Chemical metering apparatus for controlled deposit of agricultural chemicals in coordination with seed singulation

The invention is an insecticide meter device for metered discharging of agricultural insecticides, and other chemicals. The insecticide metering device is designed to collect insecticide in a chamber and deposit that insecticide in the predetermined amounts in a drop tube which is deposited at an interval corresponding to the deposit of a seed. The chambers sit on a meter wheel which rotates within a housing. As the meter wheel rotates, the chamber picks up a defined amount of insecticide and carries that insecticide to a release point located at an outlet port. Gravity causes the insecticide to travel both from the insecticide hopper to the meter, and from the meter down the drop tube to the ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 A. Field of the Invention
 This present invention relates to the application of insecticides and other
 agricultural chemicals, while planting seed and, in particular, to a
 device for metering these chemicals so as to minimize the amount of
 chemical applied while planting different types of seeds and in different
 conditions.
 This invention allows a user to dispense agricultural chemicals in
 conjunction with a precision seed metering device. The present invention
 allows the user to dispense a consistent amount of chemical necessary to
 protect a seed without unnecessary waste or over application. The
 chemical, typically an insecticide, is dispensed at the same time as the
 seeds are metered so as to coordinate the deposit of an amount of
 insecticide with the deposit of a seed. Further, the invention may be
 mounted on current seed metering devices if desired.
 B. Problems in the Art
 Although the application of chemicals in a variety of agricultural uses is
 common and in fact necessary in the operation of today's farms, for many
 reasons it is desirable to minimize the amount of chemical, such as
 insecticide, used and to be able to apply it only where necessary and as
 consistently as possible. For example, a number of agricultural chemicals
 are deemed environmentally undesirable and therefore it is incumbent upon
 farmers to minimize the amount used. This forces the farmer to draw a
 delicate balance between the amount of chemicals necessary to protect the
 crops, without the application of too much which may cause environmental
 damage. Unfortunately, chemical meters in the prior art are not uniform in
 their application of chemicals, which usually take the form of pesticides
 and insecticides in granular consistency. Although the overall application
 of chemical may apply the correct amount on a per acre basis, there are
 often times, for example, spots which are missed entirely by the
 application of insecticide and which are highly susceptible to damage
 caused by foraging insects. On the other hand, there are often times areas
 where the insecticide application is heavier than necessary, thereby
 wasting insecticide, and exposing certain areas to possible environmental
 damage.
 In addition, recent attempts have been made to meter agricultural chemicals
 while planting seeds, such as the "Smart Box" by Ingersoll-Dresser.
 However, those methods create zones of heavy and light application that do
 not correspond to the metering of seed, thereby wasting chemicals and
 failing to achieve optimal efficiency.
 Prior art insecticide meters also continue to dispense chemicals while the
 implement has left the field, for example, to turn around. This results in
 more unnecessary waste and a possible double application or spill.
 The importance of the above-mentioned problems for farmers is very basic.
 Reduced accuracy and consistency translates into use of more chemicals or
 failure to provide adequate coverage. This translates into damage to seed
 crops as result of insect infestation, or increased cost associated with
 the price of the chemicals.
 There is therefore a need in the art for a device which improves upon the
 problems and deficiencies in the art, and which is easy and quick to use,
 reliable, compact, effective, and results in increased efficiency in
 planting as well as monetary savings.
 It is therefore a principal objective of the present invention to provide
 an insecticide metering device which improves upon or solves the problems
 and deficiencies existing in the art.
 It is a further objective of this invention to provide an insecticide
 metering apparatus wherein the chemical is metered in a manner which will
 deliver an amount evenly, consistently and at a chosen rate and in
 conjunction with the deposit of a seed by a seed metering device.
 Another objective of this invention is to provide an insecticide metering
 device which is applicable to a wide variety of planting applications and
 which is relatively non-complex in structure while achieving high
 accuracy.
 Another objective of the present invention is to provide an insecticide
 metering device which is flexible as to types of agricultural chemicals as
 well as the speed or range of planting.
 A still further objective of the present invention is to provide an
 insecticide metering apparatus which is efficient and economical,
 including with respect to the type and cost of materials, the power
 requirement, and resulting accuracy.
 Another objective of the present invention is to provide an insecticide
 meter which is mounted on meters currently available.
 Another objective of the present invention is provide an insecticide
 metering device which is durable and easy to manufacture and maintain.
 These and other features, objectives, and advantages of the invention will
 become apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the
 accompanying specification.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to a chemical metering apparatus for use with
 planting implements, and in particular, for use with seed metering
 mechanisms used with modern day planters. The invention allows accurate,
 consistent and reliable placement of agricultural chemicals, such as
 insecticides, with respect to planting of seeds and provides a mechanism
 which allows the dispensation of agricultural insecticide at variable
 speeds. Further, a variety of types of agricultural chemicals can be used
 with the present invention. It is anticipated that the invention can be
 used with both granular, powder, and liquid chemicals.
 The invention is a metering apparatus which can be mounted to a seed meter
 now available in modern planters, the meter including a number of
 concentric circular elements which are mounted to the surface of the seed
 meter and which can operate off the same drive means used to power the
 seed meter. The meter can be mounted using a mounting bracket which is
 attached directly to the seed meter. A substantially circular meter
 housing is attached thereto and includes a conduit from the meter housing
 to the hopper of the chemicals. The chemical is transmitted down the
 conduit to the meter housing to a point in the housing known as the feeder
 opening. A meter wheel is placed within the housing and is supported for
 rotational movement therein. The meter wheel has a number of chambers
 surrounding its perimeter which correspond to the feeder opening. Gravity
 feeds the chemical into the chambers and, as the transmission wheel
 rotates, the chambers are rotated around the internal perimeter of the
 meter housing to a point adjacent an outlet port. When the chamber is
 positioned adjacent the outlet port, the chemical is transmitted by
 gravity through the outlet port and into a drop tube and deposited in the
 ground at predetermined intervals.
 A drive wheel is positioned concentrically within the meter wheel and
 includes a transmission tooth which corresponds with a transmission notch
 in the meter wheel. As the drive wheel is rotated, rotary motion is
 transmitted to the meter wheel causing the meter wheel to rotate within
 the meter housing. The drive wheel is adapted to rotate off the means for
 rotation of the seed meter to which it can be attached. A mounting hub
 attaches the entire structure to the mounting bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 To provide a better understanding of the invention, one preferred
 embodiment of the invention will now be described in detail. It is to be
 understood that the preferred embodiment discussed below is but one form
 the invention can take and is not exclusive.
 The description will make frequent reference to the accompanying drawings.
 Reference numerals and/or letters will be utilized to indicate certain
 parts or locations in the drawings. The same reference numerals and/or
 letters will be used to indicate the same parts or locations in all of the
 drawings unless otherwise indicated.
 For this description, the chemical meter will be used to distribute an
 insecticide. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict one environment in which the insecticide
 metering device of the present invention can exist. In FIG. 1, tractor 2
 is shown connected to planter implement 4 in a typical arrangement for
 planting row crops in the ground. Seed is contained in seed hopper 6 and
 is transmitted by seed tube 8 at regular intervals to the ground.
 As best shown in the exploded view of FIG. 5, the present insecticide
 metering device 10 can be mounted on a seed metering device 12 as are
 currently found in the art. The insecticide meter 10 is comprised first of
 a mounting bracket 14 which can be used to mount the device 10 to a seed
 meter 12. A meter housing 16 is mounted to the bracket 14 and is fixed
 relative the seed meter 12. The seed meter 12 is shown as an example of
 the type of finger-pickup seed meter which has been in existence for
 decades. Seed meter 12A is a more advanced vacuum meter as used by John
 Deere & Co., for use on MAXEMERGE PLUS planting units and attachments.
 The meter housing 16 contains an insecticide conduit 18 which leads to the
 insecticide hopper 20. Insecticide is transmitted from the hopper 20
 through tube 18 by gravity to the meter housing 16. The insecticide
 travels down the insecticide conduit 18 to the feeder opening 22.
 The meter wheel 24 is placed within the meter housing 16 and is supported
 for rotational movement therein. Chambers 26 are provided on the perimeter
 of the meter wheel to line up with the feeder opening 22 and to gather
 insecticide. The chambers can be made with predetermined sizes to
 correspond to the delivery of differing quantities of insecticide. As the
 chamber 26 corresponds with the feeder opening 22, it accumulates a
 quantity of insecticide. As the meter wheel 24 is rotated, the insecticide
 contained in the chamber 26 is transmitted to a point adjacent the outlet
 port 28 of the meter housing 16. At that point, the insecticide falls from
 the chamber 26 through the outlet port 28 and into the drop tube 30. The
 insecticide continues to travel down the drop tube 30 until it is
 deposited on the ground, typically in conjunction with the deposit of the
 seed from the seed meter. This near simultaneous deposit is best shown in
 FIG. 2. This results in a synchronized deposit of both seed and
 insecticide.
 The meter wheel 24 contains a transmission notch 32. A drive wheel 34 is
 placed concentrically within the meter wheel 24. A transmission tooth 36
 extends from the perimeter of the drive wheel 34 and is received by the
 transmission notch 32 of the meter wheel 34. The drive wheel is powered by
 the drive means of the seed meter 12 such that an increase or decrease in
 the speed of the seed meter 12 will cause a corresponding increase or
 decrease in the speed of the transmission tooth 36 on the drive wheel 34.
 Mounting hub 38 is placed over the drive wheel 34 and meter wheel 24 and
 mounts directly to the housing 16.
 It is to be understood that in the preferred embodiment, the insecticide
 metering device of the present invention 10 is relatively compact in size
 therefore allowing minimal interference when placed on a seed metering
 device 12. There should be no effect to the spacing between various seed
 metering devices 12 in miscellaneous planting applications. It is also to
 be appreciated that the included preferred embodiment is given by way of
 example only. The present invention can take many forms in embodiments.
 The true essence and spirit of this invention is defined in the appended
 claims. It is not intended that the embodiment of the invention presented
 herein limit the scope thereof. It can be seen, however, that the present
 invention accomplishes at least all of the stated objectives.
 Further, the preferred embodiment can be used with a multiplicity of
 variations of seed meter device including those presently available in the
 marketplace. The invention can work not only with major seed crops such as
 field corn and soy beans, but also many types of seeds including but not
 limited to such seeds as popcorn, pinto beans, etc.