Binding Attachment

a mechanism on certain harvesting machines, for example, binders and flax-harvesting combines, that automatically ties sheafs formed from mowed or plucked stalks of agricultural crops with twine and drops the tied sheafs onto the field.

The binding attachment operates in a sequence of several steps. The stalks are fed by a conveyor and fall on the binding platform on top of the twine, one end of which is held in a clamp. Packers, moving through slits in the table, grasp the stalks and push them against a stacking arm, thus forming a cluster of stalks—a sheaf of certain size and density. The sheaf pushes the stacking arm aside, triggering the binding attachment. A needle emerges from beneath the board, carries the twine around the sheaf, and sets the end of the twine in the clamp together with the end that was fastened earlier. The ends of the twine between the clamp and the sheaf lie on the bill of the knotter and form a loop as a set of jaws turns. The sheaf, pushed off the board by clearing arms, pulls the loop from the jaws and firmly tightens the knot. At the moment when the loop is tightened, the knife of the knotter cuts the twine, and the sheaf falls onto the field. After the sheaf is tied, the needle drops below the board, leaving the twine in the clamp, on the beak, and above the board, that is, in the starting position. Meanwhile, the stacking arm returns to its starting position, and the knotter is disengaged. The entire process is then repeated.