Back to results
US 4,664,290 AGranted
Method and apparatus for precise positioning of a seed disk in a seed meter
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsJames C. Martin, Jay H. Olson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Loading patent…
Loading patent…
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsJames C. Martin, Jay H. Olson
Estimating the term…
In a seed meter in which a seed disk is rotatably mounted within a housing, a method and apparatus are provided for positioning the seed disk within the housing so that the peripheral portion of the seed disk is located a desired, relatively uniform distance from an adjacent peripheral portion of the housing. A shaft having a threaded outer portion is rotatably mounted within the housing and a hub having a threaded aperture therein is positioned on and turned relative to the threaded outer portion of the shaft to begin advancing the threaded aperture onto the shaft. The seed disk is then mounted on the hub, following which rotation of the hub relative to the shaft is continued in a direction to advance the hub along the shaft toward the housing until a gap of desired size exists between the peripheral portion of the seed disk and the peripheral portion of the housing. The hub is then releasably secured on the shaft by inserting a pin through an aperture in the shaft and through an opposite pair of a plurality of slots spaced about the hub.
In a seed meter an arrangement for rotatably mounting a seed disk within a housing of the seed meter comprising the combination of a shaft rotatably mounted within the housing and having a length thereof extending outwardly from the housing and an aperture therein, a hub disposed on and movable along a portion of the length of the shaft and adapted to mount a seed disk thereon, the hub having an aperture therein receiving the shaft and a plurality of openings therein spaced around the aperture, and means for releasably securing the hub at any of a plurality of different locations along the portion of the length of the shaft, said means comprising a pin extending through the aperture in the shaft and an opposite pair of the openings in the hub.
A seed meter comprising the combination of a housing having a peripheral portion thereof extending around a central axis, a shaft rotatably mounted within the housing and extending along the central axis, the shaft having a threaded outer surface thereof extending along a portion of the shaft from an outer end thereof opposite the housing, a hub having a threaded aperture therein receiving and threaded onto the threaded outer surface of the shaft, means for releasably locking the hub at one of a plurality of possible locations of the hub along the shaft, and a seed disk releasably mounted on the hub and having a peripheral portion thereof spaced apart from the peripheral portion of the housing by a distance determined by the location along the shaft at which the hub is releasably locked.
A seed meter comprising the combination of a housing having a peripheral portion thereof extending around a central axis, a shaft mounted within the housing and extending along the central axis, the shaft having a threaded outer surface thereof extending along a portion of the shaft from an outer end thereof opposite the housing, a hub having a threaded aperture therein receiving and threaded onto the threaded outer surface of the shaft and means for releasably locking the hub at one of a plurality of possible locations of the hub along the shaft, the hub having an axis extending through the threaded aperture and nominally coincident with the central axis and the threaded aperture being larger than the threaded outer surface of the shaft by an amount sufficient to permit movement of the hub relative to the shaft so that the axis of the hub forms small angles with the central axis.
A seed meter comprising the combination of a housing having a peripheral portion thereof extending around a central axis, a shaft rotatably mounted within the housing and extending along the central axis, the shaft having a threaded outer surface thereof extending along a portion of the shaft from an outer end thereof opposite the housing, a hub having a threaded aperture therein receiving and threaded onto the threaded outer surface of the shaft and means for releasably locking the hub at one of a plurality of possible locations of the hub along the shaft, the shaft having an aperture extending therethrough generally perpendicular to the central axis, the hub having a plurality of slots therein spaced around the threaded aperture therein, the means for releasably locking comprising a pin extending through the aperture in the shaft and an opposite pair of the slots in the hub, the pin having a relatively straight portion extending through the aperture in the shaft and the opposite pair of the plurality of slots in the hub and a curved portion extending outwardly from the straight portion and terminating in an outer curved end resiliently residing in one of the plurality of slots in the hub disposed between the opposite pair of the plurality of slots.
In a seed meter having a housing, a method of mounting a seed disk at a desired location within the housing comprising the steps of:
In a seed meter comprising a shaft, a housing rotatably mounting the shaft and having a peripheral portion thereof extending around the shaft, a hub mounted on and movable along the shaft and a seed disk having a peripheral portion thereof, a method of locating the peripheral portion of the seed disk a desired distance from the peripheral portion of the housing comprising the steps of:
In a seed meter having a housing with a peripheral portion thereof extending around a central axis and a seed disk, a method of rotatably mounting the seed disk within the housing so that a peripheral portion thereof is a desired distance from the peripheral portion of the housing comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.