IE84109B1 - Apparatus for spreading material - Google Patents

Description

“Apparatus for Spreading Material” This invention relates to apparatus for spreading material, and especially for spreading agricultural material such as muck.

Various forms of muck spreaders are well known and commonly comprise a trailer for containing the muck having conveyors to move the muck to the rear end of the trailer where a pair of beaters revolve on upright axles to shred and disperse the muck carried by the conveyors from the open rear end of the trailer.

Conventional conveyors include moving tracks.

According to the present invention there is provided apparatus for spreading material comprising a container having a volume capable of accommodating material, the container comprising side walls, a front end having a front wall, a rear end, an outlet at the rear end of the container through which the material is spread, and a conveying mechanism comprising a pusher to convey the material in the container to the outlet, the pusher having a front face coupled to a pushing device and a rear face adapted to Contact the material wherein the pusher itself forms the front wall.

Typically the movable pusher is pushed by a drive mechanism such as a ram device. Typically the ram device moves a section of the wall of the container in order to push or pull the material towards the outlet. Typically the apparatus has a dispersing or beating mechanism to disperse the material as it leaves the outlet. Typically the beating mechanism comprises a pair of beaters in the form of moving blades mounted on axles. Typically the axles extend from the base of the container upwards across the outlet so that the material passing the beating mechanism is dispersed by the blades as they move on the axles. Typically the axles are disposed on a slanting axis so that the upper ends of the axles extend some way into the container. The positioning of the beating mechanism at an angle (or at least the blades thereof) has the advantage that the material dispersed by the rotating blades through the outlet is thrown upwardly and is therefore more likely to travel a greater distance when passing through the outlet of the container than it would if the blades were not angled.

The pusher typically forms a front wall of the container, and in preferred embodiments of the invention substantially the whole front wall of the container is moved by a hydraulic ram to push the material in the container towards the rear of the container and the beating means. In practice, it is acceptable for a portion of the wall to move the material, and other pushers for the hydraulic ram can be employed if desired.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the pusher moves relative to a separate front wall of the container.

In either embodiment the pusher may be substantially perpendicular to the base of the container, or inclined with respect to the base. The container typically has wheels, skids, tracks or similar and is adapted to be towed, for example by a tractor, and can have hydraulic connections to the tractor hydraulic circuit in order to power the conveyor and/or the dispersing means. Alternative drive means from the power take off can be used to drive other embodiments of pushers, and for example, acceptable embodiments of the invention can be constructed having a pusher driven by a worm drive or similar alternatives.

Use of a pusher driven by a hydraulic ram or worm drive or similar device permits a spreading apparatus without reliance on the movable tracks and the disadvantages that they entail.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:— Fig. l is a side schematic View of apparatus not in accordance with the present invention for spreading material; Fig. 2 is a side schematic view of apparatus in accordance with the present invention for spreading material; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a hydraulic ram for a conveying mechanism; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a third trailer; Fig. 5 is a perspective view from behind the fig. 4 trailer; and Fig. 6 is a side perspective view of the fig. and 5 trailer in operation.

Referring now to figures 2 to 6, apparatus for spreading the material comprises a container in the form of a trailer 100 having a base 2, sidewalls (not shown), and an outlet 4 in the form of an open end of the trailer lOO. The trailer lOO has wheels and tow bar 6 for connection to a tractor as is conventional in the art.

Referring to Fig. 1, the trailer 1 (which is not in accordance with the present invention ) has a movable pusher 10 which is urged by a hydraulic ram mechanism 12 placed between the movable pusher 10 and the end wall 3. The pusher l0 is moved away from the end wall 3 by the hydraulic ram mechanism 12 and the pusher 10 pushes the material 15 on the base of the trailer 1 towards the outlet 4. Across the outlet 4, a pair of beaters 20 (only one shown in the side view of fig. 1 and 2) are provided in side—by—side arrangement and sloping from the base of the trailer upwards and inwards of the container.

In certain embodiments the beater 20 can adopt a vertical configuration as shown on the dotted line ’. Each beater 20 has an axle on which are mounted a number of blades 21 which revolve around the axis agitating and chopping the material 15 as it comes in contact with the revolving beaters 20, and dispersing the material 15 out through the outlet 4 of the trailer 1. The beaters 20 are angled as shown in fig. 1 in order to disperse the chopped material 15 upwards so that it covers a greater surface area upon being ejected from the outlet 4. When the beater 20’ is in the upright configuration as shown in the dotted lines in fig. 1, the blades (not shown on beater 20’) can themselves be angled upwardly in order to achieve the same effect, but this is not necessary.

In operation, the pusher 10 pushes the material 15 towards the rear of the trailer 1 and the outlet 4 until it contacts the revolving beaters 20, whereupon the blades 21 chop the material 15 into smaller portions and disperse it upwards and outwards from the outlet 4 in order to cover the surrounding area.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 2 (which is in accordance with the present invention), the trailer 100 is similar except that the upright pusher 10 is replaced by an angled pusher 10’ which is disposed at the same angle as the beaters 20 in order to urge the material 15 into the vicinity of the blades 21 of the beaters 20. The modified pusher 10’ is urged by a hydraulic cylinder 12 but instead of forming a pusher within the container of the trailer, the pusher 10’ itself forms the end wall of the fig. 2 trailer. The hydraulic cylinder 12 is mounted on a frame 11 attached to the base 2 of the fig. 2 trailer 100.

The hydraulic cylinder 12 can have its own hydraulic power supply and circuit as shown in fig. 1, or can be connected by a hose 13 as shown in fig. 2 to the hydraulic supply of e.g. a tractor or other self- powered vehicle. The beaters 20 are typically powered by the rotary power take off point of the tractor Via a power take off (PTO) shaft 75, although any suitable power means may be used.

Figs. 3, 4, 5 & 6 show a further embodiment similar to the fig. 2 schematic having a moving rear wall driven by a hydraulic ram from the front of the trailer 100 to the outlet at the rear, where rotating beaters having blades thereon eject the material in the trailer 100 through the outlet as shown in fig. 6.

The beaters typically rotate at a speed of around 385RPM and the hydraulic cylinder typically extends the pusher from fully retracted to fully extended in around 4 minutes. At this speed, the trailer described can eject material at a rate of approximately 2 tonnes per minute.

In the above example, it takes approximately 3 minutes to discharge the whole load of material from the trailer.

The ram device can be hydraulically or pneumatically operated. The typical run stroke of the piston is around 2768.6 mm (lO9”) in the above example, and this moves the rear wall to within 25mm (l”) or so of the blade on the beaters. An optional rubber wiping seal 70 around the periphery of the movable wall ensures that the majority of the material is pushed towards the outlet and to the beaters.

Modifications and improvements can be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (13)

1. Apparatus for spreading material comprising a container for the material having a base and an outlet at the rear end thereof through which the material is spread, the outlet comprising a dispersing mechanism having an axis of rotation which is angled with respect to a vertical axis projecting upwardly from the base of the container to disperse the material as it leaves the outlet, and a conveying mechanism to convey the material in the container to the outlet, wherein the conveying mechanism comprises a movable pusher which is inclined with respect to the base of the container at an angle substantially the same as that of the dispersing mechanism, the movable pusher being adapted to move the material in the container towards the outlet.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pusher is driven by a hydraulic ram.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pusher is driven by a worm drive.

4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the conveying mechanism pushes the pusher towards the outlet.

5. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the conveying mechanism pulls the pusher towards the outlet.

6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the dispersing mechanism comprises a pair of beaters in the form of moving blades mounted on axles.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the beaters extend from the base of the container across the outlet so that the material passing the beating mechanism is dispersed by the blades.

8. Apparatus according to either of claims 6 and 7, wherein the blades are angled with respect to the base of the container and/or with respect to the axle of the beater.

9. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the pusher forms a front wall of the container.

10. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the pusher moves relative to a separate front wall of the container.

11. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the container has wheels, skids, tracks or similar and is adapted to be towed.

12. Apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the container is adapted to be towed by a tractor and the container has hydraulic connections to the tractor hydraulic circuit in order to power the conveyor and/or the dispersing means.

13. Apparatus for spreading material substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.