Baling device to form bales of crop material

Abstract

The invention relates to a baling device to form bales of crop material, including a frame, an intake device, a bale forming device for forming a bale of the crop material, the bale forming device including at least one endless belt to delimit a baling chamber, and a number of guiding elements to guide the endless belt, wherein the outlet of the intake device is located at a fixed position with respect to the frame, and that at least three guiding elements are movably mounted with respect to the outlet of the intake device to position for subsequent bales different pairs of two guiding elements of the at least three movable guiding elements at the opposite sides of the outlet.

1 . A baling device to form bales of crop material having a cylindrical shape, comprising:
 a frame,   an intake device having an inlet and an outlet, wherein the intake device is arranged on the frame to take in crop material via the inlet,   a bale forming device for forming a bale of said crop material, wherein the bale forming device is arranged on the frame and comprises:   at least one endless belt to delimit a baling chamber, and   a number of guiding elements to guide the endless belt, wherein the endless belt is arranged on the guiding elements to receive, during formation of a bale, crop material from the outlet of the intake device between two guiding elements arranged at opposite sides of the outlet, the baling chamber to be formed between the two guiding elements,   wherein the outlet of the intake device is located at a fixed position with respect to the frame, and that at least three guiding elements are movably mounted with respect to the outlet of the intake device to position for subsequent bales different pairs of two guiding elements of the at least three movable guiding elements at the opposite sides of the outlet.   
     
     
         2 . The baling device of  claim 1 , wherein the bale forming device comprises at least four movable guiding elements. 
     
     
         3 . The baling device of  claim 2 , wherein, alternately, one or more of the at least four movable guiding elements form a back end support of the endless belt. 
     
     
         4 . The baling device of  claim 2 , wherein a first and second movable guiding element form a first pair of two guiding elements, and wherein a third and fourth movable guiding element form a second pair of two guiding elements. 
     
     
         5 . The baling device of  claim 1 , wherein the bale forming device comprises five or six movable guiding elements. 
     
     
         6 . The baling device of  claim 5 , wherein when two movable guiding elements are used for formation of a bale, and one or two movable guiding elements are used as back end support for the endless belt, another two movable guiding elements are free and positioned close to the outlet of the intake device so that when formation of a bale has finished, formation of a new bale can be started using the other two movable guiding elements. 
     
     
         7 . The baling device of  claim 6 , wherein each of the movable guiding elements is arranged on an arm and each arm is pivotably mounted on a rotatable element, and wherein for each arm an actuator is provided between the arm and the rotatable element to position the arm in a desired rotational position with respect to the rotatable element. 
     
     
         8 . The baling device of  claim 1 , wherein each of the movable guiding elements is arranged on an arm which arm is rotatable with respect to a common axis of rotation. 
     
     
         9 . The baling device of  claim 1 , wherein the baling device comprises a guiding rail to guide the movable guiding elements at least along the outlet of the intake device. 
     
     
         10 . The baling device of  claim 9 , wherein the guiding rail forms a continuous loop. 
     
     
         11 . The baling device of  claim 1 , wherein each movable guiding element comprises one or more rollers. 
     
     
         12 . A method for forming at least two bales in the baling device of  claim 1 , comprising the steps of:
 taking up crop material with the intake device from the ground surface via the inlet and pressing the crop material out of the outlet of the intake device, forming a baling chamber of the endless belt by feeding crop material between two movable guiding elements arranged at opposite sides of the outlet, filling the baling chamber with crop material until a bale of desired diameter is formed, moving the two movable guiding elements to a release position to release the bale from the baling chamber, and arranging another pair of two movable guiding elements at opposite sides of the outlet for formation of a baling chamber for a subsequent bale between the other pair of two movable guiding elements.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least three movable guiding elements are moved in a single direction. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein different pairs of movable guiding elements do not have one of the movable guiding elements in common. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the bale forming device comprises at least four movable guiding elements, wherein a first and second movable guiding element form a first pair of two guiding elements, and wherein a third and fourth movable guiding element form a second pair of two guiding elements, and wherein alternating pairs are arranged at opposite sides of the outlet for formation of a baling chamber between the respective pair of two movable guiding elements.