Seed conveyor
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsGurmukh H. Advani, Noel W. Anderson, Blake Hedrick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are tank assemblies, and particularly tank assemblies including conveyors for the transfer of granular materials, such as seeds. Such conveyors can include a conduit through which the granular material is moved, and a rotatable auger configured to move the seeds through the conduit. Also disclosed herein are control systems and methods for the operation of the tank assemblies and particularly the conveyors disclosed herein. According to certain aspects of the disclosure, the control methods may implement signals from one or more sensors to monitor the level of the granular material in the tank assemblies, and control signals to operate the conveyors to arrive at targeted levels of granular material in the tank assemblies.
Claims19
A tank assembly for a work vehicle, comprising:
- a first tank attached to and in communication with a granular material applicator;
- a second tank attached to and in communication with the granular material applicator;
- a first sensor associated with the first tank and a second sensor associated with the second tank;
- and
- a conveyor connecting the first tank to the second tank and configured to move a granular material between the first tank and the second tank.
A method for controlling a state of a granular material within a granular material applicator comprising a first tank, a second tank, and a conveyor extending between the first tank and the second tank, wherein the granular material applicator is in communication with a controller, the method comprising:
- measuring, by the controller, a first granular material quantity of the first tank;
- measuring, by the controller, a second granular material quantity of the second tank;
- obtaining, by the controller, a granular material target state;
- calculating, by the controller, an empirical granular material state based on the measured first granular material quantity and the measured second granular material quantity;
- comparing, by the controller, the empirical granular material state to the target granular material state;
- generating, a control signal and transmitting the control signal to the granular material applicator, and
- in response to the control signal, driving the conveyor to convey a portion of the first granular material quantity to the second tank or the second granular material quantity to the first tank when the empirical granular material state is different from the granular material target state, such that the difference between the empirical granular material state and the granular material target state is reduced.
A tank assembly comprising:
- a tank defining an enclosure configured to receive a granular material material;
- an egress port;
- a conveyor positioned towards a bottom portion of the tank and extending between the egress port and the enclosure of the tank, wherein operation of the conveyor expels the granular material from the enclosure;
- and
- a controller configured to receive a first control signal and to transmit a second control signal to control an activation of the conveyor, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit a control signal to open or close the egress port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.