Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02865142 2014-09-30
DRIVE MECHANISM FOR A VERTICAL ANIMAL FEED MIXER
TECHNICAL FIELD
(0001) The present invention relates to a drive mechanism for a vertical
animal feed
mixer for cutting and mixing hay, forage and other animal feed ingredients and
the
dispensing of the mixed feed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
(0002) Vertical feed mixers provided with vertically driven augers are known
for
chopping bales of hay or other harvested crop for chopping the crop into small
pieces to
produce feed for feeding animals such a cows, sheep, etc. Examples thereof can
be
found in US Patents 5,601,362 and 5,803,375, for example. As can be observed
from
these patented vertical feed mixers, they are very large in construction and
therefore
occupy large space in a barn where feedstock is to be dispensed to feed the
animals
housed therein. The augers vertically supported in their containers are driven
by a gear
box coupled to a shaft which is rotated the power take-off of a tractor, thus
requiring the
coupling to a tractor and therefore requiring space.
(0003) When feeding milk producing animals such as cows which are tied in
stalls,
there is provided a mobile vertical feed mixer which is mounted on wheels
which may
be motorised and displaced on a concrete corridor disposed adjacent the
stalls. The
vertical feed mixer has an open-top-end enclosure in which harvested feed
stock is
introduced from the top opening for dispensing to the animals as the feed
mixer is
displaced adjacent the stalls. The dispensing can be done automatically or
manually.
Because space adjacent the stalls is restrictive as well as the height of the
building ,
there is a need to construct such a vertical feed mixer as compact as possible
while
maintaining a reasonable volume of feed stock in the mixer. One type of such
vertical
fee mixer has its vertically supported choppers driven by a motor and a gear
train
assembly supported under the bottom wall of the open-top-end container and
such drive
assembly occupies valuable vertical space which restricts the height of the
feed stock
container due to its use in low ceiling barn structures and therefore
restricts the volume
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of feed stock capable of being disposed in the container. There is therefore a
need to
provide solutions to such vertical animal feed mixers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
(0004) It is a feature of the present invention of to provide a drive
mechanism for a
vertical feed mixer which overcomes the above mentioned disadvantages of the
known
prior art vertical feed mixers using vertical drive augers.
(0005) It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a drive
mechanism for a
vertical feed mixer wherein a gear box of the drive assembly is supported
above a top
wall of the container and housed in a lower end of the auger and wherein the
drive of
the gear box occupies a small restrictive space under the bottom wall of the
container.
(0006) According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present
invention
provides a drive mechanism for a vertical feed mixer which has an open-top-end
container defined by a bottom wall and a circumferential side wall. One or
more
vertically supported augers, having cutting blades mounted thereon, are
rotatively
secured in the container above the bottom wall. The augers are supported at a
lower
end thereof on a gear drive assembly disposed in the lower end of the augers
above the
bottom wall. The gear drive assembly imparts rotation to the augers. The gear
drive
assembly has a coupling drive shaft for connection with a drive coupling of
the augers.
The gear drive assembly has a coupling shaft extending below the bottom wall
of the
container for receiving a rotatable drive of a motor drive train disposed in a
restrictive
space under the bottom wall.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(0007) A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described
with
reference to the accompanying drawings is which:
(0008) Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vertical feed mixer having a
vertically
supported auger driven by the drive mechanism of the present invention;
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(0009) Figure 2 is a side view of Fig. 1 showing the location of the drive
motor to a side
of the container above the bottom wall of the container and the restrictive
space for the
motor drive train;
(0010) Figure 3 is a section view, partly fragmented, illustrating the
location of the
planetary gear assembly housing and the construction of the vertical feed
mixer;
(0011) Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmented side view showing the coupling and
securement of the planetary gear box to the vertical feed mixer and the belt
drive of the
motor;
(0013) Figure 5 is an exploded view showing the component parts of the drive
mechanism of the present invention and associated parts of the vertical feed
mixer, and
(0014) Figure 6 is a top view of the vertical feed mixer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
(0015) Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures 1 and
2, there is
shown generally at 10 a vertical feed mixer of the type adapted with the drive
mechanism of the present invention, as will be described in detail below. The
vertical
feed mixer 10 is comprised generally by an open-top-end container 10' having a
bottom
wall 11 and a circumferential side wall 12. Although not shown, the vertical
feed mixer
is usually mounted on a wheel support undercarriage. A vertically supported
auger 13
is rotatively mounted above the bottom wall 11 and has a support post 14
provided with
a helical vane 15 which tapers in width towards the top end 14' of the support
post 14
and secured thereabout. Cutting blades 16 are also removably secured to the
outer
edge 17 of the helical vane 15 and at predetermined spaced intervals.
(0016) A feed dispensing opening 18 is provided in the circumferential side
wall 12 (see
Fig. 6) adjacent the bottom wall 11 of the container and the size of the
opening is
controlled by a slide gate 19 secured over the outer surface 12'of the side
wall and
displaceable over the opening 18 to vary the size thereof. The slide gate 19
is driven by
a motor 20 which is activated by a control, not shown. As shown in Fig.2, the
bottom
wall 11 has a flat flange wall extension 21 which extends outwardly from the
peripheral
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side wall 12 and on the top surface thereof is mounted a drive motor 22 for
imparting
rotation to the auger 13. A restrictive space 23 is defined under the bottom
wall 11 and
protected between narrow protective flanges or a drive train housing 24 having
a
removable wall for access therein and formed as a narrow space under the
bottom wall
11 and the flange wall extension 21. Brackets 25 are secured under the bottom
wall 11
for securing the vertical feed mixer to a displaceable means, not shown.
(0017) Referring now additionally to Figures 3 and 4, there will be described
the drive
mechanism to impart rotation to the auger 13. It comprises a planetary gear
assembly
30 which is mounted in a cylindrical gear housing 31 which is secured on the
bottom
wall 11 by such means as welding or bolt fasteners. As shown in Fig. 5, the
gear
housing 31 is centrally secured on top of the bottom wall 11. The planetary
gear
assembly 30 is not shown in details and as is obvious to a person skilled in
the art it
may have many gear train configurations. The planetary gear assembly 30 has a
top
coupling drive shaft 32 configured to connect to a coupling connection 33
secured
inside the support post 14 in a lower hollow cylindrical drive coupling cavity
dimensioned to house the cylindrical gear housing 31. The planetary gear
assembly 30
also has a coupling shaft 35 extending below the bottom wall 11 for receiving
a
rotatable drive of the motor 22.
(0018) The coupling shaft 35 of the planetary gear assembly 30 has a driven
pulley 36
secured thereto. Likewise, as better shown in Fig. 5, the motor drive shaft 37
is
provided with a drive pulley 38 located on the same horizontal plane as the
driven pulley
36. The drive pulley 38 is coupled to the driven pulley 36 by endless belts 39
and 39'.
Has herein shown, these pulleys 36 and 38 are double sheave pulleys. The
pulleys and
endless belts may also be constituted by sprockets and an interconnecting
endless link
chain, but such is heavier and more noisy which is undesirable when working
adjacent
animals as the noise is irritating to the animals. The pulleys and belt drive
also can be
fitted in the narrow restrictive space 23 under the bottom wall and thus the
entire drive
assembly occupies very little space under the bottom wall 11 of the vertical
feed mixer
and thus providing a lower profiled apparatus or an increase of the space
inside the
animal feed container 10'.
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(0019) As shown in Fig. 5, the top wall 36 of the cylindrical gear housing 31
is formed
as a circumferential flange wall provided with spaced apart holes 37 to
receive fasteners
(not shown) for securing the planetary gear assembly 30 thereunder. A central
opening
38 is formed by the flanged top wall 36 for the passage of the coupling drive
shaft 32.
As also shown in Fig. 4, the coupling connection 33 is secured to a support
wall 40
welded inside the hollow bottom end of the support post 14 and it maintains
the
chopping member 13 bottom end closely spaced above the bottom wall 11. The
hollow
cylindrical lower end 41 of the support post has a cross-section for close
space fit about
the cylindrical gear housing 31. Because the gear housing is mounted inside
the lower
end of the support post 14, there is provided better torque transfer to the
support post
and a more stable connection and better resistance to lateral loads when hay
bales or
other feed product load is inserted in the open-top-end container.
(0020) As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the lower end 42 of the helical vane 15 of
the
auger 13 extends closely spaced the inner surface of the lower end of the
inwardly
tapered circumferential side wall 12 and accordingly the feed discharge
opening 18. A
vertically disposed cutting blade 43 is removably secured to the outer edge 17
at the
bottom end of the helical vane15 whereby to prevent build-up of chopped feed
products
adjacent the opening against the inner surface of the side wall 12.
(0021) It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious
modifications
of the preferred embodiment described herein, provided such modifications fall
within
the scope of the appended claims. As examples only thereof, the housing 10'can
be
made larger in a stretched oval configuration and housing two augers both
interconnected to the motor drive train described above. Other feed mixtures
may also
be automatically dispensed in the container for admixture with chopped hay or
other
cultivated feed products as it is dispensed through the feed discharge opening
18.
