WO2023235160A1

WO2023235160A1 - Agricultural vehicle header auto-leveling control

Info

Publication number: WO2023235160A1
Application number: PCT/US2023/022722
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert Garrett; Jethro Martin
Original assignee: Cnh Industrial America Llc
Priority date: 2022-06-03
Filing date: 2023-05-18
Publication date: 2023-12-07

Abstract

A method of operating an agricultural vehicle having (i) a header, (ii) an inclination sensor configured to provide an inclination signal corresponding to an absolute inclination of the agricultural vehicle relative to Earth's gravity; and (iii) an automated adjustment system that is configured for adjusting a pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity. The method includes (a) either receiving a target pitch angle from one of an operator manually inputting the target pitch angle or the agricultural vehicle communicating the target pitch angle, or calculating the target pitch angle; (b) determining the pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity based, at least in part, on the inclination signal; (c) determining a deviation between the target pitch angle and the determined pitch angle; and (d) adjusting the pitch angle of the header using the automated adjustment system to reduce the deviation.

Description

AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE HEADER AUTO-LEVELING CONTROL

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This Application is related to, and claims the benefits of priority of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 63/348,562, filed 3 June 2022, entitled AGRICULTURAL VEHICLE HEADER AUTO-LEVELING CONTROL, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to agricultural vehicles, and, more particularly, to agricultural vehicles which include a feeder housing and a header.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] As is described in U.S. Patent No. 10,182,525, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and for all purposes, an agricultural harvester known as a "combine" is historically termed such because it combines multiple harvesting functions with a single harvesting unit, such as picking, threshing, separating, and cleaning. A combine includes a header which removes the crop from a field, and a feeder housing which transports the crop matter into a threshing rotor. The threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may be in the form of adjustable concaves, and performs a threshing operation on the crop to remove the grain. Once the grain is threshed it falls through perforations in the concaves and is transported to a grain pan. From the grain pan the grain is cleaned using a cleaning system, and is then transported to a grain tank onboard the combine. The cleaning system includes a cleaning fan which blows air through oscillating sieves to discharge chaff and other debris toward the rear of the combine. Non-grain crop material such as straw from the threshing section proceeds through a straw chopper and out the rear of the combine. When the grain tank becomes full, the combine is positioned adjacent a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, and an unloading system, e.g., an unloading auger, on the combine is actuated to transfer the grain into the vehicle.

[0004] Generally, a header is rigidly mounted to the feeder housing of the agricultural vehicle. Rigidly attached headers typically function effectively under ideal operating conditions, such as level ground and ideal weather conditions. However, with respect to some larger headers and/or in less than ideal conditions, a rigid header may ineffectively gather the crop material. For example, if the ground has undulations or if the crop has fallen over (i.e. become "lodged") the header may miss a portion of the crop material as it cannot respond to specific changes in terrain or crop conditions. Over the course of harvesting an entire field, a rigidly attached header may lead to significant header loss. [0005] To overcome the disadvantages of rigidly mounted headers, some agricultural vehicles have incorporated a movably mounted header such that the elevation, roll, and/or pitch of the header may be adjusted, allowing the header to more aggressively harvest the crop material. A feeder housing may lift the header vertically. Lateral tilt cylinders may be incorporated to roll the header laterally (e.g., tilting left up/right down). An additional hydraulic cylinder may be added to control the pitch of the header (tilting fore/aft). For example, in the case of lodged crop material, a header may be lowered and tilted forwardly to pick up crop material which otherwise would have been left on the field. Hence, in various circumstances, including changes to vehicle inclination, ground undulation, or crop condition, a moveable header may greatly reduce header loss compared to a rigidly mounted header.

[0006] What is needed in the art is an agricultural harvester that automatically maintains the level of the header (e.g., a corn header) of an agricultural harvester at a predetermined angle relative to absolute level or gravity, in order to reduce header conveyer blockages and so that the operator may concentrate on other machine functions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a method of operating an agricultural vehicle is provided. The vehicle has (i) a header, (ii) an inclination sensor that is located on the agricultural vehicle and that is configured to provide an inclination signal corresponding to an absolute inclination of the agricultural vehicle relative to Earth's gravity, (iii) a height sensor that is configured to provide a height signal of the header; and (iv) an automated adjustment system that is configured for adjusting a pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity. And, the method includes (a) either receiving a target pitch angle from one of an operator manually inputting said target pitch angle or the agricultural vehicle communicating said target pitch angle, or calculating the target pitch angle; (b) determining the pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity based, at least in part, on the inclination signal; (c) determining a deviation between the target pitch angle and the determined pitch angle; and (d) adjusting the pitch angle of the header using the automated adjustment system to reduce the deviation.

[0008] An advantage of the method described herein is that it reduces operator fatigue caused from frequently monitoring and adjusting the cutting and gathering functions of the header, and reducing operator fatigue caused from frequently clearing blockages of the header conveyer. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of this invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and the invention will be better understood by reference to the following descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a side view of a header in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating an agricultural vehicle having an automatic adjustment system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the automatic adjustment system in accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

[0013] Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein illustrate embodiments of the invention and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Referring now to FIGs. 1-3, there is shown an exemplary embodiment of an automated adjustment system 200 for an agricultural vehicle 10 in the form of a combine harvester 10. The combine harvester 10 generally includes a feeder housing 12 and an attachment in the form of a corn header 100 that is coupled to the feeder housing 12. It should be understood that the header 100 is not limited to a corn header, and may be a draper header, for example. Also, the vehicle 10 is not limited to a combine harvester, and could be a windrower or swather, for example.

[0015] Typically, the combine harvester 10 will include additional internal systems for the separation and handling of collected crop material, but these additional systems are omitted from view for brevity of description. It should be appreciated that the automated adjustment system 200 described and illustrated herein does not necessarily need to be included on combine harvesters, but can be incorporated in construction vehicles or in other agricultural vehicles, such as windrowers.

[0016] The feeder housing 12 includes an actuating system 16 and a face plate mount 18. The actuating system 16 includes actuators 16A, 16B, and 16C for respectively controlling the elevation (vertical height), lateral tilt (roll), and pitch (fore/aft tilt) of the header 100. Actuator 16A controls the elevation of the feeder housing 12 and thereby the height of the header 100. Actuator 16B controls the lateral tilt of the header 100, and actuator 16C controls the pitch of the header 100. Actuator 16C may adjust the pitch of the header 100 from an origin or default position; although more or less pitch is feasible, and the degree change in pitch may not necessarily be symmetric about the default position.

[0017] It should be appreciated that reference to "tilt" and "tilting" of the header 100 herein can refer to both lateral and fore-aft tilting, unless only one of the types of tilt is specified. The actuators 16A, 16B, 16C can be in the form of cylinders that are pneumatically, hydraulically, and/or electrically powered. The actuating system 16 may be linked to the frame of the feeder housing 12, the frame of the header 100, and/or the frame of the agricultural vehicle 10. As shown, the actuating system 16 includes three actuators 16A, 16B, and 16C; however, the actuator system 16 can have two, or more than three actuators in order to control the positioning of the frame feeder housing 12 and header 100. Alternatively, the actuating system 16 may only have a single actuator 16C to control the pitch of the header 100.

[0018] The face plate mount 18 may movably couple the header 100 to the feeder housing 12. The face plate mount 18 may be in the form of a known coupler block that can control the lateral tilt and pitch of the header 100, for example as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,519,923 which is herein incorporated by reference.

[0019] According to this exemplary embodiment, the header 100 is a corn header and includes a frame and a pair of opposed lateral ends. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the header 100 is in the form of a corn header to harvest corn as the header 100 moves in a direction of travel, denoted by arrow "F". Header 100 generally includes an auger 19 and a series of row units each including one or more motors 23a that are connected to drive a snap roller 23b (optional) and a gathering chain or belt 23c. The row unit is not limited that which is shown and described. Further details in connection with the row units may be found in US20080092507, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The row unit is mounted either directly or indirectly to a deck plate 22 having a planar top surface 22a.

[0020] As will be described in detail later, the vehicle is configured to maintain the pitch angle a of the header 100 at a specific value. According to one aspect of the invention, the pitch angle a of the header 100 is maintained at 17-23 degrees. According to another aspect, the pitch angle a of the header 100 is maintained at 19- 21 degrees. According to another aspect, the pitch angle a of the header 100 is maintained at 19 degrees. Actuator 16c may be used to maintain the pitch angle at the desired value.

[0021] The desired value of the pitch angle a of the header 100 may be a computed value that is determined using the following equation:

[0022] a = sin^-1(Ground Speed/(A * ^feeder)) [0023] In the equation above, the Ground Speed represents the ground speed of the combine, which may be measured by a speed sensor of the combine. The ground speed may be equivalent (or proportional) to the rearward crop conveyance speed. The variable 'A' is a constant value that may compensate for gear ratios and other variables. The variable colder represents the drive line speed, which is proportional to the linear speed of the gathering chains of the row unit, which is proportional to the stalk roll speed, which is proportional to the gathering auger speed. These values are proportional because they ultimately receive power from the same power take off shaft. The variable Wfeeder may be set to a desired set point by a user based on crop conditions, for example.

[0024] The inclination sensor 20 may be in the form of a known inclination sensor or inclinometer. The inclination sensor 20 may be in the form of a known inclinometer (level) type sensor such as a tilt sensor. The inclination sensor 20 is generally fixed in position. The inclination sensor 20 provides an inclination signal for sensing the inclination of the vehicle 10. Sensor 20 may be mounted in or on the vehicle 10, on the feeder housing 12, or on the header 100 (such as on surface 22a), for example. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the inclination sensor 20 detects the inclination of the combine 10 relative to Earth's gravity G.

[0025] To determine the pitch angle a of the header 100, the inclination sensor 20 may be used in combination with the known extension states of the actuators 16, and, optionally, with the header height sensors 110 if equipped on the header 100. The degree of extension of each actuator 16 may be monitored by a potentiometer, for example. More particularly, and for example, if sensor 20 is located on the face plate mount 18 or the header 100, the extension or the contraction of the actuator 16C controlling the pitch of the header 100 may not need to be known or consulted to determine the inclination (e.g., pitch angle a) of the header 100. If sensor 20 is located on the feeder housing 12, the extension or the contraction of the actuator 16C controlling the pitch of the header 100 may not need to be known or consulted to determine the inclination of the header 100. If sensor 20 is not located on the header 100, or the feeder housing 12, but rather on the agricultural vehicle 10, then the known extension or contraction of the actuator 16A controlling the elevation of the feeder housing 12 can be used with the inclination sensor 20 to determine the inclination of the feeder housing 12 relative to the ground. And, the determined inclination of the feeder housing 12 can be used along with the known extension or contraction of the actuator 16C controlling the pitch of the header 100 to determine the pitch of header 100. [0026] The header 100 also includes header height sensors (i.e., ground sensors) 110 mounted to the frame of the header 100. The ground sensors 110 are configured for sensing a height "H" of header 100 and providing an elevation signal for the front and back of the header 100 relative to the ground. The ground sensors 110 detect terrain changes, such as undulations in the ground, that may affect the pitch of the header 100. The ground sensors 110 may be in the form of contact or noncontact sensors (e.g., sonar, light emitting/reflectance sensors, etc.). In the exemplary embodiment shown, the ground sensors 110 are in the form of known contact sensors that physically contact the ground as the header traverses across a field. Known contact sensors include a potentiometer and a cable affixed to a pivoting deflector which deviates its position in accordance with the undulating terrain.

[0027] The header 100 may additionally include one or more positional sensors 120 used in combination with header height sensors 110 if equipped on the header 100. In the exemplary embodiment, there is one positional sensor 120 located on the header 100; however, there may be more than one positional sensor 120, and the positional sensor 120 may be located on the face plate mount 18 or the feeder housing 12. [0028] The automated adjustment system 200 includes a controller 410 and a memory 420. The automated adjustment system 200 is configured to coordinate the header functions 430, the feeder housing functions 440, and the agricultural vehicle functions 450. The feeder housing functions 440 of the feeder housing 12 may include the positioning and adjustment of the height, lateral tilt, and fore/aft positions of the header 100 via the actuating systems 16A, 16B, and 16C, respectively. The agricultural vehicle functions 450 of the agricultural vehicle 10 may include the adjustment of the vehicle speed and the combine control systems, such as the threshing, separating, cleaning systems. The automated adjustment system 200 may be a separate unit or it may be incorporated as part of the base system and function of the agricultural vehicle 10. The automated adjustment system 200 is shown to be located on the agricultural vehicle 10; however, it may be located on either of the feeder housing 12 or header 100. For example, the automated adjustment system 200 may be integrated with the header 100 such that the base agricultural vehicle functions are not used.

[0029] The controller 410 receives and sends electrical signals to control the various components of the agricultural vehicle 10, the feeder housing 12, and the header 100, which will be described further herein. The controller 410 may be in the form of a CPU or processor, and it may be electrically coupled to or wirelessly communicate with the various sensors, actuators, and other components of the agricultural vehicle 10, feeder housing 12, and/or the header 100. For example, the controller 410 may be electrically coupled to a user interface 460 in order to receive an input from a user. The controller 410 may be electrically coupled to the inclination sensor 20, ground sensors 110, and the positional sensor 120 in order to receive the respective signals of the sensors 20, 110, 120. Further, the controller 410 may also be electrically coupled to the actuating systems 16 and/or to an actuating system of the header 100 if it is equipped with its own elevation, lateral tilt, and pitch actuators as discussed above. In the case of pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, the controller 410 can control one or more valves of the cylinders to fill or drain fluid from within the cylinders, as is known. In the case of electrically powered actuators, the controller 410 may control the mechanisms that cause extension and retraction of the actuators, as is known. Additionally, the controller 410 may be coordinated with an existing feed-rate control system (not shown).

[0030] The controller 410 controls the header functions 430 of the header 100 in response to the signals received from the sensors 20, 110, 120. The controller 410 controls the feeder housing functions 440 by adjusting the actuating system 16 to move the feeder housing 12 and thereby the header 100 according to the inclination changes sensed by the inclination sensor(s) 20 and (optionally) the terrain changes sensed by the sensor 110 as well as sensors 120. The controller 410 controls the agricultural vehicle functions 450 in accordance with the signals received from the sensors 20, 110, 120 as well as the positional state of the actuating systems 16. For example, the controller 410 may coordinate the functions 430, 440, 450, in response to receiving data signals from the ground sensors 110 depicting an undulating terrain, by simultaneously increasing the pitch angle a of header 100 or the pitch angle of feeder housing 12, and lowering the speed of the agricultural vehicle 10. As stated above, one goal is to maintain the pitch angle a of the header 100 at a specific value.

[0031] The memory 420 is operably coupled to the controller 410 and has software that may include an initial settings table, for example, a look-up table 422. The lookup table 422 may contain all of the predefined data corresponding to ideal values of header height, roll, and header pitch for initially positioning the header 100 or feeder housing pitch for initially positioning the feeder housing 12. For example, based on a specific type of header and/or a specific type of drive tire or track, the look-up table 422 may contain the predefined ideal operating pitch angle a for an initial operating position keyed to the specific header in use. Additionally, the look-up table 422 may also include predefined data corresponding to the known, best operating positions and operational conditions of the feeder housing 12 and agricultural vehicle 10. Alternatively, if the memory 420 does not include a look-up table 422, it may include software with known algorithms, including the equation provided above, that can calculate the ideal, initial operating position of the header 100 (including the ideal target pitch angle a) based on the specific type of the header and/or drive tire or track type, ground speed, header drive line speed, etc.

[0032] Adjusting the inclination of the feeder housing 12 or header 100 over unlevel terrain is valuable due to the effect the increased force of gravity experienced by the harvested crops when the agricultural vehicle 10 is going downhill, which effect can cause blockages of the conveyor system of the agricultural vehicle 10.

[0033] The effect of gravity is generally calculated as the force of gravity multiplied by the sine of the angle deviating from the normal plane. Therefore, a hypothetical conveyor or auger designed to operate at 85 degrees, instead operating at 90 degrees relative to Earth's gravity experiences only an approximate 0.382% increase in gravitational force due to that five-degree change. To overcome this increase in gravitational force at 90 degrees, the hypothetical conveyor or auger will only be minimally more powerful or more frictional than a conveyor or auger that never operates at an incline greater than 85 degrees.

[0034] However, a conveyor of the feeder housing 12 is often designed for operation at a relatively low angle, for example 20 degrees. If that conveyor is operating instead at 25 degrees due to the agricultural vehicle 10 going down a five degree decline, the conveyor experiences a 24% increase in gravitational force on the conveyed harvested crops induced by that five degree change in angle. An agricultural vehicle 10 designed for a five degree tolerance in hill climb therefore would need to be able to obtain almost 25% more conveying power and/or friction in its conveyor system when going downhill to avoid blockages as compared to a conveyor that never operates above a 20 degree angle.

[0035] By changing the pitch angle a of the header 100, pitch angle 8 of the feeder housing 12, or both, the example five degree change in hill climb could be effectively cancelled out, and a standard conveyor system with normalized conveying output can be utilized and still avoid blockages caused by tumbling harvested crops. Larger or smaller changes in operating angle can be cancelled out by complimentary changes to the pitch angle p of the feeder housing 12 or the pitch angle a of the header 100. Further, the pitch angle p of the feeder housing 12, the pitch angle a of the header 100, or both collectively, do not need to completely cancel out a change in the operating angle due to the agricultural vehicle 10 travelling downhill.

[0036] According to one aspect of the invention, vehicle 10 includes a manual selector for manually switching between a first mode, in which the absolute pitch angle a of the header 100 is determined relative to gravity using sensor 20, and a second mode in which the pitch angle a of the header 100 is determined relative to the ground using the sensor(s) 110.

[0037] It is to be understood that the steps of the methods described herein can be performed by the controllers upon loading and executing software code or instructions which are tangibly stored on the respective tangible computer readable mediums. Memory may be in the form of a magnetic medium, e.g., a computer hard drive, an optical medium, e.g., an optical disc, solid-state memory, e.g., flash memory, or other storage media known in the art. Thus, any of the functionality performed by the controllers described herein, is implemented in software code or instructions which are tangibly stored on a tangible computer readable medium. Upon loading and executing such software code or instructions by the controllers, the controllers may perform any of the functionality of the controllers described herein, including any steps of the methods described herein.

[0038] The term "software code" or "code" used herein refers to any instructions or set of instructions that influence the operation of a computer or controller. They may exist in a computer-executable form, such as machine code, which is the set of instructions and data directly executed by a computer's central processing unit or by a controller, a human- understandable form, such as source code, which may be compiled in order to be executed by a computer's central processing unit or by a controller, or an intermediate form, such as object code, which is produced by a compiler. As used herein, the term "software code" or "code" also includes any human- understandable computer instructions or set of instructions, e.g., a script, that may be executed on the fly with the aid of an interpreter executed by a computer's central processing unit or by a controller.

[0039] While this invention has been described with respect to at least one embodiment, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method of operating an agricultural vehicle having (i) a header, (ii) an inclination sensor that is located on the agricultural vehicle and that is configured to provide an inclination signal corresponding to an absolute inclination of the agricultural vehicle relative to Earth's gravity, (iii) a height sensor that is configured to provide a height signal of the header, and (iv) an automated adjustment system that is configured for adjusting a pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) either receiving a target pitch angle from one of an operator manually inputting said target pitch angle or the agricultural vehicle communicating said target pitch angle, or calculating the target pitch angle;

(b) determining the pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity based, at least in part, on said inclination signal;

(c) determining a deviation between the target pitch angle and the determined pitch angle; and

(d) adjusting said pitch angle of the header using the automated adjustment system to reduce the deviation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the automated adjustment system includes a pitch actuator coupled to the header; and said adjusting step (d) further comprises actuating the pitch actuator to increase or decrease said pitch angle to reduce the deviation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the inclination sensor is located on the agricultural vehicle itself and not on the header or a feeder house of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the inclination sensor is located on the header and the inclination signal corresponds to an inclination of the header relative to Earth's gravity.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the inclination sensor is located on the feeder face plate and the inclination signal corresponds to an inclination of the header relative to Earth's gravity.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the height sensor located on the agricultural vehicle is located on the header.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the automated adjustment system includes a memory that stores a look-up table associating the target pitch angle with a type of the header.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: receiving an inputted type of the header from one of an operator manually inputting said inputted type of the header, or the agricultural vehicle communicating said inputted type of the header; and determining said target pitch angle by utilizing said look-up table and said inputted type of the header.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the automated adjustment system includes a memory, and the memory stores a look-up table associating the target pitch angle with a type of harvesting condition, and said method further comprises: receiving an inputted harvesting condition from one of an operator manually inputting said inputted harvesting condition, or the agricultural vehicle communicating said inputted harvesting condition; and determining said target pitch angle by utilizing said look-up table and said inputted harvesting condition.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein following step (d), the method comprises returning to step (b) to continuously reduce the deviation during operation of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the pitch angle of the header relative to Earth's gravity is based, at least in part, on said inclination signal and said height signal of the header.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(e) receiving an updated target pitch angle from one of an operator manually inputting said target pitch angle or the agricultural vehicle communicating said target pitch angle, the updated target pitch angle defined as relative to a ground surface; and

(f) determining the pitch angle of the header relative to the ground surface based, at least in part, on said height signal;

(g) determining a deviation between the updated target pitch angle and the pitch angle determined at step (f); and (h) adjusting said pitch angle of the header using the automated adjustment system to reduce the deviation determined at step (g).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the determined pitch angle represents a pitch angle of a deck-plate, a draper belt, or a floor surface of the header.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said target pitch angle is 17 to 23 degrees.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) comprises calculating the target pitch angle as a function of at least one of a ground speed of the vehicle and a drive line speed of the header of the vehicle.