Patent ID: 7172137

Claim:
A material spreader for spreading a quantity of material comprising: a material spreader box having a bottom wall and opposite side walls forming a storage chamber for storing the quantity of material; the bottom wall having a front end, rear end, and opposite side edges from which the opposite side walls extend upwardly; a discharge opening in the material spreader box adjacent the rear end of the bottom wall; a conveyor belt superimposed over the bottom wall and positioned for supporting the quantity of material contained within the storage chamber, the conveyor belt having a width and that causes the conveyor belt to substantially completely cover the width of the bottom wall; a barrier connected to the conveyor belt; drive mechanism connected to the conveyor belt for moving the conveyor belt and the barrier relative to the bottom wall in a rearward direction toward the rear end of the bottom wall, whereby the conveyor belt and the barrier will together carry the quantity of material within the storage chamber in a rearward direction and will discharge the material through the discharge opening at the rear end of the bottom wall; a beater assembly mounted to the rear of the box for engaging and spreading the material exiting from the discharge opening of the rear wall.