CA1069767A - Plug mix seed and sprout planter - Google Patents

Plug mix seed and sprout planter

Info

Publication number
CA1069767A
CA1069767A CA296,352A CA296352A CA1069767A CA 1069767 A CA1069767 A CA 1069767A CA 296352 A CA296352 A CA 296352A CA 1069767 A CA1069767 A CA 1069767A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
planter
plug
plugs
door
tractor
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA296,352A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Kevin G. Skipper
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA296,352A priority Critical patent/CA1069767A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1069767A publication Critical patent/CA1069767A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01CPLANTING; SOWING; FERTILISING
    • A01C7/00Sowing
    • A01C7/004Sowing using liquid seeding techniques

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Soil Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Sowing (AREA)
  • Transplanting Machines (AREA)

Abstract

A B S T R A C T

This invention consists of a tractor drawn planter which automatically deposits equally spaced sprout bearing plugs of specially prepared nutrient soil, into the ground.
It is made of a rectangular framework having two rear wheels upon which it rides and a flexible hitch for attachment to the tractor. A tank equipped with an agitator, a plug size measur-ing device, and a discharge tube, contains the plug mixture.
Inside, the discharge tube is provided with doors which allow the passage of the plug, at predetermined equal intervals.
These doors are controlled by a spring loaded solenoid which is in turn controlled by electrical make and break contact points powered by the tractor battery. A floating shoe digs a fur-row into which the plugs are dropped, and two spring loaded converging wheels in the rear of the frame cover and tamp down the seeded furrow. Rotation is provided to the agitator, the plug measuring device, and the electrical contact points by a train of chain connected sprockets from a takeoff from the rear wheels of the planter.

Description

7~7 This invention consists of an automatic plug mix planter for the planting of tomatoes and other vegetables such as cucumbers, melons, tobacco, etc.
In the process of planting tomatoes, which i~ the vegetable here used to illustrate the action o~ the invention, the tomato seeds are mixed into a rich specially prepared 90il mixture in which they are allowed to sprout to a certain point, after which they are tran~planted in the field. In transplant-ing these seeds, into the field, equally spaced plugs of the soil mixture containing these sprouts, are inserted into the ground in equally spaced rows so as to provide growing and picking space.
With few exceptions, prior to this invention 7 the planting of tomatoes has been done manually. Where a machine has been used in the planting of tomatoes, it usually consisted of the use of a pot planter, a system which proved to be com-plicated, unreliable and expensive, mainly beca~se pot planters are too heavy, too complicated, and not actually designed for planting plug mix items, into the ground.
It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide an automatic plug mix planting machine, which is specifically designed to perform efficiently for that purpose~
which is of simple con truction~ and which will, at the same time, provide a reliable and a considerable cost saving per-formance, This is accomplished in the invention by providing a machine in which the automation is electrically operated, thereby reducing the weight of the mechanism by the elimination of com-plicated meohanical components, and increasing ~ts reliability by reducing the number of possible sources of damage replace-men~, break down time, and costly repairs. The saving in oper-' -1- ~

106~7~

ation costs results from the elimination of at least one hired worker per row, by the use of this invention.
In describing the invention, reference will be made to the attached drawings in which, Figure 1, is an elevation of the invention, Figure 2, is a plan of the invention, Figure 3, is a rear view of the invention, Figure 4, is the plough component of the invention, Figure 5 , is a plan view of the sprouting plug mixture container, Figure 6, is a view of the chute leading from the plug mixture container to the ground, Figures 7,8,9,10, and 11 are various views of the components of the automatic plug mixture intermitt~nt di~charge device.
In the drawings, the planter is shown consisting of a rectangular frame 1 which is supported at the rear end there-; of by two rubber tired wheels 2,2, and iB provided at its front end with means for attachment to a tractor (tractor not shown ~: 20 in the drawings).
- On the top of the frame and near the ~ront end there-of is centrally located a comparatively large cylindrical con-tainer 13 in which is stored the plug mixture. A rectangular, vertical chute 19 discharges thQ plugs ~rom the container 13 to the ground.
Just below the chute 19 and traveling upon the ground -~ is a triangular plough in the ~orm of a floating shoe 22, the ~orward point of which digs a furrow, the depth of which is more or less controlled by the skid plates 23, which are turned upwardly to float upon the ground, and located one on each side of the said shoe. The floating shoe 22 is connected to the frame 1 by a ~rame member 25 and a pair o~ pivoting spaced horizontal and parallel arms 26 and 28 which are pivotally -held in their iront ends by the frame member 25, and in the rear, by a short vertical support 27 which also attaches the arms to the floating shoe 22. The front end of the lower arm 28 extends into a clevis 29 which contains a knurled roller 30 5 which levels and firms the soil and makes it ready for the shoe 22. A spring 24, between the frame 1 and the upper arm 26 helps to stabilize the shoe 22.
Rotating components within and at the bottom of the the container 13 are provided to maintain a faultless discharge 10 of plugs at predetermined regular intervals. Theæe components consist of a rotating agitator bar 15 which is attached to a central shaft 16, whose purpose is to prevent packing and bind-ing of the plug mix. Attached to the center and below the base of the container 13, is a shallow circular pan 14 of a smaller diameter than that o~ the container 13. Within the pan 14, ro-tates a circular wheel 18 (see Figure 7), provided with equally spaced walls 18A at its perimeter which divide the space within _ the pan 14 into a plurality o~ equal and rotating c~partment~
- 18B, each of sai~ oompartmenkbeing large enough to contain and pass through it freely a single measured amount of plug mix, The pan 14 is provided at its rim with an opening 42 which corresponds in shape and size with the cross-seotion of a compartment 18B, so that a plug mix in said eompartment, when it coincides with the opening 42, falls through said opening,
2~ into the chute 19, and is released to fall to the ground by a solenoid operated, double hinged tripping door 21 located within the chute 19. A plate cover 1~ is located between the agitator 15 and the pan 14, and directly above the discharge hole 42, to prevent any plug mix, other than the measured plug, from enter-ing the chute.
In the rear of the framework 1 is a pair of downwardlyconverging furrow wheels 31,31. These wheels serve the purpose of covering the inserted plug with the earth dug up by the shoe 22.

'7~7 The wheels 31,31, are supported from the frame by frame members 32 and 33, and said wheels being allowed a small amount of free up and down motion by a spring 34 which is held in position by an internal guide rod 35.
5 The various rotating members of the planter are acti-vated by the rotation of the wheels 2,2, upon which the planter rides, by means of a train of sprockets and interconnected chains. Thus, a sprocket 3 which is fixed to the shaft of the . wheels 2, drives a sprocket 5, by means of a chain 4. The sprocket 5 i~ attached to a shaft 46 which operates electrical contact points 44 which in turn operate a spring loaded solenoid "S"
that intermittently opens and closes the plug release mechanism 21 in the discharge chute 19 (see Figure 7). The electrical points are attached to the frame by a bracket 45 and a frame part 48~ while the shaft 46 has a flat part in its wall which .~ allows contact, or breaks contact of the said points, depending ` upon the position of the flat part 47, during the shaft's rotation (see Figures 11 and 12). An outer sprocket 6 is also fixed to the shaft 46.
. 20 An intermediate shaft, rotatably attached to the frame-work 1 has an outer sprocket 8 and a smaller inner sprocket 9, fixed to it. A chain 7 joins sprockets 6 and 8, : The mechanism which supplies rotation to the central shaft 16, which rotates the agitator 15 and the feed wheel 18, - 25~ consists of a pair of level gears 12~ the horizontal gear being attached to the shaft 16, and the vertical gear is fixed to a shaft 43, to the outs3de end of which is attached a sprocket 11 which i8 rotated by a chain 10 from the intermediate sprocket 9.
An enlarged, and more detailed drawing of the plug re-lease mechanism 21 iæ shown in Figure 5. ~ainly, this mechanism consists of two doors 49 and 50, each being hinged at their . upper edges to oppos3te walls on the inside of the chute 19.
- In the closed position, the lower edges of the walls come to-1~6g7~
gether to prevent plugs from passing through them. The door 49 has a short upright extension 51, above the hinge, which is linked to the door 50 by a link 52. When the solsnoid "S~ pu118 the door 49 to the position shown by 49', the extension 51 as-sumes the position shown by 51', this pushes the link 52 to the52' position, and the door 50 to the 50' position, leaving the chute 19 open for the discharge of the plugs.
The planter is provided with a hitch which allows a great deal of flexibility to the connection between the planter and its tractor (see Figure 1). It consists of a clamp made of two separate and oppositely grooved parts 36 and 37, which are bolted together to contain within their grooves the attachment - bar of the tractor. ~he rear part 37 of the clamp is somewhat loosely attached to a pair of parallel,spaced bars 38 and ~9 the rear ends of which are similarly attached to frame bracket 40.
A "Un-shaped yoke 41 which is attached to the frame 1 rides over the lower bar 39, for the purpose of limiting the degree - of flexibility to what is required.
Field trials have shown that this planter can travel over any terrain or type of soil and maintain a consistent pIant~ng depth, because of the independent shoe or plough sus-pension. It has also been found due to the light weight con-struction of this planter, it can be pulled by a small tractor, thereby freeing heavy duty tractors to prepare the ground for other typeB of planting where greater power of operation and æoil compressions is required.
Further experimentation has shown this planter capableof traveling up to a speed of 7 miles per hour in performing the planting operation, as compared to other planters whose speed i8 limited to 0.4 miles per hour.
Other proven advantages in the use of this invention can be listed as follow6~-(a) As can be seen from the attached drawings, this planter 97~;7 can be built sufficiently narrow in width to allow the plantingof the plugs in rows as close as 24 inches apart as compared to 36 inches æpaced rows used at the present time.
(b) The plug mix hopper can be made large enough to con-æiderably reduce the costly refill time: and the size of the plug and planting space is easily adjustable.
Although thi~ planter is shown operating on electricity, which is supplied by the electrical source of the tractor which is pulling it, the source of power can be pneumatic. Electricity a~ the 60urce of power for the operation of thi~ invention is preferred because this choice of power reduceæ itæ weight and cost of manufacture, requires less maintenance, and reduces the cost of operation.

Claims (5)

he embodiments of the invention in which an ex-clusive property ot privilege is claimed are defines as follows,-
1. A tractor drawn planter for planting of vegetable seeds in the form of plugs containing sprouts of the vegetable mixed with plant nutrient soil, comprising, in combination, a rectangular framework preferably made of steel structural sec-tions; a pair of wheels rotating on a shaft which is rotatably held to the rear of said framework, and upon which the said planter rides; a cylindrical container in which is stored the said plug mix, located at the front and on top of the frame-work; said container terminating at its base into a shallow centrally located pan; a plug discharge chute extending down-wardly towards the ground attached to and communicating with said container pan; a rotating bar which serves as an agitator, just above said pan; rotating means for supplying measured plugs to the discharge chute; electrically operated means within the chute for intermittently discharging said plugs at regular in-tervals; a shoe shaped plough located directly below the dis-charge end of said chute, and attached to the framework by means of a spring loaded flexible support, the purpose of said plough being to dig the furrow for said plugs; a knurled wheel which is part of the plough flexible support, located in front of said plough to guide said plough over the terrain; skids attached to the sides of the plough to maintain uniform depth of the furrow; means for folding the earth over the furrow after the plug has been deposited into it; flexible means for attach-ing the said planter to a tractor; and a train of sprockets and interconnecting sprocket chains, obtaining power and ro-tation from the rear wheels of the planter, and supplying ro-tation to all rotating units of the planter, when the planter is in motion.
2. In a planter such as described in Claim 1, the rotat-ing means for supplying measured plugs to the discharge tube comprises a circular wheel to the rim of which are attached radially and equally spaced walls which reach just short of the wall in the said container pan in which the said wheel rotates, so that the plug mix in the said container fills the spaces between said walls forming uniform plugs which fall into the chute when passing over the chute opening.
3. A planter such as described in Claim 1, in which the means for intermittently discharging the plugs at regular inter-vals consists of two downwardly converging and touching doors in the closed position, each hinged to an interior an opposite wall of said chutes one of said door having a short extension at its top, above its hinge, said extension being loosely con-nected to the other door by a connecting rod; an electrically activated, spring loaded solenoid, attached to the extension equipped door, which opens the door by pulling upon it when the power is on, and which allows the spring to push the door back to the closed position when the power is off; said door extension and its attached connecting rod causing the other door to act in the same manner as the solenoid operated door, and in an opposite direction; and a rotating "make-and-break" shaft operating electrical contact points to activate said solenoid.
4. A planter such as described in Claim 1, in which the means for covering with earth the furrow after the plug has been deposited in it, comprises a pair of downwardly converging wheels, which are narrowly spaced at their converging point, and which are located in front of the framework supporting wheels, and which are spring loaded to be flexibly connected to said framework.
5. A planter such as described in Claim 1, in which the flexible means for attaching the said planter to a tractor consists of a hitch comprising two opposite and grooved plates which are bolted together to hold within their grooves a rod part of said tractor: the plate nearest the planter being attached to the planter framework by a pair of spaced, parallel, and freely held bars, one above the other; and a yoke passing over the lower bar to restrict the flexibility to a prede-termined limit.
CA296,352A 1978-02-06 1978-02-06 Plug mix seed and sprout planter Expired CA1069767A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA296,352A CA1069767A (en) 1978-02-06 1978-02-06 Plug mix seed and sprout planter

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA296,352A CA1069767A (en) 1978-02-06 1978-02-06 Plug mix seed and sprout planter

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1069767A true CA1069767A (en) 1980-01-15

Family

ID=4110693

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA296,352A Expired CA1069767A (en) 1978-02-06 1978-02-06 Plug mix seed and sprout planter

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1069767A (en)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4632284A (en) * 1984-04-23 1986-12-30 Nepera Inc. Seeding device
CN108834498A (en) * 2018-09-10 2018-11-20 农业部南京农业机械化研究所 The quick seeding apparatus of crops
CN113043804A (en) * 2021-05-13 2021-06-29 李玉平 Drive structure of food and beverage transport vehicle chassis
CN119631648A (en) * 2025-02-06 2025-03-18 黑龙江省农业科学院耕作栽培研究所 A kind of disk hole sowing device

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4632284A (en) * 1984-04-23 1986-12-30 Nepera Inc. Seeding device
CN108834498A (en) * 2018-09-10 2018-11-20 农业部南京农业机械化研究所 The quick seeding apparatus of crops
CN113043804A (en) * 2021-05-13 2021-06-29 李玉平 Drive structure of food and beverage transport vehicle chassis
CN119631648A (en) * 2025-02-06 2025-03-18 黑龙江省农业科学院耕作栽培研究所 A kind of disk hole sowing device

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