Patent ID: 7810580

Claim:
A sectored disc assembly for use in a soil opener of an agricultural implement, wherein the disc assembly serves as a blade to open the soil prior to injection of a fertilizer or seed into the ground, said assembly comprising: a rotatable hub presenting a central rotational axis and a radial outer periphery; and a plurality of disc sectors, each disc sector disposed around the periphery of the hub and extending radially outwardly therefrom, said disc sectors cooperatively forming a substantially continuous disc disposed radially around and coaxial with the hub, said disc sectors cooperating with the hub to define a substantially continuous interface therebetween around the periphery of the hub, each disc sector cooperating with the hub to present a substantially continuous tongue-and-groove connection along the interface, wherein one of the disc sector and hub includes a radially extending internal groove and the other of the disc sector and hub includes a radially extending tongue, with the tongue being received in the groove to restrict axial movement of the disc sector relative to the hub, each disc sector being generally symmetrical with respect to a central bisecting plane extending orthogonal to the rotational axis, said disc sectors including an axially extending flared shoulder section that presents an axial dimension that is greater than the axial dimension of the tongue, said shoulder section presenting a radially inner end defining a pair of axially extending shoulder surfaces, said shoulder surfaces corresponding to and flushly abutting the outer periphery of the hub.