Planter having a seeding system

A planter for planting seeds in the ground, the planter comprising:

• a frame;
• a seed metering device configured to separate and guide individual seeds into a planting position;
• a shaft configured to reciprocate with respect to the frame through a stroke path including extension towards the ground to a lowered position and retraction away from the ground to a raised position, the shaft configured to engage one of the seeds from the planting position while the shaft is near the raised position, to move the one of the seeds downward while the shaft extends toward the ground, and to create an opening in the ground by inserting the one of the seeds into ground while the shaft is near the lowered position
• a passage sized to fit the seeds in single file;
• and
• a retainer configured to retain the one of the seeds in the planting position, the retainer configured to be deformed by the shaft while the shaft moves the one of the seeds downward into the ground, and a sleeve positioned around the shaft, and a fluid port positioned to direct fluid into the sleeve such that the fluid is moved downward with the one of the seeds into the ground in response to downward movement of the shaft.

A planter for planting seeds in the ground, the planter comprising:

• a frame;
• a seed metering device configured to separate and guide individual seeds into a planting position, the seed metering device including an endless member extending around a drive member, the drive member configured to move the endless member around the drive member;
• a seed guide positioned to receive the one of the seeds from the endless member and to move the one of the seeds into the planting position;
• and
• a shaft configured to reciprocate with respect to the frame through a stroke path including extension towards the ground to a lowered position and retraction away from the ground to a raised position, the shaft configured to engage one of the seeds from the planting position while the shaft is near the raised position, to move the one of the seeds downward while the shaft extends toward the ground, and to create an opening in the ground by inserting the one of the seeds into ground while the shaft is near the lowered position.

A seeding machine configured to be moved over the ground, the seeding machine comprising:

• a frame;
• at least one hopper containing seeds to be planted;
• and
• a plurality of planting row units coupled to the frame, each of the planting row units including
• a seed metering device configured to separate and guide individual seeds into a planting position, and
• a shaft configured to reciprocate with respect to the frame through a stroke path including extension towards the ground to a lowered position and retraction away from the ground to a raised position, the shaft configured to engage one of the seeds from the planting position while the shaft is near the raised position, to move the one of the seeds downward while the shaft extends toward the ground, and to create an opening in the ground by pressing the one of the seeds into ground while the shaft is near the lowered position,
• wherein a first portion of the plurality of planting row units are positioned to form a first row of planting row units extending substantially perpendicular to a direction of travel of the seeding machine and a second portion of plurality of planting row units are positioned to form a second row of planting units extending substantially parallel to the first row of planning units and positioned rearwardly of the first row of planting units in the direction of travel of the seeding machine.

A control system for a seeding machine including a frame, a hopper configured to retain seeds, and a seed metering device having a drive member, and an endless member, and a reciprocating shaft, the drive member configured to move the endless member about the drive member, the reciprocating shaft configured to reciprocate with respect to the frame through a stroke path including extension towards the ground to a lowered position and retraction away from the ground to a raised position, the shaft configured to engage one of the seeds from the endless member while the shaft is near the raised position, to move the one of the seeds downward while the shaft extends toward the ground, and to press the one of the seeds into ground to thereby create an opening in the ground while the shaft is near the lowered position, the control system comprising:

• a first sensor configured to sense a parameter indicative of a speed of the endless member;
• a second sensor configured to sense a position of a seed on the endless member;
• and
• a controller in electrical communication with the first sensor and the second sensor, the controller configured to
• receive a first signal from the first sensor, the first signal indicative of the speed of the endless member,
• receive a second signal from the second sensor, the second signal indicative of the position of the seeds on the endless member,
• send a third signal to the shaft to cause a reciprocation timing of the reciprocating shaft to be adjusted in response to the first and second signals.