ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,304,757, issued on May 20, was assigned to SUKUP MANUFACTURING Co. (Sheffield, Iowa).
"Sweep auger drive shield with gravity reclaim" was invented by Ryan Thomas Olson (Dows, Iowa).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A sweep auger system having a driveshaft with auger fighting 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...