| CPC A01F 12/444 (2013.01) [A01D 41/1276 (2013.01); A01F 12/446 (2013.01)] | 21 Claims |
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1. A cleaning system of a combine harvester comprising:
a fan assembly comprising a housing, a fan rotor at least partially positioned within the housing, at least one inlet duct through which air is delivered into the housing, a first duct leading to a first outlet port through which air is exhausted outside of the housing, a second duct leading to a second outlet port through which air is also exhausted outside of the housing, and a stationary partition disposed between and at least partially forming the first and second ducts;
a first valve member positioned within the first duct for throttling the flow of air through the first duct;
a second valve member positioned within the second duct for throttling the flow of air through the second duct;
a first actuator for adjusting a position of the first valve member within the first duct;
a second actuator for adjusting a position of the second valve member within the second duct;
a first sieve positioned adjacent the first outlet port to receive a flow of air from the first duct;
a second sieve positioned adjacent the second outlet port to receive a flow of air from the second duct;
a first sensor for either directly or indirectly sensing an air pressure at the first sieve;
a second sensor for either directly or indirectly sensing an air pressure at the second sieve; and
a controller for receiving the sensed air pressures from the first and second sensors, comparing the sensed air pressures with either each other or threshold values, and transmitting instructions to both of the first and second actuators to adjust the positions of both of the first and second valve members based upon the comparison and thereby equalize the flow of air through the first and second ducts toward the first and second sieves, respectively.
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