Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – Combined or convertible
Patent
1988-09-06
1991-07-23
Rosenbaum, Mark
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
Combined or convertible
2411864, 241243, 2412921, B02C 1912
Patent
active
050336835
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a device for chopping bales, especially round bales.
Conventionally, hay or other fodder in a round bale is removed by peeling the outer layer from the bale and discharging the fodder directly for use. Fodder in this form consists of relatively long stems which is not satisfactory for all uses. It has been proposed to comminute the fodder directly after removal from the bale by feeding the fodder through a rotary cutter assembly. However, previous attempts to achieve comminution directly after removal from the bale have been unsatisfactory in that substantial power input is required to drive the cutter assembly. There is also a tendency for the fodder to remain in contact with the cutter assembly for such a period that it is comminuted into particles of too small a size.
According to the present invention, there is provided a device for chopping bales, comprising rotary cutter means mounted for rotation about a substantially horizontal axis, means for supporting a bale with the lower part of the bale adjacent the cutter means and for tumbling or rotating the bale such that an outer layer is removed from the bale and is fed to the cutter means to be comminuted by the cutter means and discharged by the rotation of the cutter means, and means operative to move the bale periodically further away from the cutter means.
Preferably, the supporting means is adapted to support a round bale with its axis substantially horizontal and to rotate the bale about said axis.
Further according to the present invention, there is provided a device for chopping round bales comprising rotary cutter means having cutting elements spaced in the direction of its axis of rotation, means for supporting and rotating a bale about an axis substantially parallel to that of the cutter means and to bias the bale towards the cutter means whereby to separate an outer layer from the bale and feed it to the cutter means, said cutter means when rotating inducing an air flow to draw matter removed from the bale into a zone of action of the cutter means for comminution and for subsequent discharge, and means for periodically moving the bale away from the cutter means to enhance the airflow.
An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bale peeling and chopping device in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic end elevation in the direction of arrow "A" in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic transverse section along line B--B of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a schematic end elevation of a cutter drum: and
FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic plan views of different forms of blade for the drum.
As shown in the drawings, a device for peeling and chopping round bales comprises an elevated bale supporting structure comprising opposed side walls 2 and a bale support surface 4 extending between the side walls and inclined downwardly from one end to an opposing end. The inclined bale support surface is defined by an endless conveyor comprising conveyor chains 6 having flights 8 of bar-like form and which extend between the side walls 2. The conveyor chains are entrained around driving sprockets 10 on a driving shaft 12 and sprockets 14 on an idle shaft 16.
Immediately downstream of the lower end of the conveyor 4 is a cutter drum 20 which extends the width of the conveyor. The cutter drum 20 is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis parallel with that of the driving and idle shafts 12, 16 and carries flail blades 22 arranged at intervals along the length of the drum. Adjacent blades are equi-angularly spaced around the axis of the drum. As shown, the drum has four such blades arranged along its length, adjacent blades being angularly spaced by 90.degree.. Each blade 22 is pivotally mounted on the drum about an shaft 24 parallel to that of the drum and rotation of the drum causes the blades to swing outwardly, as shown in FIG. 3.
The cutter drum 20 is enclosed within a housing comprising a part-cyli
REFERENCES:
patent: 3208491 (1965-09-01), Bliss
patent: 4524916 (1985-06-01), Keyes et al.
Rosenbaum Mark
Underhaug
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