Abstract:
A feed mixer comprising a plurality of mixing members wherein each mixing member is longitudinally mounted for rotation about an axis and the mixing members further comprises a chopper auger and a shredding auger, each having a flighting. In addition, the mixing members may also comprise a third mixing auger having a flighting. The auger flightings may further provide chopping knives, or sickle knives, on the outer peripheral edge of the flightings.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Forage and grain crops are common components of livestock feed. While these components may be utilized independently, it is frequently preferable to provide a mixture of feed stuff such as hay with grain or other fluent materials. Several mixers have been developed for this purpose. A very successful mixer for fluent and non-fluent material is disclosed in previously issued patents of which I am a co-inventor or sole inventor, U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,990, issued Mar. 26, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,672, issued Jul. 1, 1986 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,626, issued Jul. 12, 1988. The mixers of these patents include a rotor and a main mixing chamber next to vertically stacked augers in an auxiliary side chamber. The material is moved from one end of the auxiliary chamber to the other in opposite directions and is continuously cycled from the main chamber into the auxiliary chamber. The mixing action is more extensively described in these patents. 
     The mixer of these patents will mix fluent material with non-fluent material such as hay. Hay is more difficult to mix with fluent material as it is necessary that the hay be left in the mixer for extended periods of time until it has been sufficiently chopped or shredded. Also, it is often desirable to put hay bales of varying sizes into the mixer for mixing with the fluent materials. I invented an improved mixer that would allow for a faster more efficient way of chopping or processing baled hay of different sizes with the fluent materials. This improved mixer is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,310, issued Sep. 1, 1992. 
     While the prior art mixers supply an efficient means for mixing average amounts of fluent with non-fluent material, there remains a need to maintain an efficient mixing and cutting process that does not damage fragile ingredients, such as flaked or high moisture corn. This is of critical importance to the operators of large livestock operations (large operators). 
     Larger conventional auger mixers tend to damage certain fragile feed ingredients even more than small to medium size auger mixers. This tendency to damage fragile feed ingredients is due at least in part to the additional time required for mixing and unloading. While the prior art mixers described above greatly reduced or eliminated the amount of damage to fragile ingredients such as flaked or high moisture corn, the capacity of these mixers is limited. If the recommended capacity of these mixers is surpassed, the quality of mixing and the speed of mixing is reduced. In addition, the material to be mixed must remain in the mixer for longer periods of time thus increasing the damage potential to fragile ingredients. What is needed is a feed mixer that maintains high quality and efficiency of mixing while greatly reducing or eliminating damage to fragile feed ingredients such as flaked or high moisture corn. In addition, what is needed is a means for allowing larger quantities of hay at a time to be loaded into this mixer and a means to cut and/or shred this hay so that a large amount of feed can be mixed quickly without the need to keep the hay and feed mix in the mixer for long periods of time in an effort to fully homogenize the hay. 
     Therefore a primary object of the present invention is the provision of an improved feed mixer. 
     A further object is the provision of a feed mixer which allows larger quantities of hay to be loaded into the mixer and cut or shred. 
     A further object of the present invention is to increase the speed of introduction of hay into the mixer while at the same time permitting full homogenization of the hay into the other feed ingredients. 
     A further object of the present invention is to increase the quality and efficiency of the mixer while at the same time reducing damage to fragile feed ingredients such as flaked or high moisture corn. 
     A further object of the present invention is the provision of an improved mixer which is economical to manufacture, durable in use, and efficient in operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By adding an additional auger above the standard upper side auger, the present invention permits the addition of hay at a faster rate than with prior art mixers. This third auger is equipped with knives along its outer edges to shred hay as it is fed in through the hay processor. In addition, this new third auger, or shredding auger, is capable of rotating upon its axis at a higher speed than the original chopper auger. This has the additional advantage of shredding the hay quickly into a homogeneous, high quality feed mix ration. Also, the position of the third auger, the shredding auger, allows for an unexpected improvement in the ability to load more hay at a time due to the larger opening combined with the quick shredding and chopping capability of the double auger combination at the top of the feed mixer. 
     The feed mixer comprises a housing forming a mixing chamber having opposite end walls, side walls, a bottom wall and an upwardly facing opening. First, second, and third augers are mounted within the mixing chamber for rotation about first, second and third axes respectively. The third axis is above the first and second axes and the second axis is above the first axis. A rotor is mounted in the mixing chamber for rotation about a rotor axis positioned laterally from the first, second, and third axis. An ingredient feeder is positioned adjacent the third auger for feeding ingredients into the mixing chamber adjacent the third auger. A drive system rotates the first, second and third augers and the rotor about their respective first, second, third, and rotor axis. 
     The triple auger feed mixer of this invention is adaptable for use on not only the mixer disclosed in this application, but also to feed mixers of a more conventional design. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a feed mixer which includes the chopper and shredding augers of this invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line  2 — 2  in FIG.  3 . This view shows the three augers in the hay chopping chamber and rotor in the mixing chamber. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of FIG.  1 . This view better shows the shredding auger and the chopper auger wherein both augers have attached knives. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     A mixer  10  is shown in FIG. 1 which includes a hay feed system attachment  12 , a shredding auger  38  and a chopper auger  32 . 
     The mixer  10  includes opposite end walls  14  and  16 , opposite side walls  18  and  20  and a bottom wall  22 . FIG. 2 shows a rotor  24  positioned in a main chamber  26  and includes rotor arms  28  which have rotor bars  30  extending therebetween. A chopping auger  32  is positioned in an auxiliary chamber  34  above a lower mixing auger  36 . The lower mixing auger  36  further having a flighting  40  wherein the outer edge of the flighting  40  may have spaced apart notches  41  with a spacing of one or more notches for each 360°. The chopper auger  32  also includes a flighting  40  having spaced apart sickle knives  42  on the outer edge of the flighting  40  with a spacing of one or more knives for each 360°. A shredding auger  38  having a flighting  40  is positioned in the hay chopping chamber  52  above and somewhat to the side of the chopper auger  32  so that the flightings  40  of the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32  may be operationally overlapping when viewed from above as in FIG.  3 . The flighting  40  of the shredding auger  38  also includes spaced apart sickle knives  42  on the outer edge of the flighting  40  with a spacing of one or more knives for each 360°. Paddles  44  are provided on the shafts  46  of the chopper auger  32  and the shredding auger  38  as seen in FIG. 3 for stirring the material and distributing it throughout the mixing chambers  26  and  34 . 
     The hay feed system attachment  12  includes a feed wall  48  extending longitudinally of the mixer  10  and a control wall  50  extending laterally of the auxiliary chamber  34  to define in cooperation with the side wall  18  a hay chopping chamber  52  as seen in FIG.  3 . The hay chopping chamber  52  is in the upper region of the auxiliary chamber  34  where the chopper auger  32  is positioned. 
     As seen in FIG. 3, the feed wall  48  is mounted on a pivot shaft frame member  54  extending between the opposite end walls  14  and  16  of the mixer  10 . A mounting end plate  56  secures the pivot shaft  54  to the end wall  16  and a mounting plate  58  connects the opposite end to the end wall  14 . A second longitudinal frame member  60  extends between the mounting end plate  56  and a support plate  62  through which the pivot shaft  54  extends as seen in FIG.  3 . The support plate  62  is connected to a transversely extending frame member  64  extending between the mixer side walls  18  and  20 . The control wall  50  is pivotally mounted on the frame member  64  and includes an upper portion  66  and a lower portion  68  which includes a concave downwardly edge  70  to conform to the convex shape of the shredding auger  38  as seen in FIG.  2 . The lower edge  72  of the feed wall  48  is also positioned closely adjacent to the periphery of the shredding auger  38  to assure that hay bales  74  are fed through the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32  before the hay reaches the lower mixing auger  36  or rotor  24 . 
     FIG. 3 shows that a stop  76  is provided on the mounting end plate  56  and a stop  78  is provided on the support plate  62  to limit pivotal movement of the feed wall  48  beyond the upstanding position illustrated in the drawings. It is seen, however, that the feed wall  48  extends downwardly and laterally towards the side wall  18  and the shredding auger  38 . A stop plate  80  extends laterally outward from the support plate  62  to limit pivotal movement to the control wall  50  beyond a substantially vertical position. 
     The lower corner of the feed wall  48  adjacent to the control wall  50  engages the lower portion  68  of the control wall  50  when the feed wall  48  and control wall  50  are both in their horizontal positions. Pivotal movement to a raised position of the feed wall  48  causes the control wall  50  to also pivot to a substantially vertical position. A block  82  is mounted on the lower corner of the feed wall  48  and provides the contact with the lower portion  68  of the control wall  50  as seen in FIG.  2 . Operation of the pivoting of the feed wall  48  and control wall  50  can be accomplished through use of a winch and cable or a hydraulic cylinder. Further, the feed wall  48  and the control wall  50  may be constructed in a fixed vertical position. 
     The following factors affect the desired amount of chopping action on the hay bales  74  when in the hay chopping chamber  52 : the rotational speed of the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32 ; the number of sickle knives  42  used on each 360° rotation of the flighting  40  of the shredding auger  38  and chopping auger  32 ; the pitch of the flightings  40  which affects the length of time the hay is in the hay chopping chamber  52 ; the outer diameter of the flightings  40 ; and the diameter of the tubing on which the auger flightings are mounted. Preferably, the shredding auger  38  turns at a higher speed than the chopper auger  32  ensuring that the hay bales  74  are processed quickly into a homogenous, high quality feed ingredient. A pair of control arms  92  are removably mounted on the top edge of the side wall  18  and extend over the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32  to restrict overly fast loading of the hay to the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32 . The control wall  50  restricts flow of hay over the top of the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32 . Once the hay has been chopped into small enough pieces to pass through the shredding auger  38  and the chopper auger  32  or under the control wall  50 , it is acted upon by the paddles  44  as seen in FIG. 3 where upon it is distributed downwardly to the mixing auger  36  and laterally into the main chamber  26  for further mixing action by the rotor  24 . 
     The addition of a novel third auger, the shredding auger  38 , results in significantly faster homogenization than the prior art feed mixers. Rotating the shredding auger  38  faster than the chopper auger  32  is preferred, and this also enhances faster homogenization. As seen in FIG. 3, the position of the shredding auger  38  in conjunction with that of the chopper auger  32  allows for more exposed shredding and chopping surface thus providing for a faster processing time. This novel combination of a shredding auger  38  and a chopper auger  32  juxtaposed within the hay chopping chamber  52  provides the unexpected advantage of more physical space within which to load hay bales  74 , thus allowing many different sizes of square baled hay or preprocessed round baled hay to be processed. The present invention feed mixer  10  provides a quick, efficient means for mixing large quantities of feed ingredients such as hay bales  74 , silage and grains such as corn, thereby creating an end product without damaging fragile feed ingredients due to overexposure of the ingredients to the shredding auger  38 , the chopper auger  32  or mixing auger  36 . 
     A drive system (not shown) is enclosed within front wall  16  for rotating rotor  24  and the three augers  32 ,  36 ,  38 . Any conventional drive system may be used, but it is preferred that the system drive the rotor and the augers in the directions shown by the arrows in FIG.  2 . Auger  36  should be rotated to move material in a first longitudinal direction indicated by arrow  100  in FIG.  1  and auger  32  should be rotated to move material in the opposite longitudinal direction indicated by arrow  102  in FIG.  1 . Auger  38  preferably should rotate in the same direction as auger  32 , and preferably at a faster rotational speed. 
     It is to be understood that trivial modifications to the combination of elements which comprise the present invention are within the scope of this invention. These modifications would include but are not limited to such things as the longitudinal length of shredding auger  38 , chopper auger  32 , and the mixing auger  36  and the appropriate mixing chambers to accommodate varying quantities of feed ingredients, the number of sickle knives  42  along the outer edge of the flighting  40 , the number of mixing augers  36 , or the like. It is to be further understood that the application of the teachings of the present invention to a specific problem or apparatus will be within the capabilities of one having ordinary skill in the art in light of the teachings contained herein.