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US 10,299,425 B2Granted
Seed meter
AssigneePrecision Planting LLC
InventorsDerek Sauder, Tim Schaefer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A seed meter for an agricultural planter in which the seed disc is rotatably mounted within a seed meter housing. As the seed disc rotates, the apertures in the disc rotate along a seed aperture path through a horizontally adjacent seed pool area. The seed disc includes cavities disposed along the seed aperture path to agitate the seeds in the seed pool area. A singulator having multiple co-planar singulator surfaces is biased against the seed side surface of the seed disc.
Claims30
A seed meter for an agricultural planter, comprising:
- a meter housing including a seed housing, said seed housing defining a seed pool area into which seeds are communicated and collected;
- and
- a seed disc rotatably mounted within said meter housing, said seed disc having a seed side surface defining a seed plane having a plurality of seed apertures therethrough, said seed disc having a central axis and a direction of rotation, said plurality of seed apertures spaced radially outward from said central axis, said plurality of seed apertures defining a seed path along said seed plane, said seed side surface having a plurality of recessed cavities intersecting said seed path, each of said recessed cavities having a surface recessed relative to said seed plane, said recessed surface having a portion radially inward of an inner radius of said seed path and said recessed surface having a portion radially outward of an outer radius of said seed path;
- and
- a singulator having a plurality of lobes disposed to remove seeds from said seed apertures, said lobes contacting said seed side surface wherein said cavities rotate sequentially past and adjacent to said lobes during operation.
2 more elements
A seed meter for an agricultural planter, comprising:
- a meter housing including a seed side housing;
- an opening in said seed side housing into which seeds are communicated;
- a seed pool area within said seed side housing for collecting said communicated seeds;
- a seed disc rotatably mounted within said meter housing, said seed disc having a seed side surface defining a seed plane having a plurality of seed apertures therethrough, said plurality of seed apertures defining a seed path along said seed plane, said seed side surface having a plurality of recessed cavities, each of said plurality of recessed cavities having a surface recessed relative to said seed plane, said recessed surface having a portion radially outward of an outer radius of said seed path, and wherein each of said recessed cavities includes a forward face between said seed plane and said recessed surface, and wherein each forward face is in a backward-swept orientation relative to a direction of rotation of said seed disc;
- and
- a singulator having a plurality of lobes disposed to remove seeds from said seed apertures, said lobes contacting said seed side surface wherein said cavities rotate sequentially past and adjacent to said lobes during operation.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.