Seed singulator assembly for a seed metering mechanism

A seed metering mechanism comprising:

• a housing defining a discharge area from whence seeds are deposited to the ground;
• a seed disc rotatably supported within and effectively dividing said housing into a seed chamber, wherein a supply of seeds are held, and a vacuum chamber, said seed disc having a first side facing the suction chamber and a second side facing the seed chamber, said disc further defining a circular array of openings, each opening being capable of accommodating and carrying a seed along a predetermined path of travel during rotation of the disc from the seed chamber to the seed discharge area due to pressure differentials thereacross;
• and
• a seed singulator assembly mounted adjacent the second side of the disc upstream of the discharge area of the housing relative the rotation of the disc to eliminate multiples of seeds carried by each opening, said seed singulator assembly including a pair of movable brackets arranged in radially spaced relation relative to each other with at least one seed deflector provided on each bracket so as to be positioned on opposite sides of the path of travel of the openings, and a lever to operate a pair of cams in communication with the brackets so as to adjust the spacing between the seed deflectors such that only a single seed carried by each opening is permitted to pass therebetween.

A seed metering mechanism comprising:

• a rotatable seed disc having two opposed sides and a circular array of generally equidistantly spaced holes opening to the two sides of the disc proximate a periphery thereof for movement along a predetermined path of travel during rotation of the disc;
• a housing arranged about the seed disc and defining a seed loading station, wherein seeds are captured by the holes on the seed disc, and a seed unloading station, whereat seeds are released from the seed disc for deposit to the ground;
• and
• a seed singulator assembly carried by said housing on one side of the disc upstream of the seed unloading station relative the rotation of the disc to eliminate multiples of seeds carried by each hole, said seed singulator assembly including at least one seed deflector mounted on opposite sides of the path of travel of the holes with the spacing between the seed deflectors being such that only a single seed carried by each hole is permitted to pass therebetween, each seed deflector being mounted for rotation about an axis extending generally perpendicular to the sides of the seed disc.

A seed metering mechanism to deposit seeds into a furrow, said seed metering mechanism comprising:

• a circularly shaped and rotatably driven seed disc having two opposed sides and a circular array of equidistantly spaced holes opening to the two sides of the disc adjacent the periphery thereof for movement along a predetermined path of travel during rotation of the disc;
• a housing arranged about the seed disc and defining a seed loading station, whereat seeds are drawn to and entrapped by the holes on the seed disc, and a seed unloading station, whereat seeds carried by said disc are released therefrom for discharge toward the ground;
• and
• a seed engaging assembly carried by said housing on one side of the seed disc downstream of the seed loading station and upstream of the seed unloading station relative to rotation of the disc to preposition a seed relative to a respective hole in the disc before the seed is carried to the seed unloading station such that each seed has a substantially identical drop trajectory said seed engaging assembly including a pair of seed engaging members mounted adjacent one side of the disc on opposite sides of the path of travel of the holes in the seed disc each seed engaging member having a tubular configuration with an angled surface formed as a frusto-conical axial extension to engage and align each seed relative to the respective hole as the seed is carried therepast.

A seed singulator assembly for use in combination with a seed metering mechanism having a housing defining a seed chamber wherein seeds are held, a seed disc rotatable mounted within said housing, said seed disc including a circular array of holes adjacent a periphery of the seed disc to carry seeds along a circular path of travel from the seed chamber to a seed discharge area of the seed metering mechanism during rotation of the seed disc so as to deliver seeds to the discharge area of the seed metering mechanism from whence the seeds are deposited to the ground, the seed singulator assembly comprising:

• a housing assembly to be located proximate the seed disc;
• a pair of seed singulators removably mounted on said housing assembly of the seed singulator assembly such that the seed singulators are arranged on opposite sides of the circular path of travel of the seeds, each seed singulator including a seed engaging surface arranged adjacent a side of the seed disc relative to the path of travel of the seeds;
• and
• an apparatus to alter the disposition of the seed engaging surfaces of the seed singulators relative to the path of travel of seeds.