System and method for controlling the speed of an agricultural implement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11134602-B2
Application number	US-201816027514-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2018
Priority date	Jul 5, 2018
Publication date	Oct 5, 2021
Grant date	Oct 5, 2021

Abstract

In one aspect, a system for controlling the speed of an agricultural implement may include a work vehicle including a vehicle-based controller, with the vehicle-based controller being configured to adjust a drive parameter of the work vehicle. The system may also include an agricultural implement configured to be towed by the work vehicle. The implement may include a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter indicative of an orientation of the implement relative to the work vehicle. The implement may further include an implement-based controller supported on the implement and being communicatively coupled to the sensor. The implement-based controller may be configured to initiate control of the drive parameter of the work vehicle based on sensor data received from the sensor in a manner that adjusts the speed of the implement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for controlling the speed of an agricultural implement, the system comprising:
a work vehicle including a vehicle-based controller, the vehicle-based controller being configured to adjust a drive parameter of the work vehicle; and
an agricultural implement configured to be towed by the work vehicle, the implement including:
a sensor configured to detect an operational parameter indicative of an orientation of the implement relative to the work vehicle; and
an implement-based controller supported on the implement and being communicatively coupled to the sensor, the implement-based controller being configured to receive sensor data from the sensor and transmit signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller control the drive parameter in a manner that adjusts the speed of the implement based on the received sensor data,

wherein the vehicle-based controller is further configured to determine when to control the drive parameter based on the signals received from the implement-based controller based on a location of the work vehicle within a field.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the implement-based controller is further configured to monitor the detected operational parameter relative to a predetermined parameter range based on the received sensor data and transmit the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller adjust the speed of the implement when the monitored operational parameter exceeds a predetermined maximum parameter value of the predetermined parameter range or falls below a predetermined minimum parameter value of the predetermined parameter range.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the implement-based controller is further configured to:
monitor the detected operational parameter over a time period;
classify the operational parameter as one of a first classification state or a second classification state over the time period; and
transmit the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller adjust the drive parameter in a manner that adjusts the speed of the implement based on the classification state of the monitored operational parameter.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the operational parameter is indicative of a lateral distance defined between a longitudinal centerline of the work vehicle and a longitudinal centerline of the implement.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the implement-based controller is configured to transmit the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller adjust the drive parameter of the work vehicle to adjust the speed of the implement when the implement is positioned relative to a feature within the field.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the implement-based controller is further configured to determine the location of the feature within the field based on stored field data.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the implement-based controller is configured to transmit the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller adjust the drive parameter of the work vehicle to reduce the speed of the implement when it is determined that a quality parameter associated with the detected operational parameter has fallen below a predetermined quality parameter threshold.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle-based controller is configured to determine when to adjust the drive parameter as requested by the implement-based controller based on a location of the work vehicle within a field.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle-based controller is further configured to:
determine when a field operation is being performed based on a location of the vehicle within the field as the vehicle travels across the field;
control the drive parameter to adjust the speed of the implement based on the signals received from the implement-based controller when it is determined that the field operation is being performed as the vehicle travels across the field; and
ignore the signals received from the implement-based controller when it is determined that performance of the field operation has ceased as the vehicle travels across the field.

10. A method for controlling the speed of an agricultural implement, the method comprising:
monitoring, with an implement-based computing device installed on the agricultural implement, an operational parameter indicative of an orientation of the implement relative to an associated work vehicle as the implement is being towed across a field by the work vehicle;
comparing, with the implement-based computing device, the monitored operational parameter to at least one threshold parameter value; and
when the monitored operational parameter exceeds or falls below the least one threshold parameter value, transmitting, with the implement-based computing device, signals to a vehicle-based controller installed on the associated work vehicle requesting that the vehicle-based controller control a drive parameter of the work vehicle in a manner that adjusts the speed of the implement, the vehicle-based controller being configured to determine when to control the drive parameter based on the signals received from the implement-based controller based on a location of the work vehicle within the field.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the operational parameter is indicative of a lateral distance defined between a longitudinal centerline of the work vehicle and a longitudinal centerline of the implement.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
transmitting, with the implement-based computing device, the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller control the drive parameter of the work vehicle to reduce the speed of the implement when it is determined that the monitored lateral distance has exceeded a predetermined lateral distance threshold.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
transmitting, with the implement-based computing device, the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller control the drive parameter of the work vehicle to increase the speed of the implement when it is determined that the monitored lateral distance has fallen below a predetermined lateral distance threshold.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
transmitting, with the implement-based computing device, the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller control the drive parameter of the work vehicle to adjust the speed of the implement when the implement is positioned relative to a feature within the field.

15. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
transmitting, with the implement-based computing device, the signals to the vehicle-based controller requesting that the vehicle-based controller control the drive parameter of the work vehicle to reduce the speed of the implement when it is determined that a quality parameter associated with the detected operational parameter has fallen below a predetermined quality parameter threshold.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• STANHOPE Trevor

Classifications

• A01B69/004 Primary

  automatic · CPC title

• A01B76/00

  Parts, details or accessories of agricultural machines or implements, not provided for in groups A01B51/00 - A01B75/00 · CPC title

• A01B79/005

  Precision agriculture · CPC title

• A01B51/00

  Undercarriages specially adapted for mounting on various kinds of agricultural tools or apparatus · CPC title

• A01B59/041 Primary

  preventing or limiting side-play of implements (preventing overstrain A01B61/00) · CPC title