A01D89/00

AGRICULTURAL BALER CONTROL SYSTEM

An agricultural material baling system comprises, in one example, a bale forming component configured to form a bale of agricultural material from a terrain, and a control system configured to determine that the bale is to be released from the baling system onto the terrain, determine that a current location of the baling system has a slope above a threshold, determine a different location, that is spaced apart from the current location, for releasing the bale onto the terrain, and provide an output indicative of the different location. In one example, the control system is configured to receive yield data indicative of a volume of agricultural material in a path of the baler and to control the baling system based on the yield data. In one example, the yield data is obtained from a raking operation that rakes the agricultural material into a windrow.

SENSOR FUSION-BASED SWATH PROFILE
20180188366 · 2018-07-05 ·

In one embodiment, a system comprising a machine configured to traverse a field having windrows; a radar sensor mounted to the machine, the radar sensor arranged to transmit first signals to, and receive first reflected signals from, one of the windrows and the field adjacent the one of the windrows; a lidar sensor mounted to the machine, the lidar sensor arranged to transmit second signals to, and receive second reflected signals from, the one of the windrows and the field adjacent the one of the windrows; and a processing circuit configured to receive data corresponding to the first and second reflected signals and determine a mass profile and a geometric profile of the one of the windrows based on the data.

SENSOR FUSION-BASED SWATH PROFILE
20180188366 · 2018-07-05 ·

In one embodiment, a system comprising a machine configured to traverse a field having windrows; a radar sensor mounted to the machine, the radar sensor arranged to transmit first signals to, and receive first reflected signals from, one of the windrows and the field adjacent the one of the windrows; a lidar sensor mounted to the machine, the lidar sensor arranged to transmit second signals to, and receive second reflected signals from, the one of the windrows and the field adjacent the one of the windrows; and a processing circuit configured to receive data corresponding to the first and second reflected signals and determine a mass profile and a geometric profile of the one of the windrows based on the data.

Stuffer unit for an agricultural baler with automatic density control
10004177 · 2018-06-26 · ·

An agricultural baler includes a main bale chamber, a plunger reciprocally movable within the main bale chamber, and a stuffer unit including a tine arm defining an axis of rotation and a plurality of tines coupled with and extending from the tine arm. The baler is characterized in that the tines are rotatable around the axis of rotation of the tine arm between a first position associated with a stuffing cycle and a second position associated with a loading cycle.

Cam for a windrow merger and pickup head having a variable radius
09999178 · 2018-06-19 · ·

A windrow merger includes heads having cams that control the speed of the tines. The cam is configured with a section that slows the speed of the tines while passing a lower front portion of the path of rotation to lift material from the ground at lower speeds and therefore handles the material more gently at the point of pickup. The cam is configured to accelerate the tines at the point where the lifted material is propelled rearward from the pickup assembly. The merger heads also include a widened conveyor that is configured with an upper surface extending rearward and slightly downward to further evenly distribute material across the width of the conveyor. The heads are supported on skids that have a linkage connecting the skids at each end of the head with one of the skids having a mechanism that acts as a master to control the slave of the linked opposite skid.

Agricultural machine equipped with cam mechanism for gathering crop material

An agricultural machine with a mechanism involving rotating fingers for gathering crops towards an entry port, such as a rotating auger tube, has fingers mounted to be rotatable about a shaft that is itself movable inside the rotating tube, as the ends of the shaft are supported by a pair of cams. The ends of the shaft are movable along cam tracks which impose movement of the shaft along a pre-defined trajectory. Through a suitable coupling mechanism, the rotation of the tube drives the movement of the shaft ends in the cam tracks and hence the movement of the shaft itself, while the shaft remains parallel to the tube's rotation axis.

Utilizing crop moisture data

As a module is formed, characteristics of the module are sensed by the module forming machine. A module record is generated that includes a module identifier, a module location, and one or more sensed characteristics. The module record is output for use by other machines or systems.

CROP BALER WITH STUFFER COUNTERMASS
20180125010 · 2018-05-10 ·

A crop baler comprises a frame, a pressing chamber for crop, into which a stuffer can be introduced in order to compress the crop into a bale, a drive for producing a reciprocating movement of the stuffer, and a countermass coupled to the drive and configured to move in a counteracting direction to the movement of the stuffer, the countermass at least approximately compensates movement of the frame induced by the reciprocating mass of the stuffer and the drive unit thereof due to inertia. Alternatively or additionally, a flywheel mass of the drive can have a variable moment of inertia to similarly compensate movement of the frame induced by the reciprocating mass of the stuffer.

LARGE SQUARE BALER, COMBINATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL TOWING VEHICLE WITH SUCH, AND A METHOD FOR OPERATING SUCH
20180125011 · 2018-05-10 ·

A large square baler for performing a baling operation to form square bales includes a pickup unit for picking up crop lying on the ground, a cutter unit for cutting picked up crop into at least one predetermined cut length, a pre-compression chamber, a stuffer device, a bale chamber for forming a square bale from flakes of crop pre-compressed in the pre-compression chamber, and a tying system for binding the square bale. The stuffer device is configured to pre-compress the crop into the flakes in the pre-compression chamber and transport the flakes into the bale chamber. The cutter unit is controlled in dependence on a tying operation conducted by the tying system and on at least one parameter representing the square bale size.

Tine Support
20180116120 · 2018-05-03 ·

The invention relates to a tine support (10) for a crop collecting device for connecting at least two tines (12) to a shaft (50), one tine (12, 32) having a securing region (18). The invention is characterized in that the tine support (10, 30) comprises at least two support elements (14A, 14B, 34A, 34B) on which the securing region (18) of at least one tine (12, 32) can be secured. Furthermore, the support element (14A, 14B, 34A, 34B) has a connection region (24) via which a rotationally fixed connection to the shaft (50) can be produced, and the tine support (10, 30) has a clamping element (26, 38) which clamps the support elements (14A, 14B, 34A, 34B) in a removable manner with respect to the shaft (50).