PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15908947
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-03
Publication Date: 2018-07
Patent Classification: ["172", "002000"]

Abstract:
A disc opener unit for an agricultural implement has a down pressure adjustment device that automatically adjusts the amount of down pressure applied on a furrowing disc based on strain measurements taken by a strain gauge or load cell. The strain gauge, which may be mounted to an arm that is used to set the position of a depth setting gauge wheel, provides feedback to a processor that in turn controls the amount of hydraulic fluid in a hydraulic cylinder to adjust the down force applied on the disc. The amount of down pressure is therefore adjusted in substantially real-time in response to changes in field conditions, which improves furrow depth consistency and reduces wear on the gauge wheel and its components.

Claim (Index 37):
A method for operating an agricultural implement including a plurality of disc opener units ganged together, each of the plurality of disc opener units comprising a disc configured to cut a trench into the ground and a gauge wheel assembly including a gauge wheel and a depth control arm coupled to the gauge wheel via a crankshaft extending through a center of the disc, the depth control arm including a first end coupled to the crankshaft and a second end configured to engage a depth adjustment member of the disc opener unit, the method comprising:\n controlling, with a computing device, an operation of a cylinder to apply a down force on the discs of the plurality disc opener units such that the discs cut the trench at a desired penetration depth; monitoring, with the computing device, a load applied through the gauge wheel assembly as the discs are being used to cut the trench into the ground, the load being monitored via a load sensor installed on the depth control arm; and controlling, with the computing device, the operation of the cylinder to adjust the down force applied on the discs of the plurality disc opener units when the monitored load increases above or decreases below a given setpoint.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 41.0
- Percentile: 90.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.70667
- Patent Class: 172.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['12820720', '12820759', '14571603', '13605210', '12621959']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.7607286404214685
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5374781382959738
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.738403590208919
- Mean Citation Score: 327.857366
- Max Citation Score: 407.91092
- Similarity Product: 338.30082206997866

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 0
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 0
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test