A material conveyor system container and method of making same. The container comprises a wear band generally disposed at the points of contact of the bucket with the material being conveyed by the bucket that is made from a highly abrasion resistant material and the rest of the bucket is made from a less expensive polymer, such as polyethylene.

Disclosed herein is a belt assembly including a flexible belt with an improved belt attachment. The belt attachment includes two crossbars spaced along the length of the belt. The crossbars retain bearings that allow predetermined movement in six degrees of freedom. The crossbars are connected by a rigid body that attaches to the bearings. Implements that are attached to the rigid body are simply supported but restrained in pitching rotation.

Disclosed herein is a ring elevator for lifting root crops in a root crop harvester, including a first and a second pair of endless carrying strips, each pair arranged in parallel and drivable over a closed path; first and second parallel transverse elements attached between and to, respectively, the first and second strips; flexible support elements, each attached to a first transverse element and to a second transverse element. The first strips can be arranged around the second strips at a distance which varies along the paths between a minimum distance (d.sub.min) and a maximum distance (d.sub.max), and in an ascending part equals a carrier distance (c), such that the flexible support elements form baskets for receiving the root crops. The useful volume (V.sub.u) in the baskets takes up at least 50% of the total volume (V.sub.t) delimited by the transverse elements.

An appliance for charging transport pockets with a transport item includes a feed device that feeds the transport item into a transfer zone and a suspended conveying device with a plurality of transport pockets that are arranged one after the other for taking over the transport item in the transfer zone and conveying away the charged transport pockets. The transport pockets each form a receiving compartment for the transport item, and are connected to a conveying member of the suspended conveying device. The transport pockets are moved through the transfer zone in a lying formation in a transfer conveying direction, and the transport item, by way of the feed device, is conveyed into the transfer zone essentially in the transfer conveying direction of the transport pockets, and in a delivery region is delivered from above onto the transport pockets which are moved through the transfer zone below the feed device.

A drive unit for a grain elevator, in particular for agricultural machines, has a drive wheel operatively connected to a screw conveyor for conveying crop into the grain elevator. The drive wheel is provided with a retainer which may be engaged in a positive locking and/or friction-type connection with a continuous tension device of the grain elevator provided with one or more paddles so as to drive the continuous tension device. Several openings are provided in the drive wheel between the arms holding the retainer in such a way that this allows or facilitates crop conveyed by the screw conveyor into the grain elevator along a direction of conveyance to flow through the drive wheel.

A bucket elevator adjustable guide system for efficiently transferring and dispensing particulate material from a bucket elevator includes a head housing connected to the bucket elevator, an adjustable guide member disposed therein, an extendable and retractable adjustment member connected to the guide member, a remotely controllable drive unit coupled to the adjustment member, and a remote control. The head housing receives buckets of particulate material to be dispensed from the bucket elevator. The guide member extends in a curved arc over the buckets to engage and guide discharged particulate material into a discharge chute. Remote controls enable the drive unit to be manually or automatically controlled to cause the adjustment member to extend or retract to adjust the position and configuration of the guide member and affect the transfer and dispensing of the particulate material without physically accessing the adjustment member.

A paddle for a grain elevator of a combine harvester includes a plate and a leg. The plate is configured to be coupled to a chain at a first location on the chain. The plate has a top side for carrying grain, a bottom side opposite the top side, and a lip that extends along a perimeter of the top side of the plate for retaining the grain on the top side. The leg extends from a bottom side of the plate for releasably contacting the chain at a second location that is spaced from the first location.

A system has a surge bin, a distribution conveyor assembly, an elevating conveyor assembly, and a receiving conveyor assembly. The surge bin has an internal storage compartment, a top input opening, and a bottom output opening. The distribution conveyor assembly has a distribution frame attached at an input end thereof to an upper portion of the surge bin, and a distribution conveyor mounted on the distribution frame. The elevating conveyor assembly has an elevating conveyor configured to receive granular material at an elevating input and discharge the received granular material selectively to the top input opening of the surge bin or to the distribution conveyor input. The receiving conveyor assembly has a receiving station configured to receive granular material from a discharge of a transport vehicle, and a receiving conveyor operative to transfer the received granular material from the receiving station into the elevating input.

A drive unit for a grain elevator, in particular for agricultural machines, has a drive wheel operatively connected to a screw conveyor for conveying crop into the grain elevator. The drive wheel is provided with retainer means which may be engaged in a positive locking and/or friction-type connection with a continuous tension means of the grain elevator provided with one or more paddles so as to drive the continuous tension means. Several openings are provided in the drive wheel between the arms holding the retainer means in such a way that this allows or facilitates crop conveyed by the screw conveyor into the grain elevator along a direction of conveyance to flow through the drive wheel.

A plant growing apparatus is described. In some examples, the plant growing apparatus includes a carousel that is powered such that controlled movement of tubs/containers/vessels with plants or plant matter on the carousel about an axis allows for controlled and measured exposure of the plants/plant matter to predetermined frequencies of light from a light source. The light sources are positioned such that, as the plants/plant matter pass by the light sources in a controlled and timed rotation, a predictable amount of light in predetermined frequencies that is necessary to promote healthy plant growth is provided to the plant/plant matter. The described plant growing apparatus including the carousel provides a uniform distribution of light vis--vis traditional plant growing methods and therefore achieves higher yields from the plant/plant matter.