EP0061335A1
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Pneumatic granular or seed applicator
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1982-03-22
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Granted: —
•
Expires: 2002-03-22
Abstract
Abstract The invention is a pneumatic granular or seed applicator for fertilizer, herbicides or seeds and it includes a vertically situated auger assembly (10, 11, 12) which is connected to the source of the material to be distributed. A distribution casing (13) surrounds the upper discharge end of the auger assembly and blades or vanes (17) are secured to the upper end of the auger shaft to radially distribute the material augered by the auger assembly, outwardly of the distribution casing. Discharge collars (21) are situated around the base of the distribution casing and convey the material to discharge conduits (23) which are conventional and which lead to the normal distribution heads and discharge devices (55). Air under pressure passes through venturi (27) and assists in picking up the material from the discharge collars and conveys it to the various discharge conduits and thence to the individual ground engaging applicators, which are conventional. The assembly ensures a more even distribution of the material being distributed, and as the speed of rotation of the auger assembly can be controlled within limits, the device is well suited for use with a plurality of different materials.
Inventors
- 👤 Charles Balmer
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-30 14:24
CPC Classifications
A; A01; A01C; A01C7/00; A01C7/08; A01C7/081; A01C7/084; A01C15/00; A01C15/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
119 words
A pneumatic applicator for granular materials such as granular fertilizer, herbicides or the like and seeds; characterised by delivery means (10-12) operatively connected to a source of power (39) and to a source (38) of granular material, seed or the like , a distribution casing (13,29) surrounding a discharge end of said delivery means, said distribution casing having a base and an outer wall, means (17,32) for moving said material radially outwards towards the outer wall of said distribution casing, a plural ity of discharge conduits (23) operatively connected to the base of said distribution casing and a source of air (43) operatively connected to said discharge conduits for conveying said material from said casing to said discharge conduits.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
119 words
A pneumatic applicator for granular materials such as granular fertilizer, herbicides or the like and seeds; characterised by delivery means (10-12) operatively connected to a source of power (39) and to a source (38) of granular material, seed or the like , a distribution casing (13,29) surrounding a discharge end of said delivery means, said distribution casing having a base and an outer wall, means (17,32) for moving said material radially outwards towards the outer wall of said distribution casing, a plural ity of discharge conduits (23) operatively connected to the base of said distribution casing and a source of air (43) operatively connected to said discharge conduits for conveying said material from said casing to said discharge conduits.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
81 words
The applicator according to claim 1 characterised in that said delivery means comprises an auger assembly including an auger casing (10), an auger shaft (11) journalled for rotation within said casing and an auger flight (12) surrounding said shaft and being rotatable therewith, said means on the upper end of said auger assembly for moving said material towards the outer wall of said casing including radially extending material moving vanes (17,32) secured to said shaft and rotating therewith, within said casing.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
26 words
The applicator according to clam 2 characterised in that means (39) is provided to vary the speed of rotation of said auger shaft (11) within limits.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
26 words
The applicator according to clam 2 characterised in that means (39) is provided to vary the speed of rotation of said auger shaft (11) within limits.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
80 words
The applicator according to any of claims 1 to 3 characterised is in that an air manifold (25A)/operatively connected to said plurality of discharge conduits (23) surrounding said distribution casing, each discharge conduit including a collar (21) secured to the base of said distribution casing (13) and being operatively connected therethrough, said air manifold (25A) incuding an operative connection to each of said distribution conduits (23) adjacent the upper end thereof and being operatively connected with each of said collars.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
The applicator according to any preceding claim characterised in is that a venturi/formed within said connection between said manifold (25A) and each of said discharge conduits (23).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
38 words
The applicator according to claim 2 or 3 characterised in that said distribution casing (13) includes an upper, substantially horizontal plate (14), closing the upper end thereof, said auger shaft (11) being bearingly supported centrally within said plate.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
77 words
The applicator according to claim 3 characterised in that said distribution casing indudes a support spider (28) adjacent the upper end thereof and spanning said distribution casing (29), said auger shaft (11) being bearingly supported centrally of said spider, and an inverted dish-shaped shroud (33) secured to and enclosing the upper side of said material moving vanes (32) and rotatable therewith, to direct the material moved by said vanes, outwardly and downwardly into said discharge conduits (23).
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
123 words
The applicator according to claim 7 characterised in that said shroud includes an annular, outwardly and downwardly curved flange (33A) being situated spaced inwardly from the inner surface of the wall of said distribution casing, said outwardly and downwardly curved flange and said inner wall of said discharge casing defining an annular venturi (36) therebetween, and an air manifold (24A) operatively connected to the source of air and being operatively connected to the upper end of said distribution casing and communicating, through said venturi, to said discharge conduits (23), said material conveyed by said auger assembly (10-12) being radially directed under said shroud and being deflected downwardly by s'aid annular flange to be picked up by the air stream passing through said venturi.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
71 words
The applicator according to any of claims 2 to 8 characterised in that said distribution casing incudes a substantially vertical annular outer wall (20,29) and an outwardly and downwardly extending annular inner wall (18) extending from the upper end of said auger casing (10), said base of said distribution casing extending between the lower edges of said walls, said walls defining a material guiding chamber for each of said discharge collars.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
20 words
The applicator according to claim 5 charactersied in that said venturi (27) is situated externally of said distributor casing (13).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
49 words
The applicator according to claim 5 characterised in that a plurality of venturi (53) is situated within the interior of said distributor casing (29), each venturi being situated vertically above one of said discharge conduits (23) with the lower end of said venturi terminating spaced above said discharge conduits.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
76 words
The applicator according to claim 7 or 8 characterised by a material moving assembly (62) secured to the upper end of said auger shaft (11) and rotatable therewith and being situated above said material moving vanes (32), and a source of granular material operatively connected to said material moving assembly, said material moving assembly distributing granular material radially outwardly towards the outer wall of said distributor casing (29) to mix with material from said auger assembly.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
116 words
A method of feeding granular material and/or seed from a storage container such as a hopper, to an air stream for entrainment therein characterised by the steps of feeding the granular material and/or seed to a vertically situated auger assembly (10, 11, 12), augering the material and/or seed vertically to the upper end of the auger assembly and into a substantially cylindrical distribution casing (13,29) distributing the granular seed material and/or/radially outwardly towards the wall of the casing and then entraining the granular material and/or seed into an air stream passing through a plurality of downwardly discharge conduits (23) communicating with said distributor casing and through discharge outlets at the distal ends of said conduits (23).
Claim 16
Independent Claim
116 words
A method of feeding granular material and/or seed from a storage container such as a hopper, to an air stream for entrainment therein characterised by the steps of feeding the granular material and/or seed to a vertically situated auger assembly (10, 11, 12), augering the material and/or seed vertically to the upper end of the auger assembly and into a substantially cylindrical distribution casing (13,29) distributing the granular seed material and/or/radially outwardly towards the wall of the casing and then entraining the granular material and/or seed into an air stream passing through a plurality of downwardly discharge conduits (23) communicating with said distributor casing and through discharge outlets at the distal ends of said conduits (23).
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method according to claim 13 characterised by the additional step of controlling the rate of distribution of the granular material and/or seed by varing the speed of the auger assembly.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method according to claim 14 characterisedby including the additional step of introducing an air stream into said distributor casing and through the downwardly extending discharge conduits (23).
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method according to claim 15 characterised by the additional step of passing the air stream through a venturi thereby speeding up the air stream as it passes into the downwardly extending discharge conduits (23) and creating an area of lower pressure in order to assist in the entrainment of the granular material and/or seed.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
41 words
The method according to any of claims 13 to 16 characterised by a further step of introducing a further granular material and/or seed into the upper side of the distributor casing and mixing same with the material from the auger assembly.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
48 words
The method according to claim 17 characterised by the additional step of entraining said further granular material and/or seed into an air stream prior to introducing same into the distributor casing and distributing the further granular material and/or seed radially outwardly towards the wall of the distributor casing.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
190 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, said container having a bottom, an apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance characterised by means (10, 11, 12) for elevating a continuous first stream of said substance to a discharge end a height above the bottom of said bulk container, said elevating means including a lift member (12) for providing positive upward displacement of said substance, means (68) for moving said substance within said bulk container to said elevating means, means (17,32) for distributing said substance flowing from the discharge end of said elevating means, said distributing means including means for separating said substance into a plurality of second streams, a plurality of distribution tubes (23) for directing said substance to output locations, said tubes being connected to said separating means to allow each of said tubes to receive one of said second streams of said substance and means (43) for supplying a stream of air to each of said second streams of said substance to move said substance through said distribution tubes to the output locations.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
190 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, said container having a bottom, an apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance characterised by means (10, 11, 12) for elevating a continuous first stream of said substance to a discharge end a height above the bottom of said bulk container, said elevating means including a lift member (12) for providing positive upward displacement of said substance, means (68) for moving said substance within said bulk container to said elevating means, means (17,32) for distributing said substance flowing from the discharge end of said elevating means, said distributing means including means for separating said substance into a plurality of second streams, a plurality of distribution tubes (23) for directing said substance to output locations, said tubes being connected to said separating means to allow each of said tubes to receive one of said second streams of said substance and means (43) for supplying a stream of air to each of said second streams of said substance to move said substance through said distribution tubes to the output locations.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
75 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 19 characterised in that said elevating means includes a substantially vertical auger for rotation about an axis, said auger being substantially enclosed in a casing (10), said auger having a continuous flight (12) as the lift member of said elevating means, said auger being operatively connected to a source of power, whereby said substance is elevated by said auger to a height above the bottom of said bulk container.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
52 words
An apparatus in accordance with claim 20 characterised in that said auger has a shaft (11) and said distributing means includes a plurality of vanes (17,32) spaced about said shaft above said casing at the discharge end of said auger, said vanes extending outwardly from said shaft and rotating with said shaft.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
222 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the. ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, an apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance characterised by a substantially vertically oriented, rotatable auger having an input end and an output end, said auger being at least partially received within a casing (10), said auger having a shaft (11) with vanes (17,32) attached thereto and extending outwardly therefrom at a location just above said casing (10), said vanes directing outwardly said substance elevated by said auger, means (39) for rotating said auger, a housing extending from said casing about the discharge end of said auger to enclose the discharge end of said auger including said vanes, said housing including a plurality of discharge conduits (23) in a bottom side of said housing, said conduits (23) being equally spaced on a circle concentric with said shaft, whereby said substance elevated by said auger and directed outwardly by said vanes falls downwardly under the influence of gravity through said conduits, a plurality of distribution tubes for directing said substance to output devices (55), each of said conduits being connected to one of said tubes and means for supplying a stream of air to each of said tubes to draw and to entrain said substance for movement to the output devices.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
222 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the. ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, an apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance characterised by a substantially vertically oriented, rotatable auger having an input end and an output end, said auger being at least partially received within a casing (10), said auger having a shaft (11) with vanes (17,32) attached thereto and extending outwardly therefrom at a location just above said casing (10), said vanes directing outwardly said substance elevated by said auger, means (39) for rotating said auger, a housing extending from said casing about the discharge end of said auger to enclose the discharge end of said auger including said vanes, said housing including a plurality of discharge conduits (23) in a bottom side of said housing, said conduits (23) being equally spaced on a circle concentric with said shaft, whereby said substance elevated by said auger and directed outwardly by said vanes falls downwardly under the influence of gravity through said conduits, a plurality of distribution tubes for directing said substance to output devices (55), each of said conduits being connected to one of said tubes and means for supplying a stream of air to each of said tubes to draw and to entrain said substance for movement to the output devices.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
214 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, said container having a bottom, characteris ed by apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance comprising means (10, 11, 12) for elevating a continuous first stream of said substance to a discharge end a height above the bottom of said bulk container, said elevating means including a lift member (12) for providing positive upward displacement of said substance, said elevating means being received at least partially within a casing (10), means for moving said substance within said bulk container to said elevating means, a housing (13,29) extending from said casing about the discharge end of said elevating means to enclose the discharge end of said elevating means, said housing including a plurality of discharge openings in a bottom side of said housing, said openings being spaced apart in a pattern about said casing, a plurality of distribution tubes (23) for directing said substance to output devices (55) each of said openings being connected to one of said tubes and means (43) for supplying a pressurized stream of air into said housing, said air passing through a venturi before entraining said substance and moving said substance through said tubes to the output devices.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
214 words
On an implement for spreading a substance substantially uniformly onto the ground, said implement having a bulk container (38) for holding said substance, said container having a bottom, characteris ed by apparatus for pneumatically distributing said substance comprising means (10, 11, 12) for elevating a continuous first stream of said substance to a discharge end a height above the bottom of said bulk container, said elevating means including a lift member (12) for providing positive upward displacement of said substance, said elevating means being received at least partially within a casing (10), means for moving said substance within said bulk container to said elevating means, a housing (13,29) extending from said casing about the discharge end of said elevating means to enclose the discharge end of said elevating means, said housing including a plurality of discharge openings in a bottom side of said housing, said openings being spaced apart in a pattern about said casing, a plurality of distribution tubes (23) for directing said substance to output devices (55) each of said openings being connected to one of said tubes and means (43) for supplying a pressurized stream of air into said housing, said air passing through a venturi before entraining said substance and moving said substance through said tubes to the output devices.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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