System and method for leveling a cutter bar of a harvester

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11375658-B2
Application number	US-201916724872-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 23, 2019
Priority date	Dec 23, 2019
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

An agricultural system includes an arm that supports a cutter bar assembly and is coupled to a fluid-filled biasing member such that the fluid-filled biasing member imparts a torque onto the arm. The agricultural system further includes an actuator and a controller. The actuator is coupled to the fluid-filled biasing member and is configured to move the fluid-filled biasing member relative to the actuator to change the torque imparted by the fluid-filled biasing member onto the arm. The controller is configured to determine a target position of the arm associated with a leveled configuration of the cutter bar assembly, receive an input to set the cutter bar assembly in the leveled configuration, and output a signal to instruct the actuator to set the fluid-filled biasing member relative to the actuator based on the target position upon receiving the input to set the cutter bar assembly in the leveled configuration.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An agricultural system, comprising:
an arm configured to rotate about a pivot joint, wherein the arm is configured to support a portion of a cutter bar assembly, and the arm is coupled to a fluid-filled biasing member such that the fluid-filled biasing member imparts a torque onto the arm;
an actuator coupled to the fluid-filled biasing member, wherein the actuator is configured to move the fluid-filled biasing member along the arm relative to the actuator to change the torque imparted by the fluid-filled biasing member onto the arm; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the actuator and configured to:
determine a target leveled base position of the arm associated with a leveled configuration of the cutter bar assembly;
receive an input to set the cutter bar assembly in the leveled configuration; and
output a signal to instruct the actuator to set the fluid-filled biasing member relative to the actuator based on the target leveled base position in response to receiving the input to set the cutter bar assembly in the leveled configuration.

2. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to output the signal to instruct the actuator to set the fluid-filled biasing member relative to the actuator to match a current base position of the arm with the target leveled base position of the arm.

3. The agricultural system of claim 2 , wherein the actuator is configured to move a portion of the fluid-filled biasing member away from the actuator to lower the current base position of the arm about the pivot joint, and the actuator is configured to move the portion of the fluid-filled biasing member toward the actuator to raise the current base position of the arm about the pivot joint.

4. The agricultural system of claim 1 , comprising a position sensor configured to determine a position of the arm, wherein the target leveled base position is associated with a particular position of the arm detected by the position sensor during a leveling calibration of the cutter bar assembly.

5. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid-filled biasing member comprises a container configured to receive fluid from a fluid source fluidly coupled to the fluid-filled biasing member.

6. The agricultural system of claim 5 , comprising the fluid source fluidly coupled to the fluid-filled biasing member, wherein the controller is configured to output an additional signal to cause the fluid source to supply fluid into the container, to receive fluid from the container, or both.

7. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the fluid-filled biasing member is configured to couple to a frame of the agricultural system, and the controller is configured to output the signal to instruct the actuator to set the fluid-filled biasing member relative to the actuator to set a current base position of the arm relative to the frame.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause the processor to:
determine a target leveled base position of an arm of a header of an agricultural system, wherein the arm is coupled to a support of a fluid-filled biasing member of the header, the fluid-filled biasing member is configured to impart a torque onto the arm, the target leveled base position is indicative of a rotational position of the arm about a pivot joint, the target leveled base position is associated with a leveled configuration of a cutter bar assembly of the header, and the support of the fluid-filled biasing member is coupled to an actuator configured to move the support along the arm relative to the pivot joint;
receive an input to set the cutter bar assembly of the header in the leveled configuration, wherein the cutter bar assembly is supported by the arm; and
output a control signal to instruct the actuator to set the support relative to the pivot joint based on the target leveled base position in response to receiving the input to set the cutter bar assembly in the leveled configuration.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to:
determine a detected position of the arm during a leveling calibration of the cutter bar assembly; and
store the detected position of the arm as the target leveled base position.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 9 , wherein the detected position of the arm is associated with a position reading made by a position sensor while the cutter bar assembly is positioned against a substantially flat surface.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to receive the input to set the cutter bar assembly of the header in the leveled configuration from a user interface.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the control signal instructs the actuator to set a position of the support relative to the pivot joint to match a current base position of the arm with the target leveled base position of the arm.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the control signal instructs the actuator to move the support toward the pivot joint to lower the current base position of the arm or to move the support away from the pivot joint to raise the current base position of the arm.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the arm is a first arm, and the instructions, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to output an additional control signal to instruct an additional actuator to set an additional support relative to an additional pivot joint based on a position of the support such that an additional target leveled base position of an additional arm is set based on the target leveled base position of the arm.

15. An agricultural system, comprising:
a cutter bar assembly configured to cut crops during operation of the agricultural system;
an arm assembly comprising:
an arm configured to support a portion of the cutter bar assembly, wherein the arm is configured to rotate about a pivot joint;
a fluid-filled biasing member comprising a support configured to couple to the arm, wherein the fluid-filled biasing member is configured to impart a torque onto the arm; and
an actuator comprising a rod configured to couple to the support, wherein the actuator is configured to move the support along the arm relative to the pivot joint to change the torque imparted by the fluid-filled biasing member onto the arm; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the arm assembly and configured to:
determine a target leveled base position of the arm associated with a leveled configuration of the cutter bar assembly;
determine the cutter bar assembly is to be set in the leveled configuration; and
output a signal to instruct the actuator to set a position of the support relative to the pivot joint based on the target leveled base position in response to determining the cutter bar assembly is to be set in the leveled configuration.

16. The agricultural system of claim 15 , wherein the arm assembly comprises a position sensor configured to determine a current base position of the arm, the position sensor is configured to output sensor feedback indicative of the current base position of the arm, and the controller is configured to output the signal to set the position of the support relative to the pivot joint based on th

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Hunt Cory Douglas

Classifications

• A01D34/145 Primary

  Devices for connecting the knife-bars to the driving mechanism · CPC title

• A01D34/283 Primary

  Adjustment of the cutter bar in a vertical plane, i.e. to adjust the angle between the cutter bar and the soil · CPC title

• A01D41/141 Primary

  Automatic header control · CPC title