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US 5,267,696 AGranted
Agricultural vehicle convertible to broadcast liquid or dry agricultural materials
OwnerCharles Balmerinventor
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OwnerCharles Balmerinventor
Estimating the term…
An agricultural vehicle is convertible to a first mode for broadcasting liquid agricultural material and to a second mode for broadcasting dry agricultural material. The vehicle includes a single main tank which is used in the first mode to transport liquid and in the second mode to transport dry material. The tank converges to an apex at the base and an auger is positioned within the tank extending upwardly from the apex to emerge from the tank at the top of the front wall. When filled with liquid, the auger is plugged at its discharge end allowing the auger tube to be filled with the liquid. When working in the second mode, the plug is opened and the auger extracts the dry material from the main tank and deposits it onto a pair of conveyor chains each forming a curtain of material which divides into separate receptacles for transportation to separate material supply tubes of a pair of booms extending outward to each side of the vehicle. Each boom also carries the liquid supply duct to which spray nozzles are attached. Supplementary tanks are provided for dry material on either side of the distribution system whose metering role is for adding the dry material to the supply tubes of the booms. Additional liquid tank forms a rear part of the tank structure for supplementing the dry material in the dry mode.
An agricultural vehicle which is convertible to a first mode for broadcasting over the ground a liquid agricultural material and to a second mode for broadcasting over the ground a dry agricultural material comprising a vehicle frame, ground wheels mounted on the frame for movement of the frame across the ground, first broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting dry agricultural material, second broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting liquid agricultural material, a tank convertible to receive separately both the liquid agricultural material and the dry agricultural material, the tank comprising tank walls defining a hollow interior converging toward a material confining area at a base of the tank, and defining an open top through which the dry material can be loaded, a cover lid for closing the open top, an auger for transporting the dry material from the tank to the first broadcast means including an auger tube and an auger flight mounted within the tube for rotation relative thereto, the auger tube having an open mouth at one end thereof for receiving the material from the tank and a discharge opening at an opposed end thereof for discharging the material to the first broadcast means, a pump having an inlet duct connected to the tank for extracting the liquid therefrom and an outlet duct connected to the second broadcast means, the auger tube being mounted so as to extend from the open mouth at the base of the tank upwardly such that the discharge opening is raised to a height above the inlet open mouth at one side of the tank and sealing means for plugging one end of the auger tube when used in the first mode to prevent escape of liquid material from the tank through the auger tube, the sealing means being movable such that in the second mode it allows discharge of the dry material through the auger tube.
An agricultural vehicle which is convertible to a first mode for broadcasting over the ground a liquid agricultural material and to a second mode for broadcasting over the ground a dry agricultural material comprising a vehicle frame, ground wheels mounted on the frame for movement of the frame across the ground, first broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting dry agricultural material, second broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting liquid agricultural material, a tank convertible to receive separately both the liquid agricultural material and the dry agricultural material, the tank comprising tank walls defining a hollow interior converging toward a material confining area at a base of the tank, and defining an open top through which the dry material can be loaded, a cover lid for closing the open top, an auger for transporting the dry material from the tank to the first broadcast means including an auger tube and an auger flight mounted within the tube for rotation relative thereto, the auger tube having an open mouth at one end thereof for receiving the material from the tank and a discharge opening at an opposed end thereof for discharging the material to the first broadcast means, a pump having an inlet duct connected to the tank for extracting the liquid therefrom and an outlet duct connected to the second broadcast means, and sealing means for plugging the auger tube at the discharge opening end when used in the first mode to prevent escape of liquid material from the tank through the auger tube, the sealing means being movable such that in a the second mode it allows discharge of the dry material through the auger tube.
An agricultural vehicle which is convertible to a first mode for broadcasting over the ground a liquid agricultural material and to a second mode for broadcasting over the ground a dry agricultural material comprising a vehicle frame, ground wheels mounted on the frame for movement of the frame across the ground, first broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting dry agricultural material, second broadcast means carried by the frame for broadcasting liquid agricultural material, a tank convertible to receive separately both the liquid agricultural material and the dry agricultural material, the tank comprising tank walls defining a hollow interior converging toward a material confining area at a base of the tank, and defining an open top through which the dry material can be loaded, a cover lid for closing the open top, an auger for transporting the dry material from the tank to the first broadcast means including an auger tube and an auger flight mounted within the tube for rotation relative thereto, the auger tube having an open mouth at one end thereof for receiving the material from the tank and a discharge opening at an opposed end thereof for discharging the material to the first broadcast means, a pump having an inlet duct connected to the tank for extracting the liquid therefrom and an outlet duct connected to the second broadcast means, and sealing means for plugging one end of the auger tube when used in the first mode to prevent escape of liquid material from the tank through the auger tube, the sealing means being movable such that in a second mode it allows discharge of the dry material through the auger tube, wherein the first broadcast means includes a first boom extending outwardly to one side of the frame, a second boom extending outwardly to an opposed side of the frame each of the booms including a plurality of material transportation tubes and means for metering the material from the discharge opening of the auger tube into each of the material tubes, wherein the second broadcast means comprises liquid duct means extending along each of the booms and including a plurality of spray nozzles at spaced positions therealong, wherein the vehicle frame includes a cab mounted at a forward end of the frame and wherein the booms are positioned on the frame at a position rearwardly of the cab and forwardly of the tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.