the sensor information from the laser-based sensor system.

A method for the operation of a self-propelled agricultural working machine has at least one working element and a driver assistance system for generating control actions within the working machine. A sensor arrangement for generating surroundings information is provided, and the driver assistance system generates the control actions based on the surroundings information. The sensor arrangement comprises a camera-based sensor system and a laser-based sensor system, each of which generates sensor information regarding a predetermined, relevant surroundings area of the working machine. The sensor information of the camera-based sensor system is present as starting camera images. The starting camera images are segmented into image segments by an image processing system according to a segmentation rule, and the segmented camera images are combined by a sensor fusion module with the sensor information from the laser-based sensor system.