Patents by Inventor Robert A. Shearer

Robert A. Shearer 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).

  • Publication number: 20200214208
    Abstract: A crop harvesting header includes a reel for controlling movement of the crop in the area over the cutter bar to the transport draper carried on two reel mounting arms for upward and downward movement and for moving the reel forwardly and rearwardly along the respective reel mounting arm. The reel has a plurality of reel bats with reel fingers projecting generally radially outwardly from the reel axis where the reel bats are pivotal to vary the angle of the finger driven by a cam track member. An adjustment component defined by a follower in a guide track along one of the arms is responsive to movement of the reel along the arm which causes the cam track member to be angularly advanced and retarded about the reel axis to different adjustment angles in dependence upon the position of the reel along the mounting arms.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2018
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventor: Bruce Robert Shearer
  • Patent number: 10681865
    Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd
    Inventors: James Thomas Dunn, Graham Michael Leverick, Russell George Lyons, Bruce Robert Shearer, Kyle Edward Boch
  • Patent number: 10624263
    Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd
    Inventors: James Thomas Dunn, Graham Michael Leverick, Russell George Lyons, Bruce Robert Shearer, Kyle Edward Boch
  • Patent number: 10624260
    Abstract: A crop harvesting header having a frame mounted on a propulsion vehicle has a cutter bar carrying a sickle knife and a draper transport. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame for movement therewith. The cutter bar is mounted on the frame at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper engagement member. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. The small amount of flexing of the cutter bar combines with a balanced three piece header frame to provide effective ground following.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd.
    Inventor: Bruce Robert Shearer
  • Patent number: 10617059
    Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: James Thomas Dunn, Graham Michael Leverick, Russell George Lyons, Bruce Robert Shearer, Kyle Edward Boch
  • Publication number: 20200077585
    Abstract: In a crop harvesting machine there is provided a pair of hydraulic float cylinders or springs for a header such as a rotary mower relative to a self-propelled vehicle, where a float spring force is controlled to provide a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. The spring force is varied in response to detection of ground speed to decrease the lifting force at higher ground speeds. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. In order to reduce static friction so that the system can react quickly, an arrangement is provided for causing relative reciprocating movement in an alternating wave pattern between the piston and cylinder.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2017
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Inventors: Jann Peter Garbald, James Thomas Dunn, Graham Michael Leverick, Russell George Lyons, Bruce Robert Shearer, Neil Gordon Barnett
  • Publication number: 20200073725
    Abstract: A method for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventors: JAMIE R. KUESEL, MARK G. KUPFERSCHMIDT, PAUL E. SCHARDT, ROBERT A. SHEARER
  • Publication number: 20200065159
    Abstract: A circuit arrangement and program product for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: JAMIE R. KUESEL, MARK G. KUPFERSCHMIDT, PAUL E. SCHARDT, ROBERT A. SHEARER
  • Patent number: 10545797
    Abstract: A method for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jamie R. Kuesel, Mark G. Kupferschmidt, Paul E. Schardt, Robert A. Shearer
  • Patent number: 10534654
    Abstract: A circuit arrangement and program product for dynamically providing a status of a hardware thread/hardware resource independent of the operation of the hardware thread/hardware resource using an inter-thread communication protocol. A master hardware thread may be configured to communicate status requests to associated slave hardware threads and/or hardware resources. Each slave hardware thread/hardware resource may be configured with hardware logic configured to automatically determine status information for the slave hardware thread/hardware resource and communicate a status response to the master hardware thread without interrupting processing of the slave hardware thread/hardware resource.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Jamie R. Kuesel, Mark G. Kupferschmidt, Paul E. Schardt, Robert A. Shearer
  • Publication number: 20200000032
    Abstract: In a crop harvesting header with a center section and two wings where each wing is pivotal relative to the center section about a pivot axis extending in a generally forward direction which includes a balance system to maintain a balanced ground force distribution across the width of the header there is provided an automatic adjustment system for maintaining proper balance. The system includes a sensor which repeatedly, over a time period during which the header is operating, detects data relating to the positions, distance from the ground or weight applied to the ground of each wing frame portion, a processor arranged in response to the sensed data to calculate a value representative of the positions and an adjustment mechanism for effecting an adjustment of the balance system in response to the value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 27, 2018
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventors: Bruce Robert Shearer, Eric Grenier, Lance Willer, Francois Talbot
  • Publication number: 20200000033
    Abstract: In a crop harvesting header with a center section and two wings where each wing is pivotal relative to the center section about a pivot axis extending in a generally forward direction which includes a balance system to maintain a balanced ground force distribution across the width of the header there is provided an automatic adjustment system for maintaining proper balance. The system includes angle or other sensors which detect the pivot angle of the wing section. This can be used in a static testing system where the position to set to a detected midpoint and/or in a dynamic system where repeatedly, over a time period during which the header is operating, data is detected relating to the positions of each wing frame portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 25, 2019
    Publication date: January 2, 2020
    Inventors: Bruce Robert Shearer, Eric Grenier, Lance Willer, Francois Talbot
  • Patent number: 10521234
    Abstract: A method and circuit arrangement utilize inactive non-pipelined operation resources in one processing core of a multi-core processing unit to execute non-pipelined instructions on behalf of another processing core in the same processing unit. Adjacent processing cores in a processing unit may be coupled together such that, for example, when one processing core's non-pipelined execution sequencer is busy, that processing core may issue into another processing core's non-pipelined execution sequencer if that other processing core's non-pipelined execution sequencer is idle, thereby providing intermittent concurrent execution of multiple non-pipelined instructions within each individual processing core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Adam J. Muff, Paul E. Schardt, Robert A. Shearer, Matthew R. Tubbs
  • Patent number: 10462968
    Abstract: A crop header having a frame mounted on a vehicle has a sickle cutter bar and a draper. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame. The cutter bar is mounted at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper rail. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. A locking device is provided for commonly and automatically moving the beam in a direction to lift the cutter bar into a raised position in which the cutter bar is locked against flexing movement with the locking device being operable in response to the cutter bar being raised off the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd.
    Inventor: Bruce Robert Shearer
  • Publication number: 20190230858
    Abstract: A crop header having a frame mounted on a vehicle has a sickle cutter bar and a draper. The draper is guided at its front edge by a longitudinally extending rail mounted on the frame. The cutter bar is mounted at spaced positions by spring blades attached to a fixed beam at the rear which allow up and down flexing movement of the cutter bar relative to the draper rail. At the center discharge the cutter bar is carried on shorter blades which are carried on a beam in front of the front draper roller. A locking device is provided for commonly and automatically moving the beam in a direction to lift the cutter bar into a raised position in which the cutter bar is locked against flexing movement with the locking device being operable in response to the cutter bar being raised off the ground.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Publication date: August 1, 2019
    Inventor: Bruce Robert Shearer
  • Patent number: 10310998
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and computer-readable storage media are disclosed for applying filtering operations to data transferred as part of a direct memory access (DMA) operation. In one example of the disclosed technology, a system includes a processor, memory, and a direct memory access (DMA) engine coupled to the memory for reading a set of data from a selected range of read memory addresses for the memory without using the processor. A line buffer coupled to the DMA engine is configured to receive DMA read data and temporarily store a portion, but not all of the data set being read by the DMA engine in a line buffer. A digital filter is configured to apply a filtering operation to a windowed subset of the buffered portion of the data set, producing filtered data that is stored to a selected range of write memory addresses for the memory, without using the processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventors: Ryan Haraden, Robert Shearer, Matthew Tubbs, Adam Muff, Ashish Gupta
  • Publication number: 20190034208
    Abstract: A method and circuit arrangement provide support for a hybrid pipeline that dynamically switches between out-of-order and in-order modes. The hybrid pipeline may selectively execute instructions from at least one instruction stream that require the high performance capabilities provided by out-of-order processing in the out-of-order mode. The hybrid pipeline may also execute instructions that have strict power requirements in the in-order mode where the in-order mode conserves more power compared to the out-of-order mode. Each stage in the hybrid pipeline may be activated and fully functional when the hybrid pipeline is in the out-of-order mode. However, stages in the hybrid pipeline not used for the in-order mode may be deactivated and bypassed by the instructions when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the out-of-order mode to the in-order mode. The deactivated stages may then be reactivated when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the in-order mode to the out-of-order mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Inventors: Miguel Comparan, Andrew D. Hilton, Hans M. Jacobson, Brian M. Rogers, Robert A. Shearer, Ken V. Vu, Alfred T. Watson, III
  • Publication number: 20180359920
    Abstract: A header is supported by a pair of hydraulic float cylinders, where a float pressure to the cylinders is directly controlled by an electronic control supplying a variable control signal to a PPRR valve arrangement to maintain the float pressure at a predetermined value. At the set pressure a predetermined lifting force is provided to the header. A position sensor is used to generate an indication of movement and/or acceleration and/or velocity. The electronic control is arranged, in response to changes in the sensor signal, to temporarily change the control signal to vary the lifting force and thus change the dynamic response of the hydraulic float cylinder. A lift force greater than that required to lift the header can be provided by a lift cylinder and can be opposed in a controlled manner to apply a controlled downforce by the back of the same cylinder or by a separate component.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Publication date: December 20, 2018
    Inventors: James Thomas Dunn, Graham Michael Leverick, Russell George Lyons, Bruce Robert Shearer, Kyle Edward Boch
  • Patent number: 10149431
    Abstract: A sickle cutting system is mounted on a header for forward travel over ground having a standing crop thereon and includes a cutter bar with a plurality of knife guards and at least one sickle bar with a drive system for driving the sickle bar through repeated cycles of reciprocating movement from start-up of the system through to a shut-down. The drive system includes an arrangement to halt the sickle bar on shut-down at a predetermined position of the knife blades relative to the knife guards and preferably the position where the blades lie intermediate two knife guards. The system can be halted by either a physical stop member at the required position or by detecting the position of the sickle bar during operation and causing it to halt the required position. The detection can be carried out by counting pulses generated by markers on a rotary member of the drive system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2018
    Assignee: MacDon Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: James Thomas Dunn, Bruce Robert Shearer
  • Patent number: 10114652
    Abstract: A method and circuit arrangement provide support for a hybrid pipeline that dynamically switches between out-of-order and in-order modes. The hybrid pipeline may selectively execute instructions from at least one instruction stream that require the high performance capabilities provided by out-of-order processing in the out-of-order mode. The hybrid pipeline may also execute instructions that have strict power requirements in the in-order mode where the in-order mode conserves more power compared to the out-of-order mode. Each stage in the hybrid pipeline may be activated and fully functional when the hybrid pipeline is in the out-of-order mode. However, stages in the hybrid pipeline not used for the in-order mode may be deactivated and bypassed by the instructions when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the out-of-order mode to the in-order mode. The deactivated stages may then be reactivated when the hybrid pipeline dynamically switches from the in-order mode to the out-of-order mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2018
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Miguel Comparan, Andrew D. Hilton, Hans M. Jacobson, Brian M. Rogers, Robert A. Shearer, Ken V. Vu, Alfred T. Watson, III