Method for treatment of bagged organic materials

Abstract

A method and apparatus for treating bagged materials. A bagging machine is equipped with feed tubes that feed a conduit through a bag filling tunnel of the machine and through the open end of the bag and into the bag. The conduit is perforated and when the bag is filled, the length of the conduits is extended out through the bag end to be connected to a treatment media, e.g., forced air. An opening is provided at the rear end to provide an exhaust opening for air that is forced into the conduit, out the perforations and through the bagged material. The air will dry the material to lower the moisture content or provide oxygen as may be desired to enhance decomposition. Water may also be introduced as desired.

1 . An apparatus for filling a large plastic bag with material to be stored and treated, said apparatus comprising; 
 a mobile machine including a materials receiving tunnel having an exterior and an interior and a delivery mechanism for delivering materials to the tunnel, said tunnel having a rear opening and structure surrounding said opening for receiving and deploying a large plastic bag to be filled with material to be stored and treated, said delivery mechanism causing the delivered material to flow through said tunnel interior and through said tunnel opening to be deposited into said bag, and    a feed tube mounted to the tunnel and extended from exterior of said tunnel and into and through a major length of the tunnel interior and as so mounted defining a feed path for a perforated conduit for directing said conduit along said feed tube and through the rear opening of the tunnel for deployment thereof into the material in the bag as the bag is deployed from the tunnel.    
   
   
       2 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1  wherein a conduit holding reel is provided on said machine and exterior of said tunnel, a length of flexible perforated conduit coiled onto said reel with an end extended into the feed tube for insertion into said bag.  
   
   
       3 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 2  wherein the delivery mechanism delivers grain into said tunnel, said tunnel having a forward wall that declines rearwardly and said feed tube secured to said forward wall and having an end section that curves rearwardly away from said wall to terminate at the tunnel end, said conduit having perforations whereby air forced through the conduit is dispensed into the grain through said perforations.  
   
   
       4 . An apparatus as defined in  claim 1  wherein multiple feed tubes are strategically positioned to distribute multiple perforated conduits through different cross sectional areas of the bag.