Patent ID: 8167525

Claim:
An unloader for unloading material from a container, the unloader comprising: an unloader arm movable within the container; a first chain coupled to the unloader arm and movable to unload material from the container; a second chain coupled to the unloader arm and positioned to engage material within the container upon movement of the unloader arm; a sensor located directly on at least one of the unloader arm, the first chain, and the second chain, and configured to directly sense a force on at least one of the unloader arm, the first chain, and the second chain, and to transmit a signal indicative of the force applied to at least one of the unloader arm, the first chain, and the second chain; and a controller configured to receive the signal from the sensor and to alter an operation of at least one of the unloader arm, the first chain, and the second chain, the alteration based at least partially on the signal received from the sensor.