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US 11,711,998 B2Granted
Integrated commodity flow detection
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorAndrew W. Harmon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An air seeder assembly that has a tank for containing commodity, a meter assembly coupled to the tank and configured to selectively distribute commodity there through, a first conduit coupled to the meter assembly to direct commodity provided to the first conduit from the meter assembly to a tool assembly, a diverter that selectively diverts commodity to the first conduit, and a sensor coupled to the diverter to identify when commodity is passing thereby.
Claims17
An air seeder assembly, comprising;
- a tank for containing commodity;
- a meter assembly coupled to the tank and configured to selectively distribute commodity there through;
- a first conduit coupled to the meter assembly configured to direct commodity provided to the first conduit from the meter assembly to a tool assembly;
- a diverter configured to selectively divert commodity to the first conduit;
- and
- a sensor coupled to the diverter and configured to identify when commodity is passing thereby;
- wherein the diverter comprises a flapper pivotable about a flapper axis and the sensor is positioned within the flapper.
4 more elements
A meter assembly, comprising;
- a housing defining an inlet configured to be coupled to a tank;
- a metering device coupled to the housing and configured to meter flow of commodity from the inlet;
- a diverter positioned at an outlet of the housing and configured to selectively distribute commodity to at least one conduit;
- a sensor coupled to the diverter and configured to identify when commodity is flowing thereby;
- wherein the sensor comprises a piezoelectric sensor configured to identify the impact of commodity against the diverter.
2 more elements
A method for identifying a blockage of commodity in a meter assembly, comprising:
- providing a housing, a metering device, a diverter, at least one conduit, a sensor, and a controller;
- coupling the metering device to the housing, the metering device configured to meter flow of commodity from an inlet to an outlet of the meter assembly;
- positioning the diverter at the outlet of the meter assembly, the diverter configured to selectively distribute commodity to the at least one conduit;
- and
- coupling the sensor to the diverter, the sensor configured to communicate to the controller when commodity is flowing thereby and contacting the diverter.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.