Abstract
The invention relates to a method for marking material bales (2), in which method a pressed material bale (2) is tied up by means of a binding device (22) using a binding material (4), and the binding device (22) produces at least one knot (6, 6a, 6b) in the binding material (4) wrapped around the material bale (2), wherein a label (8) is fixed to the binding material (4) as an information carrier. The label (8) is supplied to the binding device (22), and at least a part of the label (8) is incorporated into the knot (6, 6a, 6b).
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A method for marking a material bale, the method comprising: tying a pressed material bale by a tying device with a tying material wrapped around the material bale by knotting at least one knot in the tying material; supplying a label as an information carrier to the tying device; fastening the label to the tying material by incorporating at least one part of the label into the at least one knot.
22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing the label with a read-out region configured to store information relating to the material bale and fastening the label such that the read-out region is not incorporated into the at least one knot and projects away from the at least one knot.
23. The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing the label as a radio frequency label comprising a transponder readable by radio frequency.
24. The method according to claim 21, further comprising providing the at least one part of the label or the entire label in the form of an elongate piece or a flexible strip.
25. The method according to claim 21, further comprising twisting at least two strands of the tying material to form the at least one knot as a twisted knot.
26. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: using a twisting tool for producing the twisted knot; positioning the label such that the label protrudes into a working radius of the twisting tool so that the label during knotting is caught by and/or in the twisting tool.
27. The method according to claim 25, further comprising: using a twisting hook with a catching slot for producing the twisted knot; positioning the label such that the label protrudes into a working radius of the twisting hook so that the label during knotting is caught in the catching slot of the twisting hook.
28. The method according to claim 25, further comprising positioning the label such that the label protrudes between the at least two strands of the tying material.
29. The method according to claim 21, wherein the step of knotting at least one knot includes producing a leading knot and a rearward knot in relation to an advancing direction of the material bale, wherein the at least one part of the label is incorporated into the rearward knot.
30. A marking apparatus for performing the method according to claim 21, the marking apparatus comprising: a storage configured to store the label serving as information carrier; a dispensing mechanism configured to transport the label from the storage into a dispensing position, wherein in the dispensing position the at least one part of the label is positioned so as to be incorporated into the at least one knot during knotting of the at least one knot.
31. The marking apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the label comprises a transponder readable by radio frequency.
32. The marking apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the at least one part of the label or the entire label is an elongate piece.
33. The marking apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the at least one part of the label or the entire label is a flexible strip.
34. The marking apparatus according to claim 30, further comprising a guide channel connected to the storage, wherein a portion of the label protrudes freely from the guide channel when the label is positioned in the dispensing position.
35. The marking apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the guide channel is oriented such in relation to a gravitation direction that the portion of the label protruding in the dispensing position extends in an arc shape.
36. The marking apparatus according to claim 34, wherein the guide channel is configured to apply a retaining force on the label positioned in the dispensing position, wherein the retaining force is large enough to prevent the label from falling out of the guide channel but is small enough to permit the label to be pulled out from the guide channel by a pulling force acting on the label during knotting of the at least one knot.
37. The marking apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the storage is a roll having a continuous band of labels wound thereon or the storage is a magazine configured to store a plurality of the label.
38. A material bale press comprising: a tying device configured to tie a pressed material bale with a tying material by knotting at least one knot in the tying material; and a marking apparatus for performing the method according to claim 21, the marking apparatus comprising: a storage configured to store the label serving as information carrier; a dispensing mechanism configured to transport the label from the storage into a dispensing position, respectively, wherein in the dispensing position the at least one part of the label is positioned so as to be incorporated into the at least one knot during knotting of the at least one knot.
39. A pressed material bale tied with a tying material, wherein the tying material comprises at least one knot, wherein a label as an information carrier is fastened to the tying material, wherein at least one part of the label is incorporated into the at least one knot.
40. The pressed material bale according to claim 39, wherein the label comprises a read-out region configured to store information relating to the pressed material bale, wherein the read-out region is not incorporated into the at least one knot and projects away from the at least one knot.
41. The pressed material bale according to claim 39, wherein the label comprises a transponder readable by radio frequency.
42. The pressed material bale according to claim 39, wherein the at least one part of the label or the entire label is elongate piece.
43. The pressed material bale according to claim 39, wherein the at least one part of the label or the entire label is a flexible strip.
Description
[0047] Modifications and embodiments of the invention as well as further advantages and details of the invention can be taken from the following subject matter description and the drawings. The schematic Figures show in:
[0048] FIG. 1 an embodiment of a material bale according to the invention;
[0049] FIG. 2 an embodiment of a label incorporated into a knot;
[0050] FIG. 3 a tying region of an embodiment of the material bale press according to the invention;
[0051] FIG. 4 a tying region of a further embodiment of a material bale press according to the invention;
[0052] FIG. 5 an embodiment of a label to be supplied to a tying device;
[0053] FIG. 6 a further embodiment of a label supplied to a tying device.
[0054] Same or similarly acting parts are provided — if expedient — with identical reference characters.
[0055] Individual technical features of the embodiments described in the following can be combined also in combination with afore described embodiments as well as the features of the independent claims and possible additional claims to subject matter according to the invention.
[0056] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment according to the invention of a pressed material bale 2 that is tied with three loops of a tying material 4. During knotting, each loop is knotted with a leading knot 6a as well as a rearward knot 6b in relation to an advancing direction V of the material bale 2. The knots 6a, 6b are embodied as twisted knots. A label 8 as an information carrier is fastened to the tying material 4, wherein a part of the label 8 is incorporated into one of the rearward knots 6b. The attachment at a rearward knot 6b is advantageous because the knots 6a, 6b during the course of the advancing movement have the tendency to bend opposite to the advancing direction V. In this context, the leading knots 6a come to rest on the top surface 15 of the material bale 2 while the rearward knots 6b project at the rearward transverse edge 16 laterally away from the material bale 2 so that a label 8 which is incorporated thereat remains accessible even for material bales 2 that are stacked on each other.
[0057] A read-out region 10 of the label 8 in and/or at which information relating to the material bale 2 are stored or can be stored, is not incorporated into the knot 6b and projects away from it for improved readability. In particular, the label 8 is embodied as a radio frequency label with a transponder 12 that is readable by radio frequency, wherein the transponder 12 is arranged in the read-out region 10.
[0058] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a knot 6 with label 8 incorporated therein which, for example, can be present in this way in the FIG. 1 embodiment. The label 8 is present as an elongate piece, more precisely in form of a flexible strip. For producing the knot 6, two strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4 are twisted to a twisted knot. Into this type of knot, the label 8 can be incorporated particularly well because it is processed in the knot 6 as “third strand” and is thus held by friction at several locations by the windings of the strands 14a, 14b. The label 8 is configured as a radio frequency label and comprises a transponder 12 which is readable by radio frequency and is arranged in a read-out region 10 of the label 8. The read-out region is not incorporated into the knot 6 and projects for better readability and/or better writability away from the finished knot 6.
[0059] FIGS. 3 and 4 show tying regions of embodiments of a material bale press 20 according to the invention, comprising a tying device 22 for tying a pressed material bale 2 with a tying material 4. In this context, two strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4 present as a wire are knotted, prior to wrapping the material bale 2, to a leading knot 6a in relation to the advancing direction V. After having been wrapped around the material bale 2, the two strands 14a, 14b are knotted to the rearward knot 6b (not shown) and the loop is thus tied. The tying device 22 is configured in this context such that the rearward knot 6b of the material bale 2 and the leading knot 6a for a following bale to be wrapped are simultaneously produced; this is however not illustrated in the Figures. In this context, a first twisting hook 40a as well as a second twisting hook 40b of the tying device 22 serve respectively for producing a twisted knot, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example. A marking apparatus 24 with a storage 26 supplies to the tying device 22 individualized labels 8 for incorporation into the rearward knot 6b still to be produced. Prior to the knotting action, the strands 14a, 14b have been combined in a generally known manner by means of a wire pull needle 36 of the tying device 22 moving along the wire pull needle direction Z into a twisting position illustrated here, in which the strands 14a, 14b, beginning at a deflection roller 38 of the wire pull needle 36, are projecting away in a V-shape. In the here illustrated dispensing position of the label 8, a part of the label 8 protrudes from a guide channel 25 of the marking apparatus 24 and into the vicinity of the sections of the strands 14a, 14b projecting in a V-shape and to be processed to the rearward knot 6b.
[0060] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the storage 26 of the marking apparatus 24 is in the form of a roll 28 having a continuous band of labels 8 wound thereon. Moreover, the marking apparatus 24 comprises a dispensing mechanism 32 comprising a draw roll pair 30 as well as a reader 42 with which the labels 8 embodied as radio frequency labels can be read out. In this context, an identifier which is located on the respective label 8, for example, an RFID identifier, is detected so that information related to the material bale 2 can be correlated therewith in a database. For separation of the labels 8, the marking apparatus 24 comprises moreover a cutter 34 that separates the label 8 which is momentarily to be supplied to the tying device 22 from the band.
[0061] In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the marking apparatus 24 comprises a storage 26 in the form of a magazine 44 with a plurality of individual labels 8 that are individualized and supplied by a — for example, mechanic or pneumatic —dispensing mechanism 32 of the tying device 22.
[0062] FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a label 8 supplied to a tying device 22 as it can be existent, for example, in the embodiments according to FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4. In this context, the label 8, in the dispensing position, protrudes between the two strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4 which are to be joined to the rearward knot 6b. During the course of knotting, the strands 14a, 14b are cut through in the region of the deflection roller 38, wherein the first twisting hook 40a catches the now freed strands 14a, 14b by a rotational movement D about a rotation axis R in a catching slot 46 advancing in a spiral shape toward the rotation axis R. Those sections of the strands 14a, 14b which are located (in this illustration below the twisting hook 40a) on the side of the first twisting hook 40a facing the material bale 2 (not illustrated here) are combined thereby and twisted by further rotations. In doing so, the label 8 is caught by the strands 14a, 14b and together with them is incorporated into the twisted knot. Prior to knotting, the label 8 protrudes in such a way between the two strands 14a, 14b that it intersects or “penetrates” a virtual plane E which is defined by the sections of the strands 14a, 14b to be knotted on the side of the first twisting hook 40a facing the material bale 2 (not illustrated here).
[0063] In the dispensing position illustrated in FIG. 5 of the label 8 present as an elongate piece, more precisely as a flexible strip, the guide channel 25 is positioned in relation to a gravitation direction such that a part of the label 8 which is protruding from the guide channel 25 extends in an arc shape due to its own weight. In this manner, components of the tying device 22, such as the twisting hooks 40a, 40b or the wire pull needle 36, can be bypassed. In this way, even for the guide channel 25 extending substantially transversely to the rotation axis R of the first twisting hook 40a, a section of the label 8 can be positioned so as to advance at an angle as acute as possible to one of the strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4. Preferably, the label 8 is positioned such in relation to one of the strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4 that a virtual tangent T placed at its free end 48, from at least one perspective transverse to the respective strand 14a, 14b, is positioned relative to the respective strand 14a, 14b at an angle of smaller or equal to 45°, preferably smaller or equal to 30°, particularly preferred smaller or equal to 20°, so that the label 8 can be supplied particularly well as “third strand” to the tying device 22 as well as gripped by the strands 14a, 14b and processed.
[0064] FIG. 6 shows an embodiment modified in relation to FIG. 5 that can be existent in this way, for example, in the embodiments according to FIG. 3 and/or FIG. 4 in which the label 8 in the dispensing position protrudes additionally into a working radius A of the first twisting hook 40a so that the label 8 during the course of knotting, in which the first twisting hook 40a carries out a rotation movement D about its rotation axis R, can be caught in the catching slot 46. In this manner, the first twisting hook 40a catches the two strands 14a, 14b of the tying material 4 as well as the label 8 and combines them optimally, whereby the label 8 is incorporated reliably into the knot 6b. In the embodiment illustrated here, the label 8 projects into the catching slot 46 itself. The working radius A is in this context the region into which an object must protrude in order to be caught in the catching slot 46 during the rotation movement D of the twisting hook 40a or, when using a different type of twisting tool, to be engaged by the latter.
