Sectional Meter Shut-Off for Precision Seeding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing air seeding systems face challenges in preventing double seeding and seed bed destruction when handling irregularly shaped or small areas, leading to excessive seed and fertilizer usage, uneven germination, and harvest problems.
Innovation Solution
A metering assembly with a rotatable metering roller and shut-off gates that can selectively obstruct the flow of particulate material and lift ground-engaging openers, allowing precise control over seeding and fertilizing, especially in narrow or odd-shaped areas, using a combination of electrical and hydraulic actuators and a GNSS system for automated control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a metering device is implemented to apply a specific quantity of seed per linear distance, then seeding precision is improved, but double seeding still occurs when the land seeded is too narrow or odd shaped for the seeding device
Solution Approach 1:
The metering device is divided into multiple independently controllable metering units, each corresponding to a specific ground-engaging opener. This segmentation allows selective operation of individual metering units based on the width and shape of the land being seeded, preventing double seeding in narrow or irregular areas while maintaining precise seed application where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates dynamic control capabilities where metering units can be selectively activated or deactivated based on real-time field conditions. This dynamic adjustment allows the seeding system to adapt to varying land widths and shapes, ensuring precise seed application only in areas that require it and avoiding waste in already-seeded or inaccessible areas.
2Loss of substance
If the meter is turned off to prevent double seeding, then seed waste is reduced, but ground-engaging openers continue to engage the ground and destroy the seed bed
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the metering function from the ground-engaging function into independently controllable units. Each metering unit can be selectively deactivated to prevent seed application in specific areas, while the corresponding ground-engaging openers remain active to maintain soil contact and protect the seed bed, eliminating the need to turn off the entire system.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system enables local adjustment of metering operations, allowing individual metering units to be deactivated in specific locations where double seeding would occur, while other units continue to operate normally. This localized control prevents seed waste in problematic areas without affecting seed bed integrity elsewhere.
3Productivity
If larger seeding equipment is used to increase efficiency, then productivity is improved, but the equipment becomes difficult to use for seeding smaller pieces of land or irregularly shaped fields
Solution Approach 1:
The large seeding system is divided into multiple independent, modular units that can be selectively activated. This segmentation allows the system to operate at different effective widths by deactivating unused units, enabling efficient operation across both large and small fields, as well as irregularly shaped fields, without sacrificing the overall productivity capability of the larger equipment.
Data Source
AI summary
An assembly for selectively supplying particulate material to an air seeder, an agricultural implement able to selectively supply and dispense particulate material into the ground and a method of selectively dispensing particulate material into the ground are provided. The assembly has at least one supply receptacle for receiving particulate material from a source and a metering roller for supplying the material to an air seeder. The assembly is operative to selectively supply the material to the air seeder and prevent the material from being supplied to the air seeder. The implement can use the assembly to selectively supply particulate material to ground engaging openers where the particulate material will be dispensed into the ground. Particulate material can be selectively supplied to the implement when it is desired to have the particulate material dispensed into the ground and then prevented from being supplied to the implement when it is not desirable.