Grain quality monitor
First Claim
1. An apparatus for determining a constituent component of a flowing stream of an agricultural product as it is being harvested on a real time basis, the apparatus being attached to mobile agricultural equipment, the apparatus comprising:
- a light source, arranged to irradiate a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product as it is being processed with a plurality of wavelengths within a selected irradiation bandwidth within a near infrared spectrum;
an optical pick up, arranged to receive light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion;
a wavelength separator, connected to receive light from the optical pick up, and to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths; and
a detector, connected to receive light from the wavelength separator, and to produce detected intensity signals indicative of light intensity within the wavelength separator bandwidth.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Reexamination
Accused Products
Abstract
Percentage concentrations of constituents of a sample of cereal grain or other agricultural product in a flowing stream are determined while harvesting or processing using a short wave near infrared analyzer. The analyzer irradiates the sample, picks up diffuse reflectance of individual wavelengths from the sample and spatially separates the diffuse reflectance into a response at individual wavelengths. The result is to simultaneously detect the intensities of the individual wavelengths in parallel from the same portion of the product being analyzed. Percentage constituents of the composite substance may then be compared with known percentage constituents to determine the constituents. The analyzer is optically stabilized and is therefore suitable for attaching to the agricultural combine to perform real time measurements in the field.
139 Citations
47 Claims
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1. An apparatus for determining a constituent component of a flowing stream of an agricultural product as it is being harvested on a real time basis, the apparatus being attached to mobile agricultural equipment, the apparatus comprising:
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a light source, arranged to irradiate a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product as it is being processed with a plurality of wavelengths within a selected irradiation bandwidth within a near infrared spectrum; an optical pick up, arranged to receive light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion; a wavelength separator, connected to receive light from the optical pick up, and to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths; and a detector, connected to receive light from the wavelength separator, and to produce detected intensity signals indicative of light intensity within the wavelength separator bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. In a harvester which includes a product chute for conveying a flowing stream of agricultural product, an analyzer for determining constituent components of the agricultural product as it is being harvested, the analyzer comprising:
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a light source, arranged to irradiate a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product as it is fed through the chute, the light source providing a plurality of wavelengths within a selected optical irradiation bandwidth; an optical pick up, for receiving light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion; a wavelength separator, receiving light from the optical pick up, and producing spatially separated light of different wavelengths; a detector, receiving light from the wavelength separator, and producing detected intensity signals indicative of light intensity simultaneously at multiple selected wavelengths within the dispersing filter bandwidth; and a computer, for receiving the detected intensity signals from the detector, and for calculating constituent components of the sample portion of the agricultural product from the detected intensity values.
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15. A short wavelength-near infrared analysis system for obtaining percentage concentrations of constituents of a composite substance, comprising:
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means for irradiating a composite substance simultaneously with short wavelength--near infrared radiation over a specified bandwidth; means for picking-up electromagnetic radiation reflected from said composite substance; means for mode mixing the reflected electromagnetic radiation to attenuate variations in intensity due to vibration; means for spatially separating wavelengths of the reflected electromagnetic radiation as produced by the means for mode mixing; means for individually detecting in parallel the wavelengths of the spatially separated electromagnetic radiation to obtain percentage concentration of the various constituents of said component substance; and wherein the analysis system is attached to an agricultural combine for analyzing a flowing stream of agricultural produce on a real time basis during harvesting thereof.
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16. A method for determining a constituent component of a flowing stream of an agricultural product as it is being harvested on a real time basis within mobile agricultural equipment, the method comprising the steps of:
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irradiating a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product as it is being processed with a plurality of wavelengths within a selected irradiation bandwidth within a near infrared spectrum; picking up light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion; separating wavelengths of the picked up reflected light to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths; and detecting intensity signals from the separated wavelengths at multiple selected wavelengths to determine multiple light intensities. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An apparatus for determining at least one constituent component of a flowing stream of an agricultural product as it is being harvested on a real time basis, the apparatus comprising:
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a light source, arranged to irradiate a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product as it is being harvested with a plurality of wavelengths within a selected irradiation bandwidth within a near infrared spectrum; an optical pick up, arranged to receive light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion; a linear variable filter, connected to receive light from the optical pick up, and to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths; an optical fiber, disposed between the optical pick up and the wavelength separator, to couple light energy from the optical pick up to the linear variable filter; and a charge coupled device detector array connected to receive light from the wavelength separator, and to produce detected intensity signals indicative of light intensity at multiple selected wavelengths within the dispersing filter bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A short wavelength-near infrared (SW-NIR) analysis system for obtaining percentage concentrations of constituents of a composite substance, comprising:
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means for irradiating a composite substance simultaneously with short wavelength-near infrared (SW-NIR) radiation; means for simultaneously picking-up electromagnetic radiation reflected from different parts of said composite substance; means for spatially separating a plurality of wavelengths of the reflected electromagnetic radiation; means for individually detecting in parallel a plurality of wavelengths of the reflected electromagnetic radiation to obtain percentage concentration of the various constituents of said composite substance; and wherein the SW-NIR analysis system is attached to an agricultural combine for analyzing a flowing stream of agricultural produce on a real time basis during harvesting thereof.
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37. A method for determining at least one constituent component of a flowing stream of an agricultural product as it is being harvested on a real time basis, the method comprising the steps of:
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irradiating a sample portion of the flowing stream of agricultural product while it is being harvested with a plurality of wavelengths within a selected irradiation bandwidth within a near infrared spectrum; picking up light energy reflected from the irradiated sample portion; separating wavelengths of the picked up reflected light to produce spatially separated light of different wavelengths; and detecting intensity signals from the separated wavelengths simultaneously at multiple selected wavelengths to simultaneously determine light intensity at multiple wavelengths. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification