Harvester boom control

Claim 2

A control for a boom conveyor adapted to be pivoted about a horizontal axis and including a discharge end spaced from said axis for delivering material from said discharge end downward onto a receiving pile in a receptacle, comprising: ultrasonic transducer means pivotally mounted at the discharge end of the conveyor boom for continuously monitoring the spacing between the discharge end and the upper surface of the receiving pile and for producing an output signal indicating the spacing between the discharge end and the upper surface of the pile; drive means for raising or lowering the discharge end of the conveyor relative to the surface of said receiving pile; output signal translating means operatively connecting said ultrasonic transducer means and said drive means, said output signal translating means being responsive to said output signal of the ultrasonic transducer means for operating said drive means to continuously maintain the spacing between the discharge end and the upper surface of said receiving pile at a preselected distance; and means operatively interconnecting the ultrasonic transducer means and the boom conveyor for pivoting the ultrasonic transducer means in response to pivotal movement of the boom conveyor to maintain the ultrasonic transducer means directed toward the upper surface of the pile independently of the angular orientation of the boom conveyor.

Claim 3

The boom control set out in claim 1 further comprising manual override control means for enabling a user to manually control the operation of the output signal translating means.

Claim 4

A boom control for a mobile crop harvesting implement having a boom conveyor for delivering harvested material from the implement to an independently mobile receptacle such as a truck bed, said boom conveyor including: a main boom section mounted at one end thereof to the implement for pivotable movement about a horizontal axis thereon; an end boom section pivotably mounted to the remaining end of saiD main boom for pivotal movement about a pivot axis thereon parallel to said horizontal axis; first power means connected between the implement and the main boom section for operating the main boom section to pivot about said horizontal axis; and second power means connected between the main boom and the end boom for operating the end boom to pivot about said pivot axis between prescribed upper and lower angular limits relative to said main boom section; said boom control comprising: an ultrasonic monitoring means for continuously monitoring the distance between a discharge end of said end boom section and the upper surface of a material receiving pile below said discharge end, and for producing an output signal indicating the spacing between the discharge end and the upper surface of the pile; output signal translating means responsive to said output signal for selectively operating said second power means to continuously maintain the spacing between said discharge end and said upper surface at a preselected distance; and sensing means operatively interconnecting said main boom section and said end boom section for detecting angular movement of said end boom section at said upper and lower angular limits and operable to actuate said first power means to pivot the main boom section upwardly when the end boom section has reached the upper angular limit and to pivot the main boom section downwardly when the end boom section has reached the lower angular limit.

Claim 5

A boom control for a mobile crop harvesting implement having a boom conveyor for delivering harvested material from the implement to an independently mobile receptacle such as a truck bed, said boom conveyor including: a main boom section mounted at one end thereof to the implement for pivotable movement about a horizontal axis thereon; an end boom section pivotably mounted to the remaining end of saiD main boom for pivotal movement about a pivot axis thereon parallel to said horizontal axis; first power means connected between the implement and the main boom section for operating the main boom section to pivot about said horizontal axis; and second power means connected between the main boom and the end boom for operating the end boom to pivot about said pivot axis between prescribed upper and lower angular limits relative to said main boom section; said boom control comprising: an ultrasonic monitoring means for continuously monitoring the distance between a discharge end of said end boom section and the upper surface of a material receiving pile below said discharge end, and for producing an output signal indicating the spacing between the discharge end and the upper surface of the pile; output signal translating means responsive to said output signal for selectively operating said second power means to continuously maintain the spacing between said discharge end and said upper surface at a preselected distance; and sensing means operatively interconnecting said main boom section and said end boom section for detecting angular movement of said end boom section at said upper and lower angular limits and operable to actuate said first power means to pivot the main boom section upwardly when the end boom section has reached the upper angular limit and to pivot the main boom section downwardly when the end boom section has reached the lower angular limit.

Claim 6

The boom control set out in claim 3 further comprising manual override control means for enabling a user to manually control the operation of the output signal translating means and said sensing means.

Claim 7

The boom control set out in claim 3 wherein the ultrasonic level monitoring means includes an ultrasonic transducer mounted at the discharge end of the conveyor boom and positioning means operatively interconnecting the ultrasonic transducer and the end boom section for pivoting the ultrasonic transducer in response to pivotal movement of the end boom section to maintain the ultrasonic transducer directed toward said upper surface at the pile independently of the angular orientation of the end boom section.

Claim 8

The boom control set out in claim 3 further comprising auxiliary sensing means for detecting impending lateral contact of said end boom section with a relatively stationary object such as an upright end wall of a truck bed, and automatically operating said first and second power means to pivot said main boom and end boom sections upwardly clear of the object.