Cotton basket unloading regulator

A cotton basket unloading regulator is provided for transporting cotton from a conventional cotton basket into a trailer or the like. The regulator comprises a rotatable shaft having a plurality of fingers mounted thereon with a motor for rotating the shaft at variable speed. By varying the speed of rotation of the rotating shaft, the cotton being delivered from the cotton basket to the trailer may be regulated and the rotation of the shaft also serves to break up chunks and wads of cotton as well as stopping the discharge of the cotton from the basket. The present invention provides a regulator for regulating the unloading of cotton from a cotton basket into a trailer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
There has been provided in the prior art various types of devices for 
delivering cotton from a cotton basket into a cotton trailer or module 
builder. Cotton which is picked from the fields is delivered to a large 
basket which when filled is dumped into a module builder or trailer. It is 
difficult to control the amount of cotton dumped into the trailer as the 
cotton tends to form into one big chunk or wad which moves as one unit 
from the cotton basket into the trailer. There have been various types of 
devices which attempt to provide a smooth feed to regulate the thickness 
of the cotton discharged into the trailer. For example, the Hubbard et al 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,160 discloses a conveyor which is mounted on the 
inclined discharge side of a cotton basket. A metering bar is positioned 
above and inwardly from the end of the conveyor and is rotated to regulate 
the thickness of the cotton delivered to the trailer and to provide a 
continuous flow of cotton into the trailer. However, this device is not 
entirely satisfactory in that the cotton tends to be dumped in one chunk 
or wad and the conveyor belt and meter bar as shown in the Hubbard patent 
do not provide means for breaking up the wads of cotton. 
The Rood U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,376 discloses an apparatus which is designed 
to remove dirt and debris from cotton as it is picked up by a conveyor 
belt. There is included in this structure a rotating drum having pegs 
thereon which breaks up and loosens debris as the clumps of cotton are fed 
into an auger feed mechanism. The Fachini et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,617 
discloses a cotton basket having a chain conveyor for unloading the cotton 
onto the discharge chute. There is no teaching in the prior art of a 
device which will simultaneously perform the plurality of functions 
carried out by the present invention which include in addition to 
delivering the cotton to the cotton trailer, the thickness of the cotton 
being fed to the trailer is controlled and the clumps or wads within the 
cotton delivered are broken up. In addition, delivery of the cotton from 
the cotton bed may be halted by terminating the rotation of the regulator. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a regulator for cotton baskets which 
includes a rotating shaft mounted in spaced relation to the discharge 
surface of the cotton basket. The rotating shaft is of considerable 
diameter and is provided with elongated fingers which are spaced along the 
length of the shaft and around the periphery thereof. The regulator is 
disposed so that the fingers extend at least one-third the distance 
between the regulator and the discharge surface of the cotton basket. 
Motor means is provided to rotate the shaft and to vary the speed of 
rotation of the shaft so that the rate at which cotton is fed into the 
cotton trailer ma be controlled. The elongated fingers on the regulator 
serve to break up clumps or wads of cotton and also functions to halt the 
discharge of cotton from the cotton basket into the trailer. The fingers 
extend into the cotton to such an extent that by stopping the rotation of 
the shaft the cotton will not continue to be discharged as the fingers 
extend down into the cotton a substantial distance tends to hold the 
cotton from discharge. 
An object of the present invention is to provide a regulator for a cotton 
basket which regulates the flow of cotton from a cotton basket into a 
trailer. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a regulator for a 
cotton basket which includes a rotatable shaft having elongated fingers 
along the length and around the periphery thereof to control the amount 
and condition of cotton being fed to the cotton trailer.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like numerals refer to like parts 
throughout the several views there is shown at 1 a cotton basket having a 
bottom wall 2, side walls 3 and 4, rear wall 5 and an inclined discharge 
surface 6. The structure of this cotton basket is conventional. 
Mounted in spaced relation to the inclined discharge surface 6 and on the 
upper ends of side walls 3 and 4, there is provided a regulator which 
controls the flow of cotton from the cotton basket over the discharge 
surface. 
The regulator includes a rotatable shaft 7 which is journalled in the side 
walls 3 and 4. The shaft 7 has a plurality of elongated fingers 8 thereon 
and it can be seen from FIGS. 1 2 and 3 that the fingers are disposed 
along the length of the shaft and around the periphery thereof. A motor 9 
is provided to drive the shaft so as to rotate the elongated fingers 
within the cotton disposed in the cotton basket. The cotton basket is 
provided with outwardly extending arm 10 and 11, FIG. 2, which support the 
basket from a lifting and dumping machine. 
In a typical structure the rotating shaft has a diameter of approximately 
10 inches and the individual elongated arms have a length of approximately 
12 inches. The elongated arms extend from approximately one-third to 
one-half of the distance between the axis of the rotating shaft and the 
outer edge surface of the inclined discharge surface 6 as can be seen in 
FIGS. 1 and 2. 
In operation after a cotton basket is filled, it is raised and tilted so as 
to dump the contents of the cotton baskets into a cotton trailer. 
Initially, the cotton will not flow into the cotton basket until the 
rotating shaft is actuated to drive the elongated arms in a direction so 
that the cotton is moved towards the discharge end of the cotton basket. 
The elongated arms perform the function of breaking up wads or chunks of 
cotton and the rotating shaft provides a means of regulating the thickness 
of the cotton which is delivered to the cotton trailer. The motor is 
variable speed so that as the cotton trailer approaches the filled 
position, the motor can be slowed down so as to reduce the flow of cotton 
into the cotton trailer. When the trailer is filled, the motor may be shut 
off to entirely stop the flow. In this way the cotton trailer may be 
filled with cotton to the desired level without spilling or wastage and 
the cotton delivered to the cotton trailer is broken up into relatively 
small cotton balls. 
Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are 
possible in light of the above teachings.