AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT Name of Applicant: Kerry Hammond of P.O. Box 484, Romsey, Victoria 3434, Australia Actual Inventor: Kerry Hammond Address for Service: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, of 1 Nicholson Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia Invention Title: "Unloading aid" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: r\R PARTRI.\nCC\PIlM275569 1 DOC . 17/3/10 C:WMRPobnDCC\PL\275U0_ DOC-17MD/UD10 UNLOADING AID The present invention relates to an aid to assist unloading of product stored within a drum or other open-topped receptacle. 5 It is common practice to store in a drum animal feed packaged within a large bag to shield the contents from attack by vermin, such as mice or rats. Typically, a 44 gallon drum is used for this purpose. Access to the contents is via the open top of the bag via the open top of the drum. Although the product is easy to unload when the bag is relatively full, it can 10 become progressively more difficult as it empties, as the user needs to stretch their arm(s) further downwardly into the drum to the reduced level of the product within the bag. The present invention relates to an aid to assist with the unloading process as the level of product in the bag reduces. 15 According to the present invention there is provided an aid to assist unloading of a product stored within a drum or other open topped receptacle, the aid comprising a base plate for supporting a bag or other container of product, and a spring arrangement for suspending the base plate with container from the top of the receptacle such that when the container is 20 substantially full with product the base plate and container carried thereby will be in a lower part of the receptacle, and as the container is progressively unloaded by manual access through the upper open end of the receptacle, the base plate with container will progressively rise within the receptacle under the effect of the spring force whereby to facilitate emptying. 25 An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows schematically the unloading aid of the preferred embodiment installed within a drum and carrying a full bagged load of product; 30 Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showing the aid in a configuration when the bag is substantially empty of product; and C:\NRPonbDCCPLB\27530ULDOC-17i3/2IO -2 Figure 3 is a plan view. As shown in the accompanying drawings, the aid comprises a rigid base plate 2 having a diameter a little less than the internal diameter of the drum 4 so that it can easily fit within 5 the interior of the drum. A series of tension springs 6 distributed around the periphery of the base plate 2 acts to suspend the base plate from the upper rim of the drum 4. In the embodiment shown there are three such springs 6 uniformly distributed around the perimeter of the base plate 2, although depending on the force of the springs more than three springs may be required. In the embodiment shown the springs 6 are metal coil 10 springs but may alternatively be constituted by elastomeric cords and it is therefore to be understood that the term "spring" as used herein is intended to cover a range of different spring arrangements which perform the same function as the metal coil springs present in the preferred embodiment. 15 In the embodiment shown, each spring 6 is attached at its upper end to a separate clip 8 which hooks over the upper rim of the drum 4 and this is particularly convenient as it enables the unloading aid to be mounted to the drum without the need to drill into the drum to provide a secure fixing. It also enables the unloading aid to be quickly removed and installed into a different drum when required. Although a separate mounting clip for each 20 spring is preferred as suitable clips can easily and inexpensively be fabricated from metal strip, in an alternative the upper ends of the springs could be attached to a single circular hoop or band to be applied to the rim of the drum. In use, the base plate 2 is intended to carry a bag 10 of feed when loaded into the drum 4. 25 The characteristics of the springs 6 used to suspend the base plate 2 are such that when the base plate 2 is loaded with a substantially full bag 10 of feed, the weight of the load will cause the springs 6 to stretch and the base plate 2 to lower to the bottom, or close to the bottom, of the drum (see Figure 1), whereas when the base plate 2 is subject to little or no applied load, the springs 6 will be in a substantially relaxed state and will then hold the 30 base plate 2 at a raised elevation approximately midway along the height of the drum or above that. Accordingly, as product is progressively unloaded from the bag, the reducing C:NR lDCCPLB27530UI.DOC-703/2010 -3 load on the base plate 2 will cause the base plate 2 and bag 10 carried thereby to progressively rise under the force of the springs 6 from the lower end of the drum to thereby assist the unloading process as the bag empties. The exact position of the base plate 2 within the drum when the bag is empty or almost empty is not critical provided that 5 it is raised to a sufficient height that the user is able to reach over the rim of the drum and access product within the bottom of the bag without excessive difficulty. Although the invention has been described with reference to an aid for use in unloading bagged animal feed stored within the drum it will of course be understood that the aid can 10 also be used with other bagged products (granular fertilisers, for example) and indeed products stored in some other types of container. As animal feed and other products are typically sold packaged in a standardised weight (20kg for example) or perhaps a range of standardised weights, the unloading aid is able to be designed for use with product packaged to a particular standardised weight as determined by the characteristics of the 15 springs used in the aid. As such, unloading aids in accordance with the invention can be produced in a range of different load-carrying capacities by the use of different springs. It is to be noted that even with the unloading aid applied to the drum, the drum lid (if present) can still be laid over the top of the drum for extra protection. 20 The embodiment has been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.