# US 11,997,940 B2 · Systems, methods, and apparatus for crop input variety selection > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,997,940 B2 - Document ID: US11997940B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/298,476 - Filed: 2019-10-04 - Published: 2022-01-27 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2018-11-28 - Assignees: Precision Planting LLC - Applicants: Precision Planting LLC - Inventors: Justin Vollmer; Luke Stuber - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11997940B2 ## CPC - A01C 7/124: {with top delivery of the seeds} - A01C 7/102: {Regulating or controlling the seed rate} - A01C 15/006: {Hoppers} - A01C 21/005: {Following a specific plan, e.g. pattern} - A01C 7/046: {with perforated seeding discs} - A01C: PLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING (parts, details or accessories of agricultural machines or implements, in general A01B51/00 - A01B75/00) ## Abstract Systems, methods, and apparatus for agricultural planting including selecting and varying agricultural input types during an in-field operation. In one embodiment, a method calculates a partial addition of seed to a seed pool during planting to minimize or eliminate seeds in the seed pool as a boundary is crossed. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method of minimizing or eliminating seeds in a seed pool when crossing a boundary during planting comprising: adding seeds to the seed pool from a first compartment; obtaining one or more of seed size of the seeds, an average number of seeds in the seed pool, a maximum number of seeds in the seed pool, and a distance traveled per dump of seeds into the seed pool; determining whether a distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool; activating an actuator to partially open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool in which the partially open passageway is directly proportional to seed size to create a partial dump; and activating the actuator to close the passageway after the partial dump. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator is activated to partially open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool when the distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 wherein the first compartment receives a first seed variety and the second compartment receives a second seed variety. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising: adding seeds to the seed pool from a second compartment before the boundary is passed and before the seed pool is empty. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4 wherein the first and second compartments are formed within a hopper. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method of claim 4 wherein the first compartment is a first auxiliary hopper and the second compartment is a second auxiliary hopper of a row unit. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the actuator is operated by a stepper motor or gear motor with encoder and a number of steps is counted for the partially opened passageway so that seeds flow through the partially opened passageway. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining the number of steps for the partially opened passageway based on a maximum seeds per dump, minimum steps for opening the passageway, a scaling factor, and a current average seeds per dump. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 further comprising: comparing calculated seeds per dump with a maximum seed pool size; and decrementing the number of steps used for the actuator when the calculated seeds per dump is greater than the maximum seed pool size. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 further comprising: comparing calculated seeds per dump with a minimum seed pool size; and incrementing the number of steps used for the actuator when the calculated seeds per dump is less than the minimum seed pool size. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the seeds comprise corn seeds, sugar beet seeds, cotton, or soybean seeds. ### Claim 12 A method of minimizing or eliminating seeds in a seed pool when crossing a boundary during planting comprising: adding seeds to the seed pool from a first compartment; obtaining an average number of seeds in the seed pool, a distance traveled per dump of seeds into the seed pool, and a target distance per dump; determining whether a distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool; activating an actuator to open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool in which a time for opening is less than a full communication time; and activating the actuator to close the passageway after the dump. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, wherein the actuator is activated to open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool when the distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool. ### Claim 14 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 further comprising: adding seeds to the seed pool from a second compartment before the boundary is passed and before the seed pool is empty. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the first and second compartments are formed within a hopper. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the first compartment is a first auxiliary hopper and the second compartment is a second auxiliary hopper of a row unit. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the first compartment receives a first seed variety and the second compartment receives a second seed variety. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14, further comprising: decreasing the time for activating the actuator to open a passageway when the average distance per dump is greater than the target distance per dump. ### Claim 19 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 wherein the actuator is operated by a stepper motor or gear motor with encoder. ### Claim 20 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12, further comprising: comparing average distance per dump to the target distance per dump; and increasing the time for activating the actuator to open a passageway when the average distance per dump is less than the target distance per dump. ### Claim 21 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 wherein the seeds comprise soybean seeds. ### Claim 22 A seed variety system, comprising: a seed pool for dispensing seed during planting operations; and processing logic to perform operations including adding seeds to the seed pool from a first compartment, obtaining one or more of seed size of the seeds, an average number of seeds in the seed pool, a maximum number of seeds in the seed pool, and a distance traveled per dump of seeds into the seed pool, determining whether a distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool, activating an actuator to partially open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool in which the partially open passageway is directly proportional to seed size to create a partial dump, and activating the actuator to close the passageway after the partial dump. ### Claim 23 (depends on 22) The seed variety system of claim 22, wherein the actuator is activated to partially open a passageway between the first compartment and the seed pool when the distance to the boundary is greater than a distance to dispense all seeds from the seed pool and less than a distance to dispense all seeds from a full dump of seeds into the seed pool. ### Claim 24 (depends on 22) The seed variety system of claim 22 wherein the processing logic to perform operations further including adding seeds to the seed pool from a second compartment after the boundary is passed.