Abstract:
An articulated device for controlling seeding depth of a seeding assembly in grain seeding machines, more precisely, a seeding assembly with a hinge mechanism in the front part of the assembly, which allows control of the distance between the depth control wheel and the opener disk. This allows minimizing the entrance of vegetable residues, dust and moist soil, while also aiding in their expulsion, and provides an efficient and prompt means to clean to avoid longer out of service times of the machine.

Description:
[0001]    This application is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 12/830,867 filed on Jul. 6, 2010 which is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 12/340,059 filed Dec. 19, 2008. The disclosures of Ser. No. 12/340,059 and Ser. No. 12/830,867 are fully incorporated into this application. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This innovation originates from the constant improvement searched on grain seeding machines, particularly, those used for so-called direct seeding or no-till seeding. 
         [0003]    Moreover, Argentinean registrations of Invention Patents, belonging to the firm named Avec S.R.L, such as: 
         [0004]    No. 247466—Dispositivo óleo—neumático de control de cargas (Oil pneumatic load control device) 
         [0005]    No. 249176—Mejoras en un dispositivo óleo—neumático de control de cargas (Improvements on an oil-pneumatic load control device) 
         [0006]    No. 250967—Conjunto articular de brazo principal y balancín (Joint assembly of main arm and balance beam) 
         [0000]    are the background based on which, upon constant operation development and improvement, the present innovation is produced. 
         [0007]    The Oil-pneumatic Load Control Device, together with the Balance Beam System, provides exact regulation of the preset loads based on the soil to be seeded. The loads are therefore kept constant at all times, regardless of the unevenness of the soil. Therefore, a constant load combined with the perfect tracing of the soil guarantees uniformity in seeding depth followed by the appropriate covering. 
         [0008]    The problem associated to this study is a result of the obstruction with vegetable residues, dust or moist soil, which enter between some of the components of the so called “seeding assembly” or “seeding train”. 
         [0009]    The development of this invention is inspired on the arrangement of the known seeding assembly elements, the fact that said assemblies are rigidly conformed, and the poor adaptability for their self cleaning or evacuation of the vegetable residues, dust, etc. One object of this invention is to improve adaptability of the assembly, achieve an easy and correct evacuation of the accumulated residues and provide the user of the seeder higher effectiveness, work efficiency, and most importantly, the minimization of detention time caused by obstruction of the seeding assembly. 
         [0010]    Generally seeding assemblies include the following:
       a) A device to open the furrow, usually composed of one or two flat disks  1  (single disk, double disk), mounted with a certain inclination in relation to vertical and horizontal planes, which allows them to perform such task, or composed of a kind of spike or hoe (not shown) (see  FIG. 1 );   b) A device to place the seed from a storage hopper (not shown) to the bottom of the furrow, generally consisting of a flexible tube (not shown) connected to a rigid tube  2  placed between both disks or on the side of the single disk;   c) A device to place fertilizer from a storage hopper (not shown) to the bottom of the furrow, generally consisting of a flexible tube (not shown) connected to a rigid tube  3  placed between both disks or at the side of the single disk (this is what commonly occurs when fertilization and seeding take place simultaneously).   d) A device to control depth of the seed in the furrow; this may be carried out by rings laterally attached to one of the furrow disks (or to the single disk) (not shown), or either by one or two wheels with rubber tires  4  indicated on  FIG. 1 ; in the case of rings, the different depths are regulated by varying the size (diameter) of the rings; whereas in the case of wheel(s) there is a specifically designed mechanism  5  for said regulation of depth, for example the one indicated on  FIG. 1 ;   e) A device to close the furrow, which usually consists of one or two wheels with rubber tires  6 ; to which serrated disks are normally attached;   f) There are some designs which also include a device which presses the seed against the furrow walls, after said seed has been placed therein and before closing the furrow; generally said device is a metal wheel  7  or it includes a rubber or plastic tire.       
 
         [0017]    The above mentioned elements from a) to f) are well known in the previous art and can have different designs, therefore any constructive details about them will be given. They are usually placed on a so called balance beam  8  on the present invention and on the above mentioned Argentinean patents, generally a straight one, ordered in such a way that they operate with the correspondent sequence (furrow opening up to certain depth; placing of the seed and fertilizer; seed pressing; furrow closing). 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The present invention describes a new arrangement of the elements available in “seeding assembly or seeding train”, understood as the set of structural elements and mechanisms needed to perform seeding work on a single furrow, therefore it is necessary on a typical grain seeder, to have several seeding assemblies placed next to each other, in one or more toolbars, to cover the seeding width and the distance between furrows needed. Said new arrangement not only improves and provides better efficiency to the work on general terms, it also perfects the depth control system, provides adaptability to the assembly, and moreover, innovates the mechanism, providing regulation and articulation which improves self cleaning of its elements; by both minimizing the amount of residues entering the assembly and providing to said residues an easy way out of it. 
         [0019]    In summary, the assembly herein introduced, achieves, by means of its new arrangement and modification of the elements, a more efficient operation, improvement of the depth control system and simplification of the cleaning of the assembly through the new arrangement of its regulation and articulation of the mechanism. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0020]    The advantages of this invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed disclosure of the invention, especially when considered with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
           [0021]      FIG. 1  is a side view of the seeding assembly. 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a top view of three adjacent seeding assemblies with the depth control wheels in different positions. 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  is a top view of depth control wheels and disks on the closed position of hinges. 
           [0024]      FIG. 4  is a top view of hinges in closed and open positions. 
           [0025]      FIG. 5  is a view of the lock in closed position. 
           [0026]      FIG. 6  is a view of the lock in open position. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    The innovation presented herein develops from the complications registered, which have been observed, and which are associated to the practical use of the grain seeders in general. 
         [0028]    However, particularly we refer to the seeder which applies the oil-pneumatic device patented under number 247466, which produced the first modification or improvement in patent under number 249176 “Improvements on an oil pneumatic load control device . . . ” which was finally modified in patent under number 250967 “Joint assembly of main arm and balance beam, applied to agricultural machines”. 
         [0029]    In said invention patent (250967) the elements of the joint assembly are described, featuring a main arm, on one end articulated to the machine frame, on the other end articulated to a bracket projected underneath thereof, inside which there is an area crossed by the balance beam, the latter articulated to spin in a transversal shaft which is provided in the bottom end of said bracket; the balance beam is joint to the furrow opener disks through a connecting piece fixed to one end of the balance beam, whereas the covering wheel which is part of the arrangement, is fixed—by means of sliding mounted clamps—in adjustable position on the side of the balance beam opposite to the referred articulated bracket. 
         [0030]    The new joint assembly proposed features the arrangement of the elements involved on the seeding assembly as shown on  FIG. 1 , characterized by a main arm  9 , on one end  10  articulated to the machine frame (partially shown) which allows it to move upwards and downwards, having on the other end  11  a bracket  12  projected underneath thereof, inside which there is an area crossed by the balance beam  8 , the latter articulated to spin in a transversal shaft  13  which is provided in the bottom end of said base; the balance beam  8  is joint through a connecting piece  14  fixed to one sector of the balance beam  8  by means of “U” shaped clamps  15 , to the furrow opener disks  1 , the depth control wheels  4  and the seed press wheel  7 , whereas on the sector of the balance beam  8  located on the opposite side of said articulation bracket  12 , the covering wheel  6  is fixed, by means of sliding mounted “U” shaped clamps  16 , in adjustable position on said balance beam  8 . The main arm  9  is actuated upwards or downwards with a certain and preset force depending on seeding conditions, by means of a hydraulic cylinder (only partially shown) which is part of the oil pneumatic load control device mentioned above. 
         [0031]    One of the objects of the present invention is the new design of the depth control system, which improves its functionality. Moreover, the new arrangement and modification of the present invention minimizes the entrance of elements, such as vegetable residues, dust, moist soil, etc., into the existing space between the wheel and the disk, in turn improving evacuation of the few elements that enter the assembly. 
         [0032]    A further improvement applied to the invention is the conformation of a hinge mechanism or hinged articulation  17  as the one shown on  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , which provides, firstly, regulation of the seeding depth and, secondly, articulation of the elements of the mechanism, achieving minimized detention times of the machine for cleaning the seeding assemblies. 
         [0033]    A preferred embodiment shall be described with precision in the following paragraphs, making reference to the attached descriptive drawings. The purpose is to describe the invention without limiting it, and the components may be selected from different equivalents, without deviating from the invention principles defined in the present document. The invention is described based on the above mentioned Argentinean patent No. 250967, “Joint assembly of main arm and balance beam . . . ”, where almost all the set of mechanisms are already known, but with the new arrangement as shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , where some of the elements of the seeding assembly or seeding train have been redesigned and/or redistributed. 
         [0034]    In already known arrangements, the depth control wheels may be located in the front or rear of the furrow opener disks with the running direction being considered the front part/forward portion  20  of the seeding assembly. 
         [0035]    In the preferred embodiment, shown as a set on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the arms  31  have on one of its ends a shaft  38  which rotationally supports the depth control wheels  4 . The other end of the arm  31  rotates vertically on the shaft/pin  32  fixed to the mobile plate  33  of the hinge  17 . The mobile plate  33  of hinge  17  allows the arm  31  to rotate horizontally, and is located at the front part  18  of the furrow opener disks  1 . To better perform its function, the internal side faces  21  of the rubber tires  22  of the depth control wheels  4  must be as close as possible to the external side faces  23  of furrow opener disks  1 , as shown on  FIG. 3 . The tires  22  of the depth control wheels  4  include a kind of “lip”  24  in their internal side faces  21  and during operation of the seeder assembly is positioned adjacent to the external side face  23  of furrow opener disks  1 . This position is maintained at all times during the upward and downward movement of the tires  22  of the depth control wheels  4  respect to the furrow opener disks  1  when the seeding depth control function is carried out. 
         [0036]    Since the seeding operation in general terms and of the no-till seeding in particular is carried out on vegetable residues and coverings, the operation of the seeding assembly introduces these vegetable residues and coverings, along with dust and moist soil into the space between the depth control wheels and the furrow opener disks. This causes several problems, the most important of them being the reduction of the performance of the machine, due to the frequent detention of the operation for cleaning seeding assemblies This introduction of unwanted debris can also hinder proper seeding. These operation problems have originated the necessity to improve the previous seeding assembly designs, taking into account these difficulties perceived during field work. 
         [0037]    The present invention consists essentially of a set of mechanisms, based mostly on Invention Patent No. 250967 “Joint assembly of main arm and balance beam . . . ”, in which the new arrangement of the elements provides a simple cleaning of the space between the depth control wheels  4  and furrow opener disks  1 , minimizing the detention/out of service time of the machine. This is achieved by means of the hinged articulation (or simply “hinge”)  17  shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4 . The location of the hinge  17  at the front part  18  of the furrow opener disks  1 , enables the forces involved in the seeding assembly operation to bring the internal side face  21  of the rubber tire  22  of the depth control wheels  4  closer to the external side face  23  of the furrow opener disks  1  (see  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 ). The seeding assembly is typically to be designed to allow a minimum separation between the two faces in regular working conditions, to be no greater than 0.012/0.020 inches or 0.3/0.5 mm. This separation is unaffected by the vertical position of the depth control wheel  4  with respect to the furrow opener disks  1  (upper or lower position depending on the seeding depth needed), since the movement is always on a plane parallel to the external side face  23  of the furrow opener disks  1 . On the contrary, if the hinge  17  was located the rear part/rearward portion  19  of the furrow opener disks  1 , the depth control wheels  4  would tend to separate from the furrow opener disks  1 , allowing easier entrance of the unwanted elements. However, location of the attachment of the depth control wheels to the front part of the furrow opener disks is not an innovation, since some seeders already include it. 
         [0038]    The innovation herein basically consists of a hinge  17 , which in closed position  25  indicated on  FIG. 4 , makes internal side face  21  of the rubber tire  22  of the depth control wheels  4  to be positioned adjacent to external side face  23  of the furrow opener disks  1 . This position remains perfectly fixed through a lock  26 , and in open position  27 , shown on  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 , allows the depth control wheels  4  to be separated from the furrow opener disks  1  by means of an angular movement, facilitating the cleaning of the extended space  28  between them, as shown on  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 . 
         [0039]    One embodiment of a locking mechanism  26  is shown on the  FIGS. 1 ,  5  and  6  with  FIG. 5  showing it in the closed position, and  FIG. 6  showing it in the open position. A handle  45  is typically made of a piece of round steel, curved 90°, and shaped as an “L”. The part of this piece in horizontal position in  FIG. 1  which would be the longer part of the “L”, is the actual handle; and is manually moved to lock or unlock the mechanism. The shorter part of the “L”, shown in a vertical position on  FIG. 1  is the part used for the actual lock and its bottom end is conical. This vertical part of the handle  45  includes a stop shaped as a washer, to limit the upwards and downwards movement of the handle  45 , that is, both when the lock  26  is released (upwards movement) or when lock  26  is fixed (downwards movement). 
         [0040]    A metallic housing with a conical hole, indicated as  47  in  FIG. 5 , is welded to the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17 , and is used to hold the conical bottom end of the vertical part of handle  45 , and allow the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17  to be locked in a closed position. 
         [0041]    A guide piece  48  through which the vertical part of the handle is inserted, is welded to the balance beam  8  of the seeding assembly. The function of this guide piece  48  is to allow the vertical part of handle  45  to turn around its own axle, and to move upwards and downwards, so that when handle  45  is lifted and turned, the lock  26  is released, since the conical end of the lower part of handle  45  is pulled out of the conical housing  47  welded to the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17 . Thus, when the mobile plate  33  from hinge  17  is released, it may have an angular movement and create a larger space  28  between the depth control wheels  4  and the furrow opener disks  1 , as represented in  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 4 . Once cleaning and/or maintenance of the seeding assembly is carried out, the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17  should be closed again by setting it in the working position. This is accomplished by placing the mobile plate  33  as close as possible to the fixed plate  34 , both of hinge  17 , and by manually activating lock  26 , in this case turning and lowering the vertical part of handle  45 , until its entire conical end is introduced in the conical housing  47  which is welded to the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17 . 
         [0042]    A safety piece  46 , fixed with bolts to the balance beam  8  of the seeding assembly, allows the horizontal part of handle  45  to stay fixed during the seeding process. This safety piece  46  prevents handle  45  from accidentally turning round or lifting during the seeding process. This guarantees that lock  26  is in the closed position. Should it be necessary to release lock  26  to open hinge  17 , it is done by applying a horizontal force on handle  45 , and once it is released, turning and lifting the handle to pull out the lower part with the conical end of handle  45  of the conical housing  47 , which is welded to the mobile plate  33  of hinge  17 . 
         [0043]    As shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , depth regulation is carried out by operating, for example, a mechanism utilizing a square—threaded screw  5 . In the design shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the screw  5  can be rotated by operating the steering wheel  39 , located on one of its ends, and it is positioned inside a square—section tube  40 . In turn, the rotation of the screw  5  causes movement of a nut  41  on it, from right to left or vice versa, as shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 . In the present design, the above mentioned nut  41  is attached to a piece  42  that in this case consists of a tube of square section which can telescopically move within the abovementioned tube  40  where the screw  5  is located. In turn, the free end  29  of the piece  42  attached to the nut  41  has a joint designed for allowing it to act on the levers  30  attached to the arms  31  of the depth control wheels  4 . That is, the rotating drive of the screw  5  causes movement to the right or left of the articulated end  29 , which in turn acts on the levers  30 , that being attached to the arms  31  of the depth control wheels  4 , allows them to move down or up, drawing an arc of a circle. In addition, the arm  31 —lever  30  set has an angular stop  43  in the external side face of the mobile plate  33  of the hinge  17 . This angular stop  43  is designed in such a way that any displacement of the depth control wheel  4  drawing an arc of a circle is limited to what is needed to obtain the minimum and maximum seeding depths specified for the machine. The articulated end  29  of the depth control mechanism, provides free and separate movement of both depth control wheels  4  of the system. 
         [0044]    We shall describe the invention based on Invention Patent No. 250967, “Joint assembly of main arm and balance beam . . . ”, where the whole set of mechanisms is almost completely known, but including the new arrangement, as shown in  FIG. 1 , in which some of the elements of the seeding assembly or seeding train have been redesigned and/or redistributed. 
         [0045]    The hinge  17  shown on  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 4  mounted on mobile plate  33  allows the internal side face  21  of the tire  22  of the depth control wheels  4  to be positioned at a minimum distance of the external side face  23  of the furrow opener disks  1  and is fixed in that location by the lock  26 , for example of the design indicated on  FIGS. 1 ,  4  &amp;  5 . In the current design the fixed plate  34  of the hinge  17  is a part of the connecting piece  14 . The mobile plate  33  is articulated with the fixed plate  34  by means of a pin  44  designed for this purpose. The internal side face  35  of the mobile plate  33  and the internal side face  36  of the fixed plate  34  of the hinge  17  are flat, and in closed position  25  are parallel to each other, making contact throughout the area  37  they have in common, and are in turn parallel to the external side face  23  of the corresponding furrow opener disks  1 . The shaft  32  is fixed to the mobile plate  33  of the hinge  17  perpendicular to the internal side face  35  thereof. 
         [0046]    Placing the hinge  17  in an open position  27 , brings the depth control device the necessary larger space  28  between the depth control wheels  4  and the furrow opener disks  1 , for a proper and prompt cleaning. 
         [0047]    The use and practice of the seeding machinery which showed the inconveniences of the obstruction with residues encouraged to place and use the hinge articulation  17 , and the new arrangement of the fixing assembly of depth control wheels  4 , which being on its preferred embodiment located at the front part  18  of the furrow opener disks  1 , takes advantage of the components of the acting forces over the different elements during seeding tasks, helping to maintain the minimum distance between the internal side face  21  of the tire  22  of the depth control wheels  4  and the external side face  23  of the furrow opener disks  1 . 
         [0048]    One embodiment is disclosed and its application defined above without this implying a limitation, to the specific embodiment disclosed. The above disclosure illustrates various concepts, structures, us and techniques which are the subject of this patent it will now be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other embodiments incorporating these concepts structures and techniques may be used. Numerous embodiments utilizing different types and locations of the locking mechanism, and different arrangements of the articulating hinge are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly it is submitted that the scope of the patent should not be limited to the described embodiments, but rather should be limited only by the spirit and scope of the following claims. Specification, claims and attached drawings, which further complement the description of the invention.