A dosing unit, for the controlled delivery of a solid material, including a silo, for containing the material to be delivered, having on the bottom a discharge mouth, said discharge mouth being circular, at least one extraction auger arranged inside said silo and operable in rotation around a vertical axis, at least one scraper member, located inside said silo and associated with said discharge mouth operable in rotation around said vertical axis, first actuation means of the extraction auger and second actuation means of the scraper member, at least one shutter component positioned below the discharge mouth, and moving means operatively connected to the shutter component to move it with respect to the discharge mouth.

A seed meter assembly includes a motor, a seed reservoir, and a metering member having a seed side facing the seed reservoir and a non-seed side. The motor is configured to drive the metering member in a rotational direction moving from upstream towards downstream. The metering member includes a plurality of apertures for picking up seeds from the seed reservoir under the influence of a pressure differential. A cell diverges from an aperture of the plurality of apertures towards the seed side to define a surface recessed therefrom. The cell is configured to receive one of the seeds and is elongated between a first end defining a furthest extent of the cell in an upstream direction and a second end defining a furthest extent of the cell in a downstream direction. The aperture of the plurality of apertures is disposed closer to the second end than to the first end.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes an automated food production kiosk. Embodiments of a kiosk may comprise a robotic system having a reach. A plurality of food ingredient dispensers may be configured around the robotic system. Each dispenser may have a physical interface within a reach of the robotic system to receive an item. One or more physical processing units have a physical interface within the reach of the robotic system to receive the item. The kiosk may prepare food items under control of a local server, a cloud server, or both, for example.

Aspects to facilitate dust collection are disclosed. In one aspect, a chute provides a dust seal between a bulk bag of material and a silo loading hatch. Here, the dust seal comprises a first seal between a first end of the chute and the bulk bag, and a second seal between a second end of the chute and the silo loading hatch. In another aspect, a collapsible chute is extended between a silo loading hatch and a discharge chute of a bulk bag such that the collapsible chute forms a dust seal between the silo loading hatch and the bulk bag. Contents of the bulk bag are released via the discharge chute so that the contents of the bulk bag flow into the silo loading hatch. For this embodiment, the dust seal prevents airborne dust associated with the flow from escaping into an exterior portion of the collapsible chute.

Aspects for dust collection are disclosed. In one aspect, an apparatus is disclosed, which includes a lightweight portable housing such that a vacuum source, a filter component, and a dust containment component are housed within the lightweight portable housing. The apparatus further includes an input component configured as a conduit between the lightweight portable housing and a dust transition area corresponding to an area between a dust loading component and a dust receiving component. The vacuum source is configured to apply a negative pressure to the dust transition area by creating an air flow from the dust transition area to the lightweight portable housing via the input component, whereas the dust containment component is configured to collect airborne dust removed from the dust transition area and filtered by the filter component. Similar apparatuses are also disclosed to facilitate dust removal from a silo, as well as from a mixer.

A sweep auger system having a driveshaft with auger flighting and a backboard extending a length from an inward end to an outward end. An input of a gearbox is connected to an outward end of the drive shaft and a sweep wheel having a plurality of notches, arms and feet is connected to an output of the gearbox. A drive shield is placed around a rearward side of the sweep wheel that forms a channel that is configured to capture grain agitated by the drive wheel. A guide plate is connected to the gearbox and covers a portion of the gearbox. The guide plate angles from an upper outward edge downward and forward to a lower inward edge that is configured to urge the grain captured within the channel of the drive shield to move in front of the sweep auger system reducing grain left in the grain bin.

A weighing apparatus for weighing batches of food product is provided. The weighing apparatus comprises a product supply unit arranged to supply food product to be weighed, a weighing unit arranged to receive and weigh a batch of food product, and a product delivery unit arranged to receive the food product from the product supply unit and to deliver a batch of food product to the weighing unit. The product delivery unit comprises a trough extending between a product supply position, at which food product is received from the product supply unit, and a product delivery position, at which the food product is delivered for receipt in the weighing unit, and a transport screw arranged in the trough and configured to rotate in the trough for conveying food product from the product supply position to the product delivery position. The transport screw comprises at least two helical members. A primary helical member extends along a length of the trough substantially from the product supply position to the product delivery position. A secondary helical member extends along a length of the trough substantially from the product supply position to a termination position of the secondary helical member, the termination position of the secondary helical member being between the product supply position and the product delivery position.

Provided is an apparatus for dosaging a particulate material. The particulate material includes, at least in operation, a cavity having an inlet opening facing upwardly for receiving the material from an external source, an outlet opening facing downwardly, for disposing therethrough dosages of the material and a dosage feeder located inside the cavity and having at least one dosage recess.

The present invention relates to a sweep conveyor assembly for use in a silo or granary (70) having a floor (71) and a generally cylindrical wall (72) upstanding from the floor (71) and a discharge apparatus (1) for discharging material (74) from a centre of the floor (71) to an exterior location, the sweep conveyor (S) assembly comprising: a sweep conveyor (S) for transporting material (74) inside the silo (S) or granary towards the centre of the floor (71) where it can be discharged by the discharge apparatus (1), a holder (H), a link mechanism (8) for connecting the sweep conveyor (S) to the holder (H), said link mechanism (8) comprising a connection link (L) having a first end (83) and a second end (84), said first end (83) being configured to be connected to the holder (H) at a fixed pivot point and the sweep conveyor (S) being configured to be connected to the second end (84) of the connection link (L) at a movable pivot point, wherein the connection link (L) is arranged to rotate about the fixed pivot point, forming a first angle (+) between the connection link (L) and the holder (H) and wherein further the sweep conveyor (S) is arranged to rotate about the movable pivot point, forming a second angle () between the sweep conveyor (S) and the connection link (L), and wherein the link mechanism (8) is arranged to control a relation between the first angle () and the second angle (), and a magnitude of the first angle () and second angle () is controlled by an angular position of the sweep conveyor (S).

A device (20) for distribution of solid particles (22) for loading a vessel with solid particles, comprising a solid particles feed hopper (21), a rotating member and a drive member for driving in rotation said rotating member about a rotation axis, and a set of at least one deflector element (25, 25, 25) carried by said rotating member and erected, or adapted to be erected, on rotation of the shaft, relative to the rotation axis, in which device the feed hopper defines a set of at least one opening (29) conformed in an asymmetric manner relative to the rotation axis, defining at most one plane of symmetry passing through the rotation axis.