Baler tailgate pivot with concentric pivot roll
AssigneeCNH Industrial America LLC
InventorTodd Hertzler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An agricultural baler assembly having: a frame; a tailgate pivotally connected to the frame at a tailgate pivot and movable about the tailgate pivot between a closed tailgate position and an open tailgate position, wherein the tailgate and the frame define a bale chamber when the tailgate is in the closed tailgate position; a pivot roller fixed concentric to the tailgate pivot; and a belt wrapped around the pivot roller with the pivot roller between a portion of the belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the bale chamber.
Claims11
An agricultural baler assembly comprising:
- a frame;
- a tailgate pivotally connected to the frame at a tailgate pivot and movable about the tailgate pivot between a closed tailgate position and an open tailgate position, wherein the tailgate and the frame define a bale chamber when the tailgate is in the closed tailgate position;
- a pivot roller fixed concentric to the tailgate pivot;
- a moveable roller assembly comprising an arm and one or more moveable rollers that are fixed to the arm and rotatable about their respective axes, the arm of the moveable roller assembly being fixed to the frame or the tailgate at a movable roller pivot that is concentric to the tailgate pivot, the moveable roller assembly being pivotable about the movable roller pivot relative to both the frame and the tailgate between a home position and a raised position;
- and
- a belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the one or more moveable rollers with the pivot roller arranged between a portion of the belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the bale chamber.
A method for operating an agricultural baler comprising (i) a frame, (ii) a tailgate pivotally connected to the frame at a tailgate pivot and movable about the tailgate pivot between a closed tailgate position in which the tailgater and the frame form a bale chamber and an open tailgate position, (iii) a pivot roller fixed concentric to the tailgate pivot, (iv) a moveable roller assembly comprising an arm and one or more moveable rollers that are fixed to the arm and rotatable about their respective axes, the arm of the moveable roller assembly being fixed to the frame or the tailgate at a movable roller pivot that is concentric to the tailgate pivot, the moveable roller assembly being pivotable about the movable roller pivot relative to both the frame and the tailgate between a home position and a raised position, and (v) a belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the one or more moveable rollers with the pivot roller arranged between a portion of the belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the bale chamber, the method comprising:
- operating the belt to enlarge a bale in a bale chamber;
- increasing a length of a portion of the belt wrapped around the bale as the bale enlarges;
- decreasing a length of a take-up portion of the belt as the bale enlarges;
- pivoting the tailgate relative to the frame at the tailgate pivot and the moveable roller pivot and about the pivot roller to the open tailgate position;
- and
- ejecting the bale from the agricultural baler.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.