Apparatus for unloading bulk material

An apparatus for unloading bulk material from a load-carrying vehicle deck and spreading the material over ground contiguous to the vehicle, the apparatus comprising a spreader device, connectable to a rear end of the deck and carried thereby during unloading of the material,

• said spreader device comprising
• an adapter fixedly mounted on the rear end of said deck, and a spreader unit connectable to said adapter on said vehicle at a work site for unloading the material from the deck of said vehicle,
• said spreader unit comprising
• a connection part,
• means for connecting the connection part to said adapter on the vehicle, said connection part including means for receiving the material from the deck and giving the material an agitated condition suitable for further conveyance, said means for receiving the material including a transverse conveyor connected to a rear edge of the deck when the spreader unit is connected to said adapter, for conveying bulk material to a material outlet of the connection part,
• an extensible cantilever conveyor having a first material inlet end for receiving the bulk material discharged through said material outlet of the connection part and falling freely therefrom to the cantilever conveyor and a discharge end for discharging bulk material to be spread out, the cantilever conveyor being articulated and having an outer part separately pivotable relative to the cantilever conveyor, so that said outer part is movable over the ground relative to the cantilever conveyor,
• a suspension part connected to the connection part and being pivotable around a transverse shaft such that the pivotable attitude between the suspension part and the connection part is controllably changeable for adjusting to different positions of the deck and to different positions of the connection part, whereby the suspension part is at least substantially parallel to the ground when the material is being spread,
• means for swivelably suspending the cantilever conveyor at its said first end in said suspension part, said means including a ring means from which the cantilever conveyor is suspended, said ring means being rotatably mounted in said suspension part such that when said ring means are rotated, the cantilever conveyor moves over the ground, said ring means having a ring opening and said suspension part having a corresponding opening, such that when the material is passing the material outlet of the connection part, said openings and the material inlet of the cantilever conveyor are in alignment;
• and
• means for adjusting the suspension of the cantilever conveyor such that an axis about which the conveyor swivels in its sweeping movement can be given various inclinations in a transverse plane relative to the vehicle.