Experimental study on seed damaging in a precision metering for pelleted seeds

In order to solve the problem of being strict with the size of the seeds and high damage to seeds with the mechanical metering devices, a precision metering with truncated cone moving plate was designed based on pelleted corn seeds. By the working principle of the metering, the factors which could cause damage to seeds were found and orthogonal tests were arranged. The results show that the index of damage to seeds is the lowest when the cone angle is 23°, the diameter of the cell is 15 mm, the rotary speed of the metering axis is 14 r/min, the angle between the leading slot and the bottom of the moving disc is 45° and the rotary speed of the seed ejector is 10 r/min.