RU2816854C2 - Method of controlling pressing force of pneumatic seeder to maintain depth of planting seeds - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: agriculture.

SUBSTANCE: method of controlling the pressing force of a pneumatic seeder to maintain the depth of planting seeds, which includes frame (215), disc coulters held by frame (215) for forming furrows for seeds, each of which has actuator (264) for controlled application of pressing force by disk ploughshare, and fertilizer units (220) retained by frame (215) for placing fertilizer between seed furrows, each of which has actuator (236) for controlled application of pressing force by fertilizer unit (220). Method includes steps of: summing up the down force of all disc coulters and the down force of all fertilizer assemblies (220) to determine the total down force applied; total applied down force is compared with maximum down force, wherein the maximum downforce is the total weight of the seeder or a value less than said total weight of the seeder and set by the operator; and reducing the total applied down force when the total applied down force is equal to or greater than the maximum down force.

EFFECT: maintaining an acceptable depth of planting seeds.

8 cl, 4 dwg

Description

Field of technology

Pneumatic seeders have seeding tools and fertilizing tools. Seeding tools place seeds into furrows cut by these seeding tools, and fertilizing tools can place fertilizer between rows of seeds in addition to or instead of fertilizer placed with the seed. Seeding tools and fertilizing tools can receive a downforce that changes under the action of an actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder, a pneumatic cylinder or an electronic actuator. The overall downforce applied must be controlled to maintain an acceptable seed planting depth.

State of the art

Pneumatic seeders that provide variable downforce for seeding and fertilizing tools are known in the art. One such prior art pneumatic seeder capable of applying variable down force to seeding and fertilizing tools is disclosed in US Patent Publication No. 2007/0245938 (the '938 publication), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Mid Row Bander™ from Bourgault Industries, Ltd. is a commercial embodiment of the pneumatic seeder disclosed in the '938 publication. Another example of a prior art pneumatic seeder that provides variable downforce application of seeding and fertilizing tools is disclosed in US Patent Publication No. 2007/0045080 ("'080 publication"), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. A commercial embodiment of such an air drill disclosed in the '080 publication is the "Separate Fertilizer Placement Air Drill 1895" from Deere and Company.

Brief description of drawings

In fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a variant of a known pneumatic seeder with separate sowing and fertilizing tools mounted on a frame;

in fig. 2 – pneumatic seeder according to Fig. 1, side view;

in fig. 3 – pneumatic seeder according to Fig. 1, front view;

in fig. 4 – diagram of the downforce control system applied to each seeding and fertilizing unit.

Carrying out the invention

In fig. 1 is a perspective view of a section of an air seeding tool 200. As described in the '938 publication, the tool 200 includes a frame 215 including front, middle, and rear cross members 215F, 215M, and 215R. The frame 215 is mounted on wheels (not shown) to move along the ground in the working movement direction P. The seeding units 250 are located at substantially equal intervals along the middle and rear frame members 215M, 215R such that seed furrows are created substantially parallel at approximately equal intervals. The fertilizer units 220 are spaced at regular intervals along the front frame member 215F such that the fertilizer furrows cut by the blades 232 of the fertilizer units 220 are located substantially midway between adjacent pairs of seed furrows created by the seed units 250, as best shown in the front view of fig. 2.

The blades 232 of the fertilizer units 220 engage the ground along a front line substantially perpendicular to the direction of the operating movement and substantially directly below the front frame member 215F, while the first set of seed units 250F are mounted on the middle frame member 215M and engage the ground along the centerline behind the front frame member 215F and the blades 232, generally under the rear frame member 215R. The seed units 250F mounted on the rear frame member 215R engage the ground along a rear line behind the rear frame member 215R. Thus, sufficient distance is provided for each ground contact element, blades 232 and blades 258.

The seeding units 250 include a trailing arm 254 connected at its front end to the frame 215 and rotatable about substantially horizontal and parallel forward arm axes AA and AA' directed substantially perpendicular to the operating movement direction P. The opener, shown as a seeding blade 258, is attached to the trailing arm 254 and is adapted to create a seed furrow when its lower end enters the ground. A seed feeder 260 is mounted on the rear side of the seeding blade 258. A press wheel 272 is rotatably attached behind the seeding blade 258 and is directed to roll substantially along the seed furrow.

The parallelogram linkage 202 includes upper and lower links 203, 204, each of which is attached at its front end and is rotatable about axes AA and AA', respectively. The rear ends of the links 203, 204 are attached to the front ends of the seal bracket 266 for rotation about the axes BB and BB', respectively. The axes AA, AA', BB and BB' are directed such that the upper and lower links 203, 204 are parallel when they move up and down.

The compaction wheel arm 268 is rotatably attached at its front end to the compactor bracket 266 about an axis BB', and the compaction wheel 272 is rotatably attached to the rear end of the lever 268. The shank 256 is rotatably attached at its middle portion to the compactor bracket 266. The seeding blade 258 is attached to the lower end of the shank 256. During field operation, the first port 206 of the hydraulic cylinder 264 is coupled via a valve 84 to an active hydraulic source 80 such that the hydraulic cylinder 264 acts as a trailing arm actuator and applies a substantially constant bias force BF to the upper end of the shank 256, causing it to rotate about the axis BB' and press against the stop on the compactor bracket 266, so that a biasing force is transmitted to the compactor bracket 266 and the parallelogram linkage 202, pushing them down to plunge the lower end of the blade 258 into the ground and create furrow for seeds. The seed is supplied to the seed feeder 260 and placed in the seed furrow created by the seeding blade 258.

The seal adjustment bracket 270 is attached to the seal wheel arm 268 and fits into a groove in the seal bracket 266 . The bracket 270 is moved along the groove to establish the vertical position of the seeding blade 258 relative to the compaction wheel 272 at the desired location to provide the required seed furrow depth D2, and then the bracket 270 is secured to the compactor bracket 266. The biasing force BF forces the compaction wheel 272 against the ground 205.

To move the knife 258 up and out of engagement with the ground, an active hydraulic source 80 is coupled to a second hole 207 on the hydraulic cylinder 264 to retract the hydraulic cylinder 264 and rotate the top end of the seed shank 256 toward the hydraulic cylinder 264 and force the recess in the seed shank 256 to rest on the pin. , providing the axis BB, and at this point further retraction of the hydraulic cylinder 264 raises the parallelogram linkage 202 of the trailing arm 254 and the compaction wheel arm 268 into the transport position.

Each fertilizer assembly 220 includes a mounting bracket 224 attached to a frame 215. The mounting bracket 224 is connected to the elongate 228 through a height-adjustable connection 226. Using the height-adjustable connection 226, the distance between the bottom of the blade 232 and the frame 215 can be varied to adjust the depth. D1 fertilizer furrows. The fertilizer blade shank 230 is pivotally connected to the lower end of the elongated member 228 by a shank pin 229, and the knife 232 is attached to the shank 230 and driven downward by a hydraulic cylinder 236.

The hydraulic cylinder 236 is coupled through a valve 85 to an active hydraulic source 80 at its first port 211 and exerts a clamping force on the blade 232 by applying an upward bias force BF to the front end of the blade shank 230 in front of the shank pin 229. The biasing force BF is sufficient to maintain the blade 232 in the operating position at its lowest possible position during normal operation, thereby maintaining the blade 232 in a substantially constant vertical position relative to the frame 215 such that when the frame 215 is moved across the field, the furrow depth D1 for the fertilizer is maintained more or less constant as the frame 215 moves up and down on the implement's wheels, following the contours of the ground, as is well known in the art. When the blade 232 comes into contact with an obstacle such as a rock or the like, the blade rebounds and moves upward against the biasing force of the hydraulic cylinder 236 to avoid the obstacle and then returns to the operating position. Fertilizer is supplied to the feeder 238 and placed in the fertilizer furrow created by the knife 232.

Since the frame 215 is fixed vertically relative to the wheels supporting the frame, the seed knives 258 and compaction wheels 272 are raised from the operating position shown in FIG. 2 into a transport position (not shown) by hydraulic cylinder 264 while the frame remains in a constant vertical position relative to the ground. Likewise, the active hydraulic source 80 is coupled to a second port 212 on the hydraulic cylinder 236 to extend the hydraulic cylinder 236 and move the fertilizer blades 232 upward into a raised transport position.

Although the pneumatic seeder 200 of the '938 publication, as described above and shown in FIG. 1-3 can work for its intended purpose; it is clear that the depth of fertilizer application is not as critical as the depth of seed placement. Accordingly, by controlling the total applied downforce or squeezing force of all seed units 250 and fertilizer units 220 on equipment 200, a more critical seed planting depth can be achieved by increasing the downforce applied to seed units 250 as needed to maintain proper seed planting depth at appropriate reducing the applied downforce of the fertilizing units 220.

One way to control the total applied down force of the equipment to ensure an acceptable seed planting depth may be to determine the total down force FT of the tool 200 by summing the down force applied to each of the seed units 250 ("seeder applied force" or "SAAF") and down force applied to each of the fertilizer units 220 (“fertilizer unit applied force” or “FAAF”). The total downforce FT is then compared to the maximum downforce FM. The maximum downforce FM may be the total weight of the air seeder 200 or may be a value specified by the operator that is less than the total weight of the air seeder 200. If the total downforce FT is greater than the maximum downforce FM, then the force FAAF applied to each fertilizer node 220 is reduced by a proportional amount of the total downforce FT until the total downforce FT is less than the maximum downforce FM. This allows each of the seed units 250 to maintain the necessary SAAF force to keep the seed depth at an acceptable level. In one embodiment, the total strength of the FAAF is less than the total strength of the SAAF.

While an embodiment of the air seeder 200 with hydraulic actuators to provide variable downforce is described and illustrated, it should be understood that any device capable of applying variable downforce can be used in place of hydraulic cylinders, including, but not limited to, pneumatic cylinders or electronic linear actuators. elements.

In fig. 4 shows a diagram of an embodiment of a control system 300 adapted to control SAAS and FAAF forces, such as the PackMaster™ control system from Bourgault Industries, Ltd. The control system 300 includes a load cell 302 mounted on an axle 303 (FIG. 2) where a compaction wheel 272 is mounted on a lever 268. The load cell 302 is electrically coupled to a monitor 310. The monitor 310 may be mounted inside the cab of a tractor (not shown) that moves the pneumatic seeding device 200 across the field. The monitor 310 may include a central processing unit (CPU), a storage device, and a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows a user to view and input data into the monitor. An example of a suitable monitor is disclosed in US Pat. No. 8,386,137, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The monitor 310 is coupled to a valve 84 to control the pressure in the hydraulic cylinder 264 to adjust the SAAF force exerted by the cylinder 264 based on a selected value entered into the monitor 310 by the operator. An amplifier 304 and an analog/digital converter 306 may be located between the load cell 302 and the monitor 310. To control the FAAF force, the monitor 310 is coupled to a valve 85 to control the pressure in the hydraulic cylinder 236. Knowing the amount of pressure applied to the cylinder 264 to adjust the SAAF force, the pressure in hydraulic cylinder 236 is maintained at a level equal to or less than in hydraulic cylinder 264.

In another embodiment, seeding unit 250 may be replaced by a disc opener (such as the feature "(20)" in US Patent Publications Nos. US20110313575 and US20110313572, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety ("Publications '575 and '572'). In such an embodiment, a load cell "(78)" such as in publications '575 and '572 is used in place of the load cell 302 in the control system 300.

Various modifications to the described embodiments of the apparatus and the general principles and features of the system and methods described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the embodiments of the apparatus, system and methods described herein and shown in the drawings.

Claims (11)

1. A method for controlling the downforce of a pneumatic seeder to maintain a seed planting depth, including a frame; frame-held disc openers for forming seed furrows, each of which has an actuator for adjustably applying down force by the disc opener; and frame-supported fertilizer units for placing fertilizer between the seed furrows, each of which has an actuator for adjustably applying down force by the fertilizer unit; wherein the method includes the steps of: sum the downforce of all disc openers and the downforce of all fertilizer units to determine the total applied downforce; comparing the total applied downforce with the maximum downforce, wherein the maximum downforce is the total weight of the planter or the lesser of the specified total weight of the planter and set by the operator; And reduce the total applied downforce when the total applied downforce is equal to or greater than the maximum downforce. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum downforce is a specified total weight of the planter. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum downforce is a selected value set by the operator. 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the sum of the downforce of all fertilizing units is less than the sum of the downforce of all disc coulters. 5. The method according to claim 1, in which the downforce of each fertilizing unit is less than the downforce of each disc coulter. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the total applied downforce includes reducing the downforce of all fertilizer units while maintaining the downforce of all disc coulters. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the total applied downforce includes reducing the downforce of all fertilizing units. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein reducing the total applied downforce includes maintaining the downforce of all disc openers.