Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02581613 2007-03-13
ON ROW PACKING ON PLANTERS
This invention is in the field of packing systems for seeding implements used
in agriculture,
and in particular, implements that utilize a packer wheel or device that
doubles as a terrain
following gauge to control the openers operating depth.
BACKGROUND
Ten=ain following openers are well known in the industry. They are used to
improve the seed
andlor fertilizer depth accuracy. Such openers often utilize the packer wheel
for two
functions; 1) to firm up the loosened soil around and above the seed, and 2)
to act as a terrain
following depth gauge for the individual opener. A hydraulic, pneumatic or
spring force
usually directly or iudirectly provides for the force being applied to the
packer wheel. Such
forces can usuaily be adjusted by mechanical, electrical or electronic tneans
to change the
force for different soil types and crop requirements. With hydraulic or
pneumatic forces,
changing the supply pressure for the opener, changes the force. With spring
forces,
increasing or decreasing the spring compression level, changes the force. Skid
plates and
track devices may also be used as the packing element. Some planters include
in-cab
adjustment capabilities so that the driver can change the resulting packing
force from the cab
to change the force for soil types moisture conditions ground speed and
residue effects. It is
desirable to have a uniform and adequate packing force to achieve good seed to
soil contact
for germination. The advent of direct seeding or zero-till often includes the
practice of
shallow seeding and early seeding. With shallow seeding the importance of good
packing is
more critical since there is a higher potential of the soil around the seed
drying out if it is not
firm. On the other end of the scale over packing can make it dil'ticult for
the seedling to
emerge. Terrain following openers that utilize the packing element as the
openers depth
gauge and are built such that the seed andlor fet-tilizer openers are
vertically cotltrolled by the
packing element. Because of the intercomiected construction the drag and
penetrating forces
CA 02581613 2007-03-13
on the ground engaging elements directly affect the resulting vertical packing
force on the
packing element.
An example of such an opener is Beaujol patent------------which includes
separate seed and
fertilizer openers mounted on an extended arm that ftirther includes a
packing/depth-gauging
wheel at the trailing end. A hydraulic cylinder that has an active oil supply
is included on
each opener. The operator can set the active oil pressure manually on the
pressure-
controlling valve or remotely tluu an in-cab control. On such a device the
soil's drag forces
and the soils penetrating forces, on both openers, reduces the resulting
packing force on the
packer wheel. The rolling resistance force also reduces the resulting packer
wheel's vertical
force. As a result even with in-cab control over the active hydraulic pressure
the operator is
often guessing and un-aware of the packing performance as it varies over
different portions
of the field or from field to field.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the present invention to provide a packing system that
overcomes the
problems in the prior art.
The invention provides in one embodiment a packing system for a planter that
includes a
device to measure the resulting packing force on one or more of the packer
wheels on a
planter. The sen.sed force is then displayed to the driver via a visible
monitor. The driver can
then change the hydraulic pressure from time to time to maintain the resulting
packer force
within an acceptable range based on the monitor readings as the opener travels
thru the soil.
The invention provides in a second embodiment a packing system for a planter
that includes
a device to measure the resulting packing force on one or more of the packer
wheels on a
planter. The sensed force is then displayed to the driver via a visible
monitor. The driver can
then change the spring compression from time to time to maintain the resulting
packer force
within an acceptable range based on the monitor readings as the opener travels
thru the soil.
The invention provides in a third embodiment a packing system for a planter
that includes a
device to measure the resulting packing force on one or more of the packer
wheels on a
planter. The sensed force is then displayed to the driver via a visible
monitor. The sensed
force is also relayed to a valve that automatically adjusts the pressure to
maintain the
resulting packing force at the pre-selected level for the crop.
The invention provides in a forth embodiment a packing system for a planter
that includes a
device to measure the resulting packing force on one or more of the packer
wheels on a
planter. The sensed force is then displayed to the driver via a visible
monitor_ The sensed
force is also relayed to a possessing modute that averages the resulting
packing forces over a
pre-selected period of time and sends the appropriate adjustment signal to a
valve that
automatically adjusts the pressure to maintain the resulting packing force at
the pre-selected
level for the crop.
The invention provides in a fifth embodiment a packing system for a planter
that includes a
device to measure the resulting packing force on one or more of the packer
wheels on a
planter. The sensor is positioned in such a manner that it eliminates the
rolling resistanee
CA 02581613 2007-03-13
force from the sensed packing force. The sensed force is then displayed to the
driver via a
visible monitor. The sensed force is also relayed to a possessing module that
averages the
resulting packing forces over a pre-selected period of time and sends the
appropriate
adjustment signal to a valve that automatically adjusts the pressure to
maintain the resulting
packing force at the pre-selected. level for the crop.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT
Figure #1 schematically illustrates a system for gauging and adjusting on the
packing
element of a terrain following seeding tooL There are three ground contacting
elements on
this device; a) the fertilizer opener 1 with the attached delivery tube 2, b)
the seed opener 3
with the attached delivery tube 4,and, c) the packer wheel 5. The ground
contacting elements
are niounted on the trailing end of the extended arm 6. The extended arm 6 is
mounted to the
frame member 8 using u-bolts 7. The extended artn 6 is pivotally attached to
the frame via
hanging bracket 10 at pivot point 9. The hanging bracket 10 also includes an
active cylinder
pivot mount 1 I for pivotally mounting active cylinder 12. Hydraulic hose 13
is used as an oil
return in the field working position and as the oil supply line when lifting
the opener off the
ground. Hydraulic hose 14 supplies the active oil from the pressure-control
valve 15 to
cylinder 12. Valve 15 is pressure adjusted via control 20. Hydraulic hose 16
supplies
tractor oil to valve 15. Simple lines indicate the original soil surface 17,
the loosened soil
surface 18, and the final packed soil surface 19. The drag soil reaction force
on the fertilizer
opener Fl creates an opener lifting moment around the extended arm pivot point
9 equal to
Fl times the vertical distance between Fl and pivot 9(D1). The vertical soil
penetrating
reaction force on the fertilized opener F2 creates an opener lifting moment
around the
extended arm pivot point 9 equal to F2 times the horizontal distance between
F2 and pivot 9
(D2). The drag soil reaction force on the seed opener F3 creates an opener
lifting moment
around the extended a-rn pivot point 9 equal to F3 times the vertical distance
between F3 and
pivot 9(D3). The vertical soil penetrating reaction force on the seed opener
F4 creates an
opener lifting moment around the extended arm pivot point 9 equal to F4 times
the horizontal
distance between F4 and pivot 9 (D4). The rolling resistance soil reaction
force component
on the packer wheel F5 creates an opener liftu-ig moment around the extended
arm pivot
point 9 equal to F5 times the vertical distance between F5 and pivot 9 (D5).
The active
cylinder applies a force F7 on to the opener. The force F7 is set by the
operator by adjusting
the pressure in valve 15. The cylinder creates an opener lowering moment
arotu7d the
extended arm pivot point 9 equal to F7 times the perpendicular distance
between the cylinder
center and pivot 9(D5). F6 is the resultant soil vertical packing force acting
on the packer
wheel. The resulting force is equal to the opener lowering moments minus the
opener lifting
moments divided by the horizontal distance between F6 and pivot 9 (D6).
F6=((F7*D7)-(F1 *Dl )-(F2*D2)-(F3*D3)-(F4*D4)-(F5*D5))/D6
Since all distances are substantially fixed and Fl, F2, F3, F4. and F5 vary
with soil
conditions, in order to maintain a uniform resultant vertical packing force
F6, the cylinder
pressure must be varied so that F7 compensates for the varying soil forces.
By allowing plate 21 to pivot freely about pivot 22 and mounting a load sensor
10 1 between
plate 22 and a sensor mount 102 the sensor can continually detect the packing
force. The
sensor mount 102 is rigidly attached to the main opener arm. The rigid
attachment is by
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means of bolts 105 and 106. Bolt 106 is in a slotted portion of the sensor
mount 102 so the
position of plate 21 can be adjusted to fixing the operating depth of the
opener. The sensed
load is then transferred via cable or hose 103 to a monitor 104 visible to the
operator. The
operator can manually or remotely adjust valve 15 until a satisfactory reading
is achieved on
the monitor 104.
Alternately the sensed force can directly adjust the valve 15 via valve
contro120 if the
control mechanism is set to respond to the load sensor signal.
Another alternative is to have the sensed load results being processed by an
electronic
processor, which in turn provide an adjustment signal to valve control 20. The
processor
could calculate an average readi:ag over a short time and adjust control 20
based on the
aveiage.
Yet another alternative is to have plate 21 built such that the pivot 22 is
approximately the
same vertical distance off the ground as the packer wheel center so that the
sensor 101 does
not detect the rolling resistance force F5.
