Seed meter assembly for a seeding machine
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsElijah B. Garner, Kamalakannan Natarajan
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seed meter assembly for a seeding machine. The seed meter assembly has a metering member mounted for rotation about a meter axis and driven to rotate in a direction of travel, the metering member having an inner surface configured to receive seeds and an outer surface and apertures passing through the metering member between the inner surface and the outer surface at a radial distance from the meter axis. The seed meter assembly also has a loader including at least one loader surface movable into and out of a position in which the loader surface is disposed at the radial distance adjacent one of the apertures.
Claims20
A seed meter assembly for a seeding machine, the seed meter assembly comprising:
- a metering member mounted for rotation about a meter axis and driven to rotate in a direction of travel, the metering member having an inner surface configured to receive seeds and an outer surface, and apertures passing through the metering member between the inner surface and the outer surface at a radial distance from the meter axis;
- and
- a loader including at least one loader surface movable into and out of a position in which the loader surface is disposed at the radial distance, adjacent one of the apertures.
A row unit for a seeding machine, the row unit comprising:
- a seed meter assembly having a rotatable metering member for selecting and transporting seeds from a seed pool, the metering member being driven about a meter axis for rotation in a direction of travel, wherein the metering member includes apertures disposed at a radial distance from the meter axis;
- a seed delivery mechanism for discharging the seeds from the seeding machine;
- and
- a loader disposed between the metering member and the seed delivery mechanism for directing the seeds from the metering member to the seed delivery mechanism, the loader including a loader surface configured to move into and out of a position in which the loader surface is disposed at the radial distance, adjacent one of the apertures.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.