GB2156751A - Bale transporter - Google Patents

Abstract

A bale transporter has a wheeled chassis (1) supporting a flat bed (2) on which bales (9) are stacked. A horizontally displaceable bale engaging member (5) is located at one end of the bed (2) and is movable by hydraulic means (7) relative to a fixed upright stop (4) at the other end of the bed to clamp the bales; a spring (8) ensures that the upper edge of the member (5) engages the stacked bales (9) first, ensuring a positive clamping action without "squeezing" bales from the top of the stack. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Bale transporter This invention relates to bale transporters.

A known type of bale transporter has a wheeled chassis provided with upright side walls defining a retaining "cage" structure for the bales to be transported. When transporting bales over rough ground there is an ever present risk of spilling at least some of the load from the transporter, and it is usually necessary to secure the load by means of ropes. The loading and securing of a load of bales, and the subsequent unloading of the bales, is a time-consuming operation, usually requiring the assistance of a man in addition to the transporter tractor driver.

It is also known, for example from patent specification GB 1 54841 5, to provide hydraulically actuated bale grippers which are movable towards each other to grip stacked bales on a platform. In such an arrangement the platform as a whle can be pivoted between a bale pick-up position and a bale-transporting position.

An object of the present invention is to provide a bale transporter which renders the loading and securing of bales on a transporter both effective and simple, and reducing considerably the labout associated with the stacking and securing of bales, while avoiding the cost and complexity necessarily associated with a tipping platform.

It has been found that bales stacked on a transporter can be secured adequately by compressing the bales horizontally to grip them once they have been loaded onto the transporter. Broadly stated, therefore, the present invention consists in a bale transporter having a flat bed on which bales are stacked and means for compressing the bales horizontally on the bed to grip them firmly and to secure them to the transporter.

A construction which is found to be advantageous in practice is one in which the bales are compressed in a horizontal direction parallel to the direction of movement of the transporter. Preferably, therefore the bale transporter has a flat-bed wheeled chassis for receiving stacked bales, and hydraulically actuated horizontally movable bale-gripping means for compressed stacked bales on the chassis in a direction generally parallel to the direction of movement of the transporter.

A bale transporter according to a preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a wheeled chassis provided with a fixed upright stop member and a bale-engaging member movable by hydraulic actuator means to compress a stack of bales on the transporter against the stop member, the bale-engaging member being pivotally mounted upon a movable support about a horizontal pivot axis and being resiliently biassed relative to the support so that, upon movement of the support by the actuator means towards the stop member the bale-engaging member first comes into contact with a stack of bales on the transporter at or near the top of the stack, further such movement of the support causing rotation of the bale-engaging member relative to the support to clamp said member flat against the stack of bales.This arrangement ensures that upon operation of the hydraulic actuator means the stack of bales is gripped throughout is entire height, without distorting or dislodging the bales in the process. In practice the height of the fixed upright stop member should be comparable to that of the baleengaging member, and this height should be of the same order as the height of a stack of bales.

Preferably the movable support comprises at least one lever pivoted to the chassis, one arm of the or each lever being acted upon by the actuator means and the other arm being pivotally connected to the bale-engaging member. Alternatively, the hydraulic actuator means may be arranged to effect sliding movement of the movable support relative to the chassis in order to compress bales loaded on the transporter.

The fixed upright stop member and the bale engaging member preferably have a mesh, grid or "ladder" type lattice structure capable of gripping the stacked bales evenly.

The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying purely diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a bale transporter according to one embodiment of the invention, and Figure 2 is a side elevational view, similar to Fig. 1, of a bale transporter according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Referring first to Fig. 1, a bale transporter comprises a trailer having a wheeled chassis 1 supporting a flat bed 2 upon which bales are stacked when the transporter is in use. A towing attachment 3 is provided at the front end of the trailer.

A fixed upright stop member 4 in the form of a mesh or "ladder" type lattice structure is located at the front end of the flat bed 2, the height of the stop member 4 being comparable to that of the full load of stacked bales for which the transporter is designed.

At the rear end of the flat bed 2 there is provided a movable bale-engaging member 5, also in the form of a lattice or "ladder" structure comparable in height to that of the fixed upright stop member. A movable baleengaging member 5 is pivotally attached to a double lever 6 which is pivotally attached to the rear end of the chassis 1. One arm of the lever 6 is pivotally connected to the movable bale engaging member 5 at a position spaced from the bottom edge of the member 5, and the other arm of the lever 6 is pivotally connected to an hydraulic actuator ram 7.

In practice the bale-engaging member 5 would be acted upon by two levers 6 operated by two respective actuator rams 7 on the opposite sides of the chassis, each actuator 7 being mounted below the flat bed 2 and acting in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the trailer, that is, the direction of movement of the transporter.

A spring 8, shown schematically in Fig. 1, acts between the or each lever 6 and the baleengaging member 5 to bias the latter about its pivotal connection to the lever 6 in a clockwise direction, as shown in broken outline in Fig. 1, so that the upper end of the bale-engaging member 5 is closer to the fixed upright stop member 4 than the lower end.

The spring 8 also exerts a downward component of force on the bale-engaging member 5.

In use of the transporter, a stack of bales 9 is loaded onto the flat bed 2 of the transporter trailer, using any suitable mechanical balehandling equipment, or by hand. Once the bales have been stacked on the flat bed 2 the hydraulic rams 7 are actuated to displace the bale-engaging member 5 towards the upright stop member 4 through the action of the levers 6. Since the springs 8 hold the lower end of the bale-engaging member 5 against the levers 6 the upper end of the member 5 comes into contact with the stacked bales 9 before the lower end thereof. Once the upper end of the member 5 has made contact with the stacked bales the further movement of the rams 7 causes the member 5 to pivot about the actuating levers 6 in an anticlockwise direction until the lower end of the member 5 is also in contact with the stacked bales 9, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1.Further movement of the rams 7 then causes displacement of the bale-engaging member 5 horizontally towards the fixed upright stop member 4, compressing the stacked bales 9.

In a typical practical embodiment of the invention the total compression effected by displacement of the bale-engaging member 5 would be between 30 and 60 cms, the actual amount being determined by the overall length of the stack of bales 9 and, therefore, on the length of the trailer flat bed 2.

The pivotal movement of the levers 6 causes the bale-engaging member 5 to describe an arcuate path, and there must therefore be sufficient clearance between the lower edge of the member 5 and the flat bed 2.

Even so, some material may be trapped between the member 5 and the bed 2.

In order to reduce the tendency for material to be trapped on the flat bed 2 beneath the lower edge of the bale-engaging member 5 as the latter is advanced towards the stop member 4 by the actuators 7 the levers 6 have 'floating' pivot connections to the bale-engaging member 5, for example pin and slot pivot connections. Thus in the illustrated example, the levers 6 carry pivot pins 10 which engage in vertically extending slots 11 formed in respective lugs on the bale-engaging member 5. The downward component of force exerted on the member 5 by the springs 8 ensures that the pins 10 are biassed towards the upper ends of the slots 11, as shown in Fig.

1. As the bale-engaging member 5 advances towards the stop member 4 the pins 10 will move along the slots 11 to accommodate the arcuate movement of the pins 10, allowing the bale engaging member 5 to move essentially horizontally.

It may also be found advantageous in practice to provide the bale engaging member 5 with parallel spaced-apart vertical bars which engage the bales 9, to permit some vertical slippage between the member 5 and the bales 9 as the member 5 is advanced by the levers 6.

Fig. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the invention, in which the same reference numerals have been used to designate the same or corresponding component parts. In this embodiment the displaceable bale-engaging member 5 is pivotally supported by a displaceable support arm 1 2 which is directly connected to one or more hydraulic actuator rams 7 arranged beneath the flat bed 2 of the trailer and operating horizontally in a direction generally parallel to the longitudinal axis, that is, the direction of movement of the trailer.

In both the embodiments illustrated in the drawings the bale-engaging member 5 is pivoted to its operating structure and resiliently biassed so that in operation it first comes into contact with the upper end of the stacked bales 9, and subsequently engages the lower end of the stack before effecting its compression stroke, thereby ensuring positive contact with the stacked bales and avoiding any tendency to ''squeeze" bales from the top of the stack, which could occur if contact was made first with the lower end of the stack.

The transporter illustrated in the drawings may be provided with a self-contained hydraulic power pack (not shown). Alternatively, the actuating rams may be powered through suitable hydraulic couplings from the hydraulic system of a tractor where the invention is embodied in a trailer, as illustrated.

Although described specifically with reference to a trailer the bale transporter according to the invention is also applicable to a selfcontained vehicle provided with its own motive power.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited in its practical application to transporters for bales, but is in general applicable to transporters for other material such as, for example loose materials or sacks-indeed any materials which can be subjected to a degree of compression in order to hold them securely on a transporter bed.

Claims (7)

1. A bale transporter comprising a flat bed on which bales are stacked and means for compressing bales horizontally on the bed to grip them firmly and secure them to the transporter.

2. A bale transporter comprising a flat-bed wheeled chassis for receiving stacked bales, and hydraulically actuated horizontally movable bale-gripping means for compressing stacked bales on the chassis in a direction generally parallel to the direction of movement of the transporter.

3. A bale transporter comprising a wheeled chassis provided with a fixed upright stop member and a bale-engaging member movable by hydraulic actuator means to compress a stack of bales on the transporter against the stop member, the bale-engaging member being pivotally mounted upon a movable support about a horizontal pivot axis and being resiliently biassed relative to the support so that, upon movement of the support by the actuator means towards the stop member the bale-engaging member first comes into contact with a stack of bales on the transporter at or near the top of the stack, further such movement of the support causing rotation of the bale-engaging member relative to the support to clamp said member flat against the stack of bales.

4. A bale transporter according to Claim 3, in which the movable support comprises at least one lever pivoted to the chassis, one arm of the or each lever being acted upon by the actuator means and the other arm being pivotally connected to the bale-engaging member.

5. A bale transporter according to Claim 4, in which the or each lever has a floating pivot connection to the bale-engaging member, permitting vertical displacement of the latter relative to the respective lever arm or arms to which it is connected.

6. A bale transporter according to Claim 3, in which the movable support is slidable relative to the chassis by the actuator means.

7. A bale transporter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the movable bale-engaging member is movable in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the wheeled chassis, the stop member and the bale-engaging member being at opposite ends of the chassis.