Baler tailgate pivot with concentric pivot roll

Todd Hertzler, New Holland, PA (US)

USPTO: us-12642186 · published 2026-06-02 · patents · A01F 15/18· A01F 15/07· A01F 15/0883· A01F 2015/077· A01F 2015/186

Baler tailgate pivot with concentric pivot roll

Todd Hertzler, New Holland, PA (US) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-06-03 15:02 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01F 15/18A01F 15/07A01F 15/0883A01F 2015/077A01F 2015/186

keywords agricultural balertailgate pivotconcentric rollerbale chamberbelt wrapmovable roller arm

0 comments

The pith

An agricultural baler keeps its tailgate pivot roller fixed on the same axis as a movable roller arm so the wrapping belt stays clear of the bale chamber in every gate position.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent describes a baler tailgate whose pivot carries a fixed roller at its exact center. A separate arm holding additional rollers also swings on that same center, so the belt path around the fixed roller remains constant whether the tailgate is closed or raised. The fixed roller sits between the belt and the forming bale, preventing the belt from rubbing the crop. This geometry is achieved simply by making the movable-roller pivot concentric with the tailgate pivot.

Core claim

The assembly comprises a tailgate pivoted at a tailgate pivot, a pivot roller fixed concentric to that pivot, a movable roller assembly whose arm is also pivoted on the identical concentric axis, and a belt wrapped around the pivot roller and movable rollers such that the pivot roller lies between the belt and the bale chamber.

What carries the argument

Concentric pivot roller fixed on the tailgate pivot axis with a movable roller arm sharing the same axis

If this is right

The belt segment facing the bale chamber stays at a fixed distance from the pivot roller regardless of tailgate angle.
The movable rollers can lift to clear the bale without requiring separate actuators or linkages.
Belt tension remains uniform because the wrap angle around the pivot roller does not change with gate position.
The design eliminates the need for an offset roller mount that would otherwise intrude on chamber space.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The same concentric layout could be applied to other pivoting crop-handling components such as pickup reels or discharge doors.
If the shared axis reduces parts count, manufacturing cost and maintenance points may drop as well.
Field durability data would be needed to confirm that crop debris does not accumulate between the two arms rotating on one shaft.

Load-bearing premise

Placing the movable roller arm and the tailgate on exactly the same pivot axis will give better belt geometry without creating new interference or durability problems in the field.

What would settle it

A field test that shows the concentric layout produces belt binding, crop interference, or accelerated wear compared with a conventional offset-roller tailgate.

read the original abstract

1 . An agricultural baler assembly comprising: a frame; a tailgate pivotally connected to the frame at a tailgate pivot and movable about the tailgate pivot between a closed tailgate position and an open tailgate position, wherein the tailgate and the frame define a bale chamber when the tailgate is in the closed tailgate position; a pivot roller fixed concentric to the tailgate pivot; a moveable roller assembly comprising an arm and one or more moveable rollers that are fixed to the arm and rotatable about their respective axes, the arm of the moveable roller assembly being fixed to the frame or the tailgate at a movable roller pivot that is concentric to the tailgate pivot, the moveable roller assembly being pivotable about the movable roller pivot relative to both the frame and the tailgate between a home position and a raised position; and a belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the one or more moveable rollers with the pivot roller arranged between a portion of the belt wrapped around the pivot roller and the bale chamber.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

A narrow utility patent on a concentric tailgate-and-roller pivot for round balers; the geometry is clearly stated but nothing is shown about whether it actually improves belt life or tension.

read the letter

The single concrete advance is the shared pivot axis: the tailgate hinge and the movable roller arm are forced to rotate about the identical centerline, with the fixed pivot roller sitting between the belt and the chamber. The claim spells out the parts and their concentric mounting without ambiguity. That arrangement is not described in the cited IPC classes, so the mechanical layout itself is new on paper. Beyond that the document is silent. No loads, no belt-length calculations, no comparison of slack or wear against a conventional offset pivot, and no field or bench data of any kind. The functional improvement is therefore asserted rather than demonstrated. The weakest link is the unexamined assumption that forcing the two arms onto one axis will not create new interference, binding under crop load, or accelerated bearing wear; nothing in the text addresses those risks. Because the filing supplies only a structural description, it belongs on the desk of a baler designer or a patent examiner checking prior art, not in an academic reading group. I would not cite it in research and I would not send it to referees; it has already received its formal examination route through the USPTO.

Referee Report

0 major / 0 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a utility-patent claim describing an agricultural baler assembly in which a tailgate pivots about a tailgate pivot, a pivot roller is fixed concentric to that pivot, a movable roller assembly (arm plus rollers) also pivots about the identical concentric axis, and a belt is routed around the pivot roller and movable rollers such that the pivot roller lies between the belt and the bale chamber.

Significance. The concentric-axis arrangement supplies a purely geometric solution for maintaining belt path during tailgate motion; if reduced to practice it could simplify tensioning kinematics, but the document supplies no force analysis, durability data, or comparative geometry to quantify any advantage.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for recommending acceptance. The report accurately captures the geometric principle at the core of the claimed invention.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: The document supplies no force analysis, durability data, or comparative geometry to quantify any advantage.

Authors: The manuscript is a utility-patent claim whose statutory purpose is to define the novel mechanical arrangement. Patent disclosure requires an enabling description of structure and operation, not performance metrics or comparative testing; such data are outside the scope of the claims and are normally generated during reduction-to-practice or commercial validation. revision: no

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity; pure mechanical claim set with no derivation

full rationale

The document is a utility patent consisting solely of structural claims describing a concentric-pivot baler assembly. No equations, fitted parameters, predictions, scaling relations, or self-citations appear anywhere in the text. The single independent claim simply enumerates components and their geometric relationships; there is therefore no derivation chain that could reduce to its own inputs. The reader's assessment of circularity score 0.0 is confirmed.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

The patent introduces no equations, fitted constants, or new physical entities; it rests only on standard mechanical engineering assumptions about rigid-body kinematics and belt routing.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5750 in / 1003 out tokens · 24260 ms · 2026-06-03T15:02:23.415803+00:00 · methodology

Baler tailgate pivot with concentric pivot roll

Core claim

What carries the argument

If this is right

Where Pith is reading between the lines

Load-bearing premise

What would settle it

discussion (0)