US 5,286,158 AGranted

Material distributing apparatus

OwnerHarold M. Zimmermaninventor

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Abstract

An apparatus for mounting on the back of a dump truck or the like to distribute material discharged from said truck to a variably selected position is disclosed wherein a chute assembly is connectable to the tailgate of the dump truck and provides a range of movement of the apparatus in a vertical direction through pivotal movement about a horizontal axis and a range of movement of the apparatus in a horizontal direction through a swing ring. The apparatus incorporates an endless conveyor having a downwardly deflected portion to receive material from the chute assembly and convey the material to a discharge opening for projection to a selected location. A constraining member restricts the material to the central portion of the conveyor to minimize the spreading of the material being discharged from the conveyor. A deflector panel positioned at the discharge opening of the apparatus to engage the stream of material being discharged provides greater flexibility for the direction of the material to a desired location.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A material distributing mechanism comprising:

a frame generally defining a conduit having a discharge opening;
a pair of rollers rotatably mounted in said frame at opposing ends of said conduit with one of said rollers being mounted proximate to said discharge opening;
an endless conveyor entrained around said rollers for rotational movement therewith, said conveyor having an upper operative run which normally moves toward said discharge opening and a lower return run normally moving away from said discharge opening;
deflection means operatively engaged with the operative run of said conveyor between said rollers to cause a downward deflection of said conveyor, said operative run being divided into a downwardly moving portion, an upwardly moving portion and a generally arcuate transition portion between said downwardly moving portion and said upwardly moving portion;
chute means for receiving material and directing the material onto the downwardly moving portion of said operative run, said frame being connectable to a supply of material to be distributed to position said chute means in flow communication with said supply of material, said chute means including a material receiving portion defining an inlet opening and a lower feed portion terminating in an outlet opening smaller than said inlet opening and being located above said downwardly moving portion of said operative run;
a swing ring interposed between said material receiving portion and said lower feed portion so that said lower feed portion is rotatable about a generally vertical axis relative to said material receiving portion, said conduit being affixed to said swing ring to rotate with said lower feed portion, thereby maintaining a fixed orientation between said outlet opening and said conveyor irrespective of the rotated position thereof relative to said material receiving portion;
and
power means for operatively powering the rotation of said conveyor and said rollers.

5 more elements

A material distributing mechanism mountable on a mobile vehicle carrying a supply of material dischargeable from said vehicle through a vehicle discharge opening in the rear of said vehicle, comprising:

chute means connectable to the rear portion of said vehicle to be extendable rearwardly therefrom and be in flow communication with said vehicle discharge opening to receive material therefrom, said chute means including an articulated material receiving portion defining an inlet opening and having a first member fixed to said vehicle and a second member pivotally connected to said first member for movement relative thereto about a generally horizontally extending pivot axis, said chute means further including a lower feed portion rotatably mounted to said second member for movement thereto about a generally vertically extending axis of rotation, said feed portion defining an outlet opening;
a longitudinally extending conduit rotatably mounted to said second member for rotational movement about said generally vertically extending axis with said lower feed portion, said conduit having laterally spaced side sheets terminating at a remote discharge opening;
an endless conveyor entrained around first and second longitudinally spaced rollers rotatably mounted between said side sheets, said conveyor having an upper operative run which normally moves toward said discharge opening and a lower return run normally moving away from said discharge opening;
deflection means operatively engaged with the operative run of said conveyor between said first and second rollers to cause a downward deflection of said conveyor relative to a straight line extending between said first and second rollers, said operative run being divided by said deflection means into a downwardly moving portion, an upwardly moving portion and a generally arcuate transition portion between said downwardly moving portion and said upwardly moving portion, said outlet opening of said feed portion feeding material onto said downwardly moving portion of said operative run;
and
power means for operatively powering the rotation of said conveyor and said rollers.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.