US Patent 9861025 Seed planting apparatus, systems and methods

A seed meter includes a seed disc rotatable in a direction of rotation. The seed disc has a plurality of seed apertures defining a circular path as the seed disc rotates and on which seeds from a seed source are entrained. A singulator is disposed along to the circular path. The singulator has a plurality of outer lobes and a first orientation lobe located downstream of the outer lobes. As the entrained seeds rotate along the circular path, the first orientation lobe contacts the entrained seeds to change their orientation. In some embodiments, the first orientation lobe may be disposed to remove excess seeds from the apertures and a second orientation lobe may change the orientation of the entrained seed.