Planting machine for potatoes and other tubers

A planting machine for tubers such as potatoes

• comprising a hopper for containing tubers to be planted, a movable conveyor which forms a transverse bottom of the hopper and extends outside the hopper and is movable in a given direction, means for driving the conveyor in said given direction, tuber distributing means for receiving the tubers from the conveyor and distributing the tubers one by one to the furrow to be sown, and regulating means for restricting the supply of tubers from the conveyor to the distributing means to solely one tuber at a time, the regulating means comprising a rotary structure mounted above the conveyor and defining with the conveyor a gap which is capable of allowing the passage of only one row of tubers, means for driving the periphery of the rotary structure adjacent the conveyor in a direction opposed to the direction of movement of the conveyor, a fork-shaped collector cup mounted at an end of the conveyor for receiving only one tuber from the conveyor at a time, means responsive to the presence of said one tuber in the cup and operative for stopping the movement of the conveyor when said one tuber is in the cup and allowing the movement of the conveyor when the collector cup is empty, the distributing means comprising movable cups for respectively passing through the fork-shaped collector cup and taking up a tuber received in the collector cup and depositing the tuber into the furrow, and means for driving the movable cups, said means responsive to the presence of said one tuber comprising a switch for stopping operation of the conveyor, a pivotal lever responsive to the reception of the tuber in the collector cup and combined with the switch for actuating the switch, the collector cup being mounted at a free end of the pivotal lever, the means for driving the rotary structure and the means for driving the movable cups being operative simultaneously and continuously, even during the stoppage of the conveyor.

A planting machine for tubers such as potatoes comprising a hopper for containing tubers to be planted, a movable conveyor which forms a transverse bottom of the hopper and extends outside the hopper and is movable in a given direction, means for driving the conveyor in said given direction, tuber distributing means for receiving the tubers from the conveyor and distributing the tubers one by one to the furrow to be sown, and regulating means for restricting the supply of tubers from the conveyor to the distributing means to solely one tuber at a time, the regulating means comprising a rotary structure mounted above the conveyor and defining with the conveyor a gap which is capable of allowing the passage of only one row of tubers, means for driving the periphery of the rotary structure adjacent the conveyor in a direction opposed to the direction of movement of the conveyor, a fork-shaped collector cup mounted at an end of the conveyor for receiving only one tuber from the conveyor at a time, means responsive to the presence of said one tuber in the cup and operative for stopping the movement of the conveyor when said one tuber is in the cup and allowing the movement of the conveyor when the collector cup is empty, the distributing means comprising movable cups for respectively passing through the fork-shaped collector cup and taking up a tuber received in the collector cup and depositing the tuber into the furrow, and means for driving the movable cups, the rotary structure comprising a wheel which has retractable vanes defining said gap with the conveyor, said gap being capable of allowing the passage of only one tuber at a time between the conveyor and the vanes.