GB2302253A

GB2302253A - Drill with dust proof funnel shaped seed container

Info

Publication number: GB2302253A
Application number: GB9611928A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Norbert Rauch; Harald Schickinger; Manfred Schickinger
Original assignee: RAUCH Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH
Current assignee: RAUCH Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH
Priority date: 1995-06-17
Filing date: 1996-06-07
Publication date: 1997-01-15
Anticipated expiration: 2016-06-07
Also published as: DE19620830C2; GB2302253B; FR2735326B1; FR2735326A1; DE19620830A1; GB9611928D0

Abstract

A drill comprises a funnel-shaped seed container 1, which has a rigid cover 2 and a central bottom outlet with a dosing member, and a pneumatic feed mechanism, which has a transfer chamber with an injector connected to the container bottom outlet 5, a central riser 6 connected thereto with a distributing head 7 located at its upper end and drill tubes connected to said head 7 and to which is connected a drill share. A dustproof construction is obtained in that the container 1 is constructed as a tank closed on all sides and is only provided in its cover wall 2 with a filling opening closed in dustproof manner by a lid 22.

Description

DRILL WITH A FUNNEL-SHAPED SEED CONTAINER The invention relates to a sowing machine or drill.

In the case of pneumatic drills the container has a two-part construction.

It comprises a funnel-shaped, upwardly open lower part and either a roughly equicross-sectional upper part or a cover constituted by an elastic tarpaulin (EP 338 647). For filling the container the cover must either be completely removed or, in the case of a tarpaulin, at least thrown up in large areas.

In addition, drills are known, in which the cover is rigidly connected to the frame and the funnel-shaped lower part can be rearwardly and downwardly displaced (DE 43 15 343), so as to facilitate filling in the lower position.

Drills are frequently operated in conjunction with land preparing machinery, e.g. frontal rotary harrows. During drilling this leads to a pronounced dust formation. If the dust enters the container and therefore the seed, the flow behaviour of the latter changes and the dosing precision is impaired.

In addition, the dust particles lead to wear and functional disturbances in the vicinity of the revolving dosing members. Thus, the upper and lower parts of the container must have an optimum sealing, which only occurs to a limited extent with tarpaulins and in the case of rigid constructions requires very large, all-round sealing surfaces corresponding to the maximum cross-section in the upper area of the container. This sealing is complicated and frequently no longer operates reliably after a short period of operation. In addition, not inconsiderable costs are involved for such sealing measures. The riser tube must also be sealed at all piercing points on the container or cover.

The problem of the invention is to so improve a drill having the aforementioned construction that a substantially dustproof container construction is obtained, whilst at the same time simplifying the construction and reducing the manufacturing costs.

This problem is solved by the characterizing features of claim 1.

The invention proposes for the first time for a drill container a closed, tank-like construction, in which only one filling opening is provided in the tank cover wall. This filling opening is closed in dustproof manner by a lid, which constructionally and functionally causes no special problems due to the relatively small opening cross-section. Such a lid can easily be handled as a result of its limited weight, so that it can be brought from the closed to the open position and vice versa.

An adequate sealing of this filling opening can be achieved in simple manner by giving it an all-round collar or flange, over which engages the lid. Thus, the bottom of the lid rests on the collar. In addition, between the overengaging lid edge and the collar a type of labyrinth seal is formed, which in the case of correspondingly small gaps prevents access and in particular the whirling up of dust in the tank through the action of the wind or air flow.

Dust, which is deposited on the cover wall and lid, settles outside the overengaging edge and can consequently not pass into the container on the opening thereof.

At least on its back, the tank cover wall advantageously has a downwardly inclined wall portion, in which the filling opening is located. This ensures that there is no deposition of dust and dirt which, due to the machine vibrations, move downwards and drop, without being able to penetrate the tank filling opening.

According to a further advantageous development, the filling opening has a trapezoidal cross-section widening in the cover wall inclination direction.

This facilitates the filling of the tank with seed and, particularly in the case of sack products, permits a minimum filling opening cross-section.

So that the one part tank is given an adequate stability against static and dynamic stresses, a stiffening strut is provided connecting the cover wall to a facing wall portion of the tank and which can e.g. be formed by a pipe.

A preferred embodiment is characterized in that the pipe forming the reinforcing strut is substantially vertical and receives the central riser of the pneumatic feed mechanism or itself forms said central riser.

In the first-mentioned case the central riser can be constructed in one piece with the distributing head and can be inserted from above in the stiffening pipe. In the latter construction the riser forms an integral part of the tank and the distributing head is mounted on the upper opening of the pipe.

In a further preferred construction, the tank is provided on two facing side walls, preferably on the front and rear walls, with horizontal, channel-like depressions, in which positively engage correspondingly constructed sections of the support frame. These sections are preferably detachably connected to the remaining frame.

This embodiment makes it possible to insert the tank in the frame and to position and fix the same following the fitting of the sections. Thus, there is no need for fixing means on the tank and in particular it is easily possible to insert an all-round plastic tank in a steel frame, without having to fit material-extraneous fixing means to the tank.

As a result of the detachable fixing of the sections engaging in the depressions, it is also easily possible to disassemble the tank and optionally tanks having different volumes can be placed in the same frame construction.

It is advantageous if the tank is provided on its front and rear walls, below the cover wall, initially with vertical wall portions, which have the depressions and subsequently pass into the funnel-shaped, downwardly tapering wall portions. These vertical wall portions can e.g. be used for fitting the passage linkage and the half-side disconnection linkage.

In the case of pneumatic drills it is necessary to provide a seed return, so that e.g. it is possible to discharge the seed with varying row spacing or for only part of the total drilling width. This presupposes that certain drill tubes must be shut down, which is not possible in the case of a pneumatic feed by simply disconnecting the corresponding tube and instead the well-loaded air flow must be returned to the container. For this purpose the container has openings to which the drill tubes are connected and which in turn are equipped with switch points for the selective freeing of one or other feed direction (DE 44 34 963).

For such a seed return, the invention provides that the tank has on its cover wall on either side of the container centre, configurations with openings for the seed return and on which are located the switch points. These configurations form on the underside of the cover wall channels open to the tank, so that there is a sufficiently large free space in this area even when the tank is full in order to be able to receive, without accumulations, the returned seed and allow the feed air to flow away.

It is advantageous in this connection if the filling opening lid is articulated on one side and rests in loose, but sealing manner on the cover wall, its weight being such that during seed return it acts as an air vent under the increased internal pressure in the tank. This ensures an automatic venting during seed return, accompanied by the desired, sealed construction of the tank.

According to another embodiment, the lid is locked on the cover wall and the tank, preferably its lid, is provided with a vent valve.

In order to position the drill tubes guided from the distributing head outwards over the cover wall, along the substantially travel direction-parallel sides of the cover wall are positioned ledges projecting over the latter and which have recesses for the passage of the drill tubes. The ledges can be fitted or shaped on the container or on parts of the frame. Thus, on assembly, the drill tubes are merely shoved through the recesses and connected to the distributing head. The drill tubes are then positioned in juxtaposed manner in the vicinity of the cover wall.

For the construction of the tank a welded steel structure can be provided, the stiffening strut being welded in the tank. In another preferred construction the tank is made from plastic with a cast on stiffening strut.

It is advantageous if the cover wall has wall positions dropping away to all four side walls from the stiffening strut.

It is advantageous if the tank outlet is roughly central and the stiffening strut is displaced towards the front wall, so as to ensure that in the case of a substantially identical hopper or funnel gradient there is a uniform sinking of the seed level by gravity alone.

In the case of a one-part tank construction the cover wall can be given a double-walled construction and between the two walls are arranged in spaced manner partitions, which in each case form between them a drill tube portion.

This is a type of sandwich construction leading on the one hand to a stable cover wall and therefore to the stiffening of the side walls, and on the other there is no need for a separate manufacture and installation of the corresponding drill tube portions, because the container has them in an integrated construction. It is merely necessary on the marginal sides to provide corresponding connections for the drill tubes, which are generally constructed in hose form.

In another preferred construction, the distributing head is detachably connected to the riser and is displaceable in the travel direction.

In this construction the distributing head, together with the drill tubes connected thereto can be forwardly displaced from the operating position, so that the filling extends close to the riser, i.e. can have a large internal diameter and is completely freed during the filling process. This facilitates filling and improves accessibility to the tank interior. The seed deposited under the gradient during the filling process can be more easily moved forwards and the seed level can be rendered even.

The movement of the distributing head can take place by means of guide rods, sliding guides or also by pivoting. The movement means e.g. engage on the upper end of the riser or on the cover. In the operating position an airtight sealing of the distributing head on the riser is ensured e.g. by spring loading or in some other mechanical manner.

The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter relative to nonlimitative embodiments and the attached drawings, wherein show: Fig. 1 A diagrammatic view of a drill from the rear.

Fig. 2 A detail plan view of the drill of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 A longitudinal section through a tank in a first embodiment.

Fig. 4 A section corresponding to fig. 3 of another tank embodiment.

Fig. 5 A view of the tank rear wall without riser.

Fig. 6 A plan view of the tank of fig. 5.

Fig. 7 A detail side view of the tank.

Fig. 8 A partial view of the tank corresponding to fig. 1.

Fig. 9 A view of the front of the tank in another embodiment.

Fig. 10 A plan view of the tank of fig. 9.

Figs. 11 Different embodiments of a displaceable distributing head in the to 14 operating position and during the filling process, in each case in side view.

The sowing machine or drill shown in fig. 1 and which is e.g. mounted on the three-point linkage of a tractor in a direct manner or on the following land preparing implements, which are in turn installed on the three-point linkage, has a seed container 1 with a rigid cover 2, which is received by the support members 3 of a support frame, on which and below said container 1 is positioned a blower 4. The seed passes from the container 1 into a transfer chamber 5 with an injector, to which is connected a riser 6 with a distributing head 7. The seed discharged from the container 1 by means of a not shown dosing member is subject to the action on the injector in the transfer chamber 5 to the feed or delivery air produced by the blower 4 and guided in a support frame hollow section 9 and supplied by means of the riser 6 to the distributing head 7.To the distributing head is connected a plurality of drill tubes 8, on which the seed is uniformly distributed by means of the distributing head 7. For ease of viewing in fig. 2, only a few of the drill tubes are shown.

From the distributing head 7, the drill tubes 8 pass roughly parallel over the cover 2 of the container 1 to either side and then substantially rearwards to the not shown drilling blades or shares, which are located on an also not shown blade or share rail. In the travel direction behind the shares is positioned a harrow 10, which is supported on the ground by means of jackwheels 11 and can be raised by means of these.

In the represented embodiment the drill tubes 8 in each case have a switch point 12 which, according to fig. 2, are successively arranged in a row 13 on either side of the drill. With each switch point is associated an opening in the cover 2 through which the seed is returnable to the container on disconnecting a drill tube 8.

The seed container 1 according to figs. 3 to 10 is constructed as a tank and comprises the funnel-shaped lower part 14 and the cover wall 15 forming the upper cover 2. The tank is manufactured as a welded steel structure or in one piece from plastic. The lower part 14 of the tank has on the front wall and on the rear wall (considered in the travel direction) an initially vertical wall portion 16, 17 connected to the cover wall 15 and to which are connected downwards the funnel-shaped tapering walls 18, 19, which lead to a roughly central bottom opening 20 with the transfer chamber 5 connected thereto.

The tank 1 also has an integrated stiffening strut 21, e.g. in the form of a pipe, which connects the cover wall 15 to an inclined wall 18 of the lower part 14, e.g. being welded or cast in. The upwardly and downwardly open pipe 21 receives the riser 6 of the pneumatic feed mechanism, to whose upper end is connected the distributing head 7. In the embodiment according to fig. 4, the riser 6 directly forms the stiffening strut 21.

The cover wall 15 comprising planar surface parts has, close to the rear wall, an opening, which is closed by a lid 22. In the vicinity of the vertical portions 16, 17, the front and rear walls have in each case a horizontal, channel-like depression 23, 24, whose function will be described in conjunc tion with fig. 7.

Figs. 5 and 6 only show the tank. The side walls 25, 26 of the lower part are uniformly inclined towards the outlet 20, as shown in fig. 5. The cover wall is inclined to all four sides from the stiffening strut 21. It has in the rearwardly inclined portion the filling opening 27, which is surrounded by an all-round collar or flange 41 on which is loosely placed the lid 22.

The cover wall 15 of the tank has on either side of the stiffening strut 21 and the filling opening 27 a ledge-like configuration 28, 29, which forms a channel 30 open towards the tank (fig. 8). On the configurations 28, 29 are provided openings, whose number corresponds to the number of drill tubes.

On the openings are placed the switch points 12 of the drill tubes 8, so that, as desired, each drill tube 8 can be switched to passage for drilling or into a position in which the seed coming from the distributing head is returned to the tank 1.

On the travel direction-parallel side walls on the container or frame are provided ledges 31, which have several recesses 32 through which can in each case be passed a few drill tubes 8, so that the latter are positioned on the lateral edges of the container.

The channel-like depressions 23, 24 shown in figs. 3, 4 and 7 are used for the positive reception of sections 33, 34, e.g. in the form of pipes, which are detachably connected to the support frame and whereof fig. 7 shows the support members 3 and in this way the tank inserted between the support members 3 can be positioned and fixed in the direction of travel.

In the embodiment according to figs. 9 and 10 the cover wall 15 has a doublewalled construction. It comprises an inner wall 35 and an outer wall 36 between which are inserted partitions 37. In each case two adjacent partitions form a portion 39 of a drill tube, which are provided along the side walls with drill tube connections, which in turn form drill tube portions located outside the area of the tank 1. In this case the distributing head 7 is integrated into the sandwich-like construction of the cover wall 15.

As the drill tubes 8 are radially connected to the entire circumference of the distributing head 7, i.e. also counter to the travel direction extend forwards at least over a short length (cf. fig. 10), the cross-section of the filling opening 27 is limited. However, for filling purposes a maximum opening is desired, which simultaneously improves the accessibility of the container interior. Such a filling opening 27' extending close to the riser and a correspondingly adapted construction of the cover 15 integrated into the container is shown in broken line form in fig. 6. In order to render said filling opening 27' completely accessible during filling, the distributing head 7 is detachably connected to the riser 6 and is forwardly displaceable in the travel direction, as indicated by the directional arrow in fig. 6.

Fig. 11 shows a first embodiment of a displaceable distributing head 7. A separating point 42 is provided between the distributing head 7 and the riser 6. On either side of the riser 6, guide rods 43 are articulated to the distributing head 7 and are mounted with the other end on a bracket 44 fixed to the riser 6. From the left-hand operating position shown the distributing head 7 can be displaced into the right-hand position shown for the filling process. The drill tubes 8 are moved along, so that the filling opening 27' (fig. 6) is completely freed. In order to ensure a tight connection in the operating position, the guide rods 43 can be under the action of springs, which are pretensioned on pivoting from the filling position into the operating position or have on the adjustment path a dead centre position, so that the distributing head has in both cases a stable position. Instead of this a mechanical locking can be provided.

In the embodiment according to fig. 12 the distributing head 7 is mounted on the bracket 44 by means of parallelogram guide rods 45, said bracket being located on the cover 15 or part thereof. Fig. 13 shows a distributing head 7 pivotably mounted on a spindle 46 on the bracket 44, the pivoting angle can also be less than the 90" shown. Fig. 14 finally shows a construction in which the distributing head 7 is horizontally displaceable. To this end the means for displacing the distributing head 7 comprise two parallel guide rails 47 in which are guided guide pieces 48 on the distributing head 7. The guide rails 47 are fixed to the distributing tube 6 by means of shackles 49.

Claims

1. Drill with a funnel-shaped seed container, which has a rigid cover and a central bottom outlet with a dosing member, and with a pneumatic feed mechanism, which has a transfer chamber with an injector connected to the container bottom outlet, a central riser connected thereto with a distributing head arranged outside the container on the upper end thereof and drill tubes connected to said head, to which is in each case connected a drill share, characterized in that the container (1) is constructed as a tank closed on all sides and only provided in its cover wall (15) with a filling opening (27) closed in dustproof manner by a lid (22).

2. Drill according to claim 1, characterized in that the filling opening (27)has an all-round collar (41) over which engages the lid (22).

3. Drill according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that at least on its back the cover wall (15) of the tank (1) has a downwardly inclined wall portion in which the filling opening (27) is located.

4. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the filling opening (27) has a trapezoidal cross-section widening in the inclination direction of the cover wall (15).

5. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the tank (1) has a stiffening strut (21) connecting the cover wall (15) with a facing wall portion (18) of the tank.

6. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the stiffening strut (21) is formed by a pipe.

7. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the pipe (21) receives the central riser (6) of the pneumatic feed mechanism.

8. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the pipe (21) forms the central riser (6) of the pneumatic feed mechanism and the distributing head (7) is mounted on the upper opening of the pipe.

9. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 8, characterized in that at least on two facing side walls the tank (1) has horizontal, channel-like depressions (23, 24) in which positively engage correspondingly constructed sections (33, 34) of the support frame (3, 9).

10. Drill according to claim 9, characterized in that the sections (33, 34) engaging in the depressions (23, 24) are detachably connected to the remaining support frame (3, 9).

11. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 10, characterized in that on its front and rear wall below the cover wall (15), the tank (10 is initially provided with vertical wall portions (16, 17), which have depressions (33, 34) and subsequently pass into the funnel-shaped, downwardly tapering wall portions (18, 19).

12. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 11 with a seed return by means of switch points located in the drill tubes and which return the seed flow via openings into the container, characterized in that on its cover wall (15) and on either side of the container centre the tank (1) has configurations (28, 29) with openings for the seed return and on which are located the switch points (12).

13. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 12, characterized in that the configurations (28, 29) on the underside of the cover wall (15) form channels (30) open towards the interior of the tank (1).

14. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the lid (22) of the filling opening (27) rests loosely, but in sealing manner on the cover wall (15), its weight being such that it acts as an air vent under the increased internal pressure during seed return.

15. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the lid (22) is locked to the cover wall (15) and the tank (1), preferably the lid (22), is provided with a vent valve.

16. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 13, characterized in that along the substantially travel direction-parallel sides of the cover wall (15) are provided ledges (31) projecting over the latter and which are provided with recesses (32) for the passage of the drill tubes (8).

17. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the tank (1) with the stiffening strut (21) is constructed as a welded structure.

18. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the tank (1) is constructed from plastic with a cast-on reinforcing strut (21).

19. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 18, characterized in that the cover wall (15) has wall portions falling away to all four side walls from the stiffening strut (21).

20. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 19, characterized in that the outlet (20) of the tank (1) is positioned roughly centrally and the reinforcing strut (21) is displaced towards the front wall.

21. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 20, characterized in that the cover wall (15) has a double-walled construction (35, 36) and between the two walls are arranged in spaced manner partitions (37) and which form between them a portion of a drill tube (8).

22. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 21, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is detachably connected to the riser (6) and can be displaced roughly in the travel direction.

23. Drill according to claim 21, characterized in that the distributing head (7) can be displaced parallel to itself.

24. Drill according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is displaceable by means of guide rods (43).

25. Drill according to claim 24, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is displaceable by means of parallelogram guide rods (45).

26. Drill according to claim 22 or 23, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is displaceable by means of a sliding guide (47, 48).

27. Drill according to claim 22, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is pivotably mounted.

28. Drill according to one of the claims 22 to 27, characterized in that the means (43, 45 to 48) for displacing the distributing head (7) engage on the upper end of the riser (6) or on the cover (15).

29. Drill according to claim 28, characterized in that the means (43, 45 to 48) for displacing the distributing head (7) are fixed or mounted on the upper end of the riser (6) or on the cover (15).

30. Drill according to one of the claims 22 to 28, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is connected in airtight manner to the riser (6) in the operating position.

31. Drill according to claim 29 or 30, characterized in that the distributing head (7) is under the action of a spring pressing it onto the riser (6).

32. Drill according to one of the claims 1 to 31, characterized in that the filling opening (27') extends close to the riser (6).

33. Drill substantially as herein described and/or with reference to the accompanying figures.