GB1599315A

GB1599315A - Weighing apparatus for forage feeders and the like

Info

Publication number: GB1599315A
Application number: GB2101077A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1978-05-18
Filing date: 1978-05-18
Publication date: 1981-09-30

Description

(54) WEIGHING APPARATUS FOR FORAGE FEEDERS AND THE LIKE (71) I, ARCHIBALD WATSON KIDD, of Seend Close. Seend. Melksham, Wiltshire, of British Nationality, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method be which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to weighing apparatus for forage feeders and the like.

On conventional feeders. or mixer wagons, as used on farms for feeding livestock it is well known that weighing facilities can be provided by means of load cells, or strain gauges, which are connected to a suitable electrical box which summates the signals and gives a digitial read-out of the load in the machine. Such digital read-out is, however. not very covenient for the tractor driver since the figures are necessarily small and are not very easy to read from the tractor seat. Furthemore, during the process of loading the wagon which is usually done with a separate loading machine. the driver has to get down from the loader each time he changes from one ingredient of the mix to another in order to reset the weighing device.While the man is loading the machine it is normally not possible for him to see the digital read-out figures and this is sometimes overcome by having battery operated electric lights. preferably one on each side of the Forage Wagon so that the driver can tell when he has added sufficient of any particular ingredient because the light will shine. A further disadvantage of this system is that the driver is involved in a certain amount of arithemtic since when putting together a complete diet for animals he usually has to deal with a number of ingredients such as chopped hay, chopped straw, soya bean meal, compounded dairy meal. sugar beet pulp cubes, mineral additives, and so on. He usually has a piece of paper with the diet written down rather like a recipe and he has to have recourse to resetting the weighing device after putting in each separate ingredient.

The object of this invention is to overcome these disadvantages.

One form of weighing apparatus applied to a two wheeled forage feeder is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the feeder and dial; Figure 2 is a detail view of the dial; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic plan view of the apparatus and feeder Figure 4 and 5 are side views of the frame of the feeder and wheel axle; Figure 6 is a front view of the axle; Figure 7 is a perspective view of the front part of the draw bar and Figure 8 is an internal section of the front end of Figure 7.

Referring to the drawings, and first to Figure 3, the apparatus comprises three hydrostatic load cells A, B and C; the cells A and B being provided between the frame 2 of the feeder and the wheel axle 4 and the cell C being provided on the draw bar 6. The three cells are connected to a summation pressure gauge 8 for indicating the total load.

Turning now to Figures 1 and 2, the load indicator 8 is fixed to the top of a vertical post 10 mounted in a socket 12 so as to swivel therein. The socket 12 is fixed to a bracket 14 projecting forwardly from the hopper 16 of the feeder, the parts being arranged so that the indicator stands above the top of the feeder. The dial 18 of the indicator is comparatively large e.g. 12" - 18" in diameter, and the pointer 20 is arranged to start at zero and to move round to the maximum load permissible in the vehicle.

Movable tabs 22 are provided around the periphery of the dial 18. These tabs can be fixed in any position by means for example of set screws 24. These tabs 22 can be either of different colours or can be big enough to write or print thereon a meaningful sign thus the whole diet can be set by the farmer by correctly positioning the tabs with the name or symbol for the various ingredients.

During loading the dial 18 is made to face backwards away from the tractor and towards the rear of the vehicle. in which position it can be read directly from either side while loading proceeds, and all the tractor driver has to do when loading is to watch the pointer 20 go from one tab 22 to another and the change to the next ingredient and so on. This he can do from the loader without getting down so that the whole operation is considerably simplified.

During discharge of the mixed feed the dial 18 will be turned around to face the tractor so that the driver can see how much fodder has been delivered.

Figures 4 - 8 illustrate the means by which the load cells A. B and C are fitted to the feeder. Figure 4 shows a load cell A or B in compression between the axle 4 and the frame 2 of the machine at the point adjacent to one of the wheels. It will be seen that in order to load the load cell in an almost perfectly vertical direction the axle 4 is constrained on a radius arm 26 pivoted at 28 from suitable brackets 30 attached to the machine frame 2. The axle 4 is prevented from compressing the cell to much in the case of bouncing over rough ground by an adjustable bolt 32.

Figure 5 shows means for preventing the axle 4 dropping away too far if the wheel becomes airborne. This is done by means of rods 34 welded to the frame 2 carrving a cross bar 36 secured by nuts 38.

Figure 6 shows a method of constraining the axle 4 in a sideways direction. The frame 2 is provided with brackets 40 one at each side carrying radius rods 42 the inner ends of which are supported by very strong brackets 44 welded on the axle 4. Both ends of the radius rods 42 are threaded and provided with nuts 46. By correctly adjusting the length of the radius rods 42 either end of the axle 4 can move up and down slightly without moving sideways.

Referring to Figures 7 and 8 the tongue 48 of the draw bar 6 pivots on an antifriction bearing 50 about a pin 52. The load cell C is arranged to be compressed between the base plate 54 of the draw bar 6 and the inner end 56 of the pivotted tongue 48.

An adjustable bolt 58 prevents the drawbar delivering an overload due to dynamic shock on to the load cell C, while the tongue 48 of the drawbar is prevented from falling down when unloaded by a protuberance 60 which only has slight clearance from the base plate 54 of the drawbar section. In this way a load reading on the drawbar can be obtained without also shock readings or slackness. A casing 62 encloses the major part of the pivoted tongue 48 and load cell C.

Alternatively the drawbar tongue member can be pivotted at its inner or rearward end and the load cell mounted on top of it at some intermediate distance between the pivot and the hitching point. In this case the drawbar structure has to be arranged to press down on to the top of the load cell.

In only remains for the indicator dial to be able to summate the three pressure readings in the correct ratio for an accurate load reading to be obtained.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. Weighing apparatus for a forage feed er comprising one or more load cells provided on the feed wagon connected to a pressure gauge having a readily visible dial which is turnable so as to be viewed from more than one direction.

2. Weighing apparatus according to Claim 1. wherein the said dial is positioned above the feeder at or near the front thereof.

3. Weighing apparatus according to Claim 2, wherein the pressure gauge is mounted on a bracket projecting from the hopper of the feed wagon and fixed to a post arranged to swivel in a socket fixed to the said bracket.

4. Weighing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein moveble tabs for bearing data are arranged around the periphery of the dial.

5. Weighing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein three hydrostatic load cells are provided, two of which are mounted between the frame of the feed wagon and the wheel axle and the third cell is on the drawbar.

6. Weighing apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein means are provided for constraining the axle so that the load cells thereon are loaded on a vertical direction.

7. Weighing apparatus according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, wherein means are provided for constraining the axle in a sideways direction.

8. Weighing apparatus according to Claim 5 or Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein means are provided for preventing the axle dropping too far in the event of the ground wheel becoming air borne.

9. Weighing apparatus according to any one of Claims 5 to 8 wherein means are provided for limiting the compression on the cells.

10. Drawbar according to Claim 5 wherein the front of the drawbar is provided with a pivotted tongue, the third load cell being arranged between the said tongue and a fixed part of the drawbar.

11. Weighing apparatus substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. of different colours or can be big enough to write or print thereon a meaningful sign thus the whole diet can be set by the farmer by correctly positioning the tabs with the name or symbol for the various ingredients. During loading the dial 18 is made to face backwards away from the tractor and towards the rear of the vehicle. in which position it can be read directly from either side while loading proceeds, and all the tractor driver has to do when loading is to watch the pointer 20 go from one tab 22 to another and the change to the next ingredient and so on. This he can do from the loader without getting down so that the whole operation is considerably simplified. During discharge of the mixed feed the dial 18 will be turned around to face the tractor so that the driver can see how much fodder has been delivered. Figures 4 - 8 illustrate the means by which the load cells A. B and C are fitted to the feeder. Figure 4 shows a load cell A or B in compression between the axle 4 and the frame 2 of the machine at the point adjacent to one of the wheels. It will be seen that in order to load the load cell in an almost perfectly vertical direction the axle 4 is constrained on a radius arm 26 pivoted at 28 from suitable brackets 30 attached to the machine frame 2. The axle 4 is prevented from compressing the cell to much in the case of bouncing over rough ground by an adjustable bolt 32. Figure 5 shows means for preventing the axle 4 dropping away too far if the wheel becomes airborne. This is done by means of rods 34 welded to the frame 2 carrving a cross bar 36 secured by nuts 38. Figure 6 shows a method of constraining the axle 4 in a sideways direction. The frame 2 is provided with brackets 40 one at each side carrying radius rods 42 the inner ends of which are supported by very strong brackets 44 welded on the axle 4. Both ends of the radius rods 42 are threaded and provided with nuts 46. By correctly adjusting the length of the radius rods 42 either end of the axle 4 can move up and down slightly without moving sideways. Referring to Figures 7 and 8 the tongue 48 of the draw bar 6 pivots on an antifriction bearing 50 about a pin 52. The load cell C is arranged to be compressed between the base plate 54 of the draw bar 6 and the inner end 56 of the pivotted tongue 48. An adjustable bolt 58 prevents the drawbar delivering an overload due to dynamic shock on to the load cell C, while the tongue 48 of the drawbar is prevented from falling down when unloaded by a protuberance 60 which only has slight clearance from the base plate 54 of the drawbar section. In this way a load reading on the drawbar can be obtained without also shock readings or slackness. A casing 62 encloses the major part of the pivoted tongue 48 and load cell C. Alternatively the drawbar tongue member can be pivotted at its inner or rearward end and the load cell mounted on top of it at some intermediate distance between the pivot and the hitching point. In this case the drawbar structure has to be arranged to press down on to the top of the load cell. In only remains for the indicator dial to be able to summate the three pressure readings in the correct ratio for an accurate load reading to be obtained. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. Weighing apparatus for a forage feed er comprising one or more load cells provided on the feed wagon connected to a pressure gauge having a readily visible dial which is turnable so as to be viewed from more than one direction.

12. A forage feeder fitted with a

weighing apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims.