Abstract: This invention concerns an aircraft cargo loader comprising a deck platform; a front and a rear wheel assembly units; and a scissor assembly extending under the platform for supporting it and move it between an open and close position. The scissor comprises a first and a second elongated arm pivotally connected by a swivel joint. Each of the first and second elongated members have an upper end pivotally attached to the deck platform and a lower end pivotally connected to the rear and front wheel assembly unit respectively. One of the first and second elongated members is articulated and comprising an upper segment pivotally connected to a lower segment. The loader comprises a first controllable actuator to move the scissor assembly between the open and close positions and a second controllable actuator to actuate the upper segment relative to the lower segment so as to tilt the deck platform longitudinally.

Abstract: A container for example for a seeder includes a filling conveyor mounted on one with a bottom hopper and an upper filling spout with the conveyor being movable in a direction inwardly and outwardly relative to the side of the container to different positions relative to the container for cooperation with a supply. This is achieved by mounting the conveyor on a swivel coupling at the outer end of an arm which can be raised and lowered by pivotal movement about an inner end at the container. The hopper is supported on two pairs of ground wheels, each pair being arranged on a respective side of the hopper for supporting the respective side and each pair comprising a respective one of a pair of castor wheels mounted at respective ends of a pivotal beam extending along the respective side of the hopper and pivotal about an axis transverse to the hopper.

Abstract: A material unloader has a frame for removably mounting to the side of a dump truck. The frame has a platform, a pair of longitudinal flanges coupled together by a stabilizing bracket, a plurality of cross-braces extending between the flanges, inclined side walls, a back plate and a height adjustment chain. The platform supports a chain driven conveyor assembly including an endless drive mechanism having a pair of parallel drive chains connected together by a plurality of bars. The assembly includes a lower end drivably located about a pair of drive sprockets secured to a transverse drive shaft, and an upper end trained about idler sprockets mounted on a traverse shaft. The unloader has a power train powered by a hydraulic fluid system of the dump truck, and includes a hydraulic motor, a gearbox and a driveshaft.

Abstract: A method for operating a package emptying station having a work station, in which an emptying step is performed, an inlet via which the package to be emptied is inserted into the work station, an outlet via which the emptied package is ejected, and a product outlet through which the emptied contents of the package is discharged. Endless tubular film packs are provided both at the inlet and also at the package outlet which seal off the inlet and the outlet and encase the package to be emptied or the emptied package during the insertion or corresponding ejection of the package. The film is sealed off and severed between individual packages such that the interior and the exterior do not come into contact. In this manner, both contamination of the package contents by environmental substances and also any contamination of the environment by the package contents can be avoided.

Abstract: An agricultural commodity cart loading conveyor apparatus comprises a conveyor mounted to an agricultural commodity cart. A hopper is pivotally attached to the lower end of the conveyor tube and a hopper conveyor section is mounted along a bottom of the hopper. The hopper pivots from an extended position to a folded position. In the extended position the hopper is oriented at an angle to the conveyor tube such that the hopper extends along the ground when the conveyor is in the operating position, and is connected to the lower end of the conveyor tube such that the hopper conveyor section conveys material entering the hopper into the lower end of the conveyor tube for conveyance up the conveyor tube. A lock is operative to lock the hopper and conveyor together when the hopper is in the extended position. Hydraulic cylinders can be provided to facilitate use with larger conveyors.

Abstract: A transporter is adapted to tip by using bilateral rams on opposite sides of a main compartment in the form of an open topped bin. The main bin is V-shaped in profile and when the trailer is tipped a conveyor underneath the bin raises an ingredient flowing from the bin. The bin is divided by flow-promoting dividers which are asymmetric in profile, each divider has a front face defined by an included angle “A” of about 34° and a rear face defined by an included angle “B” of about 75°, measured from the horizontal when the bin is in a horizontal transport position. Faces of adjacent dividers converge to a flow through passage that an ingredient flows along the V-sides of the bin and the faces directly through the flow through passages.

Abstract: The subject matter comprises shaped mixtures of valuable materials for the stimulation and cultivation of plant growth, said materials containing plant nutrients and/or plant-protective agents in admixture with a thermoplastic binder. According to the invention the mixtures of valuable materials, which mixtures have in particular been shaped as fertilizer rods, are characterized in that they contain, as the binder, a starch that has been thermomechanically digested at elevated pressures and temperatures.The invention further relates to the process for producing these multi-component mixtures and to the use of thermomechanically digested starch, optionally in admixture with inferior amounts of further biologically compatible binder components, as a biologically degradable binder for mixtures of valuable materials of the type described.

Abstract: A collection system of recyclable waste includes one or more central vehicles loaded by one or more satellite vehicles all which segregate recyclable materials from non-recyclable materials. The central vehicles are loaded through openings matched to the bins on the satellite vehicles, the latter which may dump their contents along different axes, permitting the bins to be sized flexibly to the openings of the central vehicle and allowing the waste to be loaded and unloaded with a minimum of labor and with reduced risk of commingling. The axis of dumping of the bins and the placement of the receiving openings of the collecting vehicles allow efficient unloading of the segregated material without interference from traffic or unnecessary manual operation.

Abstract: An apparatus for collecting litter from the ground includes a frame adapted for movement along the ground, a hopper mounted at one end of the frame; and a collector assembly supported on the frame. The collector assembly includes a pair of rollers having a plurality of flexible fingers disposed radially on the periphery thereof, the rollers being substantially parallel to each other and disposed in a plane that is substantially parallel to the ground. The rollers are arranged so that the fingers on one of the pair of rollers intermesh with the fingers of the other of the pair of rollers so as to be able to lift litter between them. The apparatus further includes a device for conveying litter lifted by the pair of rollers to the hopper.

Abstract: Material handling apparatus for conveying loose material into an elongated container such as a railroad car. An endless belt conveyor is mounted above and extends the full length of the container. A plurality of equally-spaced, individually, selectively operable discharge stations are disposed along the conveyor for discharging material off the sides of the conveyor into the elongated container, thereby providing for uniform loading of the car. Mechanism is provided for raising the conveyor above the container to permit pivotal side dumping of the container without engagement between the container and the conveyor.

Abstract: A lightweight salt and sand spreader dump truck box having a first sub-frame with elongated longitudinal channel members formed from sheet metal and a conveyor frame on which a conveyor is mounted longitudinally of the dump box at the floor thereof near a side wall of the dump box, wherein the conveyor frame is integral with the sub-frame. A second sub-frame is pivoted about a longitudinal axis adjacent the conveyor frame on the opposite side from the first side frame member and includes a wall member which, when in a down position, is flush with a side frame member of the first sub-frame.

Abstract: A new and improved dump truck having an integrated spreader system which permits the truck to be readily converted between a normal dump mode of operation and a spreader mode of operation. The integrated spreader system comprises a longitudinally extending conveyor structurally integrated into the bottom structure of the dump body of the truck and a spreader mounted on the truck frame at the rear of the truck.

Abstract: A machine for gathering and collecting particles from a ground surface or the like includes an upwardly inclined conveyor or elevator mounted on the side of a transport vehicle and having a lower receiving end cooperative with forwardly diverging gathering arms which guide particles on the ground surface to the receiving end of the conveyor for transfer to an upper conveyor end where the particles are discharged into a receptacle. The conveyor is supported on the transport vehicle by a rigid truss frame arrangement including upper and lower pivot arms having ball joint connection to the conveyor so as to allow rotation of the conveyor substantially about its longitudinal axis in response to changes in ground contour. The conveyor is movable between lowered operating and raised transport positions. Counterbalance springs limit the contact force of the conveyor acting on the ground surface during operation.

Abstract: A bale accumulator is provided for use in conjunction with a baler from which, during operation, bales successively are discharged. The accumulator comprises a bale receiving table movable between a home position for receiving a bale from the baler and a bale transfer position. A loadbed is disposed to receive bales from the bale receiving table and to accumulate a plurality of bales thereon. The bale receiving table is pivotally mounted on a shuttle mechanism which itself is movable along a transverse linear path between retracted and extended positions. When the bale receiving table is in its home position, it is located in a lower position with the shuttle mechanism assuming its retracted position. In this condition the bale receiving table is disposed at least partially vertically underneath the loadbed. Positioning means are provided for moving the receiving table from its home position underneath the loadbed to its bale transfer position generally alongside and at the level of the loadbed.

Abstract: A bale accumulator is provided for use in conjunction with a baler from which, during operation, bales successively are discharged. The accumulator comprises a bale receiving table movable between a home position for receiving a bale from the baler and a bale transfer position. A loadbed is disposed to receive bales from the bale receiving table and to accumulate a plurality of bales thereon. The bale receiving table is pivotally mounted on a shuttle mechanism which itself is movable along a transverse linear path between retracted and extended positions. A table positioning mechanism is provided for moving the receiving table from its home position to its bale transfer position and vice versa. A loadbed positioning mechanism pivots the loadbed from a horizontal home position for accumulating a plurality of bales thereon to a bale dumping position and vice versa.

Abstract: A spreader 10, cooperating with a dump body 11 having a conventional tailgate 20, includes a conveyor 15 extending through an opening 12 in the lower region of tailgate 20 to rest on bottom 13 of body 11 and extend aft of tailgate 20. A hopper 30 underneath a rear end of conveyor 15 receives rearward flowing material that it guides downward to a spinner 50 arranged below hopper 30. The conveyor 15, hopper 30, and spinner 50 are all removable from tailgate 20 and dump body 11 so that the truck can be used conventionally as a dump truck. When used as a spreader 10 with tailgate 20 closed, conveyor 15 conveys material from body 11 aft through the opening in tailgate 20 to spinner 50 at the rear end of conveyor 15. By tilting dump body 11 with tailgate 20 closed, a partial load can be shifted aft against tailgate 20 where it overlies conveyor 15 and can then be conveyed to spinner 50 after dump body 11 is leveled.

Abstract: A fowl harvesting apparatus receives fowl which are conveyed upwardly and deposited in a metering tray which actuates a switch to cut off the conveyor when a desired number of fowl have been deposited in the tray. The tray is then moved downwardly on a supporting framework to be positioned adjacent an open coop compartment of a multi-compartment coop unit following which the tray is pivoted to deposit the fowl in the associated coop compartment. The multi-compartment coop unit is shiftable into one of two positions in which one of two vertically aligned banks of coop compartments is positioned in alignment with the fowl receiving and depositing tray. Conveyor is provided for removing the multi-compartment coop unit following the filling of same so as to permit the positioning of an empty multi-compartment coop unit on the apparatus for subsequent filling purposes.

Abstract: A litter collection apparatus includes a novel arrangement for mounting litter retrieving projections on a retrieving belt of the apparatus, an improved receptacle and mechanism for emptying the receptacle, a novel arrangement for adjustably positioning the apparatus with respect to a surface over which it passes and an improved drive arrangement for the respective components of the apparatus.

Abstract: A cotton harvester basket for accumulating picked cotton comprises four walls, a floor with a conveyor and a detachable roof section. The basket is vertically moveable between its raised and lowered positions by hydraulic cylinders disposed at the opposite ends of the basket. The same cylinders can be used for telescopically bringing the roof section into and out of the space encompassed by the basket walls.