Seed Treatment Apparatus

Abstract

A seed treatment apparatus provides for minimal waste of products for treating seeds, in that it is precisely controllable and automatically adjustable. A volume of seeds to be treated and a flow rate of treatment product for treating the seeds can both be sensed. At least one of the flow rate of the treatment product and the volume of seeds can automatically be adjusted if it is determined that a ratio of the flow rate of treatment product to the volume of seeds is not the same as a predetermined flow rate to volume ratio.

1 . A seed treatment apparatus, comprising:
 a housing having a seed inlet for receiving seeds and a seed outlet for dispensing seeds;   a seed meter disposed within the housing;   a seed treatment applicator for receiving seeds from the seed meter and treating the seeds;   at least one treatment tank in fluid communication with the seed treatment applicator containing a treatment product to be used by the seed treatment applicator in treating the seeds;   a seed sensor disposed adjacent the seed meter for sensing a volume of seeds to be dispensed from the seed meter to the seed treatment applicator;   a flow sensor disposed adjacent the at least one treatment tank for sensing a flow rate of treatment product being dispensed from the at least one treatment tank to the seed treatment applicator; and   a process controller communicatively coupled with the seed sensor and the flow sensor, such that the process controller automatically adjusts at least one of the flow of treatment product or the volume of seeds in response to a determination, based on the seed sensor and the flow sensor, that a ratio of the flow rate of treatment product to the volume of seeds is not equal to a predetermined flow rate to volume ratio.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined flow rate to volume ratio comprises a range. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the seed meter is a rotatable seed wheel having a plurality of individual slots for containing a volume of seeds measurable with the seed sensor. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a pump in fluid communication with the at least one treatment tank, wherein the pump directs the treatment product from the treatment tank to the seed treatment applicator. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein there are a plurality of treatment tanks containing treatment products in fluid communication with the seed treatment applicator, and wherein the process controller is adapted to mix the treatment products into a predetermined treatment mixture for use in the seed treatment applicator. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the seed treatment applicator includes an atomizer configured as a rotating plate for applying the treatment product to seeds. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the seed treatment applicator further includes a dispersion cone that generally uniformly disperses the seeds around the atomizer. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a control panel adapted to allow a user to monitor and/or control the flow of treatment product and the volume of seeds. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a tumbler drum positioned to receive the seeds after they exit the seed outlet, the tumbler drum adapted to rotate the seeds to distribute the treatment product. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the housing is vertically arranged such that the seed meter is positioned above the seed treatment applicator. 
     
     
         11 . A method of treating seeds with a seed treatment apparatus, comprising:
 depositing a plurality of seeds through a seed inlet in the seed treatment apparatus into a seed meter;   sensing a volume of seeds in the seed meter;   discharging the seeds from the seed meter into a seed treatment applicator;   pumping a treatment product from a treatment tank into the seed treatment applicator to coat the seeds with treatment product;   sensing a flow rate of the treatment product pumped from the treatment tank to the seed treatment applicator; and   discharging the seeds out of a seed outlet,   wherein at least one of the flow rate of the treatment product pumped from the treatment tank to the seed treatment applicator and the volume of seeds sensed in the seed meter is automatically adjusted if it is determined that a ratio of the flow rate of treatment product to the volume of seeds is not equal to a predetermined flow rate to volume ratio.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the predetermined flow rate to volume ratio comprises a range. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein depositing a plurality of seeds into a seed meter includes depositing the seeds into an individual slot of a rotatable seed wheel. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein discharging the seeds from the seed meter into a seed treatment applicator includes rotating the seed wheel to drop the seeds into the seed treatment applicator. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein pumping a treatment product from a treatment tank includes pumping a plurality of treatment products from a plurality of treatment tanks and mixing the treatment products into a predetermined treatment mixture for coating the seeds. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the seed treatment applicator includes an atomizer configured as a rotating plate for coating the seeds and a dispersion cone, and wherein discharging the seeds into the seed treatment applicator includes dropping the seeds onto the dispersion cone to generally uniformly disperse the seeds around the atomizer. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , further comprising manually modifying one of the volume of seeds or the flow rate using a control panel communicatively coupled to the apparatus. 
     
     
         18 . A method of adjusting the application of a treatment product to a plurality of seeds in a seed treatment apparatus, comprising:
 metering a volumetric seed feed rate of seeds to be treated in the seed treatment apparatus with a control processor;   controlling the flow rate of a treatment product for treating the seeds by the control processor;   sensing the flow rate of the treatment product with a flow meter for regulating the flow rate; and   automatically adjusting by the control processor at least one of the flow rate of the treatment product and the volume of seeds for maintaining a desired application rate.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein one of the flow rate of the treatment product or the volume of seeds is manually adjusted through the control processor. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the desired application rate comprises a range.