Method for replacing agricultural equipment

A method for delivering at least one replacement machine to replace at least one broken-down machine. The method includes providing a delivery system with at least one transport vehicle for transporting the at least one replacement machine and a controller. The method also includes receiving, by the controller, information that includes standby location variables and calculating, by the controller, a standby location for the at least one transport vehicle based upon the standby location variables. The method also includes sending, by the controller, the standby location to the at least one transport vehicle. The method further includes positioning, by the at least one transport vehicle, the at least one replacement machine at the standby location.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to capital goods, such as agricultural equipment, and, more specifically, to a service model of replacing broken-down equipment which can halt production.

A self-propelled forage harvester is used to pick up crop from a field and process the crop so that the crop may be subsequently used as forage or silage for animals. A typical forage harvester includes a detachable head to cut and lift the crop from the field, a chopper for cutting the crop into small pieces, and a paddle accelerator for forcing the cut crop out through a chute and into a trailer or wagon being pulled by a trailing vehicle.

An industrial or large-scale forage harvesting operation typically requires the use of multiple forage harvesters to efficiently pick crop from the field. Additionally, an entire support system is needed to assist the multiple forage harvesters. The support system typically includes several supporting units such as trailing tractors with trailers for receiving the crop from a respective harvester. Once the trailer of the tractor is filled with crop, the tractor will make roundtrips from the field to another location, usually the farm headquarters, to deposit the crop into storage containers and then return to the field to be filled with crop material again. This process may be repeated multiple times until the field has been completely harvested.

Although the use of multiple forage harvesters in a large-scale harvesting operation can be efficient, the process may nevertheless lead to inefficiencies if one of the operating forage harvesters breaks down. For instance, if a forage harvester breaks down then the people operating the supporting units may be forced to idly wait until the broken-down forage harvester is replaced or repaired. As can be appreciated, the downtime not spent harvesting may be significantly costly. To mitigate this potential cost, a farmer, or fleet manager, may purchase and transport an auxiliary or spare forage harvester to the field just to have it on hand in case one of the primary, i.e., presently operating, forage harvesters breaks down. For example, a farmer may have one spare forage harvester for every three primary forage harvesters. Hence, in the event of a primary equipment failure, the spare forage harvester may quickly replace the broken-down primary forage harvester; thus, decreasing the overall idle time spent not harvesting. However, for some farmers it may be cost-prohibitive and impractical to obtain and upkeep spare equipment for replacing primary equipment in the case of a primary equipment failure.

What is needed in the art is a system for rapidly replacing broken-down equipment in order to decrease an amount of non-harvesting time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one exemplary embodiment formed in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for delivering spare agricultural equipment, such as forage harvesters or other machines, to a field for replacing broken-down equipment. The method includes providing a delivery system that services multiple fields with one or more replacement machines. The method also includes receiving information by the controller of the delivery system, calculating a standby location for the replacement machine, sending the calculated standby location to the transport vehicle, and positioning the replacement machine in the standby location.

In another exemplary embodiment formed in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for delivering at least one replacement machine to replace at least one broken-down machine. The method includes an initial step of providing a delivery system. The delivery system includes at least one transport vehicle for transporting the at least one replacement machine and a controller operably coupled to and in communication with the at least one transport vehicle. The method also includes receiving, by the controller, information that includes standby location variables. The method also includes calculating, by the controller, a standby location for the at least one transport vehicle based upon the standby location variables. The method also includes sending, by the controller, the standby location to the at least one transport vehicle. The method further includes positioning, by the at least one transport vehicle, the at least one replacement machine at the standby location.

In another exemplary embodiment formed in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a delivery system for delivering at least one replacement machine to replace at least one broken-down machine. The delivery system includes at least one transport vehicle for transporting the at least one replacement machine and a controller operably coupled to and in communication with the at least one transport vehicle. The controller is configured for receiving information that includes standby location variables. The controller is also configured for calculating a standby location for the at least one transport vehicle based upon the standby location variables and sending the standby location to the at least one transport vehicle. The at least one transport vehicle is configured for positioning the at least one replacement machine at the standby location.

One possible advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the delivery system is that a business owner, for example a farmer, no longer needs to have spare equipment on hand at the field because the delivery system may readily deliver the spare equipment as needed within a guaranteed timeframe.

Another possible advantage of the exemplary embodiment of the delivery system is that the overall efficiency of the operation may be increased because the customer may operate all machines at one time without needing to reserve one of the units as a spare in case of an equipment failure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly toFIG.1, there is shown a typical forage harvesting system or operation10. Generally, the operation10includes harvesting the field F1using multiple forage harvesters12A,12B, trailing supporting vehicles14such as tractor trailers14, and one or more forage compactors16. During harvesting, each forage harvester12A picks up the crop, e.g. corn, from the field F1, processes the picked crop by chopping it into small pieces, and delivers the processed crop material to a respective tractor trailer14which travels alongside the forage harvester12A. The tractor trailers14conduct numerous iterations of following the forage harvester12A for filling itself up with the processed crop material and transporting the processed crop material from the field F1to the forage compactors16at the farm's headquarters FHQ1. The forage compactors16compact and mix the processed crop material into a forage product, which is typically used for animal feed.

It is generally beneficial to quickly harvest a field F1using multiple forage harvesters12A. However, the number of forage harvesters12A operating in the field F1at a given time may be limited by the potential cost due to an equipment failure. For instance, if a forage harvester12A breaks down due to a mechanical failure, then the supporting tractor trailers14must wait idly by until the forage harvester12A is repaired or replaced. Also, the time spent to repair or replace the broken-down forage harvester12A equates to non-harvesting downtime, which reduces the efficiency and increases the cost of the operation10. As can be appreciated, this unproductive time may be significantly costly. Thus, given the high operating cost of operating multiple forage harvesters12A, the operation10will typically have an auxiliary or spare forage harvester12B for every three primary and presently operating forage harvesters12A. Thereby, if a forage harvester12A does break down, then the spare forage harvester12B may quickly replace the broken-down forage harvester12A, reducing the overall amount of unproductive time. Unfortunately, even though the spare forage harvester12B may be beneficial in the event of an equipment failure, purchasing and maintaining the spare forage harvester12B nevertheless increases the overall cost of the operation10.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly toFIGS.2-5, there is shown a schematic view of a delivery system20for dually delivering at least one replacement capital good and replacing at least one broken-down capital good, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The delivery system20may be used to deliver and replace any desired capital good for any desired production process. For instance, the delivery system20may be an agricultural delivery system20wherein the delivery system20delivers agricultural replacement equipment to replace broken-down agricultural equipment. For example, the delivery system20may preposition one or more replacement forage harvesters22B in a standby location SL, and upon one or more forage harvesters22A breaking down, the delivery system20may deliver the forage harvester(s)22B to replace the broken-down forage harvester(s)22A in the field F1, F2, F3, F4. However, it should be appreciated that the delivery system20may be used to deliver any desired agricultural equipment, such as headers, combines, tractors, and/or implements, or any component thereof to the field F1, F2, F3, F4and/or farm headquarters FHQ1, FHQ2, FHQ3, FHQ4. The delivery system20generally includes at least one transport vehicle24for transporting the at least one forage harvester22B and a controller26operably coupled to and in communication with the at least one transport vehicle24. The delivery system20may further include one or more service indicators30,32that are operably coupled to the controller26for sending a service signal to the controller26, which indicates a need for replacing the broken-down forage harvester22A.

The delivery system20may deliver only one forage harvester22B (FIGS.2-4) or multiple forage harvesters22B (FIG.5) to one or more fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5which are presently being harvested. The forage harvesters22B may be substantially similar to the forage harvesters12B as described above. Therefore, the forage harvesters22B may be in the form of any desired forage harvesters.

The delivery system20may include only one transport vehicle24(FIGS.2-4) or multiple transport vehicles24(FIG.5). Each transport vehicle24may comprise a truck and a trailer for transporting the forage harvester22B thereon. Each transport vehicle24may be an autonomous or semi-autonomous transport vehicle24. Therefore, each transport vehicle24may automatically drive itself to any desired standby location SL or field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5upon its vehicle control unit (VCU) receiving a corresponding command from the controller26. Alternatively, each transport vehicle24may not be an autonomous or semi-autonomous transport vehicle24. It should be appreciated that each transport vehicle24may or may not be driven by an operator, regardless of whether each transport vehicle24is an autonomous or semi-autonomous transport vehicle24.

The controller26generally includes a memory28, a processor, and one or more communication nodes for establishing communication with a service requester, the transport vehicle(s)24, and/or the forage harvester(s)22A,22B. The controller26may receive the service signal from the service requester by way of any desired communication method, such as a data transfer or a telephonic communication between the farmer and a call center. For instance, the controller26may receive the service signal from the service indicator30,32. The controller26may also receive inputted or sensed information in order to subsequently calculate the ideal standby location SL for the transport vehicle24. For example, a service operator may input various standby location variables, as defined below, into the controller26through a user interface. Additionally, for example, the controller26may be operably connected to and receive standby location variables from a global positioning system (GPS) sensor of the transport vehicle24, a GPS sensor of the forage harvester22A, a roadway mapping service or database, a weather monitoring service, a maintenance database which tracks the maintenance of the forage harvester22A, and any other desired sensor or database. The controller26may also receive any desired instruction, chart, or algorithm which can be inputted by the service operator and subsequently used to determine the ideal standby location SL. From the standby location variables, the controller26may calculate the ideal standby location SL for the transport vehicle(s)24. For example, the controller26may plot the locations of the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5relative to a home position, i.e. location of the service center SC, in a rectangular coordinate system (FIG.3). Then, the controller26may compare the coordinates and calculate a middle-ground point between the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5. In other words, the controller26will determine an optimized location relative to the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5that reduces the average/overall response time to each farm F1, F2, F3, F4, F5. For example, the controller26may set a point that is approximately 50 kilometers (31 miles) from each field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, plus or minus 10 kilometers (6 miles) if this meets the acceptable response time to all fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5. Additionally or alternatively, the controller26may overlay the locations of the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5and/or the calculated middle-ground point with roadway map data (FIG.4). Thereafter, the controller26may compare the physical locations of the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, a preset a maximum-allowed delivery time, a requested delivery time which was previously requested by a service requester, and/or a real-time estimated delivery time from one or more precalculated points relative to the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5in order to select a standby location SL that is dually optimized with respect to parking availability, proximity to fields, number of forage harvesters22B per field, and respective delivery time. After calculating the standby location SL, the controller26can send a control command to the transport vehicle24so that the transport vehicle24is driven to the standby location SL, where the transport vehicle24will wait until further notice. Then, when a service signal is communicated to the controller26, the controller26will send a corresponding delivery command to the transport vehicle24so that the transport vehicle24is driven to the field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5in need of the replacement forage harvester22B. The controller26may update the standby location SL in real-time so that if a new service requestor is added to the list or if an existing service requester has finished harvesting, then the controller26may send an updated standby location SL to the transport vehicle24.

Each service indicator30,32is operably coupled to the controller26. For instance, each service indicator30,32may have one or more communication nodes for communicating with the one or more communication nodes of the controller26. Each service indicator30may be in the form of a sensor30connected to a respective forage harvester22A for sensing a working status of the forage harvester22A in the field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5of the service requester (FIG.2). Additionally or alternatively, each service indicator32may be in the form of a communication device32, such as the farmer's cellular phone, that is manually operated by the farmer.

Referring now specifically toFIG.5, there is shown another possible delivery solution which has been determined by the delivery system20, wherein the controller26has calculated that two or more replacement forage harvesters22B are required to service the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5. If the controller26determines that it is not possible to deliver a replacement forage harvester22B to each field within the maximum-allowed delivery time and/or requested delivery time, then the controller26may add another transport vehicle24, with another replacement forage harvester22B thereon, and calculate a respective standby location SL for each transport vehicle24. As can be appreciated, the controller26may determine that one, two, three, four or more transport vehicles24, with replacement forage harvesters22B thereon, are required to service any desired number of fields.

Referring now toFIG.6, there is shown a flowchart of a method60for operating the delivery system20. By way of example only, the method60is described herein with respect to the agricultural delivery system20, as discussed above, for delivering agricultural replacement equipment. However, the method60may be used to deliver and replace any desired capital good. The method60includes an initial step of providing the agricultural delivery system20, as discussed above (at block62). In operation, the service requester may notify the controller26of the dates and times when harvesting at a particular field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5will occur. The controller26may accordingly receive this information along with any other sensed and/or inputted delivery variables, i.e., the standby location variables as discussed herein (at block64). The controller26may then calculate the standby location SL based upon the delivery variables (at block66). Then, the controller26may communicate this standby location SL to the transport vehicle24(at block68). Thereafter, the transport vehicle24with the forage harvester22B thereon may be positioned, e.g. autonomously driven or driven by an operator, to the standby location SL (at block70). The transport vehicle24will then wait at the standby location SL. If there is an equipment failure, the service requester will send the service signal to the controller26via the service indicator30,32, and the controller26will accordingly receive the service signal (at block72). Then, the controller26will send a corresponding delivery command to the transport vehicle24(at block74). The controller26may also send the location of the field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5in need of replacement equipment to the transport vehicle24. The transport vehicle24will then deliver the forage harvester22B to the desired field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5(at block76). Then, the broken-down forage harvester22A may be replaced by the replacement forage harvester22B. Thereafter, the controller26may command the transport vehicle24to transport the broken-down forage harvester22A to the service center SC. As can be appreciated, after delivering the replacement forage harvester22B, the controller26may recalculate the standby location SL. The method60may be carried out as many times as needed in order to service any desired number of fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5.

As used herein, a service requester refers to a farmer and/or agricultural machine that is a member of the delivery service20. Thereby, the service signal may be communicated by the farmer or the agricultural machine itself. For example, if the agricultural equipment breaks down, the farmer may dial a number of an automated call center and notify the call center that the replacement equipment is needed. Thereafter, the call center may notify the controller26that this particular service requester is in need of the replacement equipment. Additionally, for example, the agricultural machine may be equipped with one or more status-monitoring sensors, e.g. the indicator sensor30, such that upon a sensed state, such as an operating state, a service-needed state, or an operating-failure state, the agricultural machine itself will automatically provide its sensed state to the controller26. Also, agricultural machine itself may notify the controller26of its current location and whether it is presently harvesting in a given field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5. As can be appreciated, the delivery service20may accommodate one or multiple service requesters.

As used herein, the term delivery information refers to any desired information which is used to calculate the standby location SL. The delivery information may include standby location variables. The standby location variables may comprise two or more of a preset maximum-allowed delivery time, a number of service requesters, at least one delivery location, a requested and/or mutually agreed upon delivery time requested and/or agreed upon by the service requester, location data of the transport vehicle(s)24and/or service indicator30,32, roadway map data, an estimated delivery time, traffic data, weather data, an availability of replacement equipment, e.g. forage harvester(s)22B, a capacity compatibility between the broken-down and replacement equipment, a compatibility of the mission being performed, and machine specific data such as the operational status and/or statistical data of the machine, e.g. the insured forage harvester22A. Machine specific data may include a sensed status of the machine via the sensor30, indicating the age of the machine, a typical and/or current mission of the machine, and real-time performance metrics such as machine temperature, oil pressure, fuel consumption, etc. Additionally, machine specific data may also include an estimated machine reliability, e.g. an estimated reliability of the insured forage harvester22A. The estimated reliability of the machine may be based upon model year, known quality issues, past maintenance, service, or health records, and/or the future maintenance schedule, historical brake-down data, and a typical and/or current mission of the machine. The controller26of the delivery system20may be preprogramed to provide replacement equipment within a guaranteed maximum-allowed delivery time. For example, the delivery system20may guarantee that its service requesters will receive replacement equipment within a maximum of thirty minutes. The controller26may receive an inputted number of service requesters along with their corresponding delivery locations, i.e., field locations where the replacement equipment is to be delivered. A service requester can request a specific delivery time. To accommodate one or more requested delivery times, the controller26will prioritize the requested delivery times from the shortest time requested, i.e., smallest delivery time window, to the longest time requested. The roadway map data may be stored in the memory28of the controller26or provided to the controller26via an external roadway mapping service, such as Google Maps™. The estimated travel or delivery time from the standby location SL to the field F1, F2, F3, F4, F5may be calculated by the controller26or provided to the controller26by the roadway mapping service. The estimated delivery time may be based upon the proximity from all of the forage harvesters22A being services, the accessibility to the fields F1, F2, F3, F4, F5, the current traffic, and/or the current weather conditions. The estimated machine reliability of the agricultural machine may be inputted into the controller26or calculated by the controller26.

It is to be understood that the method60of the delivery system20may be conducted by the controller26upon loading and executing software code or instructions which are tangibly stored on a tangible computer readable medium, such as on a magnetic medium, e.g., a computer hard drive, an optical medium, e.g., an optical disc, solid-state memory, e.g., flash memory, or other storage media known in the art. Thus, any of the functionality performed by the controller26described herein is implemented in software code or instructions which are tangibly stored on a tangible computer readable medium. The controller26loads the software code or instructions via a direct interface with the computer readable medium or via a wired and/or wireless network. Upon loading and executing such software code or instructions by the controller26, the controller26may perform any of the functionality of the method60described herein.