SE542261C2

SE542261C2 - Method and control arrangement for loading

Info

Publication number: SE542261C2
Application number: SE1750709A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Jiwung Choi; Julien Bidot; Magnus Granström; Marcello Cirillo; Mattias Nilsson; Rui Oliveira
Original assignee: Scania Cv Ab
Priority date: 2017-06-05
Filing date: 2017-06-05
Publication date: 2020-03-31
Also published as: SE1750709A1; WO2018226139A1; DE112018002261T5

Abstract

Method (400) and control arrangement (310) for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor (101) of a harvester (100) and a bucket (103) of a vehicle (102) in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), into the bucket (103). The method (400) comprises determining (401) a first longitudinal limit (110) of the bucket (103); determining (402) a second longitudinal limit (120) of the bucket (103); providing (405) material from the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), to the bucket (103), at a longitudinal position between the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120); and adjusting (407) the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) within the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120).

Description

METHOD AND CONTROL ARRANGEMENT FOR LOADING TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses a control arrangement and a method. More particularly, a control arrangement and a method are provided, for loading of a vehicle bucket.

BACKGROUND In e.g. salt mines, a truck with one or several buckets may be loaded directly from a harvester. The loading from the harvester to the truck’s buckets is done by means of a conveyor belt on the harvester. When the driver of the harvester or the driver of the truck observes that one of the buckets is filled, the truck moves its relative position to the harvester so as to start filling the next bucket, etc. The relative velocity between the truck and the harvester then remains constant while loading the next bucket etc., until all buckets of the truck have been loaded; where after the truck leaves the harvesting zone and the harvester continues loading of a bucket of another truck.

However, when the truck with the bucket and the harvester are driving in parallel with constant velocity, the bucket is typically not homogeneously filled and the bucket capacity is not optimally used. Also, or alternatively, the loaded material may spill on the ground and is thereby wasted.

The loaded material may be e.g. salt, sand, stones, ore and other minerals, chemical compounds, etc.

Document US2014311113 discloses an automated unloading system. A receiving vehicle temporarily increases its ground speed, or alternately a relative speed to the harvesting vehicle, when necessary. Conversely, the receiving vehicle temporarily decreases its ground speed, or alternately a relative speed to the harvesting vehicle when necessary. Thereby an even distribution of material in the container is realised.

The methodology which is presented in the document is however limited to usage for agricultural material in an agricultural environment.

It appears that further development is required for improving bucket loading from a harvester.

SUMMARY It is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and improve loading of a vehicle bucket.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor of a harvester and a bucket of a vehicle in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester, via the conveyor, into the bucket. The method comprises determining a first longitudinal limit of the bucket. Further, the method comprises determining a second longitudinal limit of the bucket. The method in addition also comprises providing material from the harvester, via the conveyor, to the bucket, at a longitudinal position between the determined first longitudinal limit and the determined second longitudinal limit. Furthermore, the method comprises adjusting the relative position between the conveyor of the harvester and the bucket of the vehicle within the determined first longitudinal limit and the determined second longitudinal limit.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control arrangement. The control arrangement aims at adjusting a relative position between a conveyor of a harvester and a bucket of a vehicle in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester, via the conveyor, into the bucket. The control arrangement is configured to determine a first longitudinal limit of the bucket. Further, the control arrangement is additionally configured to determine a second longitudinal limit of the bucket. The control arrangement is also configured to send a control signal for triggering provision of material from the harvester, via the conveyor, to the bucket, at a longitudinal position between the determined first longitudinal limit and the determined second longitudinal limit. In further addition, the control arrangement is configured to send a control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor of the harvester and the bucket of the vehicle within the determined first longitudinal limit and the determined second longitudinal limit.

Thanks to the described aspects, by adjusting the relative position between the conveyor of the harvester and the bucket of the vehicle during loading, the material is more evenly distributed in the bucket. Thereby, the bucket fill may be optimised, leading to enhanced efficiency of the mining process as more material per time unit may be transported from the mining area / agricultural area to the destination of the collected minerals/ crops by a more homogeneous spreading. In addition, as material is distributed evenly in the bucket, less material is falling off the bucket during transportation, leading to less material waste. Material that falls off the bucket may also disturb transportations of other vehicles and may have to be collected and transported off. Thus, less material falling off the bucket during transportation also means less work for cleaning the road. Thereby, loading of the vehicle bucket is improved.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying figures, in which: Figure 1A illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles according to a side view; Figure 1B illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles according to a top view; Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a group of coordinated vehicles according to a beneath view; Figure 3 illustrates a vehicle interior according to an embodiment; Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the method; Figure 5 illustrates a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as a control arrangement and a method in a control arrangement, which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodiments may, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limited to the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to the appended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.

Figure 1A illustrates a scenario of a harvester 100 and a vehicle 102, driving in a driving direction 105, with an inter-vehicular lateral distance. The harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may be coordinated and organised in a group of coordinated vehicles, which may comprise more than two vehicles 100, 102 in some embodiments.

The harvester 100 comprises a conveyor 101, such as a conveyor belt or similar construction. The vehicle 102 has one or several buckets 103 for carrying material such as salt, ore, stones, pebbles, crops, etc., in a mining/ agricultural environment, provided by the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100. The bucket 103 may typically have a longitudinal extension which exceeds a lateral extension of the bucket 103, in some embodiments.

The vehicles 100, 102 may be described as a group of coordinated, inter-communicating vehicles 100, 102 travelling at given inter-vehicular distances and direction. However, in some embodiments, one vehicle out of the harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may be stationary while the other vehicle is moving.

The inter-vehicular distances may be the same between the harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 in some embodiments. In other embodiments, the inter-vehicular distances may be different for different vehicles 100, 102; or different at distinct moments in time. Further, the lateral inter-vehicular distances may be fixed or variable in different embodiments. Thus, the lateral distances may be e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some meters or some tenths of meters in various embodiments, e.g. depending on the size of the conveyor 101.

The harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may cooperate in performing an operation, such as mining/ collecting salt/ ore, harvesting/ collecting minerals and similar. Further, the harvester 100 and / or the vehicle 102 may be driver controlled or driverless autonomously controlled vehicles in different embodiments. However, in some embodiments, the harvester 100 may be driven by a driver while the vehicle 102 is autonomous; or vice versa.

The vehicle 102 typically has one or several forwardly and / or laterally directed sensors, in order to perform the autonomous driving. The harvester 100 may also have a sensor 107 configured to detect limits of the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102. The sensor 107 may comprise e.g. a camera, a stereo camera, an infrared camera, a video camera, a radar, a lidar, an ultrasound device, a time-of-flight camera, or similar device, in different embodiments. In some embodiments, the vehicle 102, or the harvester 100 may comprise a plurality of sensors 107 which may be of the same, or different kinds, such as e.g. a radar and a camera; a lidar and a radar, etc.

It is desired to enable homogeneous and efficient load of each bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 when loaded by the harvester 100, for enhanced efficiency when filling up the bucket 103 as much as possible. It is also desired to avoid that loaded material falls of the bucket 103, as it decreases efficiency. The fallen off material may be wasted when laying on the ground and being surpassed by the vehicle 102, the harvester 100 and / or other vehicles around.

The relative velocity of the vehicle 102 and the harvester 100, or rather: the relative velocity between the bucket 103 and the conveyor 101 is altered while loading the material. The oscillations may be such that the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 all the time during the loading remains within/ over the bucket 103 being filled, thus allowing for a more homogeneous spreading of the material. Thereby, an oscillating relative movement in at least the longitudinal direction, i.e. in the driving direction 105 is created, creating an even distribution of the loaded material into the bucket 103, leading to a better filling up of the bucket 103 and less material wasted on the ground.

Figure 1 B depicts a top view of the vehicles 100, 102 previously illustrated in Figure 1 A. The vehicles 100, 102 are driving in the driving direction 105 while the harvester 100 is loading material into the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 via the conveyor 101.

The bucket 103 comprises a first longitudinal limit 110 and a second longitudinal limit 120, in the driving direction 105. The longitudinal limits 110, 120 may be situated substantially at the forward and rear ends, respectively, of the bucket 103; or alternatively be situated with a safety margin, i.e. a predetermined or configurable distance, within said respective forward and rear ends of the bucket 103.

Further, the bucket 103 may comprise a first lateral limit 130 and a second lateral limit 140 in some embodiments. The lateral limits 130, 140 may be substantially perpendicular to the previously defined longitudinal limits 110, 120. The lateral limits 130, 140 may be situated substantially at the right-side end and left-side end, respectively, of the bucket 103 (in the driving direction 105 of the vehicle 102); or alternatively be situated with a safety margin, i.e. a predetermined or configurable distance, within said respective right side end/ left side end of the bucket 103.

Material may be provided from the harvester 100 to the bucket 103, via the conveyor 101, at a longitudinal position between the first longitudinal limit 110 and the second longitudinal limit 120, whereas the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 is adjusted in an oscillating manner, thereby distributing the material evenly between the longitudinal limits 110, 120 of the bucket 103.

The oscillation between the longitudinal limits 110, 120 may be made by adjusting (continuously increasing/ decreasing) the speed of the vehicle 102, in relation to the speed of the harvester 100, while the harvester 100 is driving in the driving direction 105 in a constant speed. An advantage with this embodiment may be that the harvester 100 may be driven by a driver while the vehicle 102 is autonomous and adapt to the speed of the harvester 100 by performing the oscillating movement pattern for distributing the load. Yet an advantage is that the harvester 100 may be immobile while the oscillation yet is created.

In other embodiments, the oscillation between the longitudinal limits 110, 120 may be made by adjusting (continuously increasing/ decreasing) the speed of the harvester 100, in relation to the speed of the vehicle 102, while the vehicle 102 is driving in the driving direction 105 in a constant speed. This embodiment may be an advantage in case the harvester 100 is an autonomous vehicle, following the vehicle 102.

In yet other embodiments, the oscillation between the longitudinal limits 1 10, 120 may be made by adjusting (continuously increasing/ decreasing) both the speed of the harvester 100, in relation to the speed of the vehicle 102, and the speed of the vehicle 102, in relation to the speed of the harvester 100, in a synchronised way. An advantage with this embodiment is that less speed adjustment is made at each respective vehicle 100, 102.

In yet other embodiments, the oscillation between the longitudinal limits 1 10, 120 may be made by adjusting the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100, e.g. by a rotating and / or translational movement of the conveyor 101, within the longitudinal limits 110, 120. In some embodiments, the harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may be driving in the driving direction 105 in a constant speed. This embodiment may be advantageous, as both the vehicles 100, 102 then may drive at a constant speed or alternatively, the harvester 100 and / or the vehicle 102 may not have to drive at all. The harvester 100 may for example be static. Alternatively, also the speed of the harvester 100, and / or the speed of the vehicle 102 may be oscillated in a synchronised manner; i.e. synchronised with each other and also with the movement of the conveyor 101. Thereby less adjustment is made at each respective vehicle 100, 102 and at the conveyor 101.

In some further embodiments, the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may oscillate in the driving direction 105, in relation to the vehicle 102 and / or the harvester 100. An advantage is that both the harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may drive at a constant speed; or alternatively, the harvester 100 and / or the vehicle 102 may not have to drive at all.

In some embodiments, the adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may be made within the first longitudinal limit 110 and the second longitudinal limit 120, and also within the first lateral limit 130 and the second lateral limit 140; i.e. by also creating a lateral oscillating relative movement between the bucket 103 and the conveyor 101. This embodiment may be in particular advantageous when the bucket 103 has a quadratic shape, or when the bucket 103 has a larger extension in lateral direction than in longitudinal direction.

The lateral oscillating movement for distributing material between lateral limits 130, 140 may be created in various manners, e.g. by oscillating the conveyor 101 laterally between the lateral limits 130, 140; by oscillating the bucket 103 and / or vehicle 102 laterally; and / or by oscillating the harvester 100 laterally in relation to the vehicle 102/ bucket 103.

As previously mentioned, the harvester 100 and / or the vehicle 102 may be stationary. The oscillation between the longitudinal limits 110, 120 and / or the lateral limits 130, 140 of the bucket 103 may be made by adjusting the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100, e.g. by a rotating and / or translational movement of the conveyor 101 in some embodiments.

All, or a subset of the various enumerated described embodiments may with advantage be combined, in some embodiments.

When the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 has been filled according to any of the above described embodiments, or any combination of them (which may be determined e.g. based on sensor detection, by weight measurement of the bucket 103/ vehicle 102, by visual inspection, etc.) the material loading of the conveyor 101 may be halted and the vehicle 102 may be transported for placing another bucket of the vehicle 102 under the conveyor 101. Alternatively, in case the vehicle 102 does not have any empty buckets to fill, the vehicle 102 may drive away and another vehicle with a bucket may arrive, where after the harvester 100 and the conveyor 101 may continue filling the bucket of the newly arrived vehicle according to any of the above described embodiments.

Figure 2 depicts yet a view of the vehicles 100, 102 previously illustrated in Figure 1A and Figure 1 B, as regarded from beneath. The vehicles 100, 102 are driving in the driving direction 105 while the harvester 100 is loading material into the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 via the conveyor 101.

In the illustrated non-limiting example, the vehicle 102 comprises at least two wheel axles 210, 220 beneath the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102, such as a forward wheel axle 210 and a rear wheel axle 220.

The weight of the load on the respective wheel axle 210, 220 may be estimated, e.g. by pressure sensors arranged at each respective wheel axle 210, 220. The adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may in some embodiments be made in order to equal the respective axle loads of the wheel axles 210, 220. Thereby, the loaded material of the bucket 103 may be evenly distributed in longitudinal direction, based on the weight distribution of the bucket 103 as determined at the forward wheel axle 210 and the rear wheel axle 220.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a scenario as previously illustrated in Figure 1A, Figure 1 B, and Figure 2 as it may be perceived by a hypothetical driver of the vehicle 102 with the bucket 103, keeping in mind that the vehicle 102 may be an autonomous vehicle without a driver.

The vehicle 102 may comprise a control arrangement 310, for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor 101 of a harvester 100 and a bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, into the bucket 103.

Further the vehicle 102 may comprise a wireless communication device 320, configured to provide various information related to the inter-vehicular cooperation between the vehicle 102 and the harvester 100. This information may for example comprise a lateral distance between the bucket 103 and the harvester 100 to keep by the follower vehicle 102; a longitudinal velocity interval, to alter the vehicle speed within for creating the oscillating movement when loading material into the bucket 103, and other similar information for coordinating and cooperating the movements between the vehicle 102 and the harvester 100.

The control arrangement 310 may also interpret the received signals into information, and also apply this received information, e.g. by adjusting the speed of the vehicle 102 in order to distribute the load on the bucket 103. This information may in some embodiments be outputted to the driver via an output unit 330, 340 of the vehicle 102.

The output unit 330, 340 may comprise a display, a loudspeaker, a projector, a head-up display, a display integrated in the windshield of the vehicle 102, a display integrated in the dashboard of the vehicle 102, a tactile device, a portable device of the vehicle driver/ owner, intelligent glasses, i.e. an optical head-mounted display, that is designed in the shape of a pair of eyeglasses of the vehicle driver/ owner, etc., an augmented reality device, an intelligent watch, etc.; or a combination thereof.

The vehicle 102 may further comprise an adjustment device 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d, 350e. The adjustment device 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d, 350e may comprise e.g. a driving wheel 350a for making lateral adjustments; and / or a brake 350b, a clutch pedal 350c, an accelerator 350d and / or gearbox 350e for making a longitudinal adjustment of the vehicle position in relation to the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100. Thus, the adjustment device 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d, 350e may be configured to adjust the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 within the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120, and / or the first lateral limit 130 and the second lateral limit 140 of the bucket 103. The adjustment devices 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d, 350e in the illustration have a design adapted for humanoid driver intervention. In other embodiments however, the same functionalities may be applied in an autonomous vehicle 102, possibly having a distinct design.

In some embodiments, the harvester 100 and the vehicle 102 may be driving in the same driving direction 105 while the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 is loaded by the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100. The harvester 100, or the driver of the harvester 100, may determine the harvester 100 speed and send the result to the vehicle 102 via the wireless communication device 320. The vehicle 102 may then determine an appropriate speed interval to oscillated within, in order to adjust the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 within the first longitudinal limit 110 and the second longitudinal limit 120.

In this illustrated non-limiting embodiment, an instruction to adjust the speed of the vehicle 102 in order to adjust the longitudinal position of the vehicle 102 in relation to the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 may be provided via a loudspeaker 330, while the conveyor position and the longitudinal limits 110, 120 of the bucket 103 is provided on a display 340.

The various entities on-board the vehicle 102 may communicate with each other via e.g. a wired or wireless communication bus. The communication bus may comprise e.g. a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) bus, or similar. However, the communication may alternatively be made over a wireless connection comprising, or at least be inspired by any of the previously discussed wireless communication technologies.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flow chart in Figure 4 shows the method 400 in a control arrangement 310. The control arrangement 310 may be situated in a vehicle 102, comprised in a group of coordinated vehicles 100, 102 in a formation for performing a task. In other alternative embodiments, the control arrangement 310 may be situated in a vehicle external structure, or in a harvester 100.

The method 400 aims at adjusting a relative position between a conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and a bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, into the bucket 103.

The vehicles 100, 102 in the coordinated group may be driving at a lateral distance in relation to each other, e.g. in a mine, agricultural field or similar environment.

In order to correctly be able to adjust the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102, the method 400 may comprise a number of steps 401-407. Further, the described steps 401 -407 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering suggests. Some method steps such as e.g. step 403-404, or 406 may be performed only in some embodiments. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 401 comprises determining a first longitudinal limit 110 of the bucket 103.

The first longitudinal limit 110 may be situated at the most forward situated limit of the bucket 103, as regarded in the direction of transportation 105, or situated at a predetermined distance from the most forward situated limit of the bucket 103, within the bucket 103.

Step 402 comprises determining a second longitudinal limit 120 of the bucket 103.

The second longitudinal limit 120 may be situated at the most rear situated limit of the bucket 103, as regarded in the direction of transportation 105, or situated at a predetermined distance from the most rear situated limit of the bucket 103, within the bucket 103.

Step 403, which only may be comprised in some embodiments, comprises determining a first lateral limit 130 of the bucket 103.

The first lateral limit 130 may be situated at the right-side limit of the bucket 103, as regarded in the direction of transportation 105, or situated at a predetermined distance from the rightside limit of the bucket 103, within the bucket 103.

Step 404, which only may be comprised in some embodiments, comprises determining a second lateral limit 140 of the bucket 103.

The second lateral limit 140 may be situated at the left-side limit of the bucket 103, as regarded in the direction of transportation 105, or situated at a predetermined distance from the left-side limit of the bucket 103, within the bucket 103.

Step 405 comprises providing material from the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, to the bucket 103, at a longitudinal position between the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120.

Step 406, which only may be comprised in some embodiments, comprises determining axle load on at least two wheel axles 210, 220 beneath the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102.

The respective axle loads may be measured e.g. by one or several load sensors in some embodiments.

Step 407 comprises adjusting the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 within the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120.

The adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may comprise oscillating the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120.

The adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may in some embodiments comprise oscillating the speed of the vehicle 102 for maintaining the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120.

Furthermore, the adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 comprises oscillating both the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120, and oscillating the speed of the vehicle 102 for maintaining the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120.

The adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 may alternatively be made within the determined 401 first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined 402 second longitudinal limit 120, and also within the determined 403 first lateral limit 130 and the determined 404 second lateral limit 140.

In addition, the adjustment of the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 is made in order to equal the respective determined 406 axle loads of the wheel axles 210, 220.

Further, in some embodiments, the adjustment may comprise adjustment of speed of the vehicle 102.

Figure 5 illustrates a system 500 for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor 101 of a harvester 100 and a bucket 103 of a vehicle 100 in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, into the bucket 103.

The system 500 comprises a control arrangement 310, which may be comprised in the vehicle 102, in the harvester 100, or at a vehicle external structure in different embodiments. The control arrangement 310 may be configured for performing the described method 400 according to at least some of the previously described method steps 401-407. The control arrangement 310 is configured to adjust the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, into the bucket 103. The control arrangement 310 is configured to determine a first longitudinal limit 110 of the bucket 103. Further, the control arrangement 310 is configured to determine a second longitudinal limit 120 of the bucket 103. The control arrangement 310 is in addition configured to send a control signal for triggering provision of material from the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, to the bucket 103, at a longitudinal position between the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120. Furthermore, the control arrangement 310 is configured to send a control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 100 within the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120.

The control arrangement 310 may in some embodiments be further configured to send the control signal for oscillating the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120, thereby adjusting the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102.

In some embodiments, the control arrangement 310 may be further configured to send the control signal for oscillating the speed of the vehicle 102 for maintaining the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120.

The control arrangement 310 may in some embodiments be configured to send the control signal for oscillating both the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120, and oscillating the speed of the vehicle 102 for maintaining the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 between the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120.

Additionally, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to determine a first lateral limit 130 of the bucket 103. Also, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to determine a second lateral limit 140 of the bucket 103. Further, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to transmit a control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 comprises information for performing the adjustment within the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120, and also within the determined first lateral limit 130 and the determined second lateral limit 140.

The control arrangement 310 may also in some embodiments be configured to determine axle load on at least two wheel axles 210, 220 beneath the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102. Also, the control arrangement 310 may be configured to transmit a control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 comprises information for equalling the respective determined axle loads of the wheel axles 210, 220.

The system 500 also comprises a sensor 107 configured to detect a first longitudinal limit 110 and a second longitudinal limit 120 of the bucket 103.

The system 500 furthermore comprises an adjustment device 350a, 350b, 350c, 350d configured to adjust the relative position between the conveyor 101 of the harvester 100 and the bucket 103 of the vehicle 102 within the determined first longitudinal limit 110 and the determined second longitudinal limit 120.

In some embodiments, the control arrangement 310 may be further configured to obtain information via a wireless communication interface, from a wireless communication device of the harvester 100.

The control arrangement 310 may further comprise a processing circuit 520, configured for performing various calculations and computations in order to perform the method 400, according to the previously described steps 401-407.

Such processing circuit 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instructions. The herein utilised expression “processing circuit” may thus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the control arrangement 310 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodiments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data or programs, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According to some embodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising siliconbased transistors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, a USB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storing data such as e.g. ROM (Read-Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM), etc. in different embodiments.

The previously described method steps 401-407 to be performed in the control arrangement 310 may be implemented through the one or more processing circuits 520 within the control arrangement 310, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the functions of the method steps 401-407. Thus, a computer program product, comprising instructions for performing the method steps 401-407 in the control arrangement 310 may perform the method 400 comprising at least some of the method steps 401-407 for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor 101 of a harvester 100 and a bucket 103 of a vehicle 102 in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester 100, via the conveyor 101, into the bucket 103, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processing circuits 520 of the control arrangement 310. The described method steps 401-407 may thus be performed by a computer algorithm, a machine executable code, a non-transitory computerreadable medium, an appropriately configured hardware or a software instructions programmed into a suitable programmable logic such as the processor in the control arrangement 310.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the method step 401-407 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more processors of the control arrangement 310. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROM disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a nontransitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control arrangement 310 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described method 400, control arrangement 310, computer program, harvester 100, and / or vehicle 102. Various changes, substitutions and / or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims. Further, the herein described different embodiments, illustrated in Figures 1-5 may be combined and exchanged without limitations in various other embodiments, within the scope of the independent claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematical OR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless expressly stated otherwise. In addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be interpreted as “at least one”, thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind, unless expressly stated otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "includes", "comprises", "including" and / or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other wired or wireless communication system.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A method (400) for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor (101) of a harvester (100) and a bucket (103) of a vehicle (102) in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), into the bucket (103); wherein the method (400) comprises: determining (401) a first longitudinal limit (110) of the bucket (103); determining (402) a second longitudinal limit (120) of the bucket (103); providing (405) material from the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), to the bucket (103), at a longitudinal position between the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120); determining (406) axle load on at least two wheel axles (210, 220) beneath the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102); and adjusting (407) the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) within the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120); oscillating the conveyor (101) in order to equal the respective determined (406) axle loads of the wheel axles (210, 220).

2. The method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjustment (407) of the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) comprises oscillating the speed of the vehicle (102) for maintaining the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120).

3. The method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adjustment (407) of the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) comprises oscillating both the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120), and oscillating the speed of the vehicle (102) for maintaining the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120).

4. The method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising: determining (403) a first lateral limit (130) of the bucket (103); determining (404) a second lateral limit (140) of the bucket (103); and wherein the adjustment (407) of the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) is made within the determined (401) first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined (402) second longitudinal limit (120), and also within the determined (403) first lateral limit (130) and the determined (404) second lateral limit (140).

5. A computer program comprising instructions which, when the computer program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to carry out the steps of the method (400) according to any one of the preceding claims.

6. A control arrangement (310), for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor (101) of a harvester (100) and a bucket (103) of a vehicle (102) in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), into the bucket (103); wherein the control arrangement (310) is configured to: determine a first longitudinal limit (110) of the bucket (103); determine a second longitudinal limit (120) of the bucket (103); send a control signal for triggering provision of material from the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), to the bucket (103), at a longitudinal position between the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120); determine axle load on at least two wheel axles (210, 220) beneath the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102); and send a control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (100) within the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120) by oscillating the conveyor (101) in order to equal the respective determined axle loads of the wheel axles (210, 220).

7. The control arrangement (310) according to claim 6, further configured to send the control signal for oscillating the speed of the vehicle (102) for maintaining the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120).

8. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claim 6-7, further configured to send the control signal for oscillating both the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120), and oscillating the speed of the vehicle (102) for maintaining the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) between the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120).

9. The control arrangement (310) according to any one of claim 6-8, further configured to: determine a first lateral limit (130) of the bucket (103); determine a second lateral limit (140) of the bucket (103); and wherein the control signal for adjusting the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) comprises information for performing the adjustment within the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120), and also within the determined first lateral limit (130) and the determined second lateral limit (140).

10. A system (500) for adjusting a relative position between a conveyor (101) of a harvester (100) and a bucket (103) of a vehicle (100) in order to distribute material loaded by the harvester (100), via the conveyor (101), into the bucket (103); wherein system (500) comprises: a control arrangement (310) according to any one of claims 6-9; a sensor (107) configured to detect a first longitudinal limit (110) and a second longitudinal limit (120) of the bucket (103); pressure sensors arranged at each respective wheel axle (210, 220), in order to determine axle load on at least two wheel axles (210, 220) beneath the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102); and an adjustment device (350a, 350b, 350c, 350d) configured to adjust the relative position between the conveyor (101) of the harvester (100) and the bucket (103) of the vehicle (102) within the determined first longitudinal limit (110) and the determined second longitudinal limit (120) by oscillating the conveyor (101) in order to equal the respective determined axle loads of the wheel axles (210, 220).