IE20190136A2 - Apparatus for preparing animal feed - Google Patents

Apparatus for preparing animal feed

Info

Publication number
IE20190136A2
IE20190136A2 IE20190136A IE20190136A IE20190136A2 IE 20190136 A2 IE20190136 A2 IE 20190136A2 IE 20190136 A IE20190136 A IE 20190136A IE 20190136 A IE20190136 A IE 20190136A IE 20190136 A2 IE20190136 A2 IE 20190136A2
Authority
IE
Ireland
Prior art keywords
press device
housing
feed
die
press
Prior art date
Application number
IE20190136A
Other versions
IE20190136A1 (en
IE87421B1 (en
Inventor
Sloan Norman
Original Assignee
John Thompson & Sons Ltd
Priority date (The priority date 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 date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by John Thompson & Sons Ltd filed Critical John Thompson & Sons Ltd
Publication of IE20190136A1 publication Critical patent/IE20190136A1/en
Publication of IE20190136A2 publication Critical patent/IE20190136A2/en
Publication of IE87421B1 publication Critical patent/IE87421B1/en

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K40/00Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs
    • A23K40/25Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs by extrusion
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K40/00Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs
    • A23K40/30Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs by encapsulating; by coating
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K40/00Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs
    • A23K40/10Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs by agglomeration; by granulation, e.g. making powders
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K40/00Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs
    • A23K40/20Shaping or working-up of animal feeding-stuffs by moulding, e.g. making cakes or briquettes
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K50/00Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals
    • A23K50/30Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals for swines
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K50/00Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals
    • A23K50/60Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals for weanlings
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23KFODDER
    • A23K50/00Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals
    • A23K50/70Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals for birds
    • A23K50/75Feeding-stuffs specially adapted for particular animals for birds for poultry
    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A23FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
    • A23NMACHINES OR APPARATUS FOR TREATING HARVESTED FRUIT, VEGETABLES OR FLOWER BULBS IN BULK, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; PEELING VEGETABLES OR FRUIT IN BULK; APPARATUS FOR PREPARING ANIMAL FEEDING- STUFFS
    • A23N17/00Apparatus specially adapted for preparing animal feeding-stuffs
    • A23N17/005Apparatus specially adapted for preparing animal feeding-stuffs for shaping by moulding, extrusion, pressing, e.g. pellet-mills
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B30PRESSES
    • B30BPRESSES IN GENERAL
    • B30B11/00Presses specially adapted for forming shaped articles from material in particulate or plastic state, e.g. briquetting presses, tabletting presses
    • B30B11/20Roller-and-ring machines, i.e. with roller disposed within a ring and co-operating with the inner surface of the ring
    • B30B11/201Roller-and-ring machines, i.e. with roller disposed within a ring and co-operating with the inner surface of the ring for extruding material
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B30PRESSES
    • B30BPRESSES IN GENERAL
    • B30B15/00Details of, or accessories for, presses; Auxiliary measures in connection with pressing
    • B30B15/32Discharging presses

Abstract

An apparatus for preparing animal feed comprising a plurality of press devices each comprising a die including one or more apertures, a press means for pressing a feed material through the one or more apertures of the die, a housing enclosing said die and press means, wherein said housing incorporate a chamber receiving feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of said die by said press means, said chamber having an outlet communicating with an outlet chute, wherein said plurality of press devices comprises an upper press device located above a lower press device, the outlet chute of the upper press device communicating with said chamber of the housing of the lower press device such that feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of the die of the upper press device are passed through the housing of the lower press device and pass into the outlet chute of the lower press device.

Description

Apparatus for Preparinq Animal Feed FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for preparing animal feed and in particular to an apparatus for pressing animal feed into pellets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Animal feed is typically prepared in a compounding mill, wherein weighed batches of ingredients are ground, mixed and blended together with binders and other additives before being pressed into pellets or meal for supply to farmers.
An important step in the feed preparation process is the pressing of mixed and blended feed into pellets to form a final product. A typical pressing stage comprises mechanical handling equipment and other machinery, such as feed conditioners, a pellet cooler, sieves and feed coating devices, such as fat coaters, as well as one or more press devices.
A typical press device for pressing animal feed into pellets comprises a drum having an apertured outer wall within which is mounted press rollers arranged to press feed material, supplied into a central region of the drum, through the drum apertures such that the feed is extruded through the apertures in the outer wall of the drum to form pellets. The drum is mounted within a housing such that the pellets extruded through the outer wall of the drum are collected in a space between the drum and the housing before passing out of the housing into a cooling chamber, typically via an outlet chute communicating with an opening in a bottom wall of the housing.
Before cooling, the extruded feed pellets are very soft and may break up. Therefore the passage of the pellets from the housing to the cooling chamber must take place with minimum damage to the pellets.
The rest if the pressing stage machinery can typically handle feed at a rate of up to ton/hr. However, known press devices may be limited to 10 to 20 ton/hr. In 2 order to increase the capacity of the mill it is desirable to provide two or more press devices arranged in parallel. The incoming feed material may be split into separate portions to be fed to each press device and then recombined into the next process, for example upstream of a pellet cooling chamber.
However, the physical size of the press devices and the need to provide sufficient space to feed material to each press device and to pass the extruded feed into the cooling chamber without breaking up the extruded feed can make the addition of further press devices to an existing plant to increase capacity very difficult.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for preparing animal feed comprising a plurality of press devices each comprising a die including one or more apertures, a press means for pressing a feed material through the one or more apertures of the die, a housing enclosing said die and press means, wherein said housing incorporate a chamber receiving feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of said die by said press means, said chamber having an outlet communicating with an outlet chute, wherein said plurality of press devices comprises an upper press device located above a lower press device, the outlet chute of the upper press device communicating with said chamber of the housing of the lower press device such that feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of the die of the upper press device are passed through the housing of the lower press device and pass into the outlet chute of the lower press device.
Preferably said outlet chute of the lower press device communicates with a pellet cooling means, such as a pellet cooling chamber, located below the lower press device.
The upper press device may be laterally offset from the lower press device.
In one embodiment the die of each of said plurality of press devices may comprise a drum having an apertured outer wall, said drum having a substantially horizontally arranged central axis, said press means comprising one or more press rollers 3 mounted within the drum and arranged to extrude feed from a central region of the drum through the apertures in the outer wall of the drum, said chamber being defined by a space between the outer wall of the drum and the housing of the respective press device. The drum may be rotatably mounted within the housing of the respective press device and is driven by a drive means. An inlet opening may be provided in an end wall of the housing of the respective press device, said inlet opening communicating with a supply of said feed material to be pressed, to supply feed into the central region of the drum. The supply of feed material may comprise a feed hopper, a conveying means being provided for passing said feed material to said inlet opening of the respective press device. The conveying means may communicate with said inlet opening via a substantially vertically arranged feed chute.
Preferably the outlet chute of the upper press device defines a transfer chute extending substantially vertically downwardly from the outlet opening of the upper press device to the chamber of the housing of the lower press device. The transfer chute may feed into a side region of the housing of the lower press device, an outer side wall of the transfer chute blending into an adjacent wall of the housing of the lower press device so that feed pellets are directed to flow towards the outlet opening of the housing of the lower press device in a substantially straight and downwardly directed path with minimal disturbance to the pellets.
A blending process for blending ingredients to form said feed material may be provided, said blending process comprising a weighing step, a grinding step and a mixing step. The apparatus may further comprise means adapted to add liquids to the ingredients in said mixing step downstream of said grinding step. The apparatus may further comprise a conditioning process downstream of said blending process and upstream of the press devices, wherein the blended ingredients are conditioned by the application of heat. Means for coating the pellets of animal feed with an oil, such as vegetable oil, may be provided downstream of the pressing step.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 4 An apparatus for preparing animal feed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :- Figure 1 is a front view of an apparatus for preparing animal feed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side view of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a part sectional plan view of the lower press device of the apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a plan view of the lower press device of Figure 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS As schematically illustrated in Figure 1, an apparatus for preparing animal feed in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention comprises a pressing stage wherein animal feed that has been prepared in a previous blending stage (wherein weighed batches of ingredients are ground, mixed and blended together with binders and other additives) is pressed into pellets and cooled before being bagged or delivered into vehicles for transportation in bulk.
In order to maximise the production capacity of the mill the pressing stage comprises a plurality of press devices arranged in parallel. As best illustrated in Figure 3, each press device comprises a housing 2 within which is mounted a rotating die chamber comprising a die cone 4 at an outer end and a drum having an apertured outer wall to define a die 6, press rollers 8 being arranged within the die 6 to press feed material (supplied into a central region of the die 6 via a feed chute 1O entering an end wall of the housing 2) through the die apertures such that feed is extruded through the apertures in the outer wall of the die 6 to form pellets. The pellets extruded through the apertures in the die 6 are collected in a peripheral space "8" between the die 6 and an outer wall of the housing 2 before passing out of the housing 2 of the press device into a pellet cooling chamber 20, via a respective outlet chute communicating with an outlet opening 12 in a bottom wall of the housing. Motors 18 are provided for powering the die 6. The press rollers 8 rotate on shafts mounted on a fixed plate within the die chamber..
Blades 14 may be provided in the space between the die 6 and the outer wall 6 of the housing 2 of each press device for controlling the length of the pellets, where desired. The distance between the blades and the die 6 may be adjustable to permit adjustment of the length of the pellets.
A shown in Figures 1 and 2, a lower press device 30 feeds extruded pellets from the outlet opening 12 of the housing 2 thereof through the vertically arranged outlet chute 32 and directly into the pellet cooling chamber 20, wherein the pellets are cooled and hardened before being delivered into storage silos or directly into a transportation vehicle.
In order to increase the capacity of the mill it is desirable to add one or more additional press devices arranged in parallel. However, due to space constraints and the need to avoid breaking up pellets between the press device and the pellet cooling chamber, the provision of additional press devices is not always possible, particularly in an existing mill. One solution is to place two press devices side by side, each press device feeding a common pellet cooling chamber via a Y shaped chute. However, the arrangement of the press devices side by side in this manner greatly increases the width required for the pressing stage.
The apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention solves this problem by locating an additional or upper press device 40 above and slightly laterally offset from the first or lower press device 30, the extruded pellets from the outlet opening 12 housing 2 of the upper press device 40 being fed into the housing 2 of the lower press device 30 under the action of gravity via a vertically arranged transfer chute 42, such that the pellets from the upper press device 40 are delivered to the pellet cooling chamber 20 via the housing 2 of the lower press device 30.
This arrangement enables the upper and lower press devices 30,40 to be arranged only slightly laterally offset from one another, minimising the overall width of the 6 pressing stage, while avoiding any sudden changes of direction of the extruded feed pellets upstream of the pellet cooling chamber, minimising break up of the pellets.
The pellets are hot and very soft when first extruded through the apertures in the die 6 of each press device 30,40. Therefore they must be handled carefully until they reach the pellet cooling chamber 20, wherein they are cooled and hardened. The transfer chute 42 extending between the upper and lower press devices 30,40 and the intersection of the transfer chute 42 with the housing 2 of the lower press device are carefully designed to avoid any sudden changes of direction of the pellets and to provide a substantially vertical and smooth flow path to minimise any break up of the pellets as they fall under gravity from the press devices 30,40 to the pellet cooling chamber 20. By arranging the transfer chute 42 to extend substantially vertically downwardly from the outlet opening of the upper press device to the housing of the lower press device impacts between the feed pellets and the side walls of the transfer chute 42 are minimised. Furthermore, the transfer chute 42 feeds into a side region of the housing 2 of the lower press device 30, the sides of the transfer chute 42 blending into the adjacent walls of the housing 2 of the lower press device 30 so that the pellets are directed to flow towards the outlet opening 12 of the housing 2 of the lower press device 2 in a substantially straight and downwardly directed path with minimal disturbance to the pellets.
Respective screw conveyors 50,60 control the flow of animal feed from respective feed bins 70,80 to each of the upper and lower press devices 30,40.
While an embodiment of the present invention is described having two press device arranged in parallel once above the other, it is envisaged that one or more further press devices may be provided to further increase the capacity of the mill, if required, each further device being located vertically spaced from and slightly laterally offset from the press device directly therebelow such that pellets from each further press device are fed through the housing of the or each press device therebelow before being delivered into the pellet cooling chamber.
The cooling process in the pellet cooling chamber 20 preferably involves air at ambient temperature being passed directly over the pellets, either in vertical towers or over trays of feed in rotary coolers. Waste air generated throughout this part of the process may be ducted into a respective cyclone to remove dust and may then be vented to atmosphere. The dust collected may be recycled into production.
At least a portion of the resulting pelletised feed product may be crumbed to produce feeds for specific animals, such as piglets and chickens. Crumbing is the process of passing pelleted product through the nip between a set of rollers counter rotating at slightly different speeds within an enclosed system to produce a smaller product known as a crumb.
The cooled pellets may be conveyed into an enclosed coater into which vegetable oils may be sprayed via meters onto the product.
Product despatch may be conducted in several outloading bays. Bulk vehicles may be positioned on a weighbridge below a conveyor discharge system.
Non-medicated products may be conveyed from finished product holding bins via a screen to remove extraneous dusty matter, to an appropriate discharge pipe and into the vehicle for delivery to the customer. Medicated products, however, may be conveyed from finished product holding bins to the vehicle without being screened and therefore are delivered to the customer with particulate matter, as a result of its associated medicinal additive content.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.
CLAIMS . An apparatus for preparing animal feed comprising a plurality of press devices each comprising a die including one or more apertures, a press means for pressing a feed material through the one or more apertures of the die, a housing enclosing said die and press means, wherein said housing incorporate a chamber receiving feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of said die by said press means, said chamber having an outlet communicating with an outlet chute, wherein said plurality of press devices comprises an upper press device located above a lower press device, the outlet chute of the upper press device communicating with said chamber of the housing of the lower press device such that feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of the die of the upper press device are passed through the housing of the lower press device and pass into the outlet chute of the lower press device.
. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet chute of the lower press device communicates with a pellet cooling means located below the lower press device.
. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the upper press device is laterally offset from the lower press device.
. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the die of each of said plurality of press devices comprising a drum having an apertured outer wall, said drum having a substantially horizontally arranged central axis, said press means comprising one or more press rollers mounted within the drum and arranged to extrude feed from a central region of the drum through the apertures in the outer wall of the drum, said chamber being defined by a space between the outer wall of the drum and the housing of the respective press device.
. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said drum is rotatably mounted within the housing of the respective press device and is driven by a drive means.

Claims (14)

1. An apparatus for preparing animal feed comprising a plurality of press devices each comprising a die including one or more apertures, a press means for pressing a feed material through the one or more apertures of the die, a housing enclosing said die and press means, wherein said housing incorporate a chamber receiving feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of said die by said press means, said chamber having an outlet communicating with an outlet chute, wherein said plurality of press devices comprises an upper press device located above a lower press device, the outlet chute of the upper press device communicating with said chamber of the housing of the lower press device such that feed pellets extruded through the one or more apertures of the die of the upper press device are passed through the housing of the lower press device and pass into the outlet chute of the lower press device.
2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said outlet chute of the lower press device communicates with a pellet cooling means located below the lower press device.
3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the upper press device is laterally offset from the lower press device.
4. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the die of each of said plurality of press devices comprising a drum having an apertured outer wall, said drum having a substantially horizontally arranged central axis, said press means comprising one or more press rollers mounted within the drum and arranged to extrude feed from a central region of the drum through the apertures in the outer wall of the drum, said chamber being defined by a space between the outer wall of the drum and the housing of the respective press device.
5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein said drum is rotatably mounted within the housing of the respective press device and is driven by a drive means. 9
6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5, wherein an inlet opening is provided in an end wall of the housing of the respective press device, said inlet opening communicating with a supply of said feed material to be pressed.
7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein said supply of feed material comprises a feed hopper, a conveying means being provided for passing said feed material to said inlet opening of the respective press device.
8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said conveying means communicates with said inlet opening via a substantially vertically arranged feed chute.
9. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the outlet chute of the upper press device defines a transfer chute extending substantially vertically downwardly from the outlet opening of the upper press device to the chamber of the housing of the lower press device.
10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the transfer chute feeds into a side region of the housing of the lower press device, an outer side wall of the transfer chute blending into an adjacent wall of the housing of the lower press device so that feed pellets are directed to flow towards the outlet opening of the housing of the lower press device in a substantially straight and downwardly directed path with minimal disturbance to the pellets.
11. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a blending process for blending ingredients to form said feed material, said blending process comprising a weighing step, a grinding step and a mixing step.
12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11, comprising means adapted to add liquids to the ingredients in said mixing step downstream of said grinding step.
13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12, further comprising a conditioning process downstream of said blending process and upstream of the 10 press devices, wherein the blended ingredients are conditioned by the application of heat.
14. An apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising means for coating the pellets of animal feed with an oil, such as vegetable oil, downstream of the pressing step. ET‘QSM Y"? 2»- Ftam :
IE20190136A 2018-08-22 2019-08-15 Apparatus for preparing animal feed IE87421B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBUNITEDKINGDOM22/08/20181813650.7
GB1813650.7A GB2576525B (en) 2018-08-22 2018-08-22 Apparatus for preparing animal feed

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
IE20190136A1 IE20190136A1 (en) 2020-06-24
IE20190136A2 true IE20190136A2 (en) 2020-06-24
IE87421B1 IE87421B1 (en) 2023-08-16

Family

ID=63668270

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
IE20190136A IE87421B1 (en) 2018-08-22 2019-08-15 Apparatus for preparing animal feed

Country Status (2)

Country Link
GB (1) GB2576525B (en)
IE (1) IE87421B1 (en)

Family Cites Families (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
NL8005517A (en) * 1980-10-06 1982-03-01 Wessanen Mengvoeders Bv CATTLE FEED, METHOD FOR PRESSING CATTLE FEED, AND APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT THIS METHOD.
KR20160115055A (en) * 2015-03-25 2016-10-06 주식회사 싸이텍 Manufacturing apparatus for food of fly and larva

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2576525A (en) 2020-02-26
IE87421B1 (en) 2023-08-16
GB201813650D0 (en) 2018-10-03
GB2576525B (en) 2022-11-30

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
CN107411147A (en) A kind of cultivation crushes mixing arrangement with stalk
CN103330270A (en) Automatic fodder production system
CN103734886B (en) Automatic burden system of processing feed and production technology thereof
US4813154A (en) Method and apparatus for conditioning fibrous materials
RU2486850C1 (en) Granulated feed-stuffs production line
RU2433754C1 (en) Granulated feed-stuffs production method
EP1396197A1 (en) Method for obtaining complete feed for livestock
IE20190136A2 (en) Apparatus for preparing animal feed
IE20190136A1 (en) Apparatus for preparing animal feed
CN212306752U (en) Molasses adding system
CN210683633U (en) Fertilizer production line and workshop
CN211678708U (en) Improve finished product quality's feeding stuff cuber
CN106937752A (en) A kind of TRM production-line technique flow
CN103252195A (en) Fluidized bed granulation system
CN208036667U (en) A kind of feed processing station-service mixing packaging all-in-one machine
CN205358170U (en) Mix daily ration production line entirely
CN212393816U (en) Processing production line for producing powdery functional food by utilizing plant raw materials
CN209302702U (en) A kind of urea-base compound fertilizer granulation feeding system
RU2736134C1 (en) New generation feedstuff production line for fur animals
IE20190094A1 (en) Method and apparatus for preparing animal feed
GB2574864A (en) Method and apparatus for preparing animal feed
RU2556724C2 (en) Production line of combined feed additives and premixes
GB2280587A (en) Preparing pelletised animal feed
CN206909678U (en) A kind of fodder production line
CN218924545U (en) Production system of ruminant feed