| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20090107348 | Handling And Orienting Cotton Modules Wrapped With Material Including RFID Tag - A grapple device is provided for handling cylindrical cotton modules each having its circumference wrapped with a length of plastic sheet wrapping material. The grapple is equipped with a RFID reader for determining the location of a loose inner tail section of the wrapping material to which is attached an RFID tag assembly. The grapple device is also equipped with powered rollers which can be driven so as to cause the cotton module to be rotated about its axis so as to position the loose tail section of the wrapping material at an upper location of the module so as to permit a bottom surface location of the module to be slit by operation of a cutting device so as to release the cotton from the wrapper when the cotton module is positioned over a conveyor floor of a cotton gin. The powered rollers are then driven to aid in the removal and collection of the of the wrapping material from the module. In one embodiment, a separate set of powered rollers are provided for removing the wrapping material. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20090107349 | Cotton Harvester For Producing Modules Which Can Be Automatically Identified And Oriented - RFID tags pre-installed on bale wrap segments provide location information for a specific area of the bale wrap. RFID tag readers located on the cotton harvester provide signals for use by the module wrapping apparatus for initiating a cutting or separating operation, once a module has been wrapped, and for warning an operator of a situation where the wrapping function has not proceeded in an orderly fashion after a signal for starting the wrapping function has been received. A wrapped module carries the pre-installed RFID tags which are readable by RFID readers carried by module handlers in the field and/or at the gin input which identify the modules and establish a position to which the module may be automatically oriented so that an ideal module wrap cutting location is easily calculated. The RFID tag reading taken in the field or at the gin thus senses the number on the tag as well as the location of the tag, and the module identification is input to an electronic database. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20100003118 | Cotton Module Plastic Wrapping Material And Module Hangler For Optimizing Module Rotation For Wrapping Removal - A supply of plastic wrapping material for wrapping cylindrical modules includes a plurality of end-to-end segments, with each segment being of a length sufficient for enveloping a cylindrical cotton module of a given size with a predetermined number of layers of wrapping. All except an inner tail of an inner layer of wrapping adheres to the following layer. The location within each segment which becomes a loose inner tail when wrapped about a module is provided with a first RFID tag while other RFID tags are provided at equally spaced locations along the inner layer. Each RFID tag is provided with a unique identifier for which may be read by a RFID tag reader carried by a module handling implement having forks rotatable by reversible motors operable for rotating the module for placing the loose inner tail at a desired location relative to a cutting device for slitting the wrapping during wrapping removal. A control arrangement is coupled to the RFID tag reader and uses the information from the tag identifiers to cause the module to be rotated in a direction most suitable for optimizing placement the loose inner tail in the desired location for wrapping removal. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20100186606 | Cotton Harvester for Producing Modules which can be Automatically Identified and Oriented - RFID tags pre-installed on bale wrap segments provide location information for a specific area of the bale wrap. RFID tag readers located on the cotton harvester provide signals for use by the module wrapping apparatus for initiating a cutting or separating operation, once a module has been wrapped, and for warning an operator of a situation where the wrapping function has not proceeded in an orderly fashion after a signal for starting the wrapping function has been received. A wrapped module carries the pre-installed RFID tags which are readable by RFID readers carried by module handlers in the field and/or at the gin input which identify the modules and establish a position to which the module may be automatically oriented so that an ideal module wrap cutting location is easily calculated. The RFID tag reading taken in the field or at the gin thus senses the number on the tag as well as the location of the tag, and the module identification is input to an electronic database. | 07-29-2010 |
