AUTOMATIC DISPLAY OF REMOTE CAMERA IMAGE

• US 20110072773A1
• Filed: 09/30/2009
• Published: 03/31/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blue Leaf IP Incorporated (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Original Assignee: CNH America Llc (CNH Industrial N.V.)
• Inventors: McKEE, Kevin Douglas, SCHROEDER, Jay David, KING, John Michael, RENAUD, Daniel Lynn
• Granted Patent: US 9,345,194 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 56/10.2R
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 41/127 Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted for combines

Abstract

A farm vehicle includes a crop gathering mechanism to convey harvested crop material to a crop flow path passing internally through at least part of the vehicle. The vehicle includes a vehicle data bus and a plurality of control modules operatively connected to the vehicle data bus and configured to monitor information on the vehicle data bus and to act according to such information. An electronic operator module is configured to monitor the states of operator controls and to broadcast information on the vehicle data bus specifying such states. Additionally, video cameras positioned within the vehicle face the crop flow path and are operably connected to a graphic display. A graphic display control module includes a processor configured to control the display of images on the graphic display for selective display of images from the video cameras based upon information from the vehicle data bus.

Claims

1. A farm vehicle, comprising:

a frame;

a crop gathering mechanism mounted on an end portion of the frame to convey harvested crop material to a crop flow path passing internally through at least part of the vehicle;

a vehicle data bus;

a plurality of control modules operatively connected to the vehicle data bus and configured to monitor information on the vehicle data bus and to act according to the information on the vehicle data bus, wherein at least one of the plurality of control modules constitutes a graphic display control module;

a graphic display;

a plurality of operator controls;

an electronic operator module configured to monitor states of the operator controls and to broadcast information on the vehicle data bus specifying the states of the operator controls;

a plurality of video cameras positioned within the vehicle to face the crop flow path and being operably connected to the graphic display; and

the graphic display control module including a processor configured to control the display of images on the graphic display for the selective display of images on the graphic display from one or more of the video cameras based upon information from the vehicle data bus.

2. The farm vehicle according to claim 1, wherein:

the farm vehicle is a combine harvester including a threshing and cleaning assembly defining part of the internal crop flow path to separate grain material from the harvested crop material, the threshing and cleaning assembly including a threshing cylinder rotatably supported from the frame, a threshing concave positioned proximate to the threshing cylinder to operably interact with the threshing cylinder, one or more sieves, and a fan;

one or more of the control modules are configured to control at least one function selected from the group consisting of;

a rotor speed for the threshing cylinder, a fan speed, a sieve opening size, and a threshing concave clearance, based upon the information from the vehicle data bus;

the operator controls include at least one control selected from the group consisting of;

a rotor speed control, a threshing concave clearance control, a fan speed control, and a sieve opening control; and

the video cameras include at least one camera which faces grain material which has been at least partially separated from the harvested crop material.

3. The farm vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the threshing and cleaning assembly comprises one or more light sources positioned to provide illumination to at least a portion of the crop flow path to permit visual detection of the grain material by one or more of the video cameras, and wherein one or more of the control modules are configured to control an activation of the one or more light sources.

4. The farm vehicle according to claim 3, wherein:

the electronic operator module is configured to detect and broadcast information on the vehicle data bus indicative of a change of state of at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of;

the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control;

one or more of the control modules are configured to temporarily activate the light source in response to the information from the vehicle data bus indicative of the change of state of the at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control; and

the processor is configured to select images for display on the graphic display from one or more of the cameras which face the grain material in response to the information from the vehicle data bus indicative of the change of state of the at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of;

the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control.

5. The farm vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to prioritize, select, and exclude images from the video cameras for display by the graphic display based upon a predetermined command.

6. The farm vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the one or more control modules comprise an engine control module configured to broadcast engine speed information to the vehicle data bus, and wherein the graphic display is configured to display engine speed based on the engine speed information.

7. The farm vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the video cameras are directly connected to the graphic display to communicate with the graphic display.

8. The farm vehicle according to claim 5, further comprising:

a propulsion handle coupled with the data bus; and

a rear camera coupled with the data bus and facing away from a back portion of the farm vehicle, and

wherein the processor is configured to prioritize and select a display of images from the rear camera on the graphic display in response to information on the vehicle data bus indicative of a reverse movement direction of the farm vehicle.

9. A method of operating the farm vehicle according to claim 1, comprising:

conveying harvested crop material with the crop gathering mechanism mounted on the end portion of the frame to the crop flow path passing internally through at least part of the vehicle;

monitoring information on the vehicle data bus with the control modules operatively connected to the vehicle data bus and acting according to the information on the vehicle data bus;

monitoring the states of the operator controls with the electronic operator module and broadcasting information on the vehicle data bus specifying the states of the operator controls; and

selecting images from one or more of the video cameras with the processor for display by the graphic display based upon information from the vehicle data bus.

10. A method of operating the vehicle according to claim 2, comprising:

conveying harvested crop material with the crop gathering mechanism mounted on the end portion of the frame to the crop flow path passing internally through at least part of the vehicle;

monitoring information on the vehicle data bus with the control modules operatively connected to the vehicle data bus and acting according to the information on the vehicle data bus, one or more of the control modules controlling at least one function selected from the group consisting of;

a rotor speed for the threshing cylinder, a fan speed, a sieve opening size, and a threshing concave clearance, based upon the information from the vehicle data bus;

monitoring the states of the operator controls with the electronic operator module and broadcasting information on the vehicle data bus specifying the states of the operator controls, the operator controls including at least one control selected from the group consisting of;

a rotor speed control, a threshing concave clearance control, a fan speed control, and a sieve opening control; and

selecting images from one or more of the video cameras with the processor for display by the graphic display based upon information from the vehicle data bus, the one or more video cameras including at least one camera which faces grain material which has been at least partially separated from the harvested crop material.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of activating one or more light sources in the threshing and cleaning assembly with one or more of the control modules to illuminate at least a portion of the crop flow path to permit visual detection of the grain material by one or more of the video cameras.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of broadcasting information on the vehicle data bus indicative of a change of state of at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of:

the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control; and

temporarily activating the one or more light sources in response to the information from the vehicle data bus indicative of the change of state of at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of;

the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control, and

selecting images for display in the graphic display from the one or more cameras facing the grain material in response to the information from the vehicle data bus indicative of the change of state of at least one operator control selected from the group consisting of;

the rotor speed control, the threshing concave clearance control, the fan speed control, and the sieve opening control.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of prioritizing, selecting, and excluding images from the one or more video cameras with the processor for display by the graphic display based upon a predetermined command.

14. The method of claim 10, comprising the steps of broadcasting vehicle information to the vehicle data bus and displaying the vehicle information on the graphic display based on the vehicle information.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising connecting the video cameras directly to the graphic display and directly sending image information from the cameras to the graphic display.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps of prioritizing and selecting a display of images from a rear camera facing away from a back portion of the farm vehicle in response to information on the vehicle data bus indicative of a reverse movement direction of the farm vehicle.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle information comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of:

engine speed, fuel level, rotor speed, sieve opening, and ground speed.