Metering system for an agricultural system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10045478-B2
Application number	US-201615214242-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 19, 2016
Priority date	Jul 19, 2016
Publication date	Aug 14, 2018
Grant date	Aug 14, 2018

Abstract

A metering system for an agricultural system includes a singulator. The singulator includes a hopper configured to provide a flow of plantlet casings from a storage tank of the agricultural system, a pair of counter-rotating rods configured to receive the plantlet casings from the hopper at a feed rate, where the pair of counter-rotating rods are spaced apart from one another to form a gap, and where the gap is configured to direct the plantlet casings from a first end of the pair of counter-rotating rods to a second end of the pair of counter-rotating rods, and a drive assembly configured to drive rotation of the pair of counter-rotating rods.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A metering system for an agricultural system, comprising:
a singulator, comprising:
a hopper configured to provide a flow of plantlet casings from a storage tank of the agricultural system;
a pair of counter-rotating rods configured to receive the plantlet casings from the hopper at a feed rate, wherein the pair of counter-rotating rods are spaced apart from one another to form a gap, wherein the gap is configured to receive the plantlet casings and to direct the plantlet casings from a first end of the pair of counter-rotating rods to a second end of the pair of counter-rotating rods, and wherein the gap is formed along a line that intersects a respective rotational axis of each counter-rotating rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods; and
a drive assembly configured to drive rotation of the pair of counter-rotating rods.

2. The metering system of claim 1 , wherein the gap between the pair of counter-rotating rods has a width less than a maximum diameter of the plantlet casings.

3. The metering system of claim 1 , wherein at least one rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods has grooves, protrusions, a helical recess, or a combination thereof, to hold the plantlet casings as the plantlet casings flow along a length of the pair of counter-rotating rods.

4. The metering system of claim 1 , wherein a guide is disposed over at least one rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods to block the plantlet casings from falling onto the at least one rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods.

5. The metering system of claim 1 , comprising a shaker configured to vibrate the hopper at a vibration frequency, wherein the drive assembly is configured to drive the shaker.

6. The metering system of claim 1 , wherein the pair of counter-rotating rods is oriented an angle with respect to a horizontal plane, and the horizontal plane is substantially parallel to a ground plane.

7. The metering system of claim 6 , wherein the angle is between 0 and 60 degrees.

8. The metering system of claim 1 , wherein the singulator comprises a controller communicatively coupled to the drive assembly, and the controller is configured to adjust a rotation speed of the pair of counter-rotating rods based at least in part on a target flow rate of the plantlet casings to soil.

9. The metering system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the target flow rate of the plantlet casings to the soil based at least in part on a target spacing between plantlet casings, a speed relative to the soil of a row unit or a group of row units of the agricultural system configured to receive the plantlet casings from the pair of counter-rotating rods, a quantity of the row units configured to receive the plantlet casings from the pair of counter-rotating rods, or a combination thereof.

10. The metering system of claim 8 , wherein the controller is communicatively coupled to a shaker of the hopper and configured to adjust a vibration frequency of the hopper based at least in part on the target flow rate of the plantlet casings to the soil.

11. A metering system for an agricultural system, comprising:
a singulator, comprising:
a pair of counter-rotating rods configured to receive plantlet casings from a storage tank of the agricultural system at a feed rate, wherein the pair of counter-rotating rods are spaced apart from one another to form a gap, wherein the gap is configured to receive the plantlet casings and to direct the plantlet casings from a first end of the pair of counter-rotating rods to a second end of the pair of counter-rotating rods, and wherein the gap is formed along a line that intersects a respective rotational axis of each counter-rotating rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods; and
a drive assembly configured to drive rotation of the pair of counter-rotating rods; and

an inductor, comprising:
a receiving portion configured to receive the plantlet casings from the second end of the counter-rotating rods of the singulator;
a conduit coupled to the receiving portion and configured to receive the plantlet casings from the receiving portion, wherein the conduit is configured to convey the plantlet casings to at least one row unit; and
an air source fluidly coupled to the conduit and configured to provide an air flow through the conduit to convey the plantlet casings to the at least one row unit.

12. The metering system of claim 11 , wherein the second end of the counter-rotating rods of the singulator is positioned above the receiving portion relative to a soil surface, such that the plantlet casings are configured to flow from the second end of the counter-rotating rods of the singulator to the receiving portion of the inductor via a gravitational force.

13. The metering system of claim 11 , comprising a controller communicatively coupled to one or both of the drive assembly and the air source, wherein the controller is configured to adjust one or both of a rotation speed of the pair of counter-rotating rods and an air flow rate through the conduit based at least in part on a target flow rate of the plantlet casings to soil.

14. The metering system of claim 13 , wherein the controller is configured to determine the target flow rate of the plantlet casings to the soil based at least in part on a target spacing between plantlet casings, a speed relative to the soil of the at least one row unit, or a combination thereof.

15. The metering system of claim 13 , wherein the singulator comprises a shaker coupled to a hopper configured to provide a flow of the plantlet casings from the storage tank to the pair of counter-rotating rods, the shaker is coupled to the controller, and the controller is configured to adjust a vibration frequency of the shaker based at least in part at least on the target flow rate of the plantlet casings to the soil.

16. The metering system of claim 11 , wherein a guide is disposed over at least one rod of the pair of counter-rotating rods to guide the plantlet casings toward the gap.

17. The metering system of claim 11 , wherein the gap has a width less than a maximum diameter of the plantlet casings.

18. A metering system for an agricultural system, comprising:
a singulator, comprising:
a plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods configured to receive plantlet casings from a storage tank of the agricultural system at a feed rate, wherein each pair of counter-rotating rods of the plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods is spaced apart from one another to form a gap, wherein the gap is configured to receive the plantlet casings and direct the plantlet casings from a first end of the plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods to a second end of the plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods, and wherein the gap is formed along a line that intersects a respective rotational axis of each counter-rotating rod of each pair of counter-rotating rods; and
a drive assembly configured to drive rotation of at least one pair of counter-rotating rods of the plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods.

19. The metering system of claim 18 , comprising:
an inductor assembly comprising a plurality of inductors, wherein each inductor of the plurality of inductors, comprises:
a receiving portion configured to receive the plantlet casings from a respective pair of the plurality of pairs of counter-rotating rods; and
a conduit coupled to the receiving portion and configured to receive the plantlet casings from the receiving portion, wherein the conduit is configured to convey the plantlet casings to a respective

Assignees

• Cnh Ind America Llc

Inventors

• Posselius John Henry

Classifications

• A01C7/102

  Regulating or controlling the seed rate · CPC title

• A01C11/02

  for seedlings · CPC title

• A01C7/082

  Ducts, distribution pipes or details thereof for pneumatic seeders · CPC title

• A01C11/006 Primary

  Other parts or details or planting machines · CPC title

• A01C7/10

  Devices for adjusting the seed-box {; Regulation of machines for depositing quantities at intervals} · CPC title