Capacitive parameter measurement in a self-propelled forage harvester
AssigneeCLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
InventorsChristoph Lehmann, Dennis Neitemeier, Christoph Heitmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-propelled forage harvester and a method for controlling said forage harvester are disclosed. A measuring device of the forage harvester may have a plurality of electrodes spaced at a distance from each other. These electrodes may be arranged or positioned in an intermediate channel of a harvested material processing channel of the forage harvester and may form a plurality of capacitors. Further, delivery-specific parameters and/or material-specific parameters may be discernible from the measurements of the electrical capacitances of the plurality of capacitors.
Claims20
A self-propelled forage harvester configured to work with an attachment that collects harvested material and to process the harvested material, the forage harvester comprising:
- a harvested material processing channel that is downstream from the attachment, the harvested material processing channel including:
- a feeder housing configured to supply the harvested material to the forage harvester;
- a cutterhead configured to process the harvested material;
- a post-acceleration drum configured for post-acceleration of the harvested material;
- an intermediate channel configured to forward the harvested material from the cutterhead to the post-acceleration drum;
- and
- an ejection shaft configured to eject the harvested material;
- and
- a measuring device comprising a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another, wherein the plurality of electrodes form a plurality of capacitors and comprise at least a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and second electrode are, respectively, connected to opposing walls of the intermediate channel of the harvested material processing channel to form at least one capacitor of the plurality of capacitors, the measuring device configured to measure electrical capacitances of the plurality of capacitors;
- wherein the forage harvester is configured to determine one or both of delivery-specific parameters or material-specific parameters from measurements of the electrical capacitances of the plurality of capacitors.
A self-propelled forage harvester configured to work with an attachment that collects harvested material and to process the harvested material, the forage harvester comprising:
- a harvested material processing channel that is downstream from the attachment, the harvested material processing channel including:
- a feeder housing configured to supply the harvested material to the forage harvester;
- a cutterhead configured to process the harvested material;
- a post-acceleration drum configured for post-acceleration of the harvested material;
- an intermediate channel configured to forward the harvested material from the cutterhead to the post-acceleration drum;
- and
- an ejection shaft configured to eject the harvested material;
- and
- a measuring device comprising a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another and positioned in the intermediate channel of the harvested material processing channel to form a plurality of capacitors, the measuring device configured to measure electrical capacitances of the plurality of capacitors;
- wherein the forage harvester is configured to determine one or both of delivery-specific parameters or material-specific parameters from measurements of the electrical capacitances of the plurality of capacitors;
- wherein the harvested material processing channel further includes a conditioning apparatus configured to condition the harvested material;
- wherein the conditioning apparatus is positioned between the cutterhead and the post-acceleration drum;
- and
- wherein the plurality of electrodes are positioned in the intermediate channel between the cutterhead and the conditioning apparatus.
A method for controlling a self-propelled forage harvester, the forage harvester working with an attachment that collects harvested material and processing the harvested material, the method comprising:
- detecting capacitances of one or more of:
- a plurality of capacitors;
- at least one intermediate capacitor;
- or at least one transverse capacitor;
- determining a transverse distribution of the harvested material based on the capacitances detected;
- and
- actuating, based on the transverse distribution of the harvested material, one or more actuators of one or both of the attachment or of a feeder housing of the forage harvester;
- wherein detecting the capacitance is by using a measuring device comprising a plurality of electrodes spaced apart from one another, wherein the plurality of electrodes form a plurality of capacitors and comprise at least a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and second electrode are, respectively, connected to opposing walls of an intermediate channel of the harvested material processing channel to form at least one capacitor of the plurality of capacitors, the measuring device configured to measure the capacitances of the plurality of capacitors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.