VERTICAL BOX BALER AND METHOD OF OPERATING IT

Abstract

In order to be able to attach an automatic rear-end filling device (20) to a vertically operating box baler (1), which does not increase the height requirement for such an automated vertical box baler (1) too much and at the same time permits batchwise operation, a collecting trolley (SW) filled with loose material (P) is automatically lifted by means of a corresponding lifting/pivoting device (20) and dumped in a storage container (21) at the e.g. rear wall and from there it is pushed diagonally upwards in the direction of movement (24′) through a filling opening (2.2a) into the interior of the press box (2) by means of a storage pusher (24).

Claims

1. A vertical box baler comprising: a press box (2) with a bottom (2a) and side walls (2.1-2.4) projecting upward from the bottom (2a), a press stamp (3) that can be moved up and down in the press chamber (2), a closable removal opening (2.1a) in the front wall (2.1), a closable filling opening (2.2a), in one of the other side walls in their upper area, a filling device (20) for automatic filling of the press box (2) through the filling opening (2.2a), characterized in that the filling device (20) is configured for automatic batchwise filling of the press box (2).

2. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the filling device (20) comprises a storage container (21) for receiving loose material (P) to be pressed, which comprises a filling opening (21b1), in the upper region, in the top side (21b), of the storage container (21), in that the top side (21b) is completely open, the storage container (21) is connected to the filling opening (2.2a), wherein the bottom (21a) of the storage container (21) extends up to the filling opening (2.2a) and ends at its height or above it, and adjoining it.

3. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage container (21) has a sufficiently large volume to hold a complete batch with a predetermined volume of loose material (P) to be pressed, the preset volume of a complete batch corresponds to the volume of a collecting trolley (SW) for loose pressed material (P) to be pressed.

4. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the filling device (20) comprises a lifting/pivoting device (22), for automatically pivoting a filled collecting trolley (SW) into the storage container (21), the pivoting device (22) comprises a fixing device (23) for fixing a collecting trolley (SW) to the pivoting device (22).

5. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage container (21) comprises a storage pusher (24), which is movable towards and away from the filling opening (2.2a) between two end positions, wherein in one end position the storage pusher (24) closes the filling opening (2.2a) of the press box (2) and its front surface (24a) is a component of the inner surface of one of the walls (2.2-2.4) of the press box (2) or in one end position the storage pusher (24) is a component of that side wall (2.2) in which the filling opening (2.2a) is located, wherein in the other end position, the storage pusher (24) is located at the end of the storage container (21) facing away from the filling opening (2.2a).

6. The box baler according to claim 5, characterized in that the storage pusher (24) can either be moved back and forth in the storage container (21), or the end wall (21.1) of the storage container (21) facing away from the filling opening (2.2a) is the storage pusher (24) and the side walls (21.2, 21.3) are designed to be variable in length, multi-part, telescopic.

7. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage pusher (24) is moved by means of towing cylinders (26a, b) on both sides, preferably running in its direction of movement, which run along the outside of the storage container (21) and along the outside of the cross walls (2.3, 2.4) of the press box (2), or the towing cylinders (26a, b) are designed as pulling cylinders.

8. The box baler according to claim 5, characterized in that the storage pusher of the filling device (20), on the one hand, and the at least one press stamp (3), on the other hand, have separate drives and can be actuated independently of one another with hydraulic drive in each case, there are two separate and independently controllable hydraulic pump pressure sources.

9. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage container (21) comprises a cover flap (25) which can be displaced, and pivoted, between a closed position closing the filling opening (21b1), the open top side (21b), of the storage container (21) and an open position not closing it, leaving it completely open, the volume of the storage container (21) in the closed position of the cover flap (25) is less than the predetermined volume of a batch, in the closed position, the underside (25a) of the cover flap (25) runs parallel to the bottom (21a) of the storage container (21), or the cover flap (25) has a bendat its free side remote from its pivot axis (25′) in the direction into the storage container (21).

10. The box baler according to claim 9, characterized in that the cover flap (25) can be used as a guiding flap (25*) which can be displaced, and pivoted, between a guide position, which is inclined relative to the bottom (21a) above the openupper side (21b) of the storage container (21), and an open position, which overlaps the guide position less, in the guide position, the bottom (25*a) of the guiding flap (25*) approaches the bottom (21a) of the storage container (21) in the direction of the filling opening (2.2a), in particular side plates (29a, b) are provided which, in the guide position, close the free space between the side edges of the guiding flap (25*) and the edge of the open upper side (21b) of the storage container (21).

11. The box baler according to claim 5, characterized in that there is a cover element (27) which extends from the upper edge of the storage pusher (24) in the direction away from the filling opening (2.2a) and which closes the surface, viewed in plan view, between the rear side of the storage pusher (24) and the part of the storage container (21) adjacent thereto.

12. The box baler according to claim 2, characterized in that the bottom (21a) of the storage container (21) rises at an angle to the top, as a flat surface, towards the filling opening (2.2a), towards its lower edge, the pushing direction (24′) of the reservoir pusher (24) is parallel to the bottom (21a) of the storage container (21), the front side (24a) of the storage pusher (24) is arranged parallel to the inner surface of that side wall (2.2) in which the filling opening (2.2a) is located.

13. The box baler according to claim 2, characterized in that the storage container (21) is attached to the press box (2) so that it can be moved vertically up to an upper position in which the box-side edge of the bottom (21a) is aligned with the lower edge of the filling opening (2.2a) or higher.

14. The box baler according to claim 1, characterized in that the box baler comprises a strapping device for strapping the finished bale in the box baler, motorized or automatic, with binding wire, the strapping device has at least one wire pusher which is capable of pushing the wire, at its end, its wire lug, between the bale and the press stamp (3) from the rear to the front of the press box (2).

15. A method operating a box baler, in particular a box baler according to claim 1, wherein the press box (2) is filled automatically, characterized in that the press box (2) is automatically filled in batches.

16. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the material to be pressed (P) is automatically towed, and pushed, through the filling opening (2.2a) into the press box (2).

17. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the material to be pressed (P) is compressed in height, i.e. pre-compressed, through the filling opening (2.2a) before or during pressing into the press box (2) to a height equal to or less than the height of the filling opening (2.2a).

18. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the loose material to be pressed (P) before being towed into the press box (2) through the filling opening (2.2a), either distributed over a smaller width considered in the top view than the width of the filling opening (2.2a) or before or during towing into the press box (2) through the filling opening (2.2a) is compressed in width to a width that is smaller than the width of the filling opening (2.2a).

19. The method according to claim 15 characterized in that during the pressing of the material to be pressed (P) in the press box (2) another collecting trolley (SW) can be moved back into the docking position by the pivoting device (22), a new, filled collecting trolley (SW) can be attached to the pivoting device (22), or the storage container (21) of the filling device (20) can already be filled again with material (P) to be pressed.

20. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the loose material to be pressed (P) is pushed upwards through the filling opening (2.2a) up to the height of the filling opening (2.2a) before being towed into the press box (2).

21. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the loose material to be pressed (P) is lifted up to the level of the filling opening (2.2a) before being towed into the press chamber (2) through the filling opening (2.2a).

22. The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the finished bale is strapped with binding wire before being removed from the box baler, for which purpose the at least one binding wire, its end in the form of a wire lug, introduced into the press box (2) before production of the bale, is pushed between the bale and the press stamp (3), automatically, from the rear to the front of the press box (2), into a position accessible when the removal door (12) is open, so that afterwards the other end of the binding wire can be connected to it.

Description

[0102] FIGS. 1a-c as well as 2a-c show a first embodiment of the inventive box baler 1 as well as a collecting trolley SW, in which material Pto be pressed such as empty cardboard boxes are collected for feeding this baler 1, but in FIG. 1 on the one hand and FIG. 2 on the other hand in two different operating situations.

[0103] In the FIGS. , the box baler 1 points with its front side 1a to the right and with its rear side 1b to the left.

[0104] A standard vertical boxe baler comprises—and these elements are also present in the baler according to the invention—a press box 2 with a bottom 2a, which in this case has a roughly rectangular shape when viewed from above, so that a total of four side walls 2.1 to 2.4 project upwards from its outer area, namely a front wall 2.1, a rear wall 2.2 opposite thereto, and longitudinal walls 2.3, 2.4 connecting these two walls to one another, so that the inner surfaces of the side walls, which are adjacent to one another, form a circumferential closed rectangle when viewed in plan.

[0105] In the press box 2—as best seen in FIGS. 1b and 2b—a press stamp 3 in the form of a plate lying horizontally and thus parallel to the bottom 2a of the press chamber 2 can be moved up and down in the vertical, the pressing direction 10, which can press the material P lying in the press box against the bottom 2a.

[0106] The press stamp 3 is attached to the lower ends of the piston rods 14.1-14.3 by several press cylinders 13.1 to 13.3, which are hydraulic cylinders and are located vertically in the second horizontal transverse direction 11.2, spaced next to each other and projecting beyond the upper end of the press box 2.

[0107] To apply high pressing forces, the two outer pressing cylinders 13.1 and 13.2 are extending downwards, while the middle pressing cylinder 13.3 with its smaller cross section is used as a rapid motion cylinder, for example to move the press stamp 3 quickly upwards back to the deactivated position.

[0108] Between each of the vertically running press cylinders 13.1 to 13.3, which are arranged parallel to each other in a common plane, there is a guide rod 15a, b, whose lower ends are also firmly connected to the press stamp 3 and are intended to prevent an inclined position and thus tilting of the press stamp 3 in the press box 2.

[0109] The front wall 2.1 at the front side 1a is hinged to one of the longitudinal walls 2.3 via a vertical pivot axis and can be swung open like a door—as shown in FIG. 2a—to remove a finished bale.

[0110] For pressing, the press stamp 3 moves downwards to the height of the lower end of the filling flap 2.1.1 and thus of the front filling opening, so that a finished bale has a height which also only reaches approximately the lower end of this filling flap 2.1.1.

[0111] As best shown in FIG. 1b, the press stamp 3 can be retracted upwards to at least the upper end of the front filling opening, i.e. the upper edge of the filling flap 2.1.1, because the insertion of material to be pressed P must be done into the space below the press stamp 3.

[0112] In a vertical box baler of the known type, the rear wall 2.2 of the press box 2 is closed or, if strapping of the finished bales is intended, has at most slits for the strapping medium to pass through. The rear wall 2.2 is preferably manufactured as a one-piece welded part, and the press box 2 is filled with material P from the front side 1a by inserting the upper part as a filling flap 2 in the movable front wall 2.1, which thus forms a removal door 12, which is movably attached to the rest of the front door 2.1 and can be moved downwards along guides so that a filling opening is open in the upper part of the front wall 2.1, through which material to be pressed can be inserted from the front side 1a.

[0113] the box baling press 1 according to the invention, which also operates vertically, has a filling opening 2.2a in the upper area of the rear wall 2.2, through which it can be filled automatically according to the invention.

[0114] The filling opening to be opened in the front wall 2.1, formed as described by the embodiment of a filling flap 2.1.1 in the removal door 2.1, can be additionally present, but this is not a prerequisite for the realization of the invention. The front wall 2.1 can be a closed removal door 12, which can only be moved as a door in total.

[0115] The automatic filling is carried out by means of a filling device 20, which comprises a box-shaped storage container 21, which is joined to the outside to the rear wall 2.2 of the press box 2 and has a horizontally extending bottom 21a in FIGS. 1 and 2, from which side walls 21c, d and at the free end an end wall 21e project, the side walls reaching up to the filling opening 2.2a in the rear of the press box 2.

[0116] The upper side 21b of the storage container 21 can be closed by a cover flap 25, which can be pivoted about a horizontally extending pivot axis 25′ near the press box 2 between the pivoted down position of the cover flap 25, in which the upper side 21b is closed and the lower side of the cover flap 25 runs parallel to the bottom 21a of the storage container 21, and a filling position pivoted upwards—as shown in FIG. 2—by means of a pivot cylinder 28.

[0117] In this filling position, a collecting trolley SW filled with material P to be pressed, which is open at the top, can be swung up and emptied into the storage container 21 via the upper edge of the end wall 21e of the storage container 21.

[0118] Lifting, pivoting, emptying, pivoting back and setting down the collecting trolley SW is usually done automatically by means of a lifting/pivoting device 22 as shown and described in FIGS. 3a-c.

[0119] After the collecting trolley SW has been swung back, the cover flap 25 can be closed again with the aid of the pivot cylinder 28, whereby the pivot cylinder 28 can provide sufficient pivot force that loose material P to be pressed projecting above the height of the upper edge of the end wall 21e is compressed by the underside 25a of the cover flap 25 below this level.

[0120] Inside the storage container 21a storage pusher 24 can be moved between a retracted position near the end wall 21e and an advanced or forward position near the filling opening 2.2a of the press box 2, whereby the storage pusher24 moves with its lower edge close to the bottom 21a.

[0121] In the advanced end position—see FIG. 1b —the storage pusher 24 is preferably not only located near the filling opening 2.2a, but in this filling opening 2.2a, which it closes completely so that it becomes part of the rear wall 2.2 of the press box 2 and its front surface facing the press box 2 is flush with the inner surface of the remaining rear wall 2.2.

[0122] The storage pusher24 is moved by means of two towing cylinders 26a, b, which move along the outer sides of the side walls 21c, d of the storage container 21 and also along the longitudinal walls 2.3, 2.4 of the press box 2 in the first horizontal cross direction 11.1, one end of each towing cylinder 26a, b being connected to one of the longitudinal walls 2.3, 2.4 in the vicinity of the front wall 2.1, while the other end is connected to the storage pusher24 through the side wall 21c, d of the storage container 21.

[0123] The towing cylinders 26a, b are preferably designed as double-acting hydraulic cylinders that can be actuated in both directions.

[0124] In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the bottom 21a of the storage container 21 runs horizontally, i.e. at right angles to the rear wall 2.2, and the plate-shaped storage pusher 24 stands at a right angle to the bottom 21a and thus vertically, and completely fills the cross-section of the storage container 21, i.e. at right angle to the extension direction of the towing cylinders 26a, b, the pushing direction 24′ of the storage pusher 24, so that no material P to be pressed can get in between.

[0125] Because in such a embodiment during filling, as can be seen in FIG. 2a, b, the raised and pivoted collecting trolley SW protrudes beyond the baler 1 and thus requires a large available height at the place of use, FIGS. 3a-c show a second embodiment of a baler 1 in which this required height is less, in particular not greater, than the height of the vertical box baler 1 itself:

[0126] The main difference compared to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 is that the bottom 2.1a of the storage container 21 does not run horizontally, but rises at an angle to the rear filling opening 2.2a in the rear wall 2.2 of the press box 2.

[0127] As a result, its free end facing away from the bale chamber 2, i.e. also the end wall 21e and its upper edge, is considerably lower than in the first embodiment, so that the collecting trolley SW has to be lifted less far up over this upper edge for emptying and thus also projects less far upwards in its—in FIG. 3a also shown—emptying position, hardly above the height level of the upper end of the remaining baler, in particular the upper ends of the press cylinders 13.1-13.3.

[0128] As FIG. 3a shows, the end wall 21e of the storage container 21 is still vertical, and so is the storage pusher 24, which is located in it like in the first embodiment, but the pushing direction 24′ of the storage pusher 24 is no longer horizontal but runs diagonally rising parallel to the bottom 21a of the storage container 21.

[0129] 5

[0130] The remaining embodiment of the baler 1 corresponds to the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, but FIGS. 3a-3c additionally show the lifting/pivoting device 22, which lifts the filled collecting trolley SW, which has been driven up on the ground and fixed in it, and pivots it into the correct position and empties it into the storage container 21.

[0131] For this purpose, the collection trolley SW is coupled to the lifting/tipping device 22 by means of a fastening device 23 of the lifting/pivoting device 22, which in this case—as shown in FIG. 3b—has a U-shaped fork as seen in plan view, into which the collecting trolley SW can be driven in the 2nd transverse direction 11.2 and is locked there automatically or manually. This U-shaped fork is then lifted and pivoted by motor along corresponding guides of the lifting/pivoting device 22 together with the collecting trolley SW.

[0132] Furthermore, FIGS. 3a-c contain the side plates 29a, b, which can best seen in FIG. 3a and are optionally available. These plates are aligned or parallel to the side walls 21c, d of the storage container 21 and extend them upwards, thus increasing the filling volume of the storage container 21. The cover flap 25 pivots between the open position shown in FIG. 3a—in which it usually only slightly covers the open top of the storage container 21—with its side edges tightly fitting between the side plates 29a, b downwards to the lower end position.

[0133] When used as cover flap 25, this lower end position is an end position parallel to the bottom 21a, in which the distance between the closed cover flap 25 and the bottom 21a remains the same over the entire displacement path of the storage pusher 24, in particular until the latter has reached its end position in the filling opening 2.2a, where it becomes part of the corresponding side wall 2.2.

[0134] However, if the side plates 29a, b are present, the cover flap 25 can also be used as guiding flap 25*, which means that the lower end position is not an end position parallel to the bottom 21a, but a position inclined to the bottom, in which the distance between the guiding flap 25* located in this end position and the bottom 21a of the storage container 21 decreases from the free end wall 21b in the direction of the filling opening 2.2a.

[0135] If, in this operating mode, the storage pusher 24 moves from its retracted end position in the direction of the filling opening 2.2a, material can pass over the upper edge of the storage pusher 24, which is why a cover element 27, which can be adjusted in length or moved, is provided from the upper end of the storage pusher 24 to the upper edge of the free end wall 21b.

[0136] In order to push the entire filled material to be presses into the press box 2 in this mode of operation, several working strokes of the storage pusher 24 may be necessary, however, the pivot cylinder 28 for the cover flap or guiding flap must be made less strong for this purpose and/or a higher filling volume in relation to a lower volume of the storage container 21 can be handled during a filling process.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0137] 1 box baler [0138] 1a front side [0139] 1b rear side [0140] 2 press box [0141] 2a bottom [0142] 2.1 side wall, front wall [0143] 2.1.1 filling flap [0144] 2.1a removal opening [0145] 2.2 side wall, rear wall [0146] 2.2a filling opening [0147] 2.3, 2.4 side wall, longitudinal wall [0148] 3 press stamp [0149] 10 press direction, vertical [0150] 11.1 cross direction, process flow direction [0151] 11.2 cross direction [0152] 12 removal door [0153] 13.1-13.3 press cylinder [0154] 14.1-14.2 piston rod [0155] 15a, b guide rod [0156] 20 filling device [0157] 21 storage container [0158] 21a bottom [0159] 21b upper side [0160] 21b 1 filling opening, [0161] 21c, d side wall [0162] 21e end wall [0163] 22 pivoting device, lifting/pivoting device [0164] 23 fixing device [0165] 24 storage pusher [0166] 24′ movement direction, pushing direction [0167] 24a front surface, pushing surface [0168] 25 cover flap [0169] 25′ pivot axis [0170] 25* guiding flap [0171] 25a underside [0172] 26a, b towing cylinder [0173] 27 cover element [0174] 28 pivot cylinder [0175] 29a, b side panel [0176] P material to be pressed [0177] SW collecting trolley