Bale wagon

Claim 2

A bale wagon adapted to travel forwardly to pick up the bales lying on the ground and load them into the wagon comprising a bale pick-up and bale throwing unit mounted at the forward end of the wagon, a vertically movable carriage mounting said unit, a carriage lift mechanism associated with said carriage, a tongue pivotally mounted to said wagon, and means connecting said pivoted tongue to said carriage lift mechanism to effect raising and lowering of said carriage in accordance wiTh the position of said tongue.

Claim 3

A bale wagon as recited in claim 1 wherein said bale pick up and bale throwing unit comprises a lower pick up mechanism adapted to pick up bales from the ground and advance them upwardly, and bale thrower mechanism mounted above said pick up mechanism adapted to receive advanced bales and traject them into the wagon.

Claim 4

A bale wagon as recited in claim 1 wherein said connecting means is adapted to vertically position said carriage to a predetermined height when said tongue is in one pulling position and to another height when said tongue is in another pulling position.

Claim 5

A bale wagon as recited in claim 1 wherein said lift mechanism includes spring suspension means adapted to yield upon unintended upward movement of the carriage.

Claim 6

A bale wagon as recited in claim 1 wherein said lift mechanism includes a lifting cable and wherein said means connecting said pivoted tongue to said carriage lift mechanism comprises an actuating means connected at one end to said wagon tongue and at its other end to said lifting cable.

Claim 7

A bale wagon adapted to travel forwardly to pick up bales lying on the ground and load them into the wagon comprising a pair of spaced upright channel members secured to the front of said wagon, a carriage mounted on said channel members for up and down movement, said carriage having rollers adapted to track on said upright channel members, bale pick up mechanism mounted in the lower portion of said carriage, bale thrower mechanism mounted in said carriage above said pick up mechanism adapted to traject bales received from said pick up mechanism into the wagon, and means for automatically vertically positioning said carriage to different ground clearance positions.

Claim 8

A bale wagon adapted to travel forwardly to pick up bales lying on the ground and load them into the wagon comprising a pair of spaced upright channel members secured to the front of said wagon, a carriage mounted on said channel members for up and down movement, said carriage having rollers adapted to track on said upright channel members, bale pick up mechanism mounted in the lower portion of said carriage, bale thrower mechanism mounted in said carriage above said pick up mechanism adapted to traject bales received from said pick up mechanism into the wagon, and means for automatically vertically positioning said carriage to different ground clearance positions.

Claim 9

A bale wagon as recited in claim 6 wherein said bale wagon has a pivoted tongue and wherein said means for automatically vertically positioning said carriage comprises a lifting cable connected at one end to said carriage and at its other end to said wagon tongue.

Claim 10

A bale wagon adapted to travel forwardly to pick up bales lying on the ground and load them into the wagon, said wagon comprising a pivoted tongue having first and second pulling positions, bale pick up means and bale thrower means mounted on the front of the wagon, drive means for said bale pick up and bale thrower means, control means for said drive means, and means operatively connecting said control means to said wagon tongue for actuating said control means to establish drive of said bale pick up and thrower means when said tongue is in one pulling position and to idle said drive when said tongue is in another pulling position.

Claim 11

A bale wagon adapted to travel forwardly to pick up bales lying on the ground and load them into the wagon, said wagon comprising a pivoted tongue having first and second pulling positions, bale pick up means and bale thrower means mounted on the front of the wagon, drive means for said bale pick up and bale thrower means, control means for said drive means, and means operatively connecting said control means to said wagon tongue for actuating said control means to establish drive of said bale pick up and thrower means when said tongue is in one pulling position and to idle said drive when said tongue is in another pulling position.

Claim 12

A bale wagon as recited in claim 8 wherein said wagon has an apron conveyor for moving bales rearwardly for discharge and wherein said drive means for said bale pick up and bale thrower means also drives said apron conveyor and wherein said control means idles the conveyor drive when said tongue is in either of said pulling positions.

Claim 13

A bale wagon as recited in claim 9 wherein manually operable means is provided to effect drive of said apron conveyor by said drive means and to idle said drive of the bale pick up and thrower means.

Claim 14

A bale wagon as recited in claim 8 wherein said control means comprises a clutch operatively connected to said wagon tongue to be engaged when said wagon tongue is in one pulling position and to be disengaged when said wagon tongue is in another pulling position.

Claim 15

A bale wagon as recited in claim 9 wherein said control means comprises a clutch operatively connected to said wagon tongue to engage and disengage said clutch with said drive means to control drive of the bale pick up and bale thrower means in accordance with the position of said wagon tongue and manually actuated means for effecting engagement and disengagement of said drive means with said apron conveyor.

Claim 16

A bale wagon comprising a wheel supported maneuverable chassis, a pivoted tongue having first and second operative positions adapteD to be hitched to a propelling vehicle to pull said wagon to travel forwardly over the ground to pick up a series of bales lying on the ground in spaced relation to each other, a bale loader including bale pick up and bale thrower mechanisms mounted on the front of said wagon and adapted to pick up bales from the ground and to traject them into the wagon, a tail gate pivotally mounted at the rear of said wagon for movement from closed to open positions, an apron conveyor for moving bales loaded in said wagon from the front of the wagon to said rear tail gate, a transverse conveyor mounted on said tail gate for unloading bales from said wagon, drive means for said bale pick up and bale thrower mechanism and for said apron and transverse conveyors, clutch control means for said drive means, means connecting said clutch control means to said wagon tongue for disengaging clutch means to idle said drive means when said tongue is in one operative position and for engaging said clutch means to effect driving of said bale pick up and thrower mechanisms while idling said apron and transverse conveyors when said tongue is in the other of said operative positions and manually operable control means, including an actuating lever, for engaging said clutch means to effect drive of said two conveyors while idling drive to said bale pick up and thrower mechanisms.

Claim 17

A bale wagon comprising a wheel supported maneuverable chassis, a pivoted tongue having first and second operative positions adapteD to be hitched to a propelling vehicle to pull said wagon to travel forwardly over the ground to pick up a series of bales lying on the ground in spaced relation to each other, a bale loader including bale pick up and bale thrower mechanisms mounted on the front of said wagon and adapted to pick up bales from the ground and to traject them into the wagon, a tail gate pivotally mounted at the rear of said wagon for movement from closed to open positions, an apron conveyor for moving bales loaded in said wagon from the front of the wagon to said rear tail gate, a transverse conveyor mounted on said tail gate for unloading bales from said wagon, drive means for said bale pick up and bale thrower mechanism and for said apron and transverse conveyors, clutch control means for said drive means, means connecting said clutch control means to said wagon tongue for disengaging clutch means to idle said drive means when said tongue is in one operative position and for engaging said clutch means to effect driving of said bale pick up and thrower mechanisms while idling said apron and transverse conveyors when said tongue is in the other of said operative positions and manually operable control means, including an actuating lever, for engaging said clutch means to effect drive of said two conveyors while idling drive to said bale pick up and thrower mechanisms.

Claim 18

A bale wagon as recited in claim 13 wherein said drive means for said transverse conveyor of said tail gate includes a drive shaft, a detachable universal shaft for drivingly connecting said drive shaft to said transverse conveyor to impart driving force in one direction to said transverse conveyor and a second drive shaft adapted to be drivingly connected to said transverse conveyor by said universal shaft to impart driving force in the opposite direction to said transverse conveyor.

Claim 19

A bale wagon as recited in claim 14 wherein first mentioned drive shaft is drivingly connected to said drive means by sprocket and chain means and wherein said second mentioned drive shaft is drivingly connected to said drive means by a wrap around sprocket engaging the chain of said sprocket and chain means.