WO2018036801A1

WO2018036801A1 - Seeding machine

Info

Publication number: WO2018036801A1
Application number: PCT/EP2017/069972
Authority: WO
Inventors: Charles Andrew CHAPPLE; Heinz-Friedrich SCHNIER; Lubos VRBKA
Original assignee: Bayer Cropscience Ag
Priority date: 2016-08-25
Filing date: 2017-08-07
Publication date: 2018-03-01
Also published as: EP3503704A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a seeding machine (1) for introducing seeds (21) which are stored in a storage container (3) into the ground (11), comprising at least one seed line (10) in which the seeds (21) are guided out of the seeding machine (1) towards the ground (11) in an airflow, said seed line (10) having an inlet end (101) which faces the storage container (3) and an outlet end (102) which faces the ground (11). The seeding machine additionally comprises a first fan (7) which supplies the airflow for guiding the seeds (21) out of the seeding machine (1) towards the ground (11) and a dust separator (16) by means of which air that is suctioned during the seeding process and contains dust particles (20) can be separated into an air component and a dust component. A second fan (14) is provided, wherein the seed line (10) is paired with a suction channel (13) which is connected to the second fan (14) and via which an air/particle mixture exiting the outlet end (102) of the seed line (10) is suctioned and blown into the dust separator (16). A screen device (17) through which the seeds (21) can be discharged out of the suctioned air/particle mixture is arranged between the outlet end (102) of the seed line (10) and the suction channel (13) paired with the seed line (10).

Description

Seed drill description

The present invention relates to a drill for introducing stored in a reservoir seed into a soil, comprising at least one Säleitung in which the seed is guided in an air flow from the drill to the ground, the Säleitung an inlet end facing the reservoir and a the Bottom-facing outlet end, further comprising a first fan, which supplies the air flow for guiding the seed from the seeder to the ground, and a dust collector, through which sucked in the Säprozess and dust particles containing air into an air component and a dust component can be dismantled.

Seeders in which the seed is guided in an air flow to the ground, are known under the name of pneumatic seeders and are used for example for the sowing of cereals or oilseed rape in which the seed, unlike corn or sugar beets, not individually but in a tape is stored.

The seed is then metered from the reservoir by means of a metering initially in a Zulaufraum to which a fan is connected. The fan provides a flow of air, which promotes the seed from the inlet space in a riser and a subsequent distributor head. The sowing lines are connected to the distribution head, in which the seed is then guided in the flow of air to the ground and deposited in previously drawn furrows in the ground. Plant protection products in the form of chemical or biological substances are used in agriculture to support plant growth. These are mainly insecticides for protection against sucking and eating insects and fungicides for protection against fungal pathogens. The application of these pesticides is often done by spraying. As a result, however, only the already grown young plant can be achieved, which can not be effectively treated certain plant diseases already occurring in the initial stage of growth or an insect pest that attacks the burgeoning seedlings.

In order to protect the seed and the seedling from fungi, bacteria and insects, the seed is therefore already treated with so-called pickling agents in many cases. In this case, the respective active ingredient or a combination of active ingredients in the form of a coating is applied directly to the seeds and thus forms a protective shell around each seed. In addition to the actual active ingredients having a fungicidal and / or insecticidal action, the mordant moreover generally comprises adhesives for improving the adhesion of the active ingredients to the seed, as well as dispersants and dyes. Since the pickling each seed or plant is supplied to the required pesticide in the correct dosage and in place, compared to a spray application, a relatively small amount of active ingredient sufficient to effectively protect the seedling or the plant. Also in environmental aspects, this method is therefore advantageous.

In the handling of seed coated in this way, both during the production and processing process and during the subsequent Säprozesses to an unavoidable partial abrasion of the crop protection agent in the form of a pickling dust. In particular, in the case of pneumatically operated seed drills of the type described above, in which the seed is guided in an air flow to the ground, and the pickling agent dust is entrained in this air flow and occurs together with the Seed from the Säleitungen out. In this way, the pickling dust enters the environment in an uncontrolled manner.

The discharge of the pickling dust from the drill is problematic in that the more or less uncontrolled escape into the environment can pose a danger to humans and animals, especially for insects. For example, clothianidin ((E) -1- (2-chloro-1,3-thiazol-5-ylmethyl) -3-methyl-2-nitroguanidine) is one of many active ingredients used in various pesticides and in mordants, some of which in particular, when they enter the environment in the form of the aforementioned seed dust, they are suspected of being potentially toxic to pollinating insects belonging to the beneficials. In addition, the fine mordant dust also accumulates in the seeder and can lead here to unwanted deposits and impurities, which represents a potential danger to the operator of the system and may affect the functioning of the system in the long term. It is already known how it can be prevented by means of mechanical devices that the pickling agent dust, which exits in pneumatically operated seed drills usually finely distributed in an air flow from the machine, is ejected into the air when it leaves the drill. For example, the so-called deflectors used to reduce the air flow speed also have the effect of directing the escaping dust towards the soil. However, this measure has only a limited effect, in particular with regard to insects and other animals which are exposed to the dust now lying on the field soil. In addition, the smaller mordant particles may remain in the air due to wind or the air stream in which they are expelled from the machine.

DE 20 2012 101 029 U1 describes a sowing machine which is used as a single-grain sowing machine, for example for sowing maize place. This seeder has a pressurizable with a vacuum metering device over which the corn kernels are individually stored in the ground. Pickling agent dusts are efficiently sucked out here due to the vacuum applied to the metering device and introduced into a dust separator, in which the dust component is separated. The dust component separated from the air component is then introduced into the soil. The aspiration of the pickling dust works here in a simple manner due to the already necessary for the operation of the metering vacuum.

In the case of pneumatic seeders, as the present invention has it, in which the seed is guided in an air flow to the ground and blown out together with this air flow and with pickling dust from the outlet end of the Säleitung, the pickling agent dusts can not be sucked off readily, without at the same time running the risk that the grains of the seeds are sucked in as well. Rather, a very accurate balancing of the suction mechanism would be necessary. Too strong a suction not only dust particles but also seeds are sucked and possibly blown into the dust. If, on the other hand, suction is not sufficiently strong, not all of the pickling agent dust is detected, and as before, pickling agent dust particles are released into the environment.

In addition, the exact balancing of the required blower power is also difficult in that the individual suction pipes connected to the blower have different lengths because of their different positions within the drill. The intensity of the air flow, in which the seed and the dust particles escape from the Säleitung, is therefore different from Säleitung to Säleitung and would have to be considered individually for optimal extraction. However, this can only be achieved with enormous effort and even then with not always satisfactory results. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a seed drill of the pneumatic type mentioned above, in which seed seeds can be separated from the seed in an efficient and simple manner during seeding, so that the seed dressing dusts can be processed further in an environmentally friendly manner.

This object is achieved by a sowing machine with the features of claim 1. Embodiments and further developments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The sowing machine according to the invention is characterized in that a second blower is provided, wherein the Säleitung is associated with an attached to the second blower intake, via which a sucked from the outlet end of the Säleitung air-particle mixture is sucked and injected into the dust collector, and that between the outlet end of the Säleitung and the Säleitung associated suction channel a sieve device is arranged, through which the seed from the sucked air-particle mixture is ausiebbar. The performance of the first and the second blower can be matched to one another in such a way that the air-particle mixture emerging from the outlet end of the suction can be completely sucked in via the associated intake duct, so that in particular no dust particles can escape into the environment.

In other words, in the seeder according to the invention, the air-particle mixture containing air, seed and dust particles from the outlet end of the seeding is sucked in via an intake duct connected to a second fan, one disposed between the outlet end of the seeder and the intake duct Sieve device sows the seed from the sucked air-particle mixture, so that the seed does not enter the dust, but can be properly introduced into the soil. On the other hand, dust particles which can pass through the sieve device due to their smaller particle size are blown into the dust collector and can be processed there in a known manner environmentally friendly. The intake passage may be formed, for example, as a flexible hose. The blower outputs of the first and second blowers are ideally adapted to one another such that the air flow through the intake duct exceeds the air flow through the associated Säleitung. It makes sense that the blower power of the second blower exceeds that of the first blower by about one third, so that at a power of the first blower, for example, 1000 m ³ / h, the performance of the second blower should be about 1300 m ³ / h. In this way, first the entire air-particle mixture, which also includes the seed, sucked from the outlet end of the Säleitung and no pickling dust passes from the Säleitung in the area. The seeds are then retained by the screening device and fall from this, so that they can be placed as intended, for example, in a previously drawn furrow in the ground. The entire pickling agent dust, however, is passed through the screening device and introduced into the dust separator. In the dust collector, which may be formed as a cyclone, the air component is separated from the dust component in a known manner, so that the dust component can be discharged from the dust collector controlled and, for example, also introduced into the soil, while the purified air is blown out of the dust , In this way, an uncontrolled leakage of pickling dust from pneumatic seeders in the environment can be avoided efficiently and easily.

For the purposes of the invention, the terms first and second blower can be understood to mean two separate blowers which are completely separate from one another, or else the first blower and the second blower are constructed as subunits of a single, central blower unit.

Generic pneumatic seeders usually have several, for example, eight to twelve, parallel Säleitungen. Preferably, each of these Säleitungen is connected to the second fan Suction channel and arranged between the outlet end of the Säieitung and the suction channel arranged sifting device, so that the number of screening devices and suction channels corresponds to the number of Säleitungen. For the sake of simplicity, the following statements relate to at least one screening device.

The screening device may be formed substantially disc-shaped or plate-shaped as a screen plate or screen plate with, for example, circular or polygonal circumference. But it can also have a cup-shaped or cup-shaped shape. A mean diameter of the screening device is typically in a range between 8 cm and 30 cm.

The sifter has meshes of a mesh size sized to allow dust particles to pass through the mesh while seed can not pass through the mesh. The mesh size is understood to be the size of the openings in the sieve device. Depending on the seed used, different screening devices can be used whose mesh size is adapted to the grain size of the seed. The size of a seed particle is determined by its length, width and thickness. The smallest of these three dimensions is referred to below as grain size. Thus, for example, the grain size of rye seed is about 1.75 to 2.95 mm, while it is 2.41 to 3.34 mm for wheat seed. Accordingly, a sieve for complete sifting rye seed would have openings of about 1 mm ² , while for sifting wheat seed another sieve with openings of about 2 mm ² could be used. In general, for a given seed, a screening device is considered suitable in which the mesh size, ie the size of a single opening, is about one third of the minimum cross-sectional area of the seed grain. In order to enable a change between different screening devices, the screening device can be designed as an easily replaceable component. According to one proposal of the invention, the screening device is designed to rotate. In this way it can be prevented that the seed permanently adheres to the sieve device due to the suction effect emanating from the intake channel and adds it. By rotating the screening device, the seed initially adhering to the screening device is conveyed to areas in which the suction effect is less pronounced or completely collapses, so that the seed then falls off the screening device. It can also be provided a scraper and / or a brush, through which the seed can be stripped or brushed off by the screening device.

The rotary drive of the screening device can be done electrically in one embodiment of the invention. For this purpose, the screening device is connected to an electric motor, wherein the rotational frequency of the screening device can be adapted to the speed of movement of the seeder in order to effect a uniform seed deposit.

In an alternative embodiment, the screening device can be driven by a connection to a wheel of the seeder. This may be, for example, a drive wheel of the seed drill or a star wheel, via which also arranged at the outlet of the reservoir metering is driven speed dependent.

The rotational frequency of the screening device depends on the speed of movement of the drill, but also on the desired sowing density and on the available area of the screening device. At typical travel speeds of a seeder between about 8 and 12 km / h, a sowing density of about 60 to 100 seeds per meter, and using a screen having a diameter of about 12 cm, about 12 revolutions of the screen per minute are required. Correspondingly, for a larger screening device with otherwise unchanged conditions, a lower rotational frequency results for smaller screening devices. According to one embodiment of the invention, the screening device is made of metal, for example made of steel, stainless steel or aluminum. The sieve device can be designed, for example, as a punched perforated plate with round or angularly shaped holes or as a wire mesh or wire mesh of intersecting warp and weft wires.

Alternatively, the screening device can be made of a stable plastic.

An embodiment of the invention provides that a shield of the screening device is provided against the inclusion of particles from the soil. Due to the ground-level position of the screening device, particles can get out of the ground into the area of the screening device, especially in the case of moist to muddy substrates, and subsequently clog and block the screening device or impair its rotation properties. A shield against the uptake of particles from the ground may be formed, for example, as a guard plate-like rail, which surrounds the screening device, at least in the ground-level areas. It can be inventively provided that Einbringmittel are provided for introducing the separated in the dust from the air component dust component in the ground. The introduction means may be tubular or hose-like conduits which are connected to the dust collector and introduce the dust component separated from the air component from the dust separator into a furrow in the ground. The earth-side ends of the introduction means can thereby run within the furrow and thus lie below the soil soil level. The furrow may be a furrow which also receives the seed, or it may be a separate furrow which merely serves to receive the dust component. In this case, seed-receiving furrows and furrow-receiving furrows may, for example, be arranged alternately. In any case, the drill on Zuschüttmittel, such as trailing harrow, to close the furrows. This ensures that the particulate matter in the Ground is bound and not freely accessible to insects and other animals on the ground surface or can be carried away by wind.

In the following the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Show it:

Figure 1: A sowing machine according to the invention in a schematic side view;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of a detail from FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a pneumatic seed drill, denoted as a whole by 1, which is coupled to a tractor 2. The drill 1 has a reservoir 3, in which seed can be kept. In a discharge area 4 of the storage container 3, a metering element in the form of an impeller 5 is arranged, via which a predetermined amount of seed is metered into an inlet space 6.

To the inlet chamber 6, a first fan 7 is connected, via which air is blown into the inlet chamber 6. The air stream tears the seeded into the inlet 6 seed and promotes it up a central riser 8, which terminates with a distributor head 9. Suction lines 10 are connected to the distributor head 9, of which only two suction lines 10 are shown in the illustration of FIG. In general, such seeders 1 may have significantly more, for example about eight to twelve, saw lines 10. Each Säleitung 10 has an inlet end 101 facing the reservoir 3 and an outlet end 102 facing a bottom 11.

In the distributor head 9, the seed is distributed by the air flow to the individual Säleitungen 10 and passes through them to the Säscharen 12 associated with each Säscharen 12 by means of the coulters 12 furrows are pulled into the bottom 1 1, in which from the outlet ends 102nd the Säleitungen 10 is deposited in a stream of air emerging seed. Not shown in Figure 1 trailing Zuschüttmittel, such as harrow, through which the furrows in the bottom 1 1 are closed again.

Each Säleitung 10 is associated with an intake passage 13, wherein all intake ports 13 are connected to a second fan 14. A negative pressure is generated in the intake passages 13 via the second blower 14 so that the air-particle mixture, which comprises air, seed and dust particles emerging from the suction lines 10, is initially completely sucked in via the intake passages 13. Connected to the second blower 14 via a feed line 15 as a cyclone 16 dust separator is connected, in which a dust component of an air component can be separated according to a known, the centrifugal force utilizing methods.

In order to prevent the seed from entering the dust separator, a sieve device designed as a sieve disk 17 is arranged between the outlet end 102 of each seeding pipe 10 and the suction channel 13 assigned to this sewer 10, as can be clearly seen in the schematic detail view of FIG. Figure 2 is a simplified view of the arrangement of sieve plate 17, Säleitung 10 and intake duct 13 viewed from the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1. The sieve disk 17 has a diameter of 12 cm.

The screen disk 17 has meshes 19 with a mesh size of 1 mm ² , through which dust particles 20 can pass, but not the seed 21, which may be, for example, rye grains. The screen disk 17 is designed to rotate and rotates about a substantially horizontal axis of rotation 18 at a rotational frequency of 12 revolutions per minute. The drive of the screen plate 17 via an electric motor not shown here.

The seed 21 sucked in via the intake duct 13 together with the air and the pickling agent dust is retained by the sieve disk 17 and initially adheres to the sieve disk 17 due to the suction effect emanating from the intake duct 13. Due to the rotation of the screen plate 17th the seed 21 is moved with the screen plate 17 and thus enters areas in which the suction through the intake channel is weaker or even completely collapses. The seed 21 then falls off the sieve disc 17 and into a in the bottom 1 1 previously drawn by the coulters 12 furrow 22 into it. In addition, a scraper 23 is provided, which mechanically supports the stripping of the seed 21 from the screen plate 17.

The dust particles 20 pass together with the sucked air through the mesh 19 of the screen disk 17 and into the intake passage 13. The dust-air mixture is conveyed through the intake passage 13 and blown through a feed line 15 into the cyclone 16. There, the dust component is separated by centrifugal separation of the air component and the purified air can exit via an outlet 24 from the cyclone 16, while the separated dust collects in the lower portion 25 of the cyclone 16 and from there not shown here, for example as a hose-like Lines trained Einbringmittel can be performed to the ground. The dust can then also be introduced into the groove 22 or in a separately drawn furrow in the bottom 1 1. By subsequent filling of the furrow, the pickling agent dust is permanently bound in the soil.

Claims

claims

1. seed drill (1) for introducing in a reservoir (3) reproached seed (21) in a bottom (1 1), comprising at least one Säleitung (10), in which the seed (21) in an air flow from the drill ( 1) is guided to the bottom (1 1), wherein the Säleitung (10) to the reservoir (3) facing the inlet end (101) and the bottom (11) facing the outlet end (102), further comprising a first fan (7 ), which supplies the air flow for guiding the seed (21) from the seeder (1) to the bottom (1 1) out, and a dust collector (16) through which air sucked in the seeding and dust particles (20) containing air in an air component and can be dismantled into a dust component,

characterized in that a second blower (14) is provided, wherein the Säleitung (10) is associated with a second blower (14) connected to the intake passage (13) via which one of the outlet end (102) of the Säleitung (10) exiting Aspirated air-particulate mixture and is blown into the dust separator (16), and that between the outlet end (102) of the Säleitung (10) and the Säleitung (10) associated with the suction channel (13) a screening device (17) is arranged through which the seed (21) from the sucked air-particle mixture is ausiebbar.

2. Seeder (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the screening device (17) mesh (19) having a mesh size which is dimensioned so that dust particles (20) can pass through the mesh (19), while seed ( 21) can not pass through the mesh (19).

3. Seeder (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the screening device (17) is designed to rotate.

4. Seeder (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that a scraper (23) and / or a brush is provided, through which the seed (21) of the screening device (17) can be stripped or brushed.

5. seeder (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the screening device (17) is electrically driven.

6. seeder (1) according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the screening device (17) by a connection to a wheel of the drill (1) is drivable.

7. Seeder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the screening device (17) is made of metal.

8. seeder (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the screening device (17) is designed as a perforated plate or wire mesh.

9. Seeder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the screening device (17) is made of plastic.

10. Seeder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that a shielding of the screening device (17) against the inclusion of particles from the bottom (1 1) is provided.

1 1. Seeder (1) according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that Einbringmittel for introducing the dust in the dust separator (16) separated from the air component dust component in the bottom (1 1) are provided.