Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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This invention relates to new and useful improve-
ment~ in the conveying of particulate material such as
seed grain, granular fertilizer and the like, from a
hopper to conventional furrow openers.
Various attempts have been made to pneumatically
deliver particulate material such as seed or fertilizer
from a main hopper to the furrow openers of a conventional
seed drill but great difficulty i8 experienced in ensuring
substantially even distrubition of the material to each of
the seed drills.
.
Other disadvantages include the provision of the
seed hopper on the seed drill and as this varies in weight
considerably from relatively full to relatively empty,
; difficulty has been experienced in maintaining a even depth
of penetration of the furrow openers. When used with séed
grain for example, the depth at which the seed is placed
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below the surface of the ground is of particular importance
to the growth of the seed.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
~ m e present invention overcomes these disadvan-
; ~ tages firstly by providing a wheeled component upon which
the hoppers may be placed. This ensures that there is no
; variation of weight upon the seed drill a-sembly connected
therebehind.
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Secondly, dlstributor heads are utilized which
include means to dLrect the seed axially through the dis-
tributing heads 80 that it strikes a domed upper side
centrally of the dome. This means that the seed will
spread evenly from the center of the dome thus entering
radially extending exits formed around the perimetrical
wall of the dome. This ensures a much better distribution
of the material to each of the exit conduits.
m e principle object and essence of the inven-
tion is therefore to provide a device of the character de-
scribed which enables the pneumatic placement of a parti-
culate material, to be accomplished readily and easily and
at the ~ame time ensures that a relatively even distribu-
;~ tion of the material is provided.
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Another object of the invention is to provide a
device of the character herewithin described which includes
means in the distributor heads to direct the material to-
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wards the vertical axis as it is passed upwardly through
the distributing heads.
Still another object of the invention i5 to pro-
vide a device of the character herewithin described in
which the weight of the particulate material is carried by
a separate componënt rather than being placed upon the seed
drill assembly thereby facilitating the maintenance of an
even depth of penetration of the furrow openers of the drill
assembly.
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Still another object of the invention is to pro-
vide a device of the character herewithin described which
includes a hopper carrying component upon which one or more
hoppers may be supported with the seed drill assembly being
towed therebehind so that the seed drill may be attached
thereto by means of draft arms to keep the tillage imple-
ment or seed drill level on rolling land.
A still further object of the invention is to
provide a device of the character herewithin described
which is simple in construction, economical in manufacture
and otherwise well suited to the purpose for which it is
d~gn~d.
With the foregoing objects in view, and other
such objects and advantages as will become apparent to
those skilled in the art to which this invention relates
as this specification proceeds, our invention consists
ossentially in the arrangement and construction of parts `
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all as hereinaftér more particularly described, reference
;~ bein~ had to the accompanying drawings in which:
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DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a partially schematic side elevation
of the device.
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Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1.
Figure 3 i- an enlarged isometric partially sec-
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tioned view of one of the distributor heads.
Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of
one embodiment of the feeding mechanism from the hopper to
the pneumatic conveyor tube.
In the drawings like characters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.
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DETAI~ED DESCRIPTION
In the accompanying specification and drawings,
the term ~seed drill" iq used but it should be understood
that th~ lnclu~ ny tlll~g- equ~pm~nt whlch c~n b- u~ed
for the deposition upon the ground or in the ground of any
particulate material including seed grain~, granular fer-
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'.!1 "'' ~' ; tilizer and the like.
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~ ~ ~ Proceeding therefore to describe the invention
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in detail, reference to Figure 1 will illustrate a source
of power such as a tractor 10 behind which is situated a
hopper carrying component collectively designated 11.
Situated behind the component 11 i8 a piece of tillage
equipment which, in this embodiment, represents a ~eed
drill collectively designated 12.
Dealing first with the hopper carrying component
11, a substantially triangular frame 13 is provided having
a conventional hitch 14 situated upon the front apex 15 of
the frame and the component i8 detachably connected to the
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rear of the tractor as clearly shown in Figure 1.
A transverse axle 16 extends across the frame 13
towards the rear end thereof and ground engaging castor
wheel assemblies 17 are supported by the axle and support
the component in a conventional manner.
In this embodiment,,a centrifugal blower assem-
bly is æhown schematically by reference character 18 and
is mounted within the frame 13. This may be d~iven by an
hydraulic motor l9 or by any other suitable means deriving
` its power from the tractor 10.
, , me centrifugal blower 18 produces the necessary
volume of air at the appropriate pressure for the purposes
hereinafter to be described and the volume and pressure of
,~ , course depends upon the design parameters of the assembly.
', A main air conduit 19 extends from the outlet of
the blower 18 to a feeding device collectively designated
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20 and then continues a~ conduit l9A to a main distributor
~' ,head collectively designated 48.
~/ ' A material holding hopper 21 is mounted within
the chassis or frame 13 of the component 11 and is provided
with a funnel type base 22 which is conventional in con-
struction.
m e sealed holding hopper 21 is mounted within
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the chassis or frame 13 of the component 11 and is provid-
ed with a funnel type base 22 which is conventional in
construction.
me sealed feeding device 20 takes the form of a
star feeder in this particular embodiment but of course it
will be appreciated that other feeding means may be provid-
ed such as an auger or worDl type feeder.
A casing 23 includes a rotatable star wheel 24
. ' ~o~rnalled upon an axle 25 and this may be rotated by any
~ convenient means. However it is preferable that it be
~ operated by one of the ground engaging castor wheel assem-
,' bli-s 17 80 that the speed of rotation of the star feeder
corresponds to the speed of~the device and varies therewith.
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: - The star feeder assembly is conventional and in-
~ 'cludes the sealed side 26 and the clearance.side 27 in order
': to prevent the grain from being crushed as it is fed from
'~ ' the base of the hopper to a main cylindrical outle't 28
' formed on one side'of the casing 23 and communicating with
;~ the star'wheel 24. The main conduit 19 connects to one side
20: of outlet 28 and conduit.l9A to the other so that air under
pressure is passing through this outlet 28 thereby picking
up material.fed.to this outlet by the star wheel 24.
.
The hopper 22 is.sealed at the upper side thereof
; by means of cover 29 and a relatively small diameter conduitor tube 30 extends. from the main conduit 19 to the interior
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of the upper side of the hopper 22 above material contained
therein thus acting as a compensator and equalizing pressure
within the hopper and within the main conduit 19. This,
together with the sealed hopper, prevents blow back from
occurring past.the star wheel 24.
The tillage machine or assembly 12 is pulled be-
hind the component 11 and is connected by a main drawbar 31
and a pair of draft arms 32 which are pivotally connected
80 that the tillage implement or assembly can remain level
~10 ~ on rolling ground and are not elevated by the component 11.
This of course is important particularly if seed is being
planted 80 that the depth of planting is maintained.
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:` ~ me aforementioned main distributor head 48 is
:: mounted upon the seeder 12 and a plurality of secondary
distributor heads 33 are also mounted on the seeder rear-
wardly of the main distributor head 48. The construction
: of the distributor heads 48 and 33 is similar and the de-
.
: : ~ scription thereOf refers to both.
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:-.: . A substantially vertical tube 34 i8 secured to : ~ ,
the frame 35 of the seeder.l2 and extends upwardly there-
. . from as clearly illustrated.. Insofar as the main distribu-
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~; .: tor head 48 i8 concerned, conduit l9A connects to the lower
. end of the vertical tube 34.
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Flexible conduits 36 extend.from the upper end of
the main distributor head 48 as will hereinafter be describ-
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ed, each one connecting to the lower end of the relevant
standard or tube 33 of`the secondary distributor heads.
In the present embodiment three such secondary distributor
heads are shown so that three flexible conduits 36 extend
from the upper end of the main distributor head 48.
Each secondary distributor head is connected to
a group of seed or fertilizer outlets 37 each one of which
is situated adjacent a furrow opener 38 and flexible con-
duits 39 extend between the upper end of the secondary dis-
tributor heads 33 to the seed outlets 37. A schematic view
of these conduits is shown in Figure 2.
The construction of the main and secondary dis-
tributor heads is shown in detail in Figure 3.
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~ They are preferably made of plastic and include
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a truncated cone body portion indicated by reference charac-
ter 40 and having the wide end lowermost. m e distributor
heads are situated vertically when in use.
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A planar base 41 spans the lower wider end of the
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main body portion 40 and the intake conduits l9A or 36 enter
these bases 41 centrally as clearly illustrated. A collar
`~ or band 42 is formed on the upper narrower end of the main
body portion 40 to receive an annular wall 43 of the domed
upper end collectively designated 44 which may engage over
this narrow band 42 and may be connected thereto by a con-
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ventional means such as adhesive or other fastening devices.
This domed upper end includes the aforementioned
annular wall 43,and a domed upper panel end 45.
A plurality of conduit attachment tubes 46 ex-
tend radially around the annular wall 43 and the aforemen-
tioned flexible conduits 36 or 39 may be connected to
these in the usual way.
.~ Means are provided to direct the entrained
; material to the center of the domed portion 45 in order to
; 10' ensure substantially equal, distribution through the outlets
46, said means taking the form of a plurality of tapered
: ' . rings 49 formed around the interior of the sloping wall of
the main body portion 40. These annular rings incline in-
; wardly as indicated by reference character 47 80 that the
~' thickness of the rings increases from the lower side there-
of towards the upper side. This directs material passing
' through the main body portion, towards the vertical axis of
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'; the'main body portion and.centers it as it strikes the domed
. surface 45. .~
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.~ 20 As mentioned previously, the air from the blower
is of sufficient volume and pressure to entrain the material
delivered from the'hopper by means of the star wheel 24 and
to convey it pneumatically firstly from the outlet 28 of the.
hopper to the main distributor head 48, secondly from the
main distributor head.48 to the secondary distributor heads
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33 and thirdly from the secondary distributor heads to the
seed outlets 37 thus ensuring relatively equal distribution
of the material to all of the seed outlets. The volume
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and pressure of the air should.also be sufficient to ejects
the material with enough force to énsure that the material,
particularly if this material is seed, is spread out into
the furrow formed by the furrow openers 38.
Finally reference should be made to the compensa-
tor tube 30 which not only prevents blow back but facili-
tates the accurate delivery of the required amount of ma-
. terial from the hopper to the main conduit l9A.
; ~ Since variou~ modifications can be made in my in-
vention as hereinabove described, and many apparent}y widely
. different embodiments of same made within the spirit and
scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and
scope, it is intended that all.matter contained in the accom-
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~ - panying specification.shall be interpreted as illustrative
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. : ~ only and not in a limiting sense.
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