Baling press with rope knotter

A baling press with a rope tying system for tying rope around pressed bales, the press comprising:

• a bale pressing channel oriented in a pressing direction;
• a ram reciprocally movable in the bale pressing channel for pressing material in the pressing direction through the bale pressing channel;
• at least one first rope feeding structure for feeding first rope material along a first feeding path on a first side of the bale pressing channel;
• at least one second rope feeding structure for feeding second rope material along a second feeding path on a second side of the bale pressing channel opposite of said first side of the bale pressing channel;
• for each pair of said first and second rope feeding structures:
• a knotter on said first side of the bale pressing channel, said knotter comprising:
• a knot tier for engaging sections of the first rope material fed along said first feeding path and of the second rope material fed along said second feeding path in a knotting area and knotting said sections to each other;
• a cutter for cutting off rope material from said sections knotted to each other;
• and
• a rope clamp for holding rope material cut off from the knotted rope sections, the knotting area being located closer to the bale pressing channel than the rope clamp;
• and
• a loop supply member for forming a loop of the second rope material across the bale pressing channel to said first side of said bale pressing channel and a loop of the first rope material at said first side;
• wherein said loop supply member is suspended on said second side of said bale pressing channel, said loop supply member is movable along a path between an extended position in which the loop supply member projects from said second side across said bale pressing channel to said first side of said bale pressing channel and a retracted position in which the loop supply member is fully on said second side of said bale pressing channel, and said loop supply member is guided so that said path is straight;
• wherein said loop supply member has at least one turn guide at a free end for forming and guiding said loops in said first and second rope materials;
• and
• wherein said loop supply member has a free end portion adjacent to said turn guide and a spreader for, when said loop supply member is in said extended position, holding said rope materials guided along trajectories extending from said turn guide through said knotting area towards said bale pressing channel, so that portions of said trajectories in said knotting area are spaced from said free end portion.