Weight-based chute control for a farm implement

• US 9,272,853 B2
• Filed: 03/14/2014
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unverferth Mfg Company Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Unverferth Mfg Company Incorporated
• Inventors: Van Mill, Michael D., Schlimgen, Ronald J., Gerdeman, Shawn W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Stephen
• Application Number:
  US14/213,095
• Publication Number:
  US 20140286731A1
• Time in Patent Office: 718 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 1/42 mounted on the load-transporting element
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 11/126 for bulk
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2203/0258 Weight of the article
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2814/027 using chutes
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 2814/0344 Control or feeding or discharging using level or weight measuring means
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 43/08 Control devices operated by article or material being fed, conveyed or discharged and controlling the discharging devices B65G47/42
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 67/04 Loading land vehicles loading or unloading boats to or from land vehicles B60P3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 67/24 Unloading land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B65G 69/0441 with chutes, deflector means or channels B65G69/0458 takes precedence

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.

Claims

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said first and second chute control signals cause the chute to rotate about a first axis of rotation.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said third chute control signal causes the chute to rotate about a second axis of rotation perpendicular to the first axis of rotation.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising, when the controller determines that a third target weight has been reached, sending a second discharge control signal to stop the discharge of material from the bin into the container.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said first and second discharge control signals control the conveyor.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step of inputting a target weight to be discharged for each position.