Detection arrangement for the detection of a crop jam in a harvesting machine
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorSteffen Clauss
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A self-propelled forage harvester includes an overload clutch inserted into the driveline of a crop conveying element of crop pick-up arrangement of the harvesting machine. The overload clutch generates acoustic and/or mechanical vibrations when a defined torque is exceeded, and a knock sensor is provided for sensing when the overload clutch is operating in an overloaded condition. The knock sensor sends a signal to a control arrangement including a signal processor which recognizes a vibration pattern representative of an overload, and in response to such a pattern, sends a control signal for shutting off the drive to various driven components of the harvester.
Claims5
In a harvesting machine having a crop conveying element for delivering crop to further crop processing components of the harvesting machine, a power source, a driveline coupled between said power source and said crop conveying element and containing an overload clutch, a crop jam detection arrangement for the detection of a crop jam in the harvesting machine, comprising:
- said overload clutch including torque transfer elements which generate acoustic and/or mechanical vibrations when said clutch experiences a torque in excess of a pre-determined limit value;
- a sensor located on said machine for sensing said vibrations and generating an input signal representative of said vibrations;
- and a control arrangement coupled to said sensor for receiving said input signal and operable for processing said input signal and for sending a control signal when said input signal rises above a threshold representative of a crop jam condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.