IL28937A - Method and apparatus for making seed tape - Google Patents

Description

AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING SEED TAPE ble eth len d 5 is a view in elevation of a portion of the seed 6 is a view in section taken along the line in 7 is a top plan view with the cover removed and with some other parts broken of the rotary seed dispensing 9 1 8 is a bottom plan view of the stationary cover 2 member removed from the rotary member in 4 9 is a view in elevation and partly in section the line in 7 10 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation 8 and in section of the central portion of 9 0 1 2 3 As shown in the a tape 10 may 4 initially come from a reel Some other suitable source of 5 tape 10 may replace the reel 11 if for the 6 tape 10 inay come directly from a machine which produces the 7 The reel if mounted for generally free 0 colored and clear or color coding be to same and other of material be put into the tape during its manufacture or subsequent β The pulling of the tape 10 from the reel 11 is 7 plished by a pair of drive discs 12 and which also he 8 finished seed tape 14 The discs 12 and 13 are driven 9 by a suitable motor driv as in are 10 each supported by a stub shaft 16 on a swinging arm 11 which is pivoted to a frame 20 by a pin and a spring 23 12 urges the two arms 17 and 18 toward each other as to bring the 13 peripheries 25 of the discs 12 and 13 into a pressing and 14 engaging contact with the tape Thus the discs 12 and 13 also pull the tape 10 from the reel 11 and along the process 16 17 As the tape 10 leaves the reel 11 it passes 18 roller 26 which helps to keep it and from there goes a 19 moistening device The moistener 27 may comprise a receptacle 20 28 containing water and a felt or other capillary member 29 shapedj 21 like an inverted U with two legs 30 and 31 extending down into 22 the water and a central portion 32 above it and in engagement with 23 the upper surface of the tape The felt member 29 may be 24 carried by a stiff wire member 33 which is supported on the frame 25 20 by a bracket the tape 10 is held in contact with 26 the felt member The central portion 32 of the felt rests on 27 the tape 10 to give the contact and The felt 28 takes up a very small amount of moisture by capillary action from 29 receptacle 28 and applies it very gently to the tape It 0 is estimated that approximately a thimblefull of water may be applied in feet of result is tape Λ the water detect excess moisture in the The adherence the seed to the tape is It may be desirable so sh the tha the center portion of tape is kept there enabling seed that is not round to arrange itself with its long axis parallel with the Seeds that tend to roll may be ke 8 in place by falling on an adhesive area of the 9 After being the tape goes through a shaped 1 cupping member 35 where it is shaped into the general o 2 trough shape shown in The cupper 35 may have two incli 3 walls 36 and 37 which merge toward a vertex The walls 36 a 4 37 may be provided with portions 36a and 5 prevent the tape from climbing to the right or left and from β becoming They are quite and made 7 that there is only a small permissible tolerance of movement by 8 tape up or down o either The cupper 35 may be shaped 9 that a its input end 39 it is substantially and so that 0 tape 10 moves the cupping made sharper arid shar 1 From the cupper the 10 passes by a dispensing station 2 beyond which is another member 41 which may have a 3 pair of upstanding plates 42 and There may also be other t 4 supporting members in between the cupper 35 and the plate f there may a tape support at the dispensing station ο The plate 42 has an opening 44 therethrough of approximately th 7 dimensions as that in whereas the plate 43 has an 8 opening 45 which is preferably more than as 9 preparation for sealing the two halves of the tape 10 together to either disc 12 or 13 for accurate measurement of th of the From the discs 12 and 13 the tape 14 with jseed encapsulated goes to a core 47 where the seed 6 lis A frustoconical core 48 is preferabl to a ree although a reel may be used if The core 48 enables 3 more feet of tape 10 to be placed within a smaller overall di β 10 The dispensing station 40 is one of the key feature 11 the invention and requires more The tape 10 is 12 quite rapidly and it is desired to space the seeds very regul 13 to have only seed in each The seed dispens 40 includes a rotating disc 50 from which projects 15 generally radial tubes 51 having nozzles 52 on their outer The nozzles 52 are so that different sizes of nozz 17 may be it usually being desirable to have a s 18 smaller than the size of seed being so that one and 19 one seed can be picked up by vacuum exerted through the nozzl 20 The orifice of the nozzle 52 may be placed on the lower end o 1 or on the side wall at the front or varyin 22 jangles to the travel arc of the arm whichever is most adv 3 tageous for the and type of seed to be 4 5 In 1 and the disc 50 and tubes 51 are show 6 rotating and from about to about 7 before they reach the dispensing station is a seed hopper 3 The hopper 53 contains the seeds 46 to be picked up by the noz 9 and it may be kept supplied by an auxiliary hopper sh my other conventional of which are omitted for sake of simplicity seed 54 and 55 which are provided with notches 56 and 57 for the entry and departure the nozzles The hopper 53 generally arcuate in shape and has a radially outer arcuate wal and a radially inner wall Close to the wall 59 is a circus the upper edge of which serves as a cam and around the disc The tubes 51 ride on the cam 61 a attached flexibly to the disc 50 so that they can move up urged down by small springs 64 and by the weight of the 52 to ride on the Except at the seed hopper cam 61 holds the arms 51 generally above the rails of the seed hopper but when the nozzles approach the topper the cam 61 is and the arms 51 and nozzles 52 Lip down into the hopper 53 to pick up the seeds Adjacent the seed hopper 53 and connected to it is a mechanism 62 which may be of any conventional The 62 prevents the seed nozzles 52 from simply making on their first few passes through the hopper leaving no seeds to be picked The vibrator 62 keeps the seeds 46 so that no furrow is or at least any furrow is instan y filled in give a generally level group of In the 180 etween the end wall 55 of the seed hopper 53 and the dispensing tation there may be disposed a collector 63 in which seeds hat are not firmlyheld may drop if a nozzle 52 should ick up two one will drop off It has been found in ractice that this is generally so it is only an ptional conduit to that it will not be For if a seed or some foreign matter should have gotten stuck in the it might render the device inoperative and migh prevent picking up blowing out assures that that not The power device which drives the rotating disc 50 is synchronized with that which drives the discs 12 and the relative movement is kept to any appropriate They go at the same speed or different but the are synchronize for movement In the tape is pulled from the reel 11 moistened by the device 27 enough to make it tacky without detract ing from its tensile cupped by the members 35 and 41 then seeds are dropped at spaced intervals into the cupped The cupped tape 10 is closed together and sealed by the discs 12 and 13 and is wound up on the reel The seed picks up one seed at a time by vacuum from the hopper 53 and by atmospheric the vacuum is released and the seed is dropped into the cupped To those skilled the art to which this invention many changes in construction and widely differing and applications of the invention will suggest themselves withou departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense insufficientOCRQuality

Claims (1)

1. 28937/2, 11 - Claims lo A method of manufacturing seed tape from a water-soluble plastic tape, comprising the steps of initially moistening at least one edge margin on one side of said tape enough to make it slightly tacky, without substantially reducing its tensile strength, depositing seeds onto the tape at spaced intervals, closing the tape on itself and adhering it to itself by its own tackiness to encapsulate the seeds therein, and winding the tape on a suitable coree 2· The metod of claijn 1 wherein the seed tape is moved past a seed-dispensing station at a constant speed, and seeds are picked up from a store of seeds by vacuum at a constant rate and deposited on the tape by release of the vacuum, at a constant rate* 3· The method of claim 1 or 2 wherein said seeds are picked up and deposited cyclically by a rotating device. o The method of any previous claim wherein one side of said tape is so moistened in such locality that in the depositing step, the seed adheres to the tacky tape during the manufacturing operation. 5· Method according to any previous claim in which the tape is formed into a trough-like section prior to the deposit of seeds and the seeds are deposited in the so-formed trough. 12 28937/2 (f„ A device for manufacturing seed tape from a water-soluble plastic tape, comprising means or initially moistening one side, of said tape marginally just enough to make it marginally slightly tacky, without substantially reducing its overall tensile strength, means for forming the tape into a trough-like section, means for depositing one seed at a time into the trough so formed at spaced intervals, means fo closing the tape on itself encapsulating the seeds therein, and pressing it at least marginally into adhering to itself by its own tackiness* 1· A device according to Claim further provided with means for winding the closed tape spirally upon itself. ¾· Device accordin to Claim or 1 having means or moving said tape at a constant speed, means for individually picking seeds up by cyclically applied vacuus at a constant rate and me&ns fo individually dropping said seeds into the troughed and moietened tape by cyclical release of the vacuum, at the constant rate. (^. Device according to any of Claims it to 9, wherein the means for moistening is such as to moisten the entire said one side of said tape and makes it tacky, so that the seed when dropped adheres to the tape. it. A machine for manufacturing seed tape fron a water-soluble tape material, including In combinations feed means for supporting a roll of said water-soluble tape, take-up means for the completed seed tape, drive means for engaging the seed tape and pulling it from said feed and bringing it to said take-up means -taafci&uiag iseans between said J - 13 - 28937/2 feed means and said drive means for slightly moistening said tape without substantially reducing its tensile strength, means between said moistening means and said drive taeans for shapin said tape into a trough shaped section, seed dispensing means for feeding one seed at a time into the trough formed by the tape at localities spaced along the ps, and means for closing the moistened tape around the solocated seed and pressing i together so as to seal it* ll. The machine of Claim 11 wherein said seed dispensing means co prises a stationary support having a first arcuate groove subtendin about 270° and having a first opening thereinto, a second arcuate groove concentric with it extending at the same radius as the irst groove and having a second opening thereinto for atmospheric connection, vacuum producing means connected to the first said groove by said first opening, a third opening leading into said support between said grooves, a rotary device having a series of generally radially extending conduits each having pick-up nozzle at its outer end and being sealedl connected with said grooves in the course of rotation, each leading to the location whereat seeds are to be dispersed, a seed-containing hopper, means for intruding the nozzles into and leading them from said seed hopper, and the grooves and the rotary device being disposed so that each said nozzle is connected to said vacuum source when intruded into said hopper and to pick up a seed and carr it from said hopper to said location at which location each nozzle communicates with said bleed moans and so that the seed is - 14 - 28937/2 is blown out by said above-atmospheric pressure means* II. The machine of Claim It having a vibrator for said hopper for preventing the ornation of a permanent furrow through the seeds in said hopper. 1$. A nachine according to Claim 19 having a vibrator for said seed hopper* li. The method of manufacturing seed tape substantially as described vith the aid of the accompanying dravings. it. Means for performing the tnethod of any previous method claia constructed and adapted to operate substantially as described vith the aid of the accompanying drawings, ifr. Seed tape manufactured substantially as or by the method or means described vith reference to the accompanying drawings. For and on behalf of Applicants