Method and apparatus for delivering large quantities of feed and the like

Claim 1

A poultry feeder comprising a high capacity conveyor extending from a source of supply of mixed poultry feed to a plurality of spaced apart feeding stations of simultaneously delivering generally uniform quantities and mixtures of said feed to said plurality of feed stations, said conveyor including an elongated generally horizontally disposed hollow tube having a predetermined internal diameter, said tube having a plurality of spaced outlet holes disposed in a helical array therealong and respectively associated with successive feeding stations, said holes being arranged so that the helical array starts adjacent said source of feed supply and at one side of the tube as viewed from an end of the conveyor remote from said source of supply and finishes generally at the bottom of the tube, all of said holes between the start and the finish of said array being substantially at said one side of the tube and means for imparting to the feed mixture a generally helical rolling and mixing motion extending generally circumferentially in a direction extending from said one tube side toward the bottom around and longitudinally of the tube and thereby substantially simultaneously projecting generally uniform quantities of the feed through all of the outlet holes, said means comprising an extended pitch centerless auger rotatably disposed in said tube and having a diameter substantially the same as said internal diameter, and drive means connected with the auger for rotating the auger at a speed for obtaining said rolling and mixing motion of the feed, said tube having a nominal diameter of about one and one-half inches, said centerless auger having a nominal pitch of about two and one quarter inches, and said drive means having an output driving said auger at about 354 r.p.m.