Automatic control systems for frost fans
OwnerGary Gottschalkinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A retrofittable control system for controlling an engine and a clutch of a frost fan may include a data processing system, a thermostat, a human machine interface, a throttle control module, and/or a clutch control module. The control system may be configured to automatically start the fan when the thermostat detects a temperature below a user defined turn-on temperature, and to automatically shut down and park the fan when the thermostat detects a temperature above a user defined turn-off temperature. In some examples, starting up the fan may include running a clutch engagement sequence that engages the clutch at different speeds for different durations.
Claims20
A high-inertia fan system comprising:
- a fan blade assembly including a plurality of fan blades rotatably coupled to a reduction gear;
- an engine configured to spin the fan blade assembly via the reduction gear;
- a clutch assembly configured to selectively engage a drive shaft of the engine with a load shaft of the reduction gear, the clutch assembly comprising a non-centrifugal, friction clutch operable by a linear actuator driven by a direct current (DC) motor and operatively connected to the clutch;
- a thermostat configured to sense an ambient temperature;
- and
- an electronic controller in communication with the thermostat, the engine, and the clutch assembly, the controller having one or more processors and a memory, a plurality of instructions being stored in the memory and executable by the one or more processors to automatically:
- disengage the clutch in response to a first signal from the thermostat that the ambient temperature has fallen below a first threshold;
- start the engine and adjust a speed of the engine by controlling a fuel throttle of the engine;
- cause the linear actuator to actuate the clutch at a first speed of the actuator for a first duration, then actuate the clutch at a second speed of the actuator lower than the first speed of the actuator for a second duration, then actuate the clutch at a third speed of the actuator higher than the second speed of the actuator for a third duration, such that the fan blades are brought up to an operating fan speed without stalling the engine;
- run the fan blade assembly at the operating fan speed;
- slow the speed of the engine and disengage the clutch in response to a second signal from the thermostat that the ambient temperature has risen above a second threshold;
- and
- engage the clutch in response to stopping of the engine and the fan blade assembly, thereby preventing rotation of the fan blades.
A frost fan system for protecting crops from frost, the system comprising:
- a fan blade assembly including a plurality of fan blades rotatably coupled to a reduction gear;
- an engine configured to spin the fan blade assembly via the reduction gear;
- a clutch assembly configured to selectively engage a drive shaft of the engine with a load shaft of the reduction gear, the clutch assembly comprising a non-centrifugal, friction clutch and a manual clutch engagement mechanism;
- an environmental sensor configured to sense an environmental parameter;
- a clutch control system including a linear actuator coupled to the manual clutch engagement mechanism, the clutch control system further comprising an electronic controller in communication with the environmental sensor and the engine;
- wherein the electronic controller is configured to automatically:
- start the engine in response to a signal from the environmental sensor indicating that the environmental parameter has met a first threshold;
- engage the clutch by causing the linear actuator to move the manual clutch engagement mechanism into an engaged position;
- run the fan blade assembly at an operating speed;
- and
- slow the engine and disengage the clutch in response to a second signal from the environmental sensor that the environmental parameter has met a second threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.