Patent ID: 7490565

Claim:
Seeding apparatus for metering and delivering seeds for planting in a seed bed, comprising: a rotatable seed metering element having a row of circumferentially spaced apart apertures on a rotating surface of the metering element; vacuum generating means arranged to draw air inwardly through said apertures whereby to attract and hold seeds to said apertures; and means for rotating said metering element, a feed system for transporting seed from a seed reservoir to said metering element and placing said seed at said rotating surface so that seeds are attracted to and held at said apertures; release means at a release point on the metering element for releasing seeds held at each said aperture of said rotating surface and carried to said release point; and delivery means for delivering said seeds to a seedbed, wherein (a) the metering element comprises a drum, the said rotating surface being an external cylindrical surface of the drum; and (b) in the feed system seeds are accelerated to an increased speed and thereafter placed adjacent to the surface of the drum and the metering apertures at a controlled speed.