Grain dryer and control system therefor

A grain dryer comprising:

• a housing defining a path for grain to be dried;
• a fan and heater assembly for supplying heated air to the path for drying grain in the path, said fan and heater assembly having a fan and a heater, said fan being operable independently of the heater;
• a plurality of sensor for sensing different fault condition, at lease one of said sensors being disposed to detect airflow from the fan and heater assembly;
• control means for controlling operation of the fan and heater assembly, said control means being responsive to the sensor to initiate a shutdown procedure upon the indication of a fault condition, said control means being responsive to the airflow sensor to start the fan only when the airflow sensor indicates no airflow from the fan and heater assembly, said control means being further responsive to the airflow sensor to start the heater only if the airflow sensor indicates the flow of air from the fan and heater assembly within a predetermined length of time after the fan is started.

A grain dryer system comprising:

• a housing defining a path for grain to be dried;
• a fan and heater assembly for supplying heated air to the path for drying grain in the path;
• means for controlling the flow of grain out of the housing;
• means for sensing fault conditions associated with the drying of the grain;
• a controller operatively connected to the sensing means for controlling operation of the dryer and for initiating shutdown procedures in response to fault condition;
• and
• means for communicating identifying information concerning fault conditions between the controller and a site remote from the dryer, wherein the communicating means includes telecommunications means for communicating with the remote site via telephone lines.

A grain dryer comprising:

• a housing defining a path for grain to be dried such that said grain is dried as the grain moves along said path;
• a fan and heater assembly for supplying heated air to the path for drying grain in the path;
• means for controlling the flow of grain along said path;
• a plurality of sensors disposed in predetermined positions so as to detect a plurality of different fault conditions, said sensors generating a plurality of corresponding fault signals in response to the detection of said fault conditions;
• a controller operatively connected to the sensors, said controller being responsive to said fault signals to initiate a predetermined shutdown procedure upon receipt of any one of said fault signals;
• a memory operatively connected to said controller for electronically recording identifying information concerning shutdown procedures initiated by the controller;
• and
• said controller having means for controlling start-up of said dryer in a predetermined manner.

A grain dryer comprising:

• a housing defining a path for grain to be dried;
• a fan and heater assembly for supplying heated air to the path for drying grain in the path;
• transport means associated with the housing for transporting grain;
• a plurality of sensors for sensing a plurality of different fault conditions;
• control means responsive to the input signals for controlling operation of the fan and heater assembly and the transport means to perform a drying cycle for the grain, said control means including a plurality of timers for measuring the time remaining in a plurality of portions of the drying cycle, said control means being responsive to the sensors to initiate a shut down procedure upon receipt of a signal from said sensors indicative of a fault condition, said control means being further responsive to receipt of said fault condition indicating signal to store the state of each timer so that upon a restart of the dryer the drying cycle may resume at the point at which the fault condition occurred.

A grain dryer comprising:

• a housing defining a path for grain to be dried;
• a fan and heater assembly for supplying heated air to the path for drying grain in the path;
• means for controlling the flow of grain out of the housing, said controlling means including at least one roll disposed along said path;
• a controller operatively connected to the controlling means for controlling operation of the roll, said roll being rotatable in first and second directions, the controller controlling the roll to rotate primarily in the first direction and to rotate in the second direction on predetermined occasions, so that grain is prevented from building up excessively around the roll.