Method and Apparatus for Unloading Material from a Container

A method of controlling a rate of material removal from a container, the method comprising:

• inputting a desired unloading characteristic into a controller of an unloader, wherein the unloader includes an unloader arm;
• starting the unloader;
• moving a chain coupled to the unloader arm;
• pivoting the unloader arm in an interior space of the container;
• engaging material in the interior space of the container with the unloader arm;
• detecting a threshold force upon at least one of the chain and the unloader arm;
• and
• altering motion of the unloader arm in response to the recognition of the unloader arm loading characteristic.

An unloader for unloading material from a container, the unloader comprising:

• an unloader arm movable within a container to engage and move material from the container;
• a motor coupled to the unloader arm and operable to advance the cutter arm in material within the container,
• a sensor configured to transmit a first signal indicative of a loading characteristic of the cutter arm;
• and
• a controller in communication with the sensor, the controller responsive to the first signal from the sensor by reducing advancement of the cutter arm within the container.

A method of controlling a rate of material removal from a container, the method comprising:

• inputting at least one of a material characteristic and a container characteristic into a controller of an unloader, wherein the unloader includes an unloader arm positioned to remove material from the container;
• determining a threshold value based at least partially on at least one of the material characteristic and the container characteristic, wherein the threshold value corresponds to an amount of force transmitted to at least one of the unloader arm and a chain coupled to the unloader arm;
• starting the unloader;
• moving the chain coupled to the unloader arm;
• pivoting the unloader arm in an interior space of the container;
• engaging material in the interior space of the container with the unloader arm;
• detecting a threshold force upon at least one of the chain and the unloader arm;
• comparing the threshold force to the threshold value;
• and
• altering motion of the unloader arm in response to comparing the threshold force to the threshold value.