Deere & Company

Probe Adventures, Inc.

Great Plains Manufacturing, Incorporated

Agri-technology Inc.

Mark R Underwood

Sushil V Dwyer

Elijah Beckham Garner

Dnyanesh Dhobale

Kamalakannan Natarajan

Jacob D Salowitz

Charles T Graham

Drew M Whitcomb

Michael L Rhodes

Cary S Hubner

Rodney Hake

Alan Van Nahmen

Drew Whitcomb

A seed firmer for pressing seeds into soil during planting. The seed firmer includes a mount for attachment to a row unit of a planting machine. An arm defines a ground-facing surface having at least one point of contact with the ground, including a rearmost ground contact point with respect to a direction of forward travel during planting operation. The ground-facing surface has a transition section directly trailing a rearmost ground contact point, the transition section can extending upwardly from the rearmost ground contact point with a radius no less than 25 mm.

Seed firmer

A seeding machine includes a main frame and a row unit coupled to the main frame. The row unit has a row unit frame and a seed firmer coupled to the row unit frame. The seeding machine also includes a seed detection sensor coupled to the seed firmer. The seed detection sensor is configured to detect seed position within an open furrow.

Device and method for detecting and reporting seed placement

A seed firmer for pressing seeds into soil during planting. The seed firmer includes a mount for attachment to a row unit of a planting machine. An arm defines a ground-facing surface having at least one point of contact with the ground, including a rearmost ground contact point with respect to a direction of forward travel during planting operation. The ground-facing surface has a transition section directly trailing a rearmost ground contact point, the transition section can extending upwardly from the rearmost ground contact point with a radius no less than 25 mm. Also, in some constructions the rearmost section of the ground-facing surface defines a ratio of horizontal distance to vertical height that is no less than 1.2:1.

The spike wheels of the harrow are arranged in gangs to rotate about a common axis during ground engagement. Each wheel has a plurality of spikes that project outwardly from a cylindrical hub having a pair of opposite ends. Projections at one end of the hub are matingly received within notches in the opposite end of the hub of the next adjacent wheel so that the wheels are interlocked for rotation in unison. The projections on each hub are offset angularly from the notches by a certain amount so that adjacent wheels are correspondingly rotatively offset from one another. The outermost tips of the spikes of each wheel are inturned to a certain extent so as to render each wheel generally concavo-convex, with the concave sides of the wheels leading as the machine is pulled through the field. Front gangs of the wheels are disposed in a certain oblique attitude with respect to the path of travel of the machine, while rear gangs are disposed in opposite oblique attitudes.

Rolling spike harrow

A tree saw attachment ( ) for use with a loader vehicle includes a base frame ( ), a generally V-shaped blade assembly ( ), a brush guard ( ), and a tweezer arm assembly ( ). A swingable tweezer arm ( ) of the tweezer arm assembly is movable using a hydraulic cylinder ( ) to grasp objects against an upper surface of the base frame or the blade assembly. The brush guard and tweezer arm assembly are removable from the base frame as a single unit to facilitate shipping and assembly. A sprayer assembly ( ) is positioned within the base frame for applying a herbicide to tree stumps cut by the V-shaped blade assembly. The blade assembly can be a single integral blade ( ), or can be formed of right and left blades ( ) with intermeshing projections ( ) secured to a rib member ( ) along a centerline of the blade assembly.

Tree saw attachment with tweezer arm

A threshing assembly is provided for a combine having a frame mounted on wheels and a longitudinal axis. The threshing assembly is formed from a threshing rotor disposed within a perforated threshing cage. At least one helical vane, formed of high strength plastic, mounts to the interior of the threshing cage and extends along the length of the threshing cage. The radial height of the vane is graduated along the length of the threshing cage from the forward end to the rearward end for threshing of different size grain crop. Rasp bars of the threshing rotor also have heights that increase along the length of the threshing rotor, from the forward end to the rearward end, to correspond to the decrease in height of the vanes.

Threshing assembly for a combine

A grain combine threshes grain from crop and deposits the grain in a grain bin. A discharge conveyor is mounted to the grain bin. At the distal end of the discharge conveyor is a discharge for expelling the grain. A telescopic, secondary unloader which is smaller than the discharge conveyor is located immediately below the discharge. The secondary unloader may be variably extended beyond the end of the discharge, or retracted when it is not in use. The secondary unloader is divided into grain conveying and paddle return sections which are formed from a partition which extends along the length of the secondary unloader. Paddles are provided in each section and are joined to a continuous flexible linkage mounted around sprockets. The secondary unloader uses hydraulic cylinders to extend and retract. When the secondary unloader is retracted, it is recessed inward from the distal end of the discharge conveyor which operates in a conventional manner by discharging grain from the discharge. When the secondary unloader is in an extended position, the reach of the discharge conveyor is extended by the length of the secondary unloader. In the extended position, grain is expelled from the discharge and falls into the grain conveying sections at the proximal end of the secondary unloader. The secondary unloader then conveys the grain to its distal end where the grain is expelled.

Expandable and retractable unloader

The invention provides an improved ripple pan which compensates for the over-deposition of threshed grain onto the outer portions of the grain pan by channeling the grain to the center of the pan. The pan has a central section with ripples that are perpendicular to the flow of the grain, and two outer sections with outer edges that are elevated above the central section. The ripples on the two outer sections are biased such that the outer edges of the ripples are located rearward of the inner edges of the ripples. An alternate embodiment of this invention solves the problem of excessive grain deposition in the central section of the ripple pan. This embodiment has two outer sections configured similarly to the first embodiment and a central section with a center peak which slopes downward on either side of the peak to the inner edges of the outer sections.

Combine ripple pan

A grain combine for threshing grain from crop has a threshing rotor within a rotor housing, a front plate with a crop entry hole, a stationary ring mounted on the rearward side of the front plate, a plastic bearing pad mounted on the outer surface of the stationary ring, and a rotating ring mounted to the forward end of the rotor housing which lands on the bearing pad, thereby supporting the rotor housing. The bearing pad has a soft, elastomeric inner layer adjacent to the stationary ring, and a hard, elastomeric outer layer adjacent to the rotating ring. In addition, the rotating ring has a plurality of holes that allow dirt or other foreign material to exit the rotor housing.

Nylatron support bearing for cage

A straw discharge assembly allows the beater to reach further towards the rotational axis of the threshing rotor, thus enabling it to remove a greater percentage of the straw which otherwise collects on the housing frame members. The beater has a barrel-shaped body, but it takes on an hourglass shape as it is divided into a center section with shorter blades and two side sections with longer blades, giving the center section a smaller effective diameter than the two side sections. The beater does not interfere with the rotational path of the rotor housing frame even though it is effectively closer to the housing frame. With their longer blades, the side sections are closer to the rotating frame legs and can therefore pull down and discharge more of the obstructed straw. The discharge grate is conformed to the effective shape of the rotor in a similar fashion.

Hour glass shape discharge beater

A trailer assembly is provided for towing a vehicle having a lift arm which can be raised and lowered. The trailer assembly utilizes a front and rear frame support which are coupled to opposite ends of the frame of the vehicle being towed. A support leg, which is pivotally mounted to the front frame support, is coupled to the lift arm of the vehicle so that a support end of the support leg engages the ground, lifting the front frame support and causing the vehicle being towed to be raised off the ground. The rear frame support also has wheels which can be retracted and extended to facilitate lifting of the vehicle.

Combine trailer

A grain harvesting combine has an elevator system for conveying tailings and clean grain. The tailings are conveyed above the grain storage bin where they enter a chute and flow back to the threshing rotor. A window located at the entrance of the chute cooperates with impellers on the threshing rotor to create a strong downdraft to facilitate flow of the tailings. A stuck crop chamber has a trap door that senses when product jams in the elevator and automatically opens to discharge crop if so.

Combine elevator system

A combine for harvesting a crop has a threshing assembly with a threshing rotor and a threshing grate. The threshing assembly locates within the framework of the combine. A threshing assembly frame mounts to the threshing assembly and is removably mounted to the framework of the combine so that the threshing assembly is held within the framework. The threshing assembly frame has a support leg for engaging the ground so that the frame and threshing assembly can be supported in a freestanding position when removed from the combine. The frame is oriented in the freestanding position to facilitate mounting of the threshing assembly frame and threshing assembly to the framework. The frame has a pair of side members that are located on opposite sides of threshing assembly which correspond to guide members mounted to the framework. The side members allow the threshing assembly frame to be inserted into and pulled out of the framework of the combine. Forward support members are pivotally mounted to the frame and movable between a raised and lowered position. The forward support members engage the support surface when moved to the lowered position so that the threshing assembly frame and threshing assembly can be pulled from the framework of the combine. Lift means is provided with the forward support member for moving the forward support member between the raised and lowered positions.

Modular threshing assembly for a combine

A grain combine according to the present invention includes a header having two sickles which extend on opposite sides of the combine for severing crop from a field, and two augers which extend on opposite sides of the combine for moving crop inward to central section of the combine. A centerline drive mechanical power transfer means directly connects to the two sickles and two augers at a point intermediate of the two sickles and two augers. A feeder has two conveyors, one located above the other, for transporting crop from the header to a primary threshing rotor. The two conveyors converge towards an aft end of the feeder to compress the crop therebetween. A perforated plate is provided beneath the aft end of the feeder for separating prethreshed grain from the crop. The prethreshed grain is passed through the perforated plate, onto a prethreshed grain conveyor and transported to a sieve section. The feeder passes the crop into the combine and through a cover plate having two apertures for passing the crop to opposite sides of a threshing rotor. The cover plate further has rearward facing bars. An impeller is mounted to the forward end of the threshing rotor and includes forward facing rasp bars which press the crop into the cover plate and the rearward facing bars mounted to an aft end of the cover plate.

Header and feeder for a grain combine

A grain combine according to the present invention includes a primary threshing rotor which rotates to thresh grain from crop, a sieve section for separating grain from chaff, a clean grain conveyor, a clean grain storage bin, and a rethreshing section for rethreshing tailings. The rethreshing section has a rethreshing rotor which receives the tailings from the sieve section. The rethreshing rotor extends completely across an end of the sieve section for rotating about an axis which extends in parallel to the end of the sieve section. The rethreshing rotor includes rasp bars which extend along the end of the sieve section for receiving the tailings and pressing the tailings against a rethreshing pan. In a preferred embodiment, blowers are provided for removing loose chaff from the tailings in the rethreshing section. The rethreshed tailings, including clean grain separated from the tailings by rethreshing, are returned to the primary rotor for rethreshing.

Growing community of inventors

Burr Oak, KS, United States of America

Mark R Underwood