The square baler comprises a pick-up a pre-compression chamber, a baling chamber, a loading mechanism for transferring each slice of crop from the pre-compression chamber into the baling chamber and a plunger. The baler further can include at least one non-contact sensor that is provided in at least one of the walls of the pre-compression chamber and/or of the input zone of the baling chamber to produce an output signal indicative of the density of the crop.
1. A square baler comprising:
a pick-up configured for receiving crop material and transferring it toward a baling chamber;
a pre-compression chamber to form a slice of crop material for a bale of the crop coming from the pick-up;
the baling chamber for forming a rectangular bale of the slices of crop coming from the pre-compression chamber;
a loading mechanism for transferring each slice of crop from the pre-compression chamber into the baling chamber;
a plunger, movable within the baling chamber to compress further the individual slices to form a square bale;
a first non-contact sensor is provided in at least one sidewall of the pre-compression chamber to produce an output signal indicative of the density of the crop; and
at least one additional non-contact sensor located on a sidewall downstream of the first non-contact sensor, the sensors configured for measuring density at at least two different points along a crop flow path in the pre-compression chamber.
2. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the non-contact sensors are provided to produce signals indicative of the density of the crop spread across the length of the slice of crop present in the pre-compression chamber and/or the input zone of the baling chamber.
3. A square baler according to claim 1 further comprising a mechanical sensor for determining the density of the slice of crop present in the pre-compression chamber.
4. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the non-contact sensors are configured to output multiple signals indicative of density over the formation of a slice.
5. A square baler, according to claim 1 , further comprising a controller for processing the signals of the non-contact sensor or sensors.
6. A square baler according to claim 5 , further comprising an output device to make the signals of the different non-contact sensors that have been processed by the controller visible.
7. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the loading cycle is synchronized with the plunger movement and initiated after the signal of at least one non-contact sensor indicates a predetermined density of the crop.
8. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the loading cycle is synchronized with the plunger movement and initiated after the signal of two or more non-contact sensors indicate a predetermined density of the crop, wherein the two or more sensors are located at different lengths along the crop flow path.
9. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one additional non-contact sensor is located in the baling chamber of the baler.
10. A square baler according to claim 9 , wherein the at least one non-contact sensor is located in an input zone of the baling chamber from the pre-compression chamber.
11. A square baler according to claim 1 , wherein the first non-contact sensor is paired with a second non-contact sensor and both first and second non-contact sensors are located along opposing side walls of the pre compression chamber upstream of the at least one additional non-contact sensor.