Commodity cart with improved loading positioning
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsDerryn W. Pikesh, Andrew W. Harmon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A commodity cart includes at least one storage tank and a transfer arm having a product chute, a tube portion coupled to the product chute. The tube portion ends in a product outlet. A hydraulic system is coupled to the transfer arm and configured to move the transfer arm to a product loading position wherein the product chute is positioned at a location on the ground. A controller is configured to determine a desired fill vehicle position and generate an indication of the desired fill vehicle position.
Claims20
A commodity cart comprising:
- at least one storage tank;
- a transfer arm having a product chute, a tube portion coupled to the product chute, the tube portion ending in a product outlet;
- a hydraulic system coupled to the transfer arm and configured to move the transfer arm to a product loading position wherein the product chute is positioned at a location on the ground;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine a desired fill vehicle position of the storage tank and generate an indication of the desired fill vehicle position,
- detect a position of the fill vehicle based at least in part by data received from at least one camera,
- determine if the position of the fill vehicle is acceptable, and
- communicate a fill vehicle positional correction indication indicative of a corrective direction of travel for the fill vehicle based on the detected position.
A method of transferring agricultural product between a fill vehicle and a commodity cart, the method comprising:
- detecting the fill vehicle using the commodity cart;
- detecting a position of the fill vehicle relative to the commodity cart, using a camera;
- determining whether the fill vehicle is acceptably positioned relative to the commodity cart,
- selectively providing a positional correctional output indicative of a corrective direction of travel for the fill vehicle based on the detected position, if the fill vehicle is not acceptably positioned relative to the commodity cart.
A system for positioning a fill vehicle relative to a commodity cart, the system comprising:
- a commodity cart configured to receive material from the fill vehicle, the commodity cart having a controller, wireless communication circuitry coupled to the controller, a position detection system coupled to the controller, and at least one camera coupled to the controller;
- a mobile device having a processor and screen, the mobile device being disposed within the fill vehicle;
- and
- wherein the controller of the commodity cart is configured to:
- wirelessly communicate with the mobile device;
- to detect a position of the fill vehicle using the camera;
- to determine if the position of the fill vehicle is acceptable;
- and
- to wirelessly communicate, to the mobile device, a fill vehicle positional correction indication indicative of a corrective direction of travel for the fill vehicle based on the detected position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.