When commodities such as cereal grains, oil seeds and pulse crops are harvested, they are often stored in large storage bins, such as silos, to await transportation to market. Typically, the transportation is by truck. In order to transfer the particles or grains of the commodity from a silo, in which it is stored, into a truck, which will transport the grain to market, a grain vacuum may be used.
An inlet end of the grain vacuum has a hose that is inserted into the silo. An outlet end of the grain vacuum is connected to a grain transport system, such as an auger. The vacuum is turned on to generate a vacuum to pull the grain from the silo into the hose. The operation of the vacuum causes both grain and air to be pulled into the hose and into the grain vacuum. It is desirable to send only the grain and not the air to the grain transport means. To do this, a separation of the air from the grain within the grain vacuum is required.
One means of effecting the separation of the grain and air is to use a separator assembly with an inner surface shape that draws the air off in a direction perpendicular to the direction of flow of the mixture of grain and air. Such a separator, however, has significant manufacturing cost.
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