APPARATUS FOR SEALING A VACUUM CHAMBER OF A SEED METERING APPARATUS

摘要

A sealing arrangement for a vacuum seed metering mechanism including a housi ng assembly divided into a seed receiving chamber and a vacuum chamber by a rel atively this circular seed disc having parallel and flat sides. The seed disc is provide d with a circular row of throughopenings adjacent the periphery of the seed disc. The openings se rve to pick up seeds in the seed receiving chamber of the seed metering mechanism and carry the s eeds around under the influence of pressure differentials to the seed discharge area of the se ed metering mechanism. A sector of the seed disc is partitioned off both from the vacuum and chambe r and the seed receiving chamber to allow the seeds to be released from the disc and gravit ationally deposited into the furrow passing beneath the seed metering mechanism. The housing as sembly of the seed metering mechanism has integrally formed thereon a pair of radially spa ced annular flat sealing faces. The annular faces are joined to each other in a common plane and form the vacuum chamber extending in the direction of rotation of the seed disc. The sealing faces of the housing assembly are disposed on opposed sides of the row of apertures in th e disc. The sealing faces on the housing assembly are arranged in confronting relation to the fl at side of the seed disc. In combination with the vacuum acting thereon, spring structure resiliently urges the seed disc toward and into continuous sliding contact with the sealing faces on the housing assembly thereby maintaining a sealing relationship between the disc and the housing assembly throughout operation of the seed metering mechanism thus establishing a pres sure differential at the holes or openings of the seed disc for holding the seeds to the disc.