GB2200827A - Dispenser for granular material - Google Patents

Abstract

A dispenser for granular material comprises a reservoir (2, 38) feeding controlled amounts of material into the upper regions of a hollow housing (8), a rotatable, disc-like member (24) being mounted in or adjacent the lower regions of the housing (8) to be rotatable about a substantially vertical axis whereby granular material falling under gravity onto the rotating member (24) is flung substantially radially outwardly thereby. The sidewall (14) of the housing (8) includes a window (36) therein through which the material flung outwardly passes, the width of the window (36) being adjustable whereby the angular width of the stream of granular material emanating from the housing (8) can be controlled. <IMAGE>

Description

DISPENSER FOR GRANULAR MATERIAL This invention relates to dispensers for granular materials and more particularly to portable dispensers for materials such as herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers, seeds, sand, salt and the like.

In horticulture, agriculture and sylviculture, as well as in the cases of do-it-yourself gardeners, it is often necessary to spread controlled amounts of granular materials such as those mentioned above over defined areas.

Until recently, there were no particularly convenient means for achieving this, the choices lying primarily between pepper pot type hand applicators, which are small scale, slow and inaccurate, gravity feed applicators which have proved problematical and unreliable, and custom-built machines which are expensive and heavy as well as being noisy and smelly in operation.

It has been proposed to provide a portable, hand-held dispenser including a source of granular material controlled amounts of which are fed under gravity onto a rotating disc to be flung radially outwardly by the disc.

However such an arrangement, although convenient, suffers from the major disadvantage that the band width of material being flung out by the rotatable disc is difficult, if not impossible, to control.

It will be appreciated that it is often necessary to apply a particular granular material to a particular area and where application of that material to other than the desired area could cause damage to the immediately surrounding regions, while, in order to prevent waste, it is also desirable to be able to control the application of material to only predetermined areas.

According to the invention there is provided a dispenser for granular material comprising a reservoir of granular material, a hollow housing into the upper regions of which is fed a controlled amount of said granular material, a disclike member mounted in or adjacent the lower regions of the housing to be rotatable therein about a substantially vertical axis whereby, on rotation of the disc-like member, granular material from the reservoir falling thereon under gravity is thrown substantially radially outwardly thereby, and a window in the sidewall of the housing through which material thrown out substantially radially by the rotatable members passes, the width of the window being adjustable whereby the angular width of the stream of granular material emanating from the housing can be controlled.

The reservoir may be mounted directly on the housing, or may be adapted to be carried on the back of a user and connected to the housing by a flexible hose.

In the former case, the reservoir conveniently incorporates a handle by which the dispenser can be held by a user.

Preferably the reservoir feeds into the upper regions of the housing through a metering orifice the dimensions of which can be altered to alter the rate of feed of material from the reservoir to the housing.

The dispenser may comprise a plurality of interchangeable annular discs each having different diameter bores therethrough and selectively locatable in the feed path of the granular material from the reservoir to the housing to provide said metering orifice.

Conveniently the dispenser includes a control member, movable into and out of the flow path of material from the reservoir to the housing selectively to permit and prevent flow of material to the housing.

The control member may comprise a plate slide with an aperture therethrough, which aperture is movable into and out of alignment with the flow path of the material from the reservoir to the housing.

In one embodiment of the invention, a barrel rotatable about a vertical axis is located between the reservoir. and the housing, said barrel including a plurality of axial chambers therein so arranged that, in a first angular position of the barrel, a chamber is filled with material fed from the reservoir, subsequent rotation of the barrel to a second angular position resulting in said material in the chamber being fed into the housing whereby predetermined amounts of material can be supplied period ically and sequentially onto the rotatable member within the housing.

Preferably the dispenser includes an electric motor adapted to drive the rotatable member, said motor conveniently being battery-operated and of variable speed whereby the speed of rotation of the disc-like member can be altered.

The rotatable member may be provided with radial fins, vanes or like projections on one or both of the upper and lower surfaces of the member.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sidewall of the housing comprises a fixed rear portion and a movable front portion slidable relative to the rear portion about the central longitudinal axis of the housing to displaced positions at least partly overlying the rear portion whereby a window of variable angular width is provided between the front and rear portions of the sidewall.

Conveniently the upper and lower edges of the front portion are slidable in part-circular grooves formed in the upper and lower walls of the housing.

By way of example only, am embodiment of the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a dispenser according to the invention, and Fig. 2 shows an- alternative reservoir for the dispenser of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings there is illustrated a dispenser for granulated materials comprising a moulded plastics reservoir or hopper 2 for the material, said hopper being provided with a handle 4 on the upper end thereof and having a tapering lower region terminating in an outlet 6.

The dispenser further comprises a generally cylindrical housing indicated at 8 and including a top wall 10, a bottom wall 12 and a sidewall 14 as will be described in more detail below.

The top wall of the housing is formed with a central aperture there through bounded by an upstanding sleeve 16 to which can be secured the outlet 6 of the hopper 4 whereby material from the hopper 4 can fall under gravity into the housing 8.

The dispenser includes a plurality of metering discs such as that shown at 18 comprising annular members each having a bore of a different predetermined diameter therethrough, a disc 18 being located in the flow path of material from the hopper 2 to the housing 8 to control the amount of material fed to the housing.

Also provided in said flow path of the material, more particularly in the sleeve 16, is a plate slide 20 extending transversely of the sleeve 16 and including a bore 22 therethrough. The slide 20 is movable between a closed position in which it impedes flow of material from the hopper 4 to the housing 8 and an open position in which the bore 22 therein is aligned with the outlet 6 and aperture in the top wall 10 of the housing to permit flow of material from the hopper 2 to the housing 8.

Rotatably mounted in the lower regions of the housing 8 is a disc-shaped member 24 having a plurality of angularlyspaced, radially extending vanes or ribs 26 formed thereon.

The member 24 is mounted on, to be rotatable by, the drive shaft of an electric motor 28 secured on the lower wall 12 of the housing 8, said motor 28 being powered either by. a selfcontained, rechargeable cell pack such as 30 or by separate batteries carried by the user and wired to the motor 28, which batteries may be, for example, of the wet cell, dry cell or gell cell type.

Control of the motor 28, which may be for example a 1.5 volt, 3 volt, 5 volt or 12 volt D C motor, is such as to enable the disc-shaped member 24 to be rotatable in either direction and at varying speeds, said latter control conveniently being by means of a manually-control'-able rheostat.

The sidewall 14 of the housing 8 comprises a fixed rear portion 32 of about 1800 angular extent, and a movable front portion 34 also of about 1800 angular extent and slidable about the central vertical axis of the housing 8 in annular grooves formed in the adjacent surfaces of the top and bottom walls 10,12 of the housing 8. The front portion 34 of the sidewall 14 can be moved between a closed position in which, together with the rear portion 32, it closes the interior of the housing 8, and a variable open position in which it at least partly underlies the fixed rear portion 32 to define a window 36 between a vertical end edge of the rear portion 32 and a vertical end edge of the front portion 34. Clearly the angular width of the window 36 can be varied between 0 and 1800 by appropriate sliding movement of the portion 34 relative to the portion 32.

The described dispenser operates as follows. When granular material flows from the hopper 2 into the housing 8, it falls under gravity onto the member 24 which is being spun round by the motor 28. The material is thus flung substantially radially outwardly of the housing 8 by the member 24 whereby it passes through the open window 36 which therefore defines a substantially radial flow of material the angular width of which is determined by the width of the window 36.

In use of the dispenser, the hopper2 is filled with granular material appropriate to the particular task in hand, the plate slide 20 being in its closed position and a disc 18 providing the desired flow rate from the hopper 2 being located in the sleeve 16. The window 26 is set at the desired angular width by sliding the portion 34 of the sidewall 14 relative to the portion 32 and the member 24 is rotated at the desired speed by appropriate adjustment of the controls associated with the motor 28.

The slide 20 is opened and, as mentioned above, a substantially radial flow of material enanates from the housing 8 through the window 36 the rate and angular extent of which have been controlled in accordance with the size of the bore in the disc 18, the speed of rotation of the member 24 and the width of the window 36.

The user carries the dispenser by means of the handle 4 and walks at typically 3 miles per hour along the line of the area to be treated. He can then accurately direct the flow of material over the chosen area, the adjustability of the window 36 enabling band widths of material from about 150mm up to 5 metres to be achieved while the adjustability in the speed of rotation of the member 24 enables the band to extend over a distance of typically 2 to 20 metres from the dispenser.

The precise construction of the dispenser may vary from that shown in Fig. 1 without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, the hopper 2 may be replaced by a larger container as shown at 38 in Fig. 2 which may be carried on the user's back by way of straps or by means of a frame such as 40 incorporated on the container. A flexible hose 42 feeds the granular material from the container 38 to the housing 8, a cap 44 on the end of the hose fitting on the sleeve 16. The battery for powering the motor 28 may be moulded into the container 38 or may be mounted in a box 46 on the frame 40. Alternatively, a mains power source may be used instead of a battery and fed to the dispenser by an electric cable.

The rotating member 24 may be provided with fins or vanes on the bottom surface thereof similar to those on the top surface which, on rotation of the member 24, draw air up through the bottom wall 12 of the housing 8 into the interior thereof and out through the window 26, said air serving to prevent material falling between the member 24 and the inner face of the sidewall 14 and clogging the dispenser.

The described dispenser may be adapted to enable it to dispense a series of small volumes of material rather than to provide a continuous flow of material. Such an adaptation may comprise a barrel rotatable about a vertical axis located between the hopper and the housing and including a plurality of axial chambers therein so arranged that in a first angular position of the barrel, a chamber is filled with material from the hopper, subsequent rotation of the barrel to a second angular position resulting in said material in the chamber being fed into the housing whereby predetermined amounts of material can be supplied periodically and sequentially onto the rotatable member within the housing. Such an arrangement is particularly convenient for spot-weeding purposes.

Thus there is provided a portable dispenser which can be manufactured from moulded plastics material at very little cost, which is lightweight, extremely convenient. to use and which enables extremely accurate application of a vast range of granular materials over a wide range of different, controlled areas with little, if any, wastage of material.

Claims (15)

1. A dispenser for granular material comprising a reservoir of granular material, a hollow housing into the upper regions of which is fed a controlled amount of said granular material, a disc-like member mounted in or adjacent the lower regions of the housing to be rotatable therein about a substantially vertical axis whereby, on rotation of the disc-like member, granular material from the reservoir falling thereon under gravity is thrown substantially radially outwardly thereby, and a window in the sidewall of the housing through which material thrown out substantially radially by the rotatable members passes, the width of the window being adjustable whereby the angular width of the stream of granular material emanating from the housing.

can be controlled.

2. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1 in which the reservoir is mounted directly to the housing.

3. A dispenser as claimed in claim 1 in which the reservoir is adapted to be carried on the back of a user and is connected to the housing by a flexible hose.

4. A dispenser as claimed in claim 2 in which the reservoir incorporates a .handle by which the dispenser can be held by a user.

5. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which the reservoir feeds into the upper regions of the housing through a metering orifice the dimensions of which can be altered to alter the rate of feed of material from the reservoir to the housing.

6. A dispenser as claimed in claim 5 and comprising a plurality of interchangeable annular discs each having different diameter bores therethrough and selectively locatable in the feed path of the granular material from the reservoir to the housing to provide said metering orifice.

7. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 and including a control member movable into and out of the flow path of material from the reservoir to the housing selectively to permit and prevent flow of material to the housing.

8. A dispenser as claimed in claim 7 in which the control member comprises a plate slide with an aperture therethrough, which aperture is movable into and out of al-ignment with the flow path of the material from the reservoir to the housing.

9. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 and comprising a barrel rotatable about a vertical axis located between the reservoir and the housing, said barrel including a plurality of axial chambers therein so arranged that, in a first angular position of the barrel, a chamber is filled with material fed from the reservoir, subsequent rotation of the barrel to a second angular position resulting in said material in the chamber being fed into the housing whereby predetermined amounts of. material can be supplied periodically and sequentially onto the rotatable member within the housing.

10. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 and including an electric motor to drive the rotatable member.

11. A dispenser as claimed in claim 10 in which the motor is battery-operated and of variable speed whereby the speed of rotation of the disc-like member can be altered.

12. A dispenser as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 in which the rotatable member is provided with radial fins, vanes or like projections on one or both of the upper and lower surfaces of the member.

13. A dispenser as claimed in any one of. claims 1 to 12 in which the sidewall of the housing comprises a fixed rear portion and a movable front portion slidable relative to the rear portion about the central longitudinal axis of the housing to displaced pdsitions at least partly overlying the rear portion whereby a window of variable angular width is provided between the front and rear portions of the sidewall.

14. A dispenser as claimed in claim 13 in which the upper and lower edges of the front portion are slidable in part-circular grooves formed in the upper and lower walls of the housing.

15. A dispenser for granular material substantially as described with reference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.