US 12,329,073 B2
Sod harvesting systems with slab length adjustability
Gerardus J. Brouwer, Keswick (CA); and Ian L. Morgan, Cambridge (CA)
Assigned to 1045929 Ontario Limited, Keswick (CA)
Filed by 1045929 Ontario Limited, Keswick (CA)
Filed on Dec. 15, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/551,254.
Application 17/551,254 is a continuation of application No. PCT/CA2020/050832, filed on Jun. 16, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/862,283, filed on Jun. 17, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0104433 A1, Apr. 7, 2022
Int. Cl. A01G 20/12 (2018.01); A01G 20/15 (2018.01); G05D 5/04 (2006.01); A01D 57/20 (2006.01)
CPC A01G 20/12 (2018.02) [A01G 20/15 (2018.02); G05D 5/04 (2013.01); A01D 57/20 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for harvesting sod, the system comprising:
a) a harvester frame;
b) a cutting assembly mounted to the harvester frame for cutting the sod into slabs, each slab having a cut-off length between a leading edge and a trailing edge of the slab;
c) a conveyor assembly supported by the harvester frame and configured to transport the slabs away from the cutting assembly toward a measuring location;
d) at least one slab sensor configured to detect one or more slab properties at the measuring location for determining a measured length between the leading edge and the trailing edge of respective slabs, and
e) at least one controller for controlling operation of the cutting assembly, the controller configured to:
i) determine the measured length of at least one slab based on the slab properties detected by the at least one slab sensor,
ii) determine a length difference between the measured length of the at least one slab and a target length, and
iii) adjust the cut-off length for subsequent slabs to compensate for the length difference.