LOWER FORMING APRON AND DRIVE FOR A CROP MATERIAL ROLL FORMING MACHINE

摘要

S P E C I F I C A T I O N AN IMPROVED LOWER FORMING APRON AND DRIVE FOR A CROP MATERIAL ROLL FORMING MACHINE A crop material roll forming machine, such as a large round baler, has a mobile frame adapted to travel across a field, an upper apron movably mounted on the frame that cooperates with an improved lower apron in defining a roll forming region therebetween. The lower apron is movably mounted on the frame below the upper apron and includes a series of fore-and-aft extending transversely spaced apart flexible members which are supported at their respective forward end portions by a first series of transversely spaced apart elements and at their respective rearward end portions by a second series of transversely spaced apart elements. The first series of elements are individually mounted on the front end of the frame and are yieldably movable in a force-and-aft direction for maintaining a level of tension on the flexible members sufficient to facilitate coiling of crop material into a roll in the roll forming region. The second series of elements are supported on a transverse shaft rotatably mounted on the rear end of the frame and adapted to be drivingly connected to a drive means which drives the upper apron in a predetermined direction and the lower apron in a direction counter to the predetermined direction of the upper apron.