A Harvesting Method and Apparatus

Abstract

A harvesting method includes the steps of operating a moveable harvesting machine in one or more fields to harvest plant matter and produce a secondarily processable harvest product for subsequent processing using secondary processing machinery; and while operating the harvesting machine to produce the secondarily processable harvest product, recording data that includes information on one or more characteristics of the secondarily processable harvest product. The method further includes transferring the recorded data from the harvesting machine to an external data store; causing moveable secondary processing machinery to retrieve at least some data on the secondarily processable harvest product from the data store; and controlling one or more controllable parameters of the secondary processing machinery based on the retrieved data during operation of the secondary processing machinery to process the secondarily processable harvest product.

Claims

1. A harvesting method comprising steps of: operating a moveable harvesting machine in one or more fields to harvest plant matter and produce a secondarily processable harvest product for subsequent processing using secondary processing machinery; while operating the harvesting machine to produce the secondarily processable harvest product, recording data that includes information on one or more characteristics of the secondarily processable harvest product; transferring the recorded data from the harvesting machine to an external data store; causing moveable secondary processing machinery to retrieve at least some data on the secondarily processable harvest product from the data store; and controlling one or more controllable parameters of the secondary processing machinery based on the retrieved data during operation of the secondary processing machinery to process the secondarily processable harvest product.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the harvesting machine is a combine harvester, forage harvester or mower and the secondary processing machinery includes a tractor-baler combination in which a baler is towed behind a tractor or a tractor-trailer combination in which a trailer is towed behind a tractor.

3. The method according to claim 2, further including a step of operating the tractor-baler combination to bale secondarily processable harvest product.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recorded data include information characteristic of one or more of a position, speed, feedrate, grain yield and biomass parameters of the harvesting machine at one or more time points during operation of the harvesting machine.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the recorded data include information on halting of the harvesting machine during production of secondarily processable harvest product.

6. The method according to claim 1, further including a step of deriving from the recorded data, using one or more processing devices of or operatively connected to the secondary processing machinery, one or more of a predicted feedrate of secondarily processable harvest products to the secondary processing machinery; and a maximum speed of movement of the secondary processing machinery during processing of the secondary product.

7. The method according to claim 1, further including a step of deriving from the recorded data, using one or more processing devices of or operatively connected to the secondary processing machinery, a correlation between a rate of production of secondarily processable harvest products during operation of the harvesting machine; and a feedrate of the secondarily processable harvest products to the secondary processing machinery during operation of the secondary processing machinery to process the secondarily processable harvest product.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the external data store is or includes a cloud-based data store.

9. A system comprising: an external data store; a moveable harvesting machine configured for: harvesting plant matter; producing a secondarily processable harvest product for subsequent processing using secondary processing machinery; while producing the secondarily processable harvest product, recording data including information on one or more characteristics of the secondarily processable harvest product; and transmitting the recorded data from the harvesting machine to the external data store; and secondary processing machinery configured for: retrieving at least some data on the secondarily processable harvest product from the data store; and adjusting one or more controllable parameters of the secondary processing machinery based on the retrieved data during operation of the secondary processing machinery to process the secondarily processable harvest product.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the harvesting machine is a combine harvester, forage harvester or mower and the secondary processing machinery is or includes a tractor-baler combination in which a baler is towed behind a tractor.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the external data store is or includes a cloud-based data store.

12. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the harvesting machine includes one or more transmitters of the recorded data and wherein the secondary processing machinery includes one or more receivers of data that is retrieved from the external data store.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0043] There now follows a description of preferred embodiments of the invention, by way of non-limiting example, with reference being made to the accompanying FIGURE which shows the principles of the method of the invention and apparatus that may be employed in operation of the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0044] Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown in FIG. 1a a moveable harvesting machine in the form of a combine harvester 10 operating in a field 11 to harvest plant matter. In FIG. 1 the combine harvester 10 is in use to harvest grains, as a primary product, from grain plants but in other embodiments of the invention a wide range of other types of plant matter could be produced.

[0045] As is well known during the harvesting of grains a combine harvester produces, and ejects via a rear chute, a secondarily processable harvest product in the form of straw, that is a valuable secondary crop. Straw is baled into bales for sale to e.g. animal owners and others.

[0046] Other secondarily processable harvest products may be produced as a result of other types of harvesting operations. As examples the use of mowers and forage harvesters generates forage products such as hay and silage. Such products while the primary output of the harvesting machines indicated nonetheless must undergo secondary processing in order to form them into bales. Hence the outputs of mowers and forage harvesters also may be termed secondarily processable harvest products.

[0047] As noted the secondarily processable harvest products are left in fields in swaths or windrows 12 to await baling or other secondary processing.

[0048] The combine harvester 10 includes one or more sensors or other data generating apparatuses represented schematically by numeral 13 that generate data on the secondarily processable harvest products. The combine harvester 10 is capable of transmitting the data as signals (e.g. electrical signals). This may be achieved through operation of features of the sensor(s) 13 or through operation of further sub-components of the combine harvester 10 such as processing apparatuses of various kinds that will be familiar to the person of skill in the art.

[0049] The data that the combine harvester creates on the secondarily processable harvest products may be of the kinds discussed herein.

[0050] As signified schematically by FIG. 1b and the arrow connecting FIGS. 1a and 1b the combine harvester 10 is capable of transmitting data on the secondarily processable harvest products to an external data store that in the preferred embodiment illustrated is a cloud server 14. In other embodiments of the invention however the external data store may be, or may include, a data medium such as but not limited to a flash memory device, storage disk or similar; or it may be or may include a dedicated server such as a server in or connected to the headquarters of a farming company. Other forms of external data store are also possible within the scope of the invention. Such forms of external data store may be temporarily insertable into read/write machinery forming part of the harvesting machine and into such machinery forming part of the secondary processing machinery. For the avoidance of doubt, the method of the invention includes the step of effecting transmission or transfer of the data generated by the harvesting machine on the secondarily processable harvest products to the external data store.

[0051] In a subsequent aspect of the method secondary processing machinery, that as illustrated in FIG. 1b in preferred embodiments of the invention is a combination of a tractor 16 towing a baler 17, is employed to carry out secondary processing of the secondarily processable harvest products. As implied and as stated herein, in the preferred embodiment of the invention the secondary processing involves baling of the secondarily processable harvest product. In other embodiments of the invention however other secondary processes may be carried out either as alternatives or as adjuncts to the baling process described.

[0052] During operation of the baler 17 the tractor 16 and/or the baler 17 as schematically indicated in the FIGURE accesses the data previously transferred to the external data store and makes use of it in the control of the tractor-baler combination 16, 17. To this end the tractor 16 and/or the baler 17 may include e.g. an antenna indicated schematically by numeral 15 that is capable of receiving the data in a transmitted form.

[0053] Examples of how the data may be used are described hereinabove. One important example of such use is controlling of e.g. the forward speed of the tractor-baler combination 16, 17 in dependence on data on the quantity, mass and/or density of straw or other secondarily processable harvest products in the swaths 12. As explained, at times corresponding to a high feed rate of straw into the baler 17 the forward motion of the tractor-baler combination may be slowed in order to avoid any of the known forms of overloading of the baler 17 as are summarised above.

[0054] Additionally or alternatively a parameter of the pick-up 18 of the baler 17 may be adjusted to moderate the feed rate at times of high rates of ingestion.

[0055] Similarly the tractor 16 may be controlled to speed up when the feed rate of straw into the baler reduces. This advantageously assists to ensure good bale quality and high baling efficiency.

[0056] As explained a particularly useful form of data generated and transmitted or transferred by the harvesting machine relates to times of halting. At such times the straw or other secondarily processable harvest product may become heaped or otherwise of abnormally high density in the swaths 12. Knowledge of locations where such heaps arise can beneficially help to avoid a common cause of baler overloading. Use of the data in accordance with the invention during the baling operation is particularly useful in this regard.

[0057] To this end the invention may involve the generation of commands that effect control of one or more parameters of operation of the tractor 16 and/or the baler 17 to minimise the likelihood of an overload condition arising. Such parameters may be as described herein. The commands may result in controlling of e.g. the settings of transmission and fuelling components or sub-systems of the tractor 16, and/or settings of the baler 17.

[0058] Additionally or alternatively as mentioned herein it is possible, within the method of the invention, to determine (e.g. by calculation or any of a range of other techniques such as but not limited to curve-fitting or semblance analysis) a correlation between (a) the rate of production of secondarily processable harvest products during operation of the harvesting machine; and (b) a feed rate of the secondarily processable harvest products to the secondary processing machinery during operation of the secondary processing machinery to process the secondarily processable harvest products. This may be particularly useful when it is not possible for the tractor 16 or the baler 17 to generate field data in real time during baling.

[0059] The correlation may include maximum feedrate information and/or maximum speed information as mentioned herein. Such information may be used e.g. to sound an audible warning and/or display a visible warning in the operator's cab of the tractor 16 or effect a control action such as slowing the tractor 16 or limiting its maximum speed. The latter type of control action may be effected through the generation of commands that influence the fuelling and transmission ratio controls of the tractor 16.

[0060] Typically the combine harvester 10, tractor 16 and baler 17 are in terms of primary characteristics conventional. However as indicated the combine harvester (or other harvesting machine) includes features, apparatus and/or sub-systems that collate the indicated data and transmit or transfer the data to the external data store.

[0061] Similarly the secondary processing machinery when embodied as a tractor-baler combination 16, 17 may include numerous conventional aspects. However one or both of the tractor 16 and baler 17 is equipped with data transfer (and especially data receiving) apparatus, components or sub-systems that may be wireless receivers, read/write machinery or combinations of such apparatuses.

[0062] The tractor 16 and baler 17 preferably are connected one to the other not only by a physical connection such as a drawbar and power take-off (PTO) shaft that are not visible in the FIGURES; but also electronically such that data and commands may be shared between the two elements of the secondary processing machinery. Such electronic connection may be wired or wireless. In the latter case the connection may be based on a variety of physical phenomena as are known in data communications technology.

[0063] The invention represents a considerable advance in the reliability and efficiency of secondary processing operations in arable agriculture.

[0064] The listing or discussion of an apparently prior-published document in this specification should not necessarily be taken as an acknowledgement that the document is part of the state of the art or is common general knowledge.

[0065] Preferences and options for a given aspect, feature or parameter of the invention should, unless the context indicates otherwise, be regarded as having been disclosed in combination with any and all preferences and options for all other aspects, features and parameters of the invention.