Appeal No. 2002-1970 Page 3
Application No. 09/072,333
Independent claims 1 and 9 read as follows:
1. In a square baler for baling harvested crops and having a
pick-up device, a feeding channel, a baling chamber, a
baling ram for forming a crop bundle in the baling chamber,
and a tying apparatus for tying the crop bundle and forming
a bale; the improvement comprising:
sensing means including a symmetrical measuring
wheel for sensing both forward and backward movements of
the crop bundle in the baling chamber;
means for determining an actual length value of the
crop bundle and triggering the tying apparatus when a pre-
set length for the crop bundle is reached; and
the sensing means including an electronic measuring
device which measures, via the rotational movement and the
direction of rotation of the measuring wheel, the forward and
backward movements of the crop bundle in the baling
chamber.
9. A baling method for controlling the length of a square
bale, comprising the steps of:
providing a measuring wheel;
sensing the measuring wheel’s rotary movement and
direction of rotation and thereby sensing both the forward
and backward movement of a crop bundle in a baling
chamber;
adding the measured forward and backward
movements of the crop bundle to determine an actual length
of the crop bundle;
and triggering a tying device once a pre-set target
length value is reached to tie the crop bundle into a bale.
McPherson, the jumping-off point in the examiner’s rejection, discloses a retrofit
measuring device for a baler of the type recited in claim 1 which measures the length of
the hay bale, determines when the bale being formed has reached a predetermined
size and actuates a tying mechanism on the baler. The measuring and actuation
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