EP0024371A1

EP0024371A1 - Improved bale forming press

Info

Publication number: EP0024371A1
Application number: EP80302617A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Theodor Victor Modra
Original assignee: Pressmora Nominees Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Pressmora Nominees Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1979-08-02
Filing date: 1980-07-31
Publication date: 1981-03-04
Also published as: JPS56106724A; ZA804589B

Abstract

A press for compacting material such a wool into bales comprising a receptacle (10) defining a bale-forming space (14), means (7) defining a front wall of said bale-forming space (14), roller means (3, 4) defining part of said front wall (7) for feeding material directly into said bale-forming space (14) for compaction, means (13, 19, 20) for applying pressure to the material in said bale-forming space (14), means (22, 23, 24) for applying bands or the like to the compressed material to hold said material in the form of a bale (B, B') and means (17,18) for causing relative reciprocation of said receptacle (10) and said front wall (7) and roller means (3, 4) transversely of the direction of feeding of said material into said bale-forming space (14) in timed relation to the rate of feeding of said material whereby said material is evenly distributed and compacted within said bale-forming space (14). Also disclosed are embodiments in which the receptacle (108, 200) is pivoted at the rear end thereof and arcuately reciprocated by means (120; 204, 205) relative to an arcuate front wall means (118, 119; 201) in which feeding rollers (115, 116; 202, 203) are disposed. In one embodiment the front wall comprises a slotted face plate (201) while in the other embodiment, the front wall comprises a series of rollers (118, 119) which are closely spaced and arranged parallel to the feeding rollers (115, 116).

Description

This invention relates to an improved press for the compaction of materials, such as wool, into bales.
While the press to be described in more detail below has been designed principally for the compaction of wool into bales, the invention is equally applicable to the compaction of other materials, such as waste fabrics, paper, particularly shredded paper, fibrous materials generally and any other material that can be compacted under pressure. In fact, it is envisaged that the press may be capable of compacting salt into blocks suitable for stock licks.
The specification of Australian Patent Application No. 24131/77 describes certain improvements in presses particularly suited to the pressing of wool into bales. In each embodiment, the wool is pressed under high pressure through a mouth which is considerably narrower than the dimension of the bale in the same direction. The high pressure injection of the wool through the mouth is achieved either by rollers or by reciprocating pushers, as described in greater detail in the said specification.
It has now been determined that for bales of the dimensions required to achieve the so-called "jumbo" sizes, the three embodiments described in the above specification do not achieve sufficient uniformity of compaction of the wool. It has also been determined that the third embodiment described in the above specification, in which the bales are formed substantially continuously without the need for a bale bag, is a more efficient method of forming bales of wool.
In considering the shortcomings of the embodiments referred to above, it was initially determined that the high pressure injection of wool through a narrow slot would be necessary to avoid the undesirable disgorging of the wool as described in the aforementioned specification. It was also felt that while the mechanical and physical contraints of the pusher arrangement referred to above caused variations in uniformity for large bales and limited the speed at which bale formation could be achieved, no alternative practical method of feeding could be suggested.
During the early stages of consideration of the above problem, suggestions that rollers could be used to achieve feeding of the wool were discounted because it was at that time believed that a build-up of wool behind the rollers would block feeding after the density of wool built up to a reasonable level. This belief resulted from the failure of the first two embodiments described in the application referred to above to achieve adequate bale formation in actual practice. In each case, it was found that a mass of wool built up behind the rollers .and blocked further feeding.
In subsequent experiments, it was discovered that rollers were the most effective means of feeding the wool to bale forming space, provided there was relative reciprocating movement between the feeding means and the bale-forming space to ensure uniform distribution of the wool within the space. The success of this arrangement was totally unexpected and was if anything dissuaded by the previous work involving the use of rollers as the feeding mechanism.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved bale-forming press in which the bale is formed substantially without interruption and in which substantially uniform distribution and compaction of the material being pressed is achieved.
The invention provides a press for compacting materials such as wool into bales, comprising a receptacle defining a bale-forming space, means defining a front wall of said bale-forming space, roller means defining part of said front wall of said bale-forming space for feeding material directly into said bale-forming space for compaction, means for applying pressure to the material in said bale-forming space, means for applying bands or the like to the compressed material to hold said material in the form of a bale, and means for causing relative reciprocation of said receptacle and said front wall and roller means transversely of the direction of feeding of said material into said bale-forming space in timed relation to the rate of feeding whereby said material is evenly distributed and compacted within the bale-forming space.
In one preferred form of the invention, a pair of rollers extend across the full width of the receptacle and scraper blades preferably extend into contact with or in close proximity to the rollers to effectively close the open face of the receptacle against the escape of material fed into the bale-forming space. In the case of the compaction of wool fibres, the scraper blades also prevent the wool fibres wrapping around the rollers.
In this preferred embodiment, the receptacle is reciprocated up and down a structure which defines the front wall of the receptacle between positions in which the top and bottom walls of the receptacle are respectively aligned with the nip between the rollers. In this way, the material to be baled is evenly distributed across the entire cross section of the bale-forming space. The receptacle is also able to move above the top roller to enable banding of the bale to take place in a manner similar to that described in the earlier application referred to above and as described in greater detail below.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the front wall of the receptacle has an arcuate form and the receptacle is pivoted for arcuate reciprocating movement relative to said front wall. This preferred arrangement increases the speed at which the receptacle may be reciprocated relative to the front wall and feed rollers and facilitates smoother and quieter operation of the press.
In one preferred form of the above preferred embodiment, the arcuate front wall of the receptacle is defined by a series of rollers positioned above and below the feeding rollers. In this arrangement, smoother operation is to be expected due to the reduction in friction between the wall in bale-forming space and the rollers defining the front wall. In this arrangement the bale must be banded sideways and the side walls defining the receptacle are slotted for this purpose.
The means for applying pressure to the material in the bale-forming space preferably comprises a moveable top wall of the receptacle together with means for applying a force to the top wall. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the pressure applying means operates in a manner similar to the pressure plate in a hay baler.
It will be appreciated from the above that the improved press embodying the present invention feeds the material to be compressed directly into the bale-forming space without any need for passage through a mouth which is considerably narrower than the bale width in the same direction. This results in part from the use of rollers as the material feeding means and in part from the reciprocating movement of the receptacle across the rollers as they feed the material to be pressed. As the receptacle moves in one direction, the material being fed by the rollers is drawn in that direction between the material already in the bale-forming space and one of the rollers and compression of the material occurs between that roller and the front wall of the bale-forming space and the material already in the bale-forming space rather than solely as the result of the pressure applied to the wool by the feeding means as in the earlier application referred to above.
Several preferred embodiments of the invention, as applied to a wool press, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a press embodying the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional side elevation of the feeding rollers used in the above embodiment;
Figs. 3 to 6 are fragmentary sectional side elevations of the press showing the manner in which the wool is fed and distributed in the bale-forming space;
Figs. 7 to 10 are similar fragmentary sectional side elevations of the press showing the manner in which banding of the bale is achieved;
Fig. 11 is a somewhat schematic sectional side elevation of a press according to another embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 12 is a side elevation of a still further press embodying the invention, and
Fig. 13 is a somewhat schematic sectional elevation of the press shown in Fig. 12 on an enlarged scale.

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the improved press embodying the invention comprises a base frame 1 supporting a pair of upstanding angle section posts 2, one of the flanges of which rotatably supports the journals of a pair of driven rollers 3, 4. The top roller 4 is moveable in a vertical plane within slot 5 and is biased towards roller 3 by means of a compression spring 6 which applies a force of between .5 and 1 tonne to the roller 4. A face plate 7 extends between the two posts 2 and closes the space between them except for the opening within which the rollers 3 and 4 are positioned. A pair of roller wipers 8 are fixed to the face plate 7 in the manner shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings so as to engage the rollers 3 and 4 to prevent wool fibre wrap and to effectively close the opening in the face plate 7. The uppermost portion of the face plate 7 is formed within slots 9, as shown in Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings, to facilitate banding of the bale as described in more detail below.
A receptacle 10 is mounted for reciprocating movement up and down the posts 2. The receptacle 10 includes side walls 11, a bottom wall 12 and a moveable top wall 13 which between them define a bale-forming space 14. Each side wall 11 has a pair of rollers 15 secured thereto and the rollers engage one of the flanges of the posts to facilitate the reciprocating movement of the receptacle 10. The receptacle 10 is reciprocated by means of a cable 16, the ends of which are attached to one of the side walls 11 as shown in Figure 1 and which passes over upper and lower sheaves 17 and 18, the upper sheaf 17 being driven in timed relation to the rollers 3 and 4 so that the reciprocating movement of the receptacle 10 is at about the same speed as the rate of feed of wool by means of the rollers 3 and 4.
It will be appreciated that instead of the arrangement shown, the receptacle 10 may be reciprocated up and down tracks by means of rack and pinion gearing.
The top wall 13 of the receptacle 10 is acted on by a pair of compression springs 19 which are held in place by a cross channel 20 which is adjustably bolted to the upper edge of each side wall 11. The springs 19 apply a force of about 10 tonnes to the bale B being formed in the bale-forming space 14 in a manner similar to the pressure plate in a hay baler.
Wool W to be baled is fed to the nip between the rollers 3 and 4 by means of a conveyor belt 21 arranged generally as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The conveyor 21 is of course driven in timed relation to the rollers 3 and 4 to ensure that a uniform amount of wool W is presented to the rollers 3 and 4.
Several reels 22 of bale banding material 23 are supported under the receptacle 10 and are fed between driven pinch rollers 24 into the bale-forming space 14.
Referring now to Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings, the formation of a bale B within the bale-forming space 14 will now be described. In the ensuing description, it is assumed that a first bale B has already been formed within the bale-forming space 14 so that the pressure plate 13 applies pressure to both the existing bale B and the bale B' which is in the process of being formed. In the initial formation of the bale B, the pressure plate 13 extends angularly downwardly towards the bottom wall 12 to define a wedge shaped space. As the wool W buils up within the bale-forming space 14, the pressure plate 13 is raised until the required vertical bale dimension is achieved whereupon the force applied by means of the springs 19 prevents further growth of the bale B.
With the receptacle 10 in the position shown in Fig. 3, wool W is fed into the bale-forming space 14 by means of the rollers 3 and 4 and at the same time the receptacle 10 is moved downwardly until the pressure plate 13 is about level with the nip between the rollers 3 and 4. As the receptacle 10 moves downwardly the wool W is drawn downwardly between the compressed wool defining the bale B' being formed in the bale-forming space 14 and compression of the wool W occurs between the roller 3 and the wool defining the new bale B'. When the receptacle 10 reaches the position shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings, the direction of movement is reversed and the receptacle 10 moves upwardly as shown in Fig. 6 drawing the wool W being fed by the rollers 3 and 4 between the wool defining the new bale B' and the roller 4. This procedure is repeated until a complete bale is formed and it will be appreciated that the wool W is fed into the bale-forming space 14 in the form of thin strips of wool which are laid one upon the other across the whole height of the bale-forming space 14. In this way, uniform distribution and compression of the wool within the bale is achieved.
Referring now to Figures 7 to 10 of the drawings, the manner in which banding of the bales formed in the press will now be described. Figure 7 of the drawings shows the receptacle 10 in its elevated position with a bale B having just been completed and banded. In this position the tail end of the bands 23 extend across the face of the bale-forming space whereupon the receptacle 10 is lowered to the position shown in Figure 8 and the rollers 3 and 4 are again driven to feed wool W into the bale-forming space 14. As the wool W builds up in the bale-forming space 14, the bands 23 are drawn into the bale-forming space in the manner shown in Figures 3 to 6 of the drawings until a further bale B' is completed.
Referring now to Figure 9, the receptacle 10 is again moved to its elevated position in which the bottom wall 12 is above the level of the slots 9 in the face plate 7, whereupon the bands 23 are forced through the slots into a loop L which moves up the face of the bale-forming space and across the top wall 13, which is slotted for this purpose until the condition shown'in Figure 10 is reached. At this point, the bands 23 are cut at the end of the loop and the ends of the bands are crimped together in the usual manner to completely surround the newly formed bale B'. The receptacle 10 is then lowered to the position shown in Figure 3 of the drawings whereupon formation of a further new bale is commenced.
It will be appreciated from the above that the bale-forming process is interrupted only for the time required to achieve banding of a completed bale. Otherwise, the bale-forming procedure is continuous. It will also be appreciated that uniform distribution and compression of the wool within the bale is achieved and it has been found that the densities required to achieve prescribed bale weights within the prescribed jumbo bale dimensions are easily achieved.
Referring new to Fig. 11 of the drawings, a press which is suitable for use in a shearing shed is shown somewhat schematically. It will of course be appreciated that the same features may be incorporated in a press of considerably larger dimensions suitable for pressing operations on a larger scale.
The press shown comprises a generally rectangular base frame 100, which may be provided with wheels (not shown), supporting a pair of opposed uprights 101 at the rear end of the frame, and a pair of opposed upstanding side members 102 at the front of the frame and connected by cross members 103, 104. The uprights 101 support bearings,105 for pivot shafts 106 extending between the side frames 107 of a receptacle 108 and the bearings 105. The receptacle 108 includes a fixed bottom wall 109, a pair of opposed side walls 110, and move able top wall 111 to which a suitable force is applied mechanically or hydraulically (shown schematically as hydraulic ram R) as in the previous embodiment, and together defining a bale-forming space 112. The side walls 110 are formed by spaced slats 113 leaving openings 114 for the bands b used to contain the bale B formed in the space 112.
A pair of driven feed rollers 115, 116 are arranged between the side members 102 and midway between the ends of the side members 102 ahead of a feed conveyor 117 for feeding wool thereto. A multiplicity of idler rollers 118 extend between the side members 102 above the roller 115 and a similar multiplicity of rollers 119 extend between the side members 102 below the roller 116. The rollers 118 and 119 are arranged in a generally arcuate line corresponding to the path followed by the mouth of the bale receptacle 108 as it is arcuately reciprocated by an arm 120 connected to a driven crank wheel or the like (not shown). Each of the rollers 118 and 119 extends across the width of the mouth of the bale-forming receptacle 108 and is arranged sufficiently close to the adjacent rollers of the multiplicity to prevent es.cape of wool from the bale-forming space 112.
The rollers 115, 116 are spaced slightly in front of the rollers 118 and 119 to reduce the effect of the opposite movement of the receptacle 108 relative to the direction of rotation of each of the rollers 115 and 116. By positioning the rollers 115 and 116 as shown, a supply of wool is available behind the rollers to enable movement of the receptacle without creating a large amount of drag between the roller moving in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the receptacle 108 at that time.
While the rollers 115 and 116 contribute to the compression of..the wool in the bale-forming space 112, the rollers 118 and 119 do a large amount of the work in this respect. The use of the rollers 118, 119 reduces the friction between the wool in the bale-forming space 112 and the front wall of the receptacle defined by the rollers 118, l19 during reciprocation of the receptacle 108, and this in turn facilitates smooth operation of the press and reduces the noise associated with this operation.
In the embodiment shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the receptacle 200 is once again pivoted at the rear thereof and arcuately reciprocated relative to an arcuate face plate 201. The feed rollers 202, 203 are arranged similarly to those in the first embodiment described above and the pressing operation is basically the same as the first embodiment except that the receptacle 200 is arcuately reciprocated by a crank wheel 204 and arm 205.
The top wall 206 of the receptacle 200 is in this embodiment formed in two parts 207, 208, each part being pivoted at its forward end and having a mechanical or hydraulic forcesupplying means F acting thereon. The formation of the top wall 206 in two parts reduces the strength requirements of each part and also allows the banding operation to be performed more rearwardly of the receptacle 200 where the movement of the receptacle is not so great. To facilitate banding, the wall parts 207, 208 and the face plate 201 are slotted in a similar manner to the first embodiment described above.
While in each of the above embodiments the receptacle defining the bale-forming space is reciprocated relative to the face plate and feed rollers, it should be appreciated that the same end may be achieved by reciprocating the feed rollers and the associated face plate relative to the receptacle. Similarly, while in the last two embodiments the feed rollers have been shown without wiper blades similar to those shown in the first embodiment, it may be necessary to provide similar wiper blades in these embodiments to prevent fibre wrap. However, experiments are being conducted to ascertain whether the speed of reciprocation of the receptacle may be maintained at such a level as to obviate the necessity for such wipers.
While the last two embodiments have certain advantages over the first embodiment as regards speed and smoothness of operation, it should be appreciated that the first embodiment is particularly simple in construction and therefore has the advantage of being particularly easy and cheap to construct.
In the foregoing description, emphasis is being given to high density baling of wool and other materials. However, the apparatus described is equally useful in the low-density pressing of wool into bale bags in a substantially continuous manner, thus offering distinct advantages over the prior art bale-bag presses. In the embodiments described above, a bag may be positioned in the bale-forming space and the front wall or face plate extended beyond the side members to enable the bag to be partly closed before formation of the next bale. For example, in the embodiment of Figs.12 and 13, the face plate 201 may be extended at the top and means provided to enable further pivotal movement of the receptacle 200 to a position where two of the flaps of the bag may be connected over the extended face plate whereupon the receptacle 200 is further pivoted to expose the top of the bale to enable securement of all of the flaps. The bale may then be ejected from the receptacle, say by means of a ram, or a further bag positioned on top of the completed bale and the receptacle positioned for feeding of further wool into the bale-forming space to form a further bale in the bag positioned in the bale-forming space whereby the existing bale is gradually displaced from the press.

Claims

1. A press for compacting materials such as wool into bales, comprising a receptacle defining a bale-forming space, means defining a front wall of said bale-forming space, roller means defining part of said front wall of said bale-forming space for feeding material directly into said bale-forming space for compaction, means for applying pressure to the material in said bale-forming space, means for applying bands or the like to the compressed material to hold said material in the form of a bale, and means for causing relative reciprocation of said receptacle and said front wall and roller means transversely of the direction of feeding of said material into said bale-forming space in timed relation to the rate of feeding whereby said material is evenly distributed and compacted within the bale-forming space.

2. The press of claim 1, wherein said roller means comprises a pair of driven rollers extending across the width of the receptacle and being arranged together with said means defining a front wall of said bale-forming space to effectively close the open face of said receptacle against the escape of material fed into said bale-forming space.

3. The press of claim 1 or 2, wherein said receptacle is arranged to be reciprocated up and down a structure which defines said front wall of said receptacle between positions in which the top and bottom walls of the receptacle are respectively aligned with the nip between said rollers to ensure that the material to be baled is evenly distributed across the entire cross section of said bale-forming space.

4. The press of claim 1 or 2, wherein the front wall of the receptacle is arcuate and said receptacle is pivoted for arcuate reciprocating movement between positions in which the top and bottom walls of the receptacle are respectively aligned with the nip between the feel rollers.

5. The press of claim 3 or 4, wherein that portion of the front wall of said receptacle which is above said feed rollers is vertically slotted to facilitate banding of the compacted material in said bale-forming space.

6. The press of claim 4, wherein said front wall is defined by a series of closely spaced rollers arranged above and below said feed rollers and generally parallel thereto, and wherein the side walls of said receptacle are slotted to facilitate banding of-the compacted material in said bale forming space.

7. The press of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the means for applying pressure to the material in said bale-forming space comprises a moveable top wall of the receptacle together with means for applying a force thereto.

8. The press of any one of the preceding claims, wherein-said roller means are spaced forwardly from the means defining the front wall of said bale-forming space to define a material collection area from which material may be drawn as said receptacle reciprocates relative to said roller means whereby said material has less tendency to drag against the roller having the opposite direction of rotation to the direction of movement of the receptacle at that time.

9. The press of any one of claims 1 - 9, wherein a bale bag is positioned in said bale-forming space, and said means for applying bands or the like to the compressed material is replaced by means for facilitating securement of the top of the bale bag when the bale bag is substantially full.