Abstract:
A feed transport trailer with a low center of gravity is particularly useful for transportation of particulate material. A storage vessel is attached to a frame assembly which is lower than the attachment point on a tractor. The storage vessel has a central low conveyor mechanism that extends to the rear of the trailer and is used for unloading. The conveyor extends beyond rear axles that have center depressed areas to allow the vessel and conveyor to be located close to the ground.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 50/548,813, filed Feb. 19, 2013, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This present disclosure relates to feed transportation trailers, specifically ones pulled by semi tractors and are used for dispensing feed through an auger mechanism mounted underneath the storage portion of the trailer. Feed transportation trailers are typically loaded through an opening at the top, and unloaded through a screw drive mechanism located in the bottom. This screw drive is usually referred to as an auger. The feed is driven through various augers mounted in a series of tubes that carry the feed to a storage facility or another transportation device. For the trailer to empty fully, the bottom of the storage area is tapered so the feed naturally falls down with gravity into the auger in the bottom. A fully loaded feed trailer can be very heavy, and due to the tapered bottom, a majority of the weight is located high on the trailer. A high center of gravity is undesirable on a transportation vehicle, as certain driving maneuvers create instability, rollover accidents, and potential loss of life. Some manufacturers have a smaller diameter auger that is directly underneath the feed storage area then add an additional auger section that travels up at an angle and therefore avoids the rear trailer axle. It is therefore desirable to make a trailer with the lowest center of gravity while still holding a maximum amount of feed. It is also desirable to have an overall lower trailer for low clearance areas, such as low bridges or overhanging tree limbs, or feed mills with low loadout heights. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure describes a feed transport trailer that has a lower center of gravity. The trailer has an opening at the top of a storage vessel for loading feed and a centrally located auger at the bottom of the vessel for unloading. The auger travels down the center bottom of the vessel and continues past the axles toward the rear of the trailer. The necessity for a low center of gravity and a simple auger mechanism is accomplished by having the auger pass through the centerline of the axle spindles. The use of rear axles with a center depression allows additional space for a central auger at the bottom of the storage to be as low as possible. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A preferred embodiment of this invention has been chosen wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is an overall isometric left view of the trailer. 
         FIG. 2  is an overall isometric right view of the trailer shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a sectional view about line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken about line  3 - 3  near the front end of the trailer. 
         FIG. 5  is a sectional view taken about line  3 - 3  near the rear end of the trailer. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the trailer shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of the trailer shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 8  is an isometric view of the underside of trailer shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 9  is an isometric view under the front section of the trailer. 
         FIG. 10  is an isometric view under the rear section of the trailer. 
         FIG. 11  is a underside view of a rear section of the trailer. 
         FIG. 12  is a section view of the trailer axle taken about line  6   a - 6   a  near the end of the trailer. 
         FIG. 13  is an isometric view of the trailer axle assembly from the top. 
         FIG. 14  is an isometric view of the trailer axle assembly from the bottom. 
         FIG. 15  is an isometric section view about line  6   b - 6   b  near the center of the trailer. 
         FIG. 16  is an isometric partial section view about line  6   b - 6   b  near the center of the trailer. 
         FIG. 17  is a section view of the trailer vessel and auger about line  6   b - 6   b  near the center of the trailer. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A feed transport trailer  10  is comprised of a front attachment point, commonly called a kingpin  12  for connecting up to a tractor. The kingpin  12  is attached to a platform  14 ,  FIG. 4 . This assembly is called the gooseneck section, which is attached to several structural members  16  and attached to a frame that runs the length of the trailer. The frame has parallel rails  22  extending longitudinally for the length of the trailer  10 . The frame rails  22  may be made up of I-beams, tubes, or channel members as is well known in the art. Between the gooseneck section and a rearmost section of the trailer, the frame rails form the lowermost support for the vessel. The rear of the trailer  10  is held up with center drop axle assemblies  20 ,  FIG. 7  which are attached to frame  22 . Attached near the front of the trailer are telescoping feet, commonly called dollies, indicated at  36 . The dollies  36  are used to adjust the front of the trailer up or down for affixing the gooseneck to a tractor or for storing the trailer when it is not hooked up to a tractor. As is well known in the art, the dollies  36  are spaced to maintain stability when the trailer is being supported by the feet while being stored, attached, or detached from a tractor. It is also possible to build the frame and the vessel as one part, such that the frame and the vessel are one integral part. The gooseneck section and the rear axles would be attached directly to the vessel. 
     The axle assemblies  20  are comprised of a continuous axle tube  50 ,  FIG. 12  with spindles  51  on both ends. On the spindles  51 , bearings  54  are mounted, wheel hubs  56  receive bearings  54  and contain threaded studs  58 ,  FIG. 13 , brake drums  60  brake pads  62  and an air pressure engagement mechanism  64 ,  FIG. 12  for the brakes. Wheels  66  are mounted to wheel hubs and are held on with lug nuts onto studs that are captured in the wheel hub as is well known in the art. A brake drum is located between the hub and wheel. Tires  68  are mounted to the wheels, as is well known in the art. The bearings  54 , hubs  56 , drums  60 , wheels  66 , and tires  68  are all coaxial. The axle tube  50  has a depression  70  roughly in the center point between the spindles. This type of axle is commonly referred to as a center drop axle. This depression  70  allows the upper surface  72  of the axle tube to be lower than the central axis  52  of the spindles  51 . The axle is mounted to the frame  22  through a conventional mounting suspension system  78  as is well known in the art. 
     Mounted to the frame  22  is a storage vessel  80  that is designed to hold loose material. The loose material could be anything that would naturally flow down a sloped surface. Feed or other loose particulate is stored in the storage vessel section  80 , The vessel is supported in the front by support frame members  16  and in the rear by additional support frame members  18 . The length of the vessel is supported by the frame rails  22 . The storage vessel  80  has a cross sectional shape that has a top  40  and sides  42  as shown in  FIG. 7 . The top and sides can be curved to reduce stress and maximize storage volume. The corners where the top  40  and sides  42  meet can also be curved. The storage vessel cross-sectional shape can also be mostly circular. The top  40  has a moveable door  82 ,  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 9  that reveals an opening where material can be loaded as is well known in the art. The top also can contain a walkway for inspecting the fill level of the vessel. This opening is accessible via a stairway  86 ,  FIG. 2  that is mounted in close proximity to rear supports  18 . The bottom portion is comprised of two angled sides  44 ,  FIG. 17  that form a U-shape which meets in the center where there is an opening  88  where loose particulate can fall into a cavity  90  at the bottommost part of the vessel. The vessel can be made up of separate compartments with separate openings at the top for holding a variety of different materials. Compartments can be separated by walls  45  extending from the top wall  40  to the bottom  44  of the vessel. Each compartment could have a separate gate  85  at the bottom where the material in each compartment could be separated or connected to a conveyor mechanism at the bottommost portion of the vessel. The length of the vessel at the top is longer than the bottom. The width of the vessel is wider at the top than the width at the bottom. The slope of the angled sides  44  is such that all or nearly all material falls past a moveable gate  85  into a conveyor cavity that contains a conveyor  92 ,  FIG. 16 . The vessel  80  has multiple chambers  95 ,  FIG. 3  that all feed the conveyor as shown in  FIG. 4 . The conveyor may be a belt, air, or auger conveyor. The trailer  10  shown in  FIG. 3  has an auger conveyor  92  as shown in  FIG. 15 . The front and rear of the vessel are also sloped towards the bottom  94 ,  96 ,  FIG. 3  such that all surfaces on the bottom are angled to gravity feed material towards the conveyor cavity  90  in the vessel. The auger conveyor  92  as shown in  FIG. 16  has an auger  93  with a shaft  94  having a continuous spiral  96  affixed to the shaft  99 . The spiral  96  extends outwardly from the central axis  99  of the auger  93  and travels continuously from one end to the other. The auger  93  is rotatably held in a housing  97  having an auger cavity  90 . The housing  97  is typically made of metal or other material that is durable enough to be used for transporting agricultural product. The housing has an outer surface with the lowest portion  101  that is the bottom of the conveyor  92 . The pitch of the spiral is such that material can be driven along the auger cavity  90  by rotating the auger  93 . The auger is rotated by a motor  34  affixed to one end of the auger  93 . The cavity  90  that surrounds the auger within the housing  97  is mostly U-shaped on the bottom with a gate  85  at the top that, when opened, passes material into the cavity that falls down the angled sides. The auger cavity  90  extends along the length of the bottom of the vessel  80  and continues past the rearmost portion of the vessel. The auger conveyor  92  has a front end  103   FIG. 4 , located forward of the axles  20  near the front of the trailer  10  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The auger conveyor  92  has a rear end  105  located rearward of the axles in a longitudinal direction as is shown in  FIG. 5 . This allows an auger to drive particulate from the storage vessel  80  down along the axis of the auger  93 . The auger  93  is one continuous member along the entire length of the auger cavity  90 . The auger cavity  90  extends past the axle tube  50  along the length of the trailer and also protrudes through the central axis of the spindles  52 , the material exits  98   FIG. 5 , the auger cavity behind both axles  20 . The depression  70  in the center of the axle tube  50  creates space for the auger cavity  90  to extend further to the rear of the trailer and reduces the height that the auger needs to be above the ground when the trailer is in use. The housing  97  of the conveyor  92  extends below the central axis of the spindles  52  as is shown in  FIG. 12 . The conveyor could also be a belt or chain drive, where there is a flat conveyor surface that the material falls onto and is transported down the conveyor when it moves. The belt or chain conveyor could also have flappers, fingers, or walls that catch or shovel material that may be gripped more firmly to ensure proper conveying along the conveyor. 
     At the exit point of the bottom conveyor  105 ,  FIG. 5 , a vertical conveyor  24  is attached on one end and supported by rear frame supports  18 . The other end is attached to an articulating joint  26 ,  FIG. 10 . The vertical conveyor  24  can be angled so the exit point is to one side of the trailer  10 . The articulating joint  26  is then attached to an articulating arm  28  and has an exit chute  30 ,  FIG. 8 . This is commonly called a boom auger, as is well known in the art. The vertical conveyor can move material to an articulating joint  26  that then is connected to an articulating arm  28 . The articulating joint allows the articulating arm  28 ,  FIG. 8  to move from a storage cradle to various positions where the discharge of material is desired. 
     It is understood that while certain aspects of the disclosed subject matter have been shown and described, the disclosed subject matter is not limited thereto and encompasses various other embodiments and aspects. No specific limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred. Modifications may be made to the disclosed subject matter as set forth in the following claims.