Patent ID: 8047129

Claim:
An apparatus for disinfecting seeds using hot water, comprising: a disinfection container for holding water used to disinfect the seeds; a hopper for feeding the seeds into the disinfection container; a heater for heating the water held in the disinfection container; a temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the water held in the disinfection container; a control box for controlling the heater in response to a signal detected by the temperature sensor; a cylindrical hot-water circulation chamber for moving the seeds from the hopper to a lower portion of the disinfection container, holes being formed in an upper portion of the hot-water circulation chamber at regular intervals and having a size which permits passage of the water therethrough but prevents passage of the seeds therethrough; a water jetting pipe for jetting water fed from a circulation pump towards the upper portion of the hot-water circulation chamber, thus dispersing the seeds which move downwards in the hot-water circulation chamber by gravity; a storage tube having a large diameter and connected to a lower end of the hot-water circulation chamber to temporarily store the seeds received therefrom; a feed tube extending upwards from the lower portion of the disinfection container, and feeding the seeds from the storage tube to an outside of the disinfection container; and an air jetting pipe for jetting compressed air from an air pump, and discharging the compressed air to an inlet of the feed tube.