METHOD OF SPREADING GRANULAR MATERIAL

Abstract

A method of spreading granular material by an agricultural distribution device includes the steps of: spreading granular material onto an agricultural land by a plurality of distribution elements arranged on a distribution linkage of the agricultural distribution device, and detecting plant rows on the agricultural land during the spreading of the granular material, wherein the granular material is spread in row areas of the agricultural land having plant rows by at least one distribution element with a first distribution pattern and is spread in row-free areas of the agricultural land not having plant rows by at least one distribution element with a second distribution pattern.

Claims

1. A method of spreading granular material by an agricultural distribution device, comprising the steps of: spreading the granular material onto an agricultural land by a plurality of distribution elements arranged on a distribution linkage of the agricultural distribution device, and detecting plant rows on the agricultural land during the spreading of the granular material, wherein the granular material is spread in row areas of the agricultural land having plant rows by at least one distribution element with a first distribution pattern and is spread in row-free areas of the agricultural land having no plant rows by at least one distribution element with a second distribution pattern.

2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the spreading of the granular material in the row areas is carried out with a first group of distribution elements and the spreading of the granular material in the row-free areas is carried out with a second group of distribution elements.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of the following steps: automatically changing the distribution pattern in a spreading area below the distribution linkage when a plant row beginning is detected; or automatically changing the distribution pattern a spreading area below the distribution linkage when a plant row end is detected.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein changing the distribution pattern in the spreading area below the distribution linkage upon detection of the plant row beginning comprises at least one of the following steps: deactivating the at least one distribution element of the second group of distribution elements associated with the spreading area; or activating the at least one distribution element of the first group of distribution elements associated with the spreading area.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein changing the distribution pattern in the spreading area below the distribution linkage upon detection of the plant row end comprises at least one of the following steps: deactivating the at least one distribution element of the first group of distribution elements associated with the spreading area; activating the at least one distribution element of the second group of distribution elements associated with the spreading area.

6. The method according to claim 3, wherein changing the distribution pattern in the spreading area below the distribution linkage upon detecting the plant row beginning or the plant row end comprises the following step: changing the distribution pattern of the at least one distribution element associated with the spreading area.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first distribution pattern and the second distribution pattern differ with respect to at least one of spreading widths or spreading angles.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first distribution pattern and the second distribution pattern result in different spreading quantities or different spreading rates of the granular material.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein different active agents or different active agent concentrations are spread during the spreading of the granular material with the first distribution pattern and during the spreading of the granular material with the second distribution pattern.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the detection of the plant rows on the agricultural land is carried out by one or more sensor devices or one or more cameras of the agricultural distribution device.

11. An agricultural distribution device, comprising: a plurality of distribution elements disposed on a distribution linkage and adapted to spread granular material onto agricultural land; a detection device adapted to detect plant rows on the agricultural land during the spreading of the granular material; and a control device adapted to control the spreading of the granular material by the distribution elements, wherein the control device is adapted to initiate at least one distribution element in row areas of the agricultural land having plant rows, to spread the granular material with a first distribution pattern and in row-free areas of the agricultural land not having plant rows to initiate at least one distribution element to spread the granular material with a second distribution pattern.

12. The agricultural distribution device according to claim 11, wherein the agricultural distribution device is adapted to carry out a method of spreading the granular material onto the agricultural land by the plurality of distribution elements arranged on the distribution linkage of the agricultural distribution device, and detecting the plant rows on the agricultural land during the spreading of the granular material, wherein the granular material is spread in the row areas of the agricultural land having the plant rows by the at least one distribution element with the first distribution pattern and is spread in the row-free areas of the agricultural land having no plant rows by the at least one distribution element with the second distribution pattern.

Description

[0023] In the following, preferred embodiments of the invention are explained and described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therein:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the agricultural distribution device according to the invention during execution of the method according to the invention in a schematic view; and

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a distribution linkage of an agricultural distribution device according to the invention during execution of the method according to the invention in a schematic view.

[0026] FIG. 1 shows an agricultural distribution device 10 configured as a pneumatic fertilizer spreader, which is pulled by a tractor 100. The agricultural distribution device 10 spreads granular material onto an agricultural land 18 and crops located on the agricultural land 18. The agricultural distribution device 10 moves along tramlines that are part of a tramline system created within the agricultural land 18.

[0027] During the spreading of granular material onto the agricultural land 18, the agricultural distribution device 10 detects plant rows on the agricultural land 18 that run substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural distribution device 10.

[0028] On the agricultural land 18, there are row areas 20a-20p in which plant rows run substantially parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural distribution device 10. In addition, there are row-free areas 22a-22d on the agricultural land 18 which do not have plant rows running parallel to the direction of travel of the agricultural distribution device 10. The row-free areas 22a-22c are due to inaccurate seed placement. The row-free area 22d is located in the area of the headland, wherein the seed spreading in this area took place parallel to the headland driving lane so that the field-internal row structure is interrupted in a transition area to the headland.

[0029] The agricultural distribution device 10 has a plurality of distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g arranged on a distribution linkage 12, which are configured as distribution nozzles. The granular material is spread via the distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g onto the agricultural land 18 and the plants located thereon. In the row areas 20a-20p of the agricultural land 18, the granular material is spread with a first distribution pattern M1. In the row-free areas 22a-22d of the agricultural land 18, the granular material is spread with a second distribution pattern M2. The first distribution pattern M1 and the second distribution pattern M2 initially differ in terms of their spreading widths B1, B2 and their spreading angles a, R. The granular material is spread in the row areas 20a-20p with the distribution pattern M1 in a row-related manner, resulting in a narrow strip spread along the respective plant rows. Accordingly, the distribution pattern M1 has a small spreading angle a. In the row-free areas 22a-22d, the distribution pattern M2 is used to spread the granular material over a wide area in a non-row-related manner. Accordingly, the distribution pattern M2 has a comparatively open spreading angle R.

[0030] Furthermore, the first distribution pattern M1 and the second distribution pattern M2 can result in different spreading quantities of granular material. Since in the row areas 20a-20p a targeted spreading can be carried out on the plants arranged in rows, the spreading quantity in the row areas 20a-20p can be lower than the spreading quantity in the row-free areas 22a-22d, on which the granular material is spread with the second distribution pattern M2.

[0031] In addition, during spreading of granular material with the first distribution pattern M1 and during spreading of granular material with the second distribution pattern M2, different active agents and/or different active agent concentrations can be spread.

[0032] If the agricultural distribution device 10 detects a plant row beginning during spreading of the granular material, the distribution pattern in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12 is automatically changed by the agricultural distribution device 10. In the area of a plant row beginning, a row-free area 22a-22d in the direction of travel of the distribution device 10 changes into a row area 20a-20p. When a plant row beginning is detected, an automatic adjustment of the first distribution pattern M1 takes place in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12.

[0033] When a plant row end is detected in a spreading area below the distribution linkage 12, the distribution pattern in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12 is automatically changed by the agricultural distribution device 10. In the area of a plant row end, a row area 20a-20p in the direction of travel of the distribution device 10 changes to a row-free area 22a-22d. When a plant row end is detected, an automatic adjustment of the second distribution pattern M2 takes place in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows a distribution linkage 12 with a plurality of distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g configured as distribution nozzles. The distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g comprise a first group of distribution elements 14a-14g and a second group of distribution elements 16a-16g. A first distribution pattern M1 can be realized with the distribution elements 14a-14g. A second distribution pattern M2 can be realized with the distribution elements 16a-16g. The first distribution pattern M1 and the second distribution pattern M2 differ with respect to their spreading widths B1, B2 and their spreading angles α, β. In the present case, the distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g are arranged in pairs, although different arrangements are possible in other embodiments.

[0035] Furthermore, a plurality of cameras 24a-24f are arranged on the distribution linkage 12, which are components of a detection device. The detection device is used to detect plant rows on the agricultural land 18 during the spreading of the granular material. By means of a control device of the agricultural distribution device 10, the distribution elements 14a-14g, 16a-16g can be controlled individually.

[0036] In the row areas 20a-20e detected by the cameras 24a-24f, the granular material is spread by means of the distribution elements 14a, 14b, 14e, 14f, 14g of the first group of distribution elements 14a-14g. In the row-free area 22a detected by the cameras 24a-24f, the granular material is spread by means of the distribution elements 16c, 16d from the second group of distribution elements 16a-16g. Thus, in the row areas 20a-20e, a row-related spreading of the granular material with the first distribution pattern M1 occurs. In the row-free area 22a, an areal spreading of the granular material with the distribution pattern M2 occurs.

[0037] If, in the further course, a new plant row beginning is detected, an automatic changeover from the second distribution pattern M2 to the first distribution pattern M1 takes place in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12. The changeover from the second distribution pattern M2 to the first distribution pattern M1 is implemented by deactivating at least one distribution element 16a-16g of the second group of distribution elements 16a-16g associated with the spreading area and activating at least one distribution element 14a-14g of the first group of distribution elements 14a-14g associated with the spreading area.

[0038] If, in the further course, a plant row end is detected, an automatic changeover from the first distribution pattern M1 to the second distribution pattern M2 takes place in the corresponding spreading area below the distribution linkage 12. The changeover from the first distribution pattern M1 to the second distribution pattern M2 is implemented by deactivating at least one distribution element 14a-14g of the first group of distribution elements 14a-14g associated with the spreading area and activating at least one distribution element 16a-16g of the second group of distribution elements 16a-16g associated with the spreading area.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0039] 10 agricultural distribution device [0040] 12 distribution linkage [0041] 16a-16g distribution elements [0042] 18 agricultural land [0043] 20a-20p row areas [0044] 22a-22d row-free areas [0045] 24a-24f cameras [0046] 100 tractor [0047] M1, M2 distribution pattern [0048] B1, B2 spreading width [0049] α,β spreading angle