Ex-situ grain moisture analyzer for a combine
First Claim
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1. 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;
a grain moisture analyzer assembly mounted ex-situ on said external wall of said 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.
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Abstract
A combine thresher has a multiple plate impedance cell grain moisture analyzer assembly with two of the plates being outside mounted ground plates to reduce EMI and RFI interference and provide more accurate moisture measurements. The assembly is ex-situ mounted to bypass a part of the grain flowing from the grain floor of the harvester to the grain accumulation bin to measure the moisture thereof and to exhaust same back into the mentioned grain flow. The analyzer has a bin full sensor to activate the bypass only when the analyzer is full for accurate moisture measurement.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A combine thresher having a continuous grain moisture analyzer comprising:
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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; a grain moisture analyzer assembly mounted ex-situ on said external wall of said 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 19, 20)
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7. A continuous grain moisture analyzer assembly suitable for ex-situ mounting on an external surface of a combine harvester providing access to grain therein comprising;
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a sensing cell for measuring the moisture of grain filling said cell; detector means for sensing the full condition of said sensing cell and establishing a control signal indicative thereof; flow means for moving grain from said sensing cell in response to the control signal from said detector means; and wherein said sensing cell includes an impedance cell having a plurality of plates to increase the measuring sensitivity of the moisture analyzer and with the external two plates being ground plates to reduce EMI and RFI interference thereby. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 21, 22)
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14. A method of providing continuous grain moisture readings of the grain being harvested to a combine harvester operator comprising the steps of:
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passing a portion of the grain being harvested from the combine to a moisture analyzer sensing cell mounted ex-situ of the combine; filling said sensing cell with passed grain; actuating the passing of the grain from the sensor cell back to the combine to provide a continuous bypass of grain from the combine through the sensor cell and continuous moisture measurement thereby; and automatically setting the frequency of the cell voltage to an optimum frequency for detecting the broadest range of moisture sensed by the cell. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- 27. A method as set forth in claim 26 including the step of applying a known squarewave frequency to the cell and measuring the resultant VOUT in the equation
- space="preserve" listing-type="equation">V.sub.OUT =V(f){A-BR.sub.e (1-e.sup.-t/2ReCs)}.
28.
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- 28. A method as set forth in claim 27 including the step of solving the equation
- space="preserve" listing-type="equation">V.sub.OUT =V(f){A-BR.sub.e (1-e.sup.-t/2ReCs)}
for t and hence the optimal frequency.
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29. A continuous grain moisture analyzer assembly suitable for ex-situ mounting on an external surface of a combine harvester providing access to grain therein comprising;
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a sensing cell for measuring the moisture of grain filling said cell; detector means for sensing the full condition of said sensing cell and establishing a control signal indicative thereof; flow means for moving grain from said sensing cell in response to the control signal from said detector means; and an operator interface module for controlling said analyzer assembly in response to operator inputs and control signals from said analyzer assembly.
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30. A method of providing continuous grain moisture readings of the grain being harvested to a combine harvester operator comprising the steps of;
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passing a portion of the grain being harvested from the combine to a moisture analyzer sensing cell mounted ex-situ of the combine; filling said sensing cell with the passed grain; actuating the passing of the grain from the sensor cell back to the combine to provide a continuous bypass of grain from the combine through the sensor cell and continuous moist measurement thereby; and passing the portion of the grain to a sensing cell formed from an impedance moisture measuring cell having a plurality of plates for increased measurement sensitivity.
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Specification