An agricultural planter has a carousel-type distribution unit for handling and planting plants. The distribution unit has a rotatably driven carousel containing a plurality of cups adapted to hold plants. The cups are operable to release plants into a conveyance channel for guiding the plants into a hollow plowshare. An ejector foot expels the plants from the hollow plowshare into a soil furrow. A drive mechanism drives the distribution unit to rotate the carousel, release plants into the conveyance channel, and expel plants from the hollow plowshare. The drive mechanism in one embodiment includes a ratcheting arm connected to a drive shaft that drives the distribution unit, and a linear actuator connected to the ratcheting arm. A positioning system determines a location of the planter in a field, and a controller activates the linear actuator to rotate the ratcheting arm when the planter reaches a tripping position in the field.

A metering unit for granular material, such as seed or fertilizer, is arranged to convey the granular material in adjustable quantities, where the metering unit includes a metering housing and a drivable metering wheel rotatably supported in the metering housing, where, for rotatably supporting the metering wheel, the metering unit includes a bearing housing and a metering cover which is movable to various positions. For reliably securing the bearing housing in position, the metering cover includes a nose-piece-like extension and the extension defines an abutment for the bearing housing.

A seed delivery system for a seeding machine having a seed meter comprises a housing that defines an upper seed loading area and a lower seed discharge area. A drive pulley is mounted to rotate with respect to the housing. A belt is supported for rotation by the drive pulley within the housing. A loading wheel is mounted to rotate with respect to the housing to transfer seeds from the seed meter into the belt at the seed loading area. The belt conveys the seeds through the housing as the belt travels from the seed loading area to the seed discharge area.

Disclosed is a manual granule spreader including: a main body including a wheel and a handle bar; a hopper having a plurality of discharge chutes; a spreading module having a spreading roller so as to spread the granules via first spreading means; a power transmission means. According to the granule spreader, manpower applied to the wheel is used to spread granules in the hopper in a predetermined amount in a single direction or opposite directions for drill seeding or for broadcast seeding, whereby workforce is saved, granules are prevented from being wasted, and the direction, angle, and length of the spreading means are adjusted, and a flexible driving wire is used to transmit power for spreading granules, which allows a vertical spreading position of the granules to be easily controlled by a vertical position adjustment of the hopper.

A volumetric metering system includes a housing configured to be coupled to a commodity container. The housing has a transducer portion. A roller is removably coupled within the housing and has an encoding tab with at least one circuit. The encoding tab is positioned to allow interaction between the circuit and the transducer portion when the roller is installed in the housing. A controller is operably coupled to the transducer portion and configured to cause the transducer portion to interact with the circuit and identify the roller based on the interaction. The controller is configured to automatically set roller information based on automatic identification of the roller. In one example, the roller is provided with a set of magnets the relative positions of which encode the roller.

A seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from a seed meter by capturing the seed therefrom. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is thus reduced. Furthermore, as the seed only has a short drop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed trench, the seed has little vertical speed to induce bounce. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture, move and accelerate the seed. By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, the seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.

A seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from a seed meter by capturing the seed therefrom. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is thus reduced. Furthermore, as the seed only has a short drop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed trench, the seed has little vertical speed to induce bounce. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture, move and accelerate the seed. By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, the seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.

A seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from a seed meter by capturing the seed therefrom. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is thus reduced. Furthermore, as the seed only has a short crop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed trench, the seed has little vertical speed to induce bounce. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture move and accelerate the seed By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, the seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.

A seed delivery system for use in a seeding or planting machine that removes the seed from a seed meter by capturing the seed therefrom. The delivery system then moves the seed down to a lower discharge point and accelerates the seed horizontally rearward to a speed approximately equal to the forward travel speed of the seeding machine such that the seed, when discharged has a low or zero horizontal velocity relative to the ground. Rolling of the seed in the trench is thus reduced. Furthermore, as the seed only has a short drop from the outlet to the bottom of the seed trench, the seed has little vertical speed to induce bounce. The delivery system uses a brush belt to capture, move and accelerate the seed. By capturing the seed and moving it from the meter to the discharge, the seed is held in place relative to other seeds and the planter row unit. As a result, the seeds are isolated from row unit dynamics thereby maintaining seed spacing.

A motor-driven single-seed-ejection sowing device includes a housing, a seed metering roller, a seed brush, a seed metering mechanism and a power mechanism. The housing includes a power compartment and a seed compartment. The surface of the seed metering roller is provided with seed grooves having spaces for accommodating a single seed. The seed metering mechanism includes a spring, a striking tube, a piston and the piston tube. The piston and the piston tube are arranged for axial movement inside the striking tube. The power mechanism includes a control unit and a drive unit. The control unit includes the motor, the drive panel, the Hall sensor and the magnet. The magnet is set on the striking tube. The Hall sensor and the drive panel are connected to the motor, and the motor drives the seed metering roller and seed metering mechanism by the drive unit.