The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 07, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 10, 1997
Andrew James Scarlett, Shefford, GB;
John Charles Lowe, Bedford, GB;
New Holland North America, Inc., New Holland, PA (US);
Abstract
In the field of agricultural tractor and implement combinations, there have been numerous attempts at improving the efficiency of isolated sub-systems such as the engine, the implement control and the transmission. Such sub-systems have individually successfully been automated, but previous attempts to automate the entire control of a tractor during eg. plowing operations have previously failed. Accordingly, a control apparatus has been provided for a tractor/implement combination to include a control apparatus comprising a plurality of microprocessors. The microprocessors are arranged in a hierarchical control strategy that includes a steady state reference model of various performance parameters of the tractor/implement combination. The tractor/implement combination can therefore be controlled in an automated, integrated way such that the tractor operator does not have to operate any of the sub-systems while maximizing the performance against a chosen criterion such as minimum fuel consumption or maximum work rate.