Weight-based chute control for a farm implement
AssigneeUnverferth Manufacturing Company, Inc.
InventorsMichael D. Van Mill, Ronald J. Schlimgen, Shawn W. Gerdeman
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for discharging material from a chute on a farm implement into a container or bin such that the discharged material is evenly distributed in the container or bin. The system and method includes a farm implement with a bin for holding material, a conveyor for discharging material from the bin and a chute at the end of the conveyor for directing the material discharged from the conveyor. The chute may be moved into a plurality of positions based on sensor outputs to facilitate the even distribution of material in the container or bin receiving the discharged material.
Claims7
An apparatus for conveying material from a farm implement into a container, comprising:
- a container for holding an agricultural material;
- a conveyor including a first end configured to receive material from said container and a second end configured to discharge material;
- and
- a chute including a first end pivotably coupled to the second end of the conveyor and a second end configured to discharge material, wherein the first end of the chute is pivotable relative to the second end of the conveyor about a first axis of rotation such that the second end of the chute is moveable in a first plane;
- a chute positioning device for pivoting said chute about said first axis;
- a sensor for measuring a weight of the material in said container and providing a sensor output indicative of the weight measurement;
- and
- a controller in communication with said sensor output, said controller being configured to:
- send a control signal to said chute positioning device to pivot said chute in a first direction about said first axis of rotation to a first position;
- send a control signal to said conveyor to cause material from said container to be discharged from said chute;
- and
- when the weight measurement meets a predefined threshold, send a control signal to said chute positioning device to pivot said chute in a second direction different than said first direction about said first axis of rotation into a second position.
A method for discharging material from a farm implement evenly into a container, the farm implement including a bin for holding the material and a conveyor with a chute at one end for discharging the material from the bin into the container, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning the farm implement relative to the container so that the chute is near a center of the container;
- starting an unload process on a controller, wherein the unload process includes:
- sending a first chute control signal from the controller to a first chute positioning device to move the chute to a first position;
- sending a first discharge control signal to cause material to be discharged from the bin into the container via the conveyor with the chute in the first position;
- monitoring at the controller sensor signals indicative of a weight of the material remaining in the bin;
- when the controller determines that a first target weight has been reached, sending a second chute control signal from the controller to the first chute positioning device to move the chute to a second position;
- and
- when the controller determines that a second target weight has been reached, sending a third chute control signal from the controller to a second chute positioning device to move the chute to a third position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.