Grain Bin Solutions -Parts & Accessories. Parts & Accessories. From bin stairs to motors, we have everything you are looking for to customize your grain bin! Please call toll free 855-354-2496 for more information on our products! Turn off and lock out all powered equipment associated with the bin, including augers used to help move the grain, so that the grain is not being emptied or moving out or into the bin. Standing on moving grain is deadly; the grain can act like 'quicksand' and bury a worker in seconds.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

About Grain Bins Within the larger category of grain handling and storage equipment, you’ll find new and used grain bins in stiffened and unstiffened varieties. Grain bin storage capacities range anywhere from a few hundred bushels to hundreds of thousands of bushels, and they are as.

This invention relates to a floor system for a grain storage bin and more particularly to a floor system utilizing interconnected floor channels and free-standing floor supports.

Grain storage bins are typically made of corrugated sheet-metal panels bolted together to form a right cylindrical bin and have a conical roof, and are supported on a concrete pad or foundation. As is conventional, an air-permeable grain-supporting floor is provided in the bin above the concrete pad so as to form a plenum chamber between the concrete pad and the grain floor. A fan and air heater assembly located outside the grain bin blows heated air into the plenum so that the heated air flows up through the floor and into the grain for drying or otherwise conditioning the grain. Typically, the grain floor is located about 12 to 18 inches (30 to 45 cm.) above the concrete pad so as to provide a plenum of sufficient height and volume that the static pressure therewithin is substantially uniform under the entire area of the grain floor.

While grain floors have been of various configurations, this invention is particularly concerned with grain bin floors made of elongate, prefabricated metal channels which interlock in side-by-side relation to form a continuous grain floor. Heretofore, these interlocking grain floor channels have been supported above the concrete pad in a variety of ways including stacking concrete blocks on the concrete pad at specified locations to support the floor. More recently, metal supports legs have been used which are free standing on the concrete pad and which engage the bottom of the grain floor channels thus eliminating the use of concrete blocks and permitting air to circulate freely in the plenum. Further these prior free-standing support legs are fast to install because they do not need to be bolted or otherwise fastened to the concrete pad or to the floor members, and no lateral braces between the supports are required.

However, in actual use a serious problem with these prior free-standing support legs has, on occasion, been encountered which has resulted in the catastrophic failure of the grain bin floor upon filling of the bin with grain. More particularly, it is a common practice for the user of a grain bin to test the fan and heater system prior to filling the bin. Upon start-up of the fan, the static pressure in the plenum chamber beneath the grain bin floor is, in many instances, sufficient to lift some or all of the floor in an empty bin up from the free-standing support legs. Since the support legs are free standing (i.e., they are not secured to the concrete pad or to the grain floor), air circulating in the plenum chamber could blow over some of the support legs. Upon turning off the fan, the floor would settle and would be supported in its proper position by the remaining support legs. Since the legs are hidden from view, there is no visual way to check the grain bin to ascertain if the support legs are properly positioned. Upon filling the bin with grain, the weight of the grain would cause a portion of the grain bin floor not properly supported by the support legs to fail, thus spilling the grain into and partially filling the plenum chamber. If the failure is not detected, a large portion of the grain may not be properly dried. Of course, if the failure is detected, the bin must be unloaded and the damaged floor replaced. The unloading of the filled bin with a collapsed floor is a time-consuming job and the repair parts for the grain bin floor may be expensive and require time to order. During the harvest season when the grain bin is primarily used for drying grain, time is of the essence and thus failure of the grain bin floor may not only result in damage to the grain bin, but spoilage of the grain to be dried therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Among the several objects and features of this invention may be noted the provision of a floor system for a grain bin or the like, such as above described, in which free-standing support legs are used and in which these support legs positively engage the grain bin floor members so as to substantially prevent both lateral and vertical movement of the floor members relative to the support legs; the provision of such a floor system which is adapted to bear directly on a concrete foundation and which need not be secured to the foundation; the provision of such a floor system in which the free-standing support legs cannot be blown or otherwise knocked over after installation of the floor thereby insuring the structural integrity of the floor system; the provision of such a floor system which may be readily installed and which does not require the use of fasteners; the provision of such a floor system which is of light weight and yet which is sufficiently strong to withstand the weight of the grain filling the bin; and the provision of such a floor system which is economical to fabricate and to ship.

Briefly, a floor system for a grain bin or the like of this invention comprises a plurality of channel-shaped floor members adapted to be interlocked in side-by-side abutting relation to form a substantially continuous floor surface. The floor surface further includes a plurality of support legs adapted to be secured to the underside of the floor members, to bear against a foundation and to support the floor members above the foundation. Each of the floor members is a one-piece member formed of sheet metal or the like and has a substantially flat web constituting the above-mentioned floor surface of the floor system and a downwardly extending flange at each side of its web. Each of these floor member flanges is approximately perpendicular to the floor member web, and one of the floor member flanges constituting an inside floor flange has an inside leg extending inwardly from its outer end beneath the floor web, this inside leg being substantially parallel to the floor web. A lip extends upwardly from the inner end of the inside floor leg toward the floor web. The other of the floor member flanges constitutes an outside floor flange and it has an outside floor leg extending outwardly beyond the outside floor flange from the lower end thereof and has an outside floor lip extending upwardly from the outer edge of the outside floor leg, whereby the inside flange, leg and lip of one floor member are adapted to be received within the outside flange, leg and lip of a next adjacent floor member so that contiguous floor members are substantially interlocked in side-by-side abutting relation. Each of the support legs comprises a one-piece member formed of sheet metal or the like and is channel shaped in cross-section. Each support leg has a support web, a first support flange at one side of the support web, a second support flange at the other side of the support web, and respective first and second support lips extending outwardly from the first and second support flanges. Means is provided at the upper end of the support leg for positively engaging and securing the support leg to the floor members, this means comprising a first bearing surface on the upper end of the first support flange adapted to support the outside floor leg of a floor member immediately above the support web. For convenience, this last-mentioned floor member is referred to as an immediate floor member. The support member further includes a second bearing surface on the second support flange adapted to support the outside leg of a next adjacent floor member. The support web of the support leg extends up above the level of the first and second bearing surfaces and has a first side generally contiguous to the inner face of the outside flange of the immediate floor member and a second side generally contiguous to the inner face of the inside flange of the immediate floor member. The first outwardly extending lip of the support member extends above the first bearing surface and is disposed on the outside of the outside lip of the immediate floor member. The second outwardly extending lip of the support member extends above the second bearing s

Installing Free Standing Grain Bin