Patent ID: 6439436
Filing Date: 2002-08-27
Classification: B65G

Abstract:
A storage bin for particulate material comprising:a bin floor structure having a circular horizontal fixed support surface; a cylindrical bin wall upstanding from an outer edge of the support surface; and a bin discharge system for discharging material stored in the bin from the bin to a position exteriorly of the bin, the discharge system comprising: a discharge trough below the horizontal fixed support; the trough being covered by a cover wall at the horizontal support surface with the cover wall defining a feed opening therethrough from the bin into the trough so that the trough extends from the feed opening at a center of the bin horizontally under the horizontal support surface substantially radially of the support surface to a discharge outside the wall of the bin with the support surface on either side of the trough for supporting the particulate material within the bin; a material transport conveyor within the trough for transporting the material along the trough from the feed opening in the cover wall at the center of the bin to the discharge; the material transport conveyor comprising a belt having an upper run and a lower run within the trough; the upper run having one end located under the feed opening to receive the particulate material in the bin falling through the feed opening onto the upper run; and the upper run extending from the feed opening to the discharge.