System and method for controlled cleaning in a cane harvester
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsBryan E. Dugas, Peter Johnson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control system for a harvester having a crop cleaner for cleaning a cut crop. The control system includes a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface. The processor is configured to receive an input corresponding to a desired cleaning level of the crop, monitor the actual cleaning level, and control the crop cleaner based on feedback from monitoring the actual cleaning level to move the cleaning level of the crop towards the desired cleaning level of the crop.
Claims20
A control system for a harvester having a crop cleaner for cleaning a cut crop, the crop cleaner including a fan, the control system including a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface, the processor configured to:
- receive an input corresponding to a desired cleaning level of the crop;
- monitor an actual cleaning level by measuring a load on the fan;
- and
- control the crop cleaner based at least in part on feedback from monitoring the actual cleaning level, wherein the control includes moving the actual cleaning level of the crop during harvester operation towards the desired cleaning level of the crop.
A control system for a harvester having a fan for cleaning a crop and a motor for driving the fan, the control system including a processor, a memory, and a human-machine interface, the processor configured to:
- receive a load signal corresponding to a load on the motor;
- and
- control a speed of the fan based at least in part on the load signal.
A harvester comprising:
- an inlet for receiving a crop including stalks and extraneous plant matter;
- a blade for cutting the stalks into billets and the extraneous plant matter into cut extraneous plant matter;
- a separator including:
- a cleaning chamber for at least partially separating the billets and the cut extraneous plant matter,
- a crop cleaner for separating portions of the crop in the cleaning chamber, and
- a hood having a residue outlet;
- a sensor configured to generate a load signal corresponding to a load on the separator;
- and
- a control unit configured to receive the signal from the sensor, wherein the control unit is programmed to quantify the crop ejected from the residue outlet based on at least the load signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.