Seed planting unit of an agricultural implement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10820469-B2
Application number	US-201815988204-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2018
Priority date	May 24, 2018
Publication date	Nov 3, 2020
Grant date	Nov 3, 2020

Abstract

A seed planting unit of an agricultural implement may include a wheel support arm having an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion defining a depth adjustment slot. A wheel may be rotatably supported by the lower portion of the wheel support arm, the wheel configured to contact the soil surface to define a penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool relative to the soil surface. A depth adjustment lever is selectively movable relative to the wheel support arm to vary the penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool. The lever may include a guide pin that is configured to be received within the depth adjustment slot, the guide pin configured to move within the depth adjustment slot as the depth adjustment lever is moved relative to the wheel support arm to adjust a vertical position of the wheel relative to the ground engaging tool.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seed planting unit of an agricultural implement, the seed planting unit comprising:
a support structure;
a ground engaging tool configured to penetrate a soil surface, the ground engaging tool connected to the support structure at a first pivot;
a wheel support arm connected to the support structure at a second pivot, the wheel support arm including an upper portion and a lower portion, the upper portion defining a depth adjustment slot;
a wheel rotatably supported by the lower portion of the wheel support arm, the wheel configured to contact the soil surface to define a penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool relative to the soil surface; and
a depth adjustment lever connected to the first pivot and configured to be selectively movable relative to the wheel support arm to vary the penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool, the depth adjustment lever including a guide pin extending outwardly therefrom that is configured to be received within the depth adjustment slot, the guide pin configured to move within the depth adjustment slot as the depth adjustment lever is moved relative to the wheel support arm to adjust a vertical position of the wheel relative to the ground engaging tool.

2. The seed planting unit of claim 1 , wherein the depth adjustment slot corresponds to an arced slot extending lengthwise between a first slot end and a second slot end, the guide pin configured to be positioned within the depth adjustment slot at the first slot end when the penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool corresponds to a minimum depth setting and at the second slot end when the penetration depth setting for the ground engaging tool corresponds to a maximum depth setting.

3. The seed planting unit of claim 1 , wherein the wheel support arm further defines a lever engagement slot separate from the depth adjustment slot, a locking portion of the depth adjustment lever configured to be selectively engaged with the lever engagement slot at one of a plurality of locking positions defined by the lever engagement slot to maintain a given position of the depth adjustment lever relative to the wheel support arm.

4. The seed planting unit of claim 3 , wherein the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever is configured to be moved relative to a base portion of the depth adjustment lever between an engaged position, at which the locking portion is engaged with the lever engagement slot at one of the plurality of locking positions in order to maintain the position of the depth adjustment lever relative to the wheel support arm, and a disengaged position, at which the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever is disengaged relative to the lever engagement slot to allow the depth adjustment lever to be moved relative to the wheel support arm.

5. The seed planting unit of claim 4 , wherein the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever is configured as a handle configured to be moved axially relative to the base portion of the depth adjustment lever between the engaged and disengaged positions.

6. The seed planting unit of claim 4 , wherein the lever engagement slot is defined in the wheel support arm such that the lever engagement slot includes a base adjustment channel and a plurality of circumferentially spaced locking channels extending outwardly from the base adjustment channel, each locking channel defining a respective one of the plurality of locking positions of the lever engagement slot.

7. The seed planting unit of claim 6 , wherein the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever includes an engagement element configured to be received within a selected locking channel of the plurality of circumferentially spaced locking channels when the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever is located at the engaged position, the engagement element configured to be moved out of the selected locking channel and into the base adjustment channel when the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever is located at iti at the disengaged position.

8. The seed planting unit of claim 6 , wherein a circumferential offset between adjacent locking channels of the plurality of circumferentially spaced locking channels differs along a length of the lever engagement slot.

9. The seed planting unit of claim 3 , further comprising a biasing element configured to apply a biasing force against the locking portion of the depth adjustment lever to bias the locking portion into engagement with the lever engagement slot at one of the plurality of locking positions.

10. The seed planting unit of claim 1 , further comprising an actuator coupled to the depth adjustment lever, the actuator being configured to actuate the depth adjustment lever such that the depth adjustment lever is moved relative to the wheel support arm.

11. The seed planting unit of claim 10 , wherein the actuator corresponds to a fluid-driven actuator coupled at one end to the depth adjustment lever and at an opposed end to one of the wheel support arm or a support member to which the wheel support arm is pivotally coupled.

12. The seed planting unit of claim 1 , wherein the depth adjustment slot comprises a first depth adjustment slot and the guide pin comprises a first guide pin of the depth adjustment lever, further comprising an adjustment support plate positioned relative to the wheel support arm such that a gap is defined between the upper portion of the wheel support arm and the adjustment support plate, the adjustment support plate defining a second depth adjustment slot, the depth adjustment lever further comprising a second guide pin, the depth adjustment lever extending within the gap defined between the upper portion of the wheel support arm and the adjustment support plate such that the first guide pin is received within the first depth adjustment slot and the second guide pin is received within the second depth adjustment slot.

13. The seed planting unit of claim 12 , wherein the adjustment support plate further defines a lever engagement slot separate from the second depth adjustment slot, a locking portion of the depth adjustment lever configured to be selectively engaged with the lever engagement slot at one of a plurality of locking positions defined by the lever engagement slot to maintain a position of the depth adjustment lever relative to the wheel support arm.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Chahley Dennis W
• Wright Jared S

Classifications

• A01B63/008

  Vertical adjustment of tools (A01B63/10 takes precedence) · CPC title

• A01C7/203

  comprising depth regulation means · CPC title

• A01B63/26 Primary

  by man-power · CPC title

• A01B63/166

  manually adjustable · CPC title

• A01C5/064

  with rotating tools · CPC title