WO2012007964A2

WO2012007964A2 - A direct seed sowing machine for multiple type of seeds with adjustable seed distances

Info

Publication number: WO2012007964A2
Application number: PCT/IN2011/000462
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chinthala Venkat Reddy
Original assignee: Chinthala Venkat Reddy
Priority date: 2010-07-12
Filing date: 2011-07-12
Publication date: 2012-01-19
Also published as: WO2012007964A3

Abstract

A direct seed sowing machine for multiple type of seeds with adjustable seed distances comprises a funnel shaped seed container (10) with rectangular or square shaped top opening for loading the seeds and a narrow bottom opening attached to a casing (20). The casing covers the rotating drum (30) and has a lower opening attached to a furrowing means (16) which comprises a seed outlet pipe and a means for furrowing the land. The rotating drum has grooves assembly (21) comprising multiple numbers of grooves for multiple types of seeds having different shapes and sizes. Atleast one pair of grooves have same shape and size. The machine can be used for sowing the seeds in multiple numbers of rows at a time. The distance between two adjacent seeds in a row and the distance between two adjacent rows can be adjusted as per the requirement of the crop.

Description

A direct seed sowing machine for multiple type of seeds with adjustable seed distances

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a direct seed sowing machine for multiple type of seeds with adjustable seed distances. More particularly, the invention relates to a seed sowing machine to be used in the agriculture for directly sowing the seeds in the farmland by ploughing, furrowing and accurately placing the seeds at the predetermined distances, wherein the same machine can be used for multiple type of seeds having different shape, size, weight and surface area and the distance between two adjacent seeds in the same row and the distance between two seeds of the adjacent rows may be adjusted as. per the requirement. The machine can be pulled by human being, animals or some machine like tractor etc.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The human civilization survives on food. Food is the basic necessity for survival of all the living organisms on this earth, whether it's human or animals. Irrespective of the wealth and status of the individual, food is the basic necessity for every human being. With the increase in the world population demand for food is also increasing day-by-day whereas, the agricultural land on the earth is limited.

Therefore, to meet the increasing food demand of the world it is necessary that the production of • agricultural crops and vegetables should be increased accordingly. At the same time, it is also necessary that the cost of production of the agricultural crops should be kept under control in order to keep these commodities within the reach of the poor population.

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The productivity of the farmland can be increased by using nutritional supplements like manures and using various modern scientific techniques to increase the crop yield. Whereas, the cost of the production of the crops like cereals, wheat, rice, pulses, vegetables etc can be reduced in two — ways-he— by-getting-the-maximum-ou also by reducing the labor cost, minimizing the seed wastage, adopting the planned cultivation so that allowing the plants to extract and utilize the maximum nutrients available in a specific area of the farmland and possibly by reducing the crop-time right from cultivation to harvesting, so that more number of crops can be obtained in a year from the same farmland. Further, such technique should be economical and affordable to the public at large, worldwide.

Cultivation of some crops like paddy generally requires manual transplantation of the paddy plants in the farmland, wherein the paddy seeds are germinated and grown as small juvenile plants/seedlings on a separate piece of land and then uprooted from there for transplantation in a large farmland. This transplantation is done manually by human labors and a large number labors are required per acre for paddy plantation which results in increased labor cost. Further, most often, two or more paddy plants are planted together by the labours at the same place, instead of one, which results in wastage of the seeds. At the same time, since two or more plants are planted together in a specific area of the farmland, these plants compete with each other for the nutritional supplements, water etc available in the specific area which results into nutrition deprived plants resulting into low crop yield. Further, in the process of separate germination, uprooting and plantation of the paddy plants in the farmland, around 10-15 days of the precious crop-time are wasted.

Further, due to the cost of the seed, it is important to efficiently utilize the seeds during sowing. However, because of the many variable characteristics of the seeds, such as shape, size, weight, fluffiness, dryness, surface area etc., metering the required seeds during sowing has always been a problem.

In the prior art, various efforts have been made to develop such machines which are capable of sowing the seeds at predetermined distances but these machines have some or other drawbacks associated with them, like limitation of sowing only single type of seeds, complicated design and cost of the machine, etc.

Therefore, it has been a longstanding requirement to develop such method and / or machine which can overcome the problems specified in the above paragraphs. Such method / machine should be able to reduce the labor cost by increasing the number of seeds sown per unit time, minimizing the seed wastage by placing just one seed at a time at the predetermined distance, by reducing the crop-time more particularly in case of paddy crops, and also such machine should be capable of being used for multiple crops and multiple type of seeds having different seed size, shape, weight and surface area, and where the distance between two adjacent seeds in a row and 5 distance between two adjacent rows can be adjusted.

Various efforts have been made in the prior art to develop such machines and methods to fulfill the above requirements, but at present a suitable system does not exist which can effectively overcome the problems specified in above paragraphs.

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Commonly, the existing apparatuses which cany out the sowing process consist of boxes, barrels ■ and hoppers. A typical hopper for example may be rectangular at the top and trapezoidal at the bottom. The slope of the side walls is so selected that flow of seed is not hampered.

A hole or holes is provided at the bottom of the hopper and is usually circular in shape. For seed 15 which is not free flowing (oats, grass) an agitator may be fitted to keep the seeds moving in the hopper.

Typically, the agitator is constructed to rotate on a horizontal shaft in the hopper and during rotation of the agitator; seed is swept across the hole at the bottom of the hopper. Although the 20 use of an agitator in the hopper is advantageous but problems such as inaccurate seeding rate and inadequate seed capacity still remain, mainly due to peripheral speed of the agitator because of its large diameter.

European Patent EP 0598636 Bl discloses a single grain sowing machine. The problem with 25 such a single grain sowing machine of large work width comprises that the individual side segments have to be brought from the working position into a transport position relative to the center part. Previous flap in mechanisms comprise that a parallelogram like linkage of rods is disposed between the center part and the side segments, wherein the outer section is pivoted in over the center part by way of the parallelogram like linkage of rods. This hinge technology is

-30-— very expensive and costly. For example the German printed patent document 4303101 shows such a pivoting in. Further, agricultural machines described in the prior art normally have a seed container that is earned by the framework of the agricultural machine. From the seed container, seed is metered out to tools arranged at the machine, which first slice or tear a seed furrow in the soil, where the seed is placed at a predetennined depth. In many cases it is important that this depth be kept as constant as possible during the sowing process. The use of an agricultural machine according to the above can result in the sowing depth not being kept constant and regulation of the sowing depth, so as to keep it constant, can be expensive and complicated.

U.K. Patent 1 136771 describes a method of sowing seed comprising projecting seed into the ground at atleast supersonic speed; this enables the seed to be sown quickly and conveniently, and the method dispenses with the need to plough or turn the soil before sowing which is advantageous. The apparatus described in No.1 136771 for achieving this method comprises a seed discharging chamber including a discharge nozzle, the chamber receiving seed from a suitable seed storage container and a high pressure air source e.g. compressor is connected to the discharge chamber and selectively operable to cause expulsion of seed from the chamber via the nozzle. For controlled discharge of seed, the nozzle walls can be of flexible material and the throat of the nozzle of a size slightly smaller than a single seed, the high pressure air forcing seed individually through the flexible nozzle throat. To enable effective operation, the above apparatus has used air at a pressure of 180 p.s.i. This is disadvantageous due to the relatively high cost of providing a compressor to produce such high pressure, and it is also a serious drawback to deliver the seed prior to sowing into such a high pressure environment.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,661discloses an apparatus having in the lower zone of a seed container a conveyor belt which passes over two rollers and the lower run of which runs closely over a circumferential section of a rotating wall. The conveyor belt conveys seed grains out of the seed container into the space between the lower run of the conveyor belt and the wall. In this wall there are receptacles into which tappets engage from radially inwardly and are so controlled by a stationary cam track that, in the lower position of the wall, they are pushed radially outwardly through the receptacles and press the seed grains into the soil. The known apparatus calls for a considerable constructional expenditure. In addition, the conveyor belt is merely a transporting device which does not separate the seed grains.

Also known, there is an apparatus for depositing seed grains (DE-OS No. 1457 832), which comprises a feeding wheel rotatable about a horizontal axis. The cells of this wheel are only open radially outwardly. A circumferential section of the wheel extends into a seed container to fill the cells with one seed grain each. The cells are then covered radially outwardly by a housing until they reach a discharge station. At this station, which is disposed in the lower zone of the feeding wheel, the seed grains disposed in the cells fall out under gravity and centrifugal force and reach a gap between two discs which are of flexible material and the axes of which are so offset from each other that these two discs directly lie on each other at one half of their circumference whereas they define a gap of uneven width in the other half. One of the two discs is driven. The seed grains that have entered the gap are now clamped at the outer rim of the two discs and taken along to a discharge station in the lower zone of these two discs where the grains are released from the discs with the aid of a wedge. The grains are then thrown into the furrow in the soil.

The main disadvantage in this known apparatus is that the seed grains are freely flung at the two discs and then discharged by these into the furrow. Both flinging paths are haphazard and therefore permit inaccuracies to occur in the individual depositing of the grains. In addition, when depositing the seed grains in this known apparatus, they are not pressed into the soil and therefore the desired capillary water supply to the seed grains is not ensured.

The distribution of seed for agricultural purposes is usually accomplished by a tractor pulling a seed dispensing device or several such devices which extend transversely of the tractor's longitudinal axis while the seeds' are continuously dispensed in furrows formed in the field. A selective seed planter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,746 of June 11, 1968 to H. W. Whipple.

For maximum yield, the operator of the tractor controls the number of seeds planted per acre.

This is usually accomplished by a counter device which counts the number of seeds dispensed. The counting device may be operated mechanically by the dispensing device or may constitute remote sensors of one type or another. For example, in US Patent No. 3537091, photosensitive elements are disclosed for this purpose Ultrasonic transducer elements are used in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,881,353, whereby the detecting apparatus may be operable when the seeds are received through openings of relatively large cross-section. Seed counters such as indicated above may have difficulty maintaining accuracy and may malfunction due to the coincidental receipt of seeds in the sensing area or with dust or moisture collecting on and near the sensors, or because of clogging in or prior to the sensing area.

US Patent No. 3913503 discloses a single seed planter having a compartment carrier, drum or belt, continuously running in a casing which has an opening from which to dispense seed. The compartments are filled in the upper portion of the planter with one seed per compartment. A feed worm is disposed adjacent the opening of the casing and receives the seeds as dropping from the opening. Feed worm and compartment carrier are driven in synchronism, and the worm moves the seed down for planting them into the ground at regular spacing and along a rather straight line. The feed worm is contained in a tube but projects therefrom at the lower end.

It can be concluded that various efforts have been made in the past for placing the single seed grains at the predetermined places in the farmland, but none of the prior art discloses a device or machine or method which can be used for ploughing, furrowing and placing multiple type of seeds having different size, shape and surface area at the predetermined distance by a single machine, wherein the distance between two adjacent seeds can be adjusted as per the requirement and the seeds can be planted in a multiple number of rows at a time using a single machine. Further, prior art also does not disclose any such machine which is not limited for it's operations to any specific pulling machine like tractor.

OBJECT

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a machine which can be used for directly sowing multiple types of seeds into the farmland.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine which can be used for accurately placing single seed grains at the predetermined distances. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multipurpose machine which can be used for ploughing, furrowing as well as sowing the seeds at predetermined distances.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a multipurpose machine for directly sowing multiple type of seeds having different shape, size, weight and surface area depending upon the crop requirements.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine assembly for concurrently sowing the seeds at predetermined distances in a multiple number of rows.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for sowing the seeds, wherein the distance between two seeds in the same row and the distance between two seeds in the adjacent rows can be adjusted as per the requirement. Another object of the present invention is to provide a multipurpose seed sowing machine for directly sowing the seeds at predetermined distances which is very easy to use, economical and affordable in cost and not limited to the use of any other machine like tractor for its operations. Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for directly sowing the seeds at predetermined distances which can be pulled by human beings, animals as well as by some pulling device like tractor, depending upon the financial capacity of the user / farmer.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a machine for directly sowing the seeds of paddy crop, eliminating the separate germination and manual transplantation of the paddy plants, thereby reducing crop-time from cultivation to harvesting by about 15 days.

Further object of the present invention is to provide a method of directly sowing the seeds at predetermined distances wherein the distance between two seeds in the same row and distance between two adjacent rows can be adjusted as per the requirement.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of directly sowing multiple types of seeds at predetermined distances having different size, shape, weight and surface area. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.

A direct seed sowing machine for multiple types of seeds with adjustable seed distances is disclosed in the present invention. The machine comprises a funnel shaped container for storing the seeds having a top opening and a bottom opening. The top opening may be rectangular or square shaped. The bottom opening may have a length of 1 to 18 inches parallel to the movement direction of the drum. The bottom opening of the container has a width which is more than the thickness but less than the length of the seed. In one embodiment of the invention, the width of the bottom opening of the container is less than one inch. The container generally has but not limited to a V shaped funnel type structure.

The container is attached to the casing at the bottom end which covers the rotating drum in the peripheral region. The inner surface of the casing and the outer surface of the rotating drum have a very marginal space in-between which does not allow any other seed to enter into this space, other than the one that sits and fits into the groove.

The casing has a lower opening attached to a furrowing means which comprises of a seed outlet pipe. The furrowing means makes a furrow in the farmland and drops the seeds in the furrowed land. The casing and the body of the machine are attached to a pair of wheels through horizontal shaft. The machine is also attached to another pair of wheels joined together through another horizontal shaft. One or more ploughing means are also mounted on the second shaft in the front direction of the machine. Both the horizontal shafts are attached with each other. The wheels along with the shafts help in supporting the body. A supporting rod attached to the container and the shaft of the front wheels keeps the container in an upright vertical position. A facilitating rod attached to the shaft penetrates across the bottom of the container and has a rotational movement and facilitates the smooth rotation of the seeds in bottom opening area of the container. The peripheral surface of the rotating drum has a grooves assembly which may be in multiple numbers and may differ in their shape and size. In one of the preferred embodiment of the invention, atleast one pair of groove assembly situated just opposite to each other has the same shape and size. Different type of grooves can be made on the drum as per the crop requirement and the shape and size of different types of seeds like paddy, wheat, cereals, barley, sorghum, mustard, fruits, vegetables etc. The distance between two adjacent seeds in a row can be adjusted by variation in diameter of the rotating drum and also by making more pair of groove assemblies of the same shape and size on the rotating drum of the same diameter.

The distance between two adjacent rows may be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the distance between two adjacent machine units placed parallel to each other in an assembly of two or more machine units. The distance may be adjusted by distance adjustable screws or nuts. The distance adjustable screws can be used to fix machine units on the shaft at the desired distance by getting it screwed in the short extension protruding on both side of the drum or the casing in the axial region. The distance adjustable screws or nuts are screwed on the shaft passing through the protrusion and axis of the drum. Each drum or casing unit has the screwing protrusions on both sides and each protruding extension has a hole with internal threads to complement the threads on the tightening screw or nut. The holes on both the extensions of each drum or casing are made in a direction opposite to each other in such a way that the screw or nut on one side of the drum or casing will have an opposite orientation relative to the screw present on the other side of same drum or casing. The shaft also has shallow grooves to provide additional support to the screw for a better grip on the shaft. The machine units can be fixed at the desired distances on the shaft with the help of the distance adjustable means and thereby the distance between two seeds in the adjacent rows can be adjusted.

The shape and size of the groove ensures that only one seed is fitted in one empty groove. The grooves may have some reasonable tolerance limit to accommodate seeds in the given lot.

The ploughing means mounted on the shaft is very advantageous for the crops like wheat, pulses etc which require a semi-dried land for sowing the seeds. The present machine assembly can be used for directly ploughing, furrowing and sowing the seeds in multiple numbers of rows simultaneously by adding more machine units parallel to each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the direct seed sowing machine. . Figure 2 is horizontal cross section of the container showing top and bottom openings with orientation of groove assembly, facilitating rod and facilitating supports.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section of the funnel shaped container. Figure 4 is an enlarged top view of the drum showing presence of multiple grooves of different shapes and sizes. ^

Figure 5 is a vertical cross section of the drum with groove assembly. Figure 6 is a vertical cross section showing container with top and bottom openings, drum with grooves assembly, casing, and furrowing means attached to the casing.

Figure 7 is a perspective view showing multiple machine units placed adjacent to each other in a machine assembly.

Figure 8 is a top plan view showing the machine assembly with wheels and shaft.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein with reference to the drawings. However, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a funnel shaped container 10 for storing the seeds having a top opening 1 and a bottom opening 2. The top opening 1 may be rectangular shaped or square shaped. The bottom opening 2 may have a length of 1 to 18 inches parallel to the movement direction of the drum 30 -· i.e. the length of the bottom opening 2 of the container 10 may be from 1 to 18 inches in a front 100 to back 200 direction of the machine. The bottom opening 2 of the container 10 has a width which is more than the thickness but less than the length of the seed. In one embodiment of the invention, bottom opening 2 has a width of less than one inch. The top opening 1 of the container 10 has a rectangular or square shape and while moving downwards all the four side walls of the container converge towards each other, thereby narrowing the space in-between and giving a V shaped funnel type structure to the container 10. The container may also have a conical, cylindrical, trigonal, pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal funnel type structure. The container 10 is meant for storing the seeds and allowing the free fall of the seeds from top to bottom towards the rotating drum 30. The container 10 is attached to a casing 20 at the bottom end. The casing 20 covers the rotating drum 30 and has an upper opening 11 attached with the bottom opening 2 of the container 10. The casing 20 very closely covers the rotating drum 30. The entire drum 30 may be enclosed in the casing or only the peripheral surface of the drum may be covered with the casing. In one embodiment of the invention, only the peripheral surface of the drum is covered with the casing 20. The nner-surfaGe-of-the-casing-20 and the outer surface of-the rotating-drum 30-have a very marginal space in-between which allows the free movement of the rotating drum 30 inside the casing 20, but does not allow any other seed other than those fitted in the grooves to enter into this space. The casing 20 very closely covers the rotating drum 30 and the space between the casing 20 and the rotating drum 30 is always less than the thickness of the seeds.

The casing 20 has a lower opening 12 in the lower portion attached to a furrowing means 13. The furrowing means 13 comprises a seed outlet pipe which has a tubular shape in the upper end 14 i.e. the end of the seed outlet pipe which is attached to the lower opening 12 of the casing. The · lower end of the furrowing means 13 has a half-cut-open tubular structure 15. The furrowing means are designed to make a furrow in the farmland and to drop the seeds in the furrowed land, received from the lower opening 12 of the casing 20. The specially designed half-cut-open tubular structure of the lower end of the furrowing means 13 allows the straight fall of the seeds in the furrow but prevents it from getting blocked due to mud and sand. Further, the seeds are not left on the surface of the ground, but they are dropped in the ground in furrow.

The casing and the body of the machine is attached to a pair of wheels 40 through horizontal shaft 41. The shaft 41 provides support to the body of the machine, like a chassis of vehicle, to get it attached to the wheels 40 and allows free movement of the rotating drum 30. The machine is also attached to another pair of wheels 42 joined together through horizontal shaft 43. One or . more ploughing means 16 may also be mounted on the shaft 43 in the front direction 100 of the machine i.e. in the direction of movement of the machine. This ploughing means is meant for ploughing and tilling the farmland. In one embodiment of the invention the ploughing means are very advantageous for the crops in which seeds are sown in dried or semi-dried land rather than the muddy land.

The horizontal shaft 41 and 43 are attached with each other through a pair of connecting shaft 44 and 45. The wheels 40 and 42 along with the shafts 41 and 43 and connecting shafts 44 and 45 provide a chassis to the machine assembly. A supporting rod 61 is attached at one end to the container 10 in the front direction 100 and has a free other end. The free end of the supporting rod 61 can be attached to the shaft 43 by a screw means and may be fixed at the desired place on the -shaft-43-.-The shaft-43-has means-like-holes with inner threads to complement the screws to - get the supporting rod 61 fixed at the desired places on the shaft 43. The supporting rod 61 supports the body of machine and keeps the container 10 in an upright vertical position.

Each drum 30 or casing 20 unit has distance adjusting means comprising small protruding extensions on both side of the drum 30 or casing 20 at the axis. These extensions have a hole with internal threads to complement the threads on the tightening screw or nut 60 on both sides of the drum 30 or casing 20. The holes on the extensions on each side of drum or casing have an opposite orientation relative to each other. The screw or nut 60 may be used to fit into the holes and fix the machine units on the shaft 41. The shaft 41 attached to wheels 40 at both ends passes through the extensions and axis of the drum. The place of the machine unit and distance between two adjacent machines in the machine assembly may be adjusted by adjusting its placing on the shaft 41. The tightening screw 60 may be used to fix the machine on shaft 41 at the desired distance. One machine assembly may have one or more machine units on a single shaft 41 fixed at desired distances. The shaft 41 may also have shallow grooves to provide better grip and support to the tightening screw 60. The opposite orientation of each pair of screws 60 on each drum or casing prevents the displacement of the machine units on the shaft 41.

A facilitating rod 46 is attached to the shaft 41 through vertically rotating chains 47. The facilitating rod 46 penetrates across the container 10 in the lower region and has a rotational movement with the rotation in the shaft 41. The facilitating rod 46 facilitates the smooth rotation of the seeds in bottom opening area 2 of the container 10 in association with a pair of facilitating supports 48 and 49, one been fixed on each side of the facilitating rod 46. The facilitating supports 48 and 49 may be a straight structure or may have a folding structure. These facilitating supports may either be kept open or may be folded in a knife like fashion. In one embodiment of the invention, the facilitating supports are L-shaped structures attached on both sides of the facilitating rod 46. The height of the facilitating rod 46 from the bottom of the container and length of the facilitating supports may be adjusted according to the size of the container. The facilitating rod 46 and facilitating supports 48, 49 have rotational movement and prevent the seeds from getting settled and fixed in the bottom opening area of the container. The machine body is attached to a pulling means 50 and can be pulled by human beings, animals or some mechanical device like tractor etc.

Referring to figures 2 and 3, the container 10 has a broad rectangular or square shaped top opening 1 and a narrow bottom opening 2. The walls of the container 10 converge from top to bottom and end up in a narrow rectangular opening at the bottom end. The length of the bottom opening 2 can be adjusted as per requirement. However, in one of the preferred embodiments of the invention, this length is 1 to 18 inches and the width of the bottom opening 2 is less than 1 inch and is slightly greater than the width / thickness of the seed but less than the length of the seed. The length of the bottom opening 2 is parallel to the movement direction of rotating drum 30 in a front 100 to back 200 direction of the machine. The bottom of the container 10 is attached to upper opening of the casing 20 which very closely covers the rotating drum 30. The surface of . the underlying rotating drum 30 has a grooves assembly 21. The grooves 21 may be in multiple numbers and may differ in their shape and size. Therefore, a multiple number of grooves with multiple types of shape and size may be carved on the drum 30. In one of the preferred embodiment of the invention, atleast one pair of groove assembly situated just opposite to each other has the same shape and size. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the length of the groove is parallel to the direction of movement of the rotating drum 30. Facilitating rod 46 and a pair of facilitating supports 48 and 49 are horizontally placed at the bottom of the container 10, perpendicular to the movement direction of the rotating drum 30. The facilitating rod 46 has a rotational movement facilitated by the rotation chain 47 whereas, the facilitating supports 48 and 49 attached to the facilitating rod 46 also rotate alongwith the facilitating rod 46. The facilitating rod 46 and facilitating supports 48, 49 ensure smooth and free rotation of the seed in the bottom opening area 2 and also ensure that one seed is filled in each empty groove without any fail.

Referring to Figures 4, and 5, the rotating drum 30 surface is carved with multiple numbers of grooves 21. The grooves 21 have multiple types of shape and size as per the size and shape of multiple types of seeds. Different type of grooves can be made on the drum 30 surface as per the crop requirement and the shape and size of different types of seeds like paddy, wheat, cereals, barley, sorghum, maize, mustard, pulses, fruits, vegetables etc. Further, for each crop also different types of grooves can be made. For example, for paddy crop, different species of the paddy have different shape and size and therefore, separate grooves are made for separate species according to the seed shape and size. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, where the seed has different length and width, the length of the groove is in a direction parallel to the direction of rotating drum 30 movement. In another preferred embodiment of the invention, atleast one pair of groove assembly of the same shape and size is made. The distance between two adjacent seeds can be adjusted by variation in diameter of the rotating drum 30 as per the requirement of the crop. If more distance between the seeds is required, the diameter of the rotating drum can be increased. The distance between the seeds can be reduced by reducing the diameter of the rotating drum. Further, the distance between two adjacent seeds can also be reduced by making more pair of groove assemblies of the same shape and size on the rotating drum of the same diameter.

In one of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance between two adjacent seeds for paddy crop is 10 centimeter. In another embodiment of the invention, the distance between two adjacent seeds for wheat crop is 7.5 centimeter.

Figure 6 shows the vertical cross section of the body of the machine. The container 10 has a funnel shaped structure with rectangular, square, circular, trigonal, pentagonal, hexagonal or octagonal shaped top opening 1 and a narrow bottom opening 2. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the top opening 1 is rectangular or square shaped. The container is attached to the casing 20 which closely covers the rotating drum 30. At the point of attachment of the container to the casing, the bottom opening 2 of the funnel shaped container 10 is in continuation with the upper opening 11 of the casing. The funnel shaped container 10 allows the free flow movement of the seeds from top to bottom. The seeds falling down in the container 10 reach to the drum 30 covered by the casing 20. In one of the preferred embodiment of the invention, the length of the bottom opening 2 continuously attached to the upper opening 11 of the casing 20 has a length of 1 to 18 inches and a width of less than 1 inch. The narrow width of the opening prevents the seeds from reaching the drum 30 in a horizontally perpendicular position. The facilitating rod 46 which has a rotational movement, alongwith the facilitating support rods 48 and 49 ensures that seeds moving down in the container are rotated and aligned in the right direction before reaching to the drum 30. The drum 30 which rotates on the horizontal shaft 41, has multiple groove assemblies 21 carved on its surface. The grooves may have different shape and size in accordance with the shape and size of different types of seeds. However, atleast one pair of the grooves has same shape and size. The groove assembly may have more than one pair of grooves 21 of the same shape and size present on the drum 30 surface. The casing 20 has an lower opening 12 continuing in a furrowing means which comprises seed outlet pipe 14 extending to half-cut-open pipe structure designed for furrowing the land.

The seeds entering the bottom opening 2 pass the upper opening 11 and reach the drum 30 to be trapped / fitted in the empty grooves on the rotating drum 30. The facilitating rod 46 and facilitating support rods 48, 49 ensure the smooth and uninterrupted movement of the seeds on the drum surface without any break in continuity and also ensure that seeds reaching the drum surface have right alignment to fit into the empty grooves 21. The shape and size of the grooves 21 ensures that only one seed is fitted in one empty groove. The grooves may have some reasonable tolerance limit to accommodate seeds in the given lot. The close spacing of the casing 20 and drum 30 ensures that any seed outside groove does not enter into the space either to get the drum jammed or to reach the seed outlet pipe 14. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the drum 30 has multiple pair of grooves with different shape and size for use in multiple crops having varied shape, size, weight and surface area of the seeds grains. Each pair of the grooves 21 is shaped for specific crop seed which exactly fits in that specific seed grain. Therefore, same pair of grooves may not be suited for all kind of seeds.

Once the seed to be sown is decided, the groove pair suited for the selected seed may be identified from the groove assembly. The other grooves which are not suited for the selected seed grain may be temporarily sealed with some removable material like flour paste, adhesive tape etc. In further operation of the machine, when some other seed is selected, the groove pair suited for that seed may be identified from the groove assembly. The groove pairs used in the earlier operation for different seed may now be closed temporarily with temporary sealing material and the sealing material of the identified groove pair is removed for the use. Therefore, the same machine of the invention is suited for different types of seeds and it can be used for multiple numbers of crops without any modification in the machine's basic structure or design. Due to continuous rotational motion of the drum 30, the seed fitted in the groove reaches to the lower opening 12 of the casing 20 and is passed to the furrowing means 13 through seed outlet pipe 14. The lower end 15 of the furrowing means 13 penetrates about 1-2 inches into the land and makes furrow on the land. The seeds falling from the seed outlet pipe 14 reach into the furrowed land with the support of the lower end of the furrowing means 13. Since the diameter of the drum 30 and distance between two grooves 21 of each pair of groove assembly is predetermined therefore, the seeds come out of the machine through seed outlet pipe 14 at a predetermined time interval and are dropped into the land at the predetermined distance.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8, the present machine assembly can be used for directly ploughing, furrowing and sowing the seeds in multiple numbers of rows at the same time. A multiple number of the machines can be fitted on the shaft 41 between a pair of wheels 40 depending upon the requirement. The number of rows i.e. number of machines to be fitted on the shaft 41 may be decided on the basis of crop, size of the land, pulling mechanism to be used etc. In one embodiment of the invention the number of machine units in the machine assembly may be from 1 to 15. The desired number of machine units are fitted on the shaft 41 between the wheels 40. The distance between the seed outlets of two adjacent machine units in the system is 30 · centimeter for the paddy crop. Whereas, for wheat crop, the distance is 15 centimeter. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the distance between two adjacent seeds for the paddy crop in the same row is 10 centimeter and distance between the seeds of two adjacent rows is 30 centimeter, whereas for the wheat the distance between two adjacent seeds in the row is 7.5 centimeters and distance between two adjacent rows is 15 centimeter.

The shaft 41 is attached to another shaft 43 through connecting shafts 44 and 45. The shaft 43 is attached with another pair of wheels 42. The shafts 41, 43, 44 and 45 provide the base support to the system as chassis of a vehicle. The supporting rod 61 keeps the machines stable and the containers in the vertical position. Two pair of wheels 40 and 42 are for smooth movement of the machine in the farmland. The distance between two adjacent rows may be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the distance between two adjacent machine units placed parallel to each other in an assembly of two or more machine units. The distance may be adjusted by distance adjustable screws or nuts 60. The distance adjustable screws 60 can be used to fix machine units on the shaft 41 at the desired distance by getting it screwed in the short extension protruding on both side of the drum or the casing in the axial region. The distance adjustable screws or nuts are screwed on the shaft 41 passing through the protrusion and axis of the drum. The shaft 41 also has shallow grooves to provide additional support to the screw for a better grip on the shaft. The machine units can be fixed at the desired distances on the shaft with the help of the distance adjustable means and thereby the distance between two seeds in the adjacent rows can be adjusted.

Method of using the machine:

The machine can be pulled either by human beings, animals or some mechanical device like tractor etc. The operation of the machine is not limited to any specific pulling device. The pulling means of the machine can be attached to any of the pulling device as per the requirement and capacity of the user.

The type of seed should be selected before using the machine. The pair of the grooves to be used for the selected seed should be identified from the grooves assembly carved on the rotating drum on the basis of seed shape and size. For effective use of the machine, the identified pair of grooves should be cleaned and made empty whereas, remaining pair of grooves should be closed by filling with some temporary seal. These grooves can be closed by filling the flour paste or adhesive tape or any other suitable material. The rotating drum should be fitted in the casing with empty pair(s) of identified grooves.

The container should be filled with the selected seeds and the machine should be pulled in the front direction. In one of the preferred embodiments, for paddy crop, the paddy seeds should be soaked in the water for 24 hours and then kept at room temperature for another 24 hours. These will lead to the commencement of germination /sprouting of the paddy seeds. These about-to-burst seeds should be used in the machine for sowing. By using the method and the machine, about 10 to 15 days of crop-time is saved required for the germination of the paddy plants on a separate land and then transplantation of the same on the actual/regular farmland. The preferred distance between two plants in a row for paddy crop is 10 centimeter and distance between two adjacent rows is 30 centimeter. However, the distance between two seeds in a row can be adjusted as per the requirement of the crop by varying the size of the rotating drum or by increasing or decreasing the number of groove pairs being utilized. Further, the distance between two adjacent rows can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the distance between two adjacent machine units in the system. In a preferred embodiment, the number of machine units in the system is 5 for the paddy crop.

The machine allows only single seed to come out of the seed outlet opening therefore the wastage of the seeds is reduced to the minimum level. Further, since at a given time, seeds can be sown in a multiple number of rows therefore this saves the time and reduces the cost. For the paddy crop, since sprouted seeds are directly sown in the farmland without separate germination and plantation therefore, it not only reduces the labor cost but also reduces the crop-time by 10- 15 days which increases the economic significance and value of the crop.

Further, since the possibility of more than one plant being planted is ruled out therefore, each plant has maximum utilization of the nutrients and water available in the specific area surrounding the plant and optimum space for roots to spread in the specific area surrounding it, which also results in increase in the crop yield.

Examples:

The inventor who himself is a farmer used the machine for trial purposes for the paddy and wheat crops. In the trial, paddy and wheat seeds were selected. Similar nutrients, water and whether conditions were provided for the seeds been sown by traditional method and using the machine. Following results were found: Example 1:- Seeds required per hectare.

It can be seen from the above example 1 that by using the machine, about 80% of seeds are saved for the paddy crop and about 50% of seeds are saved for wheat crop.

Example 2: yield of the crop per hectare

The results of example 2 show that yield of the crop increased by about 50% for the paddy crop and about 25% for the wheat crop. The yield is increased because each plant has enough space surrounding it for maximum utilization of the nutrients, water etc and the plant roots have enough space to spread and provide support and nutrition to the plant.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A direct seed sowing machine for multiple type of seeds with adjustable seed distances comprising a funnel shaped seed container (10); a casing (20) with furrowing means (13); rotating drum (30) with grooves assembly (21); distance adjusting means; seed facilitating means; two pair of wheels (40, 42) with shafts (41, 43, 44, 45); supporting rod (61); pulling means (50); and machine assembly (60) of multiple machine units.

2. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said funnel shaped seed " container (10) has a rectangular or square shaped top opening (1) and a narrow bottom opening (2).

3. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bottom opening (2) has a length of 1 to 18 inches and width of less than 1 inch with an orientation parallel to the direction of the drum (30) rotation from front (100) to back (200) position of the machine.

4. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing (20) has an upper opening (11) attached with said bottom opening (2) of the container (10) and a lower opening (12) attached with furrowing means (13), said casing (20) very closely covers the drum (30) thereby leaving very marginal space between the outer surface of the drum (30) and inner surface of the casing (20)

5. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said furrowing means (13) has an upper end (14) comprising a tubular seed outlet pipe attached with the said lower opening (12) of the casing (20) and a lower end (15) with half-cut-open tubular structure.

6. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lower end (15) of the furrowing means (13) is meant for furrowing the land and dropping the seeds into the furrowed land without getting blocked due to mud and sand, said upper end (14) receives the seeds from the drum (30) and releases outside.

7. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotating drum (30) has a cylindrical wheel type structure with multiple numbers of groove assembly (21) on its peripheral surface and a central axis for rotational movement in front (100) to back (200) direction or vise versa.

8. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said grooves assembly (21) comprises multiple pair of grooves with different shapes and sizes for multiple type of seeds.

9. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said grooves on the drum (30) surface have predetermined shape and size according to the shape and size of the seeds to fit only single seed in each groove.

10. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said grooves (21) have a parallel orientation on the drum (30) in relation to the direction of drum rotation for the seeds having length more than width or thickness.

11. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein said atleast one pair of grooves on the drum (30) have same shape and size.

12. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said pair of grooves from the grooves assembly is identified according to the shape and size of the selected seed type and remaining grooves are temporarily sealed with some removable sealing material.

13. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said distance adjusting means comprises extensions on both sides of the drum (30) or casing (20), said extensions have holes for screws or nuts (60) to fix the machine units at the desired distances on the shaft (41) in the machine assembly.

14. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 15, wherein said holes on the extensions on both side of the drum (30) or casing (20) have opposite orientation and said shaft (41) has shallow grooves.

15. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said distance between the seeds in a row can be adjusted by making more pair of identical groove assembly (21) on the drum (30) of the same diameter.

16. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said distance between the seeds in a row can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the diameter of the drum (30).

17. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said seed facilitating means comprises a facilitating rod (46) attached to the rotating shaft (41) through a rotation chain (47), and one pair of facilitating support rods (48, 49) attached to said facilitating rod (46), said facilitating support rods (48,49) and facilitating rod (46) being at the lower part of the container (10) have rotational movement to facilitate the smooth and free rotation of the seeds.

18. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said machine assembly (60) comprises more than one machine units at predetermined distances on the shaft (41), said distance being adjustable by increasing or decreasing the spacing between the adjacent machine units by said distance adjusting means.

19. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said supporting rod (61) is attached to the container (10) and can be fixed at the shaft (43) at the desired place by screw or other fixing means, said supporting rod (61) keeps the container and machine unit in a vertical position.

20. A direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shaft (43) comprises ploughing means (16) consisting of a plough blade for tillage of dried or semi-dried land.

21. A seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the distance between two adjacent seeds in a row for paddy crop is 10 centimeter and distance between two adjacent rows is 30 centimeter.

22. A seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the distance between two adjacent seeds in a row for wheat crop is 7.5 centimeter and distance between two adjacent rows is 15 centimeter.

23. A seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said machine assembly (60) comprises more than one machine units placed parallel to each other.

24. A seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein, said pulling means (50) may attach the machine assembly (60) with some pulling device.

25. A method of using the direct seed sowing machine as claimed in claim 1 comprising the steps of :

a) , selecting the type of seed for sowing on the basis of shape and size of the seed;

b) . identifying the pair of grooves from the groove assembly matching with the seed shape and size;

c) . sealing the remaining pairs of grooves with some removable sealing material;

d) . loading the seeds selected in step (a) into the container (10);

e) . pulling the machine in the front (100) direction by some pulling device;

f) . tilling and furrowing the land by ploughing (16) and furrowing means (13) and dropping the seeds into the furrowed land at predetermined distances.

26. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein, paddy seeds are selected and soaked in water for 24 hours and then kept at room temperature for another 24 hours to get the seeds ready-to-burst/ sprouted, these seeds may be loaded in step (d) of claim 25 followed by the steps (e) and (f).