Agricultural baling machine clutch control
An agricultural system including an agricultural baler and a control unit. The agricultural baler includes a pick-up arrangement for collecting plant matter. The pick-up arrangement includes a roller for feeding crop into the baler. The baler further includes a pick-up drive shaft for moving the roller at a desired rotational speed. The pick-up drive shaft is connected to the roller by a clutch for selectively transferring power between the pick-up drive shaft and the roller. The control unit is configured to: receive clutch-status-data indicative of an engagement status of the clutch; determine a speed-control-signal for varying the rotational speed of the pick-up drive shaft based on the clutch-status-data; and provide the speed-control-signal to a driveline for driving the pick-up drive shaft.
1. An agricultural system, comprising:
an agricultural baler comprising:
a pick-up arrangement for collecting plant matter, the pick-up arrangement comprising a roller for feeding crop into the baler;
a clutch; and
a pick-up drive shaft for moving the roller at a desired rotational speed, the pick-up drive shaft connected to the roller by the clutch for selectively transferring power between the pick-up drive shaft and the roller; and
a control unit configured to:
receive clutch-status-data indicative of an engagement status of the clutch;
determine a speed-control-signal for varying the rotational speed of the pick-up drive shaft based on the clutch-status-data;
provide the speed-control-signal to a driveline for driving the pick-up drive shaft;
determine the speed-control-signal for driving the pick-up drive shaft at:
a first rotational speed for normal operation of the pick-up arrangement and
a second rotational speed for re-engagement of the clutch, the second rotational speed being slower than the first rotational speed; and
determine the speed-control-signal for:
selecting the first rotational speed if the clutch-status-data is indicative of the clutch being engaged; and
selecting the second rotational speed if the clutch-status-data is indicative of clutch-slip occurring in the clutch.
2. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the clutch-status-data comprises one or more of:
clutch-slip-data indicative of a difference in rotational speed between an input side and an output side of the clutch;
position-data indicative of a location of an engagement component of the clutch; and
temperature-data indicative of heat generated within the clutch.
3. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the control-unit is configured to determine the speed-control-signal for selecting the first rotational speed if the clutch-status-data is indicative of the clutch being engaged for a predetermined amount of time, when the pick-up drive shaft is being driven at the second rotational speed.
4. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural baler further comprises a load sensor for determining a load acting on the roller during operation, and wherein the control unit is configured to determine the speed-control-signal applicable to select the first rotational speed only if the load acting on the roller is below a predetermined load threshold.
5. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the second rotational speed is a predetermined speed.
6. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the control unit is configured to determine the second rotational speed, when the clutch-status-data is indicative of clutch-slip occurring in the clutch, by decreasing the rotational speed of the pick-up drive shaft, starting from the first rotational speed, until the clutch-status-data is indicative of the clutch being re-engaged.
7. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the clutch is a radial pin slip-clutch.
8. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural baler further comprises a rotary input shaft connected by the driveline to the pick-up drive shaft, and wherein the driveline includes a transmission for selectively moving the pick-up drive shaft at various speeds that differ from a rotational speed of the input shaft.
9. The agricultural system of claim 8 , wherein the transmission includes a transmission clutch for selectively transferring power between the input shaft and the pick-up drive shaft, and wherein the control unit is configured to provide the speed-control-signal to the transmission clutch to control engagement of the transmission clutch on the basis of the clutch-status-data.
10. An agricultural system, comprising:
an agricultural baler comprising:
a pick-up arrangement for collecting plant matter, the pick-up arrangement comprising a roller for feeding crop into the baler;
a clutch; and
a pick-up drive shaft for moving the roller at a desired rotational speed, the pick-up drive shaft connected to the roller by the clutch for selectively transferring power between the pick-up drive shaft and the roller;
a control unit configured to:
receive clutch-status-data indicative of an engagement status of the clutch;
determine a speed-control-signal for varying the rotational speed of the pick-up drive shaft based on the clutch-status-data; and
provide the speed-control-signal to a driveline for driving the pick-up drive shaft and
a rotary input shaft connected by the driveline to the pick-up drive shaft, and wherein the driveline includes a transmission for selectively moving the pick-up drive shaft at various speeds that differ from a rotational speed of the input shaft
wherein the transmission includes components defining at least first and second selectable transmission ratios between the input shaft and the pick-up drive shaft, the speed-control-signal applicable for selecting the first or the second transmission ratio, and wherein, when the second transmission ratio is selected, the pick-up drive shaft moves at a first rotational speed and, when the first transmission ratio is selected, the pick-up drive shaft moves at a second rotational speed, the second rotational speed being slower than the first rotational speed, and wherein the speed-control-signal is for selecting the first transmission ratio if the clutch-status is indicative of clutch-slip occurring in the clutch.
11. The agricultural system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural system further comprises an agricultural work vehicle connected to the baler.
12. The agricultural system of claim 11 , wherein the control-unit is further configured to determine a work-vehicle-control-signal for slowing or stopping the work vehicle based on the clutch-status-data.
13. A computer-implemented method for controlling an agricultural baler, said agricultural baler comprising:
a pick-up arrangement for collecting plant matter, the pick-up arrangement comprising a roller;
a clutch; and
a pick-up drive shaft for moving the roller at a rotational speed, the pick-up drive shaft connected to the roller by the clutch for selectively transferring power to the roller,
wherein the method comprises:
receiving clutch-status-data indicative of an engagement status of the clutch;
providing a speed-control-signal to a driveline for driving the pick-up drive shaft;
determining the speed-control-signal for driving the pick-up drive shaft at:
a first rotational speed for normal operation of the pick-up arrangement and
a second rotational speed for re-engagement of the clutch, the second rotational speed being slower than the first rotational speed, and
determining the speed-control-signal for:
selecting the first rotational speed if the clutch-status-data is indicative of the clutch being engaged; and
selecting the second rotational speed if the clutch-status-data is indicative of clutch-slip occurring in the clutch.