Deere + Company

Other

Louisiana Tech University

Jay H Olson

Bengt Ake Nestell

William R Lundie

Jerry D Webber

Richard F Gallens

Brian Terry Petersen

Robert H Ankum

James C Martin

Brian T Petersen

Nathan Albert Mariman

Terry Lee Snipes

James W Hall

Paul Reed Riewerts

Arun Prakash Jaganathan

James Leonard Montgomery

Neven Simicevic

John R Cerny

Leon Paul Erdman

Thomas Bernard Haar

John Wesley Hoy

Dana Albert Sackfield

James L Tetrick

Paul R Riewerts

An electrochemical cleaner is disclosed including a power supply coupled to a transformer and an electronics housing including one or more wand assembly ports and one or more ground ports. A first wand assembly port of the one or more wand assembly ports is electronically coupled to a first wire coupled to a magnet wire of the transformer and a ground connector is electronically coupled to approximately the first end of the magnet wire. The electrochemical cleaner also includes a voltage selector configured to select between a plurality of voltage potentials between a wand assembly connector and the ground connector and a wand assembly comprising a handle coupled to a length of wire and an electrode port, the electrode port configured to couple to an electrode shaft.

System and method of electrochemical cleaning of metal discoloration

An object detection system () is disclosed having a transducer (') for detecting buried objects (). The transducer is encapsulated within a robust, electromagnetically transparent construction ().

System and method for ground penetrating radar communication using antenna crosstalk

A manifold and distribution manifold assembly is described for use in dividing the flow of an air-entrained material from a primary distribution line into a plurality of secondary distribution lines. The manifold is formed of a single molded piece thereby reducing the overall tooling cost. One application of such a distribution manifold assembly is in an air seeder.

Manifold and distribution manifold assembly for air-entrained material

A lid for a distribution manifold is described where the manifold has an inlet opening defining an axis, access opening opposite the inlet and a plurality of radially extending outlet ports. The lid for the access opening includes a mounting member adapted to couple the lid to the manifold to close the access opening, a cone coupled to the mounting member and extending axially toward the inlet opening of the manifold when the lid is coupled to the manifold, and a single piece retainer adapted to secure the cone to the mounting member without additional fasteners.

Lid for a manifold

An air divider having a shutoff plate for converting row spacing on a seeding implement. A reversible shutoff plate has a closed position wherein one end of the plate extends through a slot and completely blocks a leg of a Y-shaped output end of the divider. By reversing the shutoff plate, the leg is opened to air and material flow. The shutoff plate is retained in a clip or post adjacent the slot in both the closed and open positions. A seal closes the slot if the shutoff plate is not inserted and permits the shutoff plate option to be selected at any time.

Airflow divider with shutoff

A vehicle body panel is rotatable about a lower horizontal axis and has a clip latch at the upper portion of the panel that catches the edge portion of an adjacent stationary panel to trap the edge portion of an adjacent panel between the clip latch and the movable panel. The clip latch has a ramp surface engagable with the adjacent stationary panel to slightly deflect the movable panel away from the stationary panel until the ramp portion has cleared the edge of the stationary panel. The clip latch only locks the movable panel in the closed position, not the open position, so that the panel can be moved from the open to the closed position when standing in a position in which the clip latch can not be reached.

Vehicle body panel with clip latch

A harvesting machine having a rotary crop processing unit supported between a pair of spaced side sheets with openings for access to the crop processing unit and a cleaning system therebelow. Molded plastic cover panels extend from the lower edge of the access openings on the side sheet to the crop processing unit to close the access openings. Multiple cover panels are used in each opening to minimize the size of each cover panel for ease in handling and the cover panels are retained by hand manipulated pins or fasteners to remove and install the panels without the use of tools.

Harvesting machine with side access openings and cover panels

Combine left side panel unit

Combine rear panel

Combine right side panel unit

An air seed meter which dispenses individual seeds supplied by a seed hopper into a furrow at a controlled rate as the meter and others like it are advanced over the ground has a generally cylindrical housing containing a rotatable seed disk. As the seed disk is rotated past a mass of seeds on one side thereof, a plurality of seed cells formed by recesses in the surface of the seed disk at one or more circumferential rows of holes adjacent the outer periphery of the seed disk mechanically accelerate and eventually capture therein individual seeds from the seed mass. The individual seeds are held within the cells by a pressure differential created by a vacuum source coupled to the inside of the housing on the opposite side of the seed disk until the cells reach a discharge area. At the discharge area, the effects of the vacuum are cut off so as to release the individual seeds from the cells for discharge through a chute at the bottom of the housing to a seed furrow below. Agitation of seeds within the seed mass with the accompanying mechanical acceleration and capture of individual seeds within the cells may be enhanced by providing fins on the surface of the seed disk and is facilitated by a cell configuration which has a rear wall of greater slope than the front wall of the cell. Doubling of seeds within the individual cells is minimized by limiting the size and depth of the cells relative to the seed and also by use of a relatively low pressure differential which is made possible by the manner in which the cells agitate, mechanically accelerate and then capture the seeds. As a result there is no need for cumbersome and elaborate multiple seed eliminating arrangements.

Vacuum seed meter

A seed meter for metering individual seeds at a controlled rate into a furrow in the ground over which the seed meter is traveling releases the individual seeds into a hollow, elongated seed tube. The seed tube is curved along the length thereof in a direction opposite the direction of travel of the seed meter over the ground to release the seeds with a horizontal velocity generally equal and compensate for the motion of the seed opposite that of the seed meter. This enables each seed to reach the ground with little or no velocity component in the horizontal direction, thereby minimizing lateral seed bounce on the ground. Seed bounce within the seed tube is controlled and minimized by the tube curvature which gradually increases in a downward direction along the length of the seed tube. The inner front wall of the tube has logarithmic curvature from a generally vertical upper end thereof along an upper portion of the tube and exponential curvature along a lower portion of the tube. The increasing curvature progressively reduces the angles of incidence of seed impact along the inner front wall until the seed eventually slides along the front wall at the lower end of the seed tube and exits the tube at a uniform, predictable angle. The controlled minimum seed bounce withn the tube provides a generally uniform seed residence time within the tube.

Seed meter seed tube

A mower deck assembly including a unitary housing with an upper, dome-shaped portion is fabricated from a plastic or laminate material. A modular drive including blade spindles and a belt drive is assembled onto a rigid flat metal suppport plate, and the plate is lifted into position within the housing with the drive received within the dome shaped portion. The support plate is fastened to the housing, and is isolated therefrom with elastomeric material to reduce noise and vibration and seal out dust. The dome-shaped portion and the plate define a drive housing which encloses the drive and protects the spindles and belt drive from the environment. The plastic or laminate material can be easily and inexpensively formed to provide the curved surfaces and the like for the housing with the loading being absorbed by the metal support plate.

Modular mower deck with light-weight housing

A quick pneumatic coupling particularly well adapted for use in a folding agricultural planter comprises a rigid plastic funnel mounted to the end of a first conduit and a flexible and resilient rubber flange member mounted to a second conduit. The inner surface of the funnel forms a sealing surface which is contacted by the flange when it is inserted into the funnel. The coupling can be automatically coupled and decoupled by pivotally inserting and withdrawing the flanged member into and out of the receiving funnel.

Pneumatic manifold quick coupling

In a seed meter in which a vacuum source is coupled to the interior of a generally cylindrical housing in which a seed disk is rotatably mounted, a seal in the form of an endless loop is mounted within the housing so as to extend between an inner wall of the housing and a side surface of the seed disk so as to confine the vacuum from the vacuum source to a selected portion of the seed disk. The seal has a first portion of the length thereof extending around a major portion of a circle on the opposite side of a circumferential array of apertures in the seed disk from the axis of rotation of the seed disk and a second portion of the length thereof extending across the circumferential array of apertures and into a region adjacent the axis of rotation to isolate a seed discharge chamber on the other side of the seed disk from the vacuum source. The seal has a base portion extending along the length thereof and releasably mounted within a holder mounted on the inner wall of the housing, the base portion having ribs in the opposite sides thereof which fit into mating grooves in the side walls of the holder. The seal also has a thin lip portion along the length thereof which emanates from an edge of the base portion opposite the inner wall of the housing and which extends in a direction outwardly and away from the axis of rotation of the disk and into contact with the side surface of the disk.

Growing community of inventors

Rock Island, IL, United States of America

Jay H Olson