Ground-crop harvester control system

A ground-crop harvester, comprising:

• a) an excavating means arranged to scrape up a layer of soil and ground-crop;
• b) a primary conveyor configured to receive the soil and ground-crop scraped up by said excavating means;
• c) an adjustable speed drive mechanism that drives the primary conveyor;
• d) a harvester drive that drives the harvester;
• e) means for sensing the forward speed of the harvester and for emitting signals representative of said speed;
• f) a controller that controls said drive mechanism that drives the primary conveyor based on said signals from said means for sensing the forward speed.

A ground-crop harvester, comprising:

• a) an excavating means arranged to scrape up a layer of soil and ground-crop;
• b) a primary conveyor configured to receive the soil and ground-crop scraped up by said excavating means;
• c) an adjustable speed drive mechanism that drives the primary conveyor at a conveyor speed;
• d) a harvester drive that drives the harvester at a forward speed;
• and
• e) a controller that automatically controls said adjustable speed drive mechanism to vary the conveyor speed as the forward speed of the harvester varies, whereby a consistent load is maintained on said primary conveyor as the forward speed of the harvester varies.

A ground-crop harvester, comprising:

• a) an excavating means arranged to scrape up a layer of soil and ground-crop;
• b) a primary conveyor configured to receive the soil and ground-crop scraped up by said excavating means and to separate soil from said ground-crop;
• c) a downstream conveyor configured to receive the separated ground-crop from said primary conveyor;
• d) an adjustable speed drive mechanism that drives the primary conveyor;
• e) means for sensing an amount of product conveyed by said downstream conveyor and for emitting signals representative of said amount;
• f) an adjustable speed drive mechanism that drives said downstream conveyor;
• g) control means for adjusting the speed of said downstream conveyor via said adjustable speed drive mechanism for said downstream conveyor based on said signals from said means for sensing an amount of product conveyed by said downstream conveyor.

A method of gathering and handling ground-crops and consistently separating soil gathered with the ground-crops, comprising the steps of:

• a) scraping up a layer of soil and ground-crop with an excavating means;
• b) receiving the layer of soil and ground-crop scraped up by said excavating means on a primary conveyor, said primary conveyor separating said soil from said ground-crop;
• c) driving the primary conveyor with an adjustable speed drive mechanism;
• d) driving the harvester with a harvester drive;
• e) sensing the forward speed of the harvester and emitting signals representative of said speed;
• f) automatically controlling with a controller said drive mechanism that drives the primary conveyor based on said signals from said means for sensing the forward speed.

A method of gathering and handling ground-crops and consistently separating soil gathered with the ground-crops, comprising the steps of:

• a) scraping up a layer of soil and ground-crop with an excavating means;
• b) receiving the layer of soil and ground-crop scraped up by said excavating means on a primary conveyor, said primary conveyor separating said soil from said ground-crop;
• c) driving the primary conveyor at a conveyor speed with an adjustable speed drive mechanism;
• d) driving the harvester at a forward speed with a harvester drive;
• and
• e) automatically controlling said drive mechanism with a controller to vary the conveyor speed as the forward speed of the harvester varies, whereby a consistent load is maintained on said primary conveyor as the forward speed of the harvester varies.