US 5,394,949 AGranted

Mobile soil sampling device

OwnerNathan A. Wright, Herbert L. Wrightinventors

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Abstract

A vehicle mounted mechanized soil sample collecting unit including a sampler arm pivotably affixed to a base mounted upon the vehicle. At its remote end the sampler arm pivotably carries a soil auger and soil accumulator container. An actuator is coupled to the sampler arm for swinging the arm between a lowered, soil-collecting position and a retracted container discharge position. A power unit rotates the soil auger, which is adapted to advance through the bottom of the container and into the earth as the container engages the surface of the earth upon lowering of the sampler arm. As the auger rotates the soil sample is drawn upwardly into the accumulator container by the auger flights. With the sampler arm in the retracted position the accumulator container is positioned over a funnel device into which collected soil is deposited through a bottom trap door of the accumulator container for reception in a sample container beneath the funnel outlet.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A mechanized soil sampling device comprising, in combination, a base frame adapted to be mounted upon a vehicle, an elongated sampling arm pivotably mounted upon said base frame, a soil boring and collecting unit pivotably carried by said sampling arm, said soil boring and collecting unit including a receptacle and an auger adapted to be selectively advanced through the receptacle bottom and into the soil for drawing soil upwardly into said receptacle, means for rotatably driving said auger, funnel means mounted on said base frame for receiving collected soil from said receptacle and depositing said soil into a container therebeneath, and actuating means connected to said sampling arm for controllably pivoting said sampling arm between a lowered position at which soil is collected in said receptacle and a raised position at which said receptacle is positioned over said funnel means, said receptacle including door means openable to deposit soil from said receptacle into said funnel means with said receptacle positioned over said funnel means.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.