GB2026978A - Improvements in or relating to devices for removing the contents of a silo - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device fort removing materials, such as fodder, maize or the like, from a silo. The device comprises a bucket 1 and ion a rotary cutter 2 acting on the contents 3 of a silo; the cutter is secured to a cranked member 7. Three defectors 18, 17, 18, and also a double-acting jack 10 for acting on the member 7, complete the device, which is applicable to the field of agriculture. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to devices for removing the contents of a silo The present invention relates to devices for removing materials, such as fodder, maize orthe like, from a silo; more especially, these removing devices may also be constructed so as to be suitable for dispensing purposes.

Various devices have hitherto been proposed without, however, being entirely satisfactory.

Amonst these devices, those of the fork type should be noted, the major disadvantage of which is that they aerate the material stored in the silo, this leading to a significant risk of accelerated putrefaction due to the air penetrating into the said material.

It is for this reason that devices for removing the contents of a silo have been developed, which employ rotary cutters to give a clean cutting face; in general, these cutters are fixed relative to the bucket, and the contents of the silo are normally removed from top to bottom. An arrangement of this kind places a significant strain on the tractor or like vehicle to which the device is attached, because it is necessary to control the descending movement of the bucket which is being loaded during this movement. This arrangement also exhibits the disadvantage of obscuring the silo from the operator, visibility only being reestablished when the bucket is in the low position, that is to say when the operation for removing the contents of the silo is virtually finished.

Furthermore, in this arrangement, the material removed from the silo, falls on the ground during the removal operation to form a heap and thus prevents the bucket from touching the ground at the end of the operation; the removal of the contents of the silo is then incomplete and some of the material which has been removed remains on the ground.

Moreover, such devices includes additional means which make it possible to transfer the material, removed from the silo, from the cutter into the bucket; these means can consist, for example, of a conveyor belt or a suction system. Such additional means, simple though they may be, nonetheless constitute a risk of breakdown or of defective functioning of the removal device.

It is an object of the invention to provide a device which substantially overcomes these various disadvantages and enables the operator e.g. the tractor driver, permanently to have a good view of the silo during the removal operation, the removed material arriving directly inside the bucketwithoutthe use of additional means.

Accordingly the invention consists in a device for removing the contents of a silo of the type comprising, a bucket to receive the material removed from the silo by means of a rotary cutter mounted on an axle which is substantially horizontal in operation and parallel to the cutting face of the material, and in which the removal of the contents of the silo takes place from top to bottom, wherein, with the bucket resting on the ground during the removal operation, the rotation axle of the cutter is mounted at one end of a cranked member, the other end of which is arranged to be acted upon by a double-acting jack to cause the cutter to descend during operation.

Preferably, the direction of rotation of the cutter is arranged to be reversed during the removal operation.

Furthermore the device is advantageously provided with three deflectors which cooperate so that the bucket is filled correctly.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show two embodi ments thereof by way of example, and in which: Figure 1 is a view, in profile, of a first embodiment of the device according to the invention, for removing the contents of a silo, in the high position, Figure 2 is a view, in prespective, of a second embodiment thereof, Figure 3 is a view of the device shown in Figure 1, in an intermediate position, and Figure 4 is a view of the device shown in Figure 1, in the low position.

Referring nowt the drawings, Figure 1 schematically illustrates, in profile, a device, according to the invention, for removing the contents of a silo, in which the bucket 1 and the rotary cutter 2 can be seen; the latter act on the material 3 stored in the silo from the top, the material resting on the ground 4 together with the bucket 1. Subsequently, the driver of a vehicle such as a tractor, which is connected to the removal device by means of a conventional unit 5, will not be hindered by the bucket 1, and this constitutes a first advantage of the device according to the invention. Only one wheel of the vehicle is shown at 6. Furthermore, the cutter 2 is secured to a cranked member 7 by one end 8 and the other end 9 of the member 7 is acted upon by a doubleacting jack 10. In this Figure 1, the removal operation is shown starting.

Advantageously, as apparent in this Figure 1, a spout or nose 11 of the bucket 1 is level with the base of the cutting face 12.

Figure 2 illustrates, in perspective another embodiment in the cranked member consists of a fork 13, of which the ends form two arms 14, and of which the base 15 is connected to the jack 10 for movement of the fork.

In the construction according to the invention the direction of rotation of the cutter 2 may be caused during the removal operation; preferably, the said reversal takes place when the cutter has descended two thirds of its total distance. Thus, with reference to Figure 1, the direction of rotation of the cutter during the first two thirds of its descent is in a clockwise direction, whereas, in the last third, the direction of rotation of the cutter is anti-clockwise. In fact, this clutter has a dual purpose; firstly, it cuts the material stored in the silo, and secondly it projects the material removed from the silo into the bucket 1.

As a result of the direction of rotation of the cutter The drawing(s) originally filed was/were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy 2, during the first two thirds of the descending movement, the material removed from the silo will be projected directly downwards towards the bot tom of the bucket 1; the volume of material removed from the silo will gradually increase until the moment of inversion of the direction of rotation of the cutter is reached. At this moment, with the direction of rotation of the cutter being reversed, the mat erial removed from the silo will still be projected into the bucket 1, but towards the upper part of the latter, and hence onto the heap of removed material which has already formed.

The reversal of the direction of the rotation permits a better distribution of the removed material inside the bucket 1; it also makes it possible, at the end of the operation, to "pick up" the scraps of removed material which have fallen during the operation, thus leaving a clean cut and a ground which is substantially clear and free of any scrapes; the presence of the latter is a common disadvantage of conventional devices for removing the contents of a silo.

These good results are also obtained by virtue of the three deflectors 16, 17, 18, with which the device shown is fitted.

The deflector 16 is fixed and covers the part 8 of Figure 1 or the arms 14 of Figure 2 of the member 7 or Figure 1 or the fork 13 of Figure 2, as the case may be, and the cutter 2, the deflector being secured to the unit7 or fork 13. The deflector 17 can move throughout the entire duration of the removal operation and forms part of the upper wall 19 of the bucket 1; a system of rods 17', connecting the deflector 17 to the part 9, ensures the movement of the deflector 17 during the movement of the unit 5 and of the cutter 2, and hence throughout the entire removal operation. When the cutter 2 is in its highest position, the deflector 17 is opened to the maximum extent, whereas, when the removal operation is finished, the deflector 17 is completely closed and is aligned with the remainder of the wall 19.

The deflector 18 is fixed for the first direction of rotation of the cutter 2 and is essentially perpendicular to the arm 8 or arms 14 to which it is secured by means of a hinge; at the moment when the reversal of direction takes place, the deflectors 16 and 17 are opposite one another (Figure 3), and this reversal takes place approximately when the cutter has performed two thirds of its descending movement The deflector 18 can rotate when its bears on a spindle 20 arranged in the bucket 1,which generally takes place a short time afterthe said reversal, whereas it was previously held perpendicular to the part 8 by virtue of a right-angle bracket 18'.

At the start of the removal operation (Figure 1), the deflectors 17 and 18 serve, in particular, as a protection forthetractor driver who will nottherefore be hit by any fragments of material removed from the silo, this material being guided by the deflector 18 and falling into the bucket 1 at the foot of the silo 3, thus avoiding any projection and loss of removed material outside the bucket.

After the reversal of the direction of rotation, the deflectors 16 and 17 close the entire upper part of the removal device, preventing any material from escap ing at this level. In this same period, the deflector 18, bearing on the spindle 20, prevents the removed material from escaping from the bucket 1 and consti tutes a retaining wall for the heap of removed mater ial located in the bucket 1; Figure 4 illustrates the end of the removal operation.

The remainder of the removal device is conven tional and may include means (not shown) which render it suitable for dispensing purposes.

Likewise, the connection between the removal device and the tractor is conventional two auxiliary wheels 21 optionally being provided in the case of a small tractor.

Moreover, the cutter 2 and the spout or nose 11 of the bucket 1 are positioned in such a way that the bucket 1 can be filled in a single operation; thus, during a subsequent cut, if suffices to place the spout or nose 11 level with the bottom of the cutting face in order to have a constant cutting depth and in order to fill the bucket 1, optionally in a single operation. This operation is simple because it suffices for the tractor driver to place the bucket on the ground and then reverse until the spout or nose of the bucket touches the bottom of the silo.

The feed for all the elements of the present device is advantageously of hydraulic origin.

Claims (11)

1. A device for removing the contents of a silo of the type comprising a bucket to receive the material removed from the silo by means of a rotary cutter mounted on an axle which is substantially horizontal in operation and parallel to the cutting face of the material, and in which the removal of the contents of the silo takes place from top to bottom, wherein with the bucket resting on the ground during the removal operation, the rotation axle of the cutter is mounted at one end of a cranked member, the other end of which is arranged to be acted upon by a doubleacting jack to cause the cutter to descend during operation.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the cranked member is constituted by a fork, the ends of which constitute two arms secured to said axle of rotation,and the base of which is connected to said jack.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein direction of rotation of the said cutter is arranged to the reversed during its descent.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein the reversal is arranged to take place in the last third of the descent.

5. A device as claimed in any one of the preceeding claims, which also comprises three deflectors, of which a first, which is fixed, covers the end of the cranked member and the cutter, a second, which is movable throughout the entire removal operation, and forms part of the upper wall of the bucket, and a third, which is located between the first and second deflectors, and is movable at the end of the removal operation.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, as delimited by claim 3, wherein the first and second reflectors are opposite one another when the reversal takes place.

7. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the third deflector is essentially perpendicular to the cranked member secured to the cutter, until the deflector bears on a spindle arranged in the bucket.

8. A device as claimed in any of the preceeding claims wherein, throughout the entire removal -operation, a spout or nose of the bucket is arranged to rest level with the foot of the silo.

9. A device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the initial position of the cutter, relative to the removal face of the silo contents is such that the volume of removed material corresponds to the volume of the bucket.

10. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1,3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Fig 2 of the accompany ing drawings.