Split meter roller shaft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9939302-B2
Application number	US-201514932544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2015
Priority date	Nov 4, 2014
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

An agricultural metering system includes a driven shaft having a first engagement feature configured to selectively engage a second engagement feature of a drive shaft mounted within a meter box of the agricultural metering system to non-rotatably couple the driven shaft to the drive shaft. The agricultural metering system includes a meter roller non-rotatably coupled to the driven shaft. The meter roller is configured to be selectively disposed within the meter box, and the first engagement feature is configured to engage the second engagement feature while the meter roller is disposed within the meter box to facilitate rotation of the meter roller in response to rotation of the drive shaft.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An agricultural metering system, comprising:
a drive shaft configured to couple to a drive unit and to mount within a meter box of the agricultural metering system;
a driven shaft configured to non-rotatably couple to the drive shaft and to decouple from the drive shaft;
a meter roller non-rotatably coupled to the driven shaft, wherein the meter roller is configured to be selectively disposed within the meter box, and the driven shaft is configured to non-rotatably engage the drive shaft while the meter roller is disposed within the meter box to facilitate rotation of the meter roller in response to rotation of the drive shaft;
a meter roller cartridge, wherein the meter roller cartridge comprises a housing configured to rotatably support the meter roller and the driven shaft;
a releasable bearing coupler, wherein the releasable bearing coupler couples to the driven shaft, wherein the releasable bearing coupler is configured to engage a recess of the meter roller to couple the meter roller to the housing of the meter roller cartridge and to facilitate rotation of the meter roller relative to the housing; and
wherein a bearing of the releasable bearing coupler contacts the meter roller to facilitate rotation of the meter roller relative to the housing.

2. The agricultural metering system of claim 1 , comprising a bearing disposed about the drive shaft and configured to support the drive shaft within the meter box.

3. The agricultural metering system of claim 1 , wherein the drive shaft comprises a first engagement feature and the driven shaft comprises a second engagement feature, and the engagement features are configured to engage one another to non-rotatably couple the drive shaft to the driven shaft.

4. The agricultural metering system of claim 3 , wherein the first engagement feature comprises at least one protrusion and the second engagement feature comprises at least one recess, wherein the at least one protrusion is configured to engage the at least one recess to non-rotatably couple the drive shaft to the driven shaft.

5. The agricultural metering system of claim 1 , wherein the meter roller is removable from the meter box without decoupling the drive shaft from the drive unit or the meter box.

6. The agricultural metering system of claim 1 , wherein the releaseable bearing coupler couples to the driven shaft on a longitudinal end of the driven shaft.

7. An agricultural metering system, comprising:
a meter box;
a drive shaft mounted to the meter box and configured to couple to a drive unit; and
a cartridge comprising a housing, a meter roller, and a driven shaft, wherein the housing is configured to rotatably support the meter roller, the housing is configured to selectively engage the meter box and to support the meter roller within the meter box, the driven shaft is configured to non-rotatably couple to the drive shaft, and the meter roller is non-rotatably coupled to the driven shaft;
a releasable bearing coupler, wherein the releasable bearing coupler couples to the driven shaft, and the releasable bearing coupler is configured to engage a recess of the meter roller to couple the meter roller to the housing of the cartridge and to facilitate rotation of the meter roller relative to the housing,
wherein a bearing of the releasable bearing coupler contacts the meter roller to facilitate rotation of the meter roller relative to the housing.

8. The agricultural metering system of claim 7 , wherein the driven shaft comprises a first engagement feature configured to selectively engage a second engagement feature of the drive shaft to non-rotatably couple the drive shaft to the driven shaft.

9. The agricultural metering system of claim 8 , wherein the first engagement feature comprises at least one protrusion and the second engagement feature comprises at least one recess, wherein the at least one protrusion is configured to engage the at least one recess to non-rotatably couple the drive shaft to the driven shaft.

10. The agricultural metering system of claim 7 , wherein the meter roller is removable from the meter box without decoupling the drive shaft from the drive unit or the meter box.

11. The agricultural metering system of claim 7 , wherein the meter roller comprises flutes and recesses, and the meter roller rotates in response to rotation of the driven shaft.

12. The agricultural metering system of claim 7 , wherein the drive shaft couples to the drive unit on a first longitudinal end of the drive shaft, and the driven shaft is configured to couple to the drive shaft on a second longitudinal end of the drive shaft, opposite the first longitudinal end.

Assignees

• Cnh Ind Canada Ltd

Inventors

• Gervais Joel John Octave
• Bent Ethan Curtis Stephen

Classifications

• G01F11/24

  for fluent solid material · CPC title

• G01F11/003 Primary

  for fluent solid material · CPC title

• A01C7/127 Primary

  Cell rollers, wheels, discs or belts · CPC title

• A01C7/081

  Seeders depositing seeds in rows using pneumatic means · CPC title

• A01C7/124

  with top delivery of the seeds · CPC title