摘要 |
A poultry feeder conveyor control unit (63) of the present invention comprises a drop feeder adapted to be attached to an overhead feed conveyor (5). The feed conveyor has a conveyor element (11) moveable within a feed conduit (9) for conveying poultry feed in axial direction of the conveyor conduit, and a plurality of other poultry feeders (7) spaced at intervals along the path of the conveyor conduit. The control unit is positioned at a desired location along the length of the conveyor conduit. The control unit has an electric motor (75) having an output shaft (77) rotatable driven by the motor, and a paddle (79) carried by the output shaft. The motor is mounted within the control unit such that upon the feed in the feeder tube attaining a predetermined level, the paddle will engage the feed with the latter stopping rotation of the motor. An electrical circuit is provided for generating a signal in response to stoppage of rotation of the motor by the feed upon the latter attained the predetermined level with this signal controlling operation of the feed conveyor. Other applications and methods of using such an electric motor to detect the level of a dry, fluent material are also disclosed.
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