US 12,477,993 B2
Bale accumulator with decouplable front bale supports enabling yaw-capable road transport
Derek James Friesen, Crystal City (CA); Harvey George Bergen, Crystal City (CA); Ryan Stephen Barbour, Crystal City (CA); and Sean David Chevalier, Crystal City (CA)
Assigned to Phiber Manufacturing Inc., Crystal (CA)
Filed by Phiber Manufacturing Inc., Crystal City (CA)
Filed on Oct. 17, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/918,640.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/595,433, filed on Nov. 2, 2023.
Prior Publication US 2025/0143219 A1, May 8, 2025
Int. Cl. A01D 85/00 (2006.01); A01D 90/08 (2006.01)
CPC A01D 85/005 (2013.01) [A01D 90/08 (2013.01); A01D 2085/007 (2013.01)] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A bale accumulator for towed conveyance behind a rectangular baler that produces rectangular bales of crop material as the baler traverses an agricultural field in a forward travel direction and extrudes the bales longitudinally rearward from a rear discharge of the baler, said bale accumulator comprising:
a platform for receiving said rectangular bales from the rear discharge of the baler;
a variable length drawbar attached to said platform, said variable length drawbar being longitudinally extendable and collapsible to vary a distance between said platform and said rear discharge of the baler, thereby enabling selective adjustment of the platform between a working field position and a road transport position, of which said working field position is of closer adjacency to said rear discharge of the baler than said transport position;
a hitch coupler installed on said variable length drawbar adjacent a leading end thereof for coupled connection to a hitch mounted on the baler in a manner enabling the platform to yaw relative to the baler, about an upright yaw axis, when in the road transport position;
a bale pusher movably supported on the platform and longitudinally displaceable thereon in a rearward push stroke for pushing bales rearwardly along the platform for discharge therefrom to the field, and in a forward reset stroke resetting the bale pusher to a ready position for a next repetition of the rearward push stroke;
a front bale support of elongated character in the longitudinal direction, and having a front mount configured for longitudinal slidable mounting thereof to the baler, and a rear mount selectively couplable to and decouplable from the bale pusher for longitudinal displacement therewith along the platform when coupled thereto;
a coupler/decoupler installed in cooperatively relationship to the bale pusher and the front bale support and operable to couple the rear mount of the front bale support to the bale pusher for cooperative use thereof in the working field position of the bale platform to enabling riding of the rectangular bales over said front bale support from the rear discharge of the baler to a pushable position behind the bale pusher, and to decouple the rear mount of the front bale support from the bale pusher to permit said yaw movement in the road transport position of the bale platform.