Dual belt seed delivery mechanism

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9445539-B2
Application number	US-201514631523-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 25, 2015
Priority date	Feb 26, 2014
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

A seed delivery mechanism for an agricultural planter that receives seeds from a seed meter of the planter and delivers the seeds to a seed trench as the planter moves in a planting direction has a first endless belt trained about a first drive pulley and a second endless belt trained about a second drive pulley. The first and second drive pulleys rotate the first and second endless belts to provide confronting belt segments that form a seed delivery path between a conveyor entry point and a release point. The first and second endless belts are configured with a downward reach oriented to move seeds predominantly downward and a rearward reach oriented to move the seed predominantly rearward. The rearward reach provides a rearward velocity component to seeds at the release point that offsets a forward velocity of the planter as the planter moves in the planting direction.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A seed delivery mechanism for an agricultural planter that receives seeds from a seed meter of the planter and delivers the seeds to a seed trench as the planter moves in a planting direction, the seed delivery mechanism comprising:
a first endless belt trained about a first drive pulley; and
a second endless belt trained about a second drive pulley, the first and second drive pulleys rotating the first and second endless belts to provide confronting belt segments that form a seed delivery path between a conveyor entry point and a release point;
wherein the first and second endless belts comprise a downward reach oriented to move seeds predominantly downward and a rearward reach oriented to move the seed predominantly rearward, and wherein the rearward reach provides a rearward velocity component to seeds at the release point that offsets a forward velocity of the planter as it moves in the planting direction, wherein the downward reach is formed by the first endless belt being trained about the first drive pulley and a first idler pulley and by the second endless belt being trained about the second drive pulley and a second idler pulley, and the rearward reach is formed by the first endless belt being trained about the first idler pulley and a third idler pulley and by the second endless belt being trained about the second idler pulley and a fourth idler pulley, such that the first and second idler pulleys are positioned at a transition between the downward reach and the rearward reach, and the third and fourth idler pulleys are positioned at the release point.

2. The seed delivery mechanism of claim 1 wherein the first and second drive pulleys drive the first and second belts at the same belt speed.

3. The seed delivery mechanism of claim 1 wherein the first and second endless belts are driven at a speed to provide seeds with a rearward velocity component that is within 25 percent of the magnitude of a forward velocity of the planter as the planter moves in the planting direction.

4. The seed delivery mechanism of claim 1 wherein as the seed is propelled from the seed delivery mechanism at the release point, the seed falls to the trench with no differential speed with respect to the ground in the horizontal direction.

5. The seed delivery mechanism of claim 1 wherein the first and second drive pulleys are independent of a speed of rotation of the seed meter.

Assignees

• Agco Corp

Inventors

• Rans Monte J

Classifications

• A01C7/20 Primary

  Parts of seeders for conducting and depositing seed · CPC title

• A01C7/046

  with perforated seeding discs · CPC title