Disclosed herein is a system for evaluating agricultural material which comprises, in one embodiment, a housing having a passage in or through an interior of the housing with an inlet for receiving agricultural material and an outlet for outputting the agricultural material. The system further comprises a wall opening in a wall of the passage. An imaging device having a lens is located inward from a border of the imaging device. The imaging device is pivotally mounted for rotation with respect to a housing such that in a closed state the border of the imaging device rests on, engages or interlocks the wall opening of the housing, and in an open state the border exposes the wall opening and an interior of the housing.

Disclosed herein is a system for evaluating agricultural material which comprises, in one embodiment, a housing having a passage in or through an interior of the housing with an inlet for receiving agricultural material and an outlet for outputting the agricultural material. The system further comprises a wall opening in a wall of the passage. An imaging device having a lens is located inward from a border of the imaging device. The imaging device is pivotally mounted for rotation with respect to a housing such that in a closed state the border of the imaging device rests on, engages or interlocks the wall opening of the housing, and in an open state the border exposes the wall opening and an interior of the housing.

Disclosed herein is a diagnostic module configured to determine an average image of a set or a sequence of collected images, to obtain a last image of the set or the sequence of collected images, and to determine a difference between the average image and the last image to yield a differenced image. Background image data or background pixels are eliminated from the differenced image to produce an initial image mask of unchanged content in the last image. A diagnostic module or data processor determines a mask area of the initial image mask or a revised image mask derived from the initial image mask. A diagnostic module or data processor generates an alert data message to inspect or clean the imaging system if the mask area exceeds a threshold area.

An agricultural harvester includes a chassis, a threshing and separating system for separating grain from MOG, and a grain cleaning system for further separating grain from residual MOG. The grain cleaning system has a main grain pan beneath the threshing and separating system with the grain pan having openings in its forward and to selectively receive grain from the forward portion of the threshing and separating system. A component beneath the main grain pan directs flow in parallel to the cleaning system either to a pre-sieve within the cleaning system or to an upper sieve.

An agricultural harvester includes a chassis, a threshing and separating system for separating grain from MOG, and a grain cleaning system for further separating grain from residual MOG. The grain cleaning system has a main grain pan beneath the threshing and separating system with the grain pan having openings in its forward and to selectively receive grain from the forward portion of the threshing and separating system. A component beneath the main grain pan directs flow in parallel to the cleaning system either to a pre-sieve within the cleaning system or to an upper sieve.

A yield monitoring system is provided for an agricultural harvester. The yield monitoring system has an in-cab display and at least one configurable user defined window operable to display at least two previously collected parameters simultaneously and comparatively in graphical format. The at least two previously collected parameters include previously collected data from at least one yield monitoring sensor or vehicle sensor. The in-cab display may have a menu allowing the choice of paired data sources to be viewed simultaneously and comparatively. Data sources may include quantity of crop yielded, moisture content of crop yielded, rate of flow of crop through the agricultural harvester, protein content of crop yielded, ground speed, speed of operation of the grain elevator, and height of the header above the ground.

A combine harvester (10) comprising axial separating apparatus (24, 5) is provided. The axial separating apparatus comprises at least one rotor (28) mounted for rotation in a rotor cage (30) and is arranged to convey crop material in a spiral path from a front end to a rear end. The rotors (28) may also serve to thresh the crop material before separation. The rotor cage (30) includes a grate (34) for allowing separated grain to fall there through under gravity. Two return conveyors (42, 44) are positioned below the grate (34), one behind the other. A first return conveyor (42) disposed under a front portion of the separating apparatus is arranged to catch a portion of said separated grain and convey the caught grain forwardly to a first front edge (46) from where the grain falls under gravity onto a first region of an underlying grain pan (60). A second return conveyor (44) disposed under a rear portion of the separating apparatus is arranged to catch a portion of said separated grain and convey the caught grain forwardly to a second front edge (50) from where the grain falls under gravity at a distance located behind the first region. The grain pan (60) serves to convey the collected grain in a rearward direction to a cleaning unit (64).

A combine harvester (10) comprising axial separating apparatus (24, 5) is provided. The axial separating apparatus comprises at least one rotor (28) mounted for rotation in a rotor cage (30) and is arranged to convey crop material in a spiral path from a front end to a rear end. The rotors (28) may also serve to thresh the crop material before separation. The rotor cage (30) includes a grate (34) for allowing separated grain to fall there through under gravity. Two return conveyors (42, 44) are positioned below the grate (34), one behind the other. A first return conveyor (42) disposed under a front portion of the separating apparatus is arranged to catch a portion of said separated grain and convey the caught grain forwardly to a first front edge (46) from where the grain falls under gravity onto a first region of an underlying grain pan (60). A second return conveyor (44) disposed under a rear portion of the separating apparatus is arranged to catch a portion of said separated grain and convey the caught grain forwardly to a second front edge (50) from where the grain falls under gravity at a distance located behind the first region. The grain pan (60) serves to convey the collected grain in a rearward direction to a cleaning unit (64).

An unloading auger locking mechanism for use by an agricultural harvester, allowing the secure retainment of an unloading auger while it is in its stored position, accomplished by the passive locking between a latch assembly mounted on the unloading auger and an actuated hook assembly on the chassis, further allowing the unlocking of the mechanism by remote actuation. Locking and unlocking of the unloading auger can therefore be accomplished without the operator leaving the cab.

A system and method for conveying agricultural material in a harvester. One harvester includes a rotor which rotates to separate a plant into a first agricultural material and a second agricultural material. A grate is disposed vertically below the rotor and further separates the first and second agricultural materials from one another. A first conveyor receives the first and second agricultural material directly from a trailing end of the rotor and a trailing end of the grate.