Gate openers for farming equipment.
Truck hopper trailers are used to transport bulk products such as grain. The trailer hoppers typically have a bottom opening which is covered by a slidable gate during transit. The gate may be opened and closed by the applying a torque force to a capstan of a rack and pinion arrangement connected to the gate, or using a lever arrangement. A torque force to operate a rack and pinion arrangement may be applied by a manual turning of the capstan using a tool such as a wrench, which requires considerable physical labour, or through an automated opener system which uses a motor mounted to the trailer to apply the torque force. However, there are a number of disadvantages with such automated opener systems, the most prominent disadvantages being cost, longevity of the system, and reduction of trailer gate integrity.
For example, a Super-13 trailer typically has numerous trailer hopper gates, and the cost of automating each trailer gate involves the installation of a separate motor, as well as other necessary structural components to each gate. This may result in significant costs, as well as long installation times. The gate itself may also need to be modified to accommodate an automated system, and accordingly may negatively affect the integrity of the gate itself. Furthermore, electric units mounted directly to the hopper gates suffer from maintenance issues, as such units, which are mounted to the sides or bottom of the trailer, are typically exposed to impact from stones as well as excessive salt and moisture, which may damage their internal components.
In one embodiment, there is provided a trailer hopper having a gate and gate control assembly, the gate having a closed position and an open position, the gate control assembly having a length. The gate control assembly has an actuator mounted or mountable on an auger; a driver connected to the actuator through a keyed telescoping assembly for adjusting the length of the gate control assembly; and one or more universal joints between the actuator and the driver. There may be a torque limiter between the actuator and the driver.
In another embodiment, there is provided a gate control assembly for use with a bin having a gate, the gate having a closed position and an open position. The gate control assembly has an actuator mountable on the bin; a driver adapted to be secured to the gate; a force limiter mounted to the actuator; and a visual indication system for displaying any one of flow rate, and the positioning of the gate.
In yet another embodiment, there is provided a hopper assembly for an auger, the auger having an opening for receiving a product to be conveyed from a product outlet. The hopper assembly has a flexible housing, disposed above the opening of the auger, having an upper inlet; a first actuator configured to lower and raise the upper inlet of the housing; a gate mountable over the opening of the auger; and a second actuator configured to move the gate between an open position and a closed position.
These and other aspects of the device and method are set out in the claims.
Embodiments will now be described with reference to the figures, in which like reference characters denote like elements, by way of example, and in which:
Immaterial modifications may be made to the embodiments described here without departing from what is covered by the claims.
As shown in
The assembly 100 may be used with a trailer hopper 140 (hereinafter, sometimes simply referred to as “hopper 140”). The view of
When the gate is in an open position, product 150 can flow through the opening at the bottom of the hopper 140, and when the gate 142 is in a closed position, the opening of the hopper 140 is blocked. A catch basin 124 may catch the product 150 for the auger 130 to pick it up. The driver 104 and actuator 102 may be connected by a removable connection, for example using square tubing 126, to enable the auger and actuator to be easily separated from the hopper and driver. The auger may thus be moved from one hopper to another each hopper having its own gate and driver.
When the gate control assembly 100 is mounted on the auger 130, this allows the assembly to be used with a plurality of hoppers. One exemplary method of mounting the assembly 100 to the auger 130 is through a friction fit over the auger 130, which may be achieved by use of compression mounted split pipe bolted together. The assembly 100 may be mounted to the auger 130 using detachably interlocking members including a first member 120 and a second member 122, with the first member 120 mounted on the assembly 100 and the second member 122 mounted on the auger 130. The complementary interlocking system may allow the assembly 100 to be detached from one auger, such as the auger 130, and quickly installed on another auger with a pre-installed second member 122. In the embodiment shown in
The actuator 102 may be a motor that is configured to rotate the driver 104, which may be a rack and pinion assembly, connected to the gate 142. Furthermore, the actuator 102 may be paired with a remote control receiver assembly 116 which allows the actuator 102 to be powered on and off remotely. The remote control receiver assembly 116 may receive signals from a remote control unit, not shown in
Between the driver 104 and the actuator 102 there may be a torque limiter, such as a slip clutch 106 which prevents excess force from being applied to the driver 104 by the actuator 102. Excess force from the actuator 102 may cause damage to any of the gate 142, the driver 104, or the actuator 102 itself.
There are also provided components which allow for increased flexibility in the connection between the driver 104 and the actuator 102. Accordingly, there is provided at least one universal joint 108, located between the actuator 102 and driver 104 which allows for variations in connection angle between the assembly 100 and the gate 142. There is also a keyed telescoping assembly 110, such as a driveshaft, which allows for variations in the connection length between the assembly 100 and the gate 142. The keyed telescoping assembly 110 may be mounted between the driver 104 and actuator 102, and there may be a plurality of universal joints between the actuator 102 and the keyed telescoping assembly 110 (for example, joint 108); and/or the driver 104 and the keyed telescoping assembly 110 (for example, joint 112) for increased flexibility.
In another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
The assembly 200 is mountable to a supporting structure 244, such as a leg of the bin 240. The supporting structure may be any support structure that either outweighs or outmuscles the amount of drag or friction between the slide gate and the product itself in both the opening and closing directions. The assembly 200 may be mounted using detachably interlocking members including a first member 220 and a second member 222, with the first member 220 configured to be mounted on the assembly 200 and the second member 222 mounted on the bin 240. The detachably interlocking members 220 and 222 may allow the assembly 200 to be detached from one bin and quickly installed on another bin with a pre-installed second member 222. Shown in
According to this embodiment, there is also provided a linear actuator 202 to move the gate 242. The actuator 202 may be connected to the gate using a linear force transmission arrangement. This may be done with a conventionally driven gate regardless of the gate's driving arrangement; in the case of a rack and pinion the rack and pinion will freewheel when the actuator is used. A gate could also be adapted to work with this actuator only, and not have a separate driving arrangement. For a leverage driven gate, the linear actuator could alternatively connect to the lever (not shown) instead of the gate itself.
The linear force transmission arrangement may include a quick attach mount or hard mount. In the embodiment shown, it includes a quick attach mount which may be the same as or different from, but shown as the same as, the quick attach mount comprising members 220 and 222 described above. The linear actuator 202 may be a screw jack configured to provide linear opening and closing force. However, the gate 242 may alternatively also be opened by the application of torque to a driver (not shown in
Between the driver 204 and the actuator 202 there is a force limiter, such as a slip clutch where the driver 204 is a rack and pinion arrangement (which, like the linear force transmission arrangement, may also comprise a quick attach mount); or as shown in
In this embodiment, a visual indication system 218 is also provided, which may display any one of the flow rate (and whether max flow has been achieved), as well as whether the gate 242 is opened or closed. The visual indication system 218 may be a control box that also supplies power or hydraulic fluid/air to the assembly 200 through a cable or hose 232. The visual display allows for greater feedback and control over the flow rate of the product to be conveyed. The visual indication system 218 may include a microswitch 214 mounted between the actuator 202 and the driver 204 and may be connected to the visual indication system 218 using line 234 to control a flow indicator light 224. The microswitch 214 may be configured to detect and convey to the visual indication system 218 the positioning of the actuator 202, the driver 204 and/or the gate 242 to provide feedback on the positioning of the gate 242 and flow rate. The spring loaded clip 206 cooperates with the micro switch 214 upon contact to either set off an indicator light that the gate is open to the desired setting or cuts power to the opening side of the circuit. Preferably, the flow of product out of the bin is based on the speed at which the product conveyor will move it away without spilling on the ground based on various factors including: different augers, different product types and different cleanliness levels required for the product being moved. If the desired setting is exceeded and the spring loaded clip 206 slips from the mount, the light in the visual indication system 218 will reflect the broken circuits which will allow the operator to minimize any product from being spilled on the ground. The visual indication system 218 may also have any one or more of a bin opening light 226, which may for example light up while the gate is in motion moving towards more open, and a bin closing light 228. A flow indicator light may, for example, light up when a desired max flow is reached. The desired max flow may be set up on a bin by bin basis as slidegates vary in size and augers/conveyors vary in transport rate. For example, the max flow may be indicated when the slidegate is fully opened, or when the slidegate is opened to a degree that corresponds to the transport capacity of an auger or conveyor. The maximum flow position may be set by placing a microswitch to be operated when the gate is in the desired maximum flow position.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
At the top of the housing 310, there is an upper inlet 312 for receiving the product to be conveyed. The upper inlet 312 may be supported by a rigid frame 314, which may be made of a metal material. Preferably, the size of the upper inlet 312 corresponds to the size of the product outlet 342 to prevent any leakage of product between the product outlet 342 and the housing 310 when the upper inlet 312 is in a raised position, as described below.
Also provided within the housing is a first actuator 302 which is designed to effect up and down movement, and is used to raise and lower the upper inlet 312. Accordingly, the upper inlet 312 may be raised against the product outlet 342 leaving zero clearance between the two. This can be used to prevent product overflow and spillage even when the auger 350 ceases operation or is otherwise full. The first actuator 302 may be mounted to the auger 350 using a friction fit, as described above in the other exemplary embodiments.
There is also provided a second actuator 304 which is connected to a gate 306. The gate 306 is designed to be able to cover the opening 352 of the auger 350. The second actuator 304 moves the gate 306 between a closed position to substantially block the opening 352 of the auger 350, and an open position to permit flow of product into the opening 352 of the auger 350. The gate 306 may be a sliding gate which is extended and retracted by the second actuator 304. The movable gate 306 may be further covered by a stationary flat plate 307 that allows the gate 306 to slide under it.
Furthermore, as shown in
In the claims, the word “comprising” is used in its inclusive sense and does not exclude other elements being present. The indefinite articles “a” and “an” before a claim feature do not exclude more than one of the feature being present. Each one of the individual features described here may be used in one or more embodiments and is not, by virtue only of being described here, to be construed as essential to all embodiments as defined by the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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3018330 | Sep 2018 | CA | national |