US2891655A - Material feed mechanism for sand and chip spreaders - Google Patents

Description

n 1 E. w. SAIBERLICH 2,391,655

MATERIAL FEED. MECHANISM FOR SAND A-ND CHIP SPREADERS,

Filed Nov. 21, 1957 2 sheets-sheet ATTORN'VS J 23, 1959 E. w. SAIBERLICH 2,891,655

I 7 MATERIAL FEED MECHANISM FOR SAND AND CHIP SPREADERS Filed Nov. 21, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR.

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2,891,655 Patented June 23, 1959 MATERIAL FEED MECHANISM FOR SAND AND CHIP SPREADERS Erwin W. Saiberlich, Menasha, Wis., assignor to Fox 7 River Tractor Company, Appleton, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application November 21, 1957, Serial No. 697,877 I 3 Claims. (Cl. 198-64) This invention relates to improvements in material feed mechanism for sand and chip spreaders.

Municipalities and other-government agencies charged with the maintenance of streets and highways have need at certain times of the year, particularly in the North, for trucks equipped to spread materials such as sand and salt on the streets and highways, to control ice conditions. There is also a demand during certain periods of the year for trucks to spread chips. Apparatus for carrying out this work is disclosed in my copending applications Serial No. 639,680, filed February 12, 1957, and Serial No. 664,368, filed June 7, 1957, and the present application relates more particularly to improved means for feeding material to the spreading mechanism and is a continuation in part of application Serial No. 664,368.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide improved means at the bottom of a hopper type body operable to move sand, chips or the like longitudinally of the body and to deliver the same to spreading mechanism located centrally of the rear of the body.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide mechanism as above described Which includes a longitudinally extending auger so arranged in the body as to effectively feed material to spreading mechanism at the rear.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism as above described, wherein the rear end of the auger is so arranged with respect to a spinner type spreader as to deliver material directly thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved mechanism as above described having means for preventing undesired build-up of material at the rear of the body near the spinner whereby there is no objectionable increase of power required to move the material out of the body.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide mechanism for feeding material from a hopper body to a rear sand and chip spreader wherein there is an auger arranged in a novel manner with respect to the body and spreader, said auger having a pitch which increases toward the spinner so that material at the rear of the body is moved in a feed direction more rapidly than material at'the front thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide mechanism as above described having an auger feed wherein the auger ends are supported in novel bearing assemblies which make it possible to remove or replace the auger without disassembling the-bearing assemblies or disturbing their adjustment.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved feed mechanism for sand and chip Spreaders, and all of its parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating one complete embodiment of the preferred form of the invention, in which the same reference numerals designate the same parts in all of the views:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a hopper body and chip spreader adapted for mounting on a truck, as is more completely disclosed in application, Serial No. 639,680, filed February 12, 1957;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, on plane extending longitudinally of the body through the sand spreader housing, showing the rear end of the auger delivering material to the spreader;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the hopper body, the central portion being broken away to foreshorten the view, and other parts being broken Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the rear end of the auger showing the bearing parts and pillow block in exploded relationship;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the auger alone showing the variation in the pitch thereon; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view at the bottom of the hopper body.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the improved device includes a hopper body 10 having a longitudinally extending bottom trough 11. Material to be spread on a road, such as sand, chips or the like, is directed by the inclined sides 12 of the hopper body into the trough as it gravitates downwardly. Depending from the rear of the body is a spreader housing 13 having an outwardly flared bottom skirt 14. The rear end of the trough 11 terminates at 15 (Fig. 2) and has an open end so that material 16 from the trough will fall by gravity downwardly within the spreader housing 13 as indicated.

The body 10 with its attached spreader housing is adapted to be detachably mounted on a standard dump truck body when the tail gate is removed therefrom, as

is more particularly described in copending application, Serial No. 639,680, filed February 12, 1957. This serves to conveniently convert a standard dump truck to a sand spreading truck.

Mounted on the side of the auxiliary body is a motor 17. Transmission mechanism leading from the motor includes clutch mechanism 18 driving a sprocket wheel 19. An endless chain 20 transmits motion from the sprocket 19 to a sprocket wheel 21 mounted on one end of a jack shaft 22 which is suitably journaled at the rear end of the body. The outer end of the jack shaft 22 carries sprocket wheels 23 and 24. An endless chain 25 connects the sprocket wheel 23 with a sprocket wheel 26 (see Fig. 3). The sprocket wheel 26 is mounted on a shaft 27 which extends into a gear box 28. The latter is supported on the rear end of the body 10. Suitable gears within the gear box transmit rotation to a vertical shaft 29. The latter suitably drives a spreading spinner 30 through mechanism which is shown in Fig. 2 and fully described in copending application, Serial No. 664,368, filed June 7, 1957. This drive includes a splined connection 31 which allows for vertical adjustable movement of the spinner 30, the mechanism also including suitable means 32 for effecting said vertical adjustment.

As an important feature of the invention a feed auger 33 is mounted for rotation in the trough 11. Referring to Fig. 4, the rear end of the auger has a splined extension 34 which fits telescopically within a spline-broached sleeve 35 having an inner end collar 36 and having threading 37 at its opposite end. When the parts which are shown exploded in Fig. 4 are assembled within the hearing housing 38 the parts are as shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 3. Here it may be seen that an oil seal 39 surrounds the collar 36 and is located between said collar and the bearing housing. Next are the bearing cone 40 and cup 41 which surround the sleeve 35 and fit between the collar 36 and an annular shoulder 42 within the hearing housing. On the other side of the annular shoulder of the bearing housing is another bearing cone 43 within a cup 44. A nut 45 threaded on the threaded portion 37 of the sleeve 35 adjustably holds the bearing cone 43 in position, there being an oil seal 46 surrounding the inner portion of the nut. A washer 4-7 is positioned between the outer end of the nut 45 and a lock nut 48. The splined auger shaft portion 34 has a portion which projects beyond the sleeve 35 to which a sprocket wheel 50 is splined, whereby when the sprocket 50 is driven it will drive the auger. A nut 51 on a threaded shaft portion 52 of reduced diameter serves to hold the sprocket wheel 50 in position. The sprocket wheel 50 is driven by an endless chain 53 from the sprocket wheel 24 as shown in Fig. l. The bearing housing 38 is detachably connected by bolts 54 to a transverse channel 55 which extends transversely at the rear of the spreader housing 13 and is suitably secured thereto.

At the forward end of the auger there is a splined auger shaft extension 34 (see Fig. 3) which telescopes within an adjustable bearing assembly 56, the latter being identical to that shown in Fig. 4, except that the parts are reversed in position. The bearing assembly 56 in turn is mounted in a forward bearing housing 57 which is removably connected by bolts 58 to a transverse support 59 at the front of the body. The bearing housing 57 communicates with a front opening at in the body, so that by removing the nuts and bolts 58 the bearing housing with its bearing assembly on the sleeve which corresponds to the sleeve 35 of Fig. 4 can be slid off of the splines on the splined end 34 of the auger shaft to free the end of the auger. Similarly, by removing the nut 51 and sprocket wheel 50 the splined end 34 can be withdrawn from the sleeve 35 within the bearing housing 38, leaving the housing with its bearing assembly intact as a unit. Thus the auger 33 can be removed for repair or replacement without disturbing the bearing assemblies Within the bearing housings, and there is no need to disturb the adjustment of the bearing assemblies when an auger is removed. It is merely necessary to remove the bolts 54 or 58 at one or both ends of the body to remove one or both bearing housings. This, however, can be done without in any way disturbing the unitary assembly of the hearings on the sleeves within the housings.

The auger 33 is formed in a novel manner so as to prevent undesired buildup of material at the rear of the body near the spreader housing. This is accomplished in the manner shown more particularly in Fig. 6, wherein it will be seen that the major portion of the length of the auger has a constant pitch, preferably a 4" pitch on an 8-foot auger. Where there is an eight foot auger, this 4" pitch preferably extensd for 66" from the front of the body rearwardly as indicated by the spiral portion 61. For the next 15" toward the rear of the body there is a 6" pitch on the spiral portion 62, and for the rearwarclrnost 15" there is an 8" pitch as indicated by the spiral portion 63. With this arrangement, material near the rear of the body is fed faster toward the rear discharge end 15 of the auger trough. Thu's undesired buildup of material at the rear of the body is prevented, and there is no objectionable increase in power required to move material out of the body, as would be true if such buildup were permitted.

In use of the invention, it is apparent that when the motor 17 is in operation, that the spinner 30 is rotated as well as the auger. The auger serves to move sand, chips or other material within the body out of the rear end as shown in Fig. 2. Here the material falls on top of the spinner 30 which spreads it onto the road in a very effective manner, as has been described in co-pending application Serial No. 664,368, filed June 7, 1957.

The use of an auger which extends longitudinally of a hopper-like body to deliver material such as sand or chips to a spreader located centrally of the rear provides a very efiicient arrangement, and one in which there is a minimum of possibility of clogging or other operational difl-lculties. In addition it is apparent that the novel bearing arrangement for the auger makes it possible to remove the auger for repair or replacement with a minimum of difficulty.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a hopper body having ends and having a longitudinally extending bottom trough to which material in the body gravitates, said trough having a rear discharge opening at one end of the hopper body, an auger in said trough extending longitudinally of the body and having an end adjacent said rear discharge opening of the trough to feed material therethrough, said auger having splined end extensions, front and rear bearing housings detachably mounted on the body at least one of which is exteriorly accessible for removal, an internally splined sleeve in each housing, and an anti-friction bearing assembly within each housing around each sleeve, means for retaining each bearing assembly and sleeve in position in its housing, the splined auger ends being engaged in said sleeves and rotatable therewith in the bearing assemblies and being withdrawable from the sleeves without disturbing said bearing assemblies, and said hopper body having an end opening in alinernent with said auger and of a diameter to permit withdrawal of the auger therethrough when the adjacent bearing assembly has been de tached.

2. In a hopper body having ends and having a longitudinally extending bottom trough to which material in the hopper gravitates, said trough having a rear discharge opening at one end of the hopper body, an auger in said trough extending longitudinally of the body and having an end adjacent said rear discharge opening of the trough to feed material therethrough through which said auger projects and is withdrawable, said auger having splined end extensions, front and rear bearinghousings mounted on the body, said rear bearing housing being detachably supported externally of the body, an internally splined sleeve in each housing, an anti-friction bearing assembly within each housing around each sleeve, means for retaining each bearing assembly and sleeve in position in its housing, the splined auger ends being engaged in said sleeves and rotatable therewith in the bearing assemblies and being withdrawable from the sleeves without disturbing said bearing assemblies whereby by removal of the rear bearing housing the auger can be withdrawn from the front housing and removed from the body through the discharge opening.

3. In a hopper body having ends and having a longitudinally extending bottom trough to which material in the hopper gravitates, said trough having a rear discharge opening at one end of the hopper body, an auger in said trough extending longitudinally of the body and having an end adjacent said rear discharge opening of the trough to feed material therethrough through which said auger projects, said auger having splined end extensions, front and rear bearing housings detachably mounted on the body, said body having an opening in alignment with said front bearing housing through which the latter is accessible and may be withdrawn when the housing has been detached and the rear bearing housing being external at the opposite end of the body, an internally splined sleeve in each housing, an anti-friction bearing assembly within each housing around each sleeve, means for retaining each bearing assembly and sleeve in posi- 5 tion in its housing, the splined auger ends being engaged in said sleeves and rotatable therewith in the bearing assemblies and being withdrawable from the sleeves Without disturbing said bearing assemblies whereby by removal of one bearing housing the auger can be withdrawn 10 from the other and removed from the body.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Blue Dec. 27, Moss Oct. 17, Abbe Sept. 22, Buthrie Mar. 9, Curtis Mar. 8, Fulkerson et a1 May 7, Warren June 29,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Feb. 17,

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