Abstract:
A roughage processing and dispensing apparatus including a mobile frame defining a floor section for supporting a plurality of bales of roughage, a shredder section in which the bales are shredded, a discharge section for discharging roughage shredded in said shredder section and a bin for particulate feed material; a shredder disposed in the shredder section; a first conveyor for moving at least one of the bales into the shredder means at a given speed; and a conveyor system arranged to receive from the shredder the shredded content of the one bale, and to transport the content to the discharge section. Also included is an auxiliary conveyor for moving the feed material to the discharge section at a selected rate; a drive mechanism operable to provide simultaneous movement of the first conveyor, the auxiliary conveyor and the conveyor system; and a control system for varying the given speed relative to the selected rate.

Description:
This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/245,546 filed Feb. 5, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,001. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to processing roughage, creating a ration, and delivering it to livestock. 
     In modern agriculture practice, it is considered advantageous to process roughage to be fed to livestock. It is also considered advantageous to use more than one feed course to create a ration to provide the animals&#39; proper nutritional requirements. It is further necessary to deliver the ration to the animals. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 2,221,266 to Roach (1939); U.S. Pat. No. 2,685,900 to Cross (1954); 2,941,505 to Middlen (1960); U.S. Pat. No. 3,035,729 to Soares et al (1962); U.S. Pat. No. 3,379,417 to Luscombe (1968); and U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,674 to Meitl (1976) all provide various means of processing only one type of roughage and delivering it to livestock, but they do not create a ration. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,168,291 to Knoedler et al (1965); U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,108 to Grau (1965); U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,227 to Vratil et al (1966); U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,781 to Seymour (1985); U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,538 to Helmle et al (1990); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,188 to Erickson (1998) all employ various methods of blending a grain ration and delivering it to livestock. They, however, do not process it, and they will not work on large bales of roughage. 
     U.S. Pat. No.3,254,878 to Lorenzen (1966) employs a method to process and deliver a grain ration to livestock. However, it will not work on large bales of roughage. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,537 to Heide (1984) employs a method of processing, blending, and delivering a silage and grain ration, but it will not work on large bales of roughage. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,298 to Arnoldy (1997) does process large bales of roughage, but does not create a ration or delivering it to livestock. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a machine and method of processing large bales of roughage while simultaneously creating a ration and immediately delivering the ration to livestock ready for consumption. 
     Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the invention are: 
     (a) to provide a machine to process large bales of hay or roughage; 
     (b) to provide a machine that creates a ration of varying ratios from two different types of roughage; 
     (c) to provide a machine that immediately delivers a roughage ration to livestock ready for consumption; 
     (d) to provide a machine which blends cheaper, lower quality feed material with higher quality feed material to create a more effective and economical ration; 
     (e) to provide one machine which performs the functions that previously required two or more machines; 
     (f) to provide a machine to reduce the amount of time and labor required to process large bales of roughage, create a ration, and deliver the ration to livestock. 
     Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent upon a perusal of the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, closely related figures have the same number but different alphabetic suffixes. 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a preferred embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a hydraulic system of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a cutaway top view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5; 
     FIGS. 7-9 are hydraulic control systems for the embodiment shown in FIGS.  4 - 6 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 (plan view) and FIG. 2 (side elevational view). In FIG. 1, a mobile frame  34  with wheels  36  (FIG. 2) includes first and second parallel translational conveyor chains  30 L and  30 R, turning on idler gears  32 A,  32 C,  32 D,  32 F, and idler shafts  32 B and  32 E and driven by drive gears  19 A,  19 B,  19 C,  19 D and drive shafts  21 L and  21 R which are connected to right-angle gear boxes  18 L and  18 R which are connected to hydraulic motor  20 L and hydraulic motor  20 R. Another translational conveyor system chain  16  is directed transversely to the first and second chains  30 L,  30 R and turns on idler gears  15 A,  15 B, and idler shaft  15 C and is driven by drive gears  17 A,  17 B, attached to drive shaft  17 C which is connected to right-angle gear box  14  which is connected to shaft  13  which is connected to double-out gear box  12  which is connected to PTO shaft  10  which is connected to tractor PTO power output shaft (not shown). 
     In FIG. 2, the mobile frame  34  includes a transport hood  38  which covers three vertically spaced apart shredders  28 , driven by,respectively, chains  24 A,  24 B, and  24 C and gears  26 A and  26 B which are driven by gear  22  which is connected to gear box  11 D which is connected to shaft  11 B which is connected to right-angle gear box  11 C which is connected to shaft  11 A which is connected to double-out gear box  12  which is driven by PTO shaft  10  which connects to PTO output shaft on the tractor (not shown). Conveyor chain  16  discharges processed ration through discharge opening  40 . 
     In FIG. 3, hydraulic hose  42 A connects tractor hydraulic system (not shown) to hydraulic motor  20 R which is connected to hydraulic hose  42 B connected to flow control divertor  44 A which is connected to hydraulic hose  42 C connected to hydraulic motor  42 L connected to hydraulic hose  42 E which is connected to return side of hydraulic system on tractor (not shown). Hydraulic hose  42 D connects flow control divertor to hydraulic hose  42 E. 
     OPERATION 
     FIG. 1 shows two continuous floor chains  30 R and  30 L. Each one is wide enough to carry a large bale of roughage. The length of floor chains  30 R and  30 L can vary to hold any number of bales from one to four in succession. Floor chain  30 R is deposed between idler gear  32 F and  32 D and idler shaft  32 E and drive gears  19 C and  19 D which are secured to drive shaft  21 R which is driven through right-angle gear box  18 R by hydraulic motor  20 R. 
     Activation of hydraulic motor  2 OR is shown in FIG.  3 . Hydraulic hose  42 A carries pressurized hydraulic fluid from tractor hydraulic system (not shown) to hydraulic motor  20 R. When the tractor hydraulics are activated the bale, or bales, on floor chain  30 R will move forward at a given speed to be processed by shredders  28  shown best in FIG.  2 . 
     Shredders  28  are turned by chains  24 C.  24 B, and  24 A and gears  26 A and  26 B. Gear  22  is powered by tractor PTO through PTO shaft  10 , double-out gear box  12 , shaft  11 B, right-angle gear box  11 C, shaft  11 A, and gear box  11 D. Hood  38  contains the processed roughage and allows it to fall on conveyor chain  16  which is deposed between idler gears  15 A,  15 B and idler shaft  15 C and drive gears  17 A and  17 B which are turned by drive shaft  17 C, turned by right-angle gear box  14 , turned by shaft  13 , turned by double-out gear box  12 , turned by PTO shaft  10 , which is turned by tractor PTO output shaft (not shown). Thus, a primary conveyor system including the conveyor chain  30 R, the shredder  28  and the conveyor chain  16  delivers the processed roughage through opening  40 . 
     Pressurized hydraulic fluid passes through hydraulic motor  20 R, causing it to be activated. It is then routed through hydraulic hose  42 B (best shown in FIG. 3) to flow control divertor  44 A. The pressurized hydraulic fluid is then channeled through hydraulic hose  42 C to hydraulic motor  20 L which turns right-angle gear box  18 L (best illustrated in FIG. 1) which turns drive shaft  21 L which turns drive gears  19 A and  19 B which move floor chain  30 L forward. Floor chain  30 L is a continuous floor chain and deposed between drive gears  19 A and  19 B and idler gears  32 A and  32 C and idler shaft  32 B. The bale, or bales, on auxiliary floor conveyor chain  30 L would preferably consist of a bale of roughage differing in nutritional value than the bale, or bales, on floor chain  30 R. Varying amounts of pressurized hydraulic fluid are diverted around hydraulic motor  20 L (best illustrated in FIG. 3) by flow control divertor  44 A through hydraulic hose  42 D and returned through hydraulic hose  42 E to return side of tractor hydraulic system (not shown). The speed that hydraulic motor  20 L turns will vary according to the amount of pressurized hydraulic fluid diverted around, rather than through, hydraulic motor  20 L. By this process, the predetermined speed at which the bales are carried to shredder  28  (FIG. 2) on floor chain  30 L will vary from the given speed at which the bales on floor chain  30 R are carried to shredders  28 . Thus, the proportions of roughage on floor chain  30 L that has been processed by shredders  28  can be varied from the proportions of roughage on floor chain  30 R that has been processed by shredders  28 . Conveyor chain  16  discharges selected relative proportions of the processed ration through opening  40  and deposits it into a feed bunk ready for livestock consumption. 
     Floor  46  (FIG. 2) is connected to mobile frame  34  which rides on wheels  36 . The frame  34  can be pulled by a tractor (not shown) and deliver the selected feed ration to livestock for consumption immediately after being processed. Use of the preferred embodiment will reduce the number of machines and the man hours required to meet the nutritional needs of livestock being fed solely, or mostly, roughage. In addition, the embodiment can more efficiently and economically combine large bales of roughage of differing nutritional values in varied ratios while increasing the palatability of the feed by processing it and providing immediate delivery of the ration to the livestock. 
     While the above description contains many specificities, they should not be construed to as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as en exemplification of one preferred embodiment thereof. Many other variations are possible. For example, the whole invention can be mounted on a tractor for additional mobility. An additional flow control divertor can be added to make the speed of both floor chains adjustable. An additional flow control divertor and hydraulic motor can be added to run the dispensing conveyor chain instead of the PTO drive. The hydraulic schematics can be run individually and through flow divertors rather than through a series. Pulleys and belts can be used in place of gears and chains. 
     Illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 is another embodiment  51  of the invention in which components corresponding to those in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 bear the same reference numerals. Added to the embodiment  51  is a particulate feed material dispenser section  52  mounted on the mobile frame  34  forwardly adjacent to the shredder section  38 . Included in the dispenser section  52  are a bin  54  for feed material such as grain and an auxiliary conveyor system  55  for transporting feed material from the bin  54  to a region adjacent to the discharge section  40 . The conveyor system  55  includes a chain conveyor  57  mounted at the bottom of the bin  54  and an auger  58  (FIGS. 5 and 6) mounted in a discharge chute  59  projecting out of an open upper end of a cylindrical grain slump  60 . Supporting the chute  59  in the slump  60  are a plurality of struts  56 . Preferably, the slump  60  is pivotally mounted on the frame  34  so as to allow movement of the discharge chute  59  relative to the discharge section  40  as shown in FIG.  4 . Supporting the chain conveyor  57  are idler gears  61 ,  62  mounted on an idler shaft  63  and drive. gears  65 ,  66  fixed to a drive shaft  67 . A gear box  68  is operatively coupled to the shaft  67  and driven by a hydraulic drive motor  69 . Mounted on an upper surface of the chute  59  is a hydraulic drive motor  71  operatively coupled to the auger  58 . 
     During use of the dispenser section  52 , grain retained in the bin  54  is conveyed by the chain conveyor  57  through an opening  75  (FIG. 4) and deposited in the slump  60 . That grain then is conveyed upwardly by the auger  58  and discharged through an outlet opening  76  in the chute  59 . The discharged grain is deposited on the conveyor  16  and thereby combined with the shredded roughage received from the shredders  28 . However, the slump  60  and chute  59  can be rotated into other positions to provide grain discharge into other adjacent areas as, for example, directly into a feed bunker (not shown). By controlling the relative speeds of the bale conveyors  30 L and  30 R and the rate at which grain is discharged from the chute  59 , the relative proportions of combined particulate feed and roughage feed can be selectively varied to provide a desired and economical feed ration. The grain discharge rate can be selectively and independently varied by vertical adjustment of a door  79  covering the opening  75  or by controlling the speeds of the chain conveyor  57  or auger  58  as described hereinafter or by any combination thereof. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates one hydraulic system embodiment  81  for independently controlling the speed of the conveyor  57 . A hydraulic input line  82  is connected between a pump (not shown) on the tractor to a divertor valve  83  via the motor  71 . The divertor valve  83  can be adjusted to selectively divide fluid flow between the motor  69  and a bypass line  85  for return in a return line  86 . Thus, speed of the conveyor  57  coupled to the motor  69  is selectively varied by adjustment of the diversion valve  83 . 
     Another hydraulic system embodiment  87  is depicted in FIG.  8 . Connected to a pump (not shown) by an input line  88  is a series combination of a divertor valve  89 , the motor  69  and the motor  71 . A bypass line  90  is connected between the divertor valve  89  and a return line  91 . By selective adjustment of the divertor valve  89 , the speeds of the chain conveyor  57  and the auger  58  can be varied to provide a desired rate of grain discharge from the chute  59 . 
     FIG. 9 illustrates another hydraulic system embodiment  92  which provides independent speed adjustments of the chain conveyor  57  and auger  58 . An input line  93  is connected between a pump (not shown) and a divertor valve  94  which feeds the motor  69  and a bypass line  95 . Connected between the motor  69  and bypass line  95  is a second divertor valve  96  which feeds a bypass line  97  and the motor  71  both of which are connected to a return line  98 . By selectively and independently adjusting the divertor valves  94  and  96 , independent speed control of the chain conveyor  57  and auger  58  can be obtained to selectively vary the rate of grain discharge from the discharge chute  59 . 
     Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention can be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.