WO2010031145A1

WO2010031145A1 - Outloader

Info

Publication number: WO2010031145A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/001256
Authority: WO
Inventors: Neil Phillips
Original assignee: SILO BAGS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Current assignee: SILO BAGS AUSTRALIA Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2008-09-22
Filing date: 2009-09-22
Publication date: 2010-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 2011-03-22

Abstract

The present invention discloses an outloader (100) for outloading the contents of a storage bag (102), the storage bag (102), when in use, having an opening, the outloader (100) including at least a first roller (106) adapted to engage at least a first portion (107) of the storage bag (100), wherein progressive winding of the first roller (106) results in deposition of the contents of the storage bag (102) into a first transport (104) positioned outside of the storage bag (102) and gravimetrically below the opening for receiving the outloaded contents from the storage bag (102).

Description

OUTLOADER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is related to outloaders for out-loading the contents of a storage bag, and particularly for out-loading the contents of a silo bag.

The present invention is also related to augers adapted to be used with an outloader, particularly augers for transferring materials from one auger to another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND PRIOR ART

Previously, outloaders have been disclosed which are for out-loading the contents of a storage bag, especially silo bag type storage bags. Such outloaders operate to empty silo bags by means of an auger which is placed inside to the silo bag and thereby progressively empties the contents of the silo bag. These outloaders have a disadvantage that they may damage the contents of the silo bag because the auger is placed directly near the contents and thereby may damage the contents during the out-loading process. In particular, internal augers can damage soft commodities such as fruit, can turn commodities such as dried fruit to pulp and can also crack grain. This is a result of mechanical damage due to the action of the internal auger.

These prior disclosed outloaders also have the disadvantage that they are not safe in use. In particular, these outloaders have a problem with power take off (PTO).

Yet another disadvantage of the prior disclosed outloaders is that they cannot readily completely empty the contents of a silo bag. This is due to the auger of the outloader not easily reaching all internal areas of the silo bag These outloaders cannot pull the last part of the silo bag and the last portion of the grain towards the internal auger, and so this makes it difficult to empty the silo bag completely of the contents, for example, grain. In this situation, the last portion of the grain needs to be removed manually, which is time consuming and adds extra cost. This problem can also add to commodity losses and, further, it can expose an operator to dangers when outloading the remnant grain. It should be noted that up to 1 tonne, or more, of grain, or other contents, may be left in a silo bag when using such outloaders.

Previously, augers have been used for transferring materials from one point to another. Such augers have been particularly useful when transferring products such as wheat grain, for example, from a harvester to a transportation vehicle. Furthermore, such augers may be used to transfer the outloaded contents of a silo bag.

Sometimes it is desired to use augers to move materials from a first point to a second point, in a first direction, and then move those materials from the second point to a third point in a second direction. The second direction may be substantially different from the first direction, for example, the first direction may be from east to west, horizontally, and the second direction may be west to east, inclined upwardly with respect to the first direction.

When attempting to effect a change of direction in movement of materials from a first auger to a second auger, many problems have been encountered. Such problems include, for example, damaging the materials during the transfer, inefficient transfer of the materials from the first auger to the second auger, spillage of materials during transfer and undesired accumulation of materials at the end of the first auger previous to transfer to the second auger.

The materials may accumulate at the end of the first auger where there is insufficient capacity in a transfer mechanism and/or method. Furthermore, where materials accumulate at the end of the first auger, this may lead to blockage of the auger system, such that the materials are prevented from being transported to the desired end point. OBJECTS OF THE ESVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome some or all of the disadvantages of existing outloaders.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an outloader that can more easily empty the entire contents of a storage bag.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an outloader which is less likely to damage the contents of a storage bag during the process .of out- loading.

It is another object of the present invention to overcome some or all of the disadvantages of existing augers.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an auger for transferring materials between a first auger and a second auger.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides an outloader for out-loading the contents of a storage bag, the storage bag, when in use, having an opening, the outloader including at least a first roller adapted to engage at least a first portion of the storage bag, wherein progressive winding of the first roller results in deposition of the contents of the storage bag into a first transport positioned outside of the storage bag and gravimetrically below the opening for receiving the out-loaded contents from the storage bag.

In this way the aforementioned problems of the prior art of not being able to readily completely outload the contents of the storage bag and being more likely to damage the contents of the storage bag during out-loading are substantially overcome. In an embodiment the first portion of the storage bag wraps around the first roller.

In another embodiment the outloader further includes a second roller adapted to engage a second portion of the storage bag.

In one other embodiment of the outloader the second portion of the storage bag wraps around the second roller.

In a further embodiment the first roller is a bottom roller and the second roller is a top roller.

In yet another embodiment the first portion is a bottom portion of the storage bag and the second portion is a top portion of the storage bag.

In a further embodiment the first transport is elongate and is disposed horizontally.

In yet a further embodiment the first transport is an auger (which may be referred to as a "sweep auger").

In another embodiment the first transport is a belt conveyor.

In one other embodiment the outloader further includes a second transport disposed at or near an end of the first transport for being in communication with the first transport such that outloaded contents from the first transport are received by the second transport.

In an embodiment the second transport is an elevator for elevating the outloaded contents into a container. In another further embodiment the second transport is an auger (which may be referred to as a "lift auger" or a "main lift auger").

In yet another further embodiment the second transport is a belt conveyor.

In another embodiment of the outloader further includes a drive source for powering any one or more of the first transport, the first roller and the second roller with an external power source. Optionally, the drive source is a power take-off.

In a further embodiment the outloader further includes a motor for powering any one or more of the first transport, the first roller and the second roller.

In yet a further embodiment the outloader further includes a cutter for cutting the storage bag, wherein the storage bag is further opened by the cutter.

In one embodiment the outloader further includes a cutter for cutting the storage bag along at least one line defined between the first portion and the second portion.

In one further embodiment the outloader includes two cutters for cutting the storage bag along two lines, each line along an opposite side of the storage bag, wherein each line is defined between the first portion and the second portion.

In another embodiment the outloader further includes a guide, when in use and in contact with the storage bag, the guide for guiding relative movement of the storage bag and the outloader.

In yet a further embodiment of the present invention provides that the guide is a guide wheel. Optionally, there may be two guides or guide wheels, each disposed at a side of the storage bag. In a further embodiment the storage bag is a grain storage bag, such as a silo bag.

In another embodiment the contents are any one or more of food and non- food stuffs. The food stuffs may be any one or more of grains, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, silage and vegetables.

In another aspect, the present invention provides a transfer auger for moving materials from a first transport to a second transport, the transfer auger including a receiver, when in communication with the first transport, for receiving materials therefrom, a dispenser, when in communication with the second transport, for dispensing materials thereto, and, an auger screw for moving materials from the receiver to the dispenser.

In an embodiment, the receiver is disposed at or near a first end of the auger screw and the dispenser is disposed at or near a second end of the auger screw.

In another embodiment, the transfer auger further includes a casing substantially covering the auger screw.

In a further embodiment, the receiver is located at a first aperture in the casing and the dispenser is located at a second aperture in the casing.

In yet another embodiment, the transfer auger, when in communication with the first transport and the second transport, moves materials in a direction, which is inclined to a horizontal plane. Optionally, the receiver is disposed in a first position and the dispenser is disposed in a second position, the first position being gravimetrically below the second position.

In an embodiment the receiver, when in communication with the first transport, is positioned so as to receive materials in a substantially horizontal direction from the first transport. Further, the dispenser, when in communication with the second transport, may be positioned so as to dispense materials in a substantially vertical direction to the second transport.

In a further embodiment, the first transport is disposed in a substantially different direction from the second transport. Optionally, the first transport moves materials in a first direction and the second transport moves materials in a second direction, the second direction being inclined to the first direction. Furthermore, the second direction may be substantially opposite the first direction.

In an embodiment, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the first transport is the first transport, or sweep auger, for the outloader. The second transport may be the second transport, or main lift auger, for the outloader. In such an embodiment, the materials to be moved are the contents of the storage bag.

It will be understood that either or both of the first transport and the second transport may be an auger. Alternatively, either or both of the first transport and second transport may be a belt conveyer.

In a further aspect, the present invention provides an auger system including a first transport, a second transport, and, a transfer auger for moving materials from the first transport to the second transport, the transfer auger including a receiver in communication with the first transport, for receiving materials therefrom, a dispenser in communication with the second transport, for dispensing materials thereto, and, an auger screw for moving materials from the receiver to the dispenser.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides an outloader including an auger system, the auger system including a first transport, a second transport, and, a transfer auger for moving materials from the first transport to the second transport, the transfer auger including a receiver in communication with the first transport, for receiving materials therefrom, a dispenser in communication with the second transport, for dispensing materials thereto, and, an auger screw for moving materials from the receiver to the dispenser. For a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be performed, embodiments thereof will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a plan view illustrating one embodiment of the outloader;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view along and the direction of arrows 2-2 of the outloader shown in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows

4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along and in the direction of arrows 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a view of an embodiment of the transfer auger in communication with the second auger, also known as the "main lift auger" (the longitudinal axis of the first auger, also known as the "sweep auger", is directed into the page with respect to the view of Fig. 6);

Fig. 7 is a top view of an embodiment of the transfer auger in communication with the first and the second augers;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of an embodiment of the auger system in use with the outloader;

Fig. 9 is a front view of the system as shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a plan view of an embodiment of the auger system in use with the outloader, showing various directions of travel of materials (contents of silo bag) in the first, second and transfer augers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Fig. 1 therein shown the outloader (100) in use with a storage bag (102). The storage may be any type of storage bag, but in this particular example it is a silo bag type storage bag for temporarily storing what are typically agricultural products such as grain, fruit, dried fruit, nuts and silage.

In this embodiment there is included a first roller which is a bottom roller (106) and a second roller which is a top roller (108). However, it is envisaged that a single roller can be used in another embodiment of the invention, or that more than two rollers can be used in other embodiments of the invention.

The bottom roller (106) engages at least a first portion of the storage bag, in this example a bottom portion of the storage bag (107), the bottom roller (106) winds a frontal area of the bottom portion of the storage bag (107) around the axis of the bottom roller so that there is a relative movement between the storage bag and the outloader which results in deposition of the contents of the storage bag into a transport (104).

In this example the top roller (108) winds a frontal area of the top portion (109) of the storage bag around its axis which further assists in moving the storage bag relative to the outloader.

As the top and bottom portions of the storage bag are wound respectively around the top and bottom rollers, the respective portions of the storage bag are stored around the respective rollers. In Figure 1 a part of the lower portion of the storage bag (107) is shown winding onto the roller and a part of the upper portion of the storage bag (109) is shown winding onto the top roller. The transport (104) is positioned outside the storage bag and gravimetrically below the opening for receiving the outloaded contents from the storage bag. The distance that the contents moves from the storage bag to the transport may be short so as to limit damage to the contents. In this way more delicate contents may be handled by the outloader.

Fig. 1 shows a transport, which in this embodiment is an auger (104). However, the transport can also be a belt conveyor, or any other suitable means for conveying the outloaded contents. The auger (104) is elongate and is disposed horizontally and is across the entire width of the opening of the storage bag. The auger moves the contents to a position (112) where the contents are able to be received by a container. Alternatively, the outloader may further include an elevator disposed at the end of the transport and in communication with the transport such that the outloaded contents from the transport are received by the elevator and wherein the elevator is adapted to elevate the contents into a container which may be higher than the transport. The elevator may be an auger or a belt conveyor or any other suitable means for elevating the outloader contents.

The outloader may also include guides for guiding relative movement of the storage bag (102), and the outloader. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 these guides are guide wheels (110) which are shown as being attached to the left and the right side of the outloader for guiding the relative movement of the left and right sides of the storage bag with respect to the left and right sides of the outloader. In the example shown the guide wheels (110) are pivotally mounted and may be biased, for example by springs, to keep the storage bag (102) in a position between the sides of the outloader during relative movement of the outloader (100) and the storage bag (102). The guides may be locked into position by means of, for example, a pin. The guides can be useful when, for example, a storage bag is in a crooked line on the ground after it has been loaded with grain. The guides allow the outloader to follow the crooked line of the storage bag automatically without the need to reposition the outloader where there is a change in the direction of the line of the storage bag. Such repositioning can damage the bag and wastes time.

A top cross bar (118) may be provided in order to give extra structural rigidity to the outloader (100).

Side wheels (114) and disposed at the left and right side of the outloader and a front wheel (120). These wheels (114) are for facilitating the movement of the outloader (100) when it is moving relative to the storage bag (102) during the out- loading process. The wheels (114) also facilitate maneuvering the outloader (100) at other times, such as when the outloader is being moved between storage bags, or when it is being moved from a storage shed to a field where the silo bags to be outloaded are located.

The front wheel (120), in this example, is retractable upwardly via left and right pivot mounts (122). This allows the front wheel, and the frame it is mounted on, to be stored vertically. It is also possible to lock the front wheel (120) and the frame it is mounted on into its horizontal or vertical positions. When it is locked into its vertical position the wheel and the frame it is mounted on are stored in a position which allows ease of operation of the outloader and ease of access to the outloader. The front wheel is also adapted for steering the outloader via a horizontally pivoting mount (123).

The front wheel (120) may be hydraulically driven. This allows the outloader (100) to move with respect to the silo bag (102) during the outloading process. As the silo bag (102) is progressively emptied from a forward part to a rear part of the silo bag, the outloader (100) is moved from a position at the front part of the silo bag to a position at the rear part of the silo bag.

A hydraulically driven front wheel (120) may assist with moving the outloader (100) as the silo bag (102) is emptied. The hydraulically driven front wheel (120) may also assist when moving the outloader between silo bags or moving the outloader in other circumstances.

Furthermore, where the front wheel (120) is hydraulically driven, it may also include a capability to disengage the hydraulic driving mechanism such that the front wheel (120) is free to rotate or "free wheel".

It will be recognised that in certain embodiments the outloader (100) may not include a front wheel (120). Such embodiments may include, for example, a tractor driven model of the outloader (100), wherein the tractor assists with moving the outloader (100) when emptying the silo bag (102). The outloader (100) may also be moved by the tractor in other circumstances. In such an embodiment, the outloader (100) may include a draw bar for connection to the tractor. The draw bar may be positioned at or near the position of the front wheel (120), as shown in Fig. 1.

An optional feature illustrated in Fig. 1 is a means for transferring power to drive the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106). The means for transferring power to drive may be powered via a linkage where, for example, a tractor (108) may be connected to supply the power. The means for transferring power to drive may supply power to drive any one or more of the top roller, the bottom roller (106) and the transport. Alternatively, power can be delivered to any of the components of the outloader, including the transport, the top roller and the bottom roller, by means of an engine incorporated into the outloader.

It will be appreciated that the outloader (100), in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, may more easily empty the contents of a storage bag (102). Further, the storage bag (102) may be completely emptied as the storage bag is fully drawn to the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106). As the rearward portion of the storage bag (102) is drawn on to the top and bottom rollers, the last of the contents of the storage bag is emptied into the first transport (104).

When the storage bag (102) is completely emptied, the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106) may be further operated so as to tear the storage bag (102) apart completely at or near a rearward portion of the storage bag. In this way a top portion of the storage bag (109) is wound around the top roller (108) and a bottom portion of the storage bag (107) is wound around the bottom roller (106). The two portions of the storage bag may be removed for possible recycling.

It will be further appreciated that the outloader (100) may create substantially little stress on the storage bag (102) at or near the separation point (204), where the storage bag is separated, or cut, to create an opening in the storage bag. This is as a result of the storage bag (102) being retained in a configuration, which ameliorates, or substantially prevents, uncontrolled separation, or splitting, of the storage bag at and/or away from the separation point (204).

Prevention of uncontrolled splitting and/or separation of the storage bag (102) may be advantageous in ameliorating, or substantially preventing, loss of contents of the storage bag. This may be especially useful, for example, where a storage bag has been loaded with contents beyond a specified capacity, such that the storage bag is stretched and the material of the storage bag is already under stress.

Further, during hot weather the contents of the storage bag may expand, which also can put the material of the storage bag under stress.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view with a storage bag (102). The outloader (100) is shown with a frame (206) to which the components of the outloader are attached.

Included in this view is the opening of the storage bag (102) which is disposed, in this example, between the top portion of the storage bag (208) and the bottom portion of the storage bag (210). The storage bag is further opened, as it is moved relative to the outloader, at a separation point (204). In this example the separation point will continue along a line which is defined between the top portion of the storage bag and the bottom portion of the storage bag. As the storage bag moves relative to the outloader. In this embodiment the separation of the top and the bottom portion of the storage bag is further facilitated by a cutter (212).

In one embodiment, the cutter (212) is positioned above the bottom roller (106). The cutter may be positioned vertically above the longitudinal axis of the bottom roller (106).

Each cutter (212), located at each side of the outloader (100), may be mounted to a movable arm. A movable arm allows a cutter (212) to be moved to different desired positions. This will allow the storage bag (102) to be cut so as to form a separation point (204) at different positions with respect to the outloader (100). In this way the position of the separation point (204) may be calibrated so as to cause the least amount of stress on the material of the storage bag at or near the separation point, so as to ameliorate, or substantially prevent, undesired and/or uncontrolled splitting of the storage bag during the outloading process.

In an embodiment of the outloader (100), power may be provided by a hydraulic motor, which may drive a gearbox. The gearbox may be a 90:1 gearbox.

It will recognised that, by providing a hydraulic motor for powering the outloader (100), there is no need to provide power via a power takeoff (PTO), which may contribute to increasing the safety of the outloader during operation.

A frontal area of the top portion of the storage bag (109) is shown winding onto the top roller (108) and a frontal area of the bottom portion of the storage bag

(107) is shown winding onto the bottom roller (106). In this embodiment, both the bottom roller (106) and the top roller (108) effect the relative movement of the storage bag and the outloader.

It will be recognized that the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106) may rotate at the same speed so as to promote even movement of the silo bag (102) with respect to the outloader (100). In situations where the contents of the storage bag which have not been unloaded (220) are heavier than the outloader, then it is likely that, during relative movement of the outloader and the storage bag, it will be the outloader that moves relative to the ground and the storage bag will remain stationary relative to the ground. In this situation the movement of the outloader over the ground is facilitated by the wheels (114, 120). In other situations, the contents of the storage bag, which have not been outloaded (220), are lighter than the outloader, then it is likely that, during relative movement of the outloader and the storage bag, it will be the storage bag that moves relative to the ground and the outloader will remain stationary relative to the ground.

An embodiment of the outloader may also have locks for locking the wheels (114, 120) so that the outloader remains, or is more likely to remain, stationary during relative movement of the outloader and the storage bag. Furthermore, the wheels (114, 120) may be caster wheels.

Also shown in Fig. 2 is the contents of the storage bag which is towards the front of the storage bag (200). This occurs as the top portion and the bottom portion of the storage bag are being wound onto the top roller and the bottom roller respectively. The contents at the front of the storage bag would, in this embodiment, will be brought forward relative to the outloader and upward so that this forward most contents will fall, under the influence of gravity, towards the opening and are outloaded to the transport (104). The outloaded contents are shown (202) falling from the opening of the storage bag into the transport.

In this embodiment the transport (104) is an auger which includes an outer casing (105b) an inner casing (105c) and helical member, or auger screw, (105a) which rotates in order to transport the outloaded contents.

Fig. 2 also illustrates details of an embodiment of the means for transferring power to drive (116) the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106). The means for transferring power includes a primary drive cog (117a) a first drive belt (117d), a second drive belt (117e). The first drive belt rotates the top roller and the second drive belt rotates the bottom roller. Also included in this embodiment of the drive mechanism is a first belt tensioning cog (117b) for tensioning the first belt (117d) and a second belt tensioning cog (117c) for tensioning the second drive belt (117e).

It will be understood that the drive belts (117d and 117e) may be chains. In such an embodiment, the cogs (117a, 117b and 117c) may have teeth to engage with the chains.

Figure 2 also illustrates, for this embodiment, one of the two guide wheels for guiding the storage bag during its relative movement with the outloader. The guide wheel (110) is shown as being mounted to an arm (218) which is pivotally mounted (111) to a point on the outloader.

Fig. 3 shows a rear view of the outloader (110) when in use out-loading a storage bag (102) the relative movement of the storage bag and the outloader being guided by guide wheels on the left and right of the outloader (110) and the top guide bar (118).

The wheels on the left and right of the outloader (114) are illustrated in Fig. 3 and, are for facilitating movement of the outloader when it is moving relative to the ground when in relative movement with the storage bag during the out-loading process, and is also for maneuvering the outloader at other times.

Also shown in Fig. 3 are two cutters (212), one cutter on the right side of the outloader for cutting along the right side of the storage bag and another cutter on the left side of the outloader for cutting along the left side of the storage bag. As the outloader moves relative to the storage bag the cutters cut the storage bag open at a separation point (204). In this embodiment, there is a separation point on the left and right of the storage bag. It is also within the scope of this invention, however, that separation at a separation point (204) can be effected by the force at the separation point resulted from winding at least one portion of the storage bag around a roller. In this example such a force would be provided by rolling the top portion of the storage bag around the top roller (108) and winding the bottom portion of the storage bag around the bottom roller (106). In this situation, the opening at the separation point may be facilitated by manually scoring the storage bag, for example, with a knife.

As can also been seen in Fig. 3 when the storage bag is cut by the cutters (212) at the separation points (204) on the right and the left of the storage bag, the separated top portion (208) and the separated bottom portion (210) of the storage bag are wound onto the top roller and the bottom roller respectively.

Fig. 4 depicts in more detail the means for transferring power (116) to drive the top roller and the bottom roller showing a top roller cog (404) for rotating the top roller (108) when it is driven by the first drive belt (117d). Also shown is the bottom roller cog (402) for rotating the bottom roller (106) when driven by the second drive belt (117e). The first and second drive belts (117d, 117e) could also be chains, or any other suitable means for transferring rotation.

The first belt tensioning cog (117b) is slidable on a slidable mount (408) for tensioning the first drive belt (117d). The second tensioning cog (117c) is slidable on a slidable mount (406) for tensioning the second drive belt (117e).

In another embodiment, there may be a single drive belt, which drives both the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106). In such an embodiment, the drive belt may be configured so as to drive all components of the means for transferring power.

Fig. 5 shows the front wheel (120) of the outloader (100) in detail. A first arm (500) is pivotally mounted to the outloader (122) so that it can be outwardly pivoted for storage of the front wheel (120). A second arm (502) is pivotally mounted (123) at a forward point of the first arm (500). This allows the front wheel to be steered so that the outloader can be conveniently maneuvered.

The outloader may also incorporate means for separating damaged contents from non-damaged contents that have been outloaded. The means can be, for example, a mesh grid (not illustrated) which is angled over the transport for extracting lumps of wet grain from the dry grain. The grid may also be useful for filtering out other undesirable materials from the contents of the silo bag (102).

In this example embodiment an initial opening is made in the storage bag by manually cutting along the front of the storage bag and along portions of both sides of the storage bag. The frontal area of the top portion and the frontal area of the bottom portion, defined by this cutting, are then engaged by the top and bottom rollers, respectively. The rollers then rotate to wind the top portion and the bottom portion of the storage bag. This effects relative movement of the outloader and the storage bag, such that the contents are brought to a relatively forward and relatively elevated position so that the contents are outloaded to the transport by falling into it under the influence of gravity.

In some embodiments of the invention, the outloader (100) may include a guide roller (not shown). The guide roller may be located towards a rearward and lower part of the outloader (100). Optionally, the guide roller may be located rearwardly and lower than the bottom roller (106). Further, the longitudinal axis of the guide roller may be parallel with the axes of the top roller (108) and the bottom roller (106).

The guide roller may be powered or may be unpowered. Where the guide roller is powered it may be driven by the means for transferring power (116), or may be powered by a separate means. A powered guide roller may assist in moving the silo bag (102) with respect to the outloader (100), wherein there is substantial frictional contact between the guide roller and the silo bag (102). Providing a guide roller may also assist with moving a forwardly disposed bottom portion of the storage bag (210) towards the bottom roller (106), along with any contents (220) of the storage bag at or near this forward lower position.

It will be appreciated that, due to the configuration of the outloader (100) in some embodiments, the contents of the storage bag (102), during out loading, may be substantially protected from rain, which may otherwise damage the contents. Optionally, the outloader (100) may include a rain shield for increasing protection of the contents against rain damage during out loading and/or during moving of the out loaded contents on the transports (including the first transport, the second transport and/or the transfer auger). The rain shield may be detachable from the outloader (100).

In some embodiments, the outloader (100) is configured so as to be more easily stored in, for example, a standard shipping container. It is envisaged that the outloader may be configured so as to allow detachment of parts for packing with the outloader (100) in a smaller space.

Fig. 6 shows an embodiment of the transfer auger (140) in communication with the second auger (150), also known as a "lift auger" or a "main lift auger". The transfer auger (140) is also in communication with the first auger 104, which is also known as a "sweep auger". The first auger, or first transport (104), is shown in Fig. 6 rearwardly of the transfer auger (140), wherein the longitudinal axis of the first auger is directed into the page with respect to Fig. 6.

The first auger (104) is in communication with the transfer auger (140) via the receiver (146) of the transfer auger. In this embodiment, the receiver (146) includes an aperture (shown as a dotted line circle). The aperture is formed in the transfer auger casing (144).

The first auger (104) may also include a casing, which is located at the end of the first auger communicating with the transfer auger. The first auger casing may form a tubular casing part. An open end of the tubular casing part located at the end of the first auger (104) fits snuggly to the aperture of the transfer auger receiver (146).

Material which is moved by the first auger (104) is moved towards the transfer auger (140). The material is impelled by the first auger (104) through the aperture of the receiver (146) of the transfer auger (140), whereupon the material is moved by the transfer auger (140) by the transfer auger screw (142) towards the dispenser (148) of the transfer auger (140).

The transfer auger screw (142) moves material through the transfer auger (140) from the end of the transfer auger at or near which the receiver (146) is located to the end of the transfer auger at or near which the dispenser (148) is located. The material may then pour from, or be impelled through the aperture of the dispenser (148). In this embodiment the dispenser (148) includes an aperture formed in a short tube, which is directed axially from the transfer auger casing (144) with respect to the longitudinal axis of the transfer auger (140).

The second auger (150) receives material, which is poured from or impelled through the dispenser (148). The second auger or main lift auger (150) the moves the material to, for example, a transportation means such as a trailer or a container on the back of a truck.

It will be understood that the term "communication" is intended to include effective transfer of materials from the first auger to the transfer auger and from the transfer auger to the second auger. The material may be, for example, the contents of the silo bag (102). Such contents may include, for example, wheat, dried fruit, nuts or other agricultural product. It will be further understood that efficient transfer of the materials may not necessarily include complete and lossless transfer of materials in all circumstances. Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the transfer auger (140) in communication with the first auger (104) and the second auger (150). In this embodiment, the first auger includes a half pipe trough (152), which accommodates and end of the transfer auger (140). In this embodiment, the transfer auger (140) includes a tubular casing (144), which fits snugly in the trough (152) at the end of the first auger (104).

The second auger or lift auger (150) includes an aperture (154) through which material is received when it has been dispensed by the dispenser (148) of the transfer auger (140). In this embodiment, the aperture (154) of the second auger (150) is formed by removing a half pipe section from the second auger tubular cover (158). In this way material received from the dispenser (148) moves to the second auger screw (156) to be moved towards, for example, a transportation means.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the first or sweep auger (104) is disposed so as its longitudinal axis is substantially horizontal. The transfer auger is inclined, such that the end of the transfer auger (in communication with the first auger) is at a lower gravimetric position than the end of the transfer auger (in communication with the second auger). The second auger is inclined such that the end of the second auger in communication with the transfer auger is gravimetrically lower than the end of the second auger, which dispenses material into a transportation means.

Furthermore, the end of the second auger in communication with an end of the transfer auger is located gravimetrically below that end of the transfer auger, which enables materials to be poured from the dispenser (148) into the second auger (150).

Fig. 8 shows an auger system (600) including a transfer auger (140) in communication with a main lift auger (150). The transfer auger (140) receives materials from a first or sweep auger (not shown). The auger system (600) is used to move materials outloaded from a silo bag (102) by an outloader (100). Fig. 9 shows an embodiment of the auger system (600) when used for transporting contents outloaded by an outloader (100). The transfer auger (140) can be seen disposed such that its longitudinal axis is inclined with respect to a horizontal plane. The dispenser (148) of the transfer auger (140) moves material into the second auger (150), which then elevates the material so that it can be poured into a container, for example, on the back of a trailer.

Fig. 10 shows directions of movement of materials through the augers in an auger system (600). The first auger or sweep auger (104) moves materials substantially in a direction marked "A". The material is then moved through the receiver of the transfer auger (140) to be dispensed through the dispenser (148) into the main lift auger (150). The material moves through the transfer auger (140) substantially in a direction marked as "B". The material is moved through the second or main lift auger (150) substantially in a direction marked "C". In this way the direction of movement of material has been reversed from direction "A" to direction "C".

In some embodiments, the transfer auger (140) will have a larger diameter auger screw (142) than the auger screw (105a) of the first auger (104). It has been found, in at least some circumstances, that providing a larger diameter auger screw

(142) in the transfer auger (140) allows for more efficient movement of materials from the first auger to the second auger via the transfer auger.

In a further optional embodiment, the second or main lift auger (150) may be a folding auger. ^"When not in operation, the folding second or main lift auger is adapted to be folded into a storage or transport position whereby it may be stored adjacent the outloader (100). This may allow for more compact storage and easier transport of the outloader.

The folding second or main lift auger (150) folds about a hinged axis and may be locked into position when in an operating position and locked into position when in the storage or transport position. The invention is susceptible to variations, modifications and/or additions other than those specifically described, and it is to be understood that the invention includes all such variations, modification and/or additions which fall within the scope of the following claims.

Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.

The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgement or any form or suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia.

Claims

Claims:

1. An outloader for outloading the contents of a storage bag, the storage bag, when in use, having an opening, the outloader including: at least a first roller adapted to engage at least a first portion of the storage bag, wherein progressive winding of the first roller results in deposition of the contents of the storage bag into a first transport positioned outside of the storage bag and gravimetrically below the opening for receiving the outloaded contents from the storage bag.

2. An outloader according to claim 1 wherein the first portion of the storage bag wraps around the first roller.

3. An outloader according to either claim 1 or claim 2 further including a second roller adapted to engage a second portion of the storage bag.

4. An outloader according to claim 3 wherein the second portion of the storage bag wraps around the second roller.

5. An outloader according to either claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the first roller is a bottom roller and the second roller is a top roller, and wherein the first portion is a bottom portion of the storage bag and the second portion is a top portion of the storage bag.

6. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the first transport is elongate and is disposed horizontally.

7. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the first transport is an auger.

8. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the first transport is a belt conveyor.

9. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 8 further including a second transport disposed at or near an end of the first transport and in communication with the first transport such that outloaded contents from the first transport are received by the second transport.

10. An outloader according to claim 9 wherein the second transport is an elevator for elevating the outloaded contents into a container.

11. An outloader according to either claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the second transport is an auger.

12. An outloader according to either claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the second transport is a belt conveyor.

13. An outloader according to any one of claims 3 to 12 further including a drive source for powering any one or more of the first transport, the first roller and the second roller with an external power source.

14. An outloader according to claim 13 wherein the drive source is a power takeoff.

15. An outloader according to any one of claims 3 to 14 further including a motor for powering any one or more of the first transport, the first roller and the second roller.

16. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 15 further including a cutter for cutting the storage bag, wherein the storage bag is further opened by the cutter.

17. An outloader according to any one of claims 3 to 15 further including a cutter for cutting the storage bag alone a line defined between the first portion and the second portion.

18. An outloader according to any one of claims 3 to 15 further including two cutters for cutting the storage bag along two lines, each line along an opposite side of the storage bag, wherein each line is defined between the first portion and the second portion.

19. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 18 further including a guide, when in use and in contact with the storage bag, the guide for guiding relative movement of the storage bag and the outloader.

20. An outloader according to claim 19 wherein the guide is a guide wheel.

21. An outloader according to either claim 19 or claim 20, wherein there are two guides, each disposed at a side of the storage bag.

22. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 21 wherein the storage bag is a grain storage bag, such as a silo bag.

23. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 22 wherein the contents are any one or more of food and non-food stuffs.

24. An outloader according to claim 23 wherein the food stuffs are any one or more of grains, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, silage, and vegetables.

25. An outloader according to any one of claims 1 to 24 further including a guide roller for facilitating movement of the storage bag with respect to the outloader.

26. An outloader according to claim 25 when appended to any one of claims 3 to 24 wherein the guide roller is located rearwardly of, and lower than the second roller.

27. A transfer auger for moving materials from a first transport to a second transport, the transfer auger including: a receiver, when in communication with the first transport, for receiving materials therefrom; a dispenser, when in communication with the second transport, for dispensing materials thereto; and an auger screw for moving materials from the receiver to the dispenser.

28. A transfer auger according to claim 27 wherein the receiver is disposed at or near a first end of the auger screw and the dispenser is disposed at or near a second end of the auger screw.

29. A transfer auger according to either claim 27 or claim 28 further including a casing substantially covering the auger screw.

30. A transfer auger according to claim 29 wherein the receiver is located at a first aperture in the casing and the dispenser is located at a second aperture in the casing.

31. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 30, when in communication with the first transport and the second transport, moves materials in a direction, which is inclined to a horizontal plane.

32. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 31 wherein the receiver is disposed in a first position and the dispenser is disposed in a second position, wherein the first position is gravimetrically below the second position.

33. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 32 wherein the receiver, when in communication with the first transport, is positioned so as to receive materials in a substantially horizontal direction from the first transport.

34. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 33 wherein the dispenser, when in communication with the second transport, is positioned so as to dispense materials in a substantially vertical direction to the second transport.

35. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 34 wherein the first transport is disposed in a substantially different direction from the second transport.

36. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 35 wherein the first transport moves material in a first direction and the second transport moves materials in a second direction, the second direction being inclined to the first direction.

37. A transfer auger according to claim 36 wherein the second direction is substantially opposite to the first direction.

38. A transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 37 wherein either or both of the first transport and the second transport is an auger.

39. A transport system including: a first transport; a second transport; and, a transfer auger for moving materials from the first transport to the second transport, the transfer auger including: a receiver in communication with the first transport, for receiving materials therefrom; a dispenser in communication with the second transport, for dispensing materials thereto; and, an auger screw for moving materials from the receiver to the dispenser.

40. A transport system according to claim 39 wherein the receiver is disposed at or near a first end of the auger screw and the dispenser is disposed at or near a second end of the auger screw.

41. A transport system according to either claim 39 or claim 40 wherein the transfer auger further includes casing substantially covering the auger screw.

42. A transport system according to claim 41 wherein the receiver is located at a first aperture in the casing and the dispenser is located at a second aperture in the casing.

43. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 42 wherein the transfer auger moves materials in a direction, which is inclined to a horizontal plane.

44. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 43 wherein the receiver is disposed in a first position and the dispenser is disposed in a second position, wherein the first position is gravimetrically below the second position.

45. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 44 wherein the receiver is positioned so as to receive materials in a substantially horizontal direction from the first transport.

46. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 45 wherein the dispenser is positioned so as to dispense the materials in a substantially vertical direction to the second transport.

47. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 46 wherein the first transport is disposed in a substantially different direction from the second transport.

48. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 47 wherein the first transport moves material in a first direction and the second transport moves material in a second direction, the second direction being inclined to the first direction.

49. A transport system according to claim 48 wherein the second direction is substantially opposite to the first direction.

50. A transport system according to any one of claims 39 to 40, wherein either or both of the first transport and the second transport is an auger.

51. An outloader for outloading the contents of a storage bag, the outloader including a transport system in accordance with any one of claims 39 to 50.

52. An outloader according to any one of claims 9 to 26 including a transfer auger according to any one of claims 27 to 37 ^'.

53. An outloader substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

54. A transfer auger substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

55. A transport system substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.