Seed meter seed tube

Abstract

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.