Abstract: A forage compactor for compressing forage or crop into bales of increased crop density for transportation. A crop feed area feeds crop to a conveyor where it is moved to a scale area for proper bale weight. An indexer severs the crop while moving it from the scale area to the compression chamber. The crop is compressed and moved to a strapping chamber where straps are applied to the compressed crop. The bound bale is manipulated as desired at the product handling area downstream from the strapping chamber. The crop is provided with substantially constant stress during compression and moisture sensors in the strapping chamber sense the moisture content of the severed crop within the bale to be bound. The weight of the crop within the compression area may be reduced to reduce machine overloading. Keyway plungers provide reduced side loading on the main ram used for crop compression.

Abstract: A press for processing and recovering preselected solid urban waste and the like comprises a hopper which is operatively coupled to a pressing device for reducing the volume of the waste which, in a pressed condition, is conveyed by the pressing device to a cutting device designed for forming the waste into preset cross-section rods.

Abstract: A hay bale turntable for angularly rotating a rectangular jumbo size hay bale 90.degree. about its longitudnal axis while lowering the bale as it is received from a baler chamber to the surface of the earth is formed by a rigid bale support frame connected with the rearward end of a hay baler frame below the exit end of the hay baler bale chamber. A bale lowering arm frame is pivotally connected with the support frame for vertical pivoting movement toward and away from the surface of the earth. The arm frame supports a bale receiving platform having a bearing centrally interposed between the platform and the arm frame for angular rotation of the platform as the arm frame lowers it toward the surface of the earth by a fluid pressure cylinder connected with the support frame and arm frame. The cylinder is actuated for pivoting the arm frame by a fluid pressure pilot valve on the platform triggered by an overlying bale.

Abstract: Instead of using the compacting plunger of the baler to unload one or more bales from the bale chamber, an auxiliary ejector system may be utilized that enables the operator to select only the last bale for off-loading, or both the last bale and the next-to-last bale. A shuttle assembly housed almost entirely within hollow rails of the bale case has a number of ejector dogs that need not all be placed in operating position simultaneously, thus permitting the operator to choose to actuate only those dogs which are necessary to off-load the bale he selects. The shuttle is repeatedly actuated and retracted through ejecting and reset strokes until the selected bale or bales are fully off-loaded. During the reset strokes the spring-loaded dogs are yieldably folded down under the pressure of the overhead bale so as to avoid retrograde movement of the bale.

Abstract: A bale transfer system for transferring bales from a baler mechanism to a support vehicle including a baler mechanism a bale tipper mechanism and a bale receiving station for receiving bales ejected from the baler mechanism. Each bale when ejected has a height dimension and a width dimension. A tipper mechanism is mounted at the bale receiving station and is operable to reposition a bale 90.degree. so that its height dimension becomes its width dimension. A bale loading means is provided for loading the repositioned bales into a transport vehicle. The tipper is comprised of a rotatable bale tipping wing having a bale support surface and a rotatable bale support wing having a bale support surface. The bale tipper mechanism further includes a power means for activating the tipping and support wings to thereby reposition a bale 90.degree. as it is moved from the tipping wing support surface to the support wing support surface.

Abstract: A low friction liner is described for mounting to an agricultural material baler within the discharge chute for the baled materials. The liner includes liner plates of low friction material that are attached by a mount to the inwardly facing surfaces of the baler discharge chute. The low friction material provides inwardly facing low friction wear surfaces used to engage and guide materials along the discharge chute to a open discharge end. In one preferred embodiment, the low friction surfaces are flat and continuous from forward to rearward ends of the discharge chute plates. In another preferred form, angular indentations are made within the liner with incised or indented shoulders facing the rearward ends of the discharge chute plates to provide abutment surfaces for avoidance of "spring back" of baled materials as they are moved toward the discharge end.

Abstract: The press comprises a frame (1), a feed zone (3) for receiving the waste products, a pressing chamber (9) comprising an inlet opening (10) and an outlet opening (11) which are in opposed relation and disposed coaxially relative to the feed zone (3), and a chamber (14) for discharging the solid phase. The press further comprises an element (15) which is movable transversely relative to the axis of the press chamber (9) between a first position for closing the outlet opening (11) and a second position for opening the outlet opening (11), and an arrangement (20) for applying the movable element against the outlet opening (11) of the pressing chamber.

Abstract: The press comprises a frame (1), a feed zone (3) for receiving the waste products to be treated, a press chamber (9) comprising an inlet opening (10) and an outlet opening (11) which are opposed and disposed coaxially relative to the feed zone (3), and a chamber (14) for discharging the solid phase. The press further comprises an element (15) which is transversely movable relative to the axis of the press chamber (9) between a first position for closing the outlet opening (11) and a second position for opening the outlet opening (11), and an arrangement (20) for separating leakages of the liquid phase from the solid phase in the discharge chamber (14).

Abstract: A trash compactor is provided that has a single ram that simultaneously precompacts trash in an auxiliary precompacting chamber and compacts trash that has already been precompacted in a main compacted and storage chamber. The ram has a single actuating device and efficiently provides for both precompacting in the auxiliary precompacting chamber and for compacting in the compacting and storage chamber with each stroke of the ram.

Abstract: A control assembly to control the rate at which a food material is conducted to die cavities of a rotary press. The control assembly includes a roller subassembly, a first roller rotatably supported by the roller support assembly, and a second roller rotatably supported by the roller support assembly and located adjacent the first roller. The first and second rollers form a feed gap therebetween to receive the food material, and the second roller is also supported for movement toward and away from the first roller. The control assembly further includes an adjusting subassembly connected to the roller support subassembly to move the second roller toward and away from the first roller to vary the size of the feed gap, and a roller drive subassembly connected to the first and second rollers to rotate those rollers to pull the food material through the feed gap and to direct the food material to the die plate.

Abstract: A bale discharge apparatus for use in guiding each of a plurality of bales of crop material between a bale forming chamber of a baler and the ground includes a bale turning assembly for turning each bale onto one of the lateral sides as the bale is delivered from the bale forming chamber. A table is provided for receiving each turned bale after the bale has been turned onto one of the lateral sides by the bale turning assembly, and the table is supported beneath the bale turning assembly at a height adapted to position the turned bale at least partially within the path of the next delivered bale so that the front end of the next delivered bale engages the rear end of the turned bale and pushes the turned bale from the table onto the ground. A method of guiding each of a plurality of bales of material between the bale forming chamber and the ground as each of the bales is delivered from the bale forming chamber is also disclosed.

Abstract: A horizontal waste material baling machine has a charging passage which leads to a compressing chamber of generally parallelopiped configuration and in which a charging plunger is reciprocably moveable for pushing waste material into the compressing chamber and compressing it into a bale. A discharge passage leads from the compressing chamber at right angles to the charging passage, and an ejection plunger is advanceable through the chamber and the discharge passage to eject the baled waste material. To ease the ejection of an oversize bale, the discharge passage wall adjacent the exit end of the charging passage is a vertically oriented planar surface of a structure that is moveable by a linear motor, such as a hydraulic cylinder, from a normal operative position at which the vertical planar surface and the opposite sidewall of the discharge passage determine the exit width to a position at which the planar surface is displaced by an amount it is desired to increase the exit width of the discharge passage.

Abstract: A hay bale recompacting system comprises an elongated compression chamber having a generally rectangular cross-section defined by top, bottom, and end walls, an inlet end and an outlet end, an inlet opening at the inlet end in one side of the chamber, an outlet at the outlet end in the other side of the chamber, a ram at the inlet end of the chamber for compressing bales therein, an indexing apparatus for weighing a charge to be introduced into the compressor, a ram for moving a selected amount of a bale into the chamber, a strapping chamber at the outlet disposed at right angle to the compression chamber for receiving compressed bales, an extruder ram for extruding bales from the compression chamber into and from the strapping chamber, and strapping units associated with the strapping chamber for strapping bales in the strapping chamber.

Abstract: An apparatus for handling round bales of hay, straw or the like material. In general terms, the handling comprises dispensing a round bale of hay or the like material by unwinding the bale and feeding the thus produced continuous mat into the inlet device of a compactor, typically employing the compacting mechanism of a known square baler. The compactor compacts the material fed into it to produce a second, compacted state generally similar to square bales. Thus, in brief, the invention converts the round bales into the square bales. In a particularly preferred application of the invention, the continuous compact mass of the material is fed directly into a grinder-mixer. The grinder-mixer, being usually on a mobile frame, can thus be fed from a round bale.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for compressing fibrous material into dense bales having uniform size, shape and weight. Weighed longitudinally extended charges of material having a predetermined transverse dimensional profile are individually loaded into a compression chamber defined by side plates and first and second movable end platens. A long-stroke small-diameter hydraulic piston pushes the first end platen against the charge toward the second end platen, partially compressing the charge. The first end platen is then latched in a fixed position at full stroke while the second end platen, via a short-stroke large-diameter hydraulic piston, applies a further compressive force to the charge against the first end platen. The resulting fully compressed charge is pushed out of the compression chamber, bound loosely while still fully compressed, then released, whereupon the bale longitudinally expands into the bindings to a predetermined length.

Abstract: A press for agricultural crop mainly comprising a frame (1), a baling chamber (4) with an inlet opening carried by said frame, a pressing member (5) driven so as to reciprocate in the baling chamber (4), said baling chamber (4) being provided with means for producing a counter-pressure in order to form a bale of compressed agricultural crop, wherein the means for producing the counter-pressure comprise an outlet part (15) prolonging the baling chamber (4) and narrowing in the pressing direction and a removable flap member (31) partly or wholly closing the passage near the transition area between baling chamber (4) and outlet part (15), in order to produce a counter-pressure at the start so that even the first or second bale has sufficient density.

Abstract: A baling machine of comparatively non-complex construction is disclosed. The baling machine comprises a baling chamber, which is of adjustable size in which can be mounted a ventillating hole making tube; and an eccentrically mounted circular or oval element. The eccentrically mounted circular or oval element is located at the entrance of the baling chamber, and as it rotates causes entering hay or other forage to be entered into the baling chamber and formed into a bale.

Abstract: A piston type bailer for producing bales of agricultural material comprising a bailing chamber with a reciprocating pressing piston, a crank drive for reciprocating the pressing piston. A feeding element is arranged to feed agricultural material to the bailing chamber. As auxiliary drive changes a position of the feeding element from the crank drive. The auxiliary drive having a first crank unit associated with the feeding element and including a first crank pin rotatably supporting the feeding element, a crank axle and a first crank arm arranged on the crank axle, and a second crank unit associated with the crank drive of the pressing piston and includes a second crank arm driven from the pivot axle of the crank drive and a pivot pin driven by the crank arm.

Abstract: An agricultural baler comprising a bale case and a plunger reciprocable in the bale case for, in use of the baler, forming crop material into bales and moving bales along the bale case towards the discharge end thereof for ultimate discharge therefrom. A pair of slides in the bale case are operable to engage a formed or partially formed bale in the bale case and move it therealong towards the discharge end thereof independently of the operation of the plunger.Tines pivotally mounted on the slides are urged by springs into an operative position to engage bales in the bale case. The times may be retracted to an inoperative position.

Abstract: A dead-ended baler in which the bale chamber diverges in the overall direction of crop flow through the chamber, the overall divergence of the rear section of the bale chamber preferably being greater than the overall divergence of the preceding section of the bale chamber.

Abstract: A stationary knife blade for shearing bales of recompressed hay disposed across the discharge end of a decompression chamber of a recompression apparatus designed to recompress and retie bales of fibrous material.

Abstract: A method for recompressing bales of fibrous material wherein the bales of hay or other fibrous material which are recompressed to approximately half of their original volume and then retied with bale twine and then held in a decompression chamber for a sufficient period of time to allow for trapped air to escape and for the fibrous material to loose some of its resiliency before subjecting the retied bales to unrestricted recoil stresses. Bales are recompressed in the recompression chamber, then tied, then transferred, under full compression, to a decompression chamber where they are held for said period of time prior to being ejected from the machine.

Abstract: A plunger molding machine includes a material cylinder having at one end an extending die for extruding a blank therethrough and pivotally movable about a pivotal axis on a side of the extending die by means of a cylinder tilting mechanism, a piston having a size engageable in the material cylinder, and a hydraulic plunger for driving the piston. The plunger molding machine comprises a blank loading device arranged in parallel with moving directions of the piston for molding. The blank loading device comprises a blank receiving platform for receiving the blank to be molded, a chuck mechanism for preventing the blank on the platform from being dislodged therefrom, a platform tilting mechanism for tilting the platform, and a platform traversing mechanism for moving the platform in translational motion onto a side of the material cylinder to bring an axis of said blank receiving platform into alignment with that of said material cylinder.

Abstract: A cylindrical bale forming machine has a bale transfer unit yieldably maintained in a transport or rest horizontal position located below the bale discharge gate to receive a bale discharged from the machine for transfer to a ground location rearwardly clear of the discharge gate. The transfer unit is operated in response to the movement of the discharge gate into its open or bale discharge position and is returned to its rest position in response to movement of the discharge gate out of the open position therefor.

Abstract: Bales of hay or other fibrous material which are recompressed to approximately half of their original volume and then retied with bale twine and then held in a decompression chamber for a sufficient period of time to allow for trapped air to escape and for the fibrous material to loose some of its resiliency before subjecting the retied bales to unrestricted recoil stresses. Bales are recompressed in the recompression chamber, then tied, then transferred, under full compression, to a decompression chamber where they are held for said period of time prior to being ejected from the machine.

Abstract: An agricultural baler has a pick-up for picking up crop. The picked up crop is fed rearwardly from the pick-up into a compression chamber in which the crop is compressed into a high density bale by a compression member. The compression member is movable into the compression chamber to act on the crop and is then movable rearwardly when within the compression chamber to compress the crop against a stop to form the bale. The compression member is then movable outwardly of the compression chamber and, while disposed out of the compression chamber, is movable forwardly to return to the original position at the front of the compression chamber.

Abstract: An agricultural baler includes a pick-up device, a compressing device and a bundling device, and is driven by the power of a tractor. A bale chamber is transversely provided with respect to the direction of running of the tractor, and a linkage is provided for directly mounting the baler on the tractor. The compressing device and the bundling device are contained in the bale chamber.

Abstract: A transportable bagging apparatus for continual, sequential loading of individual bales of agricultural products such as grass, alfalfa, corn stalks, hay, etc., into plastic tubing. The apparatus can be towed by an ordinary farm tractor or other vehicle, and can be loaded with any fork-type bale carrier or loader. A removably mounted bracket delivers plastic tubing from a roll over one of opposite open ends of a vertically positioned, pivotally mounted drum on the apparatus. When the entire roll of plastic tubing is gathered over the drum outer surface and tied over one of the drum's opposite open ends, the drum is then pivoted to a horizontal operating position with the opposite open end facing a bale engaged by a carriage. The engaged bale activates a hydraulic cylinder to force a telescoping ram against the opposite face of the carriage. This causes the engaged bale to enter the drum and load into the plastic tubing.

Abstract: A baler has a bale case disposed above and centrally of a pickup mechanism. A feed mechanism is provided to deliver crop material from a feed area into the bale case through an opening in the bottom thereof. The feed mechanism preferably includes two pairs of fingers movable in loop-like paths.

Abstract: Baling press adapted to receive dried ordinary bales of hay and to compress them further, particularly to facilitate shipment of the bales.The press comprises a longitudinally extending compression chamber having substantially rigid lateral walls, an upstream end wall comprising a ram longitudinally movable between upstream and downstream extremes of movement, and a downstream end wall comprising an exit gate.The compression chamber is provided with novel bale ejection means comprising a longitudinally extending endless chain loop with first and second runs, the first run being attached to the ram and the second run being attached to a barbed ejection plate which engages and ejects bales in the compression chamber while moving downstream and which disengages matter within the compression chamber when moving upstream.

Abstract: A garbage collecting truck having two separate compartments, one to receive recyclable materials, such as paper, fabric and the like, and the other to receive the remainder mainly non-recyclable waste of the garbage. The two compartments are of elongated shape, are mounted side by side on the truck chassis longitudinally of the same and both are inclined upwardly towards the front of the truck. Both compartments can be loaded from the rear of the truck by persons standing on the ground, and each has a hydraulic ram to push the loaded material forwardly. The recyclable material in the one compartment is formed into successive bales, any two of which can be stacked on a platform located ahead of the elevated discharge outlet of said one compartment.

Abstract: An improved quarter-turn hay bale chute which prevents skewing and bounce of the bale as it hits the ground. An adjustable flap is set to narrow the lowest portion of the bale "drop window" so that the fully turned bale is restricted in its lateral movement and prevented from dropping out of line with the direction of motion of the hay baler. The restriction formed between the adjustable flap and the deflector also serves as a brake to slow the free fall of the bale and thus decreases bouncing which is a further cause of misalignment.

Abstract: A bale turner for attachment to a bale making machine for rotating bales one quarter turn containing a concave plate suspended between two frame members following behind the discharge chute of the hay baler. A guide bar is welded to the concave plate which forces the edge of the bale down into the center of the concave plate as the bale travels down the plate from the discharge chute of the hay baler. This in effect starts to set the bale on edge so that it would rotate back onto the plate chamber side down.

Abstract: Apparatus functioning in combination with a crop bale forming machine to receive an ejected bale of crop material moving along a predetermined path of travel from a bale outlet in a crop bale forming machine and, via conveying means, turn it a predetermined angle about a vertical axis from the predetermined path of travel prior to the bale's assuming a position of rest on the ground.

Abstract: An apparatus for compressing material includes a hollow chamber defined by a plurality of walls, a piston-plate, and means for moving the piston-plate between maximum inner and outer limits, a hopper being in one of the walls located between those two maximum limits of movement. The apparatus further includes a plurality of engaging means located at the maximum outer limit of the piston-plate for engaging the compressed material and stopping rearward movement thereof. There is further included adjusting means for adjusting the distance between portions of the opposite walls located beyond the outer limit of the piston-plate.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for baling a crop. The crop is fed into the top of a holder and a pair of compressing members are alternately actuated to compress the crop as it is progressively accumulated. Each member compresses all of the crop underlying it and maintains a predetermined compression until after the other member comes into operation. The compression members are in the form of rakes having tines which are projected and withdrawn through opposite side walls of the holder.

Abstract: Bales of hay and the like which were bundled or baled in the field are recompressed to about one-half their original length by using a high-pressure ram on the bales after their wires have been cut and removed, over-compressing the bales and then after relaxing the over-compression, restrapping the recompacted bale through a set of strap guides which are automatically adjusted in the direction of the press stroke to guide the strap around the recompacted bale regardless of the amount of over-compression of the bale.

Abstract: A sludge press wherein a piston is reciprocable along a horizontal path between a retracted position in the interior of a hopper and an extended position in which the piston is located in and at the front end of a barrel extending forwardly from and communicating with the hopper so that the piston thereby expels a slug of compacted sludge through the open front end of the barrel. The front end of the barrel can be sealed by the knife-like valve member of a gate valve during movement of the piston to retracted position. The front end face of the piston is surrounded by a cutting edge which cooperates with a complementary annular cutting edge at the rear end of the barrel to sever solid ingredients of sludge during penetration of the piston into the barrel. The cutting edge of the valve member cooperates with a complementary cutting edge surrounding an opening in the rear section of the housing of the valve.