Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
GRAIN CART WITH AUTOMATIC UNLOADING OF A PREDETERMINED
WEIGHT OF CROP MATERIAL
The present invention relates to a grain cart and more particularly to
components and
methods for automatically unloading a predetermined weight of crop material
from the
grain cart.
BACKGROUND
Grain carts are typically used to transfer grain or other crop material from a
combine
harvester to a grain truck or bin. The grain cart typically comprises a
storage hopper for
crop material, an auger assembly for emptying crop material from the storage
hopper and
to a set of ground wheels so that the grain cart can be towed. A tractor is
commonly used to
tow the grain cart and the auger assembly of the grain cart can be driven off
of the power
take off (PTO) of the tractor (although hydraulics, etc. could also be used to
power the
auger assembly).
in use, the grain cart is towed by the tractor to a combine harvester where
the crop
material is unloaded from the combine harvester into the grain cart. With the
crop
material loaded into the storage hopper of the grain cart, the tractor can tow
the grain cart
to a truck, trailer, storage bin, etc. and use the auger assembly to unload
the crop material
from the grain cart into the truck, trailer, storage bin, etc.
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Date Recue/Date Received 2020-11-06
CA 2959257 2017-02-28
If an operator wants to unload a specific amount (weight) of crop material
from a grain
cart. The operator will typically watch a monitor inside the cab of the tow
vehicle that
shows how much the crop material currently in the grain cart weighs and when
the
desired weight of crop material has been removed, the operator can stop the
crop material
from being discharged from the gain cart (typically by shutting gates in the
bottom of the
grain cart storage hopper or by stopping the auger assembly on the grain
cart). However,
manually doing this requires a near constant attention by the operator because
he or she
has to watch the weight of the crop material decreasing on the monitor and
manually
press a switch or button to stop the crop material from continuing to be
discharged out of
the grain cart. If this operator is not paying enough attention, he or she
could unload too
much crop material from the grain cart before he or she realizes it.
Alternatively, even if
the operator is paying close attention, he or she has to use their best
judgement of when to
stop the crop material from being discharged. Judging when to stop the crop
material
from being discharged from the grain cart can be difficult since many grain
cart,
IS especially the larger gain carts, can discharge crop material quite
fast. If the operator
presses the necessary switch or button to stop the crop material too early or
too late, the
desired weight of crop material will not be discharged out of the gain cart.
Additionally,
even after the gates are shut by the operator, there is still crop material in
the auger
assembly, so crop material can continue to be discharged from the grain cart
even after
the gates have been closed and until all the crop material still present in
the auger
assembly when the gates were closed have been discharged out of the gain cart.
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There have been some attempts to automate the unloading of a predetermined
weight of
crop material from a grain cart, but they have been overly complex and usually
involve
modifications or changes to the hydraulics on the grain cart in order to
operate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first aspect, a grain cart is provided. The grain cart can have a frame,
at least two
ground wheels attached to the frame, a hitch assembly attached to a front end
of the
frame, a storage hopper provided on the frame, the storage hopper having a
center portion
in a bottom of the storage hopper, an auger assembly operatively connected to
the storage
hopper to discharge particulate material from the storage hopper out of the
grain cart, a
transport assembly provided beneath the center portion of the storage hopper
to direct
crop material into the auger assembly, at least one opening in the center
portion of the
storage hopper leading into the transport assembly, a selectively openable
gate associated
with each of the at least one opening and operable to cover and uncover the
opening, a
gate actuator operably connected to each gate and operable to open and close
each gate,
at least one load cell positioned on the grain cart to measure a weight of
crop material in
the grain cart, a gate close switch, an indicator operably connected to the at
least one load
cell, the indicator operative to receive signals from the at least one load
cell indicating the
weight measured by the at least one load cell and to send an electrical signal
on an output
connection in response to a predetermined weight of crop material being
removed from
the grain cart, and at least one close gate conductor wire operatively
connected between
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the gate close switch and the gate actuator such that a voltage applied to the
at least one
close gate conductor wire will cause the gate actuator to close each gate, the
output
connection electrically connected to the at least one close gate conductor
wire. When the
indicator sends the electrical signal on the output connection, the electrical
signal passes
to the at least one close gate conductor wire and the gate actuator closes
each gate.
In as second aspect, an automatic unload wiring harness for modifying a grain
cart to
automatically unload an amount of crop material is provided. The automatic
unload
harness has a first connector connectable to a control interface wiring
harness connector,
a second connector connectable to a hydraulic wiring harness connector, an
indicator
connector connectable to an output connection of an indicator and a plurality
of
automatic unload conductor wires connected between the first connector and the
second
connector. A third gate close conductor wire is one of the plurality of
automatic unload
conductor wires, the third gate close conductor electrically connecting a
first gate close
conductor wire and a third gate close conductor wire when the first connector
of the
automatic unload wiring harness is connected to the control interface wiring
harness
connector and the second connector of the automatic unload wiring harness is
connected
to the hydraulic wiring harness connector. The indicator connector is
electrically
connected to the third gate close conductor. The first gate close conductor
wire is
electrically connected to a close gate switch and the second gate close
conductor wire is
electrically connected to a gate solenoid valve connected to a gate actuator.
The gate
solenoid valve operative to cause the gate actuator to close a gate, stopping
crop material
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from discharging from a storage hopper of the grain cart in response to a
voltage being
supplied on the second gate close conductor to the gate solenoid valve.
In a third aspect, a method of modifying a grain cart to automatically unload
a
predetermined weight of crop material is provided. The method including
providing a
grain cart having a storage hopper for storing crop material, at least one
load cell
positioned on the grain cart to measure a weight of crop material in the grain
cart, and at
least one close gate conductor wire operatively connected between a gate close
switch
and a gate actuator such that a voltage applied to the at least one close gate
conductor
wire causes the gate actuator to close a gate in the storage hopper stopping
crop material
from discharging out of the storage hopper, providing an indicator operably
connected to
the at least one load cell, the indicator operative to receive signals from
the at least one
load cell indicating the weight measured by the at least one load cell and to
send an
electrical signal on an output connection in response to a predetennined
weight of crop
material being removed from the grain cart; and electrically connecting the
output
connection of the indicator to the at least one close gate conductor wire.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below with
reference to the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grain cart;
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FIG. 2 is a side view of the grain cart of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a top view of the grain cart of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a front view of the grain cart of FIG. 1 with the auger assembly in
an
operating position;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the grain cart of FIG. 1 with the auger assembly in
a
transport position;
FIG. 6 is a view of the bottom of a storage hopper of a grain cart with
openings to
a transport assembly;
FIG. 7 is a view of the bottom of the storage hopper of FIG. 6 with the
openings
closed by gates;
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a control interface to control the operation
of a
grain cart;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an indicator displaying and storing weight
information from a load cell on the grain cart;
FIG. 10 is a schematic illustration of an automatic unload relay harness that
can
be added to a grain cart to allow the grain cart to automatically unload a
predetermined weight of crop material from the grain cart; and
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FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of electrical connections between the control
interface and solenoids for the hydraulics on the grain cart used by the grain
cart
to automatically unload a predetermined weight of crop material from the grain
cart.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS
FIGS. 1-5 illustrates a grain cart 10 that can automatically unload a
predetermined weight
of crop material. The grain cart 10 can have a frame 20, ground wheels 30, a
hitch
assembly 40, a storage hopper 60 for storing crop material and an auger
assembly 80.
Crop material can be loaded into the storage hopper 60 for transport to
another location.
When the grain cart 10 has been towed by a tow vehicle to another location,
the auger
assembly 80 can be used to unload the crop material from the storage hopper 60
on the
grain cart 10.
The frame 20 can support the storage hopper 60 and the ground wheels 30 can be
operatively attached to the frame 20. Typically, there are two ground wheels
30 per side.
In one aspect, the ground wheel 30 may be part of a track assembly where a
track
encircles the ground wheels 30 on each side of the grain cart 10 to provide
tracks instead
of tires for the grain cart 10. The hitch assembly 40 can be connected to the
front of the
frame 20 and the hitch assembly 40 can then be hitched to a tow vehicle, such
as a tractor
(not shown), to tow the grain cart 10.
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A power take off (PTO) assembly 45 can be provided on the grain cart 10 that
is
connectable to a power take off on a tow vehicle (not shown). The PTO assembly
45
takes rotational motion transferred to it by the tow vehicle and can use this
rotational
motion to drive the auger assembly 80 and other assemblies on the grain cart
10.
The storage hopper 60 can have an interior portion for storing crop material.
The upper
side walls 62 of the storage hopper 60 can be relatively vertical while the
lower walls 64
can be angled inwards to direct crop material into a center portion 66 at the
bottom of the
hopper 60. Crop material loaded into the storage hopper 60 will be directed by
gravity by
these angled lower walls 64 towards the center portion 66 in the bottom of the
storage
hopper 60.
One or more load cells 48 can be provided on the grain cart 10 to take
measurements of
the weight of the storage hopper 60 and/or the grain cart 10 and therefore
also the weight
of any crop material contained in the storage hopper 60. The load cells 48 can
be
provided in a number of positions to weigh the storage hopper 60 and/or the
grain cart 10.
However, in one aspect, load cells 48 can be provided on the hitch assembly 40
to
measure a tongue weight of the grain cart, and a load cell 48 in a hub of each
wheel 30 or
on a mounting frame if tracks are installed. By measuring the weight of the
grain cart 10
when it is empty, using the load cells 48, a weight of crop material in the
grain cart 10
can easily be obtained by subtracting the weight of the grain cart 10 when it
is empty
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from the weight of the grain cart 10 measured by the load cells 48 when the
grain cart 10
contains crop material.
FIGS. 6 and 7 shows the center portion 66 in the bottom of the storage hopper
60.
Typically, a screen can be provided over the center portion 66, but it is not
shown in
these figures to better illustrate the components in the center portion 66.
The center
portion 66 of the storage hopper 60 can have a series of selectively openable
gates 72 and
corresponding openings 74 beneath the gates 72. Beneath these openings 74 a
transport
assembly 70 for moving crop material that has fallen through the openings 74
and into
the transport assembly 70 can be provided so that the openings 74 lead into
the transport
assembly 70. The transport assembly 70 can move crop material, that has fallen
through
the openings 64, towards the front of the gain cart 10 and into the auger
assembly 80. In
the auger assembly 80, the crop material can be moved up the auger assembly 80
to be
discharged out of the grain cart 10.
The transport assembly 70 is typically a pair of augers and corresponding
auger housings,
but it can also be a conveyor belt, etc. and the transport assembly 70 can be
driven by the
PTO assembly 45. In another aspect, if an intake end of the auger assembly 80
extends
under the center portion 66 of the storage hopper 60, such as in a grain cart
with corner-
auger configurations, the transport assembly 60 may be a hopper or chute to
direct the
crop material falling through the openings 74 into the auger assembly 80.
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FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of the grain cart 10 where the auger assembly
80 is in an
operating position ready to discharge crop material out of the grain cart 10
and into an
adjacent truck, trailer, storage bin, etc. and FIG. 5 shows the auger assembly
80 folded up
into a transport position. The auger assembly 80 can have a lower auger
section 110 and
an upper auger section 120. When the auger assembly 80 is in the operating
position, the
upper auger section 120 and the lower auger section 110 can be positioned
coaxial to one
another.
The lower auger section 110 and the upper auger section 120 can each have a
driveshaft
and auger fighting inside. The auger fighting in the lower auger section 110
will convey
crop material up the lower auger section 110 and the auger fighting in the
upper auger
section 120. The lower auger section 110 can have an intake end 112 that is
joined with
an outlet of the transport assembly 70 so that crop material that has reached
the end of the
transport assembly 70 is conveyed into the intake end 112 of the lower auger
section 110.
This crop material will then be conveyed up the lower auger section 110 by the
fighting
in the lower auger section 110 until it reaches a top end 114 of the lower
auger section
110. From the top end 114 of the lower auger section 110, the crop material
can be
transferred to the bottom end 122 of the upper auger section 120 and the
fighting in the
upper auger section 120 can convey the crop material up the upper auger
section 120 to a
discharge end 124 of the upper auger section 120.
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The discharge end 124 of the upper auger section 120 can be pivotally
connected to a
discharge assembly 140. A spout 150 can be provided on the discharge assembly
140 to
direct the flow of crop material exiting from the discharge end 140 of the
upper auger
section 120.
.. When the grain cart 10 is to be transported, especially over relatively
long distances, the
upper auger section 120 can be pivoted around a pivot hinge 130 so that the
upper auger
section 120 is no longer coaxial with the lower auger section 110, but rather,
rotated
around the hinge 130 to be placed closer to parallel with the lower auger
section 110 and
adjacent to the lower auger section 110 so that the upper auger section 120
does not
extend significantly beyond the side of the storage hopper 60 when the grain
cart 10 is in
the transport position like it does when it is in the operating position.
The hydraulics on the grain cart 10 that control a number of the functions of
the grain cart
10 can be controlled by a control interface 300 provided in a cab of a tow
vehicle (not
shown) where the operator of the tow vehicle has access to the control
interface 300.
Typically, the control interface 300 for the grain cart 10 can be a joystick
such as the one
shown in FIG. 8, however, the control interface 300 could also take other
fortns. On the
controls interface 300 there is typically a plurality of switches (buttons)
that allow the
operator of the tow vehicle to control the various functions of the grain cart
10. Among
these various switches on the control interface 300 is an auger out switch 302
that causes
the auger assembly 80 on the grain cart 10 to fold out to the operating
position and an
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auger in switch 304 that causes the auger assembly 80 to fold in to the
transport position.
An operator can open the gates 74 in the center portion 66 of the storage
hopper 60 by
engaging a gate open switch by pulling the entire control interface 300
backwards
towards the operator, to activate the switch. The operator can also stop the
movement of
.. the gates 74 by releasing the control interface 300 or close the gates 74
by engaging a
gate close switch by pushing the entire control interface 300 forwards away
from the
operator.
Additionally, there can be a number of other switches that control other
functions of the
grain cart 10, such as the in and out movement of the spout 150, the moving up
and down
of the auger assembly 80, etc.
The control interface 300 and more particularly the switches making up the
control
interface 300 are connected to a control interface wiring harness 330
comprising a
plurality of insulated wires bundled together. The control interface wiring
harness 300
can connect to a hydraulic wiring harness on the grain cart 10. Each
individual wire in
the control interface wiring harness 330 can be connected to one of the
switches in the
control interface 300 so that an electrical signal can be transmitted through
the wire in
response the operator pressing the switch on the control interface 300 the
wire is
connected to. Additionally, a wire in the control interface wiring harness 330
can carry
an electrical signal from the gate open switch and another wire can carry an
electrical
signal from the gate close switch.
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Unlike the hydraulics on the grain cart 10, the auger assembly 80 and the
transport
assembly 70 can be controlled by the operator of the tow vehicle by
controlling the
operation of the tow vehicle's power take off connected to the PTO assembly 45
on the
grain cart 10.
The load cells 48 can be operatively connected to an indicator 400 in the cab
of the two
vehicle. The indicator 400 can be a processing device with at least one
processor and at
least one computer readable memory capable of storing data and program
instructions the
at least one processor can implement so that the indicator 400 is able to
store data, follow
program instructions stored in the computer readable membory and perform
calculations
on the data. Signals can be transmitted from the load cells 48 indicating the
weights
measured by each of the load cells 48 on the grain cart 10 to the indicator
400 in the cab
of the tow vehicle so that the indicator 400 can used these different weight
to determine
the weight of the grain cart 10. The indicator 400 can have a display 402 on
which
information can be displayed to the operator of the tow vehicle such as the
current weight
being measured by the load cells 48, the weight of the grain cart 10 and crop
material, the
weight of the crop material in the grain cart 10, etc.
In one aspect, the indicator 400 can also store the information received from
the load
cells 48 during specific periods when the grain cart 10 is discharging crop
material out of
it using the auger assembly 80 and store this weight information. A proximity
sensor can
determine when the PTO assembly 45 starts operating and therefore the
transport
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assembly 70 and the auger assembly 80 start operating and a signal from the
proximity
sensor when this occurs can be used by the indicator 400 to start storing the
measurements of the load cells 48 (logging). While the auger assembly 80 is
running, the
indicator 400 can continue to obtain and store weight measurements from the
load cells
48. The indicator 400 can stop storing the weight measurements when the
proximity
sensor determines that the PTO assembly 45 has stopped operating; meaning the
transport
assembly 70 and the auger assembly 80 are no longer operating and moving crop
material
through them. In this manner, the indicator 400 will automatically log the
weight
measurements taken by the load cells 48 while crop material is discharged out
of the
grain cart 10 and this logging will be automatically stopped when the PTO
assembly 45 is
once again stopped and no crop material is being discharged out of the grain
cart 10.
In one aspect, an automatic unload wiring harness 350 can be used to make a
grain cart
10 capable of automatically unloading a desired weight of crop material from
the storage
hopper 60 without the manual intervention of the operator. Referring to FIG.
10, the
automatic unload wiring harness 350 can be connected between the control
interface
wiring harness 330 connected to the control interface 300 and the hydraulic
wiring
harness 340 connected to the hydraulics on the grain cart 10. A first
connector 352 can
be provided for connecting to a control interface wiring harness connector 332
on the
control interface wiring harness 330 and a second connector 354 can be
provided for
connecting to a hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 on the hydraulic wiring
harness
340. An indicator connector 356 can be provided for connection to an output
connection
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370 connected to the indicator 400. Optionally, a relay 360 can be provided in
the
automatic unload wiring harness 350 connected to the indicator connector 356
if the
voltage supplied by the indicator 400 along the output connection 370 is a
relatively low
voltage.
Typically, the control interface wiring harness connector 332 will be
connected to the
hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 to connect the control interface wiring
harness to
the hydraulic wiring harness 340 of the grain cart 10. Typically, the
hydraulic wiring
harness connector 342 is positioned in proximity to the hitch assembly 40 so
that a person
can connect the hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 to the control
interface wiring
.. harness connector 332 when the grain cart 10 is hitched to the tow vehicle.
To install the automatic unload wiring harness 350, the control interface
wiring harness
connector 332 and the hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 can simply be
disconnected from one another and the automatic unload wiring harness 350
connected in
between. The output connection 370 from the indicator 400 can be run alongside
the
control interface wiring harness 330 (and attached along the control interface
wiring
harness 330 if desired) and the output connection 370 can be connected to the
indicator
connector 356 on the automatic unload wiring harness 350. The automatic unload
wiring
harness 350 will then be installed inline with the control interface wiring
harness 330 and
the hydraulic wiring harness 340.
CA 2959257 2017-02-28
Referring to FIG. 11 a schematic illustration of the automatic unload wiring
harness 350
is shown. The automatic unload wiring harness 350 can be connected to the
control
interface wiring harness 330 by connecting the first connector 352 of the
automatic
unload wiring harness 350 to the control interface wiring harness connector
332 on the
control interface wiring harness 330. The automatic unload wiring harness 350
can also
be connected to the hydraulic wiring harness 340 by connecting the second
connector 354
of the automatic wiring harness 350 to the hydraulic wiring harness connector
342 on the
hydraulic wiring harness 340. The indicator connector 356 of the automatic
unload
wiring harness 350 can be connected to the output connection 370 connected to
the
indicator 400. With these connections made, the automatic unload harness 350
will be
installed in line with the control interface wiring harness 330 and the
hydraulic wiring
harness 340.
The control interface wiring harness 330 can contain a plurality of control
interface
conductor wires 338 and the hydraulic wiring harness 340 can also contain a
plurality of
hydraulic conductor wires 348. Each of the control interface conductor wires
338 can be
operably connected to a switch in the control interface 300. Typically, each
of the
hydraulic conductor wires 348 in the hydraulic wiring harness 340 will
correspond with
one of the control interface conductor wires 338 in the control interface
wiring harness
330 so that when the control interface wiring harness connector 332 is
connected to the
hydraulic wiring harness connector 342, each of the control interface
conductor wires 338
is operably connected by the control interface wiring harness connector 332
and the
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hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 to the corresponding hydraulic
conductor wire
348.
A close gate conductor wire 338A can be provided as one of control interface
conductor
wires 338 in the control interface wiring harness 330. The close gate
conductor wire
338A can be operatively connected to a close gate switch 450 in the control
interface 300
so that engaging the close gate switch 450 using the control interface 300
will supply a
voltage on the close gate conductor wire 338A.
A corresponding close gate conductor wire 348A can be provided in the
hydraulic wiring
harness 340 and when the control interface wiring harness connector 332 and
the
hydraulic wiring harness connector 342 are connected, the close gate conductor
wire
338A in the control interface wiring harness 330 will be operatively connected
to the
close gate conductor wire 348A in the hydraulic wiring harness 340.
The automatic unload wiring harness 350 can have a plurality of automatic
unload
conductor wires 358 that correspond to the control interface conductor wires
338 in the
control interface wiring harness 330 and the hydraulic conductor wires 340 in
the
hydraulic wiring harness 340. When the automatic unloading harness 350 is
connected
between the control interface wiring harness 330 and the hydraulic wiring
harness 340,
the automatic unload conductor wires 358 in the automatic unload wiring
harness 350
will operatively connect each of the hydraulic conductor wires 348 with the
corresponding control interface conductor wires 338.
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The close gate conductor wire 358A can be provided as one of the automatic
unload
conductor wires 358 in the automatic unload wiring harness 350 and the open
gate
conductor wire 358B can be provided as an other of the automatic unload
conductor
wires 358. When the automatic unload wiring harness 350 is connected between
the
control interface wiring harness 330 and the hydraulic wiring harness 340, the
close gate
conductor wire 358A in the automatic unload wiring harness 350 will
operatively and
electrically connect the close gate conductor wire 338A in the control
interface wiring
harness 330 with the close gate conductor wire 338A in the hydraulic wiring
harness 340
and the open gate conductor wire 358B in the automatic unload wiring harness
350 will
operatively and electrically connect the open gate conductor wire 338B in the
control
interface wiring harness 330 with the open gate conductor wire 338B in the
hydraulic
wiring harness 340
The close gate conductor wire 348A in the hydraulic wiring harness 340 can be
attached
to a first input 462 on a double acting gate solenoid valve 460. A second
input 464 on the
gate solenoid valve 460 can be connected to an open gate conductor wire 348B
in the
hydraulic wiring harness 340, which can in turn be operatively connected to an
open gate
conductor wire 358B in the automatic unload wiring harness 350, an open gate
conductor
wire 338B in the control interface wiring harness 330 and thereby to an open
gate switch
452 in the control interface 300.
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A voltage supplied to the first input 462 of the gate solenoid valve 460 can
cause the gate
solenoid valve 460 to direct hydraulic fluid to a gate actuator 470, such as a
double acting
hydraulic cylinder, that is operably connected to the gates 72 in the center
portion 66 of
the storage hopper 60 in such a manner that the gate actuator 470 closes the
gates 72.
Conversely, a voltage supplied to the second input 464 of the gate solenoid
valve 460 by
the gate open conductor wire 348B and ultimately by an operator engaging the
gate open
switch 452 on the control interface 300, can cause the gate solenoid valve 460
to direct
hydraulic fluid to a gate actuator 470 in such a manner that the gate actuator
470 closes
the gates 72.
The indicator connector 356 of the automatic unload wiring harness 350 can be
connected to the output connection 370 connected to the indicator 400. The
indicator
connector 356 can be operably connected to the close gate conducting wire 358A
of the
automatic unload wiring harness 350. In this manner, a voltage supplied by the
indicator
400 on the output connection 370 will pass along the indicator connector 356
to the close
gate conductor wire 358A in the automatic unload wiring harness 350 and along
the close
gate conductor wire 358A to the close gate conductor wire 348A in the
hydraulic wiring
harness 340 and to the first input 462 of the gate solenoid valve 460.
Optionally, a relay 360 can be provided in the automatic unload wiring harness
350
connected between the indicator connector 356 and the gate close conductor
wire 358A.
In this manner, if the indicator 400 provides a relative low voltage on the
output
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connection 370 (a voltage too low to activate the gate solenoid valve 460),
when this low
voltage reaches the relay 360, the relay 360 can supply a higher voltage to
the close gate
conductor wire 358A in the automatic unload wiring harness 350 and thereby to
the close
gate conductor wire 348A in the hydraulic wiring harness 340. This higher
voltage
supplied by the relay 360 can be enough to trigger the gate solenoid valve
460. In one
aspect, this voltage supplied by the relay 360 can be 12 volts.
The automatic unload wiring harness 350 can receive a voltage signal from the
indicator
400 and increase the voltage of this signal, if necessary, using the relay 360
before
providing this voltage to the close gate conductor wire 358A in the automatic
unload
wiring harness 350. This voltage can then be supplied to the close gate
conductor wire
348A on the hydraulic wiring harness 340 and therefore to the first input 462
on the gate
solenoid valve 460. The gate solenoid valve 460 will react in the same manner
as if an
operator engaged the close gate switch 450 using the control interface 300 by
routing
hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic actuator 470 in such a manner that the
hydraulic actuator
470 will close the gates 72 in the bottom of the storage hopper 60.
To use the automatic unloading of a desired weight of crop material from the
grain cart
10, an operator can set a desired weight of crop material to be unloaded from
the grain
cart 10 and when this predetermined weight is reached, the gates 72 in the
center portion
66 of the storage hopper 60 can be automatically closed and the unloading of
the crop
CA 2959257 2017-02-28
material stopped so that only the desired predetermined weight of crop
material has been
unloaded from the gain cart 10 without intervention of the operator of the tow
vehicle.
An operator can enter the desired weight of crop material he or she would like
unloaded
from the grain cart 10 into the indicator 400 . Then when the operator is
ready, he or she
can use the power take off of the tow vehicle to start the transport assembly
70 and the
auger assembly 80 operating. The proximity sensor can determine that the PTO
assembly
45 has started rotating and send a signal to the indicator 400 to start it
logging (i.e.
storing) weight measurements obtained from the load cell 48.
When the operator is ready, he or she can trigger the gate open switch 452 by
pulling the
control interface 300 towards the operator. This will send a voltage along the
open gate
conducting wire 338B in the control interface wiring harness 330, through the
open gate
conducting wire 358B in the automatic unload wiring harness 350 and through
the open
gate conducting wire 348B in the hydraulic wiring harness 340 until it reaches
the second
input 464 on the gate solenoid valve 460. Upon receiving this voltage on the
second
input 464, the gate solenoid valve 460 can send hydraulic fluid to the gate
actuator 470
which will open the gates 72 in the center portion 66 of the storage hopper
60,
uncovering the openings 74 in the center portion 66 of the storage hopper 60.
With the
openings 74 uncovered, crop material in the storage hopper 60 can drop through
the
openings 74 and into the transport assembly 70 beneath the center portion 66
of the
storage hopper 60. Once in the transport assembly 70, the transport assembly
70 will
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move the crop material into the intake of the auger assembly 80. The auger
assembly 80
will move the crop material up the auger assembly 80 until it is discharged
out the
discharge assembly 140 and the spout 150 of the auger assembly 80.
While the crop material is being unloaded out of the storage hopper 60, the
weight of the
storage hopper 60 is repeatedly being measured by the load cells 48 and data
indicating
this measured weight is being transmitted to the indicator 400 so that the
indicator 400
can use the data to determine the weight of the grain cart 10 and the crop
material which
can then be used to determine the weight of just the crop material in the
storage hopper
60. As the crop material continues to be unloaded from the storage hopper 60
the weight
measured by the load cell 48 will continually be decreasing because more and
more crop
material is discharging from the storage hopper 60.
When the indicator 400 determines that the desired weight of crop material has
been
unloaded (or will soon be loaded), the indicator 400 can transmit an
electrical signal
along the output connection 370. This electrical signal can be passed to the
automatic
unload harness 350 where it will be passed to the close gate conductor wire
358A. The
relay 360 can be used to boost the electrical signal from the indicator 400 to
a voltage
sufficient (such as 12 volts) to trigger the gate solenoid valve 460
controlling the gate
actuator 470. With the electrical voltage on the close gate conductor wire
358A of the
automatic unload wiring harness 350 and the close gate conductor wire 348A of
the
hydraulic wiring harness 340, the gate solenoid valve 460 would receive the
same voltage
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that it would expect to see from the gate close switch 450, even though the
operator is not
pushing the control interface 300 forwards to engage the gate close switch
450. Once the
gate solenoid valve 460 receives this voltage, it would alter the flow of
hydraulic fluid to
the gate actuator 470 to close the gates 72 and thereby cover the openings 74
in the center
portion 66 of the storage hopper 60 stopping any more crop material from
exiting from
the storage hopper 60.
In this manner, the operator in the cab of the tow vehicle does not have to
pay attention to
the decreasing weight of the storage hopper 60 as provided on the display 402
of the
indicator 400 and instead when the desired predetermined weight is reached,
the indicator
400 can send a signal to the automatic unload wiring harness 350 that provides
the same
voltage the gate solenoid valve 460 would expect to see if the gate close
switch 450 was
engaged and as a result the gate solenoid valve 460 can route hydraulic fluid
to the gate
actuator 470 to close the gates 72 in the center portion 66 of the storage
hopper 60 to be
closed.
Because the transport assembly 70 and the auger assembly 80 each have a
substantial
length, a relatively substantial amount of crop material can still be present
in the transport
assembly 70 and the auger assembly 80 after the gates 72 are closed. As a
result, crop
material will not stop discharging out of the discharge assembly 140 of the
auger
assembly 80 as soon as the gates 72 are closed, but instead, crop material
will continue
being discharged out of the discharge assembly 140 of the auger assembly 80
until all of
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the crop material has been moved out of the transport assembly 70 and the
auger
assembly 80. This causes a delay between when the gates 72 are closed and when
crop
material stops being discharged out of the auger assembly 80. In one aspect,
an operator
can enter a pre-set threshold value indicating that the gates 72 should be
closed before the
predetermined weight of crop material is measured by the load cells 48. For
example, the
operator might set this threshold value as 99% or 98% of the desired weight of
crop
material. This threshold value can then be used to modify the desired weight
of crop
material entered by the operator in the indicator 400 into the predetermined
weight of
crop material the indicator 400 is monitoring for and when this predetennined
weight of
crop material is measured by the load cells 48, the indicator 400 can generate
an electrical
signal along the output connection 370. For example, if the threshold value is
99% or
98%, the predetermined weight of crop material the indicator 400 is monitoring
for will
be 99% or 98% of the desired weight of crop material entered by the operator
into the
indicator 400. In this manner, the gates 72 will be closed before the desired
weight of
crop material input by the operator is measured by the load cells 48, when the
predetermined weight of crop material is reached, and the gates 72 will be
closed and
then the crop material remaining in the transport assembly 70 and auger
assembly 80 will
continue to discharge out of the grain cart 10 until it is also discharged.
With this system, if at any time during the unloading of the crop material and
before the
desired predetermined weight of crop material has been unloaded, the operator
can
engage the gate close switch 450 by pushing the control interface 300
forwards. This
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would still send the proper voltage through the control interface wiring
harness 330, the
automatic unload wiring harness 350 and the hydraulic wiring harness 340 to
the gate
solenoid valve 460 which will alter the flow of hydraulic fluid to the gate
actuator 470
causing the hydraulic actuator 470 to close the gates 72. In this manner, the
operator will
still have manual control over closing the gates 72 and stopping the flow of
crop material
through them before the desired predetermined weight of crop material is
reached. This
can allow the operator to stop it early if he or she changes his mind, there
is a problem,
etc. This also can improve the safety of the system because the operator can
manually
override the operation of the grain cart 10 and manually control the closing
of the gates
72.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the
invention.
Further, since numerous changes and modifications will readily occur to those
skilled in
the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction
and operation
shown and described, and accordingly, all such suitable changes or
modifications in
structure or operation which may be resorted to are intended to fall within
the scope of
the claimed invention.
