Conveyor and Spreader
OwnerWayne F. Smithinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A particulate material conveyor uses an endless loop that has a feed path arranged near a bottom of a load of material to be fed and a return path arranged above the feed path and within the load where the return path is protected by a cover. Material can flow under the cover onto the feed path without filling the return path under the cover. A spinner can be combined with a conveyor to form a spreader, and the conveyor and the spinner can be driven by a single motor through reduction drives. The spreader components are mounted on a sprocket drive shaft to pivot between deployed and stowed positions.
Claims32
A particulate material conveyor using an endless loop of a chain or a mesh web moving material along a feed path near a bottom of a load of the material to be fed, the conveyor comprising:
- a return path arranged in a space within the load above the feed path and underneath a cover;
- and
- the cover being arranged within the load to allow material from the load to flow onto the feed path below the cover without filling a space immediately under the cover through which the loop can move along the return path.
An endless loop conveyor arranged near a bottom of a load of particulate material for feeding the material toward an output, the conveyor comprising:
- a chain or mesh web arranged to move the material along a feed path toward an output in a region of a sprocket driving the loop;
- a channel arranged above the feed path in a space within the load extending for a length of the conveyor;
- the channel having downturned sides that are formed to allow material from the load to flow onto the feed path;
- and
- a return path for the loop being arranged closely under a top of the channel where the loop does not encounter load resistance.
An endless loop conveyor and a spinner combined to form a spreader of particulate material fed from a load, the combination comprising:
- a single motor operating through reduction drives to rotate the spinner and to drive a sprocket of the conveyor;
- and
- the motor and the spinner being pivotable with a drive shaft of the sprocket to move between a deployed position and a stowed position.
A particulate material conveyor comprising:
- a base formed as a channel with upwardly oriented sides;
- a chain or mesh web running along a feed path within the base channel near a bottom of a load of the particulate material;
- a top channel having downwardly oriented sides arranged above the base;
- the top channel having openings in the side walls to allow material from the load to flow onto the feed path;
- and
- a return path of the loop being arranged closely underneath the top channel where the loop does not encounter load resistance.
A spreader of particulate material using a conveyor feeding the material from a load and a spinner receiving and spreading material output from the conveyor, the spreader comprising:
- the conveyor using an endless loop of a chain or a mesh web having a feed path near a bottom of the load of the material and leading to a sprocket driving the loop at an output region;
- a loop return path arranged in a space within the load above the feed path where the return path is protected by a cover;
- the cover being arranged within the load so that material from the load can flow onto the feed path below the cover without filling a space immediately under the cover through which the loop can move along the return path;
- a single motor driving a shaft of the spinner via a reduction drive;
- a spinner shaft driving a worm and worm wheel reduction turning the sprocket;
- and
- when the motor is not turning, the motor and spinner can pivot with the sprocket shaft between deployed and stowed positions.
A drive system for a loop conveyor and spinner combination operating as a spreader of particulate material, the drive system comprising:
- a single motor turning a reduction drive to rotate an input shaft;
- the spinner being rotated by the input shaft;
- the input shaft turning a worm and worm wheel reduction to drive a sprocket for the loop conveyor;
- and
- the motor, spinner and reduction drives being mounted on a shaft of the drive sprocket to pivot between deployed and stowed positions when the motor is not rotating.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.