US 9,500,567 B2Granted

Soil sampler

AssigneeIntegrated AG Service, Ltd

InventorsDavid Scheiderer, Michel Grand, Dwayne Maddux, Evan Delk

Life of this patent

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Abstract

An automated soil sampler is removably mounted on an agricultural tractor and collects soil samples in a farm field while the tractor is driven through the field. At a periodic interval, the soil sampler momentarily lowers a soil collection knife into the soil to collect a soil sample, raises the collection knife out of the soil, and transfers the collected soil sample into a bar-coded storage container. The GPS location of the soil sample is associated with the storage container's bar-code in a data file. The interval between successive periodic soil samples corresponds to a determined forward displacement of the tractor. Storage containers that have received soil samples are moved to a storage area until all of the soil samples for a given field have been collected.

Claims17

Dependent claims

A soil sampler adapted to be mounted on a tractor for periodically collecting and storing samples of topsoil from a farm field while the tractor is drawing the soil sampler through the field, the soil sampler comprising:

a knife assembly that is selectively lowered to collect a sample of topsoil and then raised to expel and collect the sample of topsoil, the knife assembly including a housing that terminates in a knife blade that is driven into the topsoil when the knife assembly is lowered, a linear armature slidably received within the housing and extended into said knife blade when said knife assembly is lowered so as to define a sampling chamber within said knife blade, a soil capture slot in one side of said knife blade for directing a profile of topsoil into said sampling chamber as the knife blade is drawn through the topsoil by movement of the tractor, and a soil release opening in the housing above the knife blade through which the sampled topsoil is expelled when the knife assembly is raised and the armature retracted from said knife blade;
a sample storage apparatus for storing collected topsoil samples in storage cups;
and
a movable soil transfer spout for transferring topsoil samples expelled from the soil release opening of said knife assembly to said sample storage apparatus.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/285,865Filed 23 May 2014 · continuation in part
Priority: 27 Nov 2012
Published: US 2014/0251032 A111 Sep 2014
Granted: 22 Nov 2016
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

G01N 1/08
In the solid state, e.g. by cutting: involving an extracting tool, e.g. core bit
G01N 1/04
Devices for withdrawing samples: in the solid state, e.g. by cutting
G01N 2001/021
Devices for withdrawing samples: correlating sampling sites with geographical information, e.g. GPS
G01N 2001/085
Involving an extracting tool, e.g. core bit: grabs