Test stand for calibrating seed meters

For calibrating a conventional finger pickup seed meter to dispense a specified seed variety at a controlled rate to achieve the lowest error rate of seed spacing, the seed meter having a drive receiving unit at the rear thereof, a seed plate, a plurality of seed selecting fingers mounted contiguous to the face of the plate at the front of the seed meter, seed finger biasing mechanism at the front of the seed meter for setting a certain tension on the fingers, a cover mounted at the front of the seed meter including an opening for receiving seed into the meter for calibration purposes, and a seed discharge chute, an apparatus comprising in combination:

• an elongated, continuous belt having a flat surface with a plurality of ears extended substantially normal to said belt face, said ears spaced equidistantly longitudinally on said belt and forming thereby a plurality of longitudinally spaced cells;
• means having a front and a rear supporting said belt in a generally horizontal manner such that said belt has an upper and a lower level vertically spaced from each other, said supporting means including a pair of U-shaped tracks mounted in vertically spaced relation for supporting said upper and lower levels of said belt, said supporting means including an enclosed outer end for entraining said belt;
• means for mounting the seed meter above an inner end of said belt with a lower end of said seed discharge chute spaced directly above and contiguous with said belt such that each seed being discharged from said chute may drop into a cell of and onto said belt while the latter is moving;
• means mounted at said belt inner end for moving said belt at a predetermined rate of speed over and under, respectively, said tracks and through said closed outer end, whereby seeds dropped by said seed meter onto said upper belt level within said cells are visible from above to the naked eye, and with said seeds moved outwardly on said belt from said discharge chute to and through said closed end and inwardly toward said belt inner end within said lower track, said belt moved counterclockwise as viewed from the front of said supporting means;
• means mounted adjacent said belt inner end at said lower level for receiving seed from said lower track for discharge from said belt;
• means for applying a rotational vacuum at a predetermined amount to the seed meter vacuum port;
• and
• means for applying a rotational force to said meter drive coupling unit.

For calibrating a conventional vacuum seed meter to dispense a specified seed variety at a controlled rate to achieve the lowest error rate of seed spacing, the seed meter having a housing with a seed holding plate rotationally mounted therein, a chamber for holding seed within the housing for pickup by the plate, and a discharge chute for discharging individual seeds sequentially from the plate at a predetermined rate, an apparatus comprising in combination:

• an elongated, continuous belt having a flat surface with a plurality of ears extended substantially normal to said belt face, said ears spaced equidistantly longitudinally on said belt and forming thereby a plurality of longitudinally spaced cells;
• means having a front and a rear supporting said belt in a generally horizontal manner such that said belt has an upper and a lower level vertically spaced from each other, said supporting means including a pair of U-shaped tracks mounted in vertically spaced relation for supporting said upper and lower levels of said belt, said supporting means including an enclosed outer end for entraining said belt;
• means for mounting the seed meter above an inner end of said belt with a lower end of said seed discharge chute spaced directly above and contiguous with said belt such that each seed being discharged from said chute may drop into a cell of and onto said belt while the latter is moving;
• means mounted at said belt inner end for moving said belt at a predetermined rate of speed over and under, respectively, said tracks and through said closed outer end, whereby seeds dropped by said seed meter onto said upper belt level within said cells are visible from above to the naked eye within said cells, and with said seeds moved outwardly on said belt from said discharge chute to and through said closed end and inwardly toward said belt inner end within said lower track, said belt moved counterclockwise as viewed from the front of said supporting means;
• means mounted adjacent said belt inner end at said lower level for receiving seed from said lower track for discharge from said belt;
• means for applying a vacuum at a predetermined amount to the seed meter vacuum port;
• and
• means for applying a rotational force to said meter drive coupling unit.