US3861117A

US3861117A - Refuse disposal apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3861117A
Application number: US362960A
Authority: US
Inventors: Quinto Defilippi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1972-05-30
Filing date: 1973-05-21
Publication date: 1975-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1992-01-21
Also published as: CA964632A

Abstract

The following specification discloses an apparatus for location within restaurants, stores, warehouses, apartment buildings, and the like for shredding and packing refuse into bag-like containers. The apparatus includes a sealing means for sealing the container air-tight to insure that all odours emanating from the refuse are held within it while the container awaits pick-up for disposal.

Description

United States Patent 1 DeFilippi Jan. 21, 1975 REFUSE DISPOSAL APPARATUS [76] Inventor: Quinto DeFilippi, 21 Chauncey Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada 22 Filed: May 21,1973

21 Appl. No; 362,960

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data May 30, 1972 Canada 143398 [52] US. Cl. 53/124 B, 53/124 C, 100/97 [51] Int. Cl B65b 1/24 [58] Field of Search 53/124 B, 124 C; 100/96, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Liebman 241/236 X 3,547,577 11/1968 Lovercheck 100/97 X 3,563,168 2/1971 Doninger 53/124 B X 3,651,755 3/1972 Gati 100/96 3,721,060 3/1973 Quinto 53/124 B Primary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee [57] ABSTRACT The following specification discloses an apparatus for location within restaurants, stores, warehouses. apartment buildings, and the like for shredding and packing refuse into bag-like containers. The apparatus includes a sealing means for sealing the container air-tight to insure that all odours emanating from the refuse are held within it while the container awaits pick-up for disposal.

10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED i975 3,861.1 l 7 SHEEI EMF 3 FIG.5

The present invention relates to a refuse disposal apparatus. In particular the apparatus hereinafter described provides a refuse handling container that can be located inside a plant or store premises to shred, compact, and seal refuse into a packaged block for delivery to and disposal by refuse collection agencies without the necessity of having the container itself removed for dumping to dispose of the refuse.

1 It is known that the common type of metal container with or without plastic liner and metal lid now used for holding refuse in restaurants and food stores are unsightly, unsanitary and because of the loose nature of most methods of filling the containers require much storage space to keep before pick-up. Such containers are difficult to seal to eliminate the unpleasant odours developed in them, thereby requiring their storage in ventilated places distant from the public and working parts of the premises. Another common method of storage of refuse prior to collection by large establishments is the use of large packing units that hold a quantity of refuse until a tractor arrives to hoist the unit onto its trailer for carriage and dumping at a refuse yard or incinerator. Such units are unsightly and evil smelling and cause much unnecessary handling as the whole massive and weighty container must be carried to and from the disposal site, often across the city many miles in order to empty the contents.

It is the principle object of the present invention to provide a refuse compacter that compacts and shreds the refuse, and packages it into sealed plastic envelopes for delivery to the refuse site without the necessity of the apparatus being moved from the premises and occupying a minimum of storage space while awaiting collection.

It is known that much of the space used during storage of refuse comprises entrapped air between the constituents of the refuse such as crumpled paper, bottles, cans and the like. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to limit the amount of entrapped air in the refuse by first breaking and shredding all the constituents to fine chunks and then compacting the chunks into a solid block. The block of refuse is dimensioned to a size that can be easily handled by a single worker. Before ejection from the compactor of the de vice, a thermoplastic envelope is sealed around the block to insure that vermin cannot gain access to it and that it will not emit odours while awaiting collection prior to disposal.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The foregoing object is achieved by the apparatus of the invention which comprises a hopper for receiving refuse, shredding means positioned within said hopper; and delivery means to direct the shredded refuse to a compacting chamber where the refuse is subjected to ramming while being enveloped by a film of thermoplastic material. When the envelope of compacted refuse is sufficiently full the shredding and compacting is arrested while a sealing unit is actuated. The sealing unit comprises a means to close two opposite sides of the envelope until they contact one another.

The closure means has associated with it a pair of impulse electric heating elements which when abutted one with another and the two sides of the envelope between them will cause the envelope to melt and seal the sides together at the point of contact with the heating element. After the sealingunit is returned to rest posi tion an ejector means rams the block of packaged refuse from the packer where it can be man-handled for storage and disposal.

The above and other features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains from the following detailed description and drawings in which;

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a container for packing refuse cut away in part to indicate the internal structural elements and components.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional end view of the shredders showing the preferred displacement of a row of teeth.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the compacting chamber showing the structure of the sealing means, and showing the location in broken lines, of an envelope of thermoplastic film at the time of sealing and also after ejection from the compacting chamber.

FIG. 4 is a view looking downward over the sealing unit shown when in open position in solid line and in closed sealing position in dotted lines with theoutline of the envelope in dotted broken lines also.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus taken through the centre of the compacting ram, the shredding chamber, and the compacting chamber showing the method of storing folds of thermoplastic tube around the envelope cage and the disposition of the ram above the compacting chamber.

FIG. 6 is a view partially in section of sealing means. showing the parts of the impulse heater.

In the following detailed description and in the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts;

In FIG. 1, a container 10 is shown enclosing the apparatus of the invention, and comprises a frame 11 partially enclosed by sheet metal sides 12. A hopper 13 is formed in the upper side of the container and a pair of

shafts

14, 15 are rotatably mounted in parallel relation across the bottom of the hopper 13. The shafts l4, 15 are rotated in opposite directions to each other so that teeth members 16 of one shaft draw refuse toward teeth 19 of the other shaft tearing and breaking it together. As refuse is deposited into the hopper while the shafts rotate it is shredded, ground and broken into small pieces capable only of passing through the allowable spaces between the teeth. The upper sides of the shafts rotate toward one another as indicated by

arrows

17, 18, of FIG. 2, insuring that all the refuse passes through the shredding teeth, rather than slipping down the sides of the hopper.

Power for the shafts is supplied by hydraulic means which also drives the hydraulic mechanisms for the rams of the apparatus.

A hydraulic ram 20 is mounted to the upper side 21, of frame 11, to operate reciprocally downwardly into the compacting chamber 22. The ram drives a compacting plate 23 into the refuse collected above an anvil 24 which forms the bottom of the compacting chamber. The refuse has been directed from the shredders and hopper into the compacting chamber.

7 In FIG. 3, the compacting chamber 22 is shown with sides 26 made of sheet metal with a pair of outwardly opening doors 27, 28, facing inwardly within the container 10. A hydraulically operated ram cylinder'device 29 is located beneath the chamber 22 with its ram and fixed to the bottom or anvil 24. The anvil 24 is free to move under the force of the ram forward into storage space 70, across guide means 30, 31. The compacting chamber sides 26 are fixed to the frame 11 by channel 33 but the bottom or anvil 24 is not attached to the sides 26.

In FIG. 3, a tube of thermoplastic film is shown in broken lines 34 and a bag of refuse 35, both shown immediately after heat sealing and severing one from the otherat a common broken line 36, by severing mechanism 37.

The severing and heat sealing mechanism of the invention comprises a pair of Teflon coated

wire heating elements

38, 39, held by

bar members

40, 41, opposite on another and spaced apart prior to and after usage to allow a tube of film to pass between them and rest within the compacting chamber located beneath the sealing unit. The

holding bars

40, 41, are both slidably mounted on a pair of

guide rails

42, 43, and have

hydraulic ram devices

44, 45, associated with them to cause the bars to travel toward one another and abutt upon contact in substantially parallel relation and over the centre line of the compacting chamber. As the bars abutt one another they force the tube of thermoplastic film 34 to narrow in size until closure occurs. When the bars come into

abuttment heating elements

38, 39, carried on the facing sides of the bars press the sides of the film together and heat seal them together causing the closed tube to create a completely enveloped package enumerated 35, below the sealing unit and creating a new bottom to the tube 34 shown above the sealing unlt.

On either end of each bar one end of a pair of folding

arms

46, 47, are attached. Each folding arm consists of two pieces of strap metal of equal length pivotally connected together and pivotally connected to opposite ends of each of

bars

40, 41. when in the at rest position each folding arm is slightly folded inwardly at its

centre pivot

48, 49, as shown in FIG. 4 to ensure its bending inwardly when the bars are moved toward one another. The purpose of the folding arms is to create a centre fold inwardly in the plastic tube during the closure and sealing operation thereby providing a neater and stronger seal to the refuse package. The quadrupling of the thickness of film of plastic at the

upper corners

50, 51, of the bag prior to sealing gives the additional strength to the closure when heat sealed together.

As the ram 29 is actuated to draw the anvil 24 forward into the storage space 70, a back plate 52 which is welded at its bottom edge to the anvil 24, is carried forward also and pushes the sealed bag of refuse against the doors 27, 28 opening them. The doors are shown in FIG. 3 in open position, in broken lines and the back plate 52 is shown in its advanced position in broken lines 53 where it has ejected the sealed refuse bag. Upon reversal of the hydraulic ram 29 the anvil 29 and plate 52, will in combination return to position to form the bottom of the compacting chamber and the doors which are spring hinged at 54, 55, 56, 57, spring shut preventing the refuse bag from returning with the anvil into the chamber.

FIG. shows a chute 58 positioned below the

shredders

14, 15, to direct the chunks and pieces of refuse toward the space within the container above the sealing unit from whence it falls into the tube 34 that has been sealed at 59 to form a closed bottom thereto.

A framework or cage 60 with irregular shaped sides 61, is fixed in the space above the compacting chamber and holds in loose folds a tube of thermoplastic film commercially available and in a length of upwards of 72 feet.

When a tube of film is loaded onto the cage one end is first sealed and allowed to hang down into the compacting chamber with the remainder of the tube gathered in folds around the cage 60. The irregular shaped side members 61 of cage prevents the film from adhering to the cage thereby assisting the folds of the tube to be readily pulled in succession downward.

Whenever the sealing unit 37 is employed to close and seal a bag of refuse and create a new bottom for the tube the next stroke of ram 23 pushes the new bottom down for a new bag. The hydraulically powered compacting ram 23 is operated with the shredders to pack the refuse from the shredding hopper into a solid mass in the bag film covering the inside of chamber 22, by forcing ram head 23 downward against the refuse held on the anvil 24. As refuse builds up in the bag in the compacting chamber 22, the stroke of ram head 23 is impeded and it will thereby push with greater force. When a predetermined pressure is reached a pressure switch in the anvil will arrest the shredding and ramming steps and actuate the sealing and ejection units. With return of back plate 52, a limit switch 66a, will be actuated to restart the shredders and ramming procedures.

By the use of well known hydraulic switching and valving techniques the apparatus of the invention is made to operate substantially automatically. The initiation of the start button 65,.provides electric power to motor 25, which drives the hydraulic pumps to set up the required pressure for operating the

ram cylinders

20, 44, 45 and 29, and the hydraulic motors for driving the

shredders

14, 15. The shredders and compacting ram being immediately to function and their function is arrested only by the pressure switch in the anvil which actuates, in sequence, the sealing unit 37 and then the ejection ram 29. A switch can be located on the bag cage 60 to indicate by light means on the panel when there is no more film and to also stop the hydraulic action of the device. The sequence will recommence when more film is fitted to the cage.

When the device is not required for continuous use a timing device and photo-cell means can be used to actuate the rams and shredders only when refuse is present in the hopper. For example, a photo-cell device located at the mouth of the hopper would be actuated by the entrance of refuse onto the shreddersv A timing device would keep the apparatus functioning for a space of time and then stop it until more refuse breaks the photo-cell circuit to restart the cycle.

Whenever a chunk of refuse cannot pass through the shredders a pressure switch on the shredder unit will cause the shredders to reverse rotation thereby throwing the chuck outward to allow it to pass down the sides of the hopper into the chute to the compacting chamber.

An additional feature of the invention is the provision of a jog switch to allow start-stop or intermittent operation of the device when repairs are required to any point of advance in the sequence or in rotation of the shredders. The jog feature also allows an operator to clear the shredders of jammed chunks or else to help them clear their teeth of heavy loads by the jogging action of intermittent operation.

The complete hydraulic system is not shown but

hydraulic lines

66, 66b and 660 are indicated.

The

teeth

16, 19 of the shredders can be offset as indicated by numeral 72, in FIG. 2 to provide superior shredding characteristics, and the teeth can be closely intermeshed as at 73, or be set apart by spacing the shafts as in FIG. 5, depending on the fineness of shredding required.

In FIG. 6, the construction of the

heating elements

38, 39, is shown and comprises an impulse electric element 67 with a rise or dimple or ridge along its material. The heating element is covered with a coating of Teflon 69, to insure that the film is not damaged and does not stick to the heating element. An elastomeric or rubber cushion 68 supports the Teflon-coated heating element in the channel of the holding arm to allow the flexible heating element to give way into the rubber whenever a lump or fold in the film is pressed against it thereby insuring uniformity of sealing along the abutting faces of the sealing

units

38, 39, and the avoidance of holes or unsealed parts to the edge of the bag.

The foregoing is a description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which is given here by way of example only. The invention is not to be taken as limited to any of the specific features as described but comprehends all such variations as come within the scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclu-' sive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus comprising in combination;

hopper means having a refuse receiving opening from an upper side thereof;

at least one shaft member having teeth thereon, ro-

tatable within said hopper means;

wall means forming a bottom wall and side walls defining a compacting chamber, disposed at a lower level than said hopper means and having an open side; means adapted to position an envelope within said chamber for reception of refuse therein, said envelope beingsupported against the weight of said refuse by said bottom wall and side walls lying around the exterior thereof; means adapted to direct shredded refuse from said hopper means into a said envelope in said compact- I ing chamber;

refuse packing means reciprocally moveable into and out of said envelope against said bottom wall of said compacting chamber for forcing refuse into said envelope, said envelope being extended against said bottom wall and said side walls of said chamber by refuse as the same is being compacted;

power means for rotating said shaft and for reciprocating said packing means, and,

sealing means operable to close and seal said envelope around said compacted refuse.

2. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said envelope is part of a continuous tubular member, and including storage means for said tubular member, and wherein said sealing means severs said tubular member during sealing.

3. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus as in claim 2, wherein the'sealing means is actuated by a pressure switch to close and seal said envelope about said refuse after a predetermined quantity thereof has been packed therein.

4. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus as in claim 3, wherein said sealing means comprises a pair of parallely disposed impulse electric heating wires adapted to sever'and seal said bag of film when pressed together with said bag between.

5. A refuse packer comprising in combination;

a hopper for receiving refuse therein;

shredding means disposed in said hopper to chop and tear refuse introduced and falling thereon;

wall members defining a compacting chamber having an open side, at least one of said wall members being moveable between open and closed positions to provide door means for said chamber;

means for delivering the chopped refuse from said hopper to said open side of said compacting chamber;

reciprocating ramming means adapted to compact said chopped refuse together against one of said wall members of said chamber to form a mass of refuse;

means for surrounding said compacted mass of refuse with an envelope of thermoplastic film;

means to seal said film about said refuse;

ejecting means for pushing said envelope of refuse from said compacting chamber when'said move- 6. A refuse packer as in claim 5, wherein said shredding means comprises a pair of shafts mounted across to said hopper and rotatable toward one another, each shaft having randomly mounted teeth thereon to intermesh with teeth on the other of the pair of shafts and thereby catch and shred refuse falling therebetween.

7. A refuse packer as in claim 5, having a cage means for storing a tube of plastic film between said compacting chamber and said hopper, said ramming means pushing a portion of said tube into said chamber to re ceive refuse therein after a bottom has been formed therein by said sealing means.

8. A refuse packer as claimed in claim 5 wherein said ejection means includes a second moveable wall member, moveable across said chamber towards and away from said first mentioned moveable wall member.

9. A refuse packer as claimed in claim 8 wherein one of said wall members constitutes the bottom wall of said chamber and wherein said ramming means moves towards and away from said bottom wall for compacting refuse thereon, said bottom wall and said second moveable wall member being attached to one another and moving in unison for ejection of said compacted refuse. v

10. A refuse packer as claimed in claim 5 including tube folding means moveable in unison with said sealing means to infold said tube prior to sealing.

Claims

1. Refuse shredDing and packing apparatus comprising in combination; hopper means having a refuse receiving opening from an upper side thereof; at least one shaft member having teeth thereon, rotatable within said hopper means; wall means forming a bottom wall and side walls defining a compacting chamber, disposed at a lower level than said hopper means and having an open side; means adapted to position an envelope within said chamber for reception of refuse therein, said envelope being supported against the weight of said refuse by said bottom wall and side walls lying around the exterior thereof; means adapted to direct shredded refuse from said hopper means into a said envelope in said compacting chamber; refuse packing means reciprocally moveable into and out of said envelope against said bottom wall of said compacting chamber for forcing refuse into said envelope, said envelope being extended against said bottom wall and said side walls of said chamber by refuse as the same is being compacted; power means for rotating said shaft and for reciprocating said packing means, and, sealing means operable to close and seal said envelope around said compacted refuse.

3. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus as in claim 2, wherein the sealing means is actuated by a pressure switch to close and seal said envelope about said refuse after a predetermined quantity thereof has been packed therein.

4. Refuse shredding and packing apparatus as in claim 3, wherein said sealing means comprises a pair of parallely disposed impulse electric heating wires adapted to sever and seal said bag of film when pressed together with said bag between.

5. A refuse packer comprising in combination; a hopper for receiving refuse therein; shredding means disposed in said hopper to chop and tear refuse introduced and falling thereon; wall members defining a compacting chamber having an open side, at least one of said wall members being moveable between open and closed positions to provide door means for said chamber; means for delivering the chopped refuse from said hopper to said open side of said compacting chamber; reciprocating ramming means adapted to compact said chopped refuse together against one of said wall members of said chamber to form a mass of refuse; means for surrounding said compacted mass of refuse with an envelope of thermoplastic film; means to seal said film about said refuse; ejecting means for pushing said envelope of refuse from said compacting chamber when said moveable wall member is in its open position aforesaid, and, power means for operating said shredding means said ramming means, said film sealing means, said ejection means, and said moveable wall member.

6. A refuse packer as in claim 5, wherein said shredding means comprises a pair of shafts mounted across to said hopper and rotatable toward one another, each shaft having randomly mounted teeth thereon to intermesh with teeth on the other of the pair of shafts and thereby catch and shred refuse falling therebetween.

7. A refuse packer as in claim 5, having a cage means for storing a tube of plastic film between said compacting chamber and said hopper, said ramming means pushing a portion of said tube into said chamber to receive refuse therein after a bottom has been formed therein by said sealing means.

9. A refuse packer as claimed in claim 8 wherein one of said wall members constitutes the bottom wall of said chamber and wherein said ramming means moves towards and away from saiD bottom wall for compacting refuse thereon, said bottom wall and said second moveable wall member being attached to one another and moving in unison for ejection of said compacted refuse.