Cleated belt forage conveyor

A forage conveyor for conveying forage, comprising a housing having spaced side members and a bottom, an endless belt disposed to travel in the housing between the input and discharge ends of the housing in a conveying run and a return run, said belt having an outer conveying surface and an inner surface, drive means to drive the belt, a plurality of spaced upstanding central cleats disposed on the outer surface of the belt and extending generally transversely of the belt, an end cleat spaced laterally from each end of the central cleats to provide a slot therebetween, a sealing strip secured to each side member of the housing and projecting into the respective slot and having an edge disposed in proximate relation to the outer surface of the belt to prevent the bulk of forage from moving to the side edges of the belt, forage leaking under said sealing strips being caught by the end cleats and conveyed toward the discharge end of the housing, and an edge member secured to each side edge of the belt and extending longitudinally of the belt between adjacent end cleats to minimize discharge of forage from the side edges of the belt, and a plow disposed adjacent the input end of the housing and having a diagonally extending surface disposed to engage and remove any forage on the inner surface of the return run of the belt which may have been discharged from the sides of the conveying run of the belt.

A forge conveyor, comprising a supporting structure having a feed end and a discharge end, an endless conveyor belt, means for supporting the belt in endless travel on the supporting structure in a conveying run and a return run, said belt having an outer conveying surface and an inner surface, drive means for driving the belt in endless travel, a plurality of flexible central cleats formed integrally with the belt and extending outwardly from said outer surface, said cleats being spaced longitudinally of the belt and extending transversely across the belt, an end cleat spaced laterally from each end of each central cleats to provide slots therebetween at each side of the belt, the slots at each side of the belt being longitudinally aligned, the central cleats and end cleats extending a substantial distance outwardly from the outer surface of the belt, and a sealing strip carried by the supporting structure and received within the aligned slots along each side of the belt, the free edge of each sealing strip being disposed adjacent the outer surface of the belt, said sealing strips and said slots cooperating to minimize the discharge of forage from the sides of the belt, said supporting structure including a generally flat bottom surface disposed beneath and generally parallel to the return run of the belt, the outer edges of the cleats in the return run being disposed in proximate relation to said bottom surface whereby the cleats will convey any forage on said bottom surface to the feed end, and means disposed at said feed end for returning the forage being conveyed on said bottom surface to said conveying run.

A forage conveyor, comprising a supporting structure having a pair of spaced side walls, an endless flexible belt mounted for endless travel on said supporting structure and having a conveying run and a return run, said belt having an outer conveying surface and an inner surface, drive means for driving the belt in endless travel, a plurality of cleats extending outwardly in spaced relation from the outer surface of the belt and disposed transversely of the belt, the end portions of each cleat being formed with a slot disposed generally normal to the belt and spaced from the respective end of the cleat to divide the cleat into a central section and a pair of end sections, the central sections and the end sections extending a substantial distance outwardly from the outer surface of the belt, belt support means connected to the supporting structure for supporting the conveying run of the belt, said belt support means being spaced from the respective side walls to provide a clearance therebetween, the side edges of the belt being spaced from said side walls to provide a passage adjacent each side wall that communicates with the respective clearance, a pair of strips carried by the supporting structure and extending longitudinally of the belt and disposed above the conveying run, each strip having an extremity disposed generally normal to the conveying run of the belt and being received within aligned slots along the corresponding edge of the belt, an edge member disposed on the outer surface of the belt at each side edge of the belt, said edge members extending longitudinally between adjacent end sections of the cleats to minimize discharge of forage from the side edges of the belt, said supporting structure also including a generally flat bottom surface disposed beneath and generally parallel to the return run of the belt, the outer edges of the cleats in the return run being disposed in proximate relation to said bottom surface, any forage leaking past said edge members passing through said passages and said clearances and being collected on said bottom surface, the cleats in the return run conveying any forage on said bottom surface toward the end of the conveyor.