Feed bin anti-bridge device
AssigneeValco Industries, Inc.
InventorsPhilip E. Risser, Logan Auker, Jake Byer, Andrei Pavel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lifting mechanism for operably attaching to one of the plurality of support legs on a bin is provided where the lifting mechanism is configured to sequentially lift and drop the support leg by a predetermined amount, whereby an impact shock generated by the drop is transmitted to the bin through the support leg and promote dislodging of any of the particulate material that may be in a non-flowable state to enhance dispensing of the particulate material from the bin. A bin assembly incorporating such lifting mechanism on at least one of its plurality of support legs is also disclosed.
Claims15
A bin for dispensing particulate material comprising:
- a plurality of support legs supporting the bin on a foundation;
- at least one lifting mechanism resting on the foundation and also operably attached to one of the plurality of support legs;
- a drive operatively attached to the lifting mechanism such that operation of the drive causes the lifting mechanism to sequentially lift the bin using said support leg that is attached to the lifting mechanism by a predetermined amount then drop said support leg into a free fall and impact the foundation, whereby an impact shock thus produced is transmitted to the bin through the support leg and promote dislodging of any of the particulate material that may be in a non-flowable state to enhance dispensing of the particulate material from the bin.
A lifting mechanism operably attachable to a support leg of a bin for dispensing particulate material that comprises a plurality of support legs, the lifting mechanism comprising:
- at least one rotationally driven stepped cam having a cam surface, and a cam follower assembly that comprises two cam followers and a cam follower roller provided between the two cam followers, wherein the cam followers support the one of the plurality of support legs and are positioned above the stepped cam and in contact with the cam surface,
- wherein the cam follower roller is lower than or approximately tangential to the bottom surface of the cam followers, whereby the cam follower is in contact with the cam surface throughout at least a portion of the rotation of the stepped cam;
- wherein the cam and the cam follower rollers are in rolling contact, thereby reducing the sliding friction between the cam surface and the cam follower when the stepped cam is rotating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.