| 主权项 |
1. A self-propelled stall cleaning apparatus comprising:
a frame assembly; a pair of handles extending rearwardly from the frame; a pair of driven wheels; a pair of non driven steerable wheels located forward of the driven wheels; a motor attached to the assembly for driving the pair of drive wheels; a motor driven collector head, the collector head having a pivoting fork with tines for collecting manure and other debris, the fork having a pair of pivoting arms each with a movable pivot end slidably located in a “U” shaped cam guide wherein the pivoting arms are driven by a rotatable cam or link arm, the cam or link arm being connected through a clutch and head control lever wherein activation of the head control lever engages the clutch and moves the fork, wherein as the cam or link arm rotates it guides the pivot end along the “U” shaped guide path that first lowers the pivot ends, moves the fork forward in a generally horizontal thrust causing the fork to engage the manure, the “U” shaped guide path turns vertically up causing the pivot to move upward causing the fork to rapidly rotate and pivot upwardly tossing the manure rearwardly and wherein the apparatus has an overall width and an overall length to be maneuverable into and turnable within a stall for cleaning and removal of manure and other debris; a sifting conveyor made of open wire mesh, the sifting conveyor receives the tossed manure and debris and sifts bedding material as it moves rearwardly to drop the manure and debris; a manure debris material lift conveyor, the lift conveyor receives the manure debris material rearwardly dropped from the mesh conveyor and lifts the material on an incline upwardly where it is dumped; and a collection bin positioned at the rearward elevated location below the lift conveyor and wherein the collection bin is affixed to curved guide tracks on opposing lateral sides of the collection bin with rollers fixed to the frame assembly and disposed in the guide tracks, the collection bin being movable from a low stowed position for receiving manure and other debris to an upward tilted debris dumping position by an operator activated lift mechanism comprising curved members fixed to opposed lateral sides of the collection bin and a motor driving a power transmission assembly including drive gears that mate with complementary openings in the curved members. |
