Patents by Inventor Mark D. Dilts

Mark D. Dilts 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: 12279555
    Abstract: An embodiment includes a system for sensing harvested grain levels within an agricultural harvester. The system including a grain tank configured to receive harvested grain, a sensor configured to emit a sensor beam into the grain tank for reflection off of the top surface of the harvested grain, and a reflective target integrated into a bottom surface of the grain tank at a minimum detectable grain level within the grain tank. The bottom surface of the grain tank being angled towards the sensor, the minimum detectable grain level being defined by a minimum grain level within the grain tank at which the top surface of the harvested grain is contacted by the sensor beam, and the reflective target being configured to reflect the sensor beam when the current grain level is vertically below the minimum detectable grain level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Justin Becker, Mark D. Dilts, Michael Minnich, Clayton E. Banks, Jr., Denver R. Yoder
  • Publication number: 20250108686
    Abstract: An axle assembly for an electric work vehicle includes an electric drive system including an electric motor and a first axle hub. Furthermore, the axle assembly includes a first axle shaft having a first end and a second end, with the first end of the first axle shaft coupled to the electric motor. Additionally, the axle assembly includes a first gear train coupled between the second end of the first axle shaft and the first axle hub. Moreover, the axle assembly includes a second axle hub and a second axle shaft including a first end and a second end, with the first end of the second axle shaft coupled to the electric motor. In addition, the axle assembly includes a second gear train coupled between the second end of the second axle shaft and the second axle hub.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2023
    Publication date: April 3, 2025
    Inventors: Mark D. Dilts, Andrew Victor Lauwers
  • Publication number: 20250101709
    Abstract: A system for providing supplemental hydraulic power for an electric work vehicle includes a hydraulic pump configured to supply pressurized hydraulic fluid through a hydraulic circuit to at least one hydraulic component, a hydraulic accumulator configured to provide a temporary supply of pressurized hydraulic fluid within the hydraulic circuit, a control valve configured to regulate the temporary supply of pressurized hydraulic fluid from the hydraulic accumulator to the hydraulic circuit, and a computing system communicatively coupled to the control valve. The computing system is configured to determine that an operation of the hydraulic component(s) is to be adjusted, determine an operational status of the hydraulic pump, and, when the pump is in a low output state, control the operation of the control valve to allow the hydraulic accumulator to provide the temporary supply of pressurized hydraulic fluid for adjusting the operation of the hydraulic component(s).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2023
    Publication date: March 27, 2025
    Inventors: Andrew Tarman, Mark D. Dilts
  • Publication number: 20250091565
    Abstract: A method for automatically testing vehicle braking systems may include receiving, with a computing system, an input associated with performing an autonomous brake test of a vehicle braking system of a work vehicle and, in response to the input, autonomously releasing, with the computing system, a vehicle brake of the vehicle braking system. The method may further include autonomously engaging, with the computing system, a drive system of the work vehicle to initiate movement of the work vehicle and autonomously applying, with the computing system, the vehicle brake once the work vehicle has reached a predetermined speed or once the work vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance. Moreover, the method may include determining, with the computing system, whether the work vehicle has achieved a stopped condition upon application of the vehicle brake.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2023
    Publication date: March 20, 2025
    Inventors: Mark D. Dilts, Corrado Iotti, Sudarshan Sirigere
  • Patent number: 12232452
    Abstract: A combine having a feeder housing for receiving harvested crop, a separating system for threshing the harvested crop to separate grain from residue, a residue spreader wheel spinning for expelling the residue from the combine, and a controller that controls the combine. The controller is configured to control the residue spreader wheel to continuously oscillate between a first speed less than a nominal speed and a second speed greater than the nominal speed while spreading the residue.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2025
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventor: Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11925143
    Abstract: A header of a combine harvester includes a belt conveyor configured to direct a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The belt conveyor is located adjacent an inlet of the feederhouse. The belt conveyor includes at least one protrusion extending radially from the belt conveyor that helps direct movement of harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Herbert M Farley, Joseph Neil Oberlander, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts
  • Publication number: 20230148476
    Abstract: A residue chopper comprising a housing forming a cutting chamber, a shaft, knives extending from the shaft, a counterknife support, a counterknife, and a fin. The counterknife and fin are attached to the counterknife support, with the fin behind the counterknife. the fin has a blunt side facing against the operating direction. The counterknife support is movable between a first position in which the counterknife extends a minimum predetermined distance into the cutting chamber and the fin is not within the cutting chamber, a second position in which the counterknife extends an intermediate predetermined distance into the cutting chamber and within the cutting volume and the fin is not within the cutting chamber, and a third position in which the counterknife extends a maximum predetermined distance into the cutting chamber and into the cutting volume and the fin extends into the cutting chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2021
    Publication date: May 18, 2023
    Applicant: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Mark D. Dilts, Stefaan Desmet, Frederik Baes, Nathan E. Isaac
  • Publication number: 20230071349
    Abstract: An embodiment includes a system for sensing harvested grain levels within an agricultural harvester. The system including a grain tank configured to receive harvested grain, a sensor configured to emit a sensor beam into the grain tank for reflection off of the top surface of the harvested grain, and a reflective target integrated into a bottom surface of the grain tank at a minimum detectable grain level within the grain tank. The bottom surface of the grain tank being angled towards the sensor, the minimum detectable grain level being defined by a minimum grain level within the grain tank at which the top surface of the harvested grain is contacted by the sensor beam, and the reflective target being configured to reflect the sensor beam when the current grain level is vertically below the minimum detectable grain level.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Inventors: Justin Becker, Mark D. Dilts, Michael Minnich, Clayton E. Banks, JR., Denver R. Yoder
  • Publication number: 20230076080
    Abstract: An embodiment includes a combine having a feeder housing for receiving harvested crop, a separating system for threshing the harvested crop to separate grain from residue, a residue spreader wheel spinning for expelling the residue from the combine, and a controller that controls the combine. The controller is configured to control the residue spreader wheel to continuously oscillate between a first speed less than a nominal speed and a second speed greater than the nominal speed while spreading the residue.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2021
    Publication date: March 9, 2023
    Inventor: Mark D. Dilts
  • Publication number: 20220279722
    Abstract: A header of a combine harvester includes a belt conveyor configured to direct a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The belt conveyor is located adjacent an inlet of the feederhouse. The belt conveyor includes at least one protrusion extending radially from the belt conveyor that helps direct movement of harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2022
    Publication date: September 8, 2022
    Inventors: Herbert M. Farley, Joseph Neil Oberlander, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11419267
    Abstract: A header of a combine harvester includes an auger for directing a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The auger includes multiple protrusions configured to both extend from and retract into the auger during rotation of the auger to assist movement of the harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Joseph Neil Oberlander, Herbert M. Farley, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11343969
    Abstract: A header includes a belt conveyor configured to direct a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The belt conveyor is located adjacent an inlet of the feederhouse. The belt conveyor includes at least one protrusion extending radially from the belt conveyor that helps direct movement of harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Herbert M. Farley, Joseph Neil Oberlander, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11202406
    Abstract: An embodiment includes a combine having a feeder housing for receiving harvested crop, a separating system for threshing the harvested crop to separate grain from residue, a grain bin for storing the separated grain, a bin level sensor for detecting grain in the grain bin; and a controller that controls the combine. The controller is configured to generate a usable operating range by discarding a selected range of values from an operating range of the bin level sensor, generate a shifted operating range by shifting the usable operating range by a shift value, receive a first value indicating a level of grain in the grain bin, generate a second value by shifting the first value by the shift value, and present the second value to an operator of the combine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventor: Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11155424
    Abstract: An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is directed to an apparatus for emptying material from a container on a vehicle. The apparatus has a container with a bottom surface and a sidewall. A membrane being mounted within the container proximate the sidewall and the bottom surface. The apparatus further includes an engine and ducts having a first end and a second end. The first end connected to the engine so as to receive gas from the engine and connected at the second end to the membrane so as to direct the gas into the membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Denver R. Yoder, Matthew Gyenes, Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 11096327
    Abstract: A crop residue spreader for an agricultural crop harvester such as a combine includes a rotor having a plurality of paddles including a first paddle having a first cross-sectional shape and a second paddle having a second cross-sectional shape, the second cross-sectional shape of the second paddle being different from the first cross-sectional shape of the first paddle. Different V-shapes can be used for the first and second cross-sectional shapes, the openings of the V-shapes facing in a forward rotational direction of the rotor. Multiple pairs of similarly shaped paddles can be used.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Mark D. Dilts, Reinout De Baere
  • Patent number: 10820519
    Abstract: An agricultural harvester includes a chassis; a threshing and separating assembly carried by the chassis; and a chopper assembly carried by the chassis that receives crop material from the threshing and separating assembly. The chopper assembly includes at least one movable chopping knife; a plurality of counter knives movable between a first knife position and a second knife position, the plurality of counter knives configured to cooperate with the at least one chopping knife to cut crop material when in the first knife position; a shear bar movable between a first bar position and a second bar position; and a linkage assembly connected to the plurality of counter knives and the shear bar such that the linkage assembly is selectively actuable to simultaneously move the plurality of counter knives and the shear bar between their respective first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Cooper W. Linde, Mark D. Dilts, Nathan E. Isaac, Austin L. Jackson
  • Patent number: 10645875
    Abstract: In one aspect, a method for unloading harvested crop from an agricultural harvester may include monitoring a quantity of the harvested crop discharged from the harvester based on sensor data indicative of the quantity of the harvested crop discharged from the harvester. The method may further include controlling an operation of a flow control device of the harvester to halt transfer of the harvested crop from a crop tank of the harvester to a crop discharge system of the harvester when a first quantity of the harvested crop has been discharged from the harvester. Additionally, the method may include continuing to control an operation of the crop discharge system after halting further transfer of the harvested crop from the crop tank to the crop discharge system to convey any remaining harvested crop contained within the crop discharge system to the discharge location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventor: Mark D. Dilts
  • Patent number: 10588261
    Abstract: An agricultural harvester includes a chassis and a residue handling system carried by the chassis. The residue handling system includes a set of rotating knives disposed in a housing, a first set of counter-knives, and a residue pivoting platform and/or a second set of counter-knives. Crop residue travels through the system in a residue flow direction. The first set of counter-knives are configured to enter the housing proximate to the set of rotating knives. The residue pivoting platform is positioned proximate to the first set of counter-knives in an upstream direction relative to the crop residue flow direction. The second set of counter-knives are configured to enter the housing proximate to the set of rotating knives. The second set of counter-knives are in a downstream direction relative to the crop residue flow from at least one of the residue pivoting platform and the first set of counter-knives.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: CNH Industrial America LLC
    Inventors: Mark D. Dilts, Nathan E. Isaac, Austin L. Jackson, Cooper W. Linde
  • Publication number: 20200037502
    Abstract: A header of a combine harvester is provided. The header includes an auger for directing a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The auger includes multiple protrusions configured to both extend from and retract into the auger during rotation of the auger to assist movement of the harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Joseph Neil Oberlander, Herbert M. Farley, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts
  • Publication number: 20200037506
    Abstract: A header of a combine harvester is provided. The header includes a belt conveyor configured to direct a movement of harvested crop material toward a feederhouse of the combine harvester. The belt conveyor is located adjacent an inlet of the feederhouse. The belt conveyor includes at least one protrusion extending radially from the belt conveyor that helps direct movement of harvested crop material toward the feederhouse.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 31, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Inventors: Herbert M. Farley, Joseph Neil Oberlander, Dan Lawrence Garland, Mark D. Dilts