Seed meter airflow cover
US8336470B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 23, 2009 |
| Grant date | Dec 25, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 10, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA01C7/0443
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A cover for a pneumatic metering device for preventing air flow to the ambient environment while dispensing of inputs from the metering device. In one embodiment, dry granular or granulized fertilizer is metered from one side of the disc and seed is metered from the opposite side of the same metering disc. The fertilizer is placed in a concentrated “pulse” approximately equal distances between seeds within a common seed furrow and/or between seed furrows to improved nutrient use efficiency by minimizing soil to fertilizer contact and subsequent chemical reactions that make applied supplemental nutrients less available to plants. Pressurized air may be utilized to assist discharge of both the seed and fertilizer from the disc meter to assure precise spacing in the soil. The cover may be placed on the meter and metering disc to recirculate air and thus minimize potential atmospheric contamination from seed coatings and fertilizer materials.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.