Patent attributes
An agricultural spreader includes at least one delivery conduit that carries material to be spread from a bin to an exit end of the delivery conduit under the influence of air blown through the delivery conduit by a fan. A deflector is mounted proximate the exit end of the delivery pipe and deflects the material onto agricultural field in a dispersal area. A radio frequency (RF) transmitter is disposed to generate an RF signal that passes through the dispersal area. The RF signal is detectably changed when interacting with the material passing through the dispersal area. An RF receiver is disposed to receive the RF signal after the RF signal passes through the dispersal area and provides an output indicative of the RF signal. A controller is coupled to RF receiver and detects plugging of the delivery conduit based on the output of the RF receiver.