Seed meter for row crop planter unit
AssigneeKinze Manufacturing, Inc.
InventorHarry C. Deckler
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seed meter for a row crop planter unit having a seed disc rotating in a vertical plane includes improvements for seating individual seeds in seed cells on the periphery of the seed disc as the seed disc rotates through the seed reservoir. The improvements also include a barrier brush for preventing seeds from entering the delivery tube directly from the reservoir, and a brush holder which limits the effective width of a peripheral retainer brush so that the retainer brush cannot retain two seeds simultaneously in the same seed cell.
Claims13
In a seed meter for an agricultural planter having a housing receiving seeds from a storage hopper and at least partially defining a reservoir of seed, a disc mounted for rotation in a generally vertical plane and partially defining said reservoir of seeds, said disc having a plurality of seed cells, each cell sized to hold a seed, said cells being spaced about the periphery of the disc, and retainer means for retaining said seeds in said cells from a location at which the seed cells leave said reservoir to a location adjacent a discharge chute, the improvement comprising:
- a plurality of lead-in grooves formed in said disc, each lead-in groove communicating with a seed cell and having a depth less than the depth of a seed cell and adapted to engage seeds in said reservoir as said disc rotates to bring seeds up to the speed of the disc as it rotates through said reservoir of seeds, said lead-in grooves being further ,sized to capture partially at least one seed;
- and flexible isolator means mounted to said housing and extending along said disc adjacent said lead-in grooves to a location adjacent the area where said seed cells exit said seed reservoir for urging seeds in said lead-in grooves outwardly toward the seed cells associated with respective grooves as said grooves are rotated through said reservoir of seeds.
In a seed meter for an agricultural planter having a housing receiving seeds from a storage hopper and at least partially defining a reservoir of seed, a disc mounted for rotation in a generally vertical plane and partially defining said reservoir of seeds, said disc having a plurality of seed cells, each cell sized to hold a seed, said cells being spaced about the periphery of the disc, and retainer means for retaining said seeds in said cells from a location at which the seeds leave said reservoir to a location adjacent a discharge chute, the improvement comprising:
- an isolator brush mounted to said housing and extending along said disc to a location adjacent the portion of said retainer means where said seed cells begin to pass beneath said retainer means and defining a progressively narrowing space between said isolator brush and the side wall of said housing for urging seeds outwardly of said disc and into the seed cells as said disc is rotated through said reservoir of seeds.
In a seed meter for an agricultural planter having a housing including a cylindrical side wall and receiving seeds from a storage hopper and at least partially defining a reservoir of seed, the combination comprising:
- a disc mounted for rotation in a generally vertical plane and partially defining said reservoir of seeds, said disc having a plurality of seed cells, each cell sized to hold a seed, said cells being spaced about the periphery of the disc, a retainer brush mounted to said housing for retaining said seeds in said cells from a location at which said cells leave said reservoir to a location adjacent a discharge chute, and a rigid brush holder mounted in said housing above said reservoir for securing said retainer brush to said housing and including a first rigid wall spaced inwardly from said side wall of said housing and cooperating therewith to limit the effective width of said retainer brush to be substantially equal to the width of said cells.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.