GRANULAR MATERIAL SPREADER

EPANDEUR DE MATIERE GRANULEE

English Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A spreader for granular material such as fertilizer or
seed includes a casing defined by an inlet duct, a discharge
hood integral with the inlet duct and a diffuser in the shape of
a segment of a cone in the hood beneath the inlet duct for
receiving the granular material introduced into the casing and
uniformly spreading such material. The hood, which is a major
segment of a frustum, prevents wind affecting the spreading action
of the diffuser.

Claims

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A spreader for granular material comprising a casing,
said casing including an inlet duct for introducing a granular
material vertically into the casing, and a discharge hood in
fluid communication with said inlet duct for receiving the
granular material from the casing inlet duct and discharging the
granular material from the casing, said hood including a planar
rear wall contiguous with one side of said inlet duct and a semi-
frustum shaped front wall; and a diffuser defined by a segment of
a cone located centrally on said rear wall beneath said inlet
duct, whereby granular material entering said discharge hood
strikes said diffuser and is spread uniformly thereby immediately
prior to discharge from said casing.
2. A spreader according to claim 1, including an arm
extending outwardly from each side of said casing; and sleeve
means on said arm for mounting the casing on a spreader machine.
3. A spreader according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said
inlet duct, hood, diffuser, arm and sleeve means are integral
with each other.

Description

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This invention relates to a spreader for particulate or
granular material, and in particular to a spreader for seed, fert-
ilizer or other agricultural chemicals.
The spreader of the present invention is designed to
ensure uniform distribution of granular material. As mentioned
in applicant's Canadian Patent Number 1,105,956 issued on 28
July 1981 some agricultual chemicals, e.g. herbicides, must be
applied uniformly to prevent loss of expensive chemicals and crop
loss. The applicator described in the above mentioned patent
at least partially solves the problem of uniformly distributing
granular material. The spreader disclosed herein can be used
with applicant's applicator or with other applicators. The
spreader receives the material immediately before discharge from
the applicator and spreads the material uniformly over a relatively
large area.
Spreaders of generally the same type as that described
herein are disclosed, for example in U.S. Patents Numbers 2,990,
186 issued to E. S. Gandrun on 27 June 1961 and 3,074,727 issued
to H. L. Sosalla et al on 22 January 1963.
The object of the present invention is to improve upon
the performance of existing gravity feed spreaders by providing
a relatively efficient spreader for granular material.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a spreader
for granular material comprising a casing, said casing including
an inlet duct for introducing a granular material vertically into
the casing, and a discharge hood in fluid communication with said
inlet duct for receiving the granular material from the inlet duct
and discharging the granular material from the casing, said hood
including a planar rear wall contiguous with one side of said
inlet duct and a semi-frustum shaped front wall, and a
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diffusex defined by a se~ment of a cone located centrally on said
rear wall beneath sa~d inlet duct r whereby granular material
entering said discharge hood strikes said diffuser and is spread
uniformly thereby immediately prior to discharge from said casing.
The invention will now be described in greater detail
with references to the accompanying drawing, which illustrates
a preferred embodiment of the in~ention, and wherein:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a spreader in accordance
with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the spreader of Fig. l;
Figure 3 is an elevation view of the spreader of Figs.
1 and 2; and
Figure 4 is a partly sectioned elevation view of the
spreader of Figs. 1 to 3.
With reference to the drawings, a spreader in accordance
with the present invention includes a casing 1 defined by an inlet
duct 2 and a discharge hood 3 integral with the inlet ducto A
flange 4 is pro~ided near top end 5 of the inlet duct 2 for
connecting the casing 1 to a source of granular material, e.g.
the bottom end of a collector tube (not shown) which carries
granular material from a hopper (not shown) to the casing 1 for
spreading.
The dlscharge hood 3 is defined by a planar rear wall
6 (Fig. 4) contiguous with the rear side of the inlet duct 2,
and a semi-frustum front wall 7. By "semi-frustum" is meant a
generally frusto-conical or frustum-shaped body intersected
longitudinally by a plane, with all of the body on one side of the
plane being removed. A diffuser 8 defined by a segment of a cone
is integral with the bottom centre of the interior of the rear
wall 6. Thus, the diffuser 8 is located directly beneath the

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bottom, discharge end of the inlet duct 2.
An arm 9 extends outwardly from each side of the casing
1 at the top rear end of the hood 3 for-mounting the spreader on
a spreading machine, i.e. a machine of the type generally referred
to as a spreader. A sleeve 10 for receiving a bolt or screw (not
shown) is provided on the outer free end of each arm 9.
The casing 1, the arms 9 and the sleeves 10 are formed
of a hard plastic. All of the elements are integral, i.e. formed
in one piece by molding.
In use, granular material falling freely in the inlet
duct 2 enters the discharge hood 3 and strikes the diffuser 8.
Because the diffuser 8 is conical, uniform spreading of the granu-
lar material occurs. The hood 3 eliminates the effect of the
wind on the pattern of granular material created in the casing by
the diffuser 8. Thus, the hood 3 in conjunction with the diffuser
8 ensures uniform spreading of the granular material. Without the
hood 3, the wind disturbs the granular material pattern and
prevents uniform spreading.
Thus, there has been described a relatively simple
spreader, which ensures the uniform spreading of granular material.