Optimization and test of pneumatic lifting seed distributor for maize plot seeder

Qingbin Song ¹ Yubin Bi ¹ Pengfei Zhao ¹ Zuoli Fu ¹ Yuxiang Huang ^1* Yi Zheng ²

• ¹ Northwest A&F University, Xianyang, China
• ² Qingdao Eplot Machinery Co., Ltd., Qingdao, China

The seed distributors are the core components of the plot seeder. Their functions are to distribute the seeds evenly to the seed metering device corresponding to each sowing row. In order to solve the problem of uneven seed distributing of the seed distributor of maize plot seeder under tilted state, a theoretical analysis of the seed distributing process was carried out. According to the sliding, rolling and bouncing states of maize seeds on the cone, it was concluded that sliding down along the cone surface was the best movement way of seed distributing. The parameters' range that affected the seed distributing uniformity of the seed distributor were determined through single-factor tests. A threefactor three-level Box-Behnken design (BBD) test was carried out with cone height (h1), seed storage tube diameter (d) and seed storage tube lifting height (h2) as the test factors. The test results showed that h1, d and h2 had highly significant effects on the variation coefficients of seed distributing uniformity in the three situations that the seed distributor were horizontally tilted at 0°vertically tilted at 0°(H0°V0°), horizontally tilted at 5°vertically tilted at 0°(H5°V0°), and horizontally tilted at 5°21 vertically tilted at 5°(H5°V5°). The optimal structural and operational parameter combination of the seed distributor were as follows: h1 of 77 mm, d of 70 mm, and h2 of 42 mm. Under this parameter combination, the bench test was carried out to verify that the variation coefficient of seed distributing uniformity were 5.13%, 7.07%, and 6.54% when the seed distributor were in H0°V0°, H5°V0°, and H5°V5°, respectively. The test results were basically consistent with the predicted values. The variation coefficient of seed distributing uniformity in field test was 1.23 percentage points lower than that of the traditional seed distributor, indicating that the seed distributing effect was better than that of the traditional seed distributor. The research provided a technical reference for the optimization and improvement of the seed distributor of the plot seeder.