Patents by Inventor Gerd Bernhardt

Gerd Bernhardt has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6578641
    Abstract: An implement/vehicle hitch system for coupling implements to a utility vehicle includes two hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the position of the implement. The hydraulic cylinders are connected to a pair of motor/pump units which cause the hydraulic cylinders to operate in a synchronous manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Publication number: 20020157841
    Abstract: The entire right, title and interest in and to this application and all subject matter disclosed and/or claimed therein, including any and all divisions, continuations, reissues, etc., thereof are, effective as of the date of execution of this application, assigned, transferred, sold and set over by the applicant(s) named herein to Deere & Company, a Delaware corporation having offices at Moline, Ill. 61265, U.S.A., together with all rights to file, and to claim priorities in connection with, corresponding patent applications in any and all foreign countries in the name of Deere & Company or otherwise.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2002
    Publication date: October 31, 2002
    Applicant: Deere & Company, a Delaware Corporation
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Publication number: 20020134558
    Abstract: A hitch control system controls a hitch for coupling an implement to a utility vehicle. The hitch includes longitudinally adjustable coupling elements operable to shift or pivot the implement in a lateral direction relative to the utility vehicle. A sensor, such as a wheel steering angle sensor, senses a parameter associated with lateral or turning movements of the vehicle. A control unit automatically adjusts the length of the coupling elements as a function of the sensor signals so that the position of the implement relative to the vehicle is adapted to the curved path. This reduces the outer radius of the area over which the vehicle and implement travel when traveling along a curved path and helps avoid collisions with objects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 13, 2002
    Publication date: September 26, 2002
    Applicant: Deere & Company, a Delaware Corporation
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Publication number: 20020135154
    Abstract: An implement/vehicle hitch system for coupling implements to a utility vehicle includes two hydraulic cylinders for adjusting the position of the implement. The hydraulic cylinders are connected to a pair of motor/pump units which cause the hydraulic cylinders to operate in a synchronous manner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2002
    Publication date: September 26, 2002
    Applicant: Deere & Company, a Delaware corporation
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Publication number: 20020125018
    Abstract: A coupling system couples an implement to a utility vehicle, such as an agricultural or industrial vehicle, and includes a vehicle-mounted coupling frame and an implement-mounted coupling frame. The position of the vehicle-mounted coupling frame is adjustable by an adjustment mechanism. A position sensor senses the position of the implement-mounted coupling frame. An analysis unit determines the position of the implement-mounted coupling frame relative to the vehicle-mounted coupling frame. A control unit calculates a coupling motion path of the vehicle-mounted coupling frame. In response to a starting signal, the control unit causes the adjusting mechanism to move the vehicle-mounted coupling frame along the coupling motion path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2002
    Publication date: September 12, 2002
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Publication number: 20020117017
    Abstract: A control lever controls movement of a system to be controlled. The control lever includes a manually operable handgrip attached to a platform. At least six connecting elements are arranged between the platform and a fixed console. Length sensors sense the length of the connecting elements, and/or force sensors senses forces acting on the connecting elements. A control unit evaluates the sensor signals and generates a control signal for controlling movement of the system. The connecting elements are be arranged in the form of a hexapod. The connecting elements may be telescoping members or rigid fixed length members.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2001
    Publication date: August 29, 2002
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Nicolai Tarasinski, Heinz Weiss, Matthias Lang, Jurgen Elser
  • Publication number: 20020073675
    Abstract: A chopper arrangement for a harvesting machine comprises a body that is rotated in a predominantly vertical axis of rotation. The body is provided with a plurality of radially extending knives that are axially distributed along the body. The knives have radially outer ends that are arranged in a conical shape. In this way the knives at the first end having a smallest radial extension are rotated at a slower circumferential speed than knives having a larger radial extension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2001
    Publication date: June 20, 2002
    Applicant: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Martin Buermann, Walter Hirsch, Adolf Belter, Gerd Bernhardt, Siegfried Firus, Andre Heinrich
  • Publication number: 20020077163
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a combine having a chopper arrangement for receiving and chopping harvested crop material that has been threshed and separated. The chopper arrangement comprises a web wheel disk having knives entrained thereon that cooperate with a stationary shear bar to chop the harvested crop material that has been threshed and separated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2001
    Publication date: June 20, 2002
    Applicant: Deere & Company, a Delaware corporation
    Inventors: Martin Buermann, Gerd Bernhardt, Siegfried Firus, Andre Heinrich
  • Patent number: 6405806
    Abstract: An implement interface for mounting on a chassis of a vehicle includes a telescopic boom pivotally coupled to the vehicle chassis so that the boom is pivotal about an essentially horizontal axis. The boom includes a housing which is pivotally coupled to the vehicle chassis and an arm which is slidably received by the housing. A carrier is mounted on a free end of the arm. A three-point hitch is mounted on the boom and has lower links coupled to the carrier, has an extendable upper linkage coupled to the boom, a lifting arm coupled to the carrier, a lifting brace connecting the lifting arm to one of the lower linkages, and a lift cylinder for vertically pivoting the lifting arm. A locking mechanism fixes the boom relative to the chassis. A hydraulic cylinder unit is coupled to the sliding arm and operable to move the sliding arm in a longitudinal direction. A pressure-operated piston/cylinder unit is coupled between the housing and the chassis and is operable to vertically pivot the boom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: June 18, 2002
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Mario Wünsche, Sergiy Fedotov
  • Publication number: 20020047248
    Abstract: A coupling device couples a vehicle, such as an agricultural or industrial vehicle, to an implement, such as trailer. The device includes a three-point implement interface with a coupling frame which is movably mounted on a chassis of the vehicle. A one-point coupling is mounted on the coupling frame. The coupling frame may be connected to the vehicle chassis by means of adjustable length connecting elements, which are preferably arranged in the form of a hexapod.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2001
    Publication date: April 25, 2002
    Inventors: Gerd Bernhardt, Sergiy Fedotov, Ruslan Rudik, Heinz Weiss
  • Patent number: 6321851
    Abstract: A hitch mechanism for coupling an implement to a utility vehicle includes a coupling frame and six variable length links. The frame has couplers for coupling to the implement. Each link has a first end coupled to the vehicle and a second end coupled to the coupling frame. The links are preferably arranged in the form of a hexapod, so that, in addition to the functions of known three-point hitches, the implement may be steered sideways or shifted sideways, and so that the motion of the coupling frame has six degrees of freedom.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Deere & Company
    Inventors: Heinz Weiss, Gerd Bernhardt, Mario Wünsche, Sergiy Fedotov
  • Patent number: 6146268
    Abstract: The invention relates to a sensor for determining the structure-borne sound vibrations generated by the impingement of grains on a pulse detector in an agricultural machine for harvesting crops and to a device for operational monitoring of the sensor and improved signal evaluation.Such sensors are used to monitor threshing and separating performance at various points in a harvesting machine. Depending on the area of application, various forms of a pulse detector are used. These can have the shape of a plate, a tube, a rod or other similar profiles. Attached to these detectors are vibration detectors. A particularly strong connection between the vibration detector and the pulse detector is achieved by using a piezo-ceramic vibration sensor and its attachment by means of a screw connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2000
    Assignee: Claas Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH
    Inventors: Willi Behnke, Ralf Hubner, Wolfram Damm, Harald Muller, Gerd Bernhardt