Patent ID: 6767174
Filing Date: 2004-07-27
Classification: B60P,B65G

Abstract:
A self-unloading container apparatus mounted on a vehicle for travel in an operating travel direction, the apparatus comprising:a container mounted on the vehicle; a fixed upright auger tube mounted in the container and oriented such that a lower intake end thereof is located in proximity to a bottom of the container and the upright auger tube slopes upward and outward, transverse to the operating travel direction, to an upper output end thereof located outside the container adjacent to an upper side wall of the container, and an upright flighting shaft inside the upright auger tube, an intermediate auger tube pivotally attached at an input end thereof to a top output end of the upright auger tube so as to pivot about a pivot axis on a pivot plane, and an intermediate flighting shaft inside the intermediate auger tube; a lateral auger tube attached at an input end thereof to an output end of the intermediate auger tube at a fixed oblique angle, and a lateral flighting shaft inside the lateral auger tube; a universal joint connecting an input end of the intermediate flighting shaft to the upright flighting shaft such that a center of the universal joint is located substantially on the pivot plane and pivot axis; a constant velocity universal joint connecting an output end of the intermediate flighting shaft to the lateral flighting shaft such that a center of the constant velocity universal joint is located substantially at the intersection of axes of the intermediate and lateral auger tubes; a control operative to pivot the intermediate auger tube with respect to the upright auger tube from a transport position, wherein the lateral auger tube is substantially aligned with the operating travel direction, to an operating position, wherein the lateral auger tube extends outward from the container transverse to the operating travel direction; and a drive operative to rotate the flighting shafts.