Bulk discrete fibrous material storage and feeding apparatus

In apparatus for bulk discrete fibrous material storage and feeding, including a bin receptive of a large volume load of the bulk material and having a bottom wall and upwardly extending side walls along the opposite sides of said bottom wall;

• movable conveyor means along said bottom wall and movable conveyor means along said side walls, said conveyor means cooperating to effect movement of material in the bin toward, and to discharge from, a discharge end of the bin;
• and means for driving said bottom wall and side wall conveyor means to run concurrently toward said discharge end to move the load of material progressively to discharge from said discharge end, the improvement comprising:
• said side wall conveyor means comprising endless belt type conveyors having forward runs inside the bin and return runs outside the bin;
• longitudinally extending suspension tracks adjacent to the upper portions of the forward and return runs of said wall conveyor means;
• and
• rollers suspending the forward and return runs of the side wall conveyor means from said suspension tracks.

In apparatus for bulk discrete fibrous material storage and feeding, including a bin receptive of a large volume load of the bulk material and having a bottom wall and upwardly extending side walls along the opposite sides of said bottom wall;

• movable conveyor means along said bottom wall and movable conveyor means along said side walls, said conveyor means cooperating to effect movement of material in the bin toward, and to discharge from, a discharge end of the bin;
• and means for driving said bottom wall and side wall conveyor means to run concurrently toward said discharge end to move the load of material progressively to discharge from said discharge end, the improvement comprising:
• said side walls having frame structure;
• suspension track means carried by said frame structure;
• suspension devices on the upper portions of said side wall conveyor means and running along said track means;
• and means for monitoring the load volume conditions within the bin, comprising a plurality of members suspended in the upper portion of the bin in longitudinally spaced relation over the bin contents, and means for observing the relationship of said members in the bin volume adjacent thereto.

In apparatus for bulk discrete fibrous material storage and feeding, including a bin receptive of a large volume load of the bulk material and having a bottom wall and upwardly extending side walls along the opposite sides of said bottom wall;

• movable conveyor means along said bottom wall and movable conveyor means along said side walls, said conveyor means cooperating to effect movement of material in the bin toward, and to discharge from, a discharge end of the bin;
• and means for driving said bottom wall and side wall conveyor means to run concurrently toward said discharge end to move the load of material progressively to discharge from said discharge end, the improvement comprising:
• said side walls having frame structure;
• suspension track means carried by said frame structure;
• suspension devices on the upper portions of said side wall conveyor means and running along said track means;
• and breaker means facing toward the advancing material adjacent to said discharge end and comprising a plurality of horizontally spaced breaker disks rotatably on axes longitudinal relative to the direction of movement of said conveyor means toward said discharge end, said disks having means thereon for effecting agitation of material advancing against the disks.