Seed Injection for Controlled Additive Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for applying additives to seeds face issues such as environmental exposure, uncontrollable additive distribution, low durability of germinated seeds, and limited processing speed, making them unsuitable for efficient industrial-scale seed preparation.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that involve cutting an opening in the seed to introduce a predefined amount of additive, ensuring protection from environmental factors while maintaining high processing speed, using saws or blades for opening and injecting additives into the seed, and verifying seed orientation to prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If seeds are coated with additive suspension, then additive application is achieved, but additive is exposed to environmental impact such as washing off, light, air and biological agents
Solution Approach 1:
The additive is nested inside the seed by creating an internal cavity or opening in the seed coat, then introducing the additive into this internal space. This nesting approach protects the additive from external environmental factors while maintaining its biological function.
Solution Approach 2:
A sealing substance or closing agent is used as an intermediary to seal the opening after additive introduction. This mediator protects the additive from environmental exposure while allowing controlled release or maintaining seed integrity.
2Reliability
If flowering mother plant is inoculated with additive, then additive is relayed into seeds, but amount and density of additive in seed is not controllable
Solution Approach 1:
The seed opening is created and the additive is introduced in a controlled, predetermined amount before seed deployment. This preliminary controlled introduction ensures precise additive dosing, replacing the uncontrolled natural relay process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates control mechanisms to monitor and regulate the amount of additive introduced into each seed, ensuring consistent and precise dosing through feedback control of the introduction process.
3Reliability
If seedling is inoculated with additive, then additive is introduced into growing plant, but seedling has low durability and stability compared to ungerminated seeds
Solution Approach 1:
The additive is introduced into the seed while it is still in the ungerminated, durable seed stage, before the seed is deployed. This preliminary action maintains seed durability during storage and transport while ensuring additive is already in place for immediate effect upon germination.
4Reliability
If seed coat is opened by milling tool, then seed treatment can be applied, but processing speed is limited due to tool approach and retraction
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanical milling tool approach and retraction is replaced with a cutting-based opening method that can be performed more rapidly, substituting the slow mechanical approach system with a faster cutting mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting process is designed to create seed openings continuously as seeds pass through the processing system, eliminating the need to stop and reposition the tool for each seed, thereby maintaining continuous productive action.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for automatically preparing seeds with an additive to be deployed together with the seeds. The method includes conveying a plurality of seeds into an opening position, creating an opening in each of the seeds by cutting each seed with a fixed blade or a laser device when each seed is in the opening position, introducing an amount of additive into the seed through the opening and continuously conveying the plurality of seeds while creating the opening and introducing the amount of additive into the seeds.