Air Pack Manifold Having Articulated Control

#The present invention relates to farm implements and, more particularly, to a pneumatic distribution system for use with agricultural equipment in which an air pack manifold may provide couplers for routing pneumatic hoses between agricultural equipment while providing articulated control.

#Air carts and air drills are commonly towed together by tractors to apply seed, fertilizer, micro-nutrients or other granular agricultural product to a field. Air carts typically include a hopper having one or more compartments configured for holding such product. Air carts also typically include a pneumatic distribution system, including blower assemblies, metering units and primary hoses, for delivering the product from the air cart to the air drill. Air drills are typically towed adjacent to air carts, and often include secondary hoses connected to the primary hoses at headers. Air drills also typically include row units in communication with the secondary hoses which may operate to open a row in a field, receive product from the air cart, and subsequently close the row over the distributed product. In one such application, some compartments of the air cart may be filled with seed while other compartments may be filled with fertilizer.

#It is sometimes necessary to separate the air cart from the air drill, for example, when changing between field operations or performing equipment maintenance. To separate the air cart from the air drill, a mechanical hitching point between the air cart and the air drill is typically released. In addition, the primary hoses running between the air cart and the air drill are also typically disconnected at an air pack manifold connection. To allow for secure and rigid mounting of the primary hoses, and to reduce the stresses that flexing hoses could impart (such as during bumps or turns), the manifold connection is typically positioned closer to the air cart body on one end, or closer to the air drill body on the other end, and further from the hitching point between the air cart and the air drill.

#Preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals represent like parts throughout.

#FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an agricultural vehicle pulling an air drill and an air cart in which a manifold providing articulated control is used for routing pneumatic distribution hoses to row units according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the manifold of FIG. 1;

#Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary air seeder system 10 may include an air drill 12 and an air cart 16 coupled to an agricultural vehicle 13 for towing in a conventional manner. As is known in the art, the air cart 16 may include a chassis supported by multiple wheels and may have a large hopper 18 that holds a quantity of particulate matter, e.g., seed and/or fertilizer, and metering units 20 that meter the particulate matter from the hopper 18 to the air drill 12. The hopper 18 may include multiple compartments 14, each of which may be configured to carry separate products, e.g., seed and/or fertilizer. The size of the hopper 18 and of the individual compartments 14 may vary according to various configuration of the air cart 16. The metering units 20 may be in communication with each compartment 14 to allow individual control over the manner in which product is dispensed from the compartments 14. One exemplary air cart is a Precision Air cart which is commercially available from CNH America, LLC.

#The air drill 12 may have a chassis supported by multiple wheels and may be mechanically linked with the air cart 16 at a hitching point 21 in a conventional manner. In addition to being mechanically linked, the air cart 16 and the air drill 12 may be interconnected by multiple pneumatically driven air/product hoses or primary hoses 22. Air may be supplied to the primary hoses 22 by one or more blower assemblies 25 which may be generally mounted adjacent the front of the hopper 18 and adjacent the metering units 20. Alternatively, the one or more blower assemblies 25 may be mounted rearward of the hopper 18 or adjacent a side of the hopper 18. As known in the art, the one or more blower assemblies 25 may create turbulent air flows that force the particulate matter metered by the metering units 20 into and along the primary hoses 22. The particulate matter may be entrained in the air flow created by the blower assemblies 25 and communicated from the air cart 16 through the primary hoses 22 to the headers 26 mounted to and supported by the air drill 12. The headers 26 may be positioned along the air drill 12. Each header 26 may then be in fluid communication with a set of conduits or secondary hoses 30 that deliver its portion of the air/product mixture to row units 38 which may be configured in a conventional manner to deposit the particulate matter onto the ground “G” (seeding surface).

#An air pack manifold 34 providing articulated control may be used for routing the primary hoses 22. The manifold 34 may hold multiple couplers for connecting the primary hoses of the air cart 16 (primary hoses 22a) to the primary hoses of the air drill 12 (primary hoses 22b). The couplers may be configured to allow substantial rotation in a first plane perpendicular to the ground (vertically/up and down). In addition, the manifold 34 may be configured to allow substantial rotation in a second plane parallel to the ground (horizontally/left and right). As a result of such articulated control, the manifold 34 may be positioned proximal to the mechanical hitching point 21 between the air cart 16 and the air drill 12. This, in turn, may allow for elimination of excess hose lengths and greater ease of handling when the air cart 16 and the air drill 12 are separated and the primary hoses 22 are disconnected.