Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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SEED PLANTER ATTACHMENT FOR CHISEL PLOW
Background of the Invention
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The present invention relates to a seed
planter attachment for a plow, and more particularly to
a chisel plow for use in no-till plowing in which the
planter is resiliently mounted to the rear of the plow
shank and means are provided to insure a constant seed
planting depth.
Certain sections of the coun-try, due to the
arid climate and lack of a stable top soil, are culti-
vated using no-till farming methods. According to this
method, a frame having a plurality of chisel plows is
drawn behind a tractor or the like. The chisals are
relatively narrow implements which dig furrows into the
ground without exposing an appreciable amount of top-
soil. Such plows also include a fertilizer knife for
laying a small amount of fertilizer in the furrows.
Seeds are subsequently deposited by the use of seed
planters mounted rigidly ko the chisel plows or to the
frame so as to drop seeds into the furrows created by
the plows. Examples of two such devices are shown by
the U.S. Patents Prince, No. 2,539,592 and Bruner,
No. 2,195,652.
The Bruner device is bolted directly to the
plow shank on a heavy support arm. The support arm and
an associated brace plate maintain the height of the
seed planter in fixed relation to the lower end of the
chisel plow. In the Prince device, the seed planter is
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rigidly attached to the plow shank by means of a U-
shaped clamping bracket.
The principal disadvantage of both -the Prince
and Bruner devices is that the depth of the deposited
seeds can vary depending upon the c.oil conditions
encountered by -the plow. Since the plow is relatively
heavy, it will dig deeper into soft broken soil than
into hard, rocky soil. Since the planter is fixedly at-
tached to the plow it deposits seeds at a depth that is
constant relative to the plow. Thus, seeds can be depo-
sited at uneven depths. In no-till farming it is more
desir;abl~ to have seeds planted at a constant dep-th
regardless of soil conditions. Another disadvantage of
the Bruner and Prince devices is that obstacles encoun-
tered by the plow, such as rocks, can damage the planter
since it has no resilience in a vertical direction so as
to slide over such obstacles. The planter is normally
of a lighter construction than the heavier and more
rugged plow shank, and is thus more susceptible to damage.
In other designs unrelated to no-till farming,
such as shown in the U.S. Patents Scarlett, 1,864,280
and Altgelt, 1,~97,355, a plow shank and seeder com-
bination is mounted resiliently to the frame, but the
seeder i.s rigidly mounted with respect to the plow
shank. Thus, although the combination can respond to
variable soil conditions, and there is less likelihood
of damage from ground obstacles, this seed planter suf-
fers from the same disadvantages as those occasioned by
the Prince and Bruner devices. That is, the seeds are
planted at uneven depths. It is critical for no-till
farming, however, that seed depth remain constant regard-
less of the soil depth of the plow shank.
In yet another type of design, shown for example
in the U.S. Patent to Oehler 2,975,844, a seed planter
shoe is resiliently attached to a frame. Also attached to
the frame ahead of the shoe is a plow. The seed planter
has a depth adjustment feature consisting of a press wheel
which maintains the planter at a constan, depth relative
to the ground regardless of the depth of the furrow opened
by the plow. While this type of device addresses some of
the problems noted above, it is an integrated device con-
sisting of complicated linkage mechanism between the seed
planter, the press wheel and the frame. As such, it would
not be convenient for use as an attachment for a existing
chisel plow.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides a seed planter
attached to a vertically-oriented chisel plow shank, the
seed planter comprising a boot, spring means -for mounting
the boot in a rearwardly-related position from the shank
and for imparting a ground-engaging bias to the boot,
mounting means for removably and infinitely variably
attaching the spring means to the shank at any vertical
location along the length thereof sized to adjust the
amount of the ground-engaging bias, depth regulating means
for regulating the depth of penetration of the boot into
the ground independent of the depth the chisel plow pene-
trates the ground, and depth adjustment means inter-
connecting the boot and the depth regulating means for
adjusting the depth at which the boot penetrates the
ground. The adjustment of the mounting means and the
depth adjustment means may be independent. The spring
means may provide the sole longitudinal and lateral
support for the planter relative to the shank and may
comprise at least one resiliently Elexible rod. The
flexible rod may be a U-shaped element having two gene-
rally horizontal legs, the ends oE which are attached
respectively to the boot and the shank.
,
It is an object of this invention to provide a
seed planter resiliently mounted to a p]ow shank so as to
absorb forces acting vertically on the seed planter without
damage thereto.
It is a further object of this invention to
provide a seed planter which plants seeds at a constant
soil clepth regardless of soil conditions or ground
contour.
It is a still further object of this invention
to provide an adjustable depth seed planter wherein the
adjustment is made quickly and with a minimum of small
attaching parts which could become easily lost.
As still fur-ther object of this invention is
to provide a seed planter attachment for a chisel plow
which can be retrofit-ted to existing chisel plows with a
single connection to the plow shank without the
necessity of attaching the seed planter to the frame.
~ese and other objects of the invention will
become apparent from the description of the drawings and
detailed description of the invention which follows.
Brief Description of the Drawings
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Reference is now made to the drawings in
which:
FIG. 1 is a side view of a conventional chisel
plow mechanism having the seed planter attachments of
the invention mounted thereto.
FIG. 2 is a rear view of the seed planter
attachment in FIG. 1 on an enlarged scale taken along
line 2-2 of E'IG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway top view of the
seed planter in FIG. 2 taken along line 3-3.
FIG. 4 is a partially cut-away side view of
the seed planter attachment.
D _ iled Description of the Invention
Referring to FIG. 1, a tractor or other
powered device (not shown) pulls a frame 10 on which is
mounted a tank 12 which supplies fertilizer to a plural-
ity ox chisel plows 14, each having a fertilizer knife
16 mounted thereon. Attached to the shank of each
chisel plow is a seed planter attachment 18. Seeds are
supplied to the seed planter attachments by containers
20 mounted on the frame 10. The seed containers have
appropriate metering devices (not shown) which regulate
the flow of seeds to the seed planters.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the seed
planter l is connected to the plow shank 14 by a pair
of leaf spring rods 22. The spring rods have hooked
portions 24 which overhang an L-shaped retaining plate
26. I`he retaining plate 26 is held against the plow
shank by a U-bolt 28 and nuts 30. The opposite ends of
the leaf spring rods 22 are connected to a bracket 32 of
square cross section fixedly attached to a seed planter
boot 34. The spring rods 22 are held within the bracket
32 by a pair of bolts 3~ and retaining members 38. The
seed planter may be made adjustable relative to the plow
shank by attaching the spring rods at the appropriate
pair of holes 40, vertically spaced along bracket 32. A
hose 42 lies loosely within the seed planter boot 34.
There is no other connection between the seed planter
attachment and the frame. The seed planter boot 34 has
a foot 44 which creates a shallow furrow in the earth
already broken by chisel plow 14.
In order to keep the depth of the seed planter
constant relative to the surEace of the ground, a pair
oE gauge dep-th wheels 46 are connected to the seed
planter at bracke-t 32. The connection is made by
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detachably gripping the axle 48 supporting the gauge
depth wheels 4~ with a U-shaped link member and retain-
ing rod combination. The U-shaped link member 50 com-
prises an elongate link such as a chain link bent at
right angles in two places to form a generally U-shaped
member when viewed from the side as in FIG. 4. The
bracket 32 has a plurality of slots 52, FIG. 2, spaced
apart so as to engage the ends of the link 50. The
looped ends of the link 50 are inserted through a pair
of the slots 52 thereby gripping the axle 48 to the rear
of the bracket 32. The ends of the link 50 form partial
loops in the interior of the bracket 32, and a retaining
rod 54 is inserted through these partial loops thereby
holaing the ends of the link 50 within the bracket 32.
This retains the gauge depth wheels at a fixed vertical
position relative to the bottom of the seed planter. A
cotter pin 56 inserted through two L-shaped retaining
brackets 58 engages an upper looped end 60 of the
retaining rod 54 and holds it in place.
In actual operation the seed planter attach-
ment 18 is mounted to a chisel plow l by clamping the
spring rods 22 to the rear of the plow with a U-bolt 28
as discussed above. Having been mounted to the rear of
the plow shank, all that remains to place the unit into
operation is -to insert the hose 42 into the seed planter
boot 34. No other connection between the seed planter
and the frame to which the plow shank is attached is
necessary since ale structual connection is made solely
through spring rocls 22. Because of the lateral stiffness
~Lir~
of the spring rods the seed planter will follow -the Eur-
row created by the chisel plow. Thus if the plow shank
were to hit a rock and be forced sideways the planter
would likewise move to the side and avoid -the rock. In
the event that the plow was to be forced upwardly due to
a hard obs-truction such as a large rock, the planter
would not be damaged because of the resiliency of the
spring rods to forces acting in a vertical direction.
The depth of the planting remains constant
relative to the surface of the ground because of the
gauge wheels which are maintained in fixed relation to
the bottom of the seed planter by the U-bolt and retain-
ing rod attaching means. Constant seed planting depth
is important because the seeds Jill not germinate if
planted too deeply or may be "burned" by planting too
close to the fertilizer. Fertilizer is injected into
the soil a by fertilizer knife 16 at a level shown by the
broken line 60 in FIG. 4. This depth can vary depending
upon the condition of the soil and the contour of the
ground. Such variations are not critical for fertiliz-
ing, but would be critical for seed planting. As shown
by broken line 62 in FIG. 4, the rigid connection of the
gauge depth wheels to the seed planter bracket insures
that the seea will always be planted at a uniform depth,
except when obstacles are encountered which would tend
to push against the bias of the spring rod raising the
seed planter in a vertical direction. In such a case
the seed planter is preserved from damage by the resil-
, .... ....
ience of the leaf spring rods. The normal situation,
however, is that the wheels are biased against -the
ground and thus the seed will be planted at the uniform
depth indicated by broken line 62.
The terms and expressions which have been
employed in the foregoing specification are used therein
as terms of description and not of limitation, and there
is no intention, in the use of such terms and expres-
sions, of excluding equivalents of the features shown
and described or portior. thereof, it being recognized
that the scope of the invention is defined and limited
only by the claims which follow.
