Patent ID: 7771260

Claim:
A method for controlling loss of grain from a cleaning sieve of an agricultural combine while sidewardly tilted relative to horizontal, comprising steps of: providing at least two grain loss sensors disposed at spaced apart locations on a rear edge of the sieve, the sensors configured and operable for sensing information representative of a quantity of the grain present in the flow of the larger elements of the crop material past the rear edge of the sieve, and outputting signals representative thereof; providing a crop material distributor disposed between a threshing system of the combine and the sieve, for distributing crop material from the threshing system at least generally evenly onto the sieve; controlling the angular orientation of the crop material distributor as a function of a comparison of the signals from the at least two grain loss sensors, wherein grain loss from one location of the sieve exceeds the grain loss from the other location of the sieve by a measured amount.