Method and system for harvesting and ensilage of feed material

• US 8,924,097 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2012
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH (CLAAS KGaA mbH)
• Original Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH (CLAAS KGaA mbH)
• Inventors: Steckel, Thilo, Hugenroth, Ludger, Grothaus, Hans-Peter, Schaeperkoetter, Christian, Smolnik, Ivan, Reinecke, Max, Rusch, Christian, Stricker, Christiane
• Primary Examiner(s): PEZZUTO, ROBERT ERIC
• Application Number:
  US13/669,701
• Publication Number:
  US 20130177670A1
• Time in Patent Office: 784 Days
• Field of Search: 373/48, 172 2- 11, 701/50, 701/102, 701110-115, 701/101, 701/105, 123/350, 123/352, 123/41.11, 123/41.12, 477/43, 477/47, 477/406
• US Class Current: 701/50
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 43/085 Control or measuring arrangements specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A01D 93/00 Harvesting apparatus not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: A01F 25/183 Loading arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: A23K 30/10 of green fodder

Abstract

Plant material for ensilage is harvested using at least one harvesting vehicle in the field, is hauled to a silo and is compressed using a compression device. The compression output of the compression device is compared to the harvesting output of the at least one harvesting vehicle, and a command to increase the harvesting output or to decrease the harvesting output of the harvesting vehicle (1) to a non-vanishing value is generated when the harvesting output deviates significantly from the compression output.

Claims

1. A method for creating feed material using at least one harvesting vehicle configured with a fieldwork computer connected to a sensor, a compression vehicle configured with a camera and a central control unit, comprising steps of:

transporting plant material harvested from a field to a silo using the at least one harvesting vehicle;

using the sensor and fieldwork computer to detect a mass flow of plant material in the harvesting vehicle;

using the camera to record images of a pile with harvested plant material to be compressed and compressing the plant material in the silo using the compression vehicle;

using the central control unit, estimating a quantity of plant material to be compressed at the silo by calculating a three dimensional shape or volume of the pile based on the images of the pile recorded by the camera, prior to delivery of a new load of plant material;

using the fieldwork computer, calculating a weight of the harvested plant material as a harvesting output and sending the calculated weight to the central control unit;

comparing the quantity of plant material to be compressed at the silo to the weight of the harvested plant material; and

adapting the harvesting output of the at least one harvesting vehicle to the quantity of the plant material to be compressed at the silo by sending a command from the central control unit to the harvesting vehicle or the compression vehicle and vice versa.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of adapting includes adapting an output of a drive engine of the harvesting vehicle.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the step of adapting includes switching between various operating states of the drive engine, which operating states differ according to an output-engine speed characteristic curve thereof.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising estimating the harvesting output based on a quantity of the plant material to be compressed at the silo and adapting the harvesting output when a long-term trend in a development of the quantity is identified.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the estimating includes detecting a volume of the quantity photographically using the camera of the compression vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the estimating includes estimating a surface covered with the plant material to be compressed.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising assessing the plant material as compressed when the compression vehicle has driven over a surface unit covered with the plant material to be compressed a predefined number of times.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein a traversable surface of the silo is subdivided into a plurality of surface units and wherein a number of drive over traverses is recorded for each surface unit.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising discharging plant material to be compressed at the silo in loads and reporting a weight of each load.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the harvesting output is estimated on the basis of a mass flow of the plant material at the harvesting vehicle.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein in order to be hauled to the silo, the plant material is transferred from the at east ore harvesting vehicle to at least one hauling vehicle, including steps of:

estimating a hauling output;

comparing the compression output of the compression device to the hauling output; and

adapting the hauling output if the hauling output is determined to deviate from the compression output.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the compression device is a compression vehicle.

13. A control unit for carrying out the method according to claim 1, comprising:

means for comparing the compression output, and

a communication interface for transmitting at least one command to the harvesting vehicle to increase or decrease the harvesting output.