GB2250904A

GB2250904A - Apparatus for cleaning and cutting root crops

Info

Publication number: GB2250904A
Application number: GB9126767A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Joseph Cavanagh; Charles Cavanagh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-12-21
Filing date: 1991-12-17
Publication date: 1992-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 2011-12-17
Also published as: GB2250904B; ZA9110017B; IE904697A1; GB9126767D0; IE65623B1

Abstract

A hopper 10 with a wide opening at the top and a narrow opening at the bottom contains in its lower part a cleaning device 18 and a cutting device 19 fixed on the same shaft 17 which can be rotated by power derived from a tractor. The cleaning device consists of bars 22 supported by disc 20 mounted on the shaft. Soil knocked or shaken off root crop in the hopper by rotation of the cleaning device falls between the bars and out of the narrow opening of the hopper. The bars 22 are inclined so that they convey the cleaned root crop to the cutting device 19 which is a hollow member formed with apertures 24 adjacent which are outwardly-pressed portions 24a which have edges which cut pieces off the root crop, the pieces passing through the apertures 24 into the interior of the hollow member, from whence they are discharged for use as animal feed. Projections 26, 27 and 28 on a rear wall 12 of the hopper enable the hopper to be pivotally mounted on a tractor, so as to be raised, lowered and pivoted. The cutting device 23 could be outside the hopper in an attached housing and there could be an auger to carry away the cut root crop. <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND CUTTING ROOT CROPS It is common practice to cut root crops into small pieces for animal feed but often there is soil, i.e. clay and/or earth and/or other foreign matter, adhering to the root crop and much of this soil passes into the animal feed.

According to the present invention, there is provided apparatus for cleaning root crops and cutting them for animal feed, the apparatus including a hopper having an upper opening at the top and a lower opening at the bottom, a rotatable cleaning device in the lower part of the hopper, above the lower opening, the cleaning device being constructed to remove soil from root crop in the hopper and permit the soil to fall through the cleaning device to leave the hopper through the lower opening, and a rotatable cutting device to which the cleaned root crop is fed by the rotation of the cleaning device.

The cleaning device preferably consists primarily of spaced-apart bars and the cutting device preferably consists of a hollow member with outward projections which cut pieces off the root crop and with apertures through which the pieces pass into the interior of the hollow member.

Preferably there are means on the hopper for so connecting it to a tractor that it can be raised, lowered and pivoted by the tractor. The tractor preferably provides the motive power for rotating the cleaning and cutting devices.

Examples in accordance with the invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a first apparatus for cleaning and cutting root crops; Figures 2 and 3 show side views of the first apparatus, in two differing positions, and of a rear part of a tractor on which the apparatus is mounted; Figure 4 shows a front view of a combination of a second apparatus for cleaning and cutting root crops and a tractor on which that apparatus is mounted; Figure 5 shows a perspective view from above of the second apparatus; Figures 6 and 7 show views from opposite sides of part of the combination shown in Figure 4; and Figure 8 shows the cutting device of the second apparatus and an open door which normally covers that device.

Figures 1 to 3 show a hopper 10 made of sheet steel having front and rear walls 11 and 12 and end walls 13 and 14, all of which slope inwardly, proceeding downwardly from a large upper opening 15 at the top of the hopper to a shorter and narrower lower opening at the bottom of the hopper. A shaft 17 is supported in bearings in the end wall 13 and in a cross member 16 and on it are fixed a cleaning device 18 and a cutting device 19, both being in the lower part of the hopper but only the cleaning device being above the lower opening at the bottom of the hopper since there is a plate (not shown) beneath the cutting device.

The cleaning device 18 is elongate and comprises supporting discs 20 fixed to the shaft 17 and spaced apart along it, the discs being in planes perpendicular to the axis of the shaft and serving to support bars 21 fixed to them at their peripheries.

The bars extend along the cleaning device 18 but they are not parallel to the axis of the shaft 17; they are inclined to that axis so that they feed the root crop in the hopper towards the cutting device 19. A bar 22 is wound helically along and around the assembly of the parts 17, 20 and 21 and is secured to the bars 21. It assists in the auger action of the cleaning device. The bars 21 are spaced apart sufficiently to allow soil knocked off the root crop by the bars 21 and 22, which make direct contact with the root crop in the hopper, and soil which is shaken off, or knocked off by one root knocking against another, due to the agitation of the crop by the cleaning device, to fall through the cleaning device, between the bars 21, so that the soil falls out of the hopper through the lower opening.Each bar is a so-called angle-iron; it is made of steel and its cross-section is two straight legs of equal length at right angles to each other.

The cutting device 19 is a hollow member of frusto-conical form made of sheet steel having, at a number of locations distributed along and around it, an outward projection 23 and an aperture 24 through the sheet steel adjacent the projection 23. The apertures and projections have been formed by making narrow slits or wider holes through the sheet steel and pressing outwardly the sheet steel on one side of each slit or hole. The projections 23 have somewhat sharp edges which cut small pieces from the root crop which is in the hopper and in contact with the cutting device 19.

These small pieces pass through the apertures 24 into the interior of the cutting device and leave the cutting device via an outlet sleeve 25 (not shown in Figure 1) which has a flange 34 secured by screws to the outside of the wall 14 of the hopper. The small pieces of root crop, suitable for feeding to animals, fall out of the sleeve 25 on to the ground or into a receptacle. Secured to the rear wall 12 are rearwardly-extending projections including three pairs 26, 27 and 28 of angle-irons which extend over most of the height of the hopper. The central angle-irons 27 are formed near their upper ends with aligned holes 27a through which passes a pivot pin which pivotally connects the hopper to the piston of a hydraulic ram 31 on a tractor 30.To the two angle-irons 26 and to the two angle-irons 28 there are fixed further rearwardly-extending projections in the form of bars 6, there being four such bars in all. Between the bars 6 of each pair there projects a respective lifting link 8 of the tractor and two pivot pins 29 pass through holes in the bars 6 and links 8 to provide a pivotal connection for the hopper near its bottom. A box-section member 32 extends along the rear wall 12 of the hopper, at its base, to strengthen it.

The four angle-irons 26 and 28 could be replaced by two box-section members and the two angle-irons 27 could be replaced by a channel member.

A hydraulic motor (not shown) is secured to the outside of the wall 13 of the hopper and drives the shaft 17. It receives fluid at pressure from the tractor.

When the hopper 10 is mounted on the rear of a tractor and the connection to the hydraulic motor has been made, the hopper is lowered and pivoted until the front wall 11 is close to or on the ground and nearly parallel to it, as shown in Figure 2, and then the tractor is driven towards a pile of root crop so that the hopper, which then acts as a scoop or shovel, is partially filled with the root crop. The hopper is then lifted and pivoted to its operating position, as shown in Figure 3, and, if necessary, the tractor is driven to where the animal feed is required to be deposited, whereupon the hydraulic motor is operated to turn the shaft 17 and operate the cleaning device 18 and the cutting device 19.

The equipment described above has the disadvantage that the cutting device 19 has no cover over it to protect it from contact with the root crop as the hopper is pushed into the pile and to prevent some of the root crop being cut without first being cleaned by the cleaning device 18. The embodiment shown in Figures 4 to 8, in which parts corresponding to those shown in Figures 1 to 3 are similarly numbered, does not have this disadvantage because the cutting device 19 is not in the hopper 10 but in a separate housing 40 secured to the outer side of the wall 14 of the hopper, which wall is suitably apertured to allow the cleaned root crop to be fed by the rotation of the cleaning device 18 to the cutting device 19.

Figure 4 shows the cab 33 of the tractor, another housing 41 secured to the wall 14 of the hopper at one end of the hopper and a chain drive mechanism 43 at the other end of the hopper. Figure 5 shows that the housing 41 supports an auger 44 which runs beneath the cutting device, and into an open-topped discharge channel 45 into which the cut pieces of root crop fall from the interior of the cutting device 19. The channel 45 could be closed at the top, i.e. it could be a sleeve or a tube.

The housing 40 has, on its side facing the tractor 30, a hinged door 46 which is spring-biased into a closed position, closing an opening 47, through which the cutting device 19 can be seen in Figure 8.

When the door is closed a tab 48 on it has a pin 49 on the housing 40 passing through it. The door automatically opens, against the spring bias, when a hard object, such as a stone, enters the housing 40, whereby the object can fall out of the housing without damaging the cutting device. Plates 50 and 51 are welded to the inside of the door and the root crop to be cut into pieces is normally held between these plates and the cutting device 19 whilst being cut. The plate 51 is formed with grooves 52 along which bars 53, fixed to the outside of the hollow member, pass as the cutting device rotates. These bars project further outwardly from the hollow member than do the projections 23 and they assist in cutting and agitating the root crop.

As shown in Figure 7, the chain drive mechanism 43 comprises a chain wheel 54 on the tractor which drives a chain 55 which passes over a chain wheel 56 fixed to the shaft 17, on which the cleaning and cutting devices 18 and 19 are mounted, and over a chain wheel 57 on a shaft 58, on which the auger 44 is mounted.

Claims

CLAIM8:

1. Apparatus for cleaning root crops and cutting them for animal feed, the apparatus including a hopper having an upper opening at the top and a lower opening at the bottom, a rotatable cleaning device in the lower part of the hopper, above the lower opening, the cleaning device being constructed to remove soil from root crop in the hopper and permit the soil to fall through the cleaning device to leave the hopper through the lower opening, and a rotatable cutting device to which the cleaned root crop is fed by the rotation of the cleaning device.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 in which the cleaning device comprises a central rotatable shaft carrying supporting devices spaced apart along the shaft, the supporting devices supporting spaced-apart bars which make direct contact with the root crop to knock soil off it.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 2 in which the shape of cross-section of each bar is two straight legs at right-angles to each other.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2 in which the bars are inclined to the axis of the shaft so that they feed the cleaned root crop towards the cutting device.

5. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 4 in which a helical bar extends along and around the assembly of the shaft, supporting devices and bars and is secured to the bars.

6. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 2 to 5 in which the supporting devices are discs perpendicular to the axis of the shaft.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim in which the cutting device is a hollow member made of sheet metal having, at a plurality of locations, an outward projection, formed by cutting the sheet metal and pressing it outwardly, and an aperture adjacent the projection, whereby the projections have edges which can cut pieces off the cleaned root crop as the cutting device rotates and these pieces can pass through the apertures into the interior of the hollow member, from which they are discharged.

8. Apparatus according to Claim 7 in which the hollow member is frusto-conical.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim in which there are mounting means for pivotally mounting the hopper on a tractor, whereby the hopper may be pivoted from a position in which the upper opening is uppermost to a position in which that opening is on one side of the hopper and in which the hopper may be moved horizontally to pick-up root crop from a pile.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 9 in which the mounting means comprises two projecting portions projecting rearwardly from a rear wall of the hopper and formed with aligned holes near the upper part of the hopper to receive a pivot pin for connection to a ram, for pivoting the hopper.

11. Apparatus according to Claim 10 in which the mounting means further comprises two pairs of rearwardly-extending portions, on opposite sides of said projecting portions, the two portions of each pair being formed with aligned holes to receive a pivot pin to provide a pivotal connection, near the lower part of the hopper, between the hopper and lifting links of a tractor.

12. Apparatus according to any preceding claim in which the cutting device and the cleaning device are fixed to the same rotatable shaft and a hydraulic motor is mounted on the hopper and drives the shaft.

13. Apparatus according to any preceding claim in which the cutting device is in the hopper with no cover over it.

14. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 12 in which the cutting device is outside the hopper, in a housing secured to the hopper.

15. Apparatus according to Claim 14 in which an auger runs beneath the cutting device and into a discharge channel into which the cut root crop falls from the interior of the cutting device.

16. Apparatus according to Claim 7 or 8 or Claim 7 or 8 taken with Claim 14 or 15 in which there are projecting devices secured to the hollow member and projecting further outwardly from the hollow member than do said projections.

17. Apparatus according to Claim 14 or 15 in which the housing of the cutting device has a springloaded door which can be forced open by stones in the housing, to allow the stones to leave the housing.

18. Apparatus according to Claims 16 and 17 in which to the inside of the door is secured a plate which has grooves in it along which the projecting devices pass as the cutting device rotates.

19. Apparatus for cleaning root crops and cutting them, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

20. Apparatus for cleaning root crops and cutting them, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

21. A combination of a tractor and an apparatus according to any preceding claim coupled to the tractor so as to be raised, lowered and pivoted thereby and so as to drive the cleaning and cutting devices therefrom.

22. A combination of a tractor and apparatus for cleaning and cutting root crops, the combination being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

23. A combination of a tractor and apparatus for cleaning and cutting root crops, the combination being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 4 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.