AgJunction Secures Patent for Hands-Free Headland K-Turns
August 21, 2019 AgJunction Inc. has announced the recent issuance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office of U.S. Patent No. 10,266,201 titled, “K-Turn Path Controller.”
Since eTurns debuted in 2011, AgJunction has been at the forefront in developing and delivering auto-steering headland turns. In addition to improved performance and a tighter turning ratio that supports more effective configurations, K-Turns offers farmers the benefit of further reducing the area required to perform a turn with their equipment. The classic “keyhole turn” requires a large headland to make a turn for the next row, while K-turns can reduce the size of that headland by half and better utilize the grower’s fields. This increases the amount of the field available for planting and provides a safer turning option for farmers with land that borders canals, creeks and other challenging terrain.
“AgJunction really considers how autosteering effects the work of the farmer and the mechanics of agriculture itself,” said M. Brett McMickell, COO of AgJunction. “The K-Turns capability is about improving efficiency without overlapping to maximize utilization of the entire field. Using minimal headland space means a greater yield is possible, along with the ability to make more efficient turns and adjustments, while providing greater autonomy to be more productive.”
Bob Barjesteh, vice president, M&A, IP and general counsel for AgJunction commented, “Owning this important technology further solidifies our patent coverage in machine steering, specifically in the area of auto headland turns. We also were just granted the European patent for this technology, where the K-Turns capability is even more critical to farmers because of the slightly smaller field sizes.”
Since 2016, AgJunction has added 72 new patent matters with 13 new patents issued. The company currently holds approximately 200 precision agriculture patents and pending patents worldwide.
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