Bin sweep apparatus effective in two directions of movement

A system for moving particles across a floor surface of a storage bin, the system comprising:

• a bin sweep apparatus including at least two units arranged in a linear array with an inboard end for locating toward a central area of the bin and an outboard end for locating toward a periphery of the bin, the sweep apparatus having a forward side for orienting toward a primary direction of movement for the sweep apparatus and a rearward side for orienting toward a secondary direction of movement for the sweep apparatus, the secondary direction of movement being oriented away from the primary direction of movement, the sweep apparatus comprising:
• a housing segment for each of the at least two units, the housing segment of at least one of the units comprising a forward wall positioned toward the forward side of the bin sweep apparatus and a rearward wall positioned toward the rearward side of the bin sweep apparatus;
• and
• a paddle sweep assembly carried on the housing segments of the at least two units, the paddle sweep assembly comprising
• a plurality of interconnected paddles movable in a succession on a path along at least a portion of the sweep apparatus between the inboard and outboard ends;
• an endless loop member having the plurality of paddles mounted thereon at spaced locations along the endless loop member;
• wherein the endless loop member with mounted paddles includes an inbound extent moving toward the inboard end of the bin sweep apparatus and an outbound extent moving toward the outboard end of the bin sweep apparatus, the inbound extent contacting particles to move the particles toward the inboard end and the outbound extent being out of contact with the particles, the inbound extent being located below the outbound extent;
• wherein the sweep apparatus is effective to move particles across the floor surface of a bin in the primary direction of movement of the sweep apparatus and in the secondary direction of movement of the sweep apparatus.