Mobile System to Repackage Compressible Materials 

The invention relates to an improved mobile device for the replacement of defective bale ties. Cotton bales are banded with a series of 6 to 8 ties under great pressure. These bales suffer from a failure rate in which one or more ties break, approximately 10 percent. Repair has heretofore required either the ownership of a baling press or return of the bales to the baling facility - with both options representing economic hardship. The novel device uses platens that apply compressive force only to the area needing reinsertion of a tie - with this dramatically reducing the equipment and energy requirements as compared to the standard process of utilizing a full bale press. The device, which represents a second generation of improvement in this technology, possesses a translocatable upper platen which may be brought into compressible opposition with any one of a number of optionally engageable lower platens. This allows for the repair of multiple ties on a bale without need for repositioning the 500 pound bale before each individual tie repair, which is time and labor intensive.

Reference:

Please refer to Patent Number 6,363,844, which issued on April 2, 2002.

Inventor:

William S. Anthony
USDA, ARS, MSA
Stoneville, MS 38776
(601) 686-3094 / Fax: (601) 686-5483