초록 ▼

Large round bales are gathered in the field with a towable implement having a long bed that may be tipped forwardly or rearwardly to the ground about an intermediate transverse axis in order to accomplish front or rear loading of the implement. Bales are successively loaded by driving laterally spac

Large round bales are gathered in the field with a towable implement having a long bed that may be tipped forwardly or rearwardly to the ground about an intermediate transverse axis in order to accomplish front or rear loading of the implement. Bales are successively loaded by driving laterally spaced beams of the inclined bed under the bales as conveyor chains on the beams draw the bales in the opposite direction up onto the beams, whereupon the bed is leveled out for transporting the picked up bales. Unloading is accomplished by inclining the bed appropriately and driving the bales off the beams with the conveying chains as the beams are simultaneously drawn out from under the bales. The bed may be disposed either directly behind its towing vehicle or off to one side thereof by virtue of a hydraulically controlled, articulated tongue, and bale loading and unloading is facilitated by virtue of the absence of any interfering drive shafts across the beams at their opposite ends.

대표청구항 ▼

In a transporting implement for cylindrical crop bales: an elongated, normally horizontal support bed including a pair of laterally spaced beams extending longitudinally between opposite ends of the bed and terminating in outermost tips; a continuous, flexible conveying element having an uppermost s

In a transporting implement for cylindrical crop bales: an elongated, normally horizontal support bed including a pair of laterally spaced beams extending longitudinally between opposite ends of the bed and terminating in outermost tips; a continuous, flexible conveying element having an uppermost stretch extending along the top surface of each of said beams respectively; means for selectively tilting the bed in either of two opposite directions about a transverse, horizontal axis to place a selected end of the bed close to the ground for loading; a transverse stub shaft at each of the four tips of the beams, respectively, the two stub shafts at each end of the bed being axially aligned but physically spaced apart in accordance with the distance between the two beams; a guide associated with each stub shaft, respectively, and supported for rotation about the axis of the stub shaft to entrain the corresponding element; and reversible means for driving said elements in unison along the bed in either of two opposite directions, said bed at both of its opposite ends being devoid of structure spanning the beams whereby to define unobstructed areas from the tips inwardly that permit the beams to straddle a bale during endwise loading of the same from either end of the bed.