602,728. Baling hay &c. LUEBBEN, U. F. Feb. 17, 1944, No. 2984. [Class 6(iii)] A machine for forming hay, cotton, straw and like compressible materials into cylindrical bales' comprises means for feeding twine from one end of the bale to the other whilst the bale is being rotated and means automatically responsive when the bale has reached a predetermined diameter for operating the twinefeeding means, whereby a spiral wrapping of the bale is effected without displacing it longitudinally of its axis. As shown in Figs 27 and 29 material is fed to the machine, or picked up by the machine, by a conveyer 27 comprising a trough which, viewed in plan, consists of a central rectangular portion and two triangular side portions. The trough has extensions 312 which hook on to the bearings of a shaft 32. The free end of the trough runs on shoes 321, and the weight of the trough is counterbalanced by a spring 146 acting on a lever 143 pivoted to the machine frame 20 this lever being connected by links 316 to arms on a shaft 140 mounted on the lower face of the trough. Rollers 319 with spiral ribs 350 are mounted at the ends of the triangular parts of the trough, the ribs tending to urge the material to the centre, and the material fed to or picked up by the centre portion is taken to the baling mechanism by channel-section spiked transverse slats 309 mounted on driving chains 308. As shown in Fig. 26, the material from the conveyer passes between two travelling belts 80, 81 which form it into a bale, a roller 118 being provided to press the material against belt 81 as it enters. Belt 81 passes around a pulley 104 on pivoted levers 45, and as the bale increases in size the belt causes the levers to tilt until eventually, when the bale is the correct size, one of them actuates mechanism to stop further movement of the conveyer and to bring into action the mechanism for tying the bale. Conveyer stopping mechanism. - An extension 45a, Fig. 8, on one of levers 45 carries a pivoted member 212 having a loop 211 slidably receiving an adjustable link 210, the link being secured in its adjusted position by screw 214. Link 210 is slidably mounted in a notch at the lower end of a rod 218, the lower end 217 of which normally rests on a fixed frame member 220. As the bale increases in size the extension 45a descends until an enlarged part 221 of link 210 engages member 220 and is thereby moved to disengage the part 217 from the frame, further movement causing a lug 219 on member 210 to engage the rod 218 and pull it downwards. Such downward movement causes a lug 224, Fig. 36, on rod 218 to depress a pivoted arm 226 which in turn depresses a link 340 thereby bringing a toothed wheel 341 on the link out of mesh with gear 222 on driving shaft 32. Wheel 341 is in constant mesh with gear wheel 343 mounted on the driving shaft for the conveyer chains 311 and thus the drive for the conveyer is stopped when the bale reaches the required size. After the bale is discharged and the rod 218 is moved to its initial position link 340 is moved upwardly by a spring 342 and carries arm 226 with it. However, a member 326 pivoted to the arm has moved to a position in which its edge 172 is in the path of the continuously rotating driving shaft 32 and thereby prevents wheels 341, 222 from intermeshing until it has been moved by frictional engagement with the shaft to a position clear of the shaft. Thus the conveyer is not driven again until a short while after the bale is discharged. A hand lever 346 is provided for moving lever 340 manually. Bale-tying mechanism.-Rod 218 also carries a pivoted latch 234, Fig. 8, adapted when the rod descends to engage and turn a rod 236 upon which is mounted a support for a link 248, see also Fig. 4. The turning of the rod moves the support and link 248 descends by gravity about an adjustable fulcrum block 259 and thereby causes, by links 258, 255, a twine carrying tube 250 to swing downwards about its pivot. The twine, the free end of which protrudes from the tube is thereby brought to one end of the bale and is caught by the baling belt and thereby wrapped around the bale. At the same time a half nut carried by the right-hand end of link 248, Fig. 4, is automatically engaged with a continuously rotating screw and, after a certain lost motion provided by fulcrum 259, is thereby raised causing tube 250 to swing against the action of a spring 256 until it reaches its intuck position. The twine is thus wrapped in a spiral manner about the bale. Means are provided for causing the twine to impinge sharply against a cutting knife 283. Bale-discharging mechanism.-The half nut upon which link 248 is mounted is adapted near the end of its upward movement, to lift rods 77, Fig. 26, and each rod in turn lifts a bar 73 mounted in a channel 71. The channel is apertured for the passage of arms 76 by which the bar is pivoted to lugs 75 on the external surface of the channel. The baling belts 80, 81 pass around rollers 63, 56, on arms 61, 58 which are pivoted to one another at 60. The shaft 62 of the upper roller carries a wheel running on the rail 71, and a catch 64 pivoted to one arm engages over the other and normally holds the arms together. A pin 69 of the catch rests on the bar 73, but when the rod 77 is lifted the catch is released and the arms move with respect to each other to discharge the bale.