MATERIAL DISPENSING APPARATUS

Abstract: An apparatus for dispensing flowable material such as sawdust, chopped straw, animal feed, seeds, slurry and the like has a receptacle (10) for the material. The material is fed through an aperture (30) in a wall (14) of the receptacle onto a base wall (46) of a dispensing chamber (31). One or more rotatably mounted circular brushes (50) discharge the material fed into the chamber out through exit apertures (56). The apparatus produces relatively few airborne particles, reducing the incidence of respiratory disease and reducing the wear on the apparatus itself.

Description: DESCRIPTION MATERIAL DISPENSING APPARATUS The present invention relates to material dispensing apparatus and in particular, but not exclusively, to apparatus for dispensing flowable material, both solid and liquid, such as sawdust, chopped straw, animal feed, seeds, liquids (e.g. slurry), aggregates, fertiliser and the like. The term "flowable" is intended to refer to a material which flows of its own accord or which can be made to flow. In livestock farming, particularly cattle farming, the floors of cattle sheds, milking sheds and the like are normally covered with a layer of absorbent lining material such as sawdust, wood shavings, chopped straw and the like in order to absorb waste products from the animals. The soiled material is removed and replaced regularly. Until recently, the replacement of the absorbent material was carried out manually, by a farm hand distributing the material from a sack or shovelling it from a container. More recently, various types of straw chopper/blower apparatus have been developed, which chop a bale of straw and blow it in the general desired direction. However, both of these methods produce a relatively large amount of dust (which is also likely to contain bacteria and fungal spores) which increases the incidence of respiratory disease in both farm workers and livestock. Existing techniques are also aggressive on the material being spread, resulting in disintegration and destruction of the material (and thereby further increasing the amount of dust generated) and increased wear and power requirements for the equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for dispensing flowable materials which overcomes or alleviates the problems with the prior art. In accordance with the present invention, apparatus for dispensing flowable material comprises a receptacle for material to be dispensed, a material-receiving surface located externally of the receptacle, an aperture in the receptacle for passage of material onto the material-receiving surface and material displacing means for displacing material off the material-receiving surface and out of the apparatus. Such an arrangement significantly reduces the amount of dust generated and is far less damaging to the material being dispensed. Preferably, the material-receiving surface is stationary and the material displacing means is movable relative to the material-receiving surface. In a preferred embodiment, the material displacing means is rotatably mounted. The material displacing means may engage the material-receiving surface or alternatively may be spaced from the material-receiving surface, depending upon the material to be dispensed and/or the desired spreading characteristics. Preferably, the material displacing means is resiliently deformed when it engages the material-receiving surface. The material displacing means may comprise a brush member, which may conveniently be circular or cylindrical in shape. There may be one or a plurality of material displacing means. Preferably, the material displacing means is located within an enclosure. This reduces the degree to which air is entrained by the material displacing means, thereby significantly reducing the amount of dust which is generated. The material-receiving surface may form a wall of the enclosure. Preferably, the receptacle comprises a plurality of upstanding enclosing walls and the aperture for passage of the material is located in one of the enclosing walls. There may also be feed means for feeding material in the receptacle to the aperture, which may be located at or towards the base of the receptacle. The feed means is preferably in the form of an auger. The apparatus may further comprise agitating means for agitating material within the receptacle. The agitating means may comprise a rotatably mounted member which engages with the auger in the manner of a worm gearing. Preferably, the receptacle has an upwardly diverging cross-section, which facilitates loading of material into the receptacle. The apparatus preferably has mounting means for removably mounting the apparatus on a vehicle and preferably the receptacle is pivotable. By way of example only, a specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of material dispensing apparatus in accordance with the present invention, shown attached to a tractor; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional side view through the dispenser of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly cut away, of the dispenser of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly cut away, of a second embodiment of dispenser in accordance with the present invention. Referring firstly to Figs. 1 to 3, a material dispensing apparatus of the present invention comprises a storage hopper 2 having an upper opening 4 for loading material to be dispensed, generally planar rectangular front and rear walls 6, 8 which converge towards a generally planar elongate base wall 10 and two generally planar trapezoidal side walls 12. The dispenser is releasably connectable to a tractor T or other vehicle by means of conventional A-frame connection 14 (not shown in detail) or other connection. It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the hopper is pivotally mounted on the A-frame connection about a horizontal pivot 16 whereby it can be pivoted by means of two telescopic hydraulic rams 18, one mounted on either side of the apparatus, each extending between the A-frame 14 and a lug 20 on the rear wall 8 of the apparatus. The hopper 2 can be pivoted between the uppermost position shown in Fig. 1 and a position in which it is pivoted downwardly in order to scoop material into the hopper. As best seen in Fig. 3, two helical screw feed augers 24 are located immediately above the base wall 10. The augers are mounted on a common axle 26 which extends parallel to the upper edges of the hopper (hereinafter referred as to the transverse direction) and is rotatable by means of a hydraulic motor 27 located at one end and a bearing 28 at the opposite end. The two feed augers 24 are oppositely-handed, whereby each auger is arranged to displace material towards the centre of the hopper when rotated. The augers are provided with paddles 29 at their innermost end, whereby when the augers are rotated, material is fed by the augers through an aperture 30 in the rear wall 16 of the hopper. Two agitators 32 are rotatably mounted on the front wall 6 within the hopper. The agitators each comprise a metal disc 34 having a plurality of fingers 36 equally angularly spaced around the periphery of the disc and extending generally radially outwardly. In fact, each finger comprises a first straight section 38 which is slightly inclined to the plane of the disc 34 and a second straight section 40 extending from the first section 38 and being further inclined to it. The agitators are freely rotatably mounted with their rotational axes perpendicular to the plane of the first wall 14. However, the fingers 36 of each agitator engage with the helical screw thread of a respective one of the two augers 24 in the manner of a worm gearing, whereby rotation of the augers 24 also causes the agitators 32 to rotate. The aperture 30 leads into a dispensing chamber or enclosure 31 which is secured to the rear wall 14 of the hopper and projects into the hopper, as seen from the Figures. The chamber 31 comprises a rear wall 42, two parallel side walls 44 extending perpendicularly to the rear wall and each coplanar with a respective one of the two side walls 20 of the hopper 10 and a planar base wall 46 (which is at the same level as the base wall 10 of the hopper 2) and a top wall 48 extending perpendicularly to the rear and side walls 42, 44 of the chamber. The chamber encloses two rotatably mounted circular disc-shaped (i.e. short cylindrical) plastics (e.g. polypropylene) brushes 50. Each of the brushes is driven by a hydraulic motor 52 and the rotational axes of the brushes are parallel with each other, parallel to the base wall 10 of the hopper and perpendicular to the rotational axis of the augers 24. The chamber is divided into two sub-chambers by a dividing wall 54 which extends between the rear wall 14 of the hopper and the rear wall 42 of the chamber. Material displaced through the aperture 30 in the rear wall 8 of the hopper is fed onto the base wall 46 of the chamber which forms a material-receiving surface. Each brush 50 is designed to displace or propel material fed onto the base wall 46 out of the chamber via one of two exit apertures 56, each located at the base of a respective side wall 44 of the chamber 31, whereby material is displaced laterally from the apparatus. In use, the apparatus is hitched onto an A-frame connection of a tractor and is manoeuvred to scoop up material to be dispensed in the manner of a mechanical bucket. The hopper is then orientated to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the upper edges of the front and rear walls 6, 8 of the hopper are approximately at the same height and the base walls 10, 46 of the hopper 2 and dispensing chamber 31 are inclined downwardly towards the tractor. Hydraulic fluid is then fed to the motors of the augers 24 and the brushes 50, which both rotates the augers 24 and rotates the dispensing brushes 50. It will also be observed that rotation of the augers 24 also causes the agitators 32 to rotate, since they are engaged with the augers 24 in a worm-gear manner, as explained previously. Material within the hopper is thus agitated by the agitators 32 and fed by the augers 24 through the aperture 30 in the rear wall 8 of the hopper. Feeding of material through the aperture is aided by the inclined base wall 10 of the hopper 2. Material is thus fed into the chamber 31 and in particular tends to build up on the base wall 46 of the dispensing chamber 30, whereupon rotation of the brushes 50 causes the material to be dispensed off the base wall 46 of the chamber 31 and out through the exit apertures 56. The distance between the base wall 46 of the chamber 31 and the rotational axis of the brushes 50 may be less than, equal to or greater than the radius of the brushes, depending on the material to be dispensed and/or the desired spreading characteristics. Rotation of the brushes causes the bristles to propel the material off the material-receiving base 46. The enclosure of the brushes within a substantially enclosed housing or chamber reduces the degree to which air is entrained, thereby significantly reducing the amount of dust which is generated. The second embodiment, illustrated in Fig.4, is very similar to the first embodiment, and the same reference numerals will be used to describe similar features. The hopper 2 and A-frame connection 14 are identical, the main significant difference being that only a single brush 50 is provided, for dispensing material in one direction only. The dispensing chamber is thus considerably smaller and the hydraulic motor 27 for rotating the augers 24 can be mounted externally of the hopper. The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiments. For example, it is not absolutely necessary to use an auger, depending upon the material to be dispensed. For example, if dry sand or the like were to be dispensed, it would be possible merely to form the base wall of the hopper from two inclined base wall portions, which would be sufficient to feed the material into and through the aperture in the rear wall 14 of the hopper. Moreover, the dispensing means need not be in the form of a brush but may, for example, comprise rotors coated in soft material, flap wheels or any other non-air inducing, non-aggressive method.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. Apparatus for dispensing flowable material, comprising a receptacle (2) for material to be dispensed, a material-receiving surface (46) located externally of the receptacle, an aperture (30) in the receptacle for passage of material onto the material-receiving surface and material displacing means (50) for displacing material off the material -receiving surface (46) and out of the apparatus. 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the material-receiving surface (46) is stationary and the material displacing means (50) is movable relative to the material-receiving surface. 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the material displacing means (50) is rotatably mounted. 4. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the material displacing means (50) engages the material-receiving surface (46). 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the material displacing means (50) is resiliently deformed when it engages the material-receiving surface (46). 6. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the material displacing means (50) comprises a brush member. 7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the brush is generally circular or cylindrical. 8. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising a plurality of material displacing means (50). 9. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the material displacing means is located within an enclosure (31 ). 10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the material -receiving surface (46) forms a wall of the enclosure (31). 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein the aperture (2) allows the enclosure (31) to communicate with the receptacle (2). 12. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the receptacle comprises a plurality of upstanding enclosing walls (6, 8, 12) and the aperture (30) for passage of the material is located in one of the enclosing walls. 13. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, further comprising feed means (24) for feeding material in the receptacle to the aperture (30). 14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the feed means (24) is located at or towards the base of the receptacle (2). 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the feed means (24) comprises an auger. 16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein the auger (24) is adapted to drive agitating means (32) for agitating material within the receptacle. 17. Apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein the agitating means (32) comprises a rotatably mounted member which engages with the auger (24) in the manner of a worm gearing. 18. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the receptacle (2) has an upwardly diverging cross-section. 19. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising mounting means for removably mounting the apparatus on a vehicle. 20. Apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the receptacle is pivotally mounted.

Inventors: LATHAM MAURICE HENRY, MEDDINS CHRISTOPHER EDWARD, LATHAM, MAURICE, HENRY, MEDDINS, CHRISTOPHER, EDWARD
Applicants: LATHAM MAURICE HENRY, MEDDINS CHRISTOPHER EDWARD, LATHAM, MAURICE, HENRY, MEDDINS, CHRISTOPHER, EDWARD
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A01K1
IPC codes: A01D90, A01K1, A01K5, A01K31