Haystack wagon

Claim 2

A hay stack wagon adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive hay from a hay pickup device, comprising a generally rectangular shaped wagon box including a bottom wall, upstanding substantially parallel side walls, a front wall, and a top wall, an opening defined between the upper edge of said front wall and said top wall and being of a size to accommodate the discharge spout of a hay pickup device, a closure structure shiftably mounted on said box at the rear end thereof for closing the same and being swingable between open and closed positions, ground engaging wheels, means connecting the ground engaging wheels with said box to permit tilting of the box about a pivotal axis extending transversely of the box between a normal horizontal position and a rearwardly inclined position, means connected with said box for tilting the box about said pivotal axis between said normal horizontal and said rearwardly inclined positions, compacting mechanism within said box comprising a revolvable compacting roller structure extending transversely of said box and having a length dimension corresponding substantially to the interior width dimension of the box, reversible drive means drivingly connected with said roller structure to drive said roller structure along the surface of the hay continuously in rearward and forward directions to continuously compact the hay in the wagon box as the latter is being filled with hay.

Claim 3

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller structure comprises a cylindrical drum.

Claim 4

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller structure comprises a plurality of wheels.

Claim 5

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said roller structure comprises an elongate drum of circular cross-sectional configuration and tapering uniformly from the ends thereof to the midportion.

Claim 6

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said compaction mechanism comprises elongate track means extending longitudinally of said wagon box, said roller structure having means thereon engaging said track means to guide said roller structure during its fore and aft movement along the surface of the hay.

Claim 7

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 and conveyor means mounted in said wagon box adjacent said bottom wall and extending longitudinally of said wagon box, reversible drive means connected with said conveyor means for selectively driving the conveyor means in opposite directions to permit unloading of the formed stack from the wagon and to permit reloading a hay stack into the wagon.

Claim 8

The hay stack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said side walls are laterally shiftable towards and away from each other.

Claim 9

The haystack wagon as defined in claim 1 wherein said compaction mechanism comprises a stack structure including a pair of elongate spaced apart tracks rigidly connected together and extending longitudinally of said wagon box, a pair of longitudinally spaced apart drive rollers journaled on said track structure adjacent opposite ends thereof for revolving movement relative thereto, cables wound upon said drive rollers and upon said compacting roller structure, a power means drivingly connected with each of said drive rolLers for alternately driving each of said drive rollers to thereby cause forward and rearward rolling movement of said compacting roller structure.

Claim 10

A hay stack wagon adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive hay from a hay pickup device, comprising a generally rectangular shaped wagon box including a bottom wall, upstanding substantially parallel side walls, a front wall, and a top wall, an opening defined between the upper edge of said front wall and said top wall and being of a size to accommodate the discharge spout of a hay pickup device, closures structure shiftably mounted on said box at the rear end thereof for closing the same and being shiftable between open and closed positions, means interconnecting said side walls with at least one of said top and bottom walls to permit lateral shifting movement of the side walls towards and away from each other, ground engaging wheels, means connecting the ground engaging wheels with said box to permit tilting of the box about a pivotal axis extending transversely of the box between a normal horizontal position and a rearward inclined position, means connected with said box for tilting the box about said pivotal axis between said normal horizontal position and said rearward inclined position, an endless loading and unloading conveyor means mounted in said wagon adjacent said bottom wall and extending longitudinally of said wagon box, reversible drive means connected with said conveyor means for selectively driving the conveyor means in an unloading direction when said wagon is in a rearward tilted position to permit unloading of a hay stack formed within said box, said drive means when reversed, driving said conveyor means in a loading direction, and serving to load a hay stack intact into the wagon box when the wagon is in the tilted position and when the side walls have been shifted away from each other, a compacting mechanism including a roller structure positioned within said wagon and having a length corresponding substantially to the width of said wagon box, reversible drive means drivingly connected with said roller structure to drive said roller structure along the surface of the hay in forward and reverse directions to continuously compact the hay in the wagon box as the latter is being filled with hay.

Claim 11

A hay stack wagon adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive hay from a hay pickup device, comprising a generally rectangular shaped wagon box including a bottom wall, upstanding substantially parallel side walls, a front wall, and a top wall, an opening defined between the upper edge of said front wall and said top wall and being of a size to accommodate the discharge spout of a hay pickup device, closures structure shiftably mounted on said box at the rear end thereof for closing the same and being shiftable between open and closed positions, means interconnecting said side walls with at least one of said top and bottom walls to permit lateral shifting movement of the side walls towards and away from each other, ground engaging wheels, means connecting the ground engaging wheels with said box to permit tilting of the box about a pivotal axis extending transversely of the box between a normal horizontal position and a rearward inclined position, means connected with said box for tilting the box about said pivotal axis between said normal horizontal position and said rearward inclined position, an endless loading and unloading conveyor means mounted in said wagon adjacent said bottom wall and extending longitudinally of said wagon box, reversible drive means connected with said conveyor means for selectively driving the conveyor means in an unloading direction when said wagon is in a rearward tilted position to permit unloading of a hay stack formed within said box, said drive means when reversed, driving said conveyor means in a loading direction, and serving to load a hay stack intact into the wagon box when the wagon is in the tilted position and when the side walls have been shifted away from each other, a compacting mechanism including a roller structure positioned within said wagon and having a length corresponding substantially to the width of said wagon box, reversible drive means drivingly connected with said roller structure to drive said roller structure along the surface of the hay in forward and reverse directions to continuously compact the hay in the wagon box as the latter is being filled with hay.

Claim 12

A haystack wagon adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive hay from a hay pickup device, comprising a generally rectangular shaped wagon box including a bottom wall, upstanding substantially parallel opposed vertical side walls, front and rear opposed vertical walls, and a top wall, an opening defined between the upper edge of said front wall and said top wall and being of a size to accommodate the discharge spout of a hay pickup device, one of said vertical walls comprising a closure structure shiftably mounted on said box and being swingable between open and closed positions, ground engaging wheels, means connecting the ground engaging wheels with said box to permit travel thereof over the surface of the ground, compacting mechanism within said box comprising a revolvable compacting roller structure extending transversely of said box and having a length dimension corresponding substantially to the interior dimension of the box, between two of said opposed vertical walls, reversible drive means drivingly connected with said roller structure to drive said roller structure along the surface of the hay continuously between a pair of opposed vertical walls in advanced and return directions to continuously compact the hay in the wagon box as the latter is being filled with hay.

Claim 13

A haystack wagon adapted to be towed by a prime mover and adapted to receive hay from a hay pickup device, comprising a generally rectangular shaped wagon box including a bottom wall, upstanding substantially parallel opposed vertical side walls, front and rear opposed vertical walls, and a top wall, an opening defined between the upper edge of said front wall and said top wall and being of a size to accommodate the discharge spout of a hay pickup device, one of said vertical walls comprising a closure structure shiftably mounted on said box and being swingable between open and closed positions, ground engaging wheels, means connecting the ground engaging wheels with said box to permit travel thereof over the surface of the ground, compacting mechanism within said box comprising a revolvable compacting roller structure extending transversely of said box and having a length dimension corresponding substantially to the interior dimension of the box, between two of said opposed vertical walls, reversible drive means drivingly connected with said roller structure to drive said roller structure along the surface of the hay continuously between a pair of opposed vertical walls in advanced and return directions to continuously compact the hay in the wagon box as the latter is being filled with hay.