Dispenser apparatus for spreading particulate material
AssigneeDouglas Dynamics, L.L.C.
InventorJames R. Doornek
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dispenser apparatus for spreading granular material such as salt or sand. The dispenser apparatus includes a hopper that funnels the granular material down to a discharge spout for discharge onto a rotating spreader to broadcast the material onto a roadway. The hopper defines a generally downwardly converging chute that has intermittent radially enlarged sections to minimize "bridging" of the granular material within the hopper. An agitator arrangement provided in the hopper also assists in eliminating any blockage near the base of the hopper.
Claims17
A dispenser apparatus for particulate material, said dispenser apparatus comprising:
- a hopper defining an enclosed chute for the particulate material, said hopper including a plurality of vertically successive stages including an uppermost stage, a lowermost stage, and at least one intermediate stage between said uppermost and lowermost stages, each of said stages defining a chute section having a downwardly narrowing portion, and each of said stages including an upper portion defining an inlet opening, and lower portion defining an outlet opening, the outlet opening of each of said uppermost and intermediate stages being coextensive with said inlet opening of a succeeding one of said stages, and said outlet opening of each of said stages defining a horizontal cross-sectional area, the horizontal cross-sectional area defined by said outlet opening of each of said lowermost and intermediate stages being smaller than the horizontal cross-sectional area defined by said outlet opening of each preceding one of said stages, and said chute section defined by said lowermost stage including a top portion immediately below said outlet opening of an immediately preceding one of said stages, said top portion defining a cross-sectional area in a horizontal plane that is greater than said cross-sectional area defined by said outlet opening of said immediately preceding one of said stages so that the top portion of the lowermost chute section is expanded relative to said outlet opening of said immediately preceding one of said stages before narrowing to the outlet opening thereof, and
- means in said hopper for agitating the particulate material.
A dispenser apparatus for particulate material, said dispenser apparatus comprising
- a vertically extending hopper, said hopper defining an enclosed chute, and said hopper including at least three successive stages, each of said stages defining a downwardly converging chute section, and each of said stages including an upper portion defining an inlet opening, and a lower portion defining an outlet opening having a horizontal cross-sectional area, said horizontal cross-sectional area of said outlet opening of each of the stages being less than the horizontal cross-sectional area of said outlet opening of any and all preceding ones of said stages, said chute sections of at least alternating ones of said stages each having a portion with a horizontal cross-sectional area greater than said horizontal cross-sectional area of said outlet opening of the immediately preceding one of said stages so that each of said chute sections of said at least alternating ones of said stages is expanded relative to said outlet opening of the immediately preceding one of said stages, and
- an agitator disposed in said hopper for moving through the particulate material and thereby preventing agglomeration of particulate material in said hopper.
A dispenser apparatus for particulate material, said dispenser apparatus comprising
- a hopper defining an enclosed chute for receiving particulate material, said hopper including at least three vertically successive stages, said vertically successive stages each defining an inlet opening, an outlet opening, and a downwardly converging chute section between said inlet and outlet openings, said outlet openings being successively narrower in a downward direction, at least one of said chute sections expanding horizontally outward from said outlet opening of the immediately preceding one of said chute sections to provide an expanded chute section, and
- an agitator apparatus mounted within said hopper for discouraging agglomeration of the particulate material.
A dispenser apparatus as set forth in claim 16 wherein said vertically successive stages are joined to form a continuous hopper side wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.