CA1275986C - Roller cleaner - Google Patents
Roller cleanerInfo
- Publication number
- CA1275986C CA1275986C CA000543278A CA543278A CA1275986C CA 1275986 C CA1275986 C CA 1275986C CA 000543278 A CA000543278 A CA 000543278A CA 543278 A CA543278 A CA 543278A CA 1275986 C CA1275986 C CA 1275986C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- roller
- cleaning
- grooves
- groove
- axis
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Lifetime
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Abstract
CLEANING ARRANGEMENT FOR A ROLLER METERING DEVICE
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A roller metering device comprises a roller, which has continuous elongate grooves longitudinally thereof spaced angularly around the pheriphery thereof, mounted in a hopper so that it grasps and forwards a vol-ume of the particulate material within the hopper for each movement of a recess past a metering edge into a plurality of cups and venturis arranged along the length of the roller. A cleaning device for the roller is pro-vided which is driven by the roller and comprises a plur-ality rods carried in angularly spaced arrangement around an axis of rotation of the cleaning device with each rod extending along the length of the roller. In one arrangement there are twelve recesses in the roller and six rods on the cleaning device with the cleaning device driven at a 2:1 ratio in speed relative to the roller.
This causes each rod as it engages a respective one of the recesses to move forwardly relative to the recess and also to move into the recess to cause a wiping action of the rod along the surface of the recess.
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A roller metering device comprises a roller, which has continuous elongate grooves longitudinally thereof spaced angularly around the pheriphery thereof, mounted in a hopper so that it grasps and forwards a vol-ume of the particulate material within the hopper for each movement of a recess past a metering edge into a plurality of cups and venturis arranged along the length of the roller. A cleaning device for the roller is pro-vided which is driven by the roller and comprises a plur-ality rods carried in angularly spaced arrangement around an axis of rotation of the cleaning device with each rod extending along the length of the roller. In one arrangement there are twelve recesses in the roller and six rods on the cleaning device with the cleaning device driven at a 2:1 ratio in speed relative to the roller.
This causes each rod as it engages a respective one of the recesses to move forwardly relative to the recess and also to move into the recess to cause a wiping action of the rod along the surface of the recess.
Description
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CLEANING ARR~NGEMENT FOR A ROLLER METERING DEVICE
' ~
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for m~ter-ing particulate material and particularly to a roller metering device of a type which includes a plurality of longitudinal grooves around the roller which grasp and carry the particulate material, and to a cleaning devlce for cleanlng the grooves.
Roller metering arrangements have become used widely in devices for metering and spreading particulate material such as fertilizer, herbicides and the like. In arrangements of this type it is common for the roller to be positioned at the bottom of a hopper so that the rol-ler feeds forwardly from the hopper a metered curtain of the material, the curtain falling into separate cups positioned along the length of the roller from which the material is pneumatically distrlbuted to spreaders separ-ated along the length of a boom. These devices have suc-cessfully operated on widely different materials and at -~
widely varyiny dlstrlbution rates.
The metering roller, in order to achieve themost accurate metering, preferably includes a plurality of continuous grooves longitudinally along its length.
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- .
, .
With such con~inuous grooves, the material is accurately grasped and carried by the volume of the groove so that the metering rate is substantially constant regardless of changes in orientation of the roller caused by movement of the machine across uneven terrain or other variables.
While such rollers with continuous elongate grooves have been found to be most effective for accurate feeding, they have to date had a serious problem which has not been overcome until the development of the pre-sent invention. Specifically, when the particulate materlal to be metered contains any moisture or has any other adhesive properties, it tends to stick to the roller and hence gradually clogs the grooves and changes their dimensions thus interfering with the proper and accurate metering of the material. To date therefore this problem has effectively prevented the use of rollers of this type w1th the metering of particulate material which has such tendency to stick to the rollers.
Recent developments in the addition of liquid chemiGals, for example herbicides, to particulate mater-ials, for example fertilizer, have significantly increas-: i~
ed the desirability for a device which can handle suchparticulate materials which are moist or have other adhe-sive properties.
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", .
, . . . , ' , ',.
1~759~6 I~ is appreciated that a single pass of equipment which spreads both the liquid chemical ~nd the particulate material is much to be preferred.
; Attempts have been made to solve the problems of cleaning action upon a roller metering system. In a first attempt, one example of which is illustrated in Patent No. 4,053,088 (Nodet Gougis), the grooves in the ~roller are not continuous but are broken into separate -pieces as defined by projecting fingers which extend out-wardly from the roller and which engage and forward the particulate material. In between the fingers, a cleaning blade is presented which acts to scrape the roller on a constant diameter of the roller so that the fingers them-selves are not cleaned. This technique tends to cause effectiv~ cleaning of the roller but unfortunately the discontinuous feeding mechanism defined by the individual fingers allows material to slip by the roller rather than to be pos~tivel~ fed by the roller and thus seriously reduces the accuracy of the feeding system.
Alternative techniques for attempting to clean the roller have used brushes which merely rotate about an axis parallel to the roller and include bristles which flex on each attempt to snter into the recesses defined by the grooves so the bristles flick in and out of the ~;
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grooves and act to clean the grooves. In the theory this technique is an effective technique in that it provides the continuous grooves required for accurate metering but in practice the constant flexing of the bristles necessary to move over the roller surface and to extend into the recesses causes the bristles to rapidly break down. This device has therefore received little commercial success.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present :invention, therefore, to provide an improved roller metering device of this general type which includes a cleaning mechanism providing an effective cleaning of the roller while avoiding the constant flexure or reciprocation of the necessary cleaning parts.
According to the invention, therefore, there is provided an apparatus for metering particulate material comprising an elongate roller having a central axis of symmetry, a first plurality of metering grooves formed in an outer peripheral surface of the roller, each groove extending longitudinally of the roller parallel to the roller axis and defining a substantially constant con~inuous cross-section along the roller which cross-section forms a smoothly curved cup-shaped surface recessed ~rom said peripheral surface of the roller, said grooves being spaced angularly around said roller, means mounting the roller for rotation about said roller axis and adapted such that said particulate material '`
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in a container thereof can be engaged with said roller alongthe length of said grooves, drive means for rotating said roller at a desired speed such that each groove grasps and carries within its bounds a volume of said material, and means for cleaning said grooves of said roller as the roller rotates comprising a drive member rotatable about a longitudinal axis parallel to and spaced from the roller axis, a second plurality, equal to one half of the first plurality, of cleaning members carried by and projecting outwardly from said drive member in angularly spaced relation therearound, each of said cleaning members having a longitudinal extent not less than the length of the grooves, and synchronizing means for drivingly rotating the drive member at an angular velocity twice that of the roller, such that each groove as it rotates receives a cleaning member therein with the cleaning member rotating with the groove while the cleaning member moves relative to the groove to sweep around said curved surface of the groove, each of the cleaning members comprising an elongate straight rod parallel to the axis of the drive member and having an outer surface which is smoothly curved with a radius of curvature less than that of the surface of the grooves, means mounting the rod at a fixed radial spacing from the axis of the drive member such that each rod is held against radial movement as it moves past the groove, the rods being spaced to allow material to fall therebetween, the thickness of the rods being such that . . , ~
;' ., ' . ' '' ': ,. ' ' '' ' ' "' .
, they are rigid and do not deform as they move past the grooves, the position of the drive member relative to the roller and the position of the outer surface of the rods relative to the drive member being arranged such that the outer surfaces of the rods are maintained at a substantially constant clearance from the curved surface of the groove to prevent contact therebetween.
Briefly, therefore, the mounting of the cleaning members and the number and speed of rotation relative to the roller causes each of the cleaning members to sweep over the surface of the groove as the cleaning member rotates relative to the groove while the groove itself rotates around the axis of the roller.
Preferably this is achieved by using simply a rigid series of rods arranged at the apex of a star-shaped body having a number of cleaning members equal to one half the number of the grooves and with the rate of rotation of the cleaning members being twice that of the roller.
The cleaning mernber is therefore merely a simple rotating body with no relative movement of the parts thereof apart from the simple rotation of the body about its axis.
With the foregoing in vlew, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which . .
- this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the ~' applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a roller meter-ing system according to the invention incorporating a cleanin~ device for cleaning the grooves of the roller~
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2 - 2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 to 6 show the inter-reacting parts only of the roller and cleanirlg device of Figures 1 and 2, showing them in a number of different positions as the parts rotate to provide the cleaning action.
In the drawings like characters of reference :
indicate correspondin~ parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
~ A known metering system comprises a hopper : indicated in Pigure 2 by merely a rear hopper wall 10.
: Within the hopper and accessible by the particulate material within the hopper is mounted a metering roller ormed from a wear resistant plastics material and carried on a hexagonal shaft 12 for rotation about the :; longitudinal axLs o~ the roller 11. The shaft ~2 is mounted in a pair of bearings 1~ carried in end plates 14 formed as a rigid interconnected structure so that the , . . .
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roller and end plates can be inserted into and removed from the hopper as required.
The roller includes around its periphery a plurality of recesses 15 which are continuous along the full length of the roller and are angularly spaced around the roller with each of the recesses being of identical shape and equally distantly spaced from the next adiacent recess. The roller is driven to rotate in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 2 by any suitable drive mechanism which is indicated in Figure 1 for ex~lple as simply a sprocket 16 and a drive chain 17. As the roller rotates it grasps and carrles the particulate material from the hopper up and over a re.straining ridge 18 with the distance between the roller and the restraining ridge 18 being adjusted to provide an accurate feed o~ the material regardless of normal changes in orientation o~
the hopper and feed system about a horizontal axis paral-lel to the roller axis. The fine details of this meter-ing control are not described herein as they are known to one skilled in ~he art. From the meterin~ ridge 18, the material fed drops into a cup 19 of a venturi 20. AS
shown in Pigure 1, there are a plurality of such cups 19 arranged side by slde so they automatically divide the material fed from the roller into separate portions with -- , -, .
' ~7~86 each of the portions being effectively identical for feeding into a separate one of the venturis. As it is well known the material from the venturi is distributed along a distribution duct 21 to suitable spreader nozzles arranged along the length of the boom with airflow for the movement being generated by a blower schematically indicated at 22~
The above device is a known device and has been found to operate satisfactorily and with accurate meter-ing when used with widely different materials from rela-tively fine materials to coarse pellet like materials including fertilizer, granular herbicides and seeds and with widely differing feed rates obtained of course by varying the rate of rotation of the roller 11.
Problems arise however, when the material to be fed is moist and impregnated with liquid material or otherwise has some tendency to adhere to the surface of the roller. It will of course be appreciated that any material adhering to the surface of the roller will gradually fill the recesses 15 to differing amounts and hence will significantlY interfere with the proper feed rate. Even when the roller is manufactured from rela-tively hard materials or materials with a low tendency to adhere to the particulate material to be distributed, the .
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particles can attach to the roller a:nd need to be removed therefrom.
There is therefore, provided in the embodiment shown a cleaning device generally indicated at 22 for cleaning the recesses of the roller as it rotates in its feeding action, the cleaning taking place continually.
The device 22 comprises a hexagonal shaft 23 which carries four star wheels 24 each of which is thin relative to the length of the shaft with the star wheels spaced longitudinally of the sha:Et so as to provide sup-port for six rods 25. The star wheels 24 each provide six apexes with a cup 26 formed at each apex for receiv-ing an inner facing edge of a cylindrical one of the rods 25. The rods 25 are thus spaced around the axis in equi-distant spacing and are arranged parallel to the axis and running substantially wholly along the length of the shaft and to an extent equal to or slightly longer than the roller 11. The device 22 therefore presents on its outer most peripher~ the outer cylindrlcal surfaces of the rods 25 with the interior of the device being open between the rods and bet~een the shaft ~o allow any material to fall there throu~h.
The shaft 23 is mount~d for rotation on bear-ings 27 carried in the end plates 14. Outside of the end . .
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plates 14, the shaft 23 carries a pair of gear wheels 28 each of which meshes with a respective gear wheel 29 carried on the shaft 12 of roller 11. Thus the cleaning device 22 is rotated by the intermeshing relationship between the gears in an anticlockwise direction about a longitudinal axis of the shaft 23. The shaft 23 and 12 are both hexagonal in order to insure synchronizism of movement of the device 22 and the roller 11 in view of the relative close tolerances there between.
As shown in the embodiment specifically des-cribed, the number of recesses 15 on the roller 11 is twelve and the number of rods of the cleaning device 22 is siX. In addition the number of teeth on the gear wheel 29 lS thirty-two and the number of teeth on the gear wheel 28 is sixteen. Thus the gear wheel 2~ and the cleaning device 22 rotate at an angular velocity twice that of the roller 11. The diameter of the geax wheel 28 is however slightly greater than half that of the gear wheel 29. These numbers and dimensions are of course exemplary only and the dimensions and numbers can be selected to obtain the specific result which is described .
hereinafter.
Referring therefore to the sequential steps illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, it will be noted :' ', . ,' .. . : ' .. , . ~ .
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that as the roller 11 rotates to bring one of the reces-ses 15 to a position adjacent the cleaning device 22, one of the rods 25 of the cleaning device is timed so that it just enters into the recess at a position closely adja-cent a trailing one of the edges of the recess. As the recess moves forwardly in the clockwise direction around the axis of the shaft 12, the respective rod moves also forwardly in an anti clockwise direction around the axis of the shaft 23 and also moves radially toward the axis of the Ehaft 22 thus moving lnto the recess to sweep the wall of the recess. These dlmensions and numbers des-- cribed above obtain the effect that, as the recess moves forwardly, the rod wipes around the semi-circular shape of the recess at a substantially constant clearance spac-ing from the surface of the recess. Thus Figure 3 shows the initial step of the rod sweeping over the edge of its respective recess. Figure 4 shows a further step advan-ced angularly of the step of Figure 3 in which the rod has moved forwardly and more deeply into the recess while the next rod in the advancing direction is also wiping a part of the next adjacent recess. In Figure 4 the rods are thus shown symmetrical about a line separating the two recesses which are concurrently being acted upon by those rods.
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:
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~5~36 Figure 5 shows a yet further advanced position in which it will be seen that the rod has reached the lower most point of the recess so that the rod lies on a line joining the axes of the shafts. From that position -~ the rod moves forwardly r~lative to the recess and also outwardly relative to the recess to the position shown in Figure 6 in which it sweeps over the forward most edge of the respective recess.
The clearance of the rod from the recess is chosen to be of the order of one sixteenth inch which ls sufficient to enable the rod and recess to move relative-ly without danger of any damaging contact while ensuring sweeping action of the recess which is sufficient to remove all but an inner most la~er of any particles whlch ~- in any event cause no interference with the ~eeding of material and are swept out by further engagement with the material as the roller moves around.
Any material engaged in the recess by the res-pective rod is swept out of the recess and falls over the rod and over the edge of the recess into the cup 19 for collectlon in the venturi in the proper manner.
It will be appreciated therefore that the unigue arrangement of the cleaning device which moves at a faster rate than the roller to~ether with the dimen-: . :
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sionin~ of the gears and the number of rods relative to the number of recesses causes this uni~ue sweeping action of the rod movin~ with the recess while advancing rela-tive to the recess and thus sweeping over the inner sur face of the recess.
The fact that the gear wheel 28 of the cleaning device is slightly greater in dimension than one half of the gear wheel 29 of the roller accommodates the fact that the recesses do not lie immediately adjacent but are spaced by a portion of roller surface.
While the rods are shown are the preferred arrangement for causing the sweeping since these are resistant to wear and also allow any material which is swept to fall properly from the recess into the cup 19, other suitable members such as brush bristles can be used provided they obtain the necessary movement by engagement with the properly dimensioned shaft and gear inter-connection.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely di~ferent embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all mattér contained in the~ accompanying specification shall be ~ .
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.' ' ' . ,' ~ .' ~ ' ' , - , ~7~ 6 interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
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CLEANING ARR~NGEMENT FOR A ROLLER METERING DEVICE
' ~
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to apparatus for m~ter-ing particulate material and particularly to a roller metering device of a type which includes a plurality of longitudinal grooves around the roller which grasp and carry the particulate material, and to a cleaning devlce for cleanlng the grooves.
Roller metering arrangements have become used widely in devices for metering and spreading particulate material such as fertilizer, herbicides and the like. In arrangements of this type it is common for the roller to be positioned at the bottom of a hopper so that the rol-ler feeds forwardly from the hopper a metered curtain of the material, the curtain falling into separate cups positioned along the length of the roller from which the material is pneumatically distrlbuted to spreaders separ-ated along the length of a boom. These devices have suc-cessfully operated on widely different materials and at -~
widely varyiny dlstrlbution rates.
The metering roller, in order to achieve themost accurate metering, preferably includes a plurality of continuous grooves longitudinally along its length.
.
- .
, .
With such con~inuous grooves, the material is accurately grasped and carried by the volume of the groove so that the metering rate is substantially constant regardless of changes in orientation of the roller caused by movement of the machine across uneven terrain or other variables.
While such rollers with continuous elongate grooves have been found to be most effective for accurate feeding, they have to date had a serious problem which has not been overcome until the development of the pre-sent invention. Specifically, when the particulate materlal to be metered contains any moisture or has any other adhesive properties, it tends to stick to the roller and hence gradually clogs the grooves and changes their dimensions thus interfering with the proper and accurate metering of the material. To date therefore this problem has effectively prevented the use of rollers of this type w1th the metering of particulate material which has such tendency to stick to the rollers.
Recent developments in the addition of liquid chemiGals, for example herbicides, to particulate mater-ials, for example fertilizer, have significantly increas-: i~
ed the desirability for a device which can handle suchparticulate materials which are moist or have other adhe-sive properties.
,.:
", .
, . . . , ' , ',.
1~759~6 I~ is appreciated that a single pass of equipment which spreads both the liquid chemical ~nd the particulate material is much to be preferred.
; Attempts have been made to solve the problems of cleaning action upon a roller metering system. In a first attempt, one example of which is illustrated in Patent No. 4,053,088 (Nodet Gougis), the grooves in the ~roller are not continuous but are broken into separate -pieces as defined by projecting fingers which extend out-wardly from the roller and which engage and forward the particulate material. In between the fingers, a cleaning blade is presented which acts to scrape the roller on a constant diameter of the roller so that the fingers them-selves are not cleaned. This technique tends to cause effectiv~ cleaning of the roller but unfortunately the discontinuous feeding mechanism defined by the individual fingers allows material to slip by the roller rather than to be pos~tivel~ fed by the roller and thus seriously reduces the accuracy of the feeding system.
Alternative techniques for attempting to clean the roller have used brushes which merely rotate about an axis parallel to the roller and include bristles which flex on each attempt to snter into the recesses defined by the grooves so the bristles flick in and out of the ~;
.
. .' ~ ' : :
7 ~
grooves and act to clean the grooves. In the theory this technique is an effective technique in that it provides the continuous grooves required for accurate metering but in practice the constant flexing of the bristles necessary to move over the roller surface and to extend into the recesses causes the bristles to rapidly break down. This device has therefore received little commercial success.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present :invention, therefore, to provide an improved roller metering device of this general type which includes a cleaning mechanism providing an effective cleaning of the roller while avoiding the constant flexure or reciprocation of the necessary cleaning parts.
According to the invention, therefore, there is provided an apparatus for metering particulate material comprising an elongate roller having a central axis of symmetry, a first plurality of metering grooves formed in an outer peripheral surface of the roller, each groove extending longitudinally of the roller parallel to the roller axis and defining a substantially constant con~inuous cross-section along the roller which cross-section forms a smoothly curved cup-shaped surface recessed ~rom said peripheral surface of the roller, said grooves being spaced angularly around said roller, means mounting the roller for rotation about said roller axis and adapted such that said particulate material '`
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.
' .
.~ .
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in a container thereof can be engaged with said roller alongthe length of said grooves, drive means for rotating said roller at a desired speed such that each groove grasps and carries within its bounds a volume of said material, and means for cleaning said grooves of said roller as the roller rotates comprising a drive member rotatable about a longitudinal axis parallel to and spaced from the roller axis, a second plurality, equal to one half of the first plurality, of cleaning members carried by and projecting outwardly from said drive member in angularly spaced relation therearound, each of said cleaning members having a longitudinal extent not less than the length of the grooves, and synchronizing means for drivingly rotating the drive member at an angular velocity twice that of the roller, such that each groove as it rotates receives a cleaning member therein with the cleaning member rotating with the groove while the cleaning member moves relative to the groove to sweep around said curved surface of the groove, each of the cleaning members comprising an elongate straight rod parallel to the axis of the drive member and having an outer surface which is smoothly curved with a radius of curvature less than that of the surface of the grooves, means mounting the rod at a fixed radial spacing from the axis of the drive member such that each rod is held against radial movement as it moves past the groove, the rods being spaced to allow material to fall therebetween, the thickness of the rods being such that . . , ~
;' ., ' . ' '' ': ,. ' ' '' ' ' "' .
, they are rigid and do not deform as they move past the grooves, the position of the drive member relative to the roller and the position of the outer surface of the rods relative to the drive member being arranged such that the outer surfaces of the rods are maintained at a substantially constant clearance from the curved surface of the groove to prevent contact therebetween.
Briefly, therefore, the mounting of the cleaning members and the number and speed of rotation relative to the roller causes each of the cleaning members to sweep over the surface of the groove as the cleaning member rotates relative to the groove while the groove itself rotates around the axis of the roller.
Preferably this is achieved by using simply a rigid series of rods arranged at the apex of a star-shaped body having a number of cleaning members equal to one half the number of the grooves and with the rate of rotation of the cleaning members being twice that of the roller.
The cleaning mernber is therefore merely a simple rotating body with no relative movement of the parts thereof apart from the simple rotation of the body about its axis.
With the foregoing in vlew, and other advantages as will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which . .
- this invention relates as this specification proceeds, the invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the ~' applicant and of the preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a top plan view of a roller meter-ing system according to the invention incorporating a cleanin~ device for cleaning the grooves of the roller~
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2 - 2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 to 6 show the inter-reacting parts only of the roller and cleanirlg device of Figures 1 and 2, showing them in a number of different positions as the parts rotate to provide the cleaning action.
In the drawings like characters of reference :
indicate correspondin~ parts in the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
~ A known metering system comprises a hopper : indicated in Pigure 2 by merely a rear hopper wall 10.
: Within the hopper and accessible by the particulate material within the hopper is mounted a metering roller ormed from a wear resistant plastics material and carried on a hexagonal shaft 12 for rotation about the :; longitudinal axLs o~ the roller 11. The shaft ~2 is mounted in a pair of bearings 1~ carried in end plates 14 formed as a rigid interconnected structure so that the , . . .
- , . : , : . , .
' ~ - , ' :
~27~8i~
roller and end plates can be inserted into and removed from the hopper as required.
The roller includes around its periphery a plurality of recesses 15 which are continuous along the full length of the roller and are angularly spaced around the roller with each of the recesses being of identical shape and equally distantly spaced from the next adiacent recess. The roller is driven to rotate in a clockwise direction as shown in Figure 2 by any suitable drive mechanism which is indicated in Figure 1 for ex~lple as simply a sprocket 16 and a drive chain 17. As the roller rotates it grasps and carrles the particulate material from the hopper up and over a re.straining ridge 18 with the distance between the roller and the restraining ridge 18 being adjusted to provide an accurate feed o~ the material regardless of normal changes in orientation o~
the hopper and feed system about a horizontal axis paral-lel to the roller axis. The fine details of this meter-ing control are not described herein as they are known to one skilled in ~he art. From the meterin~ ridge 18, the material fed drops into a cup 19 of a venturi 20. AS
shown in Pigure 1, there are a plurality of such cups 19 arranged side by slde so they automatically divide the material fed from the roller into separate portions with -- , -, .
' ~7~86 each of the portions being effectively identical for feeding into a separate one of the venturis. As it is well known the material from the venturi is distributed along a distribution duct 21 to suitable spreader nozzles arranged along the length of the boom with airflow for the movement being generated by a blower schematically indicated at 22~
The above device is a known device and has been found to operate satisfactorily and with accurate meter-ing when used with widely different materials from rela-tively fine materials to coarse pellet like materials including fertilizer, granular herbicides and seeds and with widely differing feed rates obtained of course by varying the rate of rotation of the roller 11.
Problems arise however, when the material to be fed is moist and impregnated with liquid material or otherwise has some tendency to adhere to the surface of the roller. It will of course be appreciated that any material adhering to the surface of the roller will gradually fill the recesses 15 to differing amounts and hence will significantlY interfere with the proper feed rate. Even when the roller is manufactured from rela-tively hard materials or materials with a low tendency to adhere to the particulate material to be distributed, the .
, - ~, -: ., .
. . ,: . - .
, ~7~
particles can attach to the roller a:nd need to be removed therefrom.
There is therefore, provided in the embodiment shown a cleaning device generally indicated at 22 for cleaning the recesses of the roller as it rotates in its feeding action, the cleaning taking place continually.
The device 22 comprises a hexagonal shaft 23 which carries four star wheels 24 each of which is thin relative to the length of the shaft with the star wheels spaced longitudinally of the sha:Et so as to provide sup-port for six rods 25. The star wheels 24 each provide six apexes with a cup 26 formed at each apex for receiv-ing an inner facing edge of a cylindrical one of the rods 25. The rods 25 are thus spaced around the axis in equi-distant spacing and are arranged parallel to the axis and running substantially wholly along the length of the shaft and to an extent equal to or slightly longer than the roller 11. The device 22 therefore presents on its outer most peripher~ the outer cylindrlcal surfaces of the rods 25 with the interior of the device being open between the rods and bet~een the shaft ~o allow any material to fall there throu~h.
The shaft 23 is mount~d for rotation on bear-ings 27 carried in the end plates 14. Outside of the end . .
~7~9~
plates 14, the shaft 23 carries a pair of gear wheels 28 each of which meshes with a respective gear wheel 29 carried on the shaft 12 of roller 11. Thus the cleaning device 22 is rotated by the intermeshing relationship between the gears in an anticlockwise direction about a longitudinal axis of the shaft 23. The shaft 23 and 12 are both hexagonal in order to insure synchronizism of movement of the device 22 and the roller 11 in view of the relative close tolerances there between.
As shown in the embodiment specifically des-cribed, the number of recesses 15 on the roller 11 is twelve and the number of rods of the cleaning device 22 is siX. In addition the number of teeth on the gear wheel 29 lS thirty-two and the number of teeth on the gear wheel 28 is sixteen. Thus the gear wheel 2~ and the cleaning device 22 rotate at an angular velocity twice that of the roller 11. The diameter of the geax wheel 28 is however slightly greater than half that of the gear wheel 29. These numbers and dimensions are of course exemplary only and the dimensions and numbers can be selected to obtain the specific result which is described .
hereinafter.
Referring therefore to the sequential steps illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6, it will be noted :' ', . ,' .. . : ' .. , . ~ .
-:, ' ' ,:
that as the roller 11 rotates to bring one of the reces-ses 15 to a position adjacent the cleaning device 22, one of the rods 25 of the cleaning device is timed so that it just enters into the recess at a position closely adja-cent a trailing one of the edges of the recess. As the recess moves forwardly in the clockwise direction around the axis of the shaft 12, the respective rod moves also forwardly in an anti clockwise direction around the axis of the shaft 23 and also moves radially toward the axis of the Ehaft 22 thus moving lnto the recess to sweep the wall of the recess. These dlmensions and numbers des-- cribed above obtain the effect that, as the recess moves forwardly, the rod wipes around the semi-circular shape of the recess at a substantially constant clearance spac-ing from the surface of the recess. Thus Figure 3 shows the initial step of the rod sweeping over the edge of its respective recess. Figure 4 shows a further step advan-ced angularly of the step of Figure 3 in which the rod has moved forwardly and more deeply into the recess while the next rod in the advancing direction is also wiping a part of the next adjacent recess. In Figure 4 the rods are thus shown symmetrical about a line separating the two recesses which are concurrently being acted upon by those rods.
.
:
- .
~5~36 Figure 5 shows a yet further advanced position in which it will be seen that the rod has reached the lower most point of the recess so that the rod lies on a line joining the axes of the shafts. From that position -~ the rod moves forwardly r~lative to the recess and also outwardly relative to the recess to the position shown in Figure 6 in which it sweeps over the forward most edge of the respective recess.
The clearance of the rod from the recess is chosen to be of the order of one sixteenth inch which ls sufficient to enable the rod and recess to move relative-ly without danger of any damaging contact while ensuring sweeping action of the recess which is sufficient to remove all but an inner most la~er of any particles whlch ~- in any event cause no interference with the ~eeding of material and are swept out by further engagement with the material as the roller moves around.
Any material engaged in the recess by the res-pective rod is swept out of the recess and falls over the rod and over the edge of the recess into the cup 19 for collectlon in the venturi in the proper manner.
It will be appreciated therefore that the unigue arrangement of the cleaning device which moves at a faster rate than the roller to~ether with the dimen-: . :
.
. , , . ' ,'- ''": -, . ' .
gL2~9~
- 14 ~
sionin~ of the gears and the number of rods relative to the number of recesses causes this uni~ue sweeping action of the rod movin~ with the recess while advancing rela-tive to the recess and thus sweeping over the inner sur face of the recess.
The fact that the gear wheel 28 of the cleaning device is slightly greater in dimension than one half of the gear wheel 29 of the roller accommodates the fact that the recesses do not lie immediately adjacent but are spaced by a portion of roller surface.
While the rods are shown are the preferred arrangement for causing the sweeping since these are resistant to wear and also allow any material which is swept to fall properly from the recess into the cup 19, other suitable members such as brush bristles can be used provided they obtain the necessary movement by engagement with the properly dimensioned shaft and gear inter-connection.
Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently widely di~ferent embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all mattér contained in the~ accompanying specification shall be ~ .
`:. . ': ' :' .
... . .
.
.
. : .
.' ' ' . ,' ~ .' ~ ' ' , - , ~7~ 6 interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
' .
,. . , ,, , : . .
.
' ', ' . . : . -: . -.
-. ..
Claims
CLAIMS:
(1) Apparatus for metering particulate material comprising an elongate roller having a central axis of symmetry, a first plurality of metering grooves formed in an outer peripheral surface of the roller, each groove extending longitudinally of the roller parallel to the roller axis and defining a substantially constant continuous cross-section along the roller which cross-section forms a smoothly curved cup-shaped surface recessed from said peripheral surface of the roller, said grooves being spaced angularly around said roller, means mounting the roller for rotation about said roller axis and adapted such that said particulate material in a container thereof can be engaged with said roller along the length of said grooves, drive means for rotating said roller at a desired speed such that each groove grasps and carries within its bounds a volume of said material, and means for cleaning said grooves of said roller as the roller rotates comprising a drive member rotatable about a longitudinal axis parallel to and spaced from the roller axis, a second plurality, equal to one half of the first plurality, of cleaning members carried by and projecting outwardly from said drive member in angularly spaced relation therearound, each of said cleaning members having a longitudinal extent not less than the length of the grooves, and synchronizing means for drivingly rotating the drive member at an angular velocity twice that of the roller, such that each groove as it rotates receives a cleaning member therein with the cleaning member rotating with the groove while the cleaning member moves relative to the groove to sweep around said curved surface of the groove, each of the cleaning members comprising an elongate straight rod parallel to the axis of the drive member and having an outer surface which is smoothly curved with a radius of curvature less than that of the surface of the grooves, means mounting the rod at a fixed radial spacing from the axis of the drive member such that each rod is held against radial movement as it moves past the groove, the rods being spaced to allow material to fall therebetween, the thickness of the rods being such that they are rigid and do not deform as they move past the grooves, the position of the drive member relative to the roller and the position of the outer surface of the rods relative to the drive member being arranged such that the outer surfaces of the rods are maintained at a substantially constant clearance from the curved surface of the groove to prevent contact therebetween.
(1) Apparatus for metering particulate material comprising an elongate roller having a central axis of symmetry, a first plurality of metering grooves formed in an outer peripheral surface of the roller, each groove extending longitudinally of the roller parallel to the roller axis and defining a substantially constant continuous cross-section along the roller which cross-section forms a smoothly curved cup-shaped surface recessed from said peripheral surface of the roller, said grooves being spaced angularly around said roller, means mounting the roller for rotation about said roller axis and adapted such that said particulate material in a container thereof can be engaged with said roller along the length of said grooves, drive means for rotating said roller at a desired speed such that each groove grasps and carries within its bounds a volume of said material, and means for cleaning said grooves of said roller as the roller rotates comprising a drive member rotatable about a longitudinal axis parallel to and spaced from the roller axis, a second plurality, equal to one half of the first plurality, of cleaning members carried by and projecting outwardly from said drive member in angularly spaced relation therearound, each of said cleaning members having a longitudinal extent not less than the length of the grooves, and synchronizing means for drivingly rotating the drive member at an angular velocity twice that of the roller, such that each groove as it rotates receives a cleaning member therein with the cleaning member rotating with the groove while the cleaning member moves relative to the groove to sweep around said curved surface of the groove, each of the cleaning members comprising an elongate straight rod parallel to the axis of the drive member and having an outer surface which is smoothly curved with a radius of curvature less than that of the surface of the grooves, means mounting the rod at a fixed radial spacing from the axis of the drive member such that each rod is held against radial movement as it moves past the groove, the rods being spaced to allow material to fall therebetween, the thickness of the rods being such that they are rigid and do not deform as they move past the grooves, the position of the drive member relative to the roller and the position of the outer surface of the rods relative to the drive member being arranged such that the outer surfaces of the rods are maintained at a substantially constant clearance from the curved surface of the groove to prevent contact therebetween.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000543278A CA1275986C (en) | 1987-07-29 | 1987-07-29 | Roller cleaner |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000543278A CA1275986C (en) | 1987-07-29 | 1987-07-29 | Roller cleaner |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1275986C true CA1275986C (en) | 1990-11-06 |
Family
ID=4136169
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000543278A Expired - Lifetime CA1275986C (en) | 1987-07-29 | 1987-07-29 | Roller cleaner |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1275986C (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2009036575A1 (en) * | 2007-09-21 | 2009-03-26 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| US8141504B2 (en) | 2008-02-26 | 2012-03-27 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| CN108476692A (en) * | 2018-03-21 | 2018-09-04 | 吉林大学 | External roller type fertilizer distributor scrapes fertile anti-jamming mechanism |
| US11452254B2 (en) | 2019-11-07 | 2022-09-27 | Cnh Industrial Canada, Ltd. | Debris removal system for an agricultural metering system |
-
1987
- 1987-07-29 CA CA000543278A patent/CA1275986C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Cited By (7)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO2009036575A1 (en) * | 2007-09-21 | 2009-03-26 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| US7690440B2 (en) | 2007-09-21 | 2010-04-06 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| AU2008301161B2 (en) * | 2007-09-21 | 2014-02-27 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| US8141504B2 (en) | 2008-02-26 | 2012-03-27 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| US8371238B2 (en) | 2008-02-26 | 2013-02-12 | One Pass Implements Inc. | Sectional meter shut-off and agricultural implement having sectional meter shut-off |
| CN108476692A (en) * | 2018-03-21 | 2018-09-04 | 吉林大学 | External roller type fertilizer distributor scrapes fertile anti-jamming mechanism |
| US11452254B2 (en) | 2019-11-07 | 2022-09-27 | Cnh Industrial Canada, Ltd. | Debris removal system for an agricultural metering system |
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| Date | Code | Title | Description |
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| MKLA | Lapsed |