Windguard assembly for agricultural baler
A windguard assembly for a baler that is configured to either limit or prevent crop material from being blown away by the wind during feeding of the crop material into a bale chamber of the baler. The windguard assembly includes a roller that is configured to rotate about an axis of rotation. The roller includes a plurality of crop engaging surfaces that are configured to transport the crop material toward the bale chamber. The windguard assembly also includes a tine assembly that is pivotably mounted with respect to the roller about the axis of rotation. The tine assembly includes a transversely-mounted shaft and a plurality of axially spaced-apart tines extending from the shaft.
1 . A windguard assembly for an agricultural baler that is configured to either limit or prevent crop material from being blown away by the wind during feeding of the crop material into a bale chamber of the agricultural baler, the windguard assembly including:
a transversely mounted roller that is configured to rotate about a first axis of rotation, wherein the roller includes a plurality of crop engaging surfaces that are configured to transport the crop material toward the bale chamber; and
a tine assembly that is pivotably mounted with respect to the roller about the first axis of rotation, the tine assembly comprising a transversely mounted shaft and a plurality of axially spaced-apart tines extending longitudinally from the shaft,
wherein the tine assembly is configured to pivot about the first axis of rotation while the roller remains stationary.
2 . The windguard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the roller is configured to rotate about the first axis of rotation while the tine assembly remains stationary.
3 . The windguard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the crop engaging surfaces are bars mounted to a cylindrical body of the roller.
4 . The windguard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the tine assembly further comprises tine arms that are mounted to a bushing that is connected to a shaft of the roller, and wherein the tine arms are further configured to be connected to a frame of the agricultural baler.
5 . The windguard assembly of claim 4 , wherein the shaft of the tine assembly is fixedly and non-rotatably mounted to the tine arms.
6 . The windguard assembly of claim 4 , wherein the shaft of the tine assembly is pivotably mounted to the tine arms to define a second axis of rotation.
7 . The windguard assembly of claim 4 , further comprising assembly arms configured to be coupled to the frame of the agricultural baler, wherein:
each arm of the assembly arms has a first end that is pivotably mounted to the frame of the agricultural baler and a second end, opposite the first end, that is mounted to the roller, and
the windguard assembly is pivotable with respect to the frame about a third axis of rotation that passes through the first ends of the assembly arms.
8 . The windguard assembly of claim 7 , wherein the second end of the assembly arms is also mounted to the bushing such that the roller can rotate with respect to the assembly arms.
9 . The windguard assembly of claim 7 , wherein the second end includes a plurality of openings each of which can be selectively mounted to the roller.
10 . The windguard assembly of claim 7 , wherein the windguard assembly is pivotable about the third axis of rotation that passes through the first ends of the assembly arms.
11 . The windguard assembly of claim 6 , wherein the tine arms are configured to pivot about the second axis of rotation relative to the roller.
12 . The windguard assembly of claim 7 , wherein each arm of the assembly arms has a curved body.
13 . The windguard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first axis of rotation constitutes a pivot axis of the tine assembly.
14 . An agricultural baler comprising the windguard assembly of claim 1 , wherein the transversely mounted roller is configured to compress crop against a rotatable pick-up roller of the agricultural baler.
15 . An agricultural vehicle comprising the agricultural baler of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural baler comprises a tongue that is mounted to a hitch on the agricultural vehicle.