GB2081117A - Mixing and dispensing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The machine, e.g. for animal feed, has a container for the material and a rotor shaft 17 is rotable within the container. The rotor shaft carries a series of rigid mixing and unloading members 18 which extend outwards of the shaft to adjacent the wall of the container. The members 18 include collars 19 loosely carried on the shaft and coupled to one another by dogs 27, 28. The collars and dogs are arranged so that, on driving a collar at one end of the shaft by rotating the shaft, drive to the other collars is progressively taken up until all the members are being rotated. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Mixing and dispensing machine This invention relates to mixing and dispensing machines, particularly for mixing and dispensing feed for animals.

It is often necessary to blend together animal feedstuffs using different feed components to obtain a mixture which utilises available feed sources and gives the animals the required nutrients. The feed components may include silage, treated straw and maize, and additives such as molassis, grain, sugar beet pulp and fish meal may be added. Once mixed the resulting mixture needs to be transported and dispensed to the animals by delivery to, for example, a manger or other receptacle.

Machines with a combined mixing and dispensing function are already known but such machines have various disadvantages. They may be of complex and expensive construction or they may suffer from operational problems such as an inability to mix and dispense a wide range of materials or to gain access to and dispense accurately at the animal feeding location.

An object of the invention is to provide a mixing and dispensing machine which is relatively simple in construction, is able to cope with different feed materials and is adaptable to different feeding systems.

According to the invention a mixing and dispensing machine comprises a mobile container of partcylindrical form and having a rotor shaft extending axially of the container, a plurality of rigid members extending outwardly from and rotatable with the shaft so that the outer ends of the members are adjacent the inner wall of the container, drive transmission means for transmitting drive to the shaft, and drive transmission means for transmitting drive from the shaft to the rigid members progressively, axially of the shaft as rotation of the shaft is initiated.

Preferably the rigid members are mounted on collars located side by side and coaxially on the shaft, the collars being disposed to be coupled for rotation with adjacent collars while allowing limited rotation of each collar relative to an adjacent collar or collars.

One or more of the collars are arranged to be driven by the shaft so that drive is transmitted from the driven collar progressively to the other collars as the shaft commences rotation, until all the collars are rotating with the shaft. Preferably the driven collar is at one or other end of the shaft and the arrangement may be such that one or other of the end collars is selectively engageable to be driven directly from the shaft, for example by clutch means.

According to a further feature of the invention the rigid members may have a variable configuration relative to one another. For example, the collars may be arranged so that when driven from one end of the collars, the rigid members adopt one configuration, and when driven from the other end of the collars another configuration is adopted.

In one arrangement the rigid members may adopt a configuration suitable for mixing in which the members are arranged in four groups, each extending in a different direction away from the shaft, and a configuration suitable for dispensing in which the members are arranged in two groups, each extending in a different direction away from the shaft. This may be achieved by driving the collars from one or other end of the row of collars and in the same direction of rotation in each case.

Further features of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given by way of example only and with reference to the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a mixing and dispensing machine, Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side elevation, Fig. 4 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of a set of collars of the machine of Figs. 1-3 in one mode of operation, Fig. 5 is a perspective view corresponding to Fig. 4 with the collars in another mode of operation.

Referring to the drawings, a mobile mixing and dispensing machine for animal feed material includes a container 10 constituting the main body of the machine. The container is carried on a pair of wheels 11 and is arranged to be towed behind a tractor by means of a drawbar 12.

The container is of generally semi-cylindrical form, the top of the container being open to provide an inlet through which material is introduced into the container. The container has end walls 16.

Extending along the axis of the container 10 from one end to the other and supported in bearings by the container end walls 16 is a rotor shaft 17 consisting of a cylindrical tube. At the leading end of the shaft 17 with respect to the direction of travel A the shaft is connected to drive transmission means whereby the shaft is drivable in the direction of arrow B from the power take-off of the towing tractor which is connected to an input shaft 21 which drives a chain sprocket 22. A chain 23 passes around the sprocket 22 and a sprocket 24, and the sprocket 24 drives change speed means 25 coupled to the shaft 17.

In an alternative arrangement change-speed means may be provided between the input shaft 21 and the sprocket 22.

A conveyor 32 in the form of an auger or screw conveyor extends along one side of the container parallel to the container. The conveyor 32 includes a continuous or discontinuous rotary auger 33 which is driven from the shaft 17, for example, the rear end of the shaft 17, as shown, through a sprocket 34 carried on the shaft 17, a chain 35 and a sprocket 36 on the rear end of the auger. A clutch (not shown) is located in the transmission to the auger 33 to enable the drive to be disconnected during a mixing mode.

The auger 33 is rotated about a horizontal axis during discharge and is located in a trough-shaped member 37, the lower part of which is semi-circular.

At one side edge adjacent the container the trough is The drawing(s) originally filed was/were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a laterfiledformal copy.

attached to the container at the level of the upper edge of the container 10. The opposite side 38 of the trough 37 is extended upwards above the level of the auger 33 to provide a shield 40 which prevents discharge of material from the side of the trough.

At the upper edge of the shield 40 is hinged a lid 45 which is movable to the lowered position, shown by full lines in Fig. 2, during a filling operation of the container and is movable to an elevated position, shown by chain lines, during an unloading operation. This arrangement prevents unmixed material entering the conveyor prior to mixing.

At the leading end of the conveyor 32 is a transverse conveyor 39 onto which the conveyor 32 feeds the material. The transverse conveyor 39 is located with its receiving end below the conveyor 32, the base of the trough 37 being omitted in this region to allow the material to fall onto the conveyor 39. The transverse conveyor 39 projects away from the container 10 and may take the form of a belt conveyor or a chain and slat conveyor. The projecting end of the conveyor 39 is spaced to enable the material to be discharged into a manger or other receiver and said projecting end may be raised or lowered to clear a barrier or other obstruction between the machine and the manger.

The conveyor 39 is driven off the end of the auger 33 by means of a chain and sprocket drive including a sprocket 41 on the end of the auger and a chain 42 and a sprocket 43 on a shaft 44 from which the conveyor 39 is driven.

The shaft 17 carries for rotation with the shaft a distinctive arrangement of mixing and unloading members 18, each of which is releasably attached to a collar 19 (see particularly Figs. 4 and 5). The collars 19 are each of the same form, being cylindrical and allowing the shaft 17 to pass through the collar with the collar rotatable about the shaft.

Each collar 19 is formed with a dog 27 extending through 90" at one end and a dog 28 extending through 1800 at the other end. The dogs 27 and 28 are arranged relative to one another in the circumferential direction so that the start of the dog 27 is aligned with the end of the dog 28.

The collars 19 are arranged end to end and closely adjacent along the shaft 17 and at the front end of the shaft there is located a further dog 29 connected for rotation with the shaft 17 and selectively engaged able with the dog 27 on the leading collar 19A on the shaft so that such leading collar 19A is rotated on rotation of the shaft 17.

Similarly at the rear end of the shaft 17 is a further dog 30 connected for rotation with the shaft and selectively engageable with the dog 28 on the trailing collar 19B in the row of collars on the shaft. The dogs 29 and 30 effectively constitute clutch means whereby the collars may be rotated by the shaft from one or other end of the shaft.

Each collar 19 carries two members 18 mounted in tangentially-arranged sockets 31 on opposite sides of the collar so that the members 18 extend in opposite directions from the collar. The members are secured in the sockets by a roll pin 50 extending through bores in the socket and engaging a groove (not shown) in the member.

The mixing and unloading members 18 are each in the form of rigid rods having a length such that they project outwardly from the shaft to adjacent the inner wall of the container 10. At their outer ends the members 18 carry a flexible blade 52 extending transverse to the member.

By the provision of the collars 19, their associated dogs 27 and 28 and the drive arrangement to the collars, the mixing and unloading members operate asfollows: When the collars 19 are driven from one end, in this case the front end by means of the dog 29, in tie direction of arrow B, the collars are progressively engaged with one another along the shaft by the dogs 27 on each collar engaging wftti the dogs 28 on the adjacent collars. it will be seen that the collars are each rotated about the shaft through up to 90" before engaging the next successive collar in the row.Thus the members 18 beglntobe rotated in sequence along the shaft and the inidal torque needed to rotate the shaft is relatively low, reaching a maximum when all the members 18 are rotating rather than when the firsttuming moment on the shaft is applied.

In the mode of operation described the members adopt the position shown in Fig. 4'when all the members 18 are moving. This position ofthe members is adopted when the unloading mode of the machine is required and it will be seen that the members 18 are in two groups extending in opposite directions from the shaft. It will also be seen that the flexible members 52 have their ends adjacent one another in the axial direction to act as paddies for more efficient unloading of malEals7 especially those containing relatively small pieces, such as grain.

The other mode of operation is a mixing mode in which the shaft 17 drives the collars 18 through the dog 30 at the rear end of the shaft Wrth the dog 30 engaged with the rear collar 19B adjacent the dog 30, the collars again are progressively engaged to rotate with the shaft, as previously described for the unloading mode. However, due to the angles sub tended by the dogs 27 and 28 the members take up a different configuration to that of the unloading mode.

The arrangement of the members 18 in the mixing mode is shown in Fig. 5 and in this case the mem bers are in four groups, one pair having members extending in opposite directions and displaced at 90" from the other pair, the members of which also extend in opposite directions from one another.

Thus the members 18 are in four rows and the outer ends of the members in each row are spaced twice the distance apart compared with in the unloading mode.

it will be apparent that other configurations of ri8ix- ing and unloading members are possibie wgthour much change to the illustrated arrangement For example, the angle subtended bathe dogs 27 and28 can be altered and in this way the members can adopt a scroll or spiral arrangement about the rotor.

Moreover, the positioning of the members 18 on the collars 19 can be altered and the number of mem bers on each collar can be changed to give different configurations.

It will be noted that in both modes of operation the rotor rotates in the same direction. The speed of rotation is such that the container does not need to be closed at the top and the rotor can rotate at the same speed for discharge as for mixing, preferably in the range 5-60 rpm. Change speed means in the transmission to the rotor shaft enables different shaft speeds to be selected as may be necessary according to the material being mixed and, if described, to unload at a different shaft speed to the mixing speed.

Due to the absence of a top to the container 10, the container may be loaded from either side with no obstructions and without the need to open and close a lid.

Selection ofthe unloading and mixing modes may be by a selection lever (not shown) which engages and disengages the dogs 29 and 30 simultaneously.

Claims (10)

1. A mixing and dispensing machine comprising a container of part cylindrical form, a rotor shaft extending axially of the container, a plurality of rigid members disposed along the shaft and extending outwardly from the shaft so that the outer ends of the members are adjacent the inner wall of the container, drive transmission means for transmitting drive to the shaft, and means for transmitting drive from the shaft to the rigid members to rotate the members as the shaft is rotated, drive to the members being transmitted progressively from rigid member to rigid member along the shaft.

2. A machine according to claim 1 wherein the rigid members include collars mounted coaxially and side by side on the shaft, adjacent members being arranged for limited movement about the shaft relative to one another.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein the collars include coupling means whereby upon rotation of one collar an adjacent collar is coupled for rotational movement therewith.

4. Machine according to claim 2 or 3 wherein one of the collars is arranged to be driven directly by rotation of the shaft and, upon rotation, said one collar progressively rotates the other collars.

5. A machine according to any one of claims 2,3 or 4 wherein the collars are each formed at their ends with dogs, the dogs of adjacent collars being engageable with one another to transmit rotation of the members progressively along the shaft.

6. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the rigid members have a variable configuration when rotating with the shaft.

7. A machine according to claim 6 wherein the rigid members adopt a different configuration when driven from one end of the shaft compared with that when driven from the other end of the shaft, the direction of rotation of the shaft being the same in each case.

8. A machine according to claim 6 or 7 wherein in one configuration the rigid members are in two groups each extending in a different radial direction and in another configuration the rigid members are in at least four groups each extending in a different radial direction.

9. A machine according to claim 6,7 or 8 wherein the different configurations of the rigid members are selected by clutch means whereby the rigid members at opposite ends of the shaft are coupled to and uncoupled from driving engagement by the shaft.

10. A mixing and dispensing machine substantially as described with reference to the drawings.