Machine for forming cylindrical bales of crop

Claim 1

In a baling machine for forming cylindrical bales, including a main frame having a pair of upright, fore-and-aft extending transversely spaced sidewalls, a bale discharge gate vertically pivotally connected to an upper rear location of said sidewalls for movement between open and closed positions and including opposite sidewalls respectively forming rearward continuations of the main frame sidewalls when the gate is in its closed position, a pair of fore-and-aft extending transversely spaced idler arms having their forward ends fixed to a horizontal transverse shaft having opposite ends respectively pivotally mounted in the main frame opposite sidewalls, a plurality of belt support rolls extending horizontally between and being rotatably supported in the sidewalls of both the main frame and gate, at least one belt take-up roll extending between and being rotatably mounted in said pair of idler arms, a plurality of belts supported in side-by-side relationship on the support and idler rolls and cooperating with the sidewalls of the main frame and gate to define an expansible baling chamber being of minimum and maximum size respectively when the idler arms are in fully lowered and fully raised positions, at least one lever fixed to said transverse shaft, and a hydraulic piston and cylinder unit having opposite ends respectively pivotally connected to the gate and lever by first and second pivot connections, the improvement comprising: spring biasing means coupled to said lever and exerting a force thereon resisting movement of the idler arms from their lowered position; said lever having at least first and second connection points spaced therealong and alternately cooperating to form the second pivot connection of said unit; and said first and second connection points being so located relative to the first pivot connection and shaft that when the idler arms are in their fully lowered positions a maximum resistance to raising of the arms is effected by the unit when said first connection point cooperates to form the second pivot connection, whereby the unit and spring biasing means cooperate to resist raising of the arms, and approximately zero resistance to raising of the arms is effected by the unit when said second connection point cooperates to form the second pivot connection, whereby only the spring biasing means acts to resist raising of the arms.