AU2015100912A4

AU2015100912A4 - Agricultural bin

Info

Publication number: AU2015100912A4
Application number: AU2015100912A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Glenn Barber
Original assignee: T G BARBER ENGINEERING Pty Ltd
Current assignee: T G BARBER ENGINEERING Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2015-01-30
Filing date: 2015-07-10
Publication date: 2015-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 2023-01-30
Also published as: AU2015200467A1; AU2015100912B4; AU2015200467B2

Abstract

P1226AU1l A vehicle, for storing grain, including a portion 3, wheels 7, one or more stub axles 27 and one or more load sensors. The portion is for receiving the grain. The wheels are for carrying the grain receiving portion over the ground. The wheels are mounted by 5 the one or more stub axles. The one or more load sensors are to provide an indication of a weight of the grain. Each of the load sensor(s) is dedicated to a respective one of the stub axles to sense load transmitted by the respective one of the stub axles.

Description

P1226AU1l 1 AGRICULTURAL BIN FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to weighing grain. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION 5 Grain such as wheat is typically harvested by a mechanical harvester which moves through a field separating the grain from the rest of the plant whilst the harvester is in motion. Modern harvesters include augers by which the harvested grain is directed into a chaser bin towed alongside the harvester by a tractor. Chaser bins are dimensioned to hold a limited quantity of grain so that they may be so 10 towed across the field. Even the largest chaser bins hold no more than 60,000 kg of grain. Another adaptation to suit towing across the field is the use of large tyres to minimise compaction of the soil. Typical commercial farms produce enough grain to fill a chaser bin many times over. It is convenient to aggregate the loads of grain from the chaser bin(s) before the grain is 15 ultimately transported elsewhere. Mother bins are used to temporarily store the grain for this purpose. Mother bins typically have a capacity in the vicinity of 20,000 to 150,000 kg of grain. Mother bins are typically towed into a field then left in position whilst they are loaded and unloaded. Some mother bins incorporate an auger for unloading the grain. Typically the grain from a mother bin will be loaded onto a road going truck via which the 20 grain is transported to a grain receiving centre for sale. Conventionally, the weight of the grain to be sold is measured by driving the road going vehicle some distance to, and then onto, a weighbridge then subtracting the tare weight of the vehicle.

P1226AU1l 2 The present inventor has recognised that this approach to weighing grain has some drawbacks. On the one hand it is desirable to fully load the road going vehicle so as not to waste potential transport capacity. On the other hand it is dangerous to overload a vehicle and various weight limits are enforced by law. Thus in the past road going 5 vehicles have been loaded by estimation leading to wasted capacity and the risk of inadvertent overloading. With the foregoing in mind the invention aims to provide improvements in and for the weighing of grain. It is not admitted that any of the information in this patent specification is common 10 general knowledge, or that the person skilled in the art could be reasonably expected to ascertain or understand it, regard it as relevant or combine it in any way at the priority date. SUMMARY The present inventor has recognised that it would be convenient to know the weight of 15 the grain in a mother bin so that, for example, road going grain transport vehicles can be more accurately loaded. The inventor's investigations have shown that load sensors placed between a grain holding portion of a bin and a chassis underlying that portion are unreliable. Without wishing to be bound by any particular theory, this unreliability is thought to arise from the chassis flexing. 20 Accordingly one aspect of the invention provides a vehicle, for storing grain, including a portion for receiving the grain; wheels for carrying the grain receiving portion over the ground; one or more stub axles by which the wheels are mounted; and P1226AU1l 3 one or more load sensors to provide an indication of a weight of the grain; each of the load sensor(s) being dedicated to a respective one of the stub axles to sense load transmitted by the respective one of the stub axles. Optionally each of the load sensors may be made up of two more load sensing units. 5 Preferably all of the vehicle's wheels are carried by stub axles. Most preferably each of the stub axles has a respective dedicated one of the load sensors. It is possible that the vehicle may have further load sensors which also provide an indication of a weight of the grain, e.g. a sensor may be associated with a draw bar. Preferably the portion is dimensioned to hold more than 60,000 kg of grain. Each of the 10 stub axles may have a capacity of more than about 7,500 kg, or more preferably at least about 12,500 kg. Preferably each of the wheels has an outer diameter of no more than about 1.1 metres. The vehicle may be a mother bin. A mother bin, as the term is used herein, is a bin that is loaded and unloaded whilst it remains at a position. 15 Another aspect of the invention provides a method, of aggregating grain, including loading, the vehicle, with grain; unloading the grain from the vehicle; and obtaining an indication of the weight of the grain; the loading being when the vehicle is at a position; 20 the unloading being whilst the vehicle remains at the position; and the obtaining being obtaining from the load sensor(s).

P1226AU1l 4 Preferably the loading includes transferring grain from a chaser bin to the vehicle. A chaser bin, as the term is used herein, is a towed bin that is loaded by a harvester whilst the harvester is in motion. Also disclosed is a method, of aggregating grain, including 5 loading, the vehicle, with grain; unloading the grain from the vehicle; and obtaining an indication of the weight of the grain in the vehicle; the loading including transferring a volume of grain from a further vehicle; then 10 the further vehicle moving away from the vehicle; and then transferring another volume of grain from the or another further vehicle; and the obtaining being obtaining from the load sensor(s). Also disclosed is a method, of aggregating grain, including loading, the vehicle, with grain; 15 unloading the grain from the vehicle; and obtaining an indication of the weight of the grain in the vehicle; the loading including transferring grain from a chaser bin; the obtaining being obtaining from the load sensor(s).

P1226AU1l 5 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS An embodiment of the apparatus will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: * Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mother bin, 5 * Figure 2 is a transverse cross-section view of a wheel mounting portion of the mother bin of Figure 1. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The following examples are intended to illustrate the scope of the invention and to enable reproduction and comparison. They are not intended to limit the scope of the 10 disclosure in any way. The mother bin 1 includes a grain receiving portion 3 in the form of an upwardly open vessel. In this case the vessel is predominantly formed of steel plate. The grain receiving portion 3 is supported by a chassis 5. Each side of the chassis 5 carries nine stub axles. Each of the stub axles carries two ground engaging wheels 7. Thus the mother bin 1 has 15 a total of 36 ground engaging wheels 7. The bin 1 further includes a draw bar 9, by which the bin may be towed into position, and an auger 11 for transferring grain from the grain receiving portion 3 to, for example, a road going transport vehicle. Each wheel 7 includes a tyre conventionally used for road going trucks and semi-trailers. 20 The largest such tyres have an outer diameter of about 1.1 metres and are thus smaller than the tyres conventionally fitted to farm machinery such as tractors and chaser bins. Given the large number of such tyres that are manufactured and the associated economies of scale, utilising these tyres are a lower cost option to larger tractor tyres even though more wheels are required to support the load.

P1226AU1l 6 The mother bin 1 has suspension. Figure 2 illustrates suspension links 13, and spring and damper assembly 15, connecting the unsprung portions 17 to the sprung portion 19 of the bin. The sprung portion 19 includes a longitudinal chassis rail 21 and transverse chassis rail 5 23. The unsprung portion 17 includes a wheel hub 25, stub axle 27, mounting bracket 31 and of course a pair of wheels 7 (not shown in Figure 2). In this case the stub axle 27 is a proprietary item sold under the trade mark Avery and includes an outer bush 29. The outer bush 29 is rigidly connected to the mounting bracket 31 which is in turn attached to the components 13, 15. 10 The hub 25 is journaled to rotate at the end of the stub axle 27 and includes threaded stubs co-operable with the wheels 7 whereby a pair of wheels 7 may be mounted via the stub axle 27. This arrangement defines a load path via which load, including a portion of the weight of grain carried in the receiving portion 3, is transmitted to ground via the pair of wheels 7, 15 the hub 25, the stub axle 27, the mounting bracket 31 and the components 13, 15 from the sprung portion 19. The bush 29 incorporates a load sensor in the form of a load cell to measure this transmitted load. The load sensor of the bush 29 is positioned along this load path to provide an indication of the load carried by the stub axle 27 whereby the load sensor is dedicated to the stub axle 27. By way of example if the wheels 7 carried 20 by the stub axle 27 happen to be positioned over a depression in the ground the stub axle 27 will carry relatively less load than they would otherwise and the load sensor of the bush 29 will sense this reduction. In contrast if a load sensor were positioned between the chassis 5 and the load receiving portion 3 the same circumstance may lead to flexing of the chassis 5 and thus misalignment of the load cell and in turn to 25 inaccuracy. Of course a load cell positioned between the receiving portion 3 and the chassis 5 would measure load shared between various of the vehicle's stub axles and is therefore not dedicated to any one stub axle.

P1226AU1l 7 Figure 2 illustrates a stub axle 27 mounted so that it is suspended (by components 13, 15) and is non-steerable. Other variants are possible. By way of example in a rigid, i.e. non-suspended, variant of the mother bin the mounting bracket 31 may be a portion of the transverse beam 23. Steerable variants are also possible. By way of example the 5 mounting bracket 31 may be split into two components which are pivotally connected such as pivotally connected by a vertically oriented pin. In operation the bin 1 is towed to position in a field to be harvested. The bin 1 is then loaded with multiple batches of grain. The loads of grain may come from one or more chaser bins emptying their loads into the bin 1 as the chaser bin(s) are filled or is 10 otherwise convenient to the farmer. The bin 1 provides a convenient storage location in which the discrete loads of grain may be aggregated. Aggregated grain may then be transferred to other vehicles as convenient. E.g. the grain may be transferred as suitable road going vehicles arrive. Whilst mother bins come in various sizes, a capacity of more than 60,000 kg is desirable 15 to suit most farms. The bin 1 incorporates a user interface for conveying to a user an indication of the weight of the grain held in the portion 3 based on the output of the load sensing stub axles 27, 29. In this example all of the bin's stub axles are load sensor stub axles although other variants are possible. It is also possible that the vehicle 1 may be fitted 20 with other load sensors. By way of example, in a bin intended to remain coupled to a tow vehicle and to exert a significant down force on the tow vehicle, a load sensor on the draw bar 9 would be advantageous. Knowing the weight of the grain in the portion 3 allows for accurate unloading of the bin, or put another way for accurate loading of the further grain receiving vehicle (e.g. road 25 going vehicle). This allows for the further grain receiving vehicle to be loaded closer to its maximum capacity whilst minimising the risk of inadvertent overloading. The output of the user interface may also be useful to determine the weight of the grain received into P1226AU1l 8 the portion 3, for example if a chaser bin transfers the grain from a particular area into the bin an indication of that area's crop yield may be provided. While the above description refers to embodiments, it will be appreciated that other embodiments can be adopted by way of different combinations of features. Such 5 embodiments fall within the spirit and scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle, for storing grain, including a portion for receiving the grain; wheels for carrying the grain receiving portion over the ground; 5 one or more stub axles by which the wheels are mounted; and one or more load sensors to provide an indication of a weight of the grain; each of the load sensor(s) being dedicated to a respective one of the stub axles to sense load transmitted by the respective one of the stub axles; and the portion being dimensioned to hold more than 60,000 kg of grain. 10

2. The vehicle of claim 1 wherein each of the wheels has an outer diameter of no more than about 1.1 metres.

3. A method of aggregating grain including loading, the vehicle of claim 1 or 2, with grain; unloading the grain from vehicle; and 15 obtaining an indication of the weight of the grain; the loading being when the vehicle is at a position; the unloading being whilst the vehicle remains at the position; and the obtaining being obtaining from the load sensor(s). P1226AU1l 10

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the loading includes transferring grain from a chaser bin.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the loading includes the chaser bin moving away from the vehicle; and then 5 transferring another volume of grain from the or another chaser bin.