Feeding mechanism for granular material

Claim 1

In combination: A conveyor comprising a cable, a plurality of circular flights secured to said cable at spaced intervals therealong, a tube, having an inside diameter substantially the same as the diameter of said flights, through which said cable passes, and driving and idler wheels for said cable spaced beyond the ends of said tube; a bulk container for granular material having an upwardly concave, generally conical bottom and a central discharge chamber of reduced size located below and opening into said bottom and including a peripheral discharge orifice of limited area opening downwardly into said tube; a feed mechanism including a vertical central shaft passing upward to terminate within said chamber, an impeller carried by said shaft and including a plurality of peripherally located spaced radial blades for displacing material in said chamber to said peripheral opening for discharge therethrough, an upwardly convex conical center for guiding loose material in said chamber outwardly to the blades of said impeller, and means actuated by said drive shaft for preventing bridging and agglomeration of said material in said chamber; a source of driving power; and means connecting said source to actuate said conveyor, the linear spacing of said flights on said cable being an integral multiple of the peripheral spacing of said blades around said impeller, and said blades projecting partially through said discharge orifice to engage said flights and drive said impeller from the conveyor.