GB1582203A

GB1582203A - Drying shed floor elements

Info

Publication number: GB1582203A
Application number: GB18563/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: VENTEC AGRICULTURAL Ltd
Current assignee: VENTEC AGRICULTURAL Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-09
Filing date: 1978-05-09
Publication date: 1981-01-07
Also published as: IE790926L; AU5413279A; IE48225B1

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DRYING SHED FLOOR ELEMENTS (71) We, VENTEC (AGRICULTURAL) LIMITED, a British Company, of 9 Trinity Street, Colchester, Essex, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement-: This invention relates to a ventilated floor element suitable for connection to other such elements so as to form a ventilated floor section which may be used to cover an under-floor duct in a drying shed.

The invention also relates to drying shed floors provided with such elements.

Known forms of drying sheds have under-floor ducts covered with floor sections allowing the passage of air therethrough, so that drying of farm produce such as grain or potatoes -- may be effected by piling the produce on the floor and then pumping air along the ducts to issue through the floor sections and then pass through the produce. A typical drying shed has a number of parallel, open-topped ducts formed in the floor, each duct being provided with a rebate along the corner between the side wall of the duct and the floor itself. The rebates are used to support the ventilated floor section so that the top surface of the section is level with the major part of the surrounding floor area.

The under-floor ducts are interconnected by means of further closed ducts below the floor, and a fan is used to drive air along the ducts to issue through the ventilated floor sections.

A known design of floor section is made up from a plurality of independent ventilated floor elements known as 'laterals' and each simply resting on the rebates of a duct to extend thereacross, each element contacting the adjacent element. Known laterals are either in the form of a slotted sheet or for greater strength in the form of an inverted rectangular channel section, the top surface of the section being provided with a plurality of slots to allow air to pass therethrough. Neither form of these laterals is particularly satisfactory, because any one element may move out of alignment of the array, for example when a vehicle passes over the duct, thus leaving the duct uncovered. In addition, when air issues from the slots it tends to pass generally upwardly and thus any produce to be dried resting on the floor between two ducts receives virtually no ventilation.

According to this invention, there is provided a ventilated floor element for an under-floor duct of a drying shed, which element comprises an elongate member of generally channel section having a base portion and two parallel flanks depending substantially normally from the base portion, the base portion being provided with a plurality of louvred openings through which air may issue, the long edge remote from the base portion of one flank having provided thereon a foot which extends inwardly of the channel section towards the other flank, and the long edge of the other flank having provided thereon a further wall portion defining a re-entrant recess by means of a first part extending substantially parallel to the foot but away therefrom and a second part turned back relative to the first part thereby to define a re-entrant recess, whereby the element may be engaged with a further such element by the foot of one element being received in the re-entrant recess of another element.

The ventilated floor element of this invention is intended to be used with a plurality of like elements, the foot of each element being interlocked with the reentrant recess of the next element in the succession thereof, so as to make up a length of floor section. The entire length can be rested on the rebates along the length of a duct in a drying shed floor, to cover the duct and yet allow air supplied to the duct to issue through the louvred openings in the individual floor elements of the floor section.

In order to ensure that the grain lying on the floor between two adjacent ducts is adequately ventilated, it is preferred for the element to be configured so that the length of each louvred opening is substantially normal to the length of the element, and for each louvred opening to be oriented so that the opening defined by the louvre is directed towards the end of the element nearer that louvred opening. An alternative is for the element to be configured so that the length of each louvred opening lies substantially parallel to the length of the element, but this would not possess the advantages of the preferred arrangement.

Whichever disposition is chosen, it is advantageous for the louvre of each opening to be provided on the inner side of the base portion between the two flanks. The louvres are then not likely to be damaged for example by vehicles passing over a floor section made up from the ventilated elements.

In a preferred embodiment, both the first part and the second part of the further wall portion are planar. The width of the foot should be substantially equal to, but not greater than, the internal width of the re-entrant recess, thereby allowing successive elements to be engaged one with another to form an interlocking array strong enough to withstand the forces generated for example by a vehicle passing thereover.

Conveniently the elements are formed by bending and pressing a mild steel sheet, and in order to increase the resistance of the element to corrosion, the elements may be finished by a galvanising process.

This invention extends to a drying shed floor comprising at least one open-topped under-floor duct with rebates provided along the upper edges thereof and a floor section resting on the rebates to cover the duct, the floor section being made up from a plurality of ventilated floor elements as described above according to the invention, the elements being interlocked together.

By way of illustration only, one specific embodiment of this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a ventilated floor element of this invention; Figure 2 is a top plan view of a ventilated floor element of this invention; Figure 3 is a sectional view of a number of interlocked ventilated floor elements of this invention overlying an under-floor duct; and Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV shown on Figure 3.

The ventilated floor element 10 of this invention shown in the drawings is intended to be interlocked with other such elements so as to define an elongate floor section. This section can then be used to cover an under-floor duct let into a drying shed floor, so that when air is pumped along the duct, the air may issue through the ventilated elements.

Each element 10 comprises a steel pressing of generally channel section, having a base portion 11 and two parallel flanks 12 and 13 depending normally from the base portion. The base portion 11 is provided with louvred openings 14, each louvre being formed by slitting the base portion transversely and then pressing the metal in the region of the slit downwardly between the two flanks. As can be seen in Figure 1, to one side of the centre of the element 10 the louvres are directed in one sense and to the other side of the centre they are directed in the opposite sense. Air issuing generally upwardly through the louvres will thus be directed towards the nearer free end 15 or 16 of the element.

A foot 17 is provided along the bottom edge of flank 12 by turning through substantially 90C the material of the flank inwardly of the element 10 so as to extend towards flanks 13. Along the bottom edge of the other flank 13 there is a re-entrant recess 18 defined by suitable bending of the metal. Thus, there is a first part 19 extending substantially parallel to the foot 17 but away therefrom and a second part 20 turned back to extend generally towards the corner between the flank 13 and the base portion 11. The width of the foot 17 is slightly smaller than the maximum internal width of the re-entrant recess 18, these widths being measured perpendicular to the length of the overall element.

Typically, for an element intended for use in a grain store, the louvres are shaped so that the maximum gap between each louvre and its opening is about 3/32". Air may thus pass freely through the openings, but virtually all types of grain cannot.

In use, successive ventilated floor elements are interlocked by engaging the foot 17 of an element in the re-entrant recess 18 of the preceding element and so on until a length of interlocked elements is constructed. The inter-engagement of the floor elements may be accomplished by sliding the foot 17 of one element laterally - i.e.

parallel to the length of the element - into the recess 18 of an adjacent element, or if the extension piece and re-entrant recess are suitably dimensioned, two adjacent elements may be interlocked by a hinging movement of the element the foot of which is to be engaged with the recess of another element.

In Figures 3 and 4, there is shown a sectional view of an under-floor duct 22 covered by a floor section made up from a number of interlocked ventilated floor elements 10 as described above. Typically, the floor 23 is of concrete and a plurality of parallel spaced ducts are formed during laying of the floor, by suitable shuttering.

Each duct has a pair of rebates 24 along the junction between the vertical walls of the duct and the floor proper, so as to define flat, horizontal ledges below floor level. These ledges support the floor section made up from a plurality of interlocked floor elements 10, the end portions of the lower surfaces of the first parts 19 bearing on the horizontal ledges of the rebates. In this way, local pressure on the rebates 24 generated by any load such as a vehicle on the elements 10 is reduced, thus preventing damage to the rebates 24.

Elements 10 with appropriate flank heights are selected so as to ensure that the upper faces of the base portions 11 are substantially level with the main area of the floor.

All the spaced ducts are covered with ventilated floor sections in the manner described above. By means of further closed ducts or pipes, all the under-floor ducts in the drying shed are interconnected, and a fan arrangement is used to drive air along the ducts to issue out of the louvred openings in the floor sections. For example, an electrically-powered blower may be employed for this purpose.

The matter to be dried is heaped on the floor of the drying shed, over the ventilated floor sections. For example, grain or potatoes may be stored on such a floor. To dry the produce, the fan arrangement is operated, so as to blow air along the ducts and out through the floor sections into the produce. The arrangement of the louvres, being directed laterally of the elements making up the floor section over a duct, tends to direct air laterally towards the next adjacent ducts on each side. In this way, air tends to be passed through most of the produce lying on the floor, including through those portions not directly over a duct.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A ventilated floor element for an under-floor duct of a drying shed, which element comprises an elongate member of generally channel section having a base portion and two parallel flanks depending substantially normally from the base portion, the base portion being provided with a plurality of louvred openings through which air may issue, the long edge remote from the base portion of one flank having provided thereon a foot which extends inwardly of the channel section towards the other flank, and the long edge of the other flank having provided thereon a further wall portion defining a re-entrant recess by means of a first part extending substantially parallel to the foot but away therefrom and a second part turned back relative to the first part thereby to define a re-entrant recess, whereby the element may be engaged with a further such element by the foot of one element being received in the re-entrant recess of another element.

2. A ventilated floor element according to claim 1, wherein the length of each louvred opening lies substantially normal to the length of the elongate member.

3. A ventilated floor element according to claim 2, wherein each louvred opening is oriented so that the opening defined by the louvre is directed to the end of the element nearer that louvred opening.

4. A ventilated floor element according to claim 1, wherein the length of each louvred opening lies substantially parallel to the length of the elongate member.

5. A ventilated floor element according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the louvre of each louvred opening is provided on the inner side of the base portion between the two flanks.

6. A ventilated floor element according to any of the preceding claims, wherein both the first part and the second part of the further wall portions are planar.

7. A ventilated floor element acording to any of the preceding claims, wherein the width of the foot is substantially equal to but not greater than the internal width of the re-entrant recess.

8. A ventilated floor element according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the element is formed from mild steel sheet.

9. A ventilated floor element according to claim 8, wherein the element is finished by a galvanising process.

10. A ventilated floor element substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A drying shed floor comprising at least one open-topped under-floor duct with rebates provided along the upper edges thereof and a floor section resting on the rebates to cover the duct, the floor section being made up from a plurality of ventilated floor elements as claimed in any of the preceding claims, the elements being interlocked together.

12. A drying shed floor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. the duct and the floor proper, so as to define flat, horizontal ledges below floor level. These ledges support the floor section made up from a plurality of interlocked floor elements 10, the end portions of the lower surfaces of the first parts 19 bearing on the horizontal ledges of the rebates. In this way, local pressure on the rebates 24 generated by any load such as a vehicle on the elements 10 is reduced, thus preventing damage to the rebates 24. Elements 10 with appropriate flank heights are selected so as to ensure that the upper faces of the base portions 11 are substantially level with the main area of the floor. All the spaced ducts are covered with ventilated floor sections in the manner described above. By means of further closed ducts or pipes, all the under-floor ducts in the drying shed are interconnected, and a fan arrangement is used to drive air along the ducts to issue out of the louvred openings in the floor sections. For example, an electrically-powered blower may be employed for this purpose. The matter to be dried is heaped on the floor of the drying shed, over the ventilated floor sections. For example, grain or potatoes may be stored on such a floor. To dry the produce, the fan arrangement is operated, so as to blow air along the ducts and out through the floor sections into the produce. The arrangement of the louvres, being directed laterally of the elements making up the floor section over a duct, tends to direct air laterally towards the next adjacent ducts on each side. In this way, air tends to be passed through most of the produce lying on the floor, including through those portions not directly over a duct. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A ventilated floor element for an under-floor duct of a drying shed, which element comprises an elongate member of generally channel section having a base portion and two parallel flanks depending substantially normally from the base portion, the base portion being provided with a plurality of louvred openings through which air may issue, the long edge remote from the base portion of one flank having provided thereon a foot which extends inwardly of the channel section towards the other flank, and the long edge of the other flank having provided thereon a further wall portion defining a re-entrant recess by means of a first part extending substantially parallel to the foot but away therefrom and a second part turned back relative to the first part thereby to define a re-entrant recess, whereby the element may be engaged with a further such element by the foot of one element being received in the re-entrant recess of another element.