Non-powered roller for assisting crop pick-up with a baler

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/981,539 filed Oct. 22, 2007 entitled “Non-Powered Roller for Assisting Crop Pick-up With a Baler” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The present invention relates generally to agricultural equipment, and more specifically to a corn stalk baling method and apparatus.

Balers are used for many different crops. Balers are used to bale hay. Hay is usually classified as any type of grass or legume, such as alfalfa, that is fed to livestock such as cows and horses.

Balers are also used to bale straw, which is the part of the plant above ground that is left after small grains such as wheat, oats, barley, or the like, are harvested, for instance with a combine harvester. A primary use for straw is for bedding for animals. Straw is also commonly used as mulch in gardens and in cattle rations.

A third category of crop material baled using a baler is a stiff stalk crop, such as cornstalks, typically baled after the corn is removed from the stalk, such as with a combine harvester which saves only the corn kernels, or with a corn picker, which saves only the corn while it is still on a cob. It is this third category of crop material which is the most problematic to bale, primarily because of the stiff, long pieces of plant stalk, and in some cases, chopped, fluffy, lightweight, husks, leaves, and stalks. Cornstalks are commonly used as bedding for animals, such as cattle, or as a raw material for making a bio-fuel, such as ethanol.

When baling cornstalks, the flow of crop material is not always a steady flow. Because cornstalks do not fold together like hay and straw material, cornstalks do not always flow easily into the baler pickup. This may cause them to pile up in front of the baler pickup as the baler is towed through a field, causing a large pile of cornstalks to be pushed along in front of the baler pickup instead of evenly entering the baler. This requires the operator to stop or slow the baler, reorganize the pile of cornstalks in front of the pickup of the baler and resume the baling operation. This problem can occur numerous times during the process of baling a field of cornstalks.

Another problem with baling cornstalks is that the stiff stalks cause inordinate wear on individual components of the baler, especially on the pickup section of a baler as compared to using the baler for baling hay or straw. Consequently, those parts need replaced more often when baling cornstalks, and the baler itself may need to be replaced sooner than if it is used to bale only hay and straw.

United States Patent Application 2006/0277888, published on Dec. 14, 2006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, discloses an integrated crop baffle and hold-down assembly used with a baler pick-up, and suspension for the same. Additionally, this document refers to a non powered roller (baffle) and rod windguard assembly and suspension means comprising a multi-bar linkage.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,293,732 discloses a suspended roller ahead of a forage harvester pickup to improve the pickup function. The roller suspension may incorporate a spring to counteract the weight of the roller.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,107,748 discloses a non-powered elongate roller that rotates with crop material. The roller is intended to compress large windrowed crops for better feeding.

None of the above references address the special needs associated with baling stiff-stalked crops, such as cornstalks.

Accordingly, there is a need for a simple attachment to the pickup portion of a baler that overcomes the aforementioned problems with baling crops having a stiff stalk, such as cornstalks.

The present invention relates to a windguard for the pickup of a baler having a rotor that turns only due to crop material passing between pickup teeth and the teeth of a non-powered roller. For the purposes of the present document, including the claims, the term: non-powered roller windguard is defined as a roller windguard that turns only due to its contact with crop material moving relative to the roller. A non-powered roller windguard is not directly driven by a chain, belt, hydraulic motor, etc.

Disclosed are aggressive roller teeth and smooth rollers, polygonal, or rollers with rods laid on the roller\'s surface parallel to the roller\'s axis of rotation. The roller teeth may be shaped to enhance release of crop material, or to penetrate the crop. The teeth can be spaced, oriented, and/or sized to enhance crop feed, and rolling function.

Sleeves are provided between the teeth and over the shaft to which the teeth are affixed. These sleeves are free to rotate, slow or stop independently from the shaft as an anti-wrap feature. The sleeves can be sized to enhance flotation and rolling function.

The roller, in one embodiment of the invention, may be positioned with the windguard rods below the roller centerline, and the roller teeth extending under the rods to touch the crop material.

Suspension embodiments can include springs—extension and compression—steel torsion, rubber torsion, gas springs, counterweights (the latter being non-elastic). Mounting structures can include utilizing an existing Vermeer 600 M series baler frame horizontal slot as an attaching point. Other embodiments allow for mounting the roller device to the windguard mount, front tube or the outboard rods. The mounting arm orientation shown in the drawings is rearward, or trailing, from the pivot, but the mounting arms could be forwardly positioned from the pivot.