Twine tensioner arm position sensor arrangement

In combination with a large square baler having a tying arrangement for securing opposite ends of a plurality of sets of upper and lower twine strands together with respective knots to respectively form a plurality of loops of twine about crop bales produced in a baling chamber of the baler, each tying arrangement further including:

• a plurality of shiftable, upwardly biased tensioner arms respectively engaged with a plurality of upper twine strands of said plurality of sets of upper and lower twine strands for taking up slack in said plurality of upper strands,
• a plurality of knotter assemblies for respectively attaching together the set of upper and lower twine strands of said plurality of loops,
• a needle arrangement including a plurality of needles for bringing together respective ends of said plurality of sets of upper and lower twine strands into juxtaposition for being respectively attached together said plurality of knotter assemblies, the tying mechanism cycling through a tying cycle during which the plurality of tensioner arms shift between first and second positions, the arms normally shifting from the first to the second position immediately after the knotter assemblies attach together the opposite ends of the sets of upper and lower twine strands and subsequently shifting from the second to the first position,
• an electronic control system for monitoring the operation of the tying arrangement comprising:
• an electrically responsive tensioner arm position sensor being associated with each twine tensioner arm and being operable for sensing the position of the associated tensioner arm throughout its movement between the first and second positions and for generating an electrical arm position signal corresponding to the associated tensioner arm position;
• an electronic controller;
• each tensioner arm position sensor being coupled for sending its electrical arm position signal to the electronic controller;
• a display being coupled to the electronic controller, with the electronic controller acting in response to said electrical arm position signals to generate respective display control signals for causing said display to show the sensed positions of each of said tensioner arms;
• said electronic controller including logic software for determining anomalies in the sensed positions of the tensioner arms and sending warning signals to said display for causing at least one of an audible or a visual signal element to be energized to apprise an operator of any such anomalies, with at least one of the anomalies being at least one tensioner arm being located at a position other than one of said first and second positions when a majority of the tensioner arms is at such one of said first and second positions.