US2712838A - Wire knotter - Google Patents

Description

A. R. J. LUKE WIRE KNOTTER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 1952 5 L 9 f ,i E OO y E \7 E 1 m 5, 2 MK J July 12, 1955 A. R. J. LUKE 2,712,838

WIRE KNOTTER Filed Aug. 8, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ffy. f2

INVENTOR.

BY W@ July 12, 1955 A. R. J. LUKE 2,712,838

WIRE KNOTTER Filed Aug. 8. 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 l @vr g 44 54 5 /3 i W 7 8O ffy/4 60 f5 52/ 1 JNVENTOR. 4 f/Ze/'Z @d a/e 56 )film/nay A. R. J. LUKE WIRE KNOTTER July 12, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 8, 1952 United States Patent() WIRE KNOTTER Albert R. J. Luke, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application August 8, 1952, Serial No. 303,556 2 Claims. (Cl. 140-115) This invention pertains to wire knotters or' the type used with hay balers or similar machines.

This application is a continuation-impart of my prior application filed May 27, 1950, Serial No. 164,764, now abandoned, entitled Wire Knotter.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wire tying mechanism which will tie a knot in such a manner that it will not unwind regardless of the amount of tension under which the baled material is placed and at the same time utilize comparatively light gauge wire.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wire tying mechanism which will produce a knot in which a twisted portion is formed on either side of a main twisting pinion, the twisted portions so formed are each given an additional twist about an axis which is substantially 90 to the first twist by means of auxiliary pinions, the completed knots are then separated by a cutting means within the main pinion.

It is an object of this invention to provide a wire tying mechanism which will produce a knot that is rst twisted on one axis and then twisted about a second axis which is substantially 90 to the rst, thus forming a very tight knot, each leg of which is wound around the other.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a method for tying a wire knot in which, two strands of wire are twisted together at spaced locations along their length about one axis, the twisted portions so formed are given an additional twist about an axis which is substantially 90 from the rst, the two knots so formed are separated by severing the two strands of wire between the knots.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosure progresses. Accordingly the present invention may be considered as comprising the various constructions, combinations, or sub-combinations of parts as is hereinafter more fully set forth in the detailed description and in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the bale before the knot is started showing the bale as positioned in the. baling chamber.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bale after the needle arm has brought the wire across to the knotter from the opposite side of the bale.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the bale after the knot is completed.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the main twisted pinion showing one of the wires in position.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the main twisting pinion with both wires in place.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the main twisting pinion after it has made one complete revolution.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the main twisting pinion after it has one and a half revolutions.

Fig. 8 is the same as Figure 7 but showing the two auxiliary twisting pinions.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the device as shown in Figure 8.

2,712,538 Patented July 12, 1955 Fig. 10 is the completed knot.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on line 11-11 of Figure 8 showing the cutter disc and spring.

Figure 12 is an elevational View partially in section, showing the knotter frame and driving means.

Fig. 13 is an elevational view partially in section, taken on line 13-13 of Figure 12.

Fig. 14 is a plan view in section taken on line 14-14 of Figure 12.

Fig. 15 is a sectional view of an auxiliary twisting pinion taken on line 15-15 of Figure 16.

Fig. 16 is a plan view in section taken on line 16-16 of Figure 14.

Referring more particularly to Figures l, 2, and 3 the baling chamber 1 has two coils of wire 2, 2 located on opposite sides thereof. The knotter proper is located at one side of the chamber in the general area 3. The wire from the opposite side of the chamber is fed into the knotter by means of a needle arm (not shown) which is old in the art and is deemed to need no furtherV explanation here.

Figure 4 shows the main twisting pinion 4 in the position it ordinarily occupies while the bale is being formed, having the wire 5 from coil 2 lying in the longitudinal groove 6 as the baie is formed in the charnber. When the proper amount of hay is in the chamber, the main pinion 4 is caused to revolve one-half of a revolution, and needle arms (not shown) having a pair of spaced rollers on the end of the needle bring the wire 7 from coil 2 across the end of the bale 8 and place the wire in groove 9 of the pinion. Main pinion 4 is then caused to make a complete revolution forming the wire as shown in Figures 7 and 8 into two twists 10 and 11. The pinion 4 is of su'icient diameter so the twisted portions formed thereby are of such length as to accommodate the auxiliary pinions 12, 13 which are presently to be described.

After the main pinion 4 has made one revolution, the two auxiliary pinions 12 and 13 are brought into their respective concave recesses or slots 14 and 15 in pinion 4, the radial slots 24 and 25 of the auxiliary pinions tting over the two twists 10 and 11 and then caused to rotate, thus forming knots 16 and 17. lt will be noted that the second twists imparted by the auxiliary pinions 12, 13 arevabout an axis which is 90 to the common axis, i. e., the axis of main pinion 4, about which the first twists 10, 11 were formed. In forming the .second twists, the auxiliary pinions tightly wind each leg of the pairs of legs 10a-10b, 10c-10d, 11a-11b and 11e-11d of the original twists 10, 11 respectively, about the other. This twisting of each leg about the other offers considerable resistance to unwinding under tension.

By increasing the ratio of the diameter of gear 36 to the diameter of segment gear 34', i. e., making gear 36 smaller or making segment gear 34 larger and consequently increasing the length of elective tooth area, main pinion 4 can be caused to rotate an additional revolution and thereby put an additional turn in the first twisted portions lil and 11. v

The knots 16 and 17 are separated as follows. A hardened disc 18 is rotatably-mounted in main pinion 4 which, as can be seen in Fig. 16, is' made up of two halt" sections. Pin 19, which is ixedly mounted in the main pinion 4, normally holds the disc 18 in its inoperative position against the pressure of the spring 2Q. When it is desired to separate the knots, the dog 21 acts on notch 22 of the disc 18 causing the disc to rotate through a small arch thus severing the wires by the action of the hardened disc jaws 23 against the hardened jaws formed by the grooves 6 and 9 of the pinion. rhus two knots are formed, one on the bale just completed and the other,

shown at the lower left hand corner of the bale in Fig. 1, astens the two wires together to form the beginning of the next bale loop. Thus there are two knots formed for each loop but only one operation of theV knetterY is` required per loop. ,All of thel wire isv utilized and there are no free ends or particles otwireleft in the bale or inthe eld. Y

The operation of theknotter for a complete cycle is as follows. This knotter ties two knots at theA same time (two loops per bale) and as the1 mechanism is identical in structure and operationv for both the upper and lower knotter, reference will be made to one or the other inthis description with the understanding that they are identical,

While the bale is being formed, wires, from coils 2. and 2 mounted on the baler, frameare lying in groovest), 34) (Figure 13). They are pulled along untiljthel trip (not shown), which is operated by a metering wheel well known in the art, put the mechanism into operation,

In Fig. l2, the` shaft 32,which is rotatably/,mounted in the knotter frame 33, Ais caused to turn by the trip mechanism through a bevel gear (not shown) at the top of the shaft. Secured to the shaft 32 are two segment gears 34 and 34 which drive pinionv 36 and thevcorrespendingV pinion (not shown) for they top knotter.

Mounted on the same shaft 58 as pinion 36 is the: gear 40 and for each cycle of the knetter they make one revolution as does shaft 32. The main pinion 4 is turned 11/2 revolutions by gear 40 for each cycle as previously described, causing` the twist in the wire as shown by Figure 7. At this time the main pinion4 stops' turning due to the dwell portion of the segment gear 34.

The means for swinging the auxiliary pinions 12 and 13 into working position and rotating them will now be described. Secured to the drive shaft 32 (Figure 12) isl a bevel gear 42, which drives through bevel gear 44, shaft 46, bevel gear 48, and bevel gear 5i? to rotatethe cam; shaft 52 (Figure 14) which is secured to bevel gear Sil andV rotatablyY mounted in thek knotter framev members` 54 and 56. During the entire knotting cycle, the cam shaft is continually rotated and the cams 58- and 60 are so designed that they are inoperative until` theA main pinion 4 stops turning. In Figure 16 isshownthe lower auxiliary twisting pinions ,24, 25 in the openY position and the top ones 12, 13 inthe closed positioniorthe-sake oiillustra tion. In practice, however, they could all twist at the sameA time and it would be impossible forl the arms 62, V63,

64 and 65 to assume the position shownr` in FigureV 16` as;

arms 62,y and 63am of one piece and diagonally opposite each other and both are in the closed (or open) position atfthe same time. The same isgtrue of arm-s 64,and 6,5,

The cam 53 bears against the roller 67 ofrthe pair of arms 64, 65 and the cam 6i) (Figure. 13) bears against, the rollerl 69y of arms 62, 63, thus forcing the auxiliary gears in andl out of working position. When in the operative position, the grooves 24 and 25 of, the auxiliary pinions straddle the twist 19 and 11 in the wire at either side of; mainV pinion 4.

At this time, segment gear 71 (Figure14) starts to turn gear 73 which is rotatably mounted on shaft 75, The auxiliary twisting pinions 12, 13 Vare driven by gear 73 through idler gears 77 (Figure 16) which areV rotatably mounted on arms 62, 63,764 and 65 and arel in constant mesh with the auxiliary pinions 12, 13 and the gear73.

Auxiliary uinions 12 and 13 make two revolutionsper cycle and produce the knotshown in FigureA 10.

The cutting disc 18 previously described is operated as follows. Mounted on the lower portion Si) of gear 73 areV two segment cams 82 (Figures 12 and'13) which push on rollers v84 which are rotatably mounted in dogs 21. f After the auxiliary pinions have been rotated to produce the finished knot, the cams 32 push this dog 21 into contact with the notch 22` in` the. disc 18 and rotates it enough to shear the wires. The spring 20 then returns the disc to the non-operative position. The wires are thus freed from. the knotterr-vhiclr isr then in positionfto start through another cycle when, actuated by the metering wheel and trip previously mentioned;

Having thus shown and described my invention, 1 claim:

l. ln a wire knotter a common frame member, a main twisting pinion rotatably mounted on said memberand having two diametrically opposed radial Slots tor receiving two sections of wire, gear: meansV rotatably mounted on said; frame member for rotating said main pinion; thus forming4 a, twisted portion at' eitherside of said main/pin:` ion, auxiliary twisting pinions shiftablyf mounted onsa'rdL frame member. each hav-ing a radial slot to straddie the said twistedk portions at either' side of said, mainpinion, arm meansl swingably. mounted onv said frame` to swing said auxiliary pi-nions into: a` position to straddle. said.- twisted portions and return; them to an inoperative position, gear means,rotatably mounted on said frame; torotate saidv auxiliary pinions while they areintheoperative position, a cutting disc rotatably mounted in saidmain. pinion andhaving radial slots cooperating with said slots oi the main pinion to sever the wires, meansv mounted oir said tra-mel to-rotate, said cutting disc after said auxliiiaryv pinions have been rotated.

2. In a wire knotter, a common frame member, a, main twisting pinion rotatably mounted, therein and'having two diametrically opposed radial slotsv forv receiving two sec-- tions of wire, gearv means rotatably mounted in said trame' for rotating said main pinion and thereby forming a twisted portion atV either sidey of'saidA main pinion, auxiliary pinions swingably mounted on said frame andhav-A ing a radial slot*V adapted to `straddle said twisted portions,

arm means swingably mounted onsaid frame member to swing said auxiliaryV pinions .in and out of operative posi-` tion, gearI means rotatably mounted on said frame mem-y ber to rotate said auxiliary: pinions whileV in the operativel position, a cutting disc,V rotatably mounted in said main, pinion havng twoy radial slots forl cooperating with said radial slots of said main pinion, means mounted on said. trame-for rotating said disc to sever the wires after said auxiliary. pinions havel been rotated.

ReferencesV Cited inthe ille of this patent Y UNl'TED STATES PATENTS

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