Feed feeding bin and feeding mechanism

Abstract

The utility model belongs to the field of aquaculture equipment, and particularly relates to a feed feeding bin and a feeding mechanism. The feed feeding bin comprises a bin body, a charging opening is formed in the top of the bin body, a feeding opening is formed in the bottom of the bin body, the bin body is formed in the vertical direction, erecting protrusions are arranged on the left side and the right side of the bin body, the lower edges of the erecting protrusions form an inclination angle with the horizontal direction, and the feeding bin is erected on the unmanned aerial vehicle for use and facilitates balance of the attitude of the vehicle body during flight; the feeding mechanism comprises a shell, the shell comprises a feeding end and a discharging end, and the feeding end is connected with the feeding port; the feeding mechanism further comprises a rotary stirring piece, a valve plate, a material scattering disc and a material scattering piece, and the material scattering piece is located below the material scattering disc and spreads materials through rotation. And rotary stirring is carried out at the feeding port, so that not only can the feed be scattered more uniformly, but also the feed can be prevented from caking and blocking at the feeding port.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model belongs to the field of aquaculture equipment, specifically relating to a feed feeding bin and a feeding mechanism. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of modern agriculture, aquaculture such as crab farming has achieved remarkable results in my country. However, traditional manual feeding methods are inefficient and labor-intensive, especially in large bodies of water or crab farming ponds. Feeding is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also prone to uneven or untimely feeding, which can affect the growth and health of crabs. Therefore, many research institutions and enterprises have developed automated feeding equipment to improve feeding efficiency and accuracy. In recent years, multi-rotor drones have gained increasing attention for their flexibility and rapid coverage capabilities in aquaculture feeding. However, existing drone-mounted feeding devices face many technical challenges in their use.

[0003] First, multi-rotor drones typically exhibit a forward-tilt attitude (lower front, higher rear) to generate thrust for forward movement. This tilt angle can cause insufficient airframe balance in horizontally mounted cargo hold structures, requiring more energy to maintain the attitude. Existing horizontal mounting designs cannot effectively accommodate the forward-tilt attitude of drones, thus increasing flight power consumption and reducing endurance. Therefore, optimizing the cargo hold's mounting structure to achieve balance under the drone's forward-tilt attitude has become a pressing technical challenge.

[0004] Secondly, during the feeding process, the discharge port of traditional feeding hoppers is easily affected by feed accumulation, especially with feeds that are highly moist or powdery materials, which can easily cause blockages. This blockage not only leads to uneven feeding but may also cause feeding interruptions, affecting the breeding results. Some existing technologies have proposed adding a stirring mechanism at the feeding port, but how to achieve efficient and stable feeding while preventing feed blockage and ensuring uniform feeding, while meeting the stirring function, remains an important technical problem. Utility Model Content

[0005] Technical problem: To provide a feeding bin structure that can balance the flight tilt angle of a drone during flight, and a feeding mechanism to prevent feed from clogging the discharge port.

[0006] Technical solution: A feed feeding bin includes a bin body, with a loading port at the top and a feeding port at the bottom. The bin body is vertically shaped, and support protrusions are provided on the left and right sides.

[0007] The lower edge of the protrusion is angled to the horizontal. This feeding bin is mounted on a drone. Multi-rotor drones typically have a forward-leaning, rear-leaning attitude when moving forward, resulting in a forward tilt angle. This tilt angle is to provide forward thrust. Specifically, when the drone tilts forward, the lift from the rotors generates a component force, propelling the drone forward.

[0008] The angle of this forward tilt depends on the drone's speed and control requirements; the greater the tilt angle, the greater the forward acceleration.

[0009] In existing technologies, most horizontally mounted protrusions are horizontal, which requires more energy to maintain the forward-leaning fuselage attitude. Therefore, horizontally angled protrusions can keep the support surface of the hopper in a balanced state when the drone moves forward, making the hopper more stable and extending the drone's endurance while reducing unnecessary power consumption.

[0010] The lower rear side is equipped with a space compensation protrusion, or tilt compensation protrusion. On the one hand, the internal space of the lower compartment becomes narrower when the protrusion is installed, reducing the compartment capacity. The space compensation protrusion can effectively increase the compartment capacity. On the other hand, the tilted installation protrusion will cause the drone to tilt when taking off vertically. The rear compensation protrusion can compensate for the force point, change the center of gravity position, and improve flight stability.

[0011] Furthermore, symmetrical protrusions are erected on both sides to stably mount the cargo container onto the matching supports on both sides of the drone.

[0012] Furthermore, the loading port is equipped with a bin cover, which is hinged to the bin body.

[0013] Furthermore, the feeding port is circular, and a feeding mechanism is connected to the feeding port. The circular feeding port facilitates the layout and shaping of the silo space to the feeding port, and smooth rounded corners and chamfers are set in many places in the silo body to prevent feed from piling up inside the silo.

[0014] This application also provides a feeding mechanism, including a housing, the housing including a feeding end and a discharging end, the feeding end being connected to the aforementioned feeding port;

[0015] Feeding mechanisms also include:

[0016] A rotating agitator, fixed in the middle of the housing, is used to agitate the material at the feeding port;

[0017] The valve plate, located below the rotating agitator, is used to adjust the feed rate and open / close the feed channel;

[0018] The material spreading disc, fitted below the valve plate, is used to control the path and direction of the material spreading.

[0019] The feed spreader, located below the feed spreader disc, spreads feed by rotating. This rotation at the feed inlet not only ensures more even distribution of the feed but also prevents clumping and blockage.

[0020] Furthermore, a first bearing seat is provided inside the housing, and several connecting rods are mounted on the bearing seat and connected to the inner wall of the housing. At least one of the connecting rods is a hollow square tube, and a connecting wire is laid inside the square tube. The connecting wire is used to supply power to the rotating assembly.

[0021] A second shaft seat is arranged parallel to and coaxially with the first shaft seat. The second shaft seat is connected to the inner wall of the housing through several sector-shaped plates, and the through holes between the sector-shaped plates serve as discharge ports. These discharge ports are also sector-shaped.

[0022] Furthermore, the valve plate is located below the sector plate. The valve plate has a circular shape and a number of sector holes arranged in a circle around the center. The number of sector holes is the same as that of the sector plate, and the outer contour dimension is smaller than that of the sector plate.

[0023] A valve plate drive wheel is provided on one side of the housing, and the outer edge of the flap is provided with meshing teeth, and the drive wheel meshes with the outer edge of the valve plate.

[0024] Furthermore, the rotary agitator includes an in-bin rotary agitator and a discharge port rotary agitator. The in-bin rotary agitator is a downwardly bent agitator rod, and the discharge port rotary agitator is horizontally positioned above the discharge port.

[0025] It also includes a rotating assembly, on which three rotating components—the in-bin rotating component, the material outlet rotating component, and the material spreading plate—are integrated. The rotating assembly is controlled by a rotating mechanism, which includes a drive motor and one or more rotating shafts for connecting the rotating components. The rotating shafts of the rotating assembly are limited and fixed by a first shaft seat and a second shaft seat.

[0026] Furthermore, the rotating shaft includes a first stirring shaft, a second stirring shaft, and a dispensing shaft. The first stirring shaft is connected to the stirring component inside the chamber, the second stirring shaft is used to connect to the stirring component at the material outlet, and the dispensing shaft is used to connect to the dispensing disc.

[0027] The first and second stirring shafts, and the spreading shaft are connected by bearings and driven separately by meshing gears. Different rotational speeds are required for the three rotating components. The stirring component inside the hopper can operate at a low speed with high torque to prevent feed from clumping at the feeding inlet. The rotating component at the feeding inlet rotates at a slightly higher speed than the component inside the hopper. The spreading disc requires a higher speed to disperse the feed using centrifugal force. Therefore, these three rotating components are driven by three sets of gears with different transmission ratios, connected by bearings. The inner wall of the spreading disc slopes downwards, limiting the path of the feed as it flies out.

[0028] Furthermore, in order to reduce the number of parts and reduce manufacturing difficulty, only one main shaft can be used, and all three rotating parts can be connected to the main shaft and driven by a drive motor in conjunction with a reduction mechanism.

[0029] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows:

[0030] 1. This application employs a tilted, raised structure, which keeps the cabin parallel to the ground or slightly tilted forward as the UAV moves forward. By increasing the tilt angle of the raised structure, the additional energy consumption required for the UAV during forward-leaning flight is reduced, the stability of the cabin is improved, and thus the UAV's endurance is extended.

[0031] 2. The design incorporates a rear space compensation protrusion, which not only adjusts the center of gravity of the cargo hold during vertical takeoff to ensure fuselage balance and stability, but also increases the effective volume of the cargo hold during tilted installation, thereby improving loading capacity and making it suitable for efficient feeding needs in different environments.

[0032] 3. The feeding mechanism incorporates multi-stage rotating agitators, including in-bin agitators, inlet agitators, and spreaders, each with independent speeds and torques. This ensures smoother feed flow at different stages and effectively prevents feed from clumping and clogging at the inlet. The agitators achieve different rotational speeds through differential gear transmission: the in-bin agitators operate at low speed with high torque to prevent clogging; the inlet agitators operate at medium speed to prevent accumulation; and the spreaders disperse feed at high speed, ensuring uniform feed distribution.

[0033] 4. This application designs a feeding mechanism with an adjustable valve plate, which can precisely adjust the discharge rate to achieve the goal of flexible adjustment according to different needs. The valve plate meshes with the drive wheel, making the feeding rate control more precise, which helps to save feed and reduce feeding costs, and meets the needs of intelligent feeding. Attached Figure Description

[0034] Figure 1 This is a front view of the hopper body according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0035] Figure 2 This is a perspective view of the hopper body according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0036] Figure 3 This is an overall front view of an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0037] Figure 4 This is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0038] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional and partially enlarged view of an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0039] Figure 6This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the outer shell and internal parts of the feeding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0040] Figure 7 This is a bottom view of the outer shell and internal parts of the feeding mechanism according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0041] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the feeding mechanism and valve plate connection according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0042] Figure 9 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the feeding mechanism and valve plate connection in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0043] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the material spreading disc according to an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0044] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the material spreading sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 12 , 13 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the rotating assembly of this utility model;

[0046] Figure 14 This is a schematic diagram of the internal connection structure of the rotating assembly of this utility model. Different rotating shafts and their connecting parts are represented by different colors for easy differentiation.

[0047] 1. Bin body; 2. Supporting protrusion; 3. Space compensation protrusion; 4. Bin cover; 5. Loading port; 6. Feeding port; 7. Reinforcing groove; 8. Feeding end; 9. Discharge end; 10. First shaft seat; 11. Second shaft seat; 12. Connecting rod; 13. Connecting square tube; 14. Sector plate; 15. Discharge port; 16. Valve plate; 17. Sector hole; 18. In-bin agitator; 19. Feeding port agitator; 20. Spreading disc; 21. Spreading blade; 22. Blade; 23. Connecting nut; 24. Center hole; 25. Positioning hole; 26. First agitator shaft; 27. Second agitator shaft; 28. Spreading shaft; 29. ​​Drive motor; 30. Meshing gear; 31. Bearing. Detailed Implementation

[0048] like Figure 1 , 2As shown, the feed feeding bin 1 has a vertical columnar design, with an overall vertical elongated cylindrical structure for easy and stable installation on the drone. The mounting protrusions 2 on both sides of the bin 1 are designed with their lower edges angled to the horizontal to accommodate the drone's forward-leaning flight posture. Below the mounting protrusions 2 is a rear space compensation protrusion 3; this design adjusts the center of gravity during drone takeoff and flight, preventing the bin 1 from tilting forward and affecting flight stability. The top of the bin 1 has a loading port 5, equipped with a hinged bin cover for easy feed filling and sealing, reducing spillage during the filling process.

[0049] The feeding port 6 at the bottom of the silo 1 is circular, and the edges of the feeding port 6 are rounded and chamfered. This design effectively reduces the accumulation and blockage of feed at the feeding port 6, ensuring smooth feed flow.

[0050] Multiple reinforcing grooves 7 are provided on the cabin body 1. The design of the grooves can improve the deformation resistance of the cabin body 1 to a certain extent. The grooves make the structure more stable when subjected to external forces, disperse stress, and thus enhance the overall seismic resistance and impact resistance. This is particularly beneficial during the take-off, flight, and landing of the UAV, as it can reduce the deformation or damage to the cabin body 1 caused by vibration and impact.

[0051] like Figure 3-13 As shown, the feeding mechanism includes an inlet end 8 and an outlet end 9. The inlet end 8 is connected to the feeding port 6 of the silo body 1. Inside the housing, there is a first bearing seat 10 and a second bearing seat 11 for supporting the rotating assembly. The first bearing seat 10 is connected to the inner wall of the housing via three connecting rods 12, one of which is a hollow square tube 13 containing control lines for supplying power to the rotating assembly. The second bearing seat 11 is connected to the inner wall of the housing via three sector plates 14. The through holes between the sector plates 14 form the outlet port 15 area, with a valve plate 16 located below it for controlling the opening and closing of the discharge.

[0052] The valve plate 16 is designed to be circular and rotatably connected to the central shaft of the rotating assembly. Its internal structure consists of an array of three fan-shaped holes 17, distributed around the center as the axis. The outer edge of the valve plate 16 has meshing teeth that connect to the drive wheel, facilitating precise control of the feeding amount by adjusting the size of the openings through rotation. The design of the fan-shaped holes 17 matches the shape of the discharge port 15.

[0053] The rotary mixing components include an in-bin mixing element 18 and a feed outlet mixing element 19, located in the middle of the feed inlet 6 and above the discharge outlet 15, respectively. The in-bin mixing element 18 is shaped like a downward-bent mixing rod and is designed for low-speed, high-torque mixing to prevent feed from clumping and clogging near the discharge outlet 15. The feed outlet mixing element 19 is horizontally positioned above the discharge outlet 15 and is designed with a propeller-like blade structure 22. Its rotational speed is slightly higher than that of the in-bin mixing element 18 to ensure smooth feed flow. By combining different mixing shapes and rotational speeds, the continuity and uniformity of feed flow are ensured throughout the feeding process.

[0054] The feeding disc 20 connected below the feeding mechanism is designed in a bowl shape with a downward-sloping inner wall to limit the path of feed distribution and prevent irregular scattering of feed. The feed spreading blade 21 is located below the feeding disc 20 and has a gap between it and the feeding disc 20. Its surface has a multi-blade structure 22, with the blades 22 on the upper and lower surfaces at different heights, which can be rotated to adapt to the needs of different types of feed.

[0055] The feed spreading disc 20 is connected to the end of the spreading shaft via a connecting nut 23 and positioned via positioning holes 25 around the central hole 24. The feed is evenly spread using the centrifugal force generated by high-speed rotation. This fan-shaped feed spreading disc 21 can generate stable centrifugal force during high-speed rotation, causing the feed to be spread along a designated path and direction.

[0056] like Figure 14 As shown, the rotating assembly's shaft system includes a first stirring shaft 26, a second stirring shaft 27, and a spreading shaft 28. Each shaft is connected to or nested with the housing of the rotating assembly via bearings 31. The first stirring shaft 26 connects to the in-chamber stirring component 18 for low-speed, high-torque stirring. The second stirring shaft 27 connects to the feed outlet stirring component 19, ensuring smooth feed flow at the discharge outlet 15 at a slightly higher speed. The spreading shaft 28 connects to the spreading blades 21, which evenly spread the feed at high speed. These shafts are linked to the shaft of the drive motor 29 via interlocking gears 30. By using different transmission ratios, the specific speed requirements of each component can be met, thereby reducing power consumption while ensuring uniform feeding.

[0057] Regarding the angle range of the mounting protrusion 2 and the transmission ratio range between the three rotating shafts and the drive motor 29:

[0058] 1. Angle range for erecting protrusion 2

[0059] Because drones tilt forward at a certain angle (lower in front and higher in back) as they move forward, the raised tilt angle design needs to accommodate this tilt to ensure the stability of the hopper. The recommended tilt angle range is:

[0060] 5° to 15°: This angle range balances the attitude stability of the hopper at different forward speeds. At low speeds, a 5° tilt angle is sufficient to maintain stability, while at high speeds, a tilt angle of 10° to 15° is more suitable, further reducing center of gravity shift and improving stability. Therefore, a forward tilt angle of around 10° is recommended for the pilot's turret.

[0061] In practical applications, the tilt angle design can be refined by testing the forward tilt angle of the drone. For example, in practical applications, a more precise tilt angle range can be determined based on test data of the drone under full load, half load, and no load conditions to ensure stability under different loads and speeds.

[0062] 2. Transmission ratio range between the three rotating shafts and the motor

[0063] Different rotating shafts control the stirring, material inlet rotation, and material dispensing. Each of these has different requirements for speed and torque; therefore, the transmission ratios must be set separately.

[0064] First stirring shaft 26 (internal stirring component 18): The stirring shaft is mainly used to stir the feed at low speed and high torque within the bin 1 to prevent feed clumping. The recommended transmission ratio range is 10:1 to 15:1, which can provide high torque and ensure low stirring speed to avoid over-stirring and damage to the feed.

[0065] Second stirring shaft 27 (feed outlet rotating component): The feed outlet stirring component 19 requires a slightly higher rotational speed to promote feed flow and ensure smooth discharge. A recommended gear ratio range is 5:1 to 8:1. This range allows it to rotate at a higher speed than the in-bin stirring component 18, while still maintaining sufficient torque to drive the feed.

[0066] Spreading shaft 28 (spreading disc 21): Spreading shaft 28 requires the highest rotational speed to generate centrifugal force and achieve uniform feed distribution. A gear ratio range of 2:1 to 4:1 is recommended to achieve high speeds while meeting motor power requirements. If higher spreading force or range is needed, the gear ratio can be appropriately lowered, but excessive speed should be avoided to prevent uneven scattering.

[0067] As another implementation method to reduce the number of parts and manufacturing difficulty, this design can also use only a single main shaft, connecting the in-bin agitator 18, the outlet agitator 19, and the spreading plate 21 to the main shaft. Different speeds are achieved through a drive motor 29 and a reduction gear mechanism. By adjusting the transmission ratio of the reduction gear mechanism, the in-bin agitator 18 rotates at a low speed to prevent clumping, the outlet agitator 19 maintains smooth flow at a medium speed, and the spreading plate 21 rotates at a high speed to generate sufficient centrifugal force. This simplified structure of the single-shaft design not only reduces manufacturing costs but also reduces maintenance difficulty. The accompanying drawings of this embodiment are not shown; those skilled in the art can refer to the already disclosed technical solutions for connecting multiple rotating parts on a single shaft for implementation.

Claims

1. A feed feeding bin, comprising a bin body (1), wherein a loading port (5) is provided at the top of the bin body (1) and a feeding port (6) is provided at the bottom, characterized in that, The silo body (1) is formed vertically, and there are support protrusions (2) on the left and right sides. The lower edge of the supporting protrusion (2) is inclined at an angle to the horizontal direction. A space compensation protrusion (3) is provided on the lower rear side.

2. The feed feeding bin as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting protrusion (2) is symmetrical on both sides and is used to mount the cabin body (1) on the matching support of the UAV.

3. The feed feeding bin as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The loading port (5) is provided with a bin cover, and the bin cover (4) is hinged to the bin body (1).

4. A feed feeding bin as described in any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The feeding port (6) is circular, and a feeding mechanism is connected to the feeding port (6).

5. A feeding mechanism, comprising a housing, characterized in that, The housing includes a feed end (8) and a discharge end (9), and the feed end (8) is connected to the feeding port (6) as described in claim 4; The feeding mechanism also includes: A rotating stirring component is fixed in the middle of the housing and is used to stir the material in the feeding port (6); Valve plate (16), located below the rotating agitator, is used to adjust the feeding amount and open / close the feeding channel; The material spreading disc (20) is fitted under the valve plate (16) and is used to control the path and direction of the material spreading. The spreading disc (21) is located below the spreading plate (20) and spreads material by rotating it.

6. A feeding mechanism as described in claim 5, characterized in that, The housing is provided with a first bearing seat (10), and a plurality of connecting rods (12) are provided on the bearing seat and connected to the inner wall of the housing. At least one of the connecting rods (12) is a hollow connecting square tube (13), and connecting wires are laid inside the connecting square tube (13). A second shaft seat (11) is provided parallel to and coaxially with the first shaft seat (10). The second shaft seat (11) is connected to the inner wall of the housing through a number of sector plates (14). The through holes between the sector plates (14) are discharge ports (15).

7. A feeding mechanism as described in claim 6, characterized in that, The valve plate (16) is located below the sector plate (14). The valve plate (16) has a circular shape and a plurality of sector holes (17) arranged in a circle around the center. The number of sector holes (17) is the same as that of the sector plate (14), and the outer contour size is smaller than that of the sector plate (14). A valve plate (16) drive wheel is provided on one side of the housing, and the drive wheel meshes with the outer edge of the valve plate (16).

8. A feeding mechanism as described in any one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that, The rotating agitator includes an in-bin rotating component and a material outlet rotating component. The in-bin rotating component is a downwardly bent agitator rod, and the material outlet rotating component is horizontally positioned above the discharge port (15). It also includes a rotating assembly, on which the three rotating components—the in-bin rotating component, the material outlet rotating component, and the material spreading plate—are integrated. The rotating assembly is controlled by a rotating mechanism, which includes a drive motor (29) and one or more rotating shafts for connecting the rotating components. The rotating shafts of the rotating assembly are limited and fixed by the first shaft seat (10) and the second shaft seat (11).

9. A feeding mechanism as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The rotating shaft includes a first stirring shaft (26), a second stirring shaft (27), and a spreading shaft (28). The first stirring shaft (26) is connected to the stirring component (18) inside the chamber, the second stirring shaft (27) is used to connect to the stirring component (19) at the material outlet, and the spreading shaft (28) is used to connect to the spreading disc. The first stirring shaft (26), the second stirring shaft (27), and the feeding shaft (28) are connected by bearings (31) and driven by three sets of meshing gears respectively.

10. A feeding mechanism as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The rotating mechanism includes a main shaft, and all rotating parts are connected to the main shaft and driven by a drive motor (29).

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