Bale Shape and Density Improvement

Abstract

An agricultural baler comprising a baling chamber and a pre-compression chamber, wherein the pre-compression chamber is adapted to gather crop material and to periodically form a slice of said crop material and introduce it in a first segment of the baling chamber, the baling chamber comprising a plunger and a movable top wall, wherein the first segment is provided with at least one sensor for outputting a first signal relating to a height of the slice in the first segment, a second signal relating to a speed of introduction of the slice in the first segment, and a third signal relating to a position of the movable top wall, wherein the baler further comprises a processor adapted to receive the signals and to adjust baler operation parameters of the agricultural baler based on the received signals.

Claims

1. An agricultural baler comprising: a baling chamber comprising a plunger provided for reciprocally moving in the baling chamber thereby compressing slices of crop material into a bale, the baling chamber further comprising a movable top wall; and a pre-compression chamber configured to gather crop material via a rotor and to periodically form a slice of the crop material and introduce the slice towards the baling chamber into a first segment of the baling chamber, the first segment comprising at least one sensor configured for outputting a first signal relating to a height of the slice in the first segment, and a second signal relating to a speed of introduction of the slice in the first segment, wherein the movable top wall comprises a position sensor configured for outputting a third signal relating to a position of the movable top wall, and wherein the baler further comprises a signal processor configured to: receive the first signal, the second signal, and the third signal; and adjust baler operation parameters based on the received signals.

2. The agricultural baler of claim 1, wherein the baler operation parameters comprise at least one of: a baler capacity; a shape of the pre-compression chamber; a PTO-rpm; a trajectory followed by one or more tine bars in the pre-compression chamber; a rotor scraper angle; and a rotor speed.

3. The agricultural baler of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a first sensor arranged in a central top section of the first segment of the baling chamber.

4. The agricultural baler of claim 3, wherein the at least one sensor further comprises a second sensor and a third sensor arranged in respectively a left top section and a right top section of the first segment of the baling chamber.

5. The agricultural baler of claim 3, wherein the at least one sensor further comprises multiple sensors arranged at side walls of the first segment of the baling chamber.

6. The agricultural baler of claim 1, wherein the signal processor is further configured to determine a time of flight of the slice in the bale chamber.

7. The agricultural baler of claim 1, wherein the baling chamber further comprises a left movable side wall and a right movable side wall, wherein each of the left and right movable side walls comprises a sidewall position sensor provided for outputting a further signal relating to a position of the each of the left and right movable side walls, and wherein the signal processor is further configured to receive the further signals.

8. The agricultural baler of claim 7, wherein each sidewall position sensor comprises at least two position sensor elements arranged with a distance between each other.

9. The agricultural baler of claim 1, wherein the position sensor of the top wall comprises at least two position sensor elements arranged with a distance between each other.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] Some embodiments of apparatus and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0031] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the pre-compression chamber and the baling chamber;

[0032] FIG. 2 shows part of the baling chamber including the sensors; and

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a processor for calculating baler operation parameters.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of main inside elements of an agricultural baler. The figure shows a baling chamber 1 and a pre-compression chamber 2. The pre-compression chamber opens in the baling chamber to push a slice of crop material 3 in a first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1.

[0035] The baling chamber comprises a plunger 5 which is provided for reciprocally moving in the baling chamber. The reciprocal movement is indicated by arrow 6. To this end, the plunger 5 is driven by a plunger driving mechanism 13. The connection between the plunger driving mechanism 13 and the plunger 5 is schematically represented by a pair of arms, however other driving mechanisms can be used as well for driving the plunger 5 in the reciprocal movement 6.

[0036] The pre-compression chamber 2 comprises a slice pushing mechanism 12 or so-called stuffer. The slice pushing mechanism 12 is driven by a slice pushing driving mechanism 14. Preferably, the slice pushing driving mechanism 14 is mechanically connected to the plunger driving mechanism 13. Such mechanical connection ensures a synchronized movement between the plunger 5 and the slice pushing mechanism 12. The mechanical connection is illustrated in FIG. 1 with connection 7. In a preferred embodiment, the mechanical connection allows a variable synchronization between the plunger and stuffer.

[0037] It will be clear that a synchronization between the slice pushing mechanism 12 of the pre-compression chamber, and the reciprocal movement 6 of the plunger 5 is important for a correct operation of the baler. In the reciprocal movement of the plunger 5, the plunger moves over at least a part of the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1. Therefore, for being able to push a slice of crop material 3 into the baling chamber 1, the plunger 5 is preferably somewhere in a withdrawn position in the reciprocal movement. Otherwise the first segment 4 is not open for receiving a slice of crop material 3.

[0038] The pre-compression chamber preferably comprises an inlet 10 and an outlet 11. The outlet 11 opens toward the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1, so that a slice of crop material 3 formed in the pre-compression chamber 2 can be pushed through the outlet 11 into the baling chamber 1. The outlet 11 of the pre-compression chamber can be integrally formed with an inlet of the baling chamber. The inlet 10 of the pre-compression chamber 2 is preferably connected to crop gathering means provided for gathering crop material from the field and pushing the gathered crop material into the pre-compression chamber 2 via the inlet 10.

[0039] Many operational settings influence the operation of the baler elements. These settings are steerable via relating parameters. The parameters are calculated by a processor that may be part of the baler or are manually set by an operator. The skilled person is familiar with these settings and therefore these settings are not described in much detail. These settings comprise, without limiting the scope of the settings, the baler capacity, shape of the pre-compression chamber, PTO-rpm, trajectory followed by one or more tine bars in the pre-compression chamber, rotor scraper angle and rotor or packer speed.

[0040] FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of a first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1, wherein multiple sensors are arranged. The top wall of the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1 is preferably provided with a first sensor 8. In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2, three sensors 8A, 8B and 8C are provided in the top wall, divided over the width of the baling chamber 1. It will be clear for the skilled person that different numbers of sensors 8 can be used and distributed over the width of the baling chamber 1 to obtain a more detailed measurement.

[0041] Tests have shown that when three sensors 8A, 8B and 8C are provided, one on the left-hand side of the baling chamber 1, another in the center of the baling chamber 1 and yet another at the right-hand side of the baling chamber 1, a reliable measurement can be obtained. The sensors 8 are preferably distance sensors able to measure a distance between the sensor and the slice in the first segment 4. Such sensor can measure the height of the slice in the baling chamber. The skilled person will understand that when the measurement frequency is high enough, also a speed of introduction of the slice in the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1 can be deduced via the first sensors. By measuring a distance at predetermined time intervals, the difference in distance between successive measurements is related to the speed. By having multiple sensors over the width of the baling chamber, differences in slice height and/or slice speed, over the width of the baling chamber 1, can be detected. Alternatively, the sensors 8 are force or pressure sensors. Such sensors can measure the force of the slice in the baling chamber.

[0042] The baling chamber preferably comprises a movable top wall and movable side walls. The position of the top wall can be measured by a wall position sensor 9. Preferably, multiple position sensors 9A and 9B are provided, and arranged at a distance from each other, such that not only the position of the top wall can be measured but also the deformation of the top wall. A similar arrangement of sensors can be provided at the movable side walls. For simplicity, in FIG. 2, only one sensor 9C is shown at the side wall. It will be clear to the skilled person that multiple position sensors can be arranged at the side walls to measure both side wall position and side wall deformation. Preferably the position sensors are located at a frame element of the baling chamber, preferably at the density belt of the baling chamber. The sensors are mounted to the frame of the baling chamber and directed towards the movable walls, so that the position of the movable walls can be measured by measuring the distance between the sensor at the frame and the movable wall. Therefore the position sensors for the movable walls do not need to be connected to the walls itself, but may be connected to the frame.

[0043] In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a third type of sensors 15 are provided in a side wall of the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1. Preferably, the third sensors comprise multiple presence sensors. The presence sensor can be formed by a distance sensor, contact sensor, force sensor, pressure sensor or by other types of sensors as will be recognized by the skilled person. By arranging the sensors 15 in a predetermined manner along the height of the baling chamber 1, the speed of introduction of a slice can be measured by the third sensors 15. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a first set of third sensors is indicated with reference number 15A and is provided according to a first pattern in the right side wall of the baling chamber 1. A second set is indicated with reference number 15B and is arranged according to a second pattern in the left-side wall of the baling chamber. The skilled person will recognize that these third sensors 15 are optional and improve the speed measurement when a slice is introduced in the baling chamber. As explained above, the speed can also be measured by the first sensors 8. Tests have been conducted with ultrasonic sensors, which measure a distance to the object in front of the sensor. Based on these distance measurements, and based on the time between measurements, a speed of the object and optionally an acceleration thereof can be derived. This shows that when measurement data is logged, data from a single sensor can be used to measure both speed and distance. However it is preferred to use a sensor that directly outputs the speed for generating the second signal.

[0044] FIG. 3 further illustrates a processor 16 adapted to output baler operation parameters 20. In order to calculate the baler operation parameters 20, the processor is configured to run predetermined algorithms and/or follow a set of predetermined rules based on a first signal 17 and/or second signal 18 and a third signal 19. The first signal 17 relates to the height of the slice 3 in the first segment 4 of the baling chamber 1, after the slice has been introduced. This signal is created by the sensors 8. The second signal relates to the speed of introduction of the slice in the baling chamber 1. As explained above this second signal can be generated directly or indirectly by the sensors 8 and/or by the sensors 15. The third signal relates to the position of the top wall and preferably relates to the position of the top wall and the side walls of the baling chamber. This third signal is generated by the second sensors 9.

[0045] Based on the figures and the description, the skilled person will be able to understand the operation and advantages of the invention as well as different embodiments thereof. It is however noted that the description and figures are merely intended for understanding the invention, and not for limiting the invention to certain embodiments or examples used therein. Therefore it is emphasized that the scope of the invention will only be defined in the claims.