Patent ID: 7086342

Claim:
In a pull-type planter for placing materials into the ground, the improvement comprising: a plurality of openers for depositing materials into the ground as the planter is pulled by a towing vehicle over ground to be planted; delivery mechanism for delivering materials to the openers from a common source of supply; a plurality of interchangeable bulk materials shipping containers each filled with a supply of materials, each of said shipping containers having an outlet and a shiftable gate normally closing said outlet to confine materials within the container while the materials are being shipped; and a mobile frame including a towing tongue adapted for connecting the planter to the towing vehicle, said frame further including a standardized receiver adapted to interchangeably receive a selected one of said plurality of filled shipping containers and position the same to discharge materials into the mechanism for distribution to the openers, said delivery mechanism including an inlet mounted on said frame and positioned to receive materials from the outlet of a shipping container on the receiver when said gate is shifted to open the outlet, each of said shipping containers further having a lowermost supporting extremity spaced below and outboard of said outlet for supporting engagement with the receiver when a filled shipping container is placed thereon and for positioning the outlet of the shipping container in alignment with the inlet of the delivery mechanism.