Patent ID: 7878114

Claim:
A method for unloading a compacted mass of crop material down an inclined ramp of a self-propelled vehicle, comprising steps of: providing at least one driver on the ramp operable for controllably moving the mass down the ramp and onto a surface therebelow; providing a controller connected in operative control of the at least one driver; providing information representative of a speed of movement of the vehicle over the surface to the controller; providing an input device connected to the controller and operable by an operator for inputting commands to the controller; providing a device connected to the controller for outputting information to a human operator; providing a propulsion control operable by the operator for controlling the speed of movement of the vehicle over the surface; and responsive to initiation of an unloading routine: automatically initiating operation of the at least one driver for moving the mass down the ramp while monitoring the speed of movement of the vehicle over the surface, and: a. if the speed of movement of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, then automatically continuing the operation of the at least one driver to move the mass down the ramp and onto the surface; or b. if the speed of movement of the vehicle is less than the predetermined value and absent a command from the input device, then automatically pausing the operation of the at least one driver to stop the movement of the mass down the ramp before reaching the surface, and subsequently enabling continuing the operation of the at least one driver to move the mass down the ramp onto the surface only if a command from the input device is received, or the speed of movement of the vehicle reaches the predetermined value; and upon the enabling of the continued operation of the at least one driver: c. if the speed of movement of the vehicle is within a predetermined range, then automatically controlling the operation of the at least one driver for moving the mass down the ramp at a speed which is at a predetermined ratio to the speed of movement of the vehicle, or if a command from the input device is received by the controller, then to allow the operator to control the operation of the at least one driver; and d. if during the automatic control of the operation of the at least one driver the speed of movement of the vehicle is greater than the predetermined range, then automatically outputting information representative thereof to the operator.