NZ511531A

NZ511531A - Hay and fodder distribution apparatus

Info

Publication number: NZ511531A
Application number: NZ51153101A
Authority: NZ
Inventors: Vincent Graham Pender; David John Pender
Original assignee: Vincent Graham Pender; David John Pender
Priority date: 2001-09-07
Filing date: 2001-09-07
Publication date: 2002-10-25

Abstract

The fodder feeding apparatus includes at least two rollers that rotate around their axes. Each roller includes a plurality of fodder engaging means (e.g. spikes). The apparatus in a preferred embodiment includes conveying means for directing square hay bales towards the rotating rollers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for feeding out fodder, especially fodder in the form of big square bales. The apparatus of the present invention preferably is built into a mobile bale feeder at the time of manufacture, but alternatively it may be retrofitted to an existing machine.

There are a large number of different fodder feed out machines currently available, but a majority of these machines either are designed to feed out big round bales, in which the fodder essentially is wound into a solid cylindrical shape, or are designed to feed out comparatively loosely compacted fodder such as silage. Big square bales are difficult to feed, in that the bale tends to separate into slabs or sections which then fall off the feed out machine and are not split up further. This is a minor drawback when feeding cattle, but a major drawback when feeding sheep or deer, because too large a quantity of fodder is dispensed into too small an area and tends to be trampled and wasted.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fodder feeding apparatus which is capable of breaking up big square bales to an acceptable degree.

The present invention provides a fodder feeding apparatus which includes one or more rollers, the or each roller being driveable for rotation about an axis which is vertical or at an acute angle to the vertical; the outer surface of the or each roller being provided with a plurality of fodder engaging members.

Preferably, said one or more rollers comprise one or more pairs of rollers. In each pair of rollers, the longitudinal axes of the rollers may be parallel or may be in a 'V' configuration, (i.e. with the axes closer together at the bases of the rollers than at the tops of the rollers) or in an inverted V configuration (i.e with the axes closer together at the tops of the rollers than at the bases).

Also, the axes of the rollers may be inclined towards or away from the body of the apparatus, at an acute angle to the vertical Preferably, the outer surface of the or each roller is formed by a series of bars spaced around the periphery of the roller, the longitudinal axis of each bar being parallel to the axis of rotation of the roller. Alternatively each bar may be arranged in spiral around the periphery of the roller. Preferably also, each bar is fitted with a plurality of spaced 5 protrusions which extend outwardly therefrom BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS By way of example only, a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- Fig. 1 is a plan view of a feed out machine incorporating the apparatus of the present 10 invention; and Fig.2 is a side view in the direction of Arrow A of Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, a feed out machine 2 includes a chassis 3 mounted on wheels 4 and fitted with a drawbar 5 at the front and a pair of loading forks 6 at the 15 rear. A round bale stripper roller 7 is mounted across one side 8, and the apparatus 9 of the present invention is mounted across the opposite side 10. The chassis 3 supports a bale-supporting conveyor bed 11 which consists of two spaced parallel conveyor chains 12 supporting a series of spaced parallel bars 13.

The chassis 3, drawbar 5, loading forks 6, stripper roller 7 and bed 11 all are of known 20 design and will not be described in detail. The stripper roller 7 can be driven by any suitable means to rotate about its axis, which is substantially horizontal. The bed 11 can be driven in the direction of either Arrow B or Arrow C, by any suitable means. The suitable means for driving the roller 7 and bed 11 include a ground drive, hydraulic drive, an electric motor or a petrol or diesel motor.

The apparatus 9 of the present invention is shown in greater detailed in Fig. 2 and comprises a pair of rollers 15,16 each mounted for rotation about substantially vertical axles 17,18 The base of each axle 17,18 is mounted in a first bearing (not shown] supported on the side 10. The upper end of each axle 17,18 is mounted in a second 3 bearing 17a, 18a, which is supported upon a cross frame 19 parallel to the side 10 but spaced above it by supports 20. The axles 17,18 are independently driveable for rotation in the bearings. The axles 17TT8 may be driven by any suitable meansT preferably by a pair of hydraulic motors in series or parallel. Alternatively, only one of 5 the axles 17,18 may be driven directly and the other of the axles driven indirectly from the first axle, by any suitable means.

Each axle 17,18 supports a pair of spaced parallel discs 22,23, rigidly secured to the corresponding axle with the planes of the discs perpendicular to the length of the axle. One of the discs 22 is close to the base of the corresponding axle, and the other disk 10 23 is close to the top of the axle. The discs 22,23 support a series of equidistantly spaced bars 24 rigidly secured around the outer diameter of the discs. The length of each bar 24 is substantially parallel to the corresponding axle 17,18. The outer surface of each bar 24 carries a series of triangular spikes 25 spaced along the length of the bar.

It is believed that the diameter of the rollers 15,16 is not critical:- typical diameters would be in the range 200-1000 mm; a diameter of 400 mm has been found to work well in practice. Similarly, the number and spacing of the bars 24 can be varied from the six bars shown in the drawing. However, it is believed that it is important for the bars to be sufficiently widely spaced apart that they impact separately on a bale to be 20 broken up, i.e if the bars are close enough together present a virtually continuous surface to the bale, they do not breakup the bale to a satisfactory degree. The bars 24 may be arranged on edge or flat.

The interior of each roller may be closed off by plating (not shown), with the bars projecting from the plating.

The axles 17,18 need not be vertical but may be inclined at an acute angle to the vertical. However, arranging the axles 17,18 horizontal does not work satisfactorily.

The above described apparatus is used as follows:- a big square bale to be fed out is loaded onto the bale supporting bed 11 in known manner, using the loading forks 6 or an independent loader. The bale strings are cut and removed, and the chains 12 are 30 driven to move the bale in the direction of Arrow B (Fig 1), thus pressing the outer surface of the bale onto the face of the rollers 15,16. The rollers 15,16 are rotated in 4 the directions of Arrows D and E respectively (Fig. 1), so that the bars 24 and spikes 25 dig into the bale surface and tear off fodder from the bale. The torn off fodder passes between the rollers and is deposited on the ground at the side of the feeder.

The apparatus also works satisfactorily if each roller is rotated in the opposite direction 5 to that shown in Fig. 1, but in that case the torn off fodder is thrown in front and behind the feeder. A further possible variation is to rotate the rollers in the same direction, at the same or different speeds.

The feeder shown in Fig. 1 also can be used to feed out big round bales:- the big round bale is supported upon the bale supporting bed 11 which is driven in the 10 direction of the Arrow C to urge the bale against the round bale stripper roller 7, in known manner.

It is envisaged that the above described apparatus also could be used to feed out loose fodder such as silage, by mounting one or more pairs of rollers 15,16 across the back or side of a silage feeder, so that the silage conveyor chain moved silage 15 towards the pair or pairs of rollers. For silage feeding-out, it is envisaged that the rollers may be driven so as to rotate all in the same direction, or all in different directions, or in clockwise/anti-clockwise pairs as shown in the drawings.

If the apparatus of the present invention uses only a single roller, then that roller must be arranged so that a bale to be fed out is caught between the roller and a corresponding supporting surface.

If the apparatus of the present invention uses more than one pair of rollers, these may be arranged in a row, so as to feed out multiple bales simultaneously, with one bale being fed through each pair of rollers Alternatively, if the bales require a great deal of breaking down, the pairs of rollers may be arranged in a double column, so that a bale 25 is fed through first one pair of rollers and then the next, down the column.

The apparatus of the present invention need not be mounted on one side of a feed-out machine, as shown in the drawings, but instead could be mounted on the back or front of the machine.

Claims

5 roller being driveable for rotation about an axis which is vertical or at an acute angle to the vertical; the outer surface of the or each roller being provided with a plurality of fodder engaging members.
2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said one or more rollers comprise one or more pairs of rollers. 10
3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the axes of the rollers of the or each pair of rollers are parallel.
4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the axes of the rollers of the or each pair of rollers are closer to each other at the bases of said rollers than at 15 the tops of said rollers.
5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the axes of the rollers of the or each pair of rollers are further apart at the bases of said rollers than at the tops of said rollers. 20
6. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 2 -- 5 wherein the rollers in the or each pair of rollers are driveable in the same direction.
7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the rollers in the or each pair of 25 rollers are driveable in the same direction, but at different speeds.
8. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 2-5 wherein the rollers of the or each pair of rollers are driveable in opposite directions. 30
9. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the apparatus also includes a body which supports conveying means which is driveable towards the or each said roller.
10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the axis of the or each said roller 35 is inclined towards said conveying means at an acute angle to the vertical. 6
11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the axis of the or each said roller is inclined away from said conveying means at an acute angle to the vertical.
12. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer 5 surface of the or each roller is formed by a series of bars spaced around the periphery of the roller, the longitudinal axis of each bar being parallel to the axis of rotation of the roller.
13. The apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1-11 wherein the outer surface 10 of the or each roller is formed by a series of spaced bars each of which forms a spiral around the periphery of the roller.
14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12 or 13 wherein each bar is fitted with a plurality of spaced protrusions extending outwardly therefrom. 15
15. The combination of the apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 -14 and a mobile fodder feed out machine which includes feed out means for feeding out big round bales of fodder. 20
16. A fodder feeding apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.