Bottom loading, in-line square baler with dual purpose stuffer

In a bottom loading square baler of the type having a generally horizontally disposed baling chamber and an underslung loading duct projecting downwardly and forwardly from the bottom of the chamber in vertical alignment with the chamber, the improvement comprising:

• an opening into the baling chamber at an upper end of the duct for admitting charges of crop material from the duct into the chamber;
• a plunger reciprocable within said chamber back and forth across said opening through successive compaction and retraction strokes to temporarily close the opening and for compacting the charges admitted to the chamber and forcing them incrementally rearwardly toward a restricted outlet of the chamber to incrementally build a bale that is discharged from the baler through said outlet,
• said duct having a generally forwardly facing inlet at a lower end of the duct adapted to admit crop materials into the duct;
• apparatus adjacent the lower end of the duct for picking up crop materials from the ground as the baler advances and for delivering the picked up materials into the inlet of the duct;
• and
• a stuffer operable through successive stuffing strokes in timed relationship with the reciprocating plunger for loading successive charges of crop material into the baling chamber during retraction strokes of the plunger,
• said stuffer being operable to sweep upwardly and rearwardly through the duct during each stuffing stroke and including a pair of fore-and-aft mutually spaced apart forks presenting a leading fork and a trailing fork with respect to the direction of travel of the stuffer during a stuffing stroke,
• said leading fork and said trailing fork being in fixed relation to one another to cooperatively present a generally C-shaped configuration,
• said leading fork having a generally kidney-shaped path of travel that begins rearwardly of said inlet of the duct and said trailing fork having a generally kidney-shaped path of travel that begins forwardly of the inlet of the duct so that the leading fork can precompress the charge against the bottom of the plunger as the plunger is retracting and then stuff the precompressed charge into the chamber when the plunger is sufficiently retracted, while the trailing fork can sweep new material into the inlet of the duct and advance the new material at least to the beginning of the path of travel of the leading fork as the leading fork carries out and completes the stuffing stroke.