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AssigneeCase Corporation
InventorsJohn F. Stufflebeanm, Lisle J. Dunham, Thomas A. Olson, Chad M. Johnson, David N. Slowinski
Estimating the term…
A seed tube for an agricultural implement having a seed metering mechanism for uniformly dispensing seeds. The seed tube defined an enclosed curved seed pathway extending between opposite ends of the tube. To promote control over the seeds passing through the tube, the tube has a smooth but decreasing cross-sectional configuration between the ingress and egress ends of the tube. The tube generally includes a front wall, a rear wall and a pair of side walls. The front wall is generally separated into an upper and lower portion. An opening in the front wall, which is provided to receive a monitoring device, is associated with the lower front wall portion. In addition, the lower front wall portion is stepped forward relative to the upper front wall portion. The enclosed seed pathway further includes a narrowed front edge extending in an upward direction from the egress end of the tube along some section of the front wall. The narrowed front edge enhances control over the seeds such that individual seeds passing through the tube and deposited to the ground have equidistant spacings between the seeds on the ground. The stepped forward arrangement for the lower front wall portion also allows a monitoring device to be used without disrupting the flow of seeds in the seed tube.
A seed metering apparatus capable of periodically releasing seeds for deposit onto the ground, a seed tube arranged in seeding receiving relation relative to said seed metering apparatus, said seed tube comprising a hollow member defining an enclosed curvilinear shaped seed pathway and which is formed from a material having low surface friction characteristics, said member having an elongated length defined between ingress and egress ends of said pathway, and with said pathway having a narrowed forward edge extending upwardly from a lower end of said tube and along the majority of the length of said pathway with surfaces angularly diverging rearwardly in opposite directions relative to each other from said forward edge toward a rear surface, with said narrowed forward edge and said angularly diverging surfaces extending below the ingress end of said pathway to receive seeds from said ingress end of said tube, and wherein the low surface friction characteristics along with the narrowed forward edge of said pathway serve to deaden seed bounce and rattle as the seeds move along said pathway without detracting from the speed of the seeds as the seed slides along said pathway thereby enhancing controlled delivery of the seeds to the ground.
A seed tube comprising a hollow member defining an enclosed curvilinear seed pathway extending lengthwise between upper and lower ends of said member, said pathway being defined by an interior narrowed front edge extending upwardly from the lower end of said tube beneath and across, in a fore-and-aft direction, the upper end of said tube for a distance extending along the majority length of said member, said pathway further being defined by surfaces angularly diverging rearwardly in opposite directions from said front edge toward a rear surface such that seeds travelling along said pathway are positively directed and controlled thereby enhancing their delivery in predetermined spacing relative to each other to the ground.
A seed metering apparatus for periodically releasing seeds to be deposited on the ground as a seed planter travels forwardly over the ground, including a seed tube comprising:
In combination with a seed metering apparatus for periodically releasing seeds to be deposited on the ground as a seed planter travels forwardly over the ground, the improvement in a seed tube, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.