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EP0196887A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Vermicomposting system
Assignee: National Research Development Corp UK
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Filing: 1986-03-27
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2006-03-27
Abstract
Abstract A composting plant e.g. for use in vermiculture, comprises a cruciform-type breaker bar unit 16 (Figure 4) for moving the bottom layer of compost through the perforated floor of the plant. Alternative designs of breaker bar unit are also described.
Inventors
- 👤 James Stanley Price
- 👤 Keith Ernest Fletcher
- 👤 Richard Stephen Billington
- 👤 Arthur Leonard Wilkin
- 👤 Victor Roger Phillips
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-25 07:23
CPC Classifications
C; C05; C05F; C05F17/00; C05F17/05; Y; Y02; Y02P; Y02P20/00; Y02P20/141; Y02P20/145; Y02W; Y02W30/00; Y02W30/40
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
55 words
A discharge device comprising a container having an apertured floor, one or more material-displacing members engaging with or lying adjacent to the upper surface of the floor, and drive means for moving the one or more members bodily across the floor thereby to urge material in the container downwardly through the apertures in the floor.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
55 words
A discharge device comprising a container having an apertured floor, one or more material-displacing members engaging with or lying adjacent to the upper surface of the floor, and drive means for moving the one or more members bodily across the floor thereby to urge material in the container downwardly through the apertures in the floor.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
61 words
A device as claimed in Claim 1 in which the container is square or rectangular when viewed in plan, and the one or more material-displacing members comprises an elongate member lying parallel to the length or width dimension of the container, the drive means being operative to move the elongate member in directions parallel to the other of these two dimensions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
37 words
A device as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which the material-displacing member includes one or more vertical tines, each tine is apertured and the device includes aerating means for supplying air to these apertures.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
38 words
A device as claimed in any preceding claim in which said elongate member comprises a first such member and the one or more material-displacing members includes a second elongate member arranged at right angles to the first member.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
30 words
A device as claimed in any preceding claim in which the drive means comprises a winch or chain and sprocket system or one or more rams or other linear activators.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
12 words
A vermicomposting system incorporating a discharge device according to any preceding claim.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
58 words
A continuous vermicomposting apparatus as claimed in Claim 6 comprising a container for a charge of worm-containing waste material, feed means for adding further amounts of said material to the top of the charge, the discharge device being effective to remove from the bottom of the charge quantities of the material processed by the worms in the container.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
53 words
An apparatus as claimed in Claim 7 in which the floor of the container comprises a plurality of longitudinally finned or otherwise shaped bars of non-circular cross-section co-operating to provide a floor to the container and rotatable about their longitudinal axes to encourage material from the container to pass through the container floor.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
30 words
An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 6 to 8 including fan means operative to provide a flow of aerating and/or heating air to the undersurface of the charge.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
26 words
An apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 6 to 9 including means for supplying supplementary heating to the middle and/or upper layers of the charge.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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