Patent ID: 7874899

Claim:
An agricultural harvester, comprising: a support frame; a hopper coupled to said support frame, said hopper being configured to store an agricultural product during a harvesting operation; and an unloading system coupled to said support frame, said unloading system being configured to transport agricultural product received from said hopper to an off-machine location, said unloading system including: a metering gate positioned near a bottom of said hopper and in communication with an interior of said hopper, the agricultural product falling through said metering gate when said metering gate is opened; a transfer conveyance having an inlet end and a discharge end, said inlet end in communication with said metering gate; at least one sensor providing an output signal representing an operating parameter associated with an unload rate of agricultural product through said transfer conveyance during an unloading operation; and an electrical processing circuit coupled to said metering gate and said at least one sensor, said electrical processing circuit controlling a position of said metering gate, dependent upon said output signal.