CNH Industrial Belgium

The present invention provides a crop cutting device (1) comprising a crop guiding surface (3), a plurality of knives (5) arranged side-by-side, wherein each knife (5) is pivotable about a knife axis (7) between a retracted inoperative position. The crop cutting device further comprises a plurality of operating units (11) in parallel to the plurality of knives (5). The crop cutting device comprises a selector mechanism (13) configured to selectively engage one or more of the plurality of operating units (11), wherein the selector mechanism (13) includes a rotatable shaft (17) comprising a plurality of engagement elements (19) configured to engage with the respective operating unit (11). The operating units (11) are movable between a disengaged position and an engaged position by a lifting mechanism (23) comprising an elongate element extending between a first side and a second side of a main frame (21).

In an agricultural implement, a pick-up assembly (1) is coupled to the frame (3) of the implement though at least one hydraulic actuator (15). The actuator comprises a cylinder (20), a first piston (23) and a rod (24) attached to the first piston. The cylinder (20) and the rod (24) are pivotably connected to the pick-up assembly (1) and to the frame (3) or vice versa, so that the actuator enables pivoting at least part of the pick-up assembly about a horizontal pivot axis (6), thereby lifting or lowering the assembly relative to a ground level (2). The cylinder (20) comprises an inlet port (27) positioned so that lifting the pick-up is enabled through the supply of hydraulic fluid to the inlet port. According to the invention, a second piston (25) is arranged in the cylinder, between the inlet port (27) and the first cylinder (23), and the rod (24) comprises an internal channel (24) that provides access to an interior space (33) of the cylinder, situated between the two pistons. This configuration enables setting a fixed stop position by supplying a given volume of hydraulic fluid between the pistons (23,25) or between the second piston (25) and the inlet port (27) of the cylinder, and maintaining said volume in the thus created space.

The present disclosure provides a computer-implemented method of detecting a foreign object inside an agricultural harvester machine (10), the method comprising: harvesting a plurality of crops (40) using the agricultural harvester machine (10); capturing an input image of the plurality of harvested crops (26); reproducing the input image as an output image (58) using a computer algorithm trained on images of crops (62) with no foreign objects; determining a degree of difference between the input image and the output image (58); and determining if a foreign object is present in the input image (56) based on the degree of difference between the input image (56) and the output image (58).

A gauge wheel system for an agricultural header includes a gauge wheel arm assembly configured to rotatably support a gauge wheel and pivotally couple to a header frame of the agricultural header. The gauge wheel system also includes a bell crank configured to pivotally couple to the header frame and a damper pivotally coupled to the gauge wheel arm assembly and the bell crank. The damper is configured to urge the gauge wheel arm assembly to pivot downwardly relative to the header frame while the gauge wheel arm assembly is in a ground-engaging position. The gauge wheel system also includes an actuator coupled to the bell crank and configured to couple to the header frame. The actuator is configured to drive the bell crank to rotate to move the gauge wheel arm assembly between a ground-engaging position and a storage position.

A forage harvester system comprising: a forage harvester configured to harvest crop and process the crop to form crop silage; and one or more processors configured to: receive image data from a mobile device, wherein the image data corresponds to an image of a sample of the crop silage captured by the mobile device; process the image data to determine a kernel processing score; and set one or more machine parameters of the forage harvester based on the kernel processing score.

There is provided a crop processing unit for an agricultural machine (10), the crop processing unit comprising a horizontal shaft (120), a plurality of processing elements (130), an opposing element (140), a first vibration sensor (210), and a controller (230). The horizontal shaft (120) is supported by a first and a second bearing for rotation around a rotational axis. The processing elements (130) are mounted to the horizontal shaft (120) for rotation therewith and configured to rotate past the opposing element (140) for cooperation therewith. The first vibration sensor (210) is positioned at the first bearing and configured to provide a first vibration signal. The controller (230) is configured to receive the first vibration signal and to determine a condition of the processing elements (130) based on the first vibration signal.

A method (200) for determining plant types in a field in front of an agricultural harvester, the method comprising: receiving (210) a radar signal, the radar signal being a reflection of a radio wave from plant material in the field in front of the agricultural harvester; based on the radar signal, distinguishing (220) a first plant type and a second plant type in the plant material; and determining (230) a first plant height for the first plant type and a second plant height for the second plant type, the second plant height being different from the first plant height.

A belt drive system (200) for a functional unit of an agricultural machine comprises a driven pulley (210) and a driving pulley (220), a drive belt (230), a tensioner system (240) for tensioning the drive belt (230), and a vibration sensor (250). The drive belt (230) interconnects the driven pulley (210) with the driving pulley (220). The vibration sensor (250) is positioned on the tensioner system (240) and configured to provide a vibration signal.

A computer-implemented method for detecting components in a crop flow of a harvesting machine, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of images of a first crop flow captured by a first image sensor; receiving a plurality of images of a second crop flow captured by a second image sensor, wherein the second image sensor is in a different location of the harvesting machine than the first image sensor; preparing a first training data set comprising the images of the first crop flow; fine-tuning a first machine learning model using the first training data set wherein fine-tuning comprises: identifying a first component in the first training data set; and identifying a first set of features associated with the first component; and applying the fine-tuned machine learning model to the images of the second crop flow to recognise the first component using the first set of features.

Control system (12) including a blower (42) configured to output an airflow (46) via a blower output flow passage (60), a heating system (40) configured to receive the airflow (46) from the blower (42), a heating system valve (80) positioned between the heating system (40) and the blower (42), a computing system (84) communicatively coupled to the blower (42), the heating system (40), and the heating system valve (80), and configured to receive an input, and when the input is related to a change in state of the blower (42), to delay actuation of the blower (42) for a first time period, to alter a blower (42) state during a second time period, to maintain the heating system valve (80) in the target position during the second time period, and to alter a position of the heating system valve (80) to an operation position after an expiration of the second time period.