Abstract:
A supported floor for use in a grain storage and/or drying bin is disclosed that is constructed of interlocking perforated flooring or panels of two designs each with a plank portion and subjacent flanges which alternate with each other. The first panel design has flanges which are outwardly turned to form a hat-shaped transverse cross section. The second panel design has channels which are inwardly turned resulting in a C-shaped transverse cross section. To assemble the supported floor, the hat-shaped panels are rested on supports which are arranged on the base of the bin in a predetermined manner. These supported hat-shaped panels are positioned in spaced relation to one another so that a C-shaped panel can be fit between each adjacent pair of the hat-shaped panels. Thereafter, the C-chaped panels are positioned in the respective spaces and interlocked with the hat-shaped panels. To gain access to the bin floor, any of the C-shaped floor panels can be lifted without affecting the hat-shaped panels.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to supported bin floors and particularly to formed sheet metal perforate panel floors such as are used for false floors above plenums in grain bins. 
     Floors which are used in grain storage bins are often-times elevated and supported above a base of the bin thereby creating a plenum between the base and the supported floor. The supported floor has perforations through it so that air which may be heated or ambient, can be passed from outside the bin into the plenum and up through the perforations in the floor for passage through overlying grain. The air may be used to dry, cool or otherwise condition overlying grain in the bin, e.g. to prevent subsequent spoilage of the grain. Such bins may serve as drying bins for continuous or batch drying and/or for longer term storage. 
     Supported bin floors generally include a plurality of longitudinal panels cut to appropriate lengths and arranged side-by-side to substantially cover the entire floor area of the bin, e.g., as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,009,520. In a common current commercial design of these panels illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B hereof and as sold under the trademark CHANNEL LOK by S &amp; H Manufacturing Co., one variant of which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,110, a plurality of similar floor panel sections each have male and female flanges of U-shaped cross sections along opposite edges of the panel so that the male flange of one panel section can be positioned in and interlocked with the female flange of an adjacent floor panel section. Floor supports, e.g., as in FIG. 8 hereof, are distributed throughout the plenum. These supports subtend the panels and often engage the outside of the female flanges. In one embodiment, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,110, the supports used have outwardly diverging sides with recesses cut into the upper end of both sides so that the engaged flanges can be received therein. Another form of available support is shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings hereof. Other forms of supports are also available, including blocks placed on the base of the bin and on to which are placed the engaged flanges of the floor sections. 
     One key problem with the existing supported perforate floors in grain bins is that fine materials such as chaff, broken kernels and the like in the grain being stored and/or dried tend to sift through the perforations in these floors with successive uses and collect in the plenum. Such sifting and filling is accelerated in bins which use bottom unloading augers for continuous drying. These augers continuously stir, move or &#34;work&#34; the grain near the supported floor, and incidentally enhance the sifting action. This can result in substantially filling the plenum with fines over a relatively short period, e.g., in as little as one season of use with the floors as described above. The accumulation of fines obviously interferes with the airflow desired. 
     Procedures for attempting to clean out the plenum without removing the floor having generally proven unsatisfactory. For example, attempts to clean the plenum by reversing airflow in the bin or by opening portholes in the side walls corresponding to the plenum of the bin and extending lances or suction hoses into the plenum generally have proven unsatisfactory. This may be due, at least in part, to the tendency of moisture to accumulate in this fine material and cause compaction or &#34;caking&#34; as well as to the physical difficulty of reaching from the side portholes to all areas within the plenum, which is usually of a substantial diameter and has throughout that area many support posts. 
     With the conventional floors of similar panels which are progressively interlocked, typically it is necessary to disassemble and remove the entire floor to gain adequate access for cleaning or otherwise working in the entire area of the plenum around the many supports. Such process is time consuming and expensive. 
     It is highly desirable to provide a supported grain bin floor which can be partially removed selectively in various areas of the bin to gain direct access to the underlying space and components without disturbing the basic floor assembly, e.g., for removing any foreign material accumulated in a plenum or other space thereunder. It is also highly desirable to provide a supported grain floor which includes interlocked floor panels or sections which can be individually replaced or removed without distributing the adjacent panels. It is further desirable to provide such a supported floor which can be supported with conventional posts subtending the panels and having recesses to engage the channel flanges and stabilize the floor. It is also desirable to provide such a supported floor that can be easily assembled, disassembled and efficiently stored and transported. 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor which will satisfy the aforenoted requirements and meet the particular needs for perforated floors in grain storage bins. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor which can be partially disassembled to gain access to the underlying space and any material accumulated therein. 
     It is another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor having panel sections which can be selectively removed from any area of the floor for maintenance or replacement purposes. 
     It is yet another object of this invention to provide a supported grain bin floor as aforenoted and which includes interlocked panel sections that can be engaged by support posts of uniform configuration to stabilize the resulting elevated floor and maintain it in its designed state. 
     Further and additional objects of this invention will appear from the following description, accompanying drawings and appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention in use in a grain storage and/or drying bin, the aforementioned requirements and objects are satisfied through a supported floor that is constructed of interlocking perforated flooring or panels of two designs which alternate with each other. Both designs have a plank portion and subjacent flanges or channels which run along each longitudinal edge. In the first panel design, both channels are out-turned from the plank portion resulting in a hat-shaped transverse cross-section. In the second panel design, both channels are in-turned resulting in a C-shaped transverse cross-section. 
     To assemble the supported floor, the hat-shaped panels with out-turned channels are rested on supports which are arranged on the base of the bin in a predetermined manner. These supported hat-shaped panels are positioned in space relation to one another so that a C-shaped panel with inwardly turned locking channels can be fit between each adjacent pair of the hat-shaped panels. The supports which will subtend the C-shaped panels span these spaces and engage the adjacent flanges of the adjacent hat-shaped panels; these supports being placed as the later panels are placed in the assembly. Thereafter, the C-shaped panels are positioned in the respective spaces and interlocked with the hat-shaped panels. Once the flooring is supported, it is ready to support grain on this surface and to permit the passage of air from outside the bin into the plenum and up through the perforations in the floor in a normal manner. For maintenance purposes, the bin can be emptied of grain and any of the C-shaped floor panels can be lifted from between adjacent hat-shaped panels so that direct access can be gained to the space beneath the area where the C-shaped panel was located and under the adjacent hat-shaped panels which remain in place. The supports for subtending the C-shaped channels also remain in place. If it is necessary to remove a hat-shaped panel from any part of the bin or to move or remove a support post, the two C-shaped panels adjacent the subject hat-shaped panel can be removed and the subject hat-shaped panel can then be readily lifted and the corresponding support posts rearranged or removed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should be made to the embodiment illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawings and described below by way of example of the invention. 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic partial perspective view of a supported floor located in a grain bin and embodying teachings of this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded partial sectional view as taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial sectional perspective view of a hat-shaped panel of FIG. 1, with outwardly turned channels or flanges; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial sectional perspective view of a C-shaped panel of FIG. 1, with inwardly turned channels or flanges; 
     FIG. 5 is a partial top view of the floor shown in FIG. 1 (phantom lines show the subjacent channels and the respective supports); 
     FIG. 6A shows a partial front sectional view of interlocked prior art floor panels; 
     FIG. 6B shows a partial top sectional view of the interlocked prior art floor panels shown in 6A; 
     FIG. 7 shows a perspective exploded view of part of the floor of FIG. 1 taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a support post of the assembly in FIG. 1. 
     It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and that an embodiment is sometimes illustrated in part by phantom lines and fragmentary views. In certain instances, details of the actual structure which are not necessary for the understanding of the present invention may have been omitted. It should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily limited to the particular embodiments illustrated herein. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a partial perspective view of a grain bin 2 having a concrete base floor 4 and a circular wall 6, typically formed of corrugated sheet metal, with the supported grain bin floor system 7 also typically formed of sheet metal and which is the subject of this invention. The supported floor system 7 includes two designs of panels 8 each having perforations 9 (punch-perforated or slit-perforated) to provide for the passage of conditioning air, e.g., drying and/or cooling air. This air is conveyed into the bin by a fan 30, which may include a heater 32 located outside the bin, and enters the bin through a port-hole 28. The air passes into the plenum 10 below the panels 8 and up through the perforations into and through grain (not shown) stored in the bin on the supported floor system 7. A gripping notch or opening 5 is formed near the end of each panel 8 for engagement by a gripping tool or means (not shown) to align or lift a desired panel 8. Such openings are either small enough to prevent leakage of grain therethrough, or may be provided with readily removable covers. 
     FIG. 2 shows an exploded sectional front view of the supported floor system 7 taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 1. In this illustration the two designs of panels 8 are shown, that is, the C-shaped panel 11 with a central panel plank portion 12 and uniform inwardly turned channels or flanges 14 running longitudinally along the opposite sides of the plank portion 12, and the hat-shaped panel 16 with a central panel plank portion 18 and uniform outwardly turned channels or flanges 20 running longitudinally along the opposite sides of the plank portion 18. A partial perspective view of a hat-shaped panel 16 is shown in FIG. 3 and a partial perspective view of a C-shaped panel 11 is shown in FIG. 4. 
     The inwardly turned flanges 14 of the C-shaped panel 11 are designed to be fit into the outwardly turned channels 20 of the hat-shaped panels 16. To accomplish this, the outside width WI of each inwardly turned channel 14 is somewhat less than the outside width WO of each outwardly turned channel 20, i.e., by about twice the thickness of the sheet material (typically sheet metal) from which the panels are formed, so that when a channel 14 of a C-shaped panel is placed over a channel 20 of an adjacent hat-shaped panel, the adjacent panels can be interlocked and thereby snuggly held together as shown in FIG. 1. As will be seen, the interlocking channels 14 and 20 are beneath the planes of the central plank portions. The plank portions of adjacent panels abut one another to form a continuous, essentially planar floor surface. The channels effectively form support beams. 
     It should be understood that other configurations of channels or flanges could be used to accomplish the same purposes of this invention. For instance, rounded J-shaped inwardly turned channels on panels 11 can be nested with corresponding J-shaped outwardly turned channels of hat-shaped panels 16. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 7, and 8, a floor support 22 with a central panel portion 23 and diverging sides 24 has a recess 26 (shown by phantom lines in FIG. 1) in the top portion of each of its diverging sides 24 to accommodate the outwardly turned channels 20 of the hat-shaped panels. These supports 22 always engage the outer channel of each nested pair of channels, that is the outwardly turned channels 20 of the nesting pairs 14 and 20 of channels. The top segment 23a of the central panel portion extends upward between the respective adjacent pair of the channels to provide direct support for the respective plank portion 12 or 18. Of course it should be understood that for J-shaped flanges, the recesses in the supports would be designed to accommodate such a shape. 
     With the dual designed panels 8 of the present invention, a continuous planar floor is formed with each panel being supported by the support members. Any of the C-shaped panels 11 may be removed whenever the floor is clear simply by lifting the selected panel from its normal position; see FIGS. 2 and 7. Each of the panels 11 and 16 may be of any desired width. Though as pointed out further below, a specific width relationship is preferred. In other than that preferred relationship, the supports beneath the respective panels would be of appropriate corresponding dimensions if used to span the channels of both types. Use of supports to span the panels of both types is desirable as the supports spanning the C-shaped panels 11 assist in maintaining the desired spacing of the adjacent hat-shaped panels 16 and the overall integrity of the floor system while one or more panels 11 are removed. By choosing the preferred width relationship, it is possible to use supports 22 of uniform width to span both the C-shaped panels 11 and the hat-shaped panels 16. This is shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 with standard supports 22 underlying both the hat-shaped panels 16 and the C-shaped panels 11. Thus, this invention permits the use of standard supports which will span panels of both designs. 
     However, it should be noted that specific widths of the panels to maintain a uniform effective width of both panels is not essential to accomplish the ready removability of the panels 11. Rather, these variations are used so that uniform floor supports can be used with this invention. 
     The floor support system 7 of this invention can be readily assembly by placing a number of support posts 22 on the concrete base floor 4 of the portion of the bin 2 where the panels 8 are to be assembled. In general, the supports span below both designs of the panels 11, 16 to provide bearing support across the plank portions 12, 18 of each panel to prevent sagging of the plank portions. As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, these supports 22 are staggered along the lengths of adjacent alternating panels 11, 16 and typically are spaced about 36 inches from one another along the length of each panel. When a plurality of aligned supports 22 have been positioned on the base floor, a hat-shaped panel 16 is placed into the two recesses 26 of each such aligned support. After two adjacent, appropriately spaced hat-shaped panels 16 are in place and supported, a C-shaped panel 11 can be positioned and placed therebetween as shown in FIG. 7. The appropriate spacing is assured by the use of supports 22 of appropriate width spanning between the adjacent panels 16 and engaging the respective adjacent channels 20. A slight amount of pressure may be necessary to seat a panel 11 and make the adjacent plank portions flush with each other depending upon the tightness of the fit of the interlocked panels. Once a set of the panels are in place, additional supports can be set up and corresponding panels positioned accordingly until the desired floor system with alternating reverse panels 8 is fully assembled after which storage and conditioning of grain may be initiated. 
     With the applicant&#39;s invention, access to the space beneath the floor, e.g. for removal of accumulated fines, can be readily accomplished by lifting any selected C-shaped panel(s). The openings 5 in the panels 8 facilitate gripping of the panels for positioning and removal, most notably for removing panels 11 from a completed assembly. Each lifted panel can be placed on another portion of the supported floor or removed completely from the bin. With direct access to the portion of the plenum beneath the displaced panel, the underlying fines can then be removed or other operations performed therein. Access can also be easily gained underneath the adjacent hat-shaped panels, as is apparent in FIG. 7. 
     Because the supports engage only the hat-shaped panels, the floor remains stable and the spacing between the adjacent hat-shaped panels is maintained while the C-shaped panels are lifted to gain access to the plenum. The removed or lifted C-shaped panel can be easily replaced. Moreover, the supports in the space of a removed C-shaped panel also can be removed by lifting slightly or tilting the adjacent hat-shaped panels to free the intervening supports. If necessary, any hat-shaped panel can be lifted and the underlying supports can be removed by removing both adjacent C-shaped panels. Other methods of removing the C-shaped and hat-shaped panels or underlying supports can be used depending upon the particular components desired to be lifted or removed. The applicant has described the above methods in an effort to disclose a preferred mode of gaining access to the plenum beneath the applicant&#39;s flooring system with alternating panels. 
     As discussed above, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is possible to use standard floor support posts 22 which have a uniform pre-determined distance between recesses 26 to span and support both the C-shaped panels 11 and the hat-shaped panels 16. To accomplish this, it is necessary that the width WC of the C-shaped plank portion 12 (FIGS. 4 and 5) be greater than the width WH of the hat-shaped panel plank portion by about twice the outside-dimension WI of the inwardly turned channels 14. The aforedescribed preferred dimensional relationship of the two panel plank portions may be stated by the formula WC=WH+2WI. It will also be observed that the panels 11 and 16 are of substantially the same overall width, with allowance for the thickness of the panel sheet material. This relationship results in uniform spacing of adjacent nesting channels when the panels 11 and 16 are assembled in alternating array as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, as well as providing substantially uniform clearance between these channels beneath both of the central plank portions 12 and 18. These uniform spacings and clearances permit the use of supports 22 of uniform design and dimension throughout a floor system, beneath both types of panels 11, 16 despite the differences in the designs of those panels. 
     Further, by selecting an appropriate value for WC and corresponding value for WH as described for the preferred embodiment, and appropriately dimensioned channels, supports 22 may be of the same design and dimensions, and therefore the same supports, as are often used to support floors constructed of standard prior art panels 100 as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. These prior art panels 100 have a plank portion 102 and two subtending channels, one outwardly turned as at 106 and the other inwardly turned as at 108. Successive panels of this type are assembled and interlocked by placing the inwardly turned channel 108 of each panel 100 into the outwardly turned channel 106 of a preceding panel e.g., by placing the channel 108 of one panel 100 as shown in FIG. 6A in channel 106 of a preceding panel and so on, progressing across the floor. Because the design of the prior art panels 100 are uniform, the width of the plank portions does not vary. Correspondingly, the spacing of adjacent internesting channels remains constant throughout the floor and inherently accommodates uniform supports such as the support 22 shown in FIG. 8. The standard support posts 22 positioned below the prior art panels 100 engage successive panels at their respective outwardly turned channels 106 and/or directly engage the plank portions 102 therebetween. However, as noted above, the prior art floors of FIGS. 6A and 6B did not permit selective removal of panels .[.or.]. .Iadd.as .Iaddend.in the floor of FIGS. 1-5, 7 and 8. The preferred embodiment of the unique floor of this invention permits the use of standard posts throughout while gaining the selective removability provided by this invention. 
     Thus a drying bin floor with alternating reverse panels and a manner of assembly and selective disassembly and a method of gaining access to the plenum beneath the supported floor have been provided which meet the aforestated object of this invention. 
     While a specific embodiment of the invention has been shown, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited thereto since modifications may be made and other embodiments of the principles of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains. Therefore, it is contemplated by the appended claims to cover any such modifications and other embodiments as incorporate those features of this invention within the true spirit and scope of the following claims.