PH12017000189A1

PH12017000189A1 - Onion seed planting apparatus

Info

Publication number: PH12017000189A1
Application number: PH12017000189A
Authority: PH
Inventors: Rodelio G Idago; Domingo R Miranda
Original assignee: Philippine Center For Postharvest Development And Mech Philmech
Priority date: 2017-06-28
Filing date: 2017-06-28
Publication date: 2019-01-28

Abstract

The present invention relates to an onion seed planting apparatus for metering the seed, delivering the seed to the furrow, opening a furrow, covering the seed and firming the seedbed comprising of: frame holding parts of the apparatus and with cylindrical hitch adapter in its front middle portion, plurality of hopper provided at the upper portion of the frame, plurality of bin mounted at mid portion of the frame and enclosing the plate, plurality of plate connected to a shaft and disposed at the mid portion of the bin, shaft passing through the center of the plate extending across the full width of the frame, plurality of delivery tube proximate to the bin, plurality of furrow opener placed at the bottom portion of delivery tube, plurality of seed covering device positioned behind the furrow opener, plurality of compactor attached at the rear bottom portion of the frame, plurality of clutch attached at both ends of the shaft, plurality of ground wheel attached at the side portion of the frame and plurality of travelling wheel attached at the bottom portion of the frame.

Description

ONION SEED PLANTING APPARATUS

Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to an onion seed planting apparatus capable of metering the seed, delivering the seed to the furrow, opening a furrow, covering the seed and firming the seedbed.

Background of the Invention

Direct seeding is one of the methods of planting onion seeds. This method has been widely practiced in the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Pangasinan.

Majority of bulb onion growers from Pangasinan and Tarlac practice direct seeding by manual broadcasting, while onion farmers from Nueva Ecija practice direct seeding using manual two-row seeder.

The cost of seeds constitutes 17 percent of the total production cost of bulb onion. The manual broadcasting method that has been practiced in Pangasinan and

Tarlac uses twice the quantity of seeds and therefore spent twice the cost of seeds compared to the transplanting method. On the other hand, the use of two-row seeder in Nueva Ecija does not maximize the use of area thereby reducing the quantity of harvest per unit area.

With the high cost of seeds and high seeding rate related to manual broadcasting method and the lower yield due to lower plant population using the two-row seeder, a machine should be developed to efficiently plant onion seeds while maximizing the use of land by maintaining higher plant population per unit area. For these reasons, PHilMech developed an apparatus that can increase productivity by efficient utilization of seeds and land area.

Summary of the invention

To alleviate the onion growers’ high cost of seeds related to manual broadcasting and low yield using manually-pulled/guided seeder, and so a need exists and a primary object of the present invention is to introduce an onion seed planting apparatus for placing onion seeds in the soil at a predetermined rate and maximize the use of area thereby increasing the crop yield per unit area. The fabricated onion seed planting apparatus is an assemblage of components, each designed to meet a particular function.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for opening a furrow, metering the seed, delivering the seed to the furrow, covering the seed and firming the seedbed. The machine has a seeding capacity of 0.38 ha/h at 3.0 to 3.5 km/h forward speed using 7hp prime mover, plants 10 rows per pass, pulled by walking-type agricultural tractor and is a drill type seeder based on its resultant planting pattern.

Still an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus wherein materials for fabrication are readily available in the market and may even utilize scrap materials or parts in order to be more economical.

The technical advance represented by the present invention, as well as the objects thereof, will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the novel features set forth in the appended claims.

Brief Description of the Several Views of the Drawings

The present invention can be understood more fully from the description given here below and from the accompanying drawings of the preferred embodiment of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to be limitative to the invention, but are for explanation and understanding only.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of onion seed planting apparatus;

Figure 2 is a front view of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a side view of Figure 1.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments

With reference to the drawings wherein like numerals represent like parts throughout the figures, an onion seed planting apparatus capable of metering the seed, delivering the seed to the furrow, opening a furrow, covering the seed and firming the seedbed is comprised of major components, namely: frame 12, hopper 18, bin 22, plate 26, delivery tube 32, furrow opener 34, seed covering device 38, clutch 30 and compactor 40.

In reference to figures 1, 2 and 3, an onion seed planting apparatus comprised of frame 12. Said frame 12 has a set of traversing, upstanding and slanting supporting bar preferably made of tubular metal material being integrally connected to each other forming thereon said frame 12. In front portion of frame 12, a cylindrical hitch adapter 14 is mounted thereon. Said cylindrical hitch adapter 14 is a one point hitch where a prime mover (not shown) is connected to pull the onion seed planting apparatus. Wheels 16 are attached at the bottom portion of frame 12 that can be lowered in the ground for transporting the apparatus.

At the upper portion of frame 12, a plurality of spaced apart hopper 18 is mounted wherein onion seeds are loaded. A plurality of inlet gate 20 is attached at the rear portion of each said hopper 18 and adapted to hold the seeds prior to loading seeds in a plurality of spaced apart bin 22. Said bin 22 is mounted at the mid portion of frame 12 and regulates the seed flow from hopper 18. Disposed at the mid portion of said bin 22 is a plurality of spaced apart rotatable plate 26. Said plate 26 is driven by a common shaft 24. Said shaft 24 disposed and passed through the i center of plate 26. Shaft 24 is extending across the full width of the frame 12 and rotates as driven by a ground wheel 28 attached at the side portion of frame 12. A clutch 30 is attached at both ends of shaft 24 to assist on engaging or disengaging the said shaft 24 to the ground wheel 28. Said shaft 24 can be disengaged to the ground wheel 28 by pulling the clutch 30 and rotate it clockwise or counterclockwise, then release it. Return the clutch 30 to its original position to engage once more the shaft 24 to the ground wheel 28.

A plate 26 serves as seed metering device and made of engineering plastic.

Said plate 26 has cells around its periphery that select seeds from the bin 22 and hold the seeds in cell until discharged at the entrance of plurality of spaced apart delivery tube 32. Said delivery tube 32 conveys the seed from the seed meter discharge point of bin 22 to the furrow opener 34. Said furrow opener 34 is one of the major components which open the furrow to the required depth by displacing the soil sideways into which the seed is placed. It has provision for vertical adjustment relative to the soil surface to enable alteration of furrow depth and has provision for horizontal adjustment relative to adjacent openers to allow alteration of furrow opener 34 spacing. Inter-row spacing of individual furrow opener 34 can be adjusted by sliding and repositioning the furrow opener 34 on the toolbar 36.

The depth of furrow opener 34 attached to a particular toolbar 36 is controlled by the height of the toolbar 36 relative to the soil surface.

A seed covering device 38 with pair of elongated blades positioned behind the furrow opener 34. Seed covering device 38 assist in the transfer of displaced surface soil back into the furrow for the purpose of covering the seed with soil. The soil that covers the seed in a furrow is being firmed by compactor 40. Said compactor 40 is attached at the rear portion of frame 12. It is a non-row specific roller type firming device that levels the entire seedbed.

Seed metering performance of the onion seed planting apparatus is 4.90 kilograms onion seeds per hectare and this performance attributed to the uniformity of seed size and shape, filling two to three onion seeds per cell in plate 26. In one pass of the onion seed planting apparatus, seeds are drilled on ten furrows.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An onion seed planting apparatus for metering the seed, delivering the seed to the furrow, opening a furrow, covering the seed and firming the seedbed comprising of the following major components:

a. a set of traversing, upstanding and slanting supporting bars integrally connected to each other forming thereon a frame, said frame having a cylindrical hitch adapter in front middle portion where a prime mover is connected to pull the apparatus;

b. plurality of spaced apart hopper mounted at the upper portion of frame where onion seeds are loaded, said hopper having an inlet gate attached at the rear portion, said inlet gate holds the seeds prior to loading seeds in bin, said bin is mounted at mid portion of the frame and encloses the plate;

c. plurality of spaced apart plate disposed at the mid portion of bin which serves as seed metering device;

d. plurality of spaced apart delivery tube connected to seed meter discharge point of bin where seeds conveys from bin to furrow opener;

e. plurality of space apart furrow opener placed at the bottom portion of delivery tube which opens the furrow to a required depth where seed is placed;

f. plurality of spaced apart seed covering device with pair of elongated blades positioned behind the furrow opener to cover the seed with soil;

g. plurality of compactor attached at the rear bottom portion of frame which levels the entire seedbed.

h. plurality of clutch attached at both ends of a shaft which assist on engaging and disengaging the said shaft to the ground wheel;

i. plurality of ground wheels attached at the side portion of the frame and serves as the driver of the shaft; and j- plurality of traveling wheels attached at the bottom portion of the frame that are lowered in the ground when transporting the apparatus.

2. An onion seed apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said cylindrical hitch adapter preferably a one point hitch connected to a prime mover.

3. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plate have cells around its periphery and connected to a shaft which metered the seed at a predetermined rate and distance between plant hills.

4. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that each cell filled up by two to three onion seeds.

5. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the shaft passed through the center of the plate extending across the full width of the frame.

6. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 1, with seeding capacity of 0.38 ha/h at 3 to 3.5 km/h forward speed using 7 hp prime mover.

7. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 1 with seed metering performance of 4.9 kg onion seeds per hectare and plants 10 rows per pass.

8. An onion seed planting apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the furrow opener has provision for vertical adjustment relative to the soil surface to enable adjustment of furrow depth.