Secondary seed tank for air cart system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016120100-A1
Application number	US-201514929675-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 2, 2015
Priority date	Nov 4, 2014
Publication date	May 5, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An air cart system includes a container assembly mounted on wheels and including a primary product container and an air distribution network including a product conduit that delivers a first agricultural product and a second agricultural product to an agricultural implement. The air cart system includes a first metering device to meter the first agricultural product from the primary product container to the product conduit. A fill hopper mounts on a side of the container assembly, and a secondary product container mounts beneath a portion of the primary product container. The secondary product container receives the second agricultural product from the fill hopper, which receives the second agricultural product at an opening and conveys the second agricultural product to the secondary product container. The air cart system includes a second metering device to meter the second agricultural product from the secondary product container to the product conduit.

First claim

1 . An air cart system, comprising:
a container assembly mounted on wheels and comprising at least one primary product container; an air distribution network comprising at least one product conduit configured to deliver a first agricultural product and a second agricultural product to an agricultural implement; at least one first metering device configured to meter the first agricultural product from the at least one primary product container to the at least one product conduit; a fill hopper mounted on a side of the container assembly; a secondary product container mounted beneath a portion of the at least one primary product container, wherein the secondary product container is configured to receive the second agricultural product from the fill hopper, wherein the fill hopper is configured to receive the second agricultural product at an opening of the fill hopper and to convey the second agricultural product to the secondary product container; and at least one second metering device configured to meter the second agricultural product from the secondary product container to the at least one product conduit.

2 . The air cart system of claim 1 , wherein the fill hopper comprises an inductor manifold coupled to an air delivery system, and the air delivery system is configured to convey the second agricultural product to the secondary product container via an air stream.

3 . The air cart system of claim 2 , wherein a venturi is mounted on a bottom portion of the inductor manifold, and the venturi is coupled to an air source and at least one product conveyance conduit.

4 . The air cart system of claim 2 , wherein the fill hopper comprises an air lock configured to cyclically provide a portion of the second agricultural product to the inductor manifold.

5 . The air cart system of claim 4 , wherein the air lock is configured to provide the second agricultural product to the inductor manifold at a substantially equal rate to a rate at which the agricultural product flows from the inductor manifold to the secondary product container.

6 . The air cart system of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of product conveyance conduits conveys the second agricultural product from the fill hopper to the secondary product container, and wherein each of the plurality of product conveyance conduits terminates at a cyclone.

7 . The air cart system of claim 6 , wherein the cyclones are located at staggered distances along a lateral axis of the secondary product container.

8 . The air cart system of claim 1 , wherein the opening of the fill hopper is positioned less than 1.5 meters above ground level such that the second agricultural product can be loaded by an operator standing at the ground level.

9 . The air cart system of claim 1 , wherein the agricultural product is evenly distributed within the secondary product container by at least one cyclone positioned within the secondary product container.

10 . The air cart system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one secondary metering device comprises multiple secondary metering devices positioned along a lateral axis of the secondary product container.

11 . An air cart system, comprising:
a container assembly mounted on wheels and comprising a first primary product container and a second primary product container; an air distribution network comprising at least one product conduit configured to deliver a first agricultural product and a second agricultural product to an agricultural product distribution device; a first metering device configured to meter the first agricultural product from the first primary product container to the at least one product conduit, and a second metering device configured to meter the first agricultural product from the second primary product container to the at least one product conduit; a fill hopper mounted on a side of the container assembly; a secondary product container mounted beneath at least a portion of the first primary product container and at least a portion of the second primary product container, wherein the secondary product container is configured to receive the second agricultural product from the fill hopper, and the fill hopper is configured to receive the second agricultural product at an opening of the fill hopper and to convey the second agricultural product to the secondary product container; and a third metering device configured to meter the second agricultural product from the secondary product container to the at least one product conduit.

12 . The air cart system of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of at least one wall of the secondary product container is positioned proximate to the first primary product container or the second primary product container, and the portion of the at least one wall has a slope substantially corresponding to a slope of the first primary product container or the second primary product container.

13 . The air cart system of claim 11 , wherein the secondary product container is configured to store more than 15 bushels of the second agricultural product.

14 . The air cart system of claim 11 , wherein the fill hopper is configured to convey the second agricultural product to the secondary product container via a pneumatic system.

15 . The air cart system of claim 11 , wherein the first and second metering devices each comprise a plurality of meter rollers positioned along a lateral axis of the primary product containers, and the third metering device comprises a plurality of meter rollers positioned along a lateral axis of the secondary product container.

16 . An air cart system, comprising:
a first primary product container and a second primary product container each mounted on a wheeled frame and each configured to store primary agricultural product; a secondary product container mounted beneath and between respective portions of the first and second primary product containers; a fill hopper mounted on a side of the wheeled frame, wherein the fill hopper is configured to convey secondary agricultural product to the secondary product container via an air stream; at least one product conduit line configured to convey the primary and secondary agricultural products from the primary product containers and the secondary product container to an agricultural implement; and at least one metering device for each of the primary product containers and the secondary product container configured to meter the respective agricultural product into the at least one product conduit.

17 . The air cart system of claim 16 , wherein the fill hopper comprises an induction tank configured to direct the secondary agricultural product into the air stream.

18 . The air cart system of claim 16 , wherein an agricultural product loading port of the fill hopper is less than 1.5 meters above the ground.

19 . The air cart system of claim 16 , wherein the fill hopper is configured to convey the secondary agricultural product to the secondary product container at a rate of more than about 2 bushels per minute.

20 . The air cart system of claim 16 , wherein the primary agricultural product and the secondary agricultural product are a single agricultural product.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Thompson Dennis George
• Roberge Martin J
• Stuart Graham Douglas
• Yuen Cory Adrian
• Schilling Robin Bruno
• Zacharias Darwin L

Classifications

• A01C15/003

  Bulk fertiliser or grain handling in the field or on the farm · CPC title

• A01C15/006 Primary

  Hoppers · CPC title

• A01C7/08

  Broadcast seeders; Seeders depositing seeds in rows · CPC title

• A01C7/084 Primary

  Pneumatic distribution heads for seeders · CPC title