Patent ID: 6093926
Filing Date: 2000-07-25
Classification: A01C,G01V,Y02P

Abstract:
A computer-implemented method of monitoring particle flow through an air driven particle dispensing system said method comprising the steps of:dispensing particles through at least one particle tube from a hopper;dispensing a flow of particles from said at least one particle tube into a plurality of secondary particle tubes which are smaller in area than said particle tube under air pressure from a tank;providing a particle sensor positioned at each said at least one particle tube so as to detect particle flow through each particle tube, each said particle sensor including at least one emitter lens body which directs an optical beam to a sensing area;analyzing transient reductions in the light from an emitter that passes through the sensing area of each sensor, said transient reductions being caused as each particle momentarily blocks light from the emitter lens body as the particles pass through said optical beam in the sensing area, so as to determine a count of the number of particles flowing through the associated particle tube, wherein the particles are seeds and a computer-implemented algorithm sets criteria for categorizing whether a seed event has occurred, and wherein said computer-implemented algorithm adjusts itself automatically during successive time periods to account for variations in seed size based on a detected running average percentage reduction of the light from the sensing area as caused by the passage of seeds through the sensing area.