Leaf collector and baler

Claim 1

In a leaf collector and baler having a mobile chassis, a pick-up brush assembly housing mounted on the chassis, a pick-up brush mounting assembly rotatably mounted on the said housing, a leaf collection hopper having a discharge opening on one end mounted on the chassis positioned rearwardly of the said housing so as to receive leaves from brushes on the brush mounting assembly, a compaction chamber having an opening on one side communicating with the discharge opening in the Said hopper, the compaction chamber having a discharge opening on one end, a ram mounted for reciprocation in the compaction chamber past the opening communicating with the said hopper, a discharge chute communicating at one end with the discharge opening in the compaction chamber composed of a pair of spaced apart side walls and having a discharge opening at the opposite end, bale tying means operatively positioned in the discharge chute proximal to the discharge opening in the compaction chamber, drive means for rotating the brush mounting assembly, and drive means for reciprocating the ram, comprising: a. a plurality of generally horizontal brush mounting bars mounted to and for rotation with the brush mounting assembly, the said bars being positioned circumferentially about and displaced radially outwardly from the axis of rotation of the brush mounting assembly, b. resilient brush filaments attached to the said bars along their length extending generally radially outwardly from the axis of rotation of said brush mounting assembly, c. a plate mounted on each of said bars extending generally along its length and extending generally toward the next adjacent bar opposite the direction of rotation of the brush mounting assembly, d. a pair of spaced-apart sweeps operatively mounted on the collection hopper, the respective sweeps reciprocating across the floor of the hopper in the direction of and at different distances from the compaction chamber and substantially above the floor of the hopper in the opposite direction, e. timing means operatively connected among the respective sweeps and the ram, positively timing the reciprocation of the sweeps both with respect to each other and to the reciprocation of the ram, f. the collection hopper having openings in its bottom generally proximal to the collection chamber, g. the compaction chamber having an opening in its side wall distal to the collection hopper, h. opposed bale tensioning means on the side walls of the discharge chute proximal to the compaction chamber, i. a top plate on the discharge chute proximal to the compaction chamber extending at least from the mid-line of the discharge chute to the side wall distal to the collection hopper, the remainder of the side walls of the discharge chute having no substantial bale tensioning means, j. a floor on the discharge chute extending from the compaction chamber to the discharge end of said chute, the said floor having opposed longitudinally elongated openings proximal to the respective side walls of said chute.