Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a hopper assembly, and in
particular to a hopper assembly for use on a particulate
material auger.
Conventional particulate material augers, such as grain
augers include an elongated cylindrical tubular housing with
an open bottom inlet end for receiving rain, an auger shaft
carrying helical flight in the housing for feeding grain
through the housing, a drive for the auger shaft, and an
open top discharge end for discharging grain from the
housing. During normal use, the housing is inclined at an
acute angle and the bottom, inlet end is inserted into a
storage bin or the like. The drive is started to cause the
auger to remove the grain from the bin. When the bulk of
the grain has been removed, residual material remains, i.e.
the auger cannot pick up all of the grain.
The usual solution to the above defined problem is to
shovel the remaining particles into an auxiliary inlet
opening in the side of the housing near the bottom, inlet
end thereof. Such a solution is described, for example in
Canadian Patent No. 1,181,356, which issued to H.O. Redfield
on January 22, 1985. The Redfield patent describes an
auxiliary, clean up opening in the auger housing and a
hopper box permanently mounted on the auger housing around
the opening.
Simply stated, the present invention provides an
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alternative solution in the form of a relatively simple
hopper assembly, which includes a cover, and which is
intended to be removably mounted on an auger housing. The
assembly described herein reduces the bulkiness of the auger
during transporting, and reduces the likelihood of damage to
the hopper. Moreover, the assembly provides a cover which
is easily moved between open and closed positions,
preventing extraneous material falling into the auger during
transporting or non-use.
Accordingly, this invention relates to a hopper
assembly for use on a particulate material auger, which
includes an elongated cylindrical housing, an inlet end for
introducing particulate material into the housing, an outlet
end for discharging particulate material from the housing,
an auger screw in the housing for feeding particulate
material from the inlet end to the outlet end thereof, and
an auxiliary inlet opening in said housing downstream of the
inlet end therof in the direction of particulate material
travel, said hopper assembly comprising bracket means for
mounting on said housing means bordering said inlet opening;
cover means slidable in said bracket means for movement
between a closed position covering said inlet opening and an
open position permitting the passage of particulate material
through said opening into the housing; and funnel means
mounted in said bracket means for directing particulate
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material into said inlet opening.
The invention will be described in greater detail with
reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate
preferred embodiments of the invention, and wherein:
Figure l is a schematic, exploded, perspective view of
a hopper assembly in accordance with the present invention;
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of most of the
hopper assembly of Fig. 1;
Figure 3 is a partially exploded, perspective view of a
second embodiment of the hopper assembly with a cover
omitted; and
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a cover for use with
the assemblies of Figs. 1 to 3.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the hopper
assembly of the present invention which is generally
indicated at 1 is intended for use on a conventional auger
of the type including a hollow cylindrical housing 2. As
mentioned above, the housing 2 contains a shaft carrying a
helical flight, neither of which is shown. The hopper
assembly 1 is mounted on the housing 2 around an auxiliary
inlet opening 3 in the top side wall of the housing near the
bottom, inlet end thereof.
The hopper assembly 1 includes a pair of generally F-
shaped brackets 5 which are mounted parallel to each other
on the housing 2, one on each side of the opening 3. The
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brackets 5 open towards each other forming a pair of tracks
for receiving a cover 6 and/or a hopper 7. The cover 6 is
merely a rectangular metal or plastic plate, which is
arcuate in cross section for conforming to the shape of the
auger housing 2. A knob 8 on one end of the cover 6
facilitates manual handling thereof. The cover 6 is
connected to the housing 2 at one end of a bracket 5 as by a
chain 9. As best shown in Fig. 2, the cover 6 slides in the
lowermost tracks in the brackets 5 between an open position
tFig. 1) and a closed position (not shown~ over the opening
3.
The hopper 7 includes a baseplate 10 similar in shape
to the cover 6, and a funnel 11. In the embodiment shown,
the funnel 11 includes a frusto-conical lower portion 12
with a cylindrical neck 14 at the top end thereof for
supporting a cylindrical neck 15 on the bottom end of an
inverted frusto-conical upper portion 16. The necks 14 and
15 are interconnected by screws 17.
In a second embodiment of the invention (Fig. 3), the
bottom ends of the brackets 5 ~closest to the inlet end of
the housing 1) are interconnected by a crossbar 20, which
acts as a stop for the cover 6 (not shown). The hopper,
which is generally indicated at 21, includes a baseplate 10,
an inverted frusto-pyramidal lower funnel portion 22
integral with the baseplate 10, and an upper funnel portion
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23. The upper funnel portion 23 has a rectangular bottom
end 24 for sliding over the top end of the lower funnel
portion 22, and a circular top end 25. The funnel portions
22 and 23 are connected to each other by screws 26 or nuts
and bolts ~not shown), which pass through aligned openings
27 in such funnel portions.
As will be appreciated, the funnel 11 could be attached
as by welding directly to baseplate 10, which would obviate
the necessity of portion 12.
Referring to Fig. 4, the brackets 5 can be integral
with the crossbar 20. The cover 29 illustrated in Fig. 4
includes a flange 30 at the top end thereof defining a
handle for manually moving the cover. A projection 32 is
provided near the other end of the cover 29. The projection
32 engages a projection ~not shown) on the bottom of the
baseplate 10 ~Figs. 1 and 3) for limiting outward movement
of the cover 29, i.e. for ensuring that the cover remains in
the brackets 5 when moved to the open position.
As mentioned above, for storage or transporting, the
cover 6 or 29 is in the closed position and the hopper 7 or
21 is removed from the brackets 5. When the hopper assembly
is required, the hopper 7 or 21 is slid into the brackets 5,
and the cover 6 or 29 is moved to the open position.
In order to improve the safety of the hopper assembly,
a wire mesh ~not shown) can be mounted over or under the
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housing opening 3. Of course, the openings in the mesh must
be larger than the grain particles to prevent clogging.
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