Self-propelled windrower with yield monitoring based on merger load

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11930737-B2
Application number	US-201916726448-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 24, 2019
Priority date	Dec 24, 2019
Publication date	Mar 19, 2024
Grant date	Mar 19, 2024

Abstract

A merger system for an agricultural vehicle includes: at least one frame mount configured to couple to a chassis; a movable merger frame coupled to the at least one frame mount; a conveyor supported by the merger frame and configured to convey crop material; at least one load sensor associated with the at least one frame mount and configured to output load signals corresponding to a mass of the merger frame; and a controller operatively coupled to the at least one load sensor. The controller is configured to: determine a mass of crop material conveyed by the conveyor based at least partially on the mass of the merger frame; determine a crop yield based at least partially on the determined mass of crop material; and output a yield signal corresponding to the determined crop yield.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A merger system for an agricultural windrower, comprising:
at least one frame mount configured to couple to a chassis;
a frame coupled to the at least one frame mount;
a conveyor supported by the movable merger frame, the conveyor including an endless belt configured to convey crop material in a strip on the ground;
at least one load sensor associated with the at least one frame mount; and
a controller operatively coupled to the at least one load sensor, the controller being configured to:
acquire load signals from the at least one load sensor at a certain frequency regarding a load at the at least one frame mount as crop material is conveyed by the endless belt of the conveyor, wherein the certain frequency is defined based on a period of time for the conveyor to rotate half of the endless belt;
determine a mass of the crop material conveyed by the conveyor based at least partially on the load signals;
determine a crop yield based at least partially on the mass of crop material; and
output a yield signal corresponding to the crop yield of the crop material deposited in the strip.

2. The merger system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one frame mount comprises a plurality of frame mounts and the at least one load sensor comprises a plurality of load sensors, each of the plurality of load sensors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of frame mounts.

3. The merger system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the crop yield also based at least partially on at least one of a ground speed of the agricultural windrower, a conveyance speed of the conveyor, or a working width of a header.

4. The merger system of claim 1 , wherein the crop yield is determined for each strip in the field.

5. The merger system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to operatively account for the crop yield in a strip containing a double windrow or a triple windrow.

6. An agricultural windrower, comprising:
a chassis;
a merger system carried by the chassis, the merger system comprising:
a frame suspended from the chassis;
a conveyor supported by the merger frame, the conveyor including an endless belt configured to convey crop material to a strip on the ground; and
at least one frame mount coupling the frame to the chassis;

at least one load sensor associated with the at least one frame mount; and
a controller operatively coupled to the at least one load sensor, the controller being configured to:
acquire load signals from the at least one load sensor at a certain frequency regarding a load at the at least one frame mount as crop material is conveyed by the endless belt of the conveyor, wherein the certain frequency is defined based on a period of time for the conveyor to rotate half of the endless belt;
determine a mass of the crop material conveyed by the conveyor and deposited on the ground based at least partially on the load signals;
determine a crop yield based at least partially on the mass of the crop material; and
output a yield signal corresponding to the crop yield of the crop material deposited in the strip on the ground.

7. The agricultural windrower of claim 6 , wherein the at least one frame mount comprises a plurality of frame mounts and the at least one load sensor comprises a plurality of load sensors, each of the plurality of load sensors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of frame mounts.

8. The agricultural windrower of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the crop yield also based at least partially on at least one of a ground speed of the agricultural windrower, a conveyance speed of the conveyor, or a working width of a header.

9. The agricultural windrower of claim 6 , wherein the crop yield is determined for each strip in the field.

10. The agricultural windrower of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to operatively couple to a display and output the yield signal to the display.

11. A method of determining a yield of an agricultural windrower traveling across a field when producing double or triple windrows, the method being performed by a controller and comprising:
when a merger system of the agricultural windrower is in a non-working position, depositing the collected crop material in first strips on the field without using a conveyor of the merger system;
when the merger system of the agricultural windrower is in a working position:
conveying collected crop material with the conveyor of the merger system and depositing the collected crop material in second strips on the field, the conveyor including an endless belt, one or two of the second strips being adjacent a respective one of the first strips to provide the double or triple windrows;
acquiring signals from a sensor as the collected crop material is conveyed by the endless belt of the conveyor; and
determining a mass of the collected crop material conveyed by the conveyor and deposited in the second strips on the field based at least partially on the signals;

determining a crop yield based at least partially on the mass of the collected crop material of the second strips and a harvested acreage of the field to account for the collected crop material included in the first strips and the second strips; and
outputting a yield signal corresponding to the crop yield of the collected crop material deposited in the first strips and the second strips on the field.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the windrower comprises a plurality of frame mounts coupling the merger frame to a chassis of the windrower and a plurality of load sensors operatively coupled to the controller, each of the plurality of load sensors being associated with a respective one of the plurality of frame mounts.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the crop yield is determined based at least partially on at least one of a ground speed of the agricultural windrower, a conveyance speed of the conveyor, or a working width of a header of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the crop yield is determined for each strip in the field.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the yield signal is output to a display.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Stephens Zachary

Classifications

• A01D41/1271 Primary

  for measuring crop flow · CPC title

• A01D41/04

  Tractor-driven combines · CPC title

• A01D41/06

  Combines with headers · CPC title

• A01D61/00

  Elevators or conveyors for binders or combines · CPC title

• A01D57/20 Primary

  with conveyor belts · CPC title