Seed delivery apparatus, systems, and methods
AssigneePrecision Planting LLC
InventorsIan R. Radtke, Jeremy J. Hodel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a side elevation view of a single row unit (10) of a conventional row crop planter such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,006, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. As is well known in the art, the row units (10) are mounted in spaced relation along the length of a transverse toolbar (12) by a parallel linkage (14), comprised of upper and lower parallel arms (16, 18) pivotally mounted at their forward ends to the transverse toolbar (12) and at their rearward end to the row unit frame (20).
Claims20
A seed delivery apparatus to deliver seed to a planting surface, comprising:
- a seed meter configured to entrain and release the seed from a seed disc at a seed release location;
- a seed conveyor disposed to receive the seed after the seed is released from said seed disc at an upper end of said seed conveyor, said seed conveyor including a belt configured to convey the seed from said upper end to a lower end of said seed conveyor and release the seed with a rearward velocity relative to said seed conveyor;
- and
- a first loading wheel disposed adjacent to said seed release location, said loading wheel being driven for rotation, wherein said loading wheel is disposed to urge the seed toward the belt, wherein said belt includes a first flight and a second flight, wherein said belt includes a flight gap between said first flight and said second flight, and wherein said first loading wheel is disposed such that the seed is released from contact with said loading wheel prior to entering said flight gap.
A method of delivering a seed from a seed meter to a planting surface, comprising:
- capturing a seed with the seed meter;
- driving a seed conveyor;
- releasing the seed;
- capturing the seed between a first loading wheel and a second loading wheel;
- ejecting the seed from between the first loading wheel and the second loading wheel;
- receiving the seed in a seed conveyor;
- conveying the seed to a lower end of said seed conveyor;
- and
- releasing the seed onto the planting surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.