Agricultural implement system with a controller that controls travel and power take off coupling in response to plug conditions

An agricultural implement, comprising:

• a chassis;
• a power take-off carried by the chassis;
• a feeder configured to feed crop material;
• a pickup configured to convey crop material to the feeder;
• at least one feeder plug sensor coupled to the feeder and configured to (i) detect a feeder plug is present when a feeder rotation rate falls below a predetermined feeder rotational speed value and (ii) output a feeder plug signal based thereon;
• a pickup plug sensor coupled to the pickup, wherein the pickup plug sensor is configured to (i) detect a pickup plug is present when an angle of the pickup exceeds a predetermined angle value and (ii) output a pickup plug signal based thereon;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the at least one feeder plug sensor and the pickup plug sensor, wherein the controller is configured to:
• receive the feeder plug signal to determine a feeder plug condition exists;
• output a PTO decouple signal so the power take-off is decoupled from a power source of a work vehicle when the feeder plug condition exists;
• output a stop signal so movement of the agricultural implement stops when the feeder plug condition exists;
• determine the feeder plug condition no longer exists;
• output at least one feeder plug clear signal when the feeder plug condition no longer exists;
• upon receiving the at least one feeder plug clear signal, recouple the power take-off to the power source and resume movement of the work vehicle;
• receive the pickup plug signal to determine a pickup plug condition exists;
• output the PTO decouple signal so the power take-off is decoupled from the power source when the pickup plug condition exists;
• output the stop signal so the work vehicle stops moving when the pickup plug condition exists;
• determine the pickup plug condition no longer exists;
• output at least one pickup plug clear signal when the pickup plug condition no longer exists;
• and
• upon receiving the at least one pickup plug clear signal, recouple the power take-off to the power source and resume movement of the work vehicle.

A method of controlling an agricultural implement system comprising a work vehicle comprising a PTO coupler coupled to an engine and an agricultural implement comprising a power take-off coupled to the PTO coupler, a pickup, and a feeder, the method being performed by a controller of a control system upon loading and executing instructions which are stored on a non-transitory computer readable media, the instructions causing the controller to perform the method comprising:

• receiving a plug signal from at least one plug sensor to determine a plug condition exists, the at least one plug sensor being associated with at least one of the pickup or the feeder;
• outputting a PTO decouple signal so the power take-off is decoupled from the engine when the plug condition exists;
• outputting a stop signal so the work vehicle stops moving when the plug condition exists;
• determining the plug condition no longer exists;
• outputting at least one plug clear signal when the plug condition no longer exists;
• and
• upon receiving the at least one plug clear signal but not before, recouple the power take-off to the engine and resume movement of the work vehicle.