Importance

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Abstract

A crop tending machine and method to automatically steer a harvesting machine and provide warning to the operator when there is a gap sensed in a crop row. The machine comprises a chassis that moves along a crop row axis, a location sensing member, a steerable wheel, and a control mechanism. The sensing member senses a distance of the machine from the axis. The steerable wheel has first and second predetermined angular positions that are angularly displaced by predetermined amounts from a straight ahead steering position. The control mechanism responds to the sensing member in a manner to move the steerable wheel to the first predetermined angular position when the machine is misaligned to a second side and to maintain the steerable wheel in the first position until the machine is more toward the first side at which time the control mechanism moves the steerable wheel to the second predetermined angular position and maintains the steerable wheel in the second position until the machine is more toward the second side. For safety, the machine is shut down when sensing of the row discontinues for a predetermined length of time. The method provides the chassis, the sensing member, the steerable wheel, and the control means, and provides for turning the control means to the first and second positions.

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First Claim