Oscillating silage compactor
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorTIMOTHY J. KRAUS
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compactor includes a frame supporting a first roller assembly and a second roller assembly. At least one of the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly is moveable relative to the frame in a motion that includes an upward vertical component and a downward vertical component. An actuator is coupled to at least one of the first and second roller assemblies and is operable to repeatedly move at least one of the roller assemblies relative to the frame in both the upward vertical component and the downward vertical component to oscillate the roller assemblies relative to each other.
Claims22
A compactor for compacting a pile of compressible material, the compactor comprising:
- a frame;
- a first roller assembly supported by the frame and rotatable about a first axis;
- a second roller assembly supported by the frame and rotatable about a second axis;
- and
- an actuator coupled to one of the frame, the first roller assembly, and the second roller assembly, wherein the actuator is operable to move one of the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly relative to the other of the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly in both an upward vertical component and a downward vertical component.
A silage compactor for compacting a pile of crop silage, the silage compactor comprising:
- a frame;
- a first roller assembly supported by the frame and rotatable about a first axis, wherein the first roller assembly is moveable relative to the frame in both an upward vertical component and a downward vertical component;
- a second roller assembly supported by the frame and rotatable about a second axis, wherein the second roller assembly is moveable relative to the frame in both the upward vertical component and the downward vertical component;
- and
- an actuator coupled to the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly and operable to repeatedly move the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly relative to each other in both the upward vertical component and the downward vertical component such that the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly oscillate relative to each other to alternate a relative position between the first roller assembly and the second roller assembly between a respective lower position relative to a vertical axis and a respective upper position relative to the vertical axis.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.