CZ19754U1 - Circuit arrangement of sensors for detecting throughput rate of forage in round-bale machine provided with variable press chamber - Google Patents

Description

Connection of sensors for determining the throughput in the baler with variable bale chamber

Technical field

The technical solution relates to the immediate throughput of the material by a baler equipped with a variable bale chamber. From the known machine position and the immediate throughput of the forage, a yield map can be created, which is an important element in the precision farming system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The system of continuous weighing of material on a conveyor using a dynamometer has been known for a long time. This is illustrated by, for example, U.S. Patent 3,478,830 Conveyor Belt Weighing System of 1969 (Levesqe 1969), which describes the basic principle of this measurement and makes claims. Another example may be U.S. Patent No. 3,924,729, Belt conveyor weighing system of 1975 (Flinth et al. 1975), which patented the measurement of the mass of material on a bulk material conveyor belt using a single dynamometer.

Campbell et al. (1999, 2000) patented some principles of weighing material on a conveyor, U.S. Pat. No. 5,959,257 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,809. More interesting, however, is U.S. Pat. No. 6,313,414 (Campbell, 2001), which describes the elimination of undesirable tilt effects. and excitation frequencies generated by travel on the plot and by the actual operation of the machine, using the principle of reference mass measured by the reference sensor. According to the studied materials, this generally known principle in mechanics or physics was not used in the field of crop yield mapping by other authors.

The method of yield mapping suitable for different crops also appears to be the weighing of pick-ups or balers. The idea behind these methods is quite simple. However, its practical application brings technical and organizational problems. Wheeler et al. (1997) described the essential requirements for a field crop yield mapping system based on continuous weighing of the pickup. Goodwin (1999) continued research on the described device based on continuous trailer weighing. Overall, continuous weighing of semi-trailers combined with GPS (Global Positioning System) signal reception can be used for yield mapping. A similar principle is based on the idea of mapping the yield of forage when harvested using a round baler. The measurement system was developed by Behme et al. (1997) and Wild, Aurenhammer (1997, 1999). The system was based on sensing wheel axle loads using strain gauge sensors. The whole system can be completed with a GPS receiver for the creation of yield maps. Weighing at machine standstill is very accurate, but when moving, measurements can reach an error greater than 20%. Impacts caused by crossing uneven terrain have a negative influence on the measurement accuracy.

The essence of the technical solution

The technical solution consists in arranging the elements for monitoring the position of the tensioning mechanism of the variable press chamber of the press during baling of the forage and simultaneously monitoring the position of the machine in the GPS system. By monitoring these parameters, it is possible to determine the immediate throughput of the harvested material and then create yield maps. When pressing the forage with a variable chamber press, a constant compression is achieved and the increase in the bale volume is proportional to the weight increase. In real-time monitoring, we obtain the material throughput value of the machine.

The advantage of the connection is that the tensioning pulley position sensors are placed in the tensioning mechanism of the pressing belts and, depending on the displacement of the tensioning elements, data is sent to the summation member and then to the PC as the bale diameter increases in the bale chamber. Before the actual monitoring, it is necessary to calibrate according to the type of harvested crop and material moisture.

-1 CZ 19754 Ul

Overview of pictures

Giant. 1. Block diagram of the technical solution of sensor wiring.

Example of technical solution

The circuit diagram shown in Fig. 1 has 5 potentiometric position sensors 2 and 7 connected to the tensioning mechanisms 1 and 8. The voltage waveform on these sensors is proportional to the weight increase of the bale in the bale chamber, from which the instantaneous material throughput can be easily determined. The signals from sensors 2 and 7 are fed to the summation member 3, to which the signal from the GPS receiver 5 equipped with the antenna 6 is fed. The resulting data sent to the onboard computer 4 contains the current machine position data obtained by the GPS receiver 5 and instantaneous throughput values. Laboratory measurements showed the dependence between the instantaneous mass flow of material through the machine and the deflection of the pressing mechanism of the bale chamber.

Claims (1)

PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS 1. Connection of sensors for determining the throughput of a forage in a baler, which is provided with a 15 variable bale chamber in which a tensioning mechanism (1,8) is arranged, characterized in that potentiometric sensors (2) are connected in the tensioning mechanism 7) positions of the tensioning mechanism from which the output to the summation member (3) is connected, to which the GPS receiver (5) connected to the antenna (6) is also connected, the output from the summation member (3) is output to 4).