CA2201651C - Manure distributor with internal blade-equipped rotor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a manure distributor for substantially equally distributing the manure pumped from a holding tank into a number of hoses that spread the manure over farm fields. The manure distributor comprises a cylindrical casing defining an inner chamber divided into a lower and an upper portion by an annular transverse partition wall fixedly attached to the casing. A cylindrical baffle downwardly extends from the inner edge of the annular partition wall into the lower chamber portion, in which the manure is fed. The upper end of the distributor is equipped with a rotor having several arcuate blades radially extending therefrom. In use, the manure fills the inner chamber until it overflows into its upper end, where the rotating rotor blades outwardly propel the manure through outlet openings made in the peripheral wall of the distributor casing, at its upper end. The manure is then directed into rigid distribution pipes to which are connected the flexible spreading hoses. Knives are provided on the outlet openings to help prevent clogging of same by shearing action against incoming manure. Air valves are provided on the distribution pipes to prevent the pressure from dropping therein.

Description

w c TITL E: MANURE DISTRI, U~ TOR WISH INTER_NAr, Br,ADE-EOUIPPFD ~30TOR
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to manure distributors, and more particularly to a distributor equipped with a rotor for equally distributing the manure.
EACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Canadian patent No. 2,121,994 issued in 1995 to J.
Houle et Fils Ltee (inv.: Michel HOULE) shows that it is well known to provide a manure distributor fluidingly connected to a manure tank by means of a number of flexible discharge hoses.
The whole assembly is destined to be pulled by a farm vehicle, for spreading manure on the farm fields.
The purpose of the distributor is to receive the manure pumped from the tank and convey it into the pipes that connect the hoses to the distributor.
There are two main problems with the existing manure distributors, such as the one disclosed in the Houle patent.
The first problem is that the manure is very often distributed unequally in the hoses that convey it to the ground.
This has two consequences:
a) the field is not covered evenly by the manure, and there are larger amounts of manure at some locations while there exists a lack of it at others; and ., b) the manure which flows into a particular hose in larger quantity than in other hoses will cause a pressure differential which will suck in more manure into that hose, and thus the manure will continuously flow more into that particular hose, thus amplifying consequence a).
This problem is due to the fact that the manure is pumped into the distributor with a relatively high velocity, and thus it reaches the hoses in an uneven, turbulent fashion.
Also, the vehicle and the distributor are often tilted on one side and the other due to an uneven field terrain. Thus, the fluid manure will move inside the distributor and may reach some outlet hoses more than others, with the effects as explained in b) above. The turbulent state of the manure will often cause local bubbles or swirls which will create an uneven upper surface of the accumulated manure. It is thus possible and likely that these bubles or swirls allow the manure to enter in one outlet hose more than the other, resulting in an unequal manure distribution.
The Houle patent has attempted to mitigate this problem by adding an annular baffle which is coaxially mounted inside the distributor, so that the upwardly projected manure will hit this baffle and then reach the different hose outlets located at the periphery of the top wall of the cylindrical distributor in a more calm state, rather than in a very turbulent state. However, the counterflux created by the baffle will still allow the manure to reach the hoses in a turbulent state.
The second problem of the existing manure distributor devices is that the manure very often gets stuck or "packs" in the distributor. The farm vehicle driver then has to stop his vehicle and clean the distributor of any compacted manure that prevents normal operation of the distributor. This evidently results in an undesirable loss of time.
The Houle patent discloses radial knives which rotate in the distributor in a plane adjacent the hose outlets, for cutting any clogging macroparticles that may block the passage into the hose outlets, where the clogging usually happens.
However, the elbow in the atop discharge pipes of the Houle patent nevertheless promote packing.
OHJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is the gist of the present invention to provide a manure distributor that allows a substantially equal distribution of the manure inside each of the distribution hoses.
It is an important object of the invention that the manure distributor help prevent any clogging of same by the manure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a manure distributor equipped with a rotor for equally distributing the manure among a number of discharge hoses.
More particularly, the invention is a distributor for use in a manure spreader to distribute manure to a plurality of discharge hoses via a manure feed pipe connected to a manure pump, said distributor comprising:
a) an elongated upright chamber connectable to the feed pipe at a lower portion of said chamber, said chamber having a substantially vertical axis, top and bottom walls, a side wall with an inlet opening at said lower portion of the chamber in open communication with the feed pipe when said chamber is connected thereto, said chamber side wall also having an upper portion provided with a set of spaced apart outlet openings extending away from said vertical axis, each of said outlet openings corresponding to one of said discharge hoses, an intermediate partition wall being transversely mounted to said chamber side wall intermediate said upper and lower portions thereof whereby said chamber is divided into two vertically upper and lower spaced compartments, said partition wall having a central aperture for allowing communication between said two compartments;
b) an annular baffle coaxially mounted within said chamber, said baffle having a radius shorter in size than said ..

chamber and an upper edge merging with said intermediate partition wall and opening into said central aperture of the partition wall; said baffle being shorter in diameter than said chamber and shorter in length than said lower compartment, said baffle further defining a bottom mouth located above the level of said inlet opening of the chamber side wall lower portion;
c) a set of discharge pipes connecting each of said outlet openings of the chamber to a corresponding discharge hose;
d) a rotor, rotatably mounted to said chamber top wall generally coaxially to said annular baffle and including a number of blades extending within a plane generally coplanar to said outlet openings of said chamber upper portion;
e) power means for power rotating said rotor for horizontally distributing the manure moving upwardly through said baffle, generally equally through said spaced apart outlet openings of said chamber upper portion;
wherein manure packing within said discharge hoses during distributor operation is substantially prevented.
Preferably, the distributor of the invention further includes spring biased valve members, one for each discharge hose, for self-regulating the air pressure inside each said discharge hose relative to the other said discharge hoses during operation of the distributor.
Advantageously, the distributor further includes guillotine air flow control means, mounted about said inlet i opening at said lower portion of the chamber, for controlling manure feed loading into said chamber lower compartment.
Preferably, each said discharge pipe is mounted to said upper portion of the chamber in a non-radial partly tangentially offset fashion relative to the vertical axis of said elongated chamber, wherein an acute angle is made between a corresponding said discharge pipe and a tangential section of said chamber upper portion, said acute angle being located at the trailing end portion of a given said outlet opening relative to direction of rotation of said rotor blades.
Preferably, said chamber is cylindrical; said distributor further including knife members, mounted to said chamber each adjacent to a said outlet opening wherein each knife member includes a cutting edge, said cutting edges tangentially extending along corresponding said outlet openings of said chamber upper portion, said rotor blades sized so that their radially outermost edges brushingly engage said knife members upon rotation thereof.
Preferably, each said blade is of arcuate shape in top edge view, the convexity of said arcuate blades being on the leading face of said blades relative to the direction of rotation of said rotor blades.

l7FSCRTPmTpoN cF THE DRAWINGS
In the annexed drawings:
Figure 1 is a perspective, partly fragmented view of the rear end of a manure tank, together with a support rack for the soil tools and with a manure distributor according to the invention, with a number of flexible hoses shown in dotted lines for clarity of the view;
Figure 2 is a perspective view, at an enlarged scale, of the manure distributor of figure 1;
Figure 3 is a fragmented, perspective exploded view of the manure distributor of figure 2, further suggesting in dotted lines the rear end of the manure tank;
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the manure distributor of the invention, suggesting with a number of arrows the direction of the manure flow;
Figure 5, on the second sheet of drawings, is a top plan view of the manure distributor of the invention, suggesting in dotted lines the curved rotor blades; and Figures 6 and 7, on the fourth sheet of drawings, are two enlarged views at different operational stages of the area circumscribed by circle 6 in figure 4, suggesting with arrows the pressure applied on the air valve by the manure and the ambiant air, respectively.

,.
DFTATTED DESCRIPTION OF T~3E EMBODIMENTS
Figure 1 shows the rear end of a large manure enclosing tank 10 which is destined to be rollingly carried over ground by a farm vehicle, e.g. a tractor (not shown) . To the holding tank is attached a tool rack 12 which is carried spacedly over ground by several wheels 14. As is known in the art, the housing 26 of a manure distributor 16 is fixedly installed at the rear of tank 10 by a bracket 17 and is f luidingly connected thereto through the instrumentality of modular rigid infeed pipes 18 and 20. A pump 21 (shown schematically in figure 1) allows a regular manure flow from tank 10 to distributor 16. Distributor 16 distributes the manure among a number of flexible hoses 22, e.g. six hoses, that redirect and spread the manure behind the farm vehicle on the ground. Preferably, triplets of fore and aft tines 24 integrally mounted to farm rack 12 will plow a furrow in the soil for it to receive the manure therein, and then move the soil over the ground engaging manure to burry it and help prevent foul odors from being released to the ambiant air.
It is of course important that the manure be spread as evenly as possible along the ground, at least as far as the furrows are concerned. Therefore, each hose 22 should preferably have a regular and constant manure flow rate going out of its lower extremity. The purpose of distributor 16 is thus to provide manure to all six hoses, and that the manure \ I

flow rate in these hoses be as regular and constant as possible.
The distributor 16 according to the invention is better seen in figures 2 to 7.
Figures 2 to 4 show that distributor 16 comprises a casing defining a substantially cylindrical peripheral wall 26, a top wall 28 and a bottom wall 3o having an opening covered by a maintenance cover 32 fixedly bolted thereon. A screw cap 34 threadingly and sealingly engages a complementary hole 32a in maintenance cover 32, allowing an easy emptying of the distributor fluids if so desired.
A main innterior manure storage chamber 36 (figure 4) is defined inside the distributor 16 casing, chamber 36 having an upper portion 36a and being divided into a lower portion 38 and an intermediate portion 40 by a transverse, annular partition wall 42 which defines a central opening 44 concentric to but diametrally smaller than cylindrical peripheral wall 26.
Partition wall 42 is otherwise fixedly attached, e.g. bolted, to the inner surface of peripheral wall 26 by annular clamp 27. On the radially inner periphery of annular partition wall 42 is ffixedly attached a downwardly depending cylindrical baffle 46 coaxial to opening 44 and which is thus located in the lower portion 38 of chamber 36. Coaxial baffle 46 and opening 44 thus form an axially-oriented vertical channel from the lower portion 38 to the intermediate portion 40 of inner chamber 36.
A ring member 48 is coaxially and fixedly installed at the upper end of main chamber 36 and diametrally conforms to the top edge of the peripheral wall 26 of the distributor 16. Ring member 48 ~is located between top wall 28 and a radially outwardly oriented lip 50 (figure 3) of the distributor casing, and the joint is sealed by means of a pair of lower and upper sealer ring strips 52, 54 to prevent any leaks. Ring member 48 has and thus provides to peripheral wall 26 a number of outlet openings 56 (figure 3). In this case, there are six such openings, since this number must be equal to the number of hoses 22 in which manure is to be distributed.
As shown in figures 2 to 5, a rotor 58 having several substantially radially-extending blades 60, e.g. four blades 60 as shown, is axially connected to and controlled by an external power supply 62, e.g. an hydraulic motor. Blades 6o are positioned so as to rotate in a plane parallel and adjacent to top wall 28, i.e. normally parallel though very slightly spaced therefrom. Also, blades 60 radially extend out to th level of peripheral wall 26 (corresponding to ring member 48 at this location), though it extends very slightly short therefrom, almost brushing it. Therefore, blades 60 rotate in a the same general plane a that of outlets 56.
Preferably, as illustrated in the drawings, blades 60 are curved in a top plan view and define a commonly-oriented convexity which is turned in the direction in which the blades are destined to rotate in their operational mode.

An inlet opening 64 through peripheral wall 26 and a complementary inlet pipe section 66 are located in lower portion 38 of inner chamber 36 for admitting therein the manure fed by the pump 21 from the tank 10. A guillotine-style shutter 68 of known construction links inlet pipe section 66 to modular infeed pipe 18, to allow a selection of the manure infeed rate into distributor main chamber lower portion 38.
Preferably, as shown in the drawings, each outlet 56 is fluidingly connected to a short rigid distribution pipe 70 which is in turn fluidingly connected to a flexible hose 22. As shown in figures 3 and 5, each pipe 70 extends away from its corresponding outlet substantially halfway between a tangential and a radial direction.
A knife member 71 (figure 3) is fixedly installed at one tangential extremity of each opening 56. The leading cutting edge of the knife 71 is the one which will be reached last by the rotating rotor blades.
An air valve 72 is transversely mounted to the upper portion of each distribution pipe 70. As shown in figures 6 and 7, air valve 72 comprises a sealing stopper 74 mounted on a piston 76 which guides stopper 74 between an opened position, characterized by the fact that the outside ambiant air can enter pipe 70 via the valve, and a closed position, characterized by the fact that the ambiant air is prevented from entering pipe 70 via the valve by sealing stopper 74. A coil spring 78 biases f stopper 74 into its closed position in normal conditions. It is understood that any pressure-activated air valve of known construction which would have the same effect as valve 72 may be used on each distribution pipe.
In use, manure is fed by pump 21 from tank 10 into distributor 16 at a selected flow rate, which is chosen e.g.
depending on the advance speed of the tractor. The manure rapidly fills the distributor inner chamber 36, which may e.g.
have a volume capacity of approximately 14 liters, though larger or smaller capacities are envisioned. Once the inner chamber 36 is almost filled with manure, with the channel formed by baffle 46 allowing the manure to fill chamber intermediate portion 40, it overflows into the chamber upper end 36a and thus reaches the rotating rotor blades 60 (which must of course be activated previously). The rotor blades 60 will drive the manure unaer the centrifugal force resulting from their rotation towards the level of peripheral wall 26, which corresponds to ring member 48 at this level. The thus propelled manure will be allowed to flow out through outlets 56, through pipes 70 and into hoses 22 to be spread in the farm field soil.
It is understood that the propelled manure will have a natural tendancy to flow out of inner chamber 36 through outlets 56 according to a direction vector which may be decomposed into a radially outward component and a tangential component, due to its propelling by rotating blades 60. As , ., clearly illustrated in figure 5, the orientation of outlet pipes 70 is not radial, but is of a value intermediate a tangential and a radial orientation, as already explained. The outwardly flowing manure will therefore flow into pipes 70 with less resistance against the pipe walls than if pipe elbows or the like were found immediately at the chamber outlets 56.
The purpose of the horizontal partition wall 42 and vertical annular baffle 46 is to calm the manure upcoming flow from its initial turbulent state to a calmer state. Indeed, the ZO manure fed from the pump 21 into inner chamber 36 possesses a considerable velocity, and is consequently thrusted upwardly when hitting the peripheral wall 26 opposite inlet 64 (the lower wall 30 prevents it from being thrusted downwardly also). The main part of this high-velocity manure flow will either hit the lower surface of annular partition wall 42 or the outer surface of baffle 46, and will thus eventually be deflected downwards.
It is a more calm manure flow that will rise centrally through the channel formed by baffle 46 and through partition wall opening 44, this flow being protected from turbulence by baffle 46. The manure filling chamber upper portion 40 is thus in a relatively calm state, while the manure filling chamber lower portion 38 is in a rather turbulent state. The manure overflowing into the upper part 36a of inner chamber 36 will thus be in this calm state.
The multiple purposes of the rotor blades 60 are as follows:
1) They help distribute the manure more evenly among outlets 56 and into pipes 70, since there is a constant radially outward flaw created by each blade 60 which successively passes proximate each outlet 56. Thus, the manure flow through each outlet 56 is substantially constant and regular, as long as the manure infeed flow is constant and regular. Moreover, rotor blades 60 will level the accumulated manure upper surface of any local bubbles or swirls, if some exist, to feed outlets 56 with a regular flow.
2) They propell the manure inside each distribution pipe 70, thus effectively acting as a small pump for the manure.
3) They help prevent manure from getting stuck at the upper end of inner chamber 36, since the rotor blades 60 are diametrally sized in relation to ring member 48 to scrape the upper wall 28 continuously. And 4) They help prevent manure from getting stuck in outlets 56, since the combination of knives 71 and the outer extremities of blades 60 will cause most macroparticles to be sliced instead of packing at an outlet.
Concerning point 4) above, it is important to note that the manure often comprises not only dung but also straw and/or wood chips, and thus there is a considerable likelihood that such macroparticles could obstruct the outlets 56. The knives 71 and rotating rotor blades 60 combination thus have a particularly desirable effect against this clogging.
It may happen that the manure enter one or several of the distribution pipes in a larger quantity than in others, e.g.
if the distributor is tilted sideways because the.farm vehicle is rolling over uneven terrain. In this case, the pipes 70 in which the manure is propelled by the rotor blades 60 in larger quantities will cause a suction effect that would act on the manure inside chamber upper portion 40 and that could reach the other pipes and effectively self-correct against the propelling of the manure in these other pipes by the pump and the rotor.
The purpose of air valves 72 is to prevent this. Indeed, as shown by the arrows in figures 6 and 7, if the pressure differential between the inside of any distribution pipe and the outside ambiant air is large enough to overcome the force exerted by spring 78, then the suction thus existing in such a pipe will force stopper 74 into its opened position against the biasing force of spring 78, to let some air in and thus effectively cancel the pressure differential and consequently the suction effect of this pipe 70 inside the distributor 16.
As soon as there is an upcoming flow of manure towards the valve 72 because of the pressure rising again inside this particular pipe 70, the stopper 74 will rise again into its closed position, helped by the spring 78 that allows the stopper to move before the manure flow reaches it (thus helping to prevent that manure get stuck in the air valve) .. '' 2201651 The value of the spring 78 resistance is chosen to allow a suction effect to occur in the upper part 36a of chamber 36 on the manure, to effectively help its propelling into the outlet pipes, though without allowing this suction effect to impede the functioning of the distributor by draining the other pipes of their manure.
The combination of a calm uprising flow of manure with the blade-equipped rotor 58 has proven to be very efficient in acquiring a constant and regular manure flow out of hoses 22.
The distributor according to the invention gives unexpected and advantageous results in this respect.
It can be seen in figure 3 that maintenance or repair of the distributor according to the invention is .possible due to the fact that most pieces can be separated from the rest of the distributor quite easily. Indeed, wing nuts 80 attach the upper portion of the distributor 16, i.e. upper wall 28, ring member 48, sealer rings 52, 54 and lip 50. Access into main chamber 36 is thus easily possible, either by removing the upper part by means of the wing nuts or the lower part by means of either screw cap 34 or screwed maintenance cover 32.
It is understood that throughout this description, reference is made to axial and radial directions because the preferred embodiment of the invention is preferably of cylindrical shape. However, except for the upper end of the main chamber comprising the rotor blades 60 which has to be of .. ~' 2201651 cylindrical shape, the remaining shape of the chamber could be different, for example polygonal (though a square-shaped storage chamber would not be as efficient and would increase the likelihood of manure getting stuck inside the chamber). If such is the case, then the axial and radial direction references should be interpreted consequently, i.e. as if the chamber was cylindrical. The axis of a polygonal prism, e.g. an octagonal prism, would be the line passing at the geometric center of all the transverse cross-sections of the prism, and the radial direction would be the lines that extend perpendicularly therefrom.
Any minor changes to the invention as described which do not deviate from the scope of the present invention are considered to be included in the scope thereof.

Claims (17)

1. A manure distributor for evenly distributing manure into a number of discharge hoses and for use with a manure tank and a pump feeding manure at a selected flow rate to said distributor from the manure tank, said distributor comprising:
a) a casing defining a main manure storage chamber having a central axis, a cylindrical upper portion and peripheral, upper and lower walls;
b) a manure inlet located distally from said main storage chamber upper portion, the manure being destined to be fed into said main storage chamber from the manure tank through said manure inlet;
c) a number of outlets located at said main storage chamber upper portion on said peripheral wall;
d) a rotor having several substantially radial blades coaxially and rotatably fixed at said main storage chamber cylindrical upper portion, said blades extending out to said peripheral wall though very slightly spaced therefrom and being substantially coplanar relative to said outlets; and e) power means for rotating said rotor at a selected regular speed;
wherein upon energizing said power means and manure entering into said manure inlet, the manure overflowing said main storage chamber in its upper portion will hit said rotor blades in a substantially axially parallel direction relative to said rotor, and be radially driven by the centrifugal force resulting from the spinning rotor blades towards said peripheral wall at said main storage chamber upper portion and out through said outlets.

2. A manure distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said main storage chamber is divided into a lower and an intermediate portion by a transverse, annular partition wall fixedly attached to said peripheral wall and defining an opening axially centered and diametrally smaller relative to said peripheral wall, said manure inlet being located in said storage chamber lower portion and said storage chamber cylindrical upper portion being located over said storage chamber intermediate portion.

3. A manure distributor as defined in claim 2, further including a cylindrical baffle axially registering with and peripherally fixed on said partition wall opening, said baffle depending from said partition wall into said main storage chamber lower portion.

4. A manure distributor as defined in claim 1, wherein said blades are destined to operationally rotate in a single direction, said blades having a tangentially arcuate shape and defining a commonly oriented convexity, this convexity being destined to be oriented towards said single direction.

5. A manure distributor as defined in claim 4, further including a number of straight distribution pipes each defining a first and a second end, each said pipe being fluidingly connected with its first end to one of said distributor outlets and being destined to be fluidingly connected to one hose with its second end, said pipes extending away from said outlets substantially halfway between a tangential and a radial direction.

6. A manure distributor as defined in claim 5, wherein said casing interiorly carries a number of knife members each in register with on of said manure outlets at the tangential farthest extremity, relative to said single direction, so as to prevent manure packing under knife shearing forces.

7. A manure distributor as defined in claim 5, wherein each said pipe is equipped with an air valve transversely mounted thereto, each air valve being biased by means of a spring means into a closed position, whereby a negative pressure differential inside the pipe relative to the outside ambiant air which is important enough to overcome the biasing force of said spring will force the valve into an opened position, thereby admitting ambiant air into said pipe.

8. A manure distributor as defined in claim 5, wherein there are six outlets on said peripheral wall at said main chamber upper end and consequently said distributor comprises six distribution pipes.

9. A manure distributor as defined in claim 4, wherein the number of arcuate blades is four.

10. A manure distributor as defined in claim 3, wherein said inlet is an opening radially cut into said peripheral wall near said bottom wall.

11. A distributor for use in a manure spreader to distribute manure to a plurality of discharge hoses via a manure feed pipe connected to a manure pump, said distributor comprising:
a) an elongated upright chamber connectable to the feed pipe at a lower portion of said chamber, said chamber having a substantially vertical axis, top and bottom walls, a side wall with an inlet opening at said lower portion of the chamber in open communication with the feed pipe when said chamber is connected thereto, said chamber side wall also having an upper portion provided with a set of spaced apart outlet openings extending away from said vertical axis, each of said outlet openings corresponding to one of said discharge hoses, an intermediate partition wall being transversely mounted to said chamber side wall intermediate said upper and lower portions thereof whereby said chamber is divided into two vertically upper and lower spaced compartments, said partition wall having a central aperture for allowing communication between said two compartments;
b) an annular baffle coaxially mounted within said chamber, said baffle having a radius shorter in size than said chamber and an upper edge merging with said intermediate partition wall and opening into said central aperture of the partition wall; said baffle being shorter in diameter than said chamber and shorter in length than said lower compartment, said baffle further defining a bottom mouth located above the level of said inlet opening of the chamber side wall lower portion;
c) a set of discharge pipes connecting each of said outlet openings of the chamber to a corresponding discharge hose;
d) a rotor, rotatably mounted to said chamber top wall generally coaxially to said annular baffle and including a number of blades extending within a plane generally coplanar to said outlet openings of said chamber upper portion;
e) power means for power rotating said rotor for horizontally distributing the manure moving upwardly through said baffle, generally equally through said spaced apart outlet openings of said chamber upper portion;
wherein manure packing within said discharge hoses during distributor operation is substantially prevented.

12. A manure distributor as in claim 11, further including spring biased valve members, one for each discharge hose, for self-regulating the air pressure inside each said discharge hose relative to the other said discharge hoses during operation of the distributor.

13. A manure distributor as in claim 11, further including guillotine air flow control means, mounted about said inlet opening at said lower portion of the chamber, for controlling manure feed loading into said chamber lower compartment.

14. A manure distributor as in claim 11, wherein each said discharge pipe is mounted to said upper portion of the chamber in a non-radial partly tangentially offset fashion relative to the vertical axis of said elongated chamber, wherein an acute angle is made between a corresponding said discharge pipe and a tangential section of said chamber upper portion, said acute angle being located at the trailing end portion of a given said outlet opening relative to direction of rotation of said rotor blades.

15. A manure distributor as in claim 14, wherein said chamber is cylindrical; further including knife members, mounted to said chamber each adjacent to a said outlet opening wherein each knife member includes a cutting edge, said cutting edges tangentially extending along corresponding said outlet openings of said chamber upper portion, said rotor blades sized so that their radially outermost edges brushingly engage said knife members upon rotation thereof resulting in a shearing effect upon any macroparticles engaging one of said cutting edges.

16. A manure distributor as in claim 15, wherein each said blade is of arcuate shape in top edge view, the convexity of said arcuate blades being on the leading face of said blades relative to the direction of rotation of said rotor blades.

17. A manure distributor as in claim 14, wherein each said blade is of arcuate shape in top edge view, the convexity of said arcuate blades being on the leading face of said blades relative to the direction of rotation of said rotor blades.