Agricultural implements having row units with rotating supports

Jarlis Luiz Matter, Ibirubá (BR); Leandro Burghausen, Ibirubá (BR); Venicius Damo Cunha, Näo Me Toque (BR)

USPTO: us-12667032 · published 2026-06-30 · patents · A01B 49/027· A01B 35/28· A01B 63/32· A01C 5/06· A01B 51/04

Agricultural implements having row units with rotating supports

Jarlis Luiz Matter, Ibirubá (BR) , Venicius Damo Cunha, Näo Me Toque (BR) , Leandro Burghausen, Ibirubá (BR) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-06-30 17:01 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01B 49/027A01B 35/28A01B 63/32A01C 5/06A01B 51/04

keywords agricultural implementrow unitsrotating supportground-engaging toolstoolbartool supportforward-to-back axis

0 comments

The pith

An agricultural implement uses row units with rotating supports to switch between ground-engaging tools by turning around a forward-to-back axis.

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

The patent sets out an agricultural implement that includes a frame with a toolbar and multiple row units attached to it. Each row unit includes a tool support connected to a rotating support that turns about an axis running in the forward-to-back direction of the machine. Two ground-engaging tools are mounted on the rotating support so that turning it brings the first tool into ground contact, brings the second tool into ground contact instead, or lifts both tools clear of the ground. The configuration lets the row unit change its active tool through rotation rather than through separate mounting or replacement steps.

Core claim

The invention is an agricultural implement comprising a frame carrying a toolbar and a plurality of row units coupled to the toolbar, each row unit comprising a tool support, a rotating support coupled to the tool support and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation generally aligned in a forward-to-back direction, and first and second ground-engaging tools carried by the rotating support and extending outward from the axis of rotation, wherein rotation of the rotating support about the axis of rotation moves the ground-engaging tools around the rotating support between a first position in which the first ground-engaging tool contacts the ground, a second position in which the second g

What carries the argument

The rotating support coupled to the tool support, which rotates about a forward-to-back axis and carries the two ground-engaging tools to move them into or out of ground contact.

If this is right

The implement can engage only the first ground-engaging tool with the soil at any row unit.
Rotation allows the second ground-engaging tool to be brought into contact instead of the first.
The third rotation position lifts both tools away from the ground at once.
Tool engagement at each row unit can be altered by rotation rather than by stopping to swap components.
Multiple row units on the same toolbar can each carry two tools that are selectable through the same rotation.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

This arrangement could let an operator change the working tool at a row unit while the implement continues moving.
The design might allow a single implement to perform different ground-working tasks by selecting which tool is active at each row.
Integration with sensors could enable automatic rotation of the support based on detected soil conditions.
The forward-to-back rotation axis may keep the tools aligned with the direction of travel during switches.

Load-bearing premise

The mechanical coupling and rotation of the support about the forward-to-back axis can be realized in a durable, field-ready device without binding, excessive wear, or interference with the toolbar or other row units.

What would settle it

A built prototype whose rotating support cannot reach all three described positions while the implement is moving across soil without the tools binding against the ground or toolbar.

read the original abstract

1 . An agricultural implement, comprising: a frame carrying a toolbar; and a plurality of row units coupled to the tool bar, each row unit comprising: a tool support; a rotating support coupled to the tool support and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation generally aligned in a forward-to-back direction of the implement; and first and second ground-engaging tools carried by the rotating support and extending outward from the axis of rotation, wherein rotation of the rotating support about the axis of rotation moves the ground-engaging tools around the rotating support between a first position in which the first ground-engaging tool contacts the ground, a second position in which the second ground-engaging tool contacts the ground, and a third position in which neither of the first nor second ground-engaging tools contact the ground.

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

This patent claims a rotating support on row units that lets two ground tools swap positions or both disengage via a front-to-back axis, but it is only a structural description with no data or validation.

read the letter

The main takeaway is a patent for an agricultural implement where each row unit has a rotating support that turns around a forward-to-back axis to bring one of two ground-engaging tools into contact with the soil or to lift both clear.

What stands out as new is the specific geometry: the axis alignment and the way the tools extend outward so that a single rotation cycles through the three positions. The claim spells out the frame, toolbar, tool support, rotating support, and the movement between positions without internal contradictions.

The description itself is consistent and covers the basic assembly. That is the extent of what it does well.

The clear limitation is the complete absence of any supporting evidence. There are no details on how rotation is driven or locked, no mention of wear, binding, or interference with adjacent units, and no test results or simulations. The realizability of a durable field version is simply assumed. As a patent this is normal, but it leaves the practical value untested.

This is mainly of interest to implement designers or patent examiners checking mechanical arrangements. It has little to offer a technical reading group or research citation. It does not rise to the level of a paper that needs peer review.

Referee Report

0 major / 1 minor

Summary. The manuscript is a patent claim for an agricultural implement comprising a frame carrying a toolbar and a plurality of row units coupled to the toolbar. Each row unit includes a tool support, a rotating support coupled to the tool support and configured to rotate about an axis of rotation generally aligned in a forward-to-back direction, and first and second ground-engaging tools carried by the rotating support. Rotation of the support moves the tools between a first position (first tool contacts ground), a second position (second tool contacts ground), and a third position (neither contacts ground).

Significance. If the described configuration can be realized, the rotating support mechanism would allow a single row unit to selectively engage one of two ground-engaging tools or disengage both via rotation about a longitudinal axis. This could increase versatility in row-crop operations. The manuscript contains only the structural description with no performance data, prior-art comparison, or implementation details, so any assessment of practical significance remains speculative.

minor comments (1)

Abstract: inconsistent spelling of 'toolbar' (one word) versus 'tool bar' (two words) within the same claim.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

1 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their review of this patent application. The document consists of a structural claim defining a novel row-unit mechanism; we address the noted limitations of the submission below.

read point-by-point responses

Referee: The manuscript contains only the structural description with no performance data, prior-art comparison, or implementation details, so any assessment of practical significance remains speculative.

Authors: Patent claims are required to provide a clear structural description of the invention; empirical performance data, detailed implementation examples, and formal prior-art comparisons are not part of the claim language and are addressed separately during USPTO examination. The claimed rotating support, by enabling a single row unit to alternate between two ground-engaging tools or disengage both through rotation about a forward-to-back axis, supplies the inventive concept whose utility is defined by the claim scope itself. revision: no

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No circularity: direct structural claim only

full rationale

The document is a patent whose sole content is a structural claim describing components (frame, toolbar, row units, tool support, rotating support, ground-engaging tools) and their geometric arrangement. No equations, derivations, fitted parameters, predictions, or load-bearing citations exist. The claim asserts only the existence of the described configuration; it contains no self-referential definitions, renamed empirical patterns, or chains that reduce to inputs by construction. The derivation chain is empty, rendering all enumerated circularity patterns inapplicable.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 1 invented entities

The document introduces a mechanical design element (the rotating support) but supplies no numerical parameters, mathematical axioms, or external evidence for the new component.

invented entities (1)

rotating support no independent evidence
purpose: To enable the first and second ground-engaging tools to move between ground-contact positions by rotation about a forward-to-back axis
The rotating support is the central inventive element described in the abstract; no independent evidence such as test data or prior validation is provided.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.1-grok · 5718 in / 1125 out tokens · 40916 ms · 2026-06-30T17:01:31.888344+00:00 · methodology

Agricultural implements having row units with rotating supports

Core claim

What carries the argument

If this is right

Where Pith is reading between the lines

Load-bearing premise

What would settle it

discussion (0)