Patent ID: 8584905

Claim:
A hopper bottom for supporting a cylindrical side wall of a grain bin thereon, the hopper bottom comprising: a floor structure spanning radially outwardly from a central area to a surrounding perimeter area; an outer wall support extending upwardly from the perimeter area of the floor structure about the central area of the floor structure to a top end spaced upwardly from the floor structure and arranged to support the cylindrical side wall of the grain bin thereabove; an inclined inner wall having an inverted cone shape so as to taper downwardly and inwardly from a top end to a bottom end of the inclined inner wall, the top end of the inclined inner wall being joined with the outer wall support at a location spaced above the floor structure about a full circumference of the outer wall support, and the bottom end of the inclined inner wall being joined with the floor structure about the central area of the floor structure; an auger opening formed in one side of the inclined inner wall to extend upwardly from the central area in a radial direction towards an upper edge which is nearer to the bottom end of the inclined inner wall than the top end of the inclined inner wall; a pair of auger chute walls spanning between the floor structure and the inclined inner wall on opposing sides of the auger opening to extend in the radial direction from the central area towards the cylindrical outer wall support beyond the upper edge of the auger opening, the auger chute walls being spaced apart from one another so as to define a chute between the chute walls which is arranged to receive an agricultural auger therein; an access opening in the outer wall support in alignment with the chute between the chute walls and arranged to receive the agricultural auger therethrough.