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US 11,877,550 B1Granted
Portable bale breaker and potting apparatus
AssigneeMitchell Ellis Products, Inc.
InventorCarlos Mitchell Ellis
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable bale breaker and potting apparatus is provided. Soil bales or blocks may be loaded onto an inclined bed and conveyed to rotating breaker bars that break the soil apart into loose soil. The loose soil is conveyed by an auger into a chute which deposits the loose soil into pots on a conveyor belt positioned below the chute. Rotating brush heads downstream of the chute remove excess soil from each pot. The apparatus includes a soil management system for recycling loose overflow soil back to an upstream position on the bed.
Claims21
A potting apparatus comprising:
- a bed and a first conveyor configured to move along the bed in a first conveyance direction from an upstream end of the bed to a downstream end of the bed;
- a pair of opposing rotating breaker bars positioned over the bed transverse to the first conveyance direction, wherein the breaker bars are configured to break apart blocks of soil as the blocks are conveyed along the bed in the first conveyance direction;
- an elongated trough disposed transverse to the first conveyance direction, wherein the trough is positioned downstream of the breaker bars and below the downstream end of the bed;
- an auger positioned within the trough and configured to convey loose soil into a chute;
- and
- a second conveyor positioned below the chute, wherein the second conveyor comprises a conveyor belt having an upper surface, wherein the conveyor belt is configured to convey a pot received on the upper surface in a second conveyance direction under the chute.
3 more elements
A potting apparatus comprising:
- a bed comprising a generally flat fixed surface;
- a first conveyor comprising a plurality of bars in spaced relation and two opposing drive chains, wherein each of the spaced bars is attached at one end to one of the drive chains and at an opposite end to the opposing drive chain, wherein each drive chain is positioned along one respective side of the bed, wherein the drive chains are configured to move the spaced bars along the fixed surface of the bed in a first conveyance direction from an upstream end of the bed to a downstream end of the bed with the bars abutting the surface of the bed;
- a pair of opposing rotating breaker bars positioned over the bed transverse to the first conveyance direction, wherein the breaker bars are configured to break apart blocks of soil as the blocks are conveyed along the bed in the first conveyance direction;
- an elongated trough disposed transverse to the first conveyance direction, wherein the trough is positioned downstream of the breaker bars and below the downstream end of the bed;
- an auger positioned within the trough and configured to convey loose soil into a chute defined by an opening at a low point of the trough;
- a second conveyor positioned below the chute, wherein the second conveyor is configured to convey a pot under the chute in a second conveyance direction;
- a floor disposed below the bed and below the second conveyor, wherein the floor comprises a generally flat fixed surface;
- and
- a plurality of sprockets configured to drive the drive chains in a loop from the upstream end of the bed to the downstream end of the bed and back to the upstream end, wherein a portion of the loop is positioned relative to the floor so as to cause the spaced bars of the first conveyor to move along the fixed surface of the floor toward the upstream end of the bed with the bars abutting the surface of the floor.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.