Grain moisture sensor
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsFrederick William Nelson, Kent Robert Hawk, Wayne Farrior Smith, Terence Daniel Pickett
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A moisture sensor for an agricultural combine comprises a chamber having an inlet and an outlet and a paddle wheel flow controller located adjacent to the outlet. The paddle wheel flow controller is rotated by an electric motor which is controlled by an electronic controller. Grain from the clean grain elevator is directed through the inlet of the chamber past a capacitance sensor comprising a first, second and third plates. By measuring the capacitance of the grain, the moisture in the grain can be determined.
Claims7
A moisture sensor for an agricultural combine having a clean grain elevator, the moisture sensor comprising:
- a vertically extending chamber mounted to the clean grain elevator, the chamber having an upper inlet and a lower outlet, clean grain enters the chamber from the clean grain elevator through the inlet and exits the chamber back into the clean grain elevator through the outlet;
- a capacitance sensing means is positioned in the chamber between the outlet and the inlet, the capacitance sensing means senses the capacitance of clean grain in the chamber and provides a capacitance signal that can be related to grain moisture;
- a flow control means for controlling the flow of clean grain through the chamber.
A moisture sensor for an agricultural combine having a clean grain elevator, the moisture sensor comprising:
- a vertically extending chamber mounted to the clean grain elevator, the chamber having an upper inlet and a lower outlet, clean grain enters the chamber from the clean grain elevator through the inlet and exits the chamber back into the clean grain elevator through the outlet;
- a capacitance sensing means is positioned in the chamber between the outlet and the inlet, the capacitance sensing means continually senses the capacitance of clean grain in the chamber and provides a capacitance signal that can be related to grain moisture;
- a flow control means for continuously controlling the flow of clean grain through the chamber, the flow control means is located between the capacitance sensing means and the outlet, so that the capacitance sensing means is continually sensing the capacitance of a new clean grain sample.
A combine thresher having a continuous grain moisture analyzer comprising:
- a combine thresher having means for moving grain from a grain floor of the combine to a storage bin therein with said moving means being enclosed by an external wall of said combine;
- and
- a grain moisture analyzer assembly mounted ex-situ on said external wall of the combine;
- and
- means for bypassing a portion of the grain passing through said moving means through said grain moisture analyzer including an inlet opening and an outlet opening formed in said external wall of said combine for supplying and exhausting grain to and from said grain moisture analyzer;
- a sensing cell for measuring grain moisture;
- and
- feed means for moving the grain from said sensing cell to said outlet opening formed in said external wall for returning said portion of grain back into a normal flow of moving grain within the combine thresher.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.