Air flow control for air seeders
First Claim
1. In an air seeder implement for planting agricultural crops, said air seeder having a frame;
- at least two storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain a supply of first and second products to be planted into the ground;
a fan mounted on said frame and being operable to create a flow of air;
a fan drive mechanism operably connected to said fan to power the rotation of said fan through a range of speeds;
a bank of air flow tubes corresponding to each said storage tank and being operably associated with said fan to receive said flow of air therethrough; and
air dampers mounted within each said bank of air flow tubes for rotation relative thereto, said air dampers being operable to restrict the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes as a function of the rotated position of said air dampers between a fully open position in which the flow of air is unrestricted through said bank of air flow tubes and a closed position in which the flow of air is fully restricted from flowing through said bank of air flow tubes, a control system for controlling the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes comprising;
a first actuator operably connected to said air dampers for a first bank of air flow tubes corresponding to a first storage tank to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions;
a second actuator operably connected to said air dampers for a second bank of air flow tubes corresponding to a second storage tank to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions;
a third actuator operably connected to said fan drive mechanism and being operable to vary the speed of operation of said fan and, thereby, effect a selective variance in the velocity of said air flow into said banks of air flow tubes; and
a control mechanism operably connected to each said actuator for independent selective control thereof, whereby each said actuator can be selectively manipulated to control the velocity of air flowing through each said bank of air flow tubes.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An air seeder is provided with a control system for controlling the velocity of air flowing though the product delivery tubes between the product storage tanks and the planting mechanism for delivering the product into the ground. A multiple tank air seeder would be provided with a bank of product delivery tubes for each product storage tank with an air damper mechanism incorporated into each respective bank of product delivery tubes. An electric actuator is mounted on the air cart to connect to each respective air damper mechanism and effect the movement thereof between a fully closed and a fully opened position and, thereby restrict the movement of air through the product delivery tubes. The control mechanism includes a control panel from which the electric actuators for the air damper mechanisms and an electric actuator for controlling the rotational speed of the fan creating the flow of air through the product delivery tubes can be controlled. The air velocity is controlled by setting a base fan speed through the control panel and then sequentially setting the rotational position of each respective air damper mechanism so that each bank of product delivery tubes can have a different resulting air velocity for proper delivery of the product, e.g. seed or fertilizer, through the respective product delivery tubes.
-
Citations
19 Claims
-
1. In an air seeder implement for planting agricultural crops, said air seeder having a frame;
- at least two storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain a supply of first and second products to be planted into the ground;
a fan mounted on said frame and being operable to create a flow of air;
a fan drive mechanism operably connected to said fan to power the rotation of said fan through a range of speeds;
a bank of air flow tubes corresponding to each said storage tank and being operably associated with said fan to receive said flow of air therethrough; and
air dampers mounted within each said bank of air flow tubes for rotation relative thereto, said air dampers being operable to restrict the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes as a function of the rotated position of said air dampers between a fully open position in which the flow of air is unrestricted through said bank of air flow tubes and a closed position in which the flow of air is fully restricted from flowing through said bank of air flow tubes, a control system for controlling the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes comprising;a first actuator operably connected to said air dampers for a first bank of air flow tubes corresponding to a first storage tank to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions; a second actuator operably connected to said air dampers for a second bank of air flow tubes corresponding to a second storage tank to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions; a third actuator operably connected to said fan drive mechanism and being operable to vary the speed of operation of said fan and, thereby, effect a selective variance in the velocity of said air flow into said banks of air flow tubes; and a control mechanism operably connected to each said actuator for independent selective control thereof, whereby each said actuator can be selectively manipulated to control the velocity of air flowing through each said bank of air flow tubes. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- at least two storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain a supply of first and second products to be planted into the ground;
-
8. A method of controlling the flow of air through an air seeder implement for planting agricultural crops, said air seeder having a frame;
- a plurality of storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain corresponding supplies of products to be planted into the ground;
a fan mounted on said frame and being operable to create a flow of air;
a variable speed fan drive mechanism operably connected to said fan to power the rotation of said fan through a range of speeds;
a bank of air flow tubes corresponding to each said storage tank and being operably associated with said fan to receive said flow of air therethrough;
air dampers mounted within each said bank of air flow tubes for rotation relative thereto, said air dampers being operable to restrict the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes as a function of the rotated position of said air dampers between a fully open position in which the flow of air is unrestricted through said bank of air flow tubes and a closed position in which the flow of air is fully restricted from flowing through said bank of air flow tubes; and
a control system for controlling the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes including a damper actuator operably connected to the air dampers for each respective bank of air flow tubes to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions, a fan drive actuator operably connected to said fan drive mechanism and being operable to selectively vary the speed of operation of said fan and, thereby, effect a selective variance in the velocity of said air flow into said banks of air flow tubes, comprising the steps of;setting the fan rotational speed by manipulating said control system to move said fan drive actuator to a setting that effects a desired base velocity of air through all of said banks of air flow tubes; and subsequently adjusting the air flow at each bank of air flow tubes by manipulating said control system to move each respective said damper actuator independently whereby the velocity of air flowing through each respective bank of air flow tubes can be selected independently of each other bank of air flow tubes by varying the position of the corresponding said air damper. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- a plurality of storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain corresponding supplies of products to be planted into the ground;
-
18. An air seeder implement for planting agricultural crops comprising:
-
a wheeled frame; at least two storage tanks mounted on said frame to contain a supply of corresponding products to be planted into the ground; a fan mounted on said frame and being rotatably operable to create a flow of air; a hydraulic motor operably connected to said fan to power the rotation of said fan through a range of speeds; a bank of air flow tubes corresponding to each said storage tank and being operably associated with said fan to receive said flow of air therefrom; a set of air dampers mounted within each respective said bank of air flow tubes for rotation relative thereto, each said air damper being operable to restrict the flow of air through one of said air flow tubes as a function of the rotated position of said air damper between a fully open position in which the flow of air is unrestricted through the corresponding said air flow tube and a closed position in which the flow of air is fully restricted from flowing through said corresponding air flow tube; and a control system for controlling the flow of air through said bank of air flow tubes, including; a damper actuator operably connected to each respective set of said air dampers to effect rotation thereof between said open and closed positions; a fan drive actuator operably connected to said hydraulic motor and being operable to vary the speed of operation of said fan and, thereby, effect a selective variance in the velocity of said air flow into said banks of air flow tubes; velocity sensors corresponding to each respective said bank of air flow tubes to detect the velocity of air flowing therethrough downstream of the corresponding said air dampers; and a control mechanism operably connected to each said actuator for independent selective control thereof, whereby each said actuator can be selectively manipulated to control the velocity of air flowing through each said bank of air flow tubes, said control mechanism including a microprocessor, driver electronics controlled by said microprocessor for independent manipulation of each said actuator; and
a control panel having input keys for inputting data into said microprocessor. - View Dependent Claims (19)
-
Specification