Patents by Inventor Thomas D. Hamilton

Thomas D. Hamilton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4251011
    Abstract: A machine for picking up seeds from a mass of seeds and depositing the seeds individually comprises a row of suction heads each having a suction duct terminating in an orifice and a container for holding the mass of seeds. The row of heads are pivotally mounted and are provided with a driving mechanism which swings the heads to and fro along a path between a pick-up position in which each of the orifices is adjacent the container and a discharge position in which seeds picked up by suction through the orifices are discharged. In order to enable each head to discharge at the discharge position only a single natural seed rather than a pelleted seed, a wiper member is provided and extends parallel to the row of heads in their path between the pick-up position and the discharge position. The wiper member has a curved surface and the heads swing close to this surface just before they reach the discharge position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1981
    Inventors: Thomas W. Hamilton, Thomas D. Hamilton, Timothy J. Hamilton