Method for determining suitable spreading settings

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for determining suitable spreading settings for an agricultural spreading machine (10) for achieving an intended spreading material distribution of a spreading material (30) across an agricultural area (12), comprising the steps of: determining the current ejection direction of the ejected spreading material (30) during a spreading operation and determining a suitable application point setting for the agricultural spreading machine (10) taking into account the determined current ejection direction of the ejected spreading material (30) and an ejection direction for the ejected spreading material (30) which is suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution during the spreading operation.

Claims

1. A method for determining suitable spreading settings for an agricultural spreading machine for achieving an intended spreading material distribution of a spreading material across an agricultural area, comprising the steps of: determining the current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material during the spreading operation, and determining a suitable application point setting for said agricultural spreading machine taking into account said determined current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material and an ejection direction for said ejected spreading material which is suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution during the spreading operation; characterized by the step of: detecting by sensor the current ejection distance of said ejected spreading material during the spreading operation by an ejection distance measuring device of said agricultural spreading machine; where said current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material is determined by a data processing device on the basis of spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material and on said current detected ejection distance of said ejected spreading material.

2. The method of claim 1, characterized by the step of: determining the current application point setting of said agricultural spreading machine during the spreading operation; where determining said current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material by said data processing device is also carried out on the basis of said determined current application point setting of said agricultural spreading machine.

3. The method of claim 1, characterized by the step of: determining the current rotational disk speed of at least one spreading disk of said agricultural spreading machine during the spreading operation; where determining said current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material by said data processing device is carried out also on the basis of said determined current rotational disk speed of at least one spreading disk of said agricultural spreading machine.

4. The method of claim 1, characterized in that said spreading material properties that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material relate to the bulk density and/or grain size and/or grain shape properties of said spreading material.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized by at least one of the following steps: detecting spreading material information, by way of which said spreading material can be identified; retrieving said spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material from a spreading database, in particular on the basis of the detected spreading material identification information.

6. The method of claim 1, characterized by at least one of the following steps: generating at least one image recording of said spreading material; determining said spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material by evaluating said generated image recording of said spreading material.

7. The method according to one of claim 1, characterized by at least one of the following steps: providing an input option for said spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material to a user; reading out a graphic code which contains said spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material; receiving said the spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material from a transmission device by a reading device.

8. The method according to one claim 1, characterized in that determining said current ejection direction of ejected spreading material is made without the use of measurement data from an ejection direction measuring device of spreading machine.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized by at least one of the following steps: detecting the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine; where determining said current ejection distance of said ejected spreading material and/or determining said suitable application point setting for said agricultural spreading machine is carried out taking into account the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that detecting the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine comprises at least one of the following steps: providing an input option for providing information on the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine; reading out a graphic code which contains information on the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine; and receiving information on the type of spreading disk mounted on said agricultural spreading machine from a transmission unit by a reading device.

11. The method for controlling and/or regulating spreading settings at an agricultural spreading machine, comprising the steps of: determining suitable spreading settings at an agricultural spreading machine for achieving an intended spreading material distribution of a spreading material across an agricultural area; and automated setting of said determined suitable spreading settings at said agricultural spreading machine during a spreading operation by a control and/or regulating device of said spreading machine; and characterized in that said suitable spreading settings are determined using a method according to claim 1.

12. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the automatic setting of said determined suitable spreading settings at said agricultural spreading machine comprises at least one of the following steps: automated setting of the application point of said spreading material on a spreading disk of said agricultural spreading machine to adapt the current ejection direction of said spreading material to an ejection direction of said ejected spreading material suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution; automated setting of a rotational disk speed for adapting said current ejection distance of said spreading material to an ejection distance of said ejected spreading material that is suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution.

13. Agricultural spreading machine with: an ejection distance measuring device which is configured to detect by sensor said current ejection distance of said ejected spreading material; characterized by a data processing device which is configured to determine the current ejection direction of said ejected spreading material on the basis of spreading material properties of said spreading material that are specific to said spreading material and influence the flight behavior of said spreading material and on said current detected ejection distance of said ejected spreading material.

14. Agricultural spreading machine according to claim 13, characterized in that said agricultural spreading machine is configured to carry out the method for determining suitable spreading settings according to claim 1 and/or the method for controlling and/or regulating spreading settings according to claim 11.

Description

[0024] Preferred embodiments of the invention shall be explained and described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, where

[0025] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a spreading machine according to the invention while determining suitable spreading settings; and

[0026] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the method according to the invention for controlling and/or regulating spreading settings at an agricultural spreading machine in a schematic block diagram.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows an agricultural spreading machine 10 configured as a dual-disk centrifugal fertilizer spreading machine during the distribution of spreading material 30 across an agricultural area 12. Agricultural spreading machine 10 comprises a storage container 14 for storing spreading material 30 to be distributed. Spreading material 30 to be distributed is presently granular fertilizer. During the distribution of the spreading material, spreading material 30 disposed in storage container 14 arrives via spreading material delivery system 18 at two spreading disks 16 arranged next to one another and driven to rotated. Ejection distance 28 of spreading material 30 can be influenced by way of the rotational disk speed. Spreading material introduction systems 18 allow the quantity of the point of application of spreading material 30 onto respective spreading disk 16 to be set. The application position of spreading material 30 onto respective spreading disk 16 of agricultural spreading machine 16 can be set by way of the application point setting. The ejection direction of spreading material 30 can be influenced by way of the application point of spreading material 30. FIG. 1 shows an example of a trajectory 24 of a fertilizer grain 30.

[0028] Agricultural spreading machine 10 comprises an ejection distance measuring device 22 which is configured to detect by sensor current ejection distance 28 of ejected spreading material 30. For this purpose, ejection distance measuring device 22 comprises a sensor which monitors the spread pattern created by the ejection of the spreading material. The sensor of ejection distance measuring device 22 uses speed measurements of ejected spreading material 30 for determining ejection distance 28. For this purpose, the speed of ejected spreading material 30 is determined at a measuring distance 26 of approximately 3 m from spreading disks 16.

[0029] Agricultural spreading machine 10 further comprises a data processing device 20 which is configured to determine the current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 on the basis of detected current ejection distance 28 of ejected spreading material 30. When determining the current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30, data processing device 20 takes into account not only detected current ejection distance 28 but also the spreading material properties of spreading material 30 that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30.

[0030] Agricultural spreading machine 10 illustrated performs a calculation for determining the current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30. Calculated current ejection direction 10 is taken into account by agricultural spreading machine 10 when determining suitable spreading settings for achieving an intended distribution of spreading material 30 across agricultural area 12. The determined suitable spreading settings are set by agricultural spreading machine 10 during the spreading operation by a control and/or regulating device of spreading machine 10 in an automated manner so that the intended spreading material distribution is implemented without control intervention by the machine operator.

[0031] In the embodiment shown, data processing device 20, which calculates the current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30, is part of agricultural spreading machine 10. Alternatively, data processing device 20 can also be part of a remotely positioned evaluation computer. The evaluation computer can be, for example, a server which is operated by the manufacturer of agricultural spreading machine 10. The data transmission between the agricultural spreading machine and data processing device 20 in this case can take place via radio and/or using the Internet.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows the sequence of a method 200 for controlling and/or regulating spreading settings at an agricultural spreading machine 10. In the context of this method 200, suitable spreading settings for agricultural spreading machine 10 are first determined for achieving an intended spreading material distribution of spreading material 30 across an agricultural area 12. Determining the suitable spreading settings takes place within the scope of method step 100. For this purpose, current ejection distance 28 of ejected spreading material 30 during the spreading operation is first detected by sensor in method step 102 by an ejection distance measuring device 22 of agricultural spreading machine 10. Current ejection distance 28 of ejected spreading material 30 detected by sensor is then made available to a data processing device 20. Data processing device 20 can be part of agricultural spreading machine 10 or part of a remotely positioned evaluation computer with which agricultural spreading machine 10 can exchange data

[0033] The current application point setting of the agricultural spreading machine is determined in step 104 during the spreading operation. The current application point setting of agricultural spreading machine 10 can be, for example, read out from the control device of agricultural spreading machine 10.

[0034] The current rotational disk speed of spreading disks 16 of agricultural spreading machine 10 is determined in step 106 during the spreading operation. The current rotational disk speed of spreading disks 16 of agricultural spreading machine 10 can be, for example, read out from the control device of agricultural spreading machine 10 or be detected by way of corresponding rotational speed sensors.

[0035] The spreading material properties that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30 are determined in step 108. The spreading material properties that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30 relate to the bulk density and the grain size spectrum of spreading material 30. The spreading material properties that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30 are retrieved from a spreading database. The data is retrieved on the basis of spreading material identification information by way of which spreading material 30 can be identified and which was provided by a user via a mobile terminal. The spreading material identification information provided by the user comprises a spreading material designation that is specific to the spreading material for which spreading material properties are stored in the spreading database. The spreading material properties that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30 are also made available to data processing device 20.

[0036] The type of spreading disk mounted on agricultural spreading machine 10 is detected in step 110. The type of spreading disk mounted on agricultural spreading machine 10 is detected, for example, by a code scanner of spreading machine 10 reading out a graphic code, where the graphic code contains information about the type of spreading disk mounted on agricultural spreading machine 10. The information about the type of spreading disk mounted on agricultural spreading machine 10 is then made available to data processing device 20. The information about the type of spreading disk mounted on agricultural spreading machine 10 comprises information on the diameter and/or on the ejection vane configuration of the spreading disks.

[0037] The current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 is determined in step 112 during the spreading operation. The current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 is calculated based on the detected current ejection 28 of ejected spreading material 30, the current application point setting of agricultural spreading machine 10, the current rotational disk speed of spreading disks 16 of agricultural spreading machine 10, the spreading material properties that are specific to the spreading material and influence the flight behavior of spreading material 30. The current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 is therefore detected without the use of measurement data from an ejection direction measuring device of spreading machine 10.

[0038] Once the current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 has been determined during a spreading operation, a suitable application point setting for agricultural spreading machine 10 is determined in step 114 taking into account the determined current ejection direction of ejected spreading material 30 and an ejection direction for the ejected spreading material 30 which is suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution during the spreading operation. A suitable rotational disk speed for agricultural spreading machine 10 is determined in step 116 taking into account the detected current ejection distance of ejected spreading material 30 and an ejection distance for ejected spreading material 30 suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution.

[0039] Method 200 for controlling and/or regulating the spreading settings at agricultural spreading machine 10 is concluded by steps 202, 204. Step 202 relates to the automated setting of the application point of spreading material 30 onto spreading disks 16 of agricultural spreading machine 10 to adapt the current ejection direction of spreading material 30 to the ejection direction of the ejected spreading material suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution. Step 204 relates to the automated setting of a rotational disk speed for adapting current ejection distance 28 of spreading material 30 to the ejection distance of ejected spreading material 30 that is suitable for achieving the intended spreading material distribution.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0040] 10 spreading machine [0041] 12 agricultural land [0042] 14 storage container [0043] 16 spreading disks [0044] 18 spreading material introduction systems [0045] 20 data processing device [0046] 22 ejection distance measuring device [0047] 24 trajectory [0048] 26 measuring distance [0049] 28 ejection distance [0050] 30 spreading material [0051] 100-116 method steps [0052] 200-204 method steps