Agricultural airplane loading device

Claim 1

An agricultural airplane loading device, comprising, in combination: (a) a rectangular, wheeled frame having four corners disposed in a common plane of the frame; (b) a hopper mounted on the frame and provided with a lower portion forming a discharge opening arranged adjacent a corner of the frame and adjacent the plane of the frame; (c) conveyor means arranged below the hopper for receiving material from the discharge opening of the hopper and elevating the material above the hopper to a reservoir of an airplane being loaded, the conveyor means including a longitudinally extending housing having an inlet disposed beneath the discharge opening of the hopper and an outlet disposed above the inlet for discharging material to the reservoir of an airplane being loaded, the housing extending upwardly at an angle of substantially 45° from the frame and transverse to the frame substantially at an angle 171/2°, both angles being taken relative to a horizontal plane; and (d) gate means arranged between the conveyor means and the discharge opening of the hopper for controlling flow of material from the hopper to the conveyor means, the gate means including a sliding gate element, and a control mechanism connected to the gate element for actuating same, the mechanism including a pair of handles arranged for permitting the rate of flow of material through the gate means to be controlled from different positions relative to the frame of the loading device, the conveyor means further including an auger disposed on the housing, and drive means mounted on the frame and including a pulley affixed to the auger for rotating same, a mass arranged eccentrically on the pulley for vibrating the hopper when the conveyor means is in operation and preventing bridging and tunnelling of material in the hopper; the hopper being provided with a screen arranged for forming a sieve which reduces the size of lumped and coagulated material discharged on the screen, and a rim disposed around the periphery of the screen for forming side walls extending above a plane of the screen and storing the lumped and coagulated material on the screen in order to provide the screen with sufficient time in order to reduce the size of the lumped and coagulated material, the frame being constructed of a width narrower than a vehicle towing the device for permitting tail lights of the towing vehicle to be visible beyond the frame from the rear of the vehicle.