Planting – Dibbling – Manually-operated implements
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-21
2001-08-28
Novosad, Christopher J. (Department: 3671)
Planting
Dibbling
Manually-operated implements
C007S114000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06279496
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand-held seed planter devices and more particularly to an improved, hand-held seed planter that features a staff or shaft with an attached seed delivery tube, the lower end portion of the staff being specially shaped to compress a soil mass both underneath and on the side of a cavity that receives the seed to be planted.
2. General Background of the Invention
The effective planting of seed requires preparation of the seed base. A seed has an enhanced chance of success if the cavity that receives the seed has compacted soil, both under and around the seed.
Patents have issued for hand held mechanical devices that enable a user to plant seed. One example of such a device is U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,939 issued to Chancey. The Chancey patent discloses a seed planter having a seed drop tube entrance opening connected to a seed drop tube with a planter assembly leading to a seed release bracket and lever assembly. The device includes a hinged soil penetrator and seed release gate assembly.
Other manually operated seed planters include U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,977 to Maisch; U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,543 issued to Mitchell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,981 issued to Kelly; U.S. Pat. No. 4,165,697 issued to Yeager; U.S. Pat. No. 4,206,714 issued to Walsh; U.S. Pat. No. 4,290,374 issued to Maple; U.S. Pat. No. 4,694,760 issued to Camp; U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,807 issued to Keller; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,797 issued to Tumlin.
Other patents that disclose devices that dispense seeds include, as examples, U.S. Pat. Nos. 431,841; 1,830,283; 5,131,570; and 5,584,256.
Many of these patents are complicated to construct and to use. Many require expensive springs and levers and/or valve members that need to open in order to dispense the seeds. Some have complicated linkage that requires hand operation in order to dispense seeds at the opposing end of the device.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides an improved seed planter having a simple construction, particularly in that there is an absence of any moving parts. The absence of such moving parts in a device of this type is valuable because of the environment in which it is used, namely in soil and around moisture. The construction of the present invention ensures that it is less likely to become fouled and inoperative.
The present invention is a simple apparatus that differs from the above-discussed prior art patents that suffer from too many operating parts, or overly complex construction.
Another problem with many of the prior art patents referred to above is that such devices provide a tube that supplies the seed to be planted, wherein the delivery tube itself is inserted into the ground in order to form the cavity for the seed. In such a situation, the lower end of the dispensing tube can commonly clog or foul and become inoperative.
The present invention provides an improved planting apparatus that features a staff or rod having a lower distal end portion that is a tapered, such as a truncated cone or a frustoconical member. In one embodiment, the lower end portion of the rod or staff is a truncated pyramid that can be an oval or rectangular cross section. The present invention easily functions to both form a cavity and plant a seed using a separate rod and delivery tube arrangement.
The rod is pushed into the ground to form a cavity. The flat, distal end of the rod compacts the soil under the plant site. The tapered side wall of the lower end of the rod compacts soil that surrounds the seed. In this fashion, when the seed is released from the tube into the planting site, it actually rests on top of compacted soil and is surrounded by compacted soil. Such a compacted bed is important for the seed to be able to germinate rapidly and establish a good firm root structure, grow, and nominally retain moisture in the indentation formed.
The present invention thus provides a tapered lower end portion which not only compacts the soil under the plant site but also around the plant site to thereby retain moisture in the period immediately following planting of the seed contributing to the early germination of the seed.
The apparatus of the present invention provides a supporting rod structure with an adaptive tip for preparing the seed bed when the rod is pressed into the soil a desired depth. The rod is then retracted so that the seed delivery tube discharge opening can be placed adjacent the hole that was formed by the lower, shaped end portion of the rod.
The seed traverses the seed delivery tube from the top of the tube. The seed is discharged from an outlet or discharge opening at the lower end of the delivery tube, and into the plant site. The conduit or seed delivery tube can have a funnel at the top for facilitating receipt of the seed to be planted.
One of the features of the present invention is that the discharge outlet at the lower end of the tube is never inserted into the ground to become clogged or fouled. Likewise, there are no moving parts to bind, rust or otherwise become non-functional because of the influence of soil, moisture and the like.
The present invention thus provides a simple, easy to use yet rugged construction for a seed planter that plants seeds with simple, one-handed operation to promote easier growth for the seed and plant.
The lower end portion of the device provides a tapered end with a flat extreme lower end. This construction opens the soil and promotes growth by providing a flat spot for the seed and a conically shaped side wall for the seed cavity.
The seed planting apparatus of the present invention includes an elongated planter rod member having an upper end portion and a lower end portion.
An elongated seed delivery tube is positioned next to the planter, the tube having a bore and an outlet.
The outlet is preferably positioned above the lower end portion of the planter member. The planter member has a lower end portion that is preferably a truncated cone or a frustoconical shape. The end of the planter member thus provides an end and a tapered side wall. The end portion is preferably flat and can be circular, oval or rectangular in shape. The delivery tube has a lower end portion with an outlet that communicates with the bore of the delivery tube and that is so positioned that when a user drops a seed into the tube, the seed exits the tube at the outlet and falls next to the lower end portion of the planter member.
REFERENCES:
patent: 431841 (1890-07-01), Davis
patent: 1830283 (1931-11-01), Madderra
patent: 2248176 (1941-07-01), Johnson
patent: 2767820 (1956-10-01), Ramsey
patent: 3797417 (1974-03-01), Hahn
patent: 4114543 (1978-09-01), Mitchell
patent: 4123980 (1978-11-01), Winston
patent: 4165697 (1979-08-01), Yeager et al.
patent: 4206714 (1980-06-01), Walsh
patent: 4218981 (1980-08-01), Kelly
patent: 4290374 (1981-09-01), Maples
patent: 4694760 (1987-09-01), Camp
patent: 4736694 (1988-04-01), Kratky et al.
patent: 4760807 (1988-08-01), Keller
patent: 4896797 (1990-01-01), Tumlin
patent: 4932339 (1990-06-01), List
patent: 5131570 (1992-07-01), Sawyer, III
patent: 5325798 (1994-07-01), Nowell et al.
patent: 5471939 (1995-12-01), Chancey
patent: 5493977 (1996-02-01), Maisch
patent: 5584256 (1996-12-01), Fleming
patent: 5924369 (1999-07-01), Hatcher
patent: 562768 (1957-03-01), None
Mitchell Hollis D.
Mitchell Marie E.
Garvey, Smith, Nehrbass & Doody LLC
Novosad Christopher J.
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