Agricultural system and method for determining a position of a gauge wheel of a row unit for a seed-planting implement

Michael Christopher Conboy, Chicago, IL (US); Trevor Stanhope, Oak Lawn, IL (US)

USPTO: us-12622341 · published 2026-05-12 · patents · A01B 79/02· A01B 63/008· A01B 63/16· A01C 5/064· A01B 35/00

Agricultural system and method for determining a position of a gauge wheel of a row unit for a seed-planting implement

Trevor Stanhope, Oak Lawn, IL (US) , Michael Christopher Conboy, Chicago, IL (US) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-05-15 20:02 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01B 79/02A01B 63/008A01B 63/16A01C 5/064A01B 35/00

keywords gauge wheel positionrow unitseed plantingrotational sensorlinkage assemblyfurrow depthrow cleanerdepth sensing

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The pith

A rotational sensor mounted at the row-cleaner location uses a two-arm linkage to measure gauge-wheel arm rotation and determine planting depth.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent presents a method for sensing the position of a gauge wheel on a seed-planting row unit. A rotational sensor is fixed to the frame at the row-cleaner mount point and connected to the gauge-wheel arm through a two-piece linkage. Rotation of the arm is transmitted to the sensor, which reports data that a computing system converts into gauge-wheel height relative to the disk opener. This arrangement avoids placing the sensor directly on the crowded or debris-exposed gauge-wheel arm. The approach supplies continuous depth information provided the linkage geometry stays fixed.

Core claim

The method receives data indicative of a rotational position of the gauge wheel arm, the data being generated by a rotational sensor supported relative to the frame and coupled to the gauge wheel arm via a linkage assembly, the rotational sensor being supported on the frame at a location at which the row cleaner is supported on the frame, the linkage assembly including a first sensor arm and a second sensor arm connected in series between the sensor and the gauge-wheel arm.

What carries the argument

Two-arm linkage assembly mounted at the row-cleaner support point that transmits rotation of the gauge-wheel arm to a remote rotational sensor.

Load-bearing premise

The linkage must remain rigid and free of play or wear so that sensor angle continues to map directly to gauge-wheel height without additional calibration.

What would settle it

Measure whether the sensor output deviates after the linkage joints are loosened by a known amount or after documented field wear.

read the original abstract

11 . A method for determining a position of a gauge wheel of a row unit for a seed-planting implement, the row unit comprising a frame, a disk opener supported relative to the frame, the disk opener configured to form a furrow within a field across which the seed-planting implement is traveling, a row cleaner supported on the frame forward of the disk opener relative to a forward direction of travel of the row unit, the row cleaner being configured to reduce residue on the surface of the field in front of the furrow, and a gauge wheel arm supported relative to the frame, the gauge wheel arm comprising an upper portion and a lower portion disposed at an angle relative to each other about a rotational joint, the gauge wheel arm being rotatable relative to the frame about the rotational joint, the gauge wheel being rotatably coupled to the lower portion of the gauge wheel arm and being configured to roll along a surface of the field, the method comprising: receiving, with a computing system, data indicative of a rotational position of the gauge wheel arm, the data being generated by a rotational sensor supported relative to the frame and coupled to the gauge wheel arm via a linkage assembly, the rotational sensor being supported on the frame at a location at which the row cleaner is supported on the frame, the linkage assembly including a first sensor arm extending between a first proximal end and a first distal end, with the first proximal end of the first sensor arm being coupled to the rotational sensor, the linkage assembly further including a second sensor arm extending between a second proximal end and a second distal end, the second proximal end of the second sensor arm being coupled to the first distal end of the first sensor arm, the second distal end of the secon

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

A patent on a two-arm linkage that mounts the gauge-wheel sensor at the row-cleaner point; mechanically concrete but untested.

read the letter

The core claim is a mechanical routing: a rotational sensor sits at the existing row-cleaner mount and drives a two-arm linkage that follows the gauge-wheel arm, giving a direct angle reading without a new bracket. That specific placement and linkage geometry is not in the cited prior art, so the filing carves out a narrow but real installation advantage on current row units. The description is clear enough that a shop could build the parts from the drawings and text. Beyond that, the document supplies nothing else. No stiffness numbers, no wear allowances, no bench or field data on how much play develops after a season, and no error budget showing what depth accuracy the sensor actually delivers once the linkage is in dirt and vibration. The one-to-one mapping therefore rests on an unstated assumption that the kinematic chain stays rigid. Because the filing is a legal disclosure rather than a research report, it contains no equations, no calibration procedure, and no comparison against a reference measurement. For an equipment engineer who needs one more mounting option on an existing planter frame, the geometry may be useful as a starting point. For anyone evaluating sensor performance or repeatability, the absence of data makes the claim impossible to assess. I would not bring it to a reading group, would not cite it in a methods section, and would not send it to academic referees; it is a patent, not a paper.

Referee Report

1 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript discloses a mechanical arrangement and associated method for determining gauge-wheel position on a seed-planting row unit. A rotational sensor is mounted on the frame at the row-cleaner location and connected to the gauge-wheel arm through a two-arm linkage assembly; rotational-position data from the sensor are received by a computing system and mapped to gauge-wheel height.

Significance. If the kinematic mapping remains accurate under field conditions, the arrangement permits sensor placement in a less exposed location while still providing real-time depth information for furrow formation and seed placement.

major comments (1)

[linkage assembly description] The central claim that sensor rotation directly yields gauge-wheel position rests on the assumption that the two-arm linkage and gauge-wheel arm joint maintain fixed geometry. No stiffness specifications, joint-play tolerances, or wear allowances are supplied in the description of the linkage assembly, so even modest angular deflection would break the one-to-one mapping.

minor comments (1)

[abstract] The abstract text is truncated mid-sentence at 'the second distal end of the secon'; the full sentence should be restored for clarity.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for the careful reading and for identifying the implicit assumption in the linkage kinematics. We address the single major comment below.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: [linkage assembly description] The central claim that sensor rotation directly yields gauge-wheel position rests on the assumption that the two-arm linkage and gauge-wheel arm joint maintain fixed geometry. No stiffness specifications, joint-play tolerances, or wear allowances are supplied in the description of the linkage assembly, so even modest angular deflection would break the one-to-one mapping.

Authors: The disclosure presents the linkage as a rigid kinematic chain whose geometry is preserved under normal field loads; the one-to-one mapping follows directly from that rigid-body assumption. We agree that the text would benefit from an explicit statement of this assumption. A short clarifying sentence will be added to the description of the linkage assembly noting that the arms and joints are configured to maintain fixed geometry during operation, thereby preserving the kinematic relationship. revision: partial

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No derivation chain or fitted parameters present

full rationale

The document is a patent disclosing a mechanical linkage assembly and rotational sensor placement for reading gauge-wheel arm angle. No equations, no first-principles derivations, no parameter fitting, and no predictions are claimed. The mapping from sensor angle to wheel height is asserted by geometry alone; any rigidity assumption is an engineering premise, not a self-referential computation. Consequently no circular step exists.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

No mathematical model or empirical fit is supplied; the disclosure rests entirely on the described mechanical configuration.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.0 · 5679 in / 1011 out tokens · 34458 ms · 2026-05-15T20:02:10.905934+00:00 · methodology

Agricultural system and method for determining a position of a gauge wheel of a row unit for a seed-planting implement

Core claim

What carries the argument

Load-bearing premise

What would settle it

discussion (0)