Seeding device with seed dressing function

Abstract

This application discloses a seed-mixing device, mainly addressing the problem that existing seed-mixing equipment has limited functionality and is prone to seed breakage during sowing, thus affecting seed germination rate. It includes a seeder and a mixing spray trough located at the outlet of the seeder's seed metering device. The angle between the trough's axial direction and the vertical direction perpendicular to the ground is 18-32°, and the outlet of the mixing spray trough points towards the row to be sown. The mixing spray trough has a narrow diameter structure, and several protruding posts are arranged at the bottom of the trough for corresponding contact with the seeds to be mixed and sown. A pesticide nozzle, corresponding to and communicating with a pesticide tank, is embedded in the trough wall opposite to the bottom. Each protruding post includes a column fixed to the bottom of the trough and a spherical cap at the top of the column with a radius of curvature not less than the average radius of curvature of the seed. It has advantages such as high mixing sowing efficiency and good seed integrity.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of agricultural seeding equipment technology, specifically to a seeding device that also has a seed-mixing function. Background Technology

[0002] Agricultural mechanization is the core driving force of modern agriculture, impacting food security and production efficiency. Traditional sowing relied on manual spot sowing or broadcasting, which was inefficient, resulted in poor uniformity, and inconsistent sowing depth. The advent of row seeders enabled row sowing, significantly improving efficiency and uniformity. Furthermore, spot seeders, especially pneumatic and mechanical precision seeders, enabled precise control over plant spacing and seed count. On the other hand, before sowing, crop seeds generally require physical, chemical, or biological treatment—seed dressing—to kill or inhibit seed-borne or soil-borne pathogens and pests, break seed dormancy, provide germination stimuli, and supplement trace elements.

[0003] However, traditional manual seed dressing is inefficient and produces poor uniformity. Furthermore, the need for personnel to handle the chemicals poses safety risks, and the stirring process during dressing can lead to seed coat breakage, thus affecting seed growth after sowing. While specialized seed dressing machines (such as rotary seed dressing pots and drum seed dressing machines) can improve efficiency, they suffer from chemical waste and severe seed coat damage. Moreover, regardless of whether traditional manual or machine seed dressing is used, manual labor is still required to transfer the chemical-coated seeds into the seeder after dressing. The inventors discovered in practice that after seed dressing, the seed coat becomes more fragile, making the seeds prone to breakage and damage to the growing point during the mixing process in the seeder, thus affecting germination and growth rates.

[0004] The information disclosed in this background section is intended only to enhance the understanding of the background technology of this disclosure and should not be construed as an admission or in any way implying that the information constitutes prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of at least one of the above technical problems, this disclosure provides a sowing device that also has a seed-coating function, which mainly solves the problem that existing sowing equipment has a single function and is prone to seed breakage during the sowing process, thus affecting the seed germination rate.

[0006] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a seed-mixing device is provided, comprising a seeder and a mixing spray trough disposed at the outlet of the seed metering device of the seeder. The axial direction of the mixing spray trough is at an angle of 18-32° to the vertical direction perpendicular to the ground, and the outlet of the mixing spray trough points to the row to be sown. The mixing spray trough has a narrow diameter structure and a plurality of protruding posts arranged at the bottom of the trough for corresponding contact with the seeds to be mixed and sown. A spray nozzle corresponding to and communicating with a pesticide tank is embedded in the wall of the mixing spray trough opposite to the bottom of the trough. The protruding post includes a column fixedly disposed at the bottom of the trough and a spherical cap disposed at the top of the column with a radius of curvature not less than the average radius of curvature of the seed.

[0007] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the angle between the axial direction of the agent nozzle and the normal direction of the bottom of the mixing tank is 5 to 10°.

[0008] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the Shore hardness A of the protrusion is 15 to 55.

[0009] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the densities of the protruding pillars sequentially distributed in the inlet region, middle region, and outlet region of the mixing tank are assumed to be D1, D2, and D3, respectively, then D1 ≤ D3. <D2。

[0010] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the bottom of the spray mixing tank is an arc-shaped surface.

[0011] In some embodiments of this disclosure, the bottom of the mixing tank is provided with a groove, and a groove plate is embedded in the groove, with each of the protruding posts fixedly disposed on the surface of the groove plate.

[0012] One or more technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application have at least one of the following technical effects or advantages:

[0013] 1. This seeding device integrates seed mixing and sowing functions, enabling simultaneous seed mixing and sowing, reducing equipment costs, saving labor steps, and improving production efficiency.

[0014] 2. Seeds falling from the seed metering device are sprayed and mixed in the spraying tank. Since the number of seeds discharged from the seed metering device is small and matches the sowing speed, the number of seeds in the tank per unit time is relatively small when spraying and mixing is carried out in the spraying tank, which can minimize the risk of seed coat breakage due to collision between seeds.

[0015] 3. The bottom of the spray mixing tank is equipped with protruding pillars of different densities at different locations, which can effectively control the speed of the seeds during the falling process and help reduce the risk of damage after the seeds collide with the spray mixing tank; in addition, the spherical crowns on the top of the protruding pillars can ensure that the seeds roll fully during the falling process, thereby achieving the effect of uniformly adhering the agent to the seed surface.

[0016] 4. While performing spraying and mixing operations, the spraying tank can also collect the sprayed pesticide that has not been contaminated on the seed surface, avoiding pesticide waste. At the same time, it can also guide the pesticide into the sowing row, achieving simultaneous soil treatment while spraying and mixing the seeds.

[0017] 5. The feed for this seeding device is unmixed seeds, and the mixing is done in the spray mixing tank. This avoids the risk of damage to the seed coat of the soaked seeds during the feeding process, which is caused by the need to mix the seeds before feeding in the existing technology. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the sowing device in one embodiment of this application.

[0019] In the above diagrams, 1 represents the bottom of the tank, 2 represents the pesticide nozzle, 3 represents the seed granules, and 4 represents the protruding column. Detailed Implementation

[0020] In the description of this application, it should be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", "vertical", "horizontal", "clockwise", "counterclockwise", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0021] To better understand the technical solution of this application, the above technical solution will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0022] To determine the effect of different seed treatment methods on seed coating rupture, in this embodiment, Yuhua 22 peanut seeds were used as the experimental subject. The seed treatment agent used was the conventional peanut seed coating agent Kefeng No. 3, which contains fungicide and insecticide. The experimental treatment settings are shown in Table 1 below. Before seed treatment, 10 kg of seeds were weighed for each treatment, and 100 ml of seed treatment agent was taken in two portions according to the treatment amount. Water was added to each portion according to the seed-to-drug ratio, and the seed treatment was carried out according to the treatment in Table 1.

[0023] .

[0024] This experiment consisted of 5 treatments. Machine seed mixing took 2 minutes, while manual seed mixing involved shaking the seeds on a plastic sheet and then manually mixing them while wearing latex gloves, taking 5 minutes. The control group consisted of manually selected seeds without seed mixing. After drying, 400 peanuts were randomly selected from each treatment for investigation, with 4 replicates. Immediately after mechanical seed metering, approximately 0.5 kg of seeds were randomly collected from each treatment, with 4 collections for investigation. To calculate the seed breakage rate during seed mixing, the number of seeds with more than 1 / 2 damaged seed coats, damaged growing points, or rotten seed pods (the number of rotten seeds was determined based on the condition of the rotten seed pods) was counted, with 4 collections. To calculate the seed breakage rate after sowing, the number of seeds with more than 1 / 2 damaged seed coats, damaged growing points, or rotten seed pods (the number of rotten seeds was determined based on the condition of the rotten seed pods) was counted. The seed breakage rate (%) was calculated as: (Number of broken seeds / Total number of seeds surveyed) × 100. The experimental results are shown in Table 2.

[0025] .

[0026] The results of the post-sowing seed coat breakage survey showed that different water volumes significantly affected the breakage rate of seeds after seed dressing. Higher water volumes resulted in slower seed drying, swelling of the seed coat, and increased susceptibility to breakage, making the seed coat more prone to damage during sowing. Untreated seeds were largely unaffected. The breakage rate was related to the amount of water used and the treatment time; higher water volumes and longer treatment times facilitated seed coat removal. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that mechanical or manual seed dressing makes the seed coat more fragile due to the soaking in the agent, making the seeds more prone to breakage when placed in the seeder or during sowing, thus affecting the seed's growth point.

[0027] Furthermore, the seed dressing process also carries the risk of damaging the seed coat. To address the problem that both manual and mechanical seed dressing inevitably lead to seed damage, and that the seed coat after being soaked in the agent is extremely fragile, exacerbating the risk of seed coat breakage during placement and sowing, this example discloses a sowing device that also functions as a seed dressing. This device includes a seeder. Since the seeder is a mature technology and equipment, its mechanical principles and structure will not be elaborated upon in this example. Unlike existing seeders, the sowing device disclosed in this embodiment also includes a spray-mixing trough located at the outlet of the seeder's seed metering device. The seeds are mixed through the spray-mixing trough, and after mixing, the seeds are guided to the sowing rows for sowing using the guiding effect of the spray-mixing trough. This avoids the problem of easily damaged seeds after spraying during sowing, and also allows for seed dressing during the sowing process, effectively solving the problems of seed coat damage caused by existing manual and mechanical seed dressing.

[0028] In this embodiment, the spray-mixing trough is hinged at the seed metering outlet of the seeder. Seeds discharged from the seed metering device then enter the spray-mixing trough for further mixing before sowing. The hinge is a conventional connection method in the art, and its specific structure will not be described in detail here. Thus, by connecting the spray-mixing trough to the seed metering outlet, the orientation angle of the spray-mixing trough can be adaptively adjusted, and the falling speed of the seeds can be controlled by adjusting the spray angle. In this embodiment, the angle between the trough's axial direction and the vertical direction perpendicular to the ground is set to 18–32°. This ensures that the seeds, under their own weight, can roll naturally down the spray-mixing trough while maintaining a suitable speed, thereby improving sowing efficiency while achieving seed mixing. Furthermore, in this embodiment, by adjusting the position angle of the spray-mixing trough so that the outlet faces the sowing row, and the spray-mixing trough has a narrowing diameter structure, the seeds treated by spraying in the trough can roll down into the sowing row under the guidance of the spray-mixing trough, achieving sowing.

[0029] For details, see Figure 1 A pesticide nozzle 2 is embedded in the wall opposite the bottom 1 of the spray mixing tank. This nozzle is connected to a pesticide tank via a valve and pipeline to obtain seed dressing agent from the tank and spray it towards the bottom of the tank. This causes the seeds 3 falling along the tank to be coated with the agent, thus achieving the purpose of seed dressing. To improve the spraying efficiency and spraying area of ​​the pesticide nozzle 2, in this embodiment, the angle between the axial direction of the pesticide nozzle 2 and the normal direction of the bottom of the spray mixing tank is set to 5–10°.

[0030] Although adjusting the orientation of the spray nozzle 2 can maximize the contact between the sprayed pesticide and the seeds, it still cannot guarantee that the seed surface will be evenly coated with pesticide. This can negatively impact the germination rate of the seeds. Therefore, see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 1In this embodiment, several protruding pillars 4 for contacting the seeds are provided at the bottom of the spray mixing tank. Each protruding pillar 4 includes a column fixed at the bottom 1 of the tank, and each column has a spherical crown at its top, forming an overall mushroom shape. In this embodiment, before sowing, the average radius of curvature of the seeds to be sown is estimated, thereby determining the radius of curvature of each spherical crown. In this example, the radius of curvature of each spherical crown is greater than or equal to the average radius of curvature of the seed. Thus, while avoiding the limitation of the space volume of the protruding pillars, the contact area between the spherical crown and the seeds is increased, thereby achieving the technical effect of reducing the local pressure generated when the spherical crown contacts the seeds, and thus protecting the structural integrity of the seeds. On the other hand, since the seeds are usually irregularly ellipsoidal, when the seeds fall into the spray tank from the seed metering device outlet, they move along the bottom of the tank. As a result, when the ellipsoidal seeds come into contact with the spherical cap, the direction of the force between them will vary depending on the location of the contact point. This will cause the direction of the seed's subsequent movement to change depending on the location of the contact point. In addition, the contact force between the seed and the spherical cap varies at different contact points, and the angle between this force and the center of mass of the seed will also vary. This will cause the seed to tumble after contacting the spherical cap. Thus, through the tumbling of the seed, the seed can fully contact the pesticide sprayed by the pesticide nozzle, achieving the technical effect of uniformly coating the seed surface with pesticide.

[0031] Furthermore, in this embodiment, all protrusions are of the same height, thereby avoiding increased collisions between the protrusions and the seeds due to height differences, which could lead to seed coat damage. Additionally, to further reduce seed coat damage during the rolling process along the spray trough, in this embodiment, the distribution density of protrusions in the inlet region of the spray trough is set to D1, the distribution density in the middle region to D2, and the distribution density in the outlet region to D3, where D1 ≤ D3. <D2( Figure 1(Not shown in the image). Therefore, by setting relatively low-density protrusions at the inlet of the spray tank, the initial impact experienced by the seeds at the beginning of their fall can be minimized, allowing the seeds to fall relatively smoothly and contact the protrusions. As the seeds roll further down the spray tank, their speed gradually increases, thus increasing the risk of collision damage. At the same time, the faster rolling speed can also cause the seeds to not fully contact the sprayed agent, resulting in the risk that the seed surface may not be completely coated with the agent. Therefore, in this embodiment, the density of protrusions in the middle region of the spray tank is set to be greater than the density of protrusions in the inlet region of the spray tank. Thus, the higher density of protrusions provides deceleration resistance during the seed's fall, slowing down the seed's falling speed. In addition, in this example, the density of protrusions in the outlet region of the spray tank is set to be the same as the distribution density of protrusions in the inlet and middle regions of the spray tank, so that the seeds can roll relatively smoothly to the outlet of the spray tank and avoid the risk of end jamming or bouncing. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to determine the specific positional distribution of each protrusion at the bottom of the groove, Poisson disk sampling or blue noise sampling is used to generate corresponding distribution points, thereby utilizing the randomness of the contact interval between the seed and the protrusion to improve the effectiveness of seed tumbling.

[0032] In addition, in this embodiment, to avoid seed damage caused by hard contact between the seed and the protrusion, each protrusion is made of an elastic material with a Shore A hardness of 15 to 55, such as rubber, and the surface is polished to avoid excessive surface roughness, which would increase the friction between the protrusion and the seed and thus increase the risk of seed coat damage.

[0033] In other embodiments, to enable the sowing device to accommodate different types (sizes) of seeds, a groove is provided at the bottom of the spray mixing trough, and a trough plate is fitted into this groove. Each protrusion is located on the surface of the trough plate. Thus, by replacing different trough plates, different protrusion configurations can be achieved, ensuring that the radius of curvature of the spherical crown at the top of each corresponding protrusion matches the radius of curvature of the seeds to be sprayed and sown. In this example, the trough plate is made of the same material as the protrusions. To ensure the trough plate is securely installed within the groove, the spray mixing trough is made of metal, and the trough plate is encased in a magnet. This magnetic attraction between the magnet within the trough plate and the spray mixing trough body allows for quick replacement and installation of the trough plate.

[0034] In this embodiment, the bottom of the spray mixing tank is set to an arc-shaped structure, thereby collecting the pesticide sprayed by the pesticide nozzle and guiding the pesticide into the sowing row. This effectively avoids pesticide waste while simultaneously treating the soil in the sowing row.

[0035] In some embodiments of this disclosure, although some preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the present invention.

[0036] Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to this disclosure without departing from the spirit and scope of its inventive concept. Therefore, if such modifications and variations to this disclosure fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application also intends to include such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A seed-coating device, comprising a seeder, characterized in that, It also includes a spray mixing trough located at the outlet of the seed metering device of the seeder. The angle between the trough axis and the vertical direction perpendicular to the ground is 18-32°, and the outlet of the spray mixing trough points to the row to be sown. The spray mixing trough has a narrow diameter structure and several protruding pillars are arranged at the bottom of the trough for corresponding contact with the seeds to be sprayed and mixed. The trough wall opposite to the bottom of the trough is embedded with a pesticide nozzle that communicates with the pesticide tank. The protruding pillar includes a column fixed to the bottom of the trough and a spherical crown located at the top of the column with a radius of curvature not less than the average radius of curvature of the seed.

2. The seeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The angle between the axial direction of the agent nozzle and the normal direction of the bottom of the mixing tank is 5 to 10°.

3. The seeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The Shore hardness A of the protrusion is 15 to 55.

4. The seeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Let the densities of the protruding pillars distributed sequentially in the inlet region, middle region, and outlet region of the mixing tank be D1, D2, and D3, respectively. Then, D1 ≤ D3. <D2。 5. The seeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the spray mixing tank has an arc-shaped surface.

6. The seeding device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The bottom of the spray mixing tank is provided with a groove, and a groove plate is embedded in the groove. Each of the protruding posts is fixedly disposed on the surface of the groove plate.

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