Powered feed roller system for a round baler

A round baler for forming round bales of crop material, comprising:

• a crop pickup for feeding crop material rearwardly;
• a belt arrangement located rearwardly of the crop pickup and including a bale-forming section located between a pair of baler rollers;
• at least one floor roller located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement;
• a fixed-position upper bale-forming roller located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement and located above the floor roller;
• a powered feed roller located below the upper bale-forming roller, wherein the powered feed roller cooperates with the floor roller to define a crop inlet therebetween for receiving crop material from the crop pickup and feeding crop material rearwardly to a bale-forming chamber defined at least in part by the bale-forming roller and the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, wherein the powered feed roller is movably mounted between the floor roller and the upper bale-forming roller, wherein movement of the powered feed roller relative to the floor roller functions to vary the size of the crop inlet, and wherein the powered feed roller is mounted between a pair of arm members pivotably interconnected with the round baler for movement about a pivot axis coincident with an axis of rotation defined by the upper bale-forming roller;
• a biasing arrangement interconnected with the powered feed roller for biasing the powered feed roller toward a normal operating position in which the powered feed roller is spaced a first distance from the floor roller, and wherein the powered feed roller is movable against the force of the biasing arrangement to an expanded position greater than the first distance from the floor roller to accommodate an increase in thickness of the crop material;
• and
• a scraper member located between the powered feed roller and the upper bale-forming roller, wherein the scraper member is arranged to remove crop material from the powered feed roller and the upper bale-forming roller, wherein at least one of the powered feed roller and the upper bale-forming roller includes helical shearing structure which cooperates with the scraper member to shear crop material adhering thereto.

A crop inlet arrangement for a round baler including a crop pickup arrangement for moving crop material rearwardly and a belt arrangement defining at least one bale-forming section located rearwardly of the crop pickup arrangement, comprising:

• a rotatable lower member located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement;
• and
• a rotatable upper member located above the lower member;
• wherein the upper and lower rotatable members each define a crop engagement surface having irregular surface structure including raised portions that extend outwardly from a surface of the respective rotatable member and in a direction along an axis of rotation defined by the respective rotatable member, wherein the irregular surface structure comprises helical bar structure extending outwardly from the surface of each of the rotatable members for positively engaging the crop material;
• wherein the upper and lower rotatable members are spaced apart from each other to define a crop inlet located therebetween, and wherein the upper and lower members rotate in opposite directions and the helical bar structure of the upper and lower rotatable members cooperates to feed crop material from the pickup arrangement through the crop inlet and into the bale-forming chamber.

In a round baler for forming round bales of crop material, wherein the round baler includes a belt arrangement and a pickup, the improvement comprising an upper bale-forming roller located forwardly of the belt arrangement, wherein the upper bale-forming roller and the belt arrangement cooperate to at least in part define a bale-forming chamber, and a pair of powered rollers located forwardly of the bale-forming chamber, wherein the powered rollers are spaced apart from each other and define a crop inlet for receiving crop material from the pickup and feeding crop material into the bale-forming chamber, wherein one of the powered rollers comprises a rotatable lower roller and the other of the powered rollers comprises a powered feed roller located above the rotatable lower roller, wherein the crop inlet is defined by a space located between the powered feed roller and the lower roller, and wherein the powered feed roller is movable relative to the lower roller about a pivot axis coincident with an axis of rotation of the upper bale-forming roller to vary the size of the crop inlet, wherein the powered feed roller is spaced from the upper bale-forming roller, and further comprising scraper structure located in the space between the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller, wherein the scraper structure includes a first scraping edge located adjacent the upper bale-forming roller and a second scraping edge located adjacent the powered feed roller for removing crop material adhering thereto.

A round baler for forming round bales of crop material, comprising:

• a crop pickup arrangement;
• a belt arrangement located rearwardly of the crop pickup arrangement and defining a bale-forming section between a pair of rolls associated with the round baler;
• a rear floor roller located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement;
• a front floor roller located forwardly of the rear floor roller;
• an upper bale-forming roller spaced above the front and rear floor rollers and forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement;
• and
• a movable powered feed roller located between the upper bale-forming roller and the front floor roller, wherein the powered feed roller and the front floor roller cooperate to define a crop inlet for feeding crop material into a bale-forming chamber defined by the upper bale-forming roller, the rear floor roller and the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, wherein the powered feed roller is selectively movable toward and away from the front floor roller for varying the size of the crop inlet;
• wherein the front floor roller and the powered feed roller include helical bar structure extending outwardly from a surface defined by each of the front floor roller and the powered feed roller for positively engaging the crop material and feeding the crop material from the crop inlet toward the rear floor roller.

A round baler for forming round bales of crop material, comprising:

• a crop pickup arrangement;
• a belt arrangement located rearwardly of the crop pickup arrangement and defining a bale-forming section between a pair of rolls associated with the round baler;
• a bale support arrangement located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, and including a forward floor roller;
• and
• a closed upper bale forming and crop feeding assembly which cooperates with the belt arrangement and the bale support arrangement to define a bale-forming chamber, wherein the upper bale forming and crop feeding assembly comprises a fixed position rotatable upper bale-forming roller and a movably mounted powered feed roller, wherein the forward floor roller and the powered feed roller are spaced apart from each other to define a crop inlet therebetween which receives crop material from the crop pickup arrangement, and wherein the powered feed roller is selectively movable away from the forward floor roller about a pivot axis that is coincident with an axis of rotation of the rotatable upper bale-forming roller, to accommodate an increase in thickness of crop material introduced into the crop inlet.

A round baler for forming round bales of crop material, comprising:

• a crop pickup arrangement;
• a belt arrangement located rearwardly of the crop pickup arrangement and defining a bale-forming section between a pair of rolls associated with the round baler;
• a bale support arrangement located forwardly of the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, and including a forward floor roller;
• and
• a closed upper bale forming and crop feeding assembly which cooperates with the belt arrangement and the bale support arrangement to define a bale-forming chamber, wherein the upper bale forming and crop feeding assembly comprises a fixed position upper-bale-forming roller and a movably mounted powered feed roller, wherein the forward floor roller and the powered feed roller are spaced apart from each other to define a crop inlet therebetween which receives crop material from the crop pickup arrangement, and wherein the powered feed roller is selectively movable away from the forward floor roller to accommodate an increase in thickness of crop material introduced into the crop inlet, wherein the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller rotate in opposite directions of rotation, and wherein the closed upper bale forming and crop feeding assembly further includes a scraper arrangement located between the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller, wherein the scraper arrangement includes first and second scraping edges located adjacent the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller, respectively, for removing crop material adhering thereto.