Baler with needle overload protection

A baler comprising:

• a bale chamber;
• a plunger configured to compress crop material in the bale chamber in order to form a bale;
• a needle yoke rotatable around a fixed pivot axis and comprising a plurality of needles configured to deliver twine through the bale chamber;
• a plurality of knotters configured to receive the twine from the plurality of needles;
• a driving shaft located above the bale chamber and extending in a traverse direction of the baler;
• a needle coupling device configured to convert a rotation of the driving shaft into a movement of the needle yoke from a rest position to a twine delivery position and back, the needle coupling device comprising:
• a crank arm attached to the driving shaft and co-rotating with the driving shaft;
• a drive rod having a first end pivotally connected to the crank arm and having a second end;
• a connection member pivotally mounted around the fixed pivot axis and pivotally connected at a second location to the second end of the drive rod such that rotation of the driving shaft is converted in a swinging of the connection member around the fixed pivot axis, the swinging corresponding to the movement of the needle yoke,
• wherein the connection member is cooperative with the needle yoke by:
• a shearbolt adapted to transfer a force from the connection member to the needle yoke during a movement from the rest position to the twine delivery position;
• and
• a protrusion, formed at one of the connection member and the needle yoke, to abut against the other one of the connection member and the needle yoke during a movement from the twine delivery position to the rest position.