Influence of a stopping angle of a spiral coil on the operation of a spiral-screw dispenser

Abstract

Dosing of dry concentrated feed to dairy cows is one of the most important tasks in the field of livestock mechanization. Devices that carry out volume dosing are more reliable and easier to be manufactured. Volumetric dispensers also include a spiral-screw dispenser – a special case of a screw dispenser. It is proposed to study the working process of the spiral-screw dispenser, namely the influence of a stopping angle of the last turn of the transporting spiral at the end of the discharge hole of the cylindrical casing. The paper indicates the method of determining and the value of the physical and mechanical properties of granulated feed. A laboratory installation on which it is possible to change the angle of installation of the spiral on the drive shaft is described. To study the effect of the stopping angle of the last turn of the transporting spiral on the accuracy of the formation of the feed portion, spirals with a diameter of 49, 73, 97 mm with different steps of 0.75, 1 and 1.25 of the diameter values were used. As a result of the experiments, it was revealed that the lowest coefficient of variation is 0.56 – 17.50%. And, accordingly, the greatest dosing accuracy is obtained when the last turn of the spiral stops at the position of 0°. That is, when the turn stops at the edge of the discharge neck in its lower part and this is typical for all sizes of spirals that were used.