Automatic product fill method and control system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10736271-B2
Application number	US-201715800923-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 1, 2017
Priority date	Nov 1, 2017
Publication date	Aug 11, 2020
Grant date	Aug 11, 2020

Abstract

A method of collecting material with a harvester when a storage vehicle is spaced from the harvester includes moving material from the field into the basket, actuating the conveyor for a first time period when the sensed parameter is above the set amount, transporting a first portion of the material a first distance with the actuated conveyor, after the first time period has elapsed, stopping the conveyor to store the first portion of the material on the conveyor, after the first time period has elapsed, if the conveyor can store more material, actuating the conveyor for a second time period, transporting a second portion of the material a second distance with the actuated conveyor and transporting the first portion of the material a third distance with the actuated conveyor, and if the conveyor cannot store more material, alerting an operator that the conveyor is full.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A control system for a vehicle having a first storage container operable to retain a quantity of material and a conveyor operable to move the material from the first storage container to a second storage contain separate from the vehicle, the control system comprising:
a controller electrically coupled to the conveyor and the first storage container;
a first sensor operable to determine if the first storage container is retaining a quantity of material above a target fill level, the first sensor configured to send a first signal to the controller when the first storage container is retaining a quantity of material above the target fill level;
a second sensor operable to sense a distance between the conveyor and the second storage container, the second sensor configured to send a second signal to the controller based upon the sensed distance between the conveyor and the second storage container;
a switch operable to move between a first position and a second position in response to the controller, such that, when the sensed distance is less than a set value, the switch is operable to move to the first position and when the sensed distance is greater than the set value, the switch is operable to move to the second position;
wherein when the switch is in the first position and the first sensor sends the first signal to the controller, the control system is operable to send a third signal to the conveyor to activate the conveyor,
wherein when the switch is in the second position and the first sensor sends the first signal to the controller, the control system is operable to send a fourth signal to activate the conveyor for a first set period of time and subsequently to deactivate the conveyor for a second set time period, and
wherein, when the switch is in either the first or the second position, and when the first signal is not received from the first sensor, the controller is operable to send a fifth signal to deactivate the conveyor.

2. The control system of claim 1 , wherein during the second time period, the first storage container configured to accrue material while the conveyor is stopped.

3. The control system of claim 1 , wherein when the fourth signal is sent to activate the conveyor, one of a plurality of slots of the conveyor is filled as the one of the plurality of slots moves past the first storage container during the first time period to transport a first portion of the material in a first one of the plurality of slots during the first time period.

4. The control system of claim 3 , wherein, after the first time period and the second time period have elapsed, when the switch is in the second position and the first sensor sends the first signal to the controller, the control system is operable to send a sixth signal to activate the conveyor for a third period of time to move a second one of the plurality of slots past the basket during the third time period to transport a second portion of the material in a second one of the plurality of slots, and to transport the first portion of the material in the first one of the plurality of slots during the third time period and subsequently to deactivate the conveyor for a fourth set time period.

5. The control system of claim 4 , wherein the control system is configured to direct movement of the conveyor to thereby fill a plurality of the plurality of slots with respective portions of the material such that a majority of a length of the conveyor includes slots having respective portions of the material supported thereon.

6. The control system of claim 5 , wherein the control system is operable to alert the operator when a set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material and to stop the conveyor when the set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material.

7. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is operable to stop the conveyor when the first signal is received such that material is accrued in the storage location in the first vehicle while the conveyor is stopped.

8. The control system of claim 1 , wherein during first time period, the conveyor is configured to move a first portion of the material a first distance with the transporting device prior to deactivating the transporting device.

9. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor is a pressure sensor configured to sense a pressure in a chopper, the chopper positioned upstream of the first storage container.

10. The control system of claim 1 , wherein when the switch is in the second position, the controller is configured to determine a quantity of available slots on the conveyor configured to retain material, and is configured to send the fourth signal to the controller a set amount of times, the set amount of times corresponding to the determined quantity of available slots.

11. The control system of claim 1 , wherein the control system is operable to alert the operator when a set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material and to stop the transporting device when the set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material.

12. The control system of claim 9 , wherein when the switch is in the second position, the controller is configured to determine a quantity of available slots on the conveyor configured to retain material, and is configured to send the fourth signal to the controller a set amount of times, the set amount of times corresponding to the determined quantity of available slots.

13. The control system of claim 12 , wherein the control system is operable to alert the operator when a set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material and to stop the transporting device when the set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material.

14. The control system of claim 9 , wherein the control system is operable to alert the operator when a set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material and to stop the transporting device when the set amount of the slots include respective portions of the material.

Assignees

• Deere & Co

Inventors

• Johnson Peter A
• Dugas Bryan E
• Dighton John A
• Gunda Rahul

Classifications

• A01D45/10 Primary

  of sugar cane {(for digging sugar cane A01D31/00)} · CPC title

• A01D43/086

  and means for collecting, gathering or loading mown material · CPC title

• A01D43/085

  Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted therefor · CPC title

• A01D90/02

  Loading means · CPC title

• B60P1/42

  mounted on the load-transporting element · CPC title