Side tilt counteracting system and steering system for agricultural apparatuses

A method for compensating for a sideways force acting of an agricultural apparatus moving on a sideways sloped ground surface, the agricultural apparatus comprising:

• a frame and a plurality of support units supporting said frame for movement on said ground surface, said plurality of support units comprising at least one wheeled support unit comprising at least one steerable wheel mounted for rotation about a wheel axis, said at least one steerable wheel operable to contact the ground surface;
• said steerable wheel of said at least one wheeled support unit of the plurality of wheeled support units being rotatable and steerable about a generally vertical steering axis;
• a steering angle adjustment system operable to adjust the angular position of the steerable wheel about the steering axis;
• wherein the method comprises:
• receiving at a control system, at least one orientation signal from a ground surface orientation sensor, said at least one orientation signal indicative of a side tilt angle of said sideways sloped ground surface;
• receiving at said control system a wheel steering angle signal from a steering angle rotation sensor, said at steering angle signal indicative of an actual steering angle of the steerable wheel;
• based on the orientation signal, causing the control system to calculate a target steering angle;
• based on the wheel steering angle signal, causing the control system to identify the actual steering angle of the steerable wheel;
• causing the control system to generate signals to the steering angle adjustment system to adjust the actual steering angle of the steerable wheel towards the target steering angle.

A method for compensating for sideways force acting of an agricultural apparatus moving on a sideways sloped ground surface, the agricultural apparatus comprising:

• (a) a frame and a plurality of support units supporting said frame for movement on said ground surface, said plurality of support units;
• (b) a plurality of front ground engagers and a plurality of rear ground engagers mounted on said frame, each of said plurality of front and rear ground engagers operable for engaging beneath the ground surface, wherein at least one of a depth of engagement beneath the ground surface of the front ground engagers and (ii) a depth of engagement below the ground surface of the rear ground engagers can be adjusted;
• (c) a depth adjustment system that is operable to adjust at least one of a depth of engagement of the front ground engagers below the ground surface and a depth of engagement of the rear ground engagers beneath the ground surface;
• and wherein said method comprises:
• (i) propelling said agricultural implement in a direction of travel;
• (ii) receiving at a control system, orientation signals from a ground surface orientation sensor, said orientation signals indicative of a side tilt angle of said sideways sloped ground surface;
• (iii) based on the orientation signals received by the control system, causing the control system to operate the depth adjustment system to cause the side tilt counteracting system to adjust at least one of:
• (i) a depth of engagement below the ground surface of the front ground engagers and (ii) a depth of engagement below the ground surface of the rear ground engagers, to produce a side force operable to counteract the side force acting on the tillage apparatus associated with the side tilt angle.

A method for compensating for sideways force acting of an agricultural apparatus located on a transversely side sloped ground surface, the agricultural apparatus comprising a frame and a plurality of wheeled support units, each of said plurality of wheeled support units having at least one wheel mounted for rotation about a wheel axis and said at least one wheel operable to contact the ground surface, the wheel of at least one wheeled support unit of the plurality of wheeled support units being rotatable about a generally vertical steering axis;

• wherein the method comprises:
• receiving at a control system at least one wheel steering angle rotation signal from a wheel steering angle rotational sensor, said at least one wheel steering angle rotation signal representative of a steering angle of the wheel about the steering axis;
• receiving at said control system, at least one frame orientation signal from a frame orientation sensor, said at least one frame orientation signal representative of a side tilt angle of the frame;
• based on the frame orientation signal and the at least one wheel steering angle rotation signal received by the control system, causing the control system to determine whether to activate a side tilt counteracting mechanism to counteract the sideways force acting on the agricultural apparatus associated with the side tilt angle;
• based on the frame orientation signal and the at least one wheel rotational signal received by the control system, the control system determines whether to activate said side tilt counteracting system to generate said side force operable to counteract the sideways force acting on the agricultural apparatus associated with the side tilt angle.

A system comprising:

• an agricultural apparatus comprising a frame supported by a plurality of support units operable to support said frame for movement on a ground surface;
• a control system;
• an orientation sensor operable to provide to said control system an orientation signal indicative of a side tilt angle of said ground surface upon which the frame is supported;
• wherein the control system is operable is operable to determine if the side tilt angle is above a threshold angle, and in response to determining that the side tilt angle is above the threshold angle, to generate and send control signals to operate a side tilt counteracting system to counteract the sideways force on the agricultural apparatus associated with the side tilt angle.

An agricultural system comprising:

• (1) a tillage apparatus comprising
• a frame;
• at least one wheeled support unit connected to the frame, said at least one wheeled support unit comprising at least one wheel operable to rotate about a steering axis;
• a tillage apparatus actuation system operable to adjust a steering angle of the at least one wheel about the steering axis.
• (2) a seed cart interconnected to said tillage apparatus, said seed cart comprising
• a frame;
• at least plurality of wheeled support units connected to the frame, each of said plurality of wheeled support units comprising at least one wheel operable to rotate about a steering axis;
• a seed cart actuation system operable to adjust a steering angle of at least one wheeled support unit of said plurality of wheeled support units about its respective steering axis.