WO2010136167A1

WO2010136167A1 - Waste collection apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2010136167A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/003160
Authority: WO
Inventors: James Dorrian
Original assignee: Bryson Recycling Limited
Priority date: 2009-05-27
Filing date: 2010-05-24
Publication date: 2010-12-02
Also published as: GB2483410A; GB201122087D0; GB2483410B; GB0909088D0

Abstract

A waste collection apparatus (20) adapted for mounting on a vehicle chassis (10), said waste collection apparatus (20) having a plurality of storage compartments (23, 34, 36, 50, 60) for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling, said apparatus (20) including means for facilitating emptying said plurality of storage compartments (22, 34, 36, 50, 60) at a recycling facility.

Description

i Waste Collection Apparatus

This invention relates to a waste collection apparatus for mounting on a vehicle chassis and in particular to a waste collection apparatus having a plurality of storage compartments for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling

Many local authorities are now required to recycle as much domestic and commercial waste as practically possible, including materials such as metal, plastics, glass, paper and cardboard Domestic waste intended for recycling is often collected in refuse collection vehicles having a single refuse storage compartment The material must then be sorted and separated at a refuse collection facility in a messy and time consuming, largely manual, process which results in a loss of value of the waste collected It is therefore desirable to encourage the public to sort waste and to collect different types of waste in separate bins or containers

To collect pre-sorted waste, such sorted refuse kerbside collection vehicles having a plurality of storage containers are required Many existing refuse collection vehicles comprise an arrangement of removable bins, stillages or bags for manual collection of respective waste types and require manual and time consuming unloading at a recycling facility, often requiring lifting equipment and/or forkhft trucks to unload and move such storage containers An object of the present invention is to provide an improved recycling collection vehicle in order to maximise the economic performance of the labour intensive collection activity, while significantly reducing the manual handling element and therefore the health and safety risks associated with this activity

According to a first embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a waste collection apparatus adapted for mounting on a vehicle chassis, said waste collection apparatus having a plurality of storage compartments for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling, said apparatus further comprising means for facilitating emptying said plurality of storage compartments at a recycling facility

In one embodiment at least one upper storage compartment is provided in an upper region of the apparatus, elevating means being provided for delivering waste into said upper storage compartment, thereby and utilising space in the upper section of the vehicle that otherwise would not be productively used

Preferably a plurality of further storage compartments are provided beneath said upper storage compartment Said further storage compartments may be provided with access openings in the sides of the apparatus to allow selected waste materials to be placed into the respective storage compartment For example, separate storage compartments may be provided for paper and glass

Preferably said elevating means comprises a collection hopper for receiving waste in a reception area in a lower region of the apparatus, said collection hopper being moveable between a lower position in said reception area and an upper position in said upper region of the apparatus for delivering said refuse into said upper storage compartment. The collection hopper may be arranged to be tipped and/or inverted when in said upper position for emptying the contents of the collection hopper into the upper storage compartment. Said reception area may be located in front of said further storage compartments.

In one embodiment, said collection hopper may be supported by one or more elongate members, such as lifting chains, extending around guide means, such as sprockets, provided at the upper and lower regions of the apparatus, said chains being driven by a motor for moving the collection hopper between said lower and upper positions thereof.

Preferably said collection hopper includes a laterally extending member adapted to act against a cam or projection as the hopper is lifted to its upper position to invert the collection hopper to empty the contents thereof into the upper storage compartment.

In one embodiment said upper storage compartment may comprise an elongate trough or chamber extending from a forward region of the apparatus to a rear region of the apparatus. Said elevating means may be provided in a forward region of the apparatus in front of said upper storage compartment.

A transversely extending moveable wall or plate may be provided within the upper storage compartment, extending across the width of the storage compartment, said wall being moveable along the upper storage compartment to urge material therein towards a rearward end of the first storage compartment. Said moveable wall may be moveable by means of one or more hydraulic rams and/or a chain drive. In one embodiment said moveable wall may be movable by means of a hydraulically driven chain extending the full length of the upper storage compartment.

Preferably said moveable wall is adapted to urge material delivered into the upper storage compartment towards a rearward end of the storage compartment and/or to compact or compress the contents of the first storage compartment.

A wall, preferably a rear wall, of the upper storage compartment may comprise or include a door, said door being openable to define a discharge opening, said moveable wall being advanceable towards the discharge opening of the upper storage compartment to eject the contents of the upper storage compartment through the discharge opening.

Said further storage compartments may comprise at least one lower storage compartment, said at least one lower storage compartment having a loading opening accessible from at least one side of the apparatus. Preferably at least one lower storage compartment is provided on each side of the apparatus. Preferably the or each lower storage compartment comprises a bottom wall, a rear wall, and a front wall, said front wall of the storage compartment comprising a portion of the side or rear of the apparatus and being openable to allow waste to be removed from the storage compartment. Preferably said bottom wall is adapted to be tilted from a substantially horizontal orientation to an inclined orientation to facilitate emptying of the storage compartment.

In one embodiment, an outer side of said bottom wall may be hingedly connected to a fixed point adjacent to the front wall and an inner side of the bottom wall may be hingedly connected to a lower side of the rear wall, an upper side of the rear wall being hingedly connected to a lifting means adapted to be moved between a lower position, wherein the bottom wall is substantially horizontal and said rear wall is substantially vertical, and a raised position, wherein said bottom and rear walls are tilted to an inclined orientation to facilitate emptying of waste from the respective storage compartment through the open front wall.

Preferably an upper region of the front wall is hingedly connected to the side or rear of the vehicle to allow the front wall to be raised to facilitate emptying of the respective storage compartment.

At least one of said further storage compartment located beneath the first storage compartment may include a compaction device for compacting waste, such as cardboard. Said compaction device may comprise a moveabie wall of the respective storage compartment, in the form of a press platen. Said movable wall may be reciprocally movable by means of one or more hydraulic rams. The moveabie wall may comprise an upper wall of the at least one further storage compartment.

According to further aspect of the present invention there is provided a refuse collection vehicle for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling, said refuse collection vehicle including a waste collection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a side view of a refuse collection vehicle incorporating a waste collection apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an upper storage compartment of the vehicle of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a sectional view through the vehicle of Figure 1 on line A-A;

Figure 4 is sectional view on line A-A in a material ejection configuration; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view through a rear part of the vehicle showing details of the rearmost storage compartment. A refuse collection vehicle illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a chassis 10 mounted on steerable front wheels 11 and driven rear wheels 12 On the chassis, there is mounted a cab 13 for a driver mounted over an engine A waste collection apparatus 20 is mounted on the vehicle chassis 10 behind the cab 13, the waste collection apparatus 20 having a plurality of storage compartments for the separate collection of different types of waste for conveying such waste to a recycling facility

An upper storage compartment 22 is provided along an upper region of the apparatus 20, extending from the front to the rear of the vehicle The upper storage compartment 22 defines an open trough, as shown in Figure 2 In use, the upper storage compartment 22 may be used for collecting a particular type of recyclable waste, such as plastics or metal

An elevating means 23 is provided in front of the upper storage compartment 22 directly behind the cab 13 of the vehicle for delivering waste material to the upper storage compartment 22 from a lower reception area

In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 , the elevating means 23 comprises a collection hopper 24 moveable between a lower reception or loading position (as shown in Figure 1) and a raised upper position adjacent the upper storage compartment 22 for delivering waste material into the upper storage compartment 22

The collection hopper 24 is supported upon endless chains extending around guide sprockets, respectively provided adjacent upper and lower regions of the apparatus, said chains being driven by a motor for moving the collection hopper between said lower and upper positions thereof The collection hopper 24 includes a rearwardly extending member 26 adapted to act against a fixed cam 28 as the collection hopper 24 is lifted to its upper position to invert the collection hopper to thereby empty the contents thereof into upper storage compartment 22

The collection hopper 24 is accessible from at least one side, more preferably both sides, of the vehicle when in its lower reception position to allow waste material to be manually placed into the collection hopper 24 Doors may be provided on the sides of the vehicle for providing access to the collection hopper 22 The doors may be provided with switch means such that the collection hopper 24 cannot be elevated unless the doors are closed

The upper storage compartment 22 is provided with a movable wall 30 extending transversely across the width of the compartment and mounted on guide rails to be moveable from a forward position towards the rear of the compartment 22 to urge material towards the rear end of the upper storage compartment 22 The moveable wall 30 is moveable between its forward and rear positions by means of a hydraulically driven chain drive mechanism driven by a hydraulic motor Alternatively the moveable wall may be driven by a double acting ram A control system for the moveable wall 30 may be adapted to control rearward motion of the moveable wall, the control system including sensing means to sense when the wall has moved as far as it can to push the contents of the upper storage compartment 22 towards the rear wall of the compartment and return the wall to its start position once such point has been reached The sensing means may comprise a pressure switch A warning may be given to the driver of the vehicle when the control system detects that the upper storage compartment 22 is full or nearly full and requires emptying before further use of the elevating means

A rear wall 32 of the upper storage compartment is hingedly mounted at a lower side to allow the rear wall 32 to be dropped down to enable the upper storage compartment to be emptied When the rear wall 32 is opened, the upper storage compartment 22 can be emptied by driving the movable wall 30 towards the rear of the compartment 22 to eject material from the upper storage compartment 22

Further storage compartments 34,36,50 are located beneath the upper storage compartment 22, said further storage compartments being accessible via doors provided in side covers of the apparatus A pair of front storage compartments 34 are provided on either side of the vehicle ahead of the rear wheels 12 and a pair of rear storage compartments 36 are provided on either side of the vehicle behind the rear wheels 12 As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the front and rear storage compartments 34,36 are defined on either side of a respective raised centra! portion 38 of the apparatus Each of the front and rear storage compartments 34,36 comprise a bottom wall 40, a rear wall 42, and a front wall 44, the front wall 44 comprising a portion of the side of the apparatus and being openable about a hinged upper connection 46 to allow waste to be removed from the respective storage compartment

An outer side of the bottom wall 40 of each of the front and rear storage compartments 34,36 is hingedly connected to a respective lower side of the apparatus adjacent a lower side of the associated front wall 44 and an inner side of the bottom wall 40 is hingedly connected to a lower side of the associated rear wall 42, an upper side of the rear wall 42 being hingedly connected to a respective side of the respective central portion 38 Each central portion 38 comprises a dividing wall comprising central ridge and depending sides Each central portion 38 is supported on a hydraulic ram whereby the central portion 38 is adapted to be moved between a lower position, wherein the connected rear walls 42 of the associated storage compartments 34,36 are arranged substantially vertically and the connected bottom walls 40 are arranged substantially horizontally, as shown in Figure 3, and a raised position, wherein said bottom and rear walls 40,42 are tilted at an inclined orientation, as shown in Figure 4, to facilitate emptying of waste from the storage compartment through the open front wall

A further or rearmost storage compartment 50 is located at the rear of the vehicle beneath a rear end of the upper first storage compartment 22, the further or rearmost storage compartment 50 includes a compaction device for compacting waste, such as cardboard, the compaction device comprising an upper platen 55 driven by a hydraulic ram to move between a raised position (shown in Figure 5) and a lowered operative position (shown in Figure 1 ) Loading doors may be provided on the sides of the apparatus for loading material into the rearmost storage compartment 50 and larger discharge doors are provided on the rear of the apparatus for emptying the rearmost storage compartment 50 The rearmost storage compartment 50 may be provided with an ejection system similar to the front and rear storage compartments 34,36, wherein the rear wall 52 of the storage compartment 50 can be lifted to incline the bottom wall 54 to tip material out of the storage compartment 50 through rear discharge door or doors The rear wall 53 may be connected to or coupled with the central portion 38 of the apparatus so that the bottom wall 54 of the reamost storage compartment 50 may be tilted at the same time as the bottom walls 40 of the front and rear storage compartments 34,36

Each of the above described systems may be controllable from the cab 13 of the vehicle and/or from suitable controls located at convenient locations around the vehicle to allow for automated loading and/or emptying of the storage compartments

The elevating means 23 and upper storage compartment 22 maximise the amount of material that the vehicle can carry without requiring the operators to climb up onto the top of the vehicle to load and/or empty the upper storage compartment 22

Additional detachable and/or fixed storage compartments or containers may be provided beneath the upper storage compartment 22 For example, removable stillages 60 may be mounted between the front and rear storage compartments, for holding materials such as kitchen waste or glass

Control of the hydraulic systems of the apparatus 10 may be by means of a programmable control unit Proximity sensors may be provided for sensing the position of the various doors and moveable parts of the apparatus

The control unit controls four primary operations of the apparatus, namely -

• control of the elevating means and moveable wall 30 for loading the upper storage compartment 22 and moving and compacting material towards the rear wall of the upper storage compartment 22,

• control of the moveable wall 30 of the upper storage compartment 22 to eject material from the upper storage compartment 22 in an unloading operation, • control of the compaction device of the rearmost storage compartment 50,

• control of the moveable central portion 38 and front walls 44 of the front and rear storage compartments 34,36 in unloading operations of the front and rear storage compartments 34,36,

• control of the moveable rear wall 52 of the rearmost storage compartment 50 to tip the bottom wall 54 thereof to unload the rearmost storage compartment 50 (which may be controlled by control of the moveable central portion 38) The control unit may be interlocked with the vehicle handbrake to prevent activation of the above primary operations while the vehicle is moving

During loading of the upper storage compartment, the moveable wall 30 is moved to a forward position and the collection hopper 24 is raised to tip material contained therein into the upper storage compartment 22 A proximity sensor is used to detect when the collection hopper 24 has reached its tipped full raised position The collection hopper 24 is held in its fully raised position for a predetermined period of time to permit emptying thereof before the hopper 24 is returned to its lower loading position, again detected by a proximity sensor The moveable wall 30 is then moved towards the rear of the upper storage compartment until it reaches a rear rest position or until it encounters resistance indicating that the material is being compressed between the moveable wall 30 and the rear wall 32 of the upper storage compartment 22 Such resistance may be detected by a pressure switch within the hydraulic system of the moveable wall 30 The control system may provide an indication when the upper storage compartment 22 reaches a certain capacity or is full to indicate that the upper storage compartment 22 must be emptied before the collection hopper 24 can be used again The control unit prevents raising of the collection hopper 24 unless the associated loading doors are closed

When it is desired to empty the upper storage compartment 22, first an eject operation enable switch or button must be operated within the cab 13 The rear wall 32 of the upper storage compartment 22 is released and opened, either manually or by suitable operating hydraulics, and the control unit controls the hydraulic system such that the moveable wall 30 is moved towards the rear of the upper storage compartment 22 to eject material therefrom During such operation, the pressure switch is deactivated or overridden so that the full force of the hydraulic ram can be used to force the material out of the storage compartment 22 The control unit may be programmed to reciprocate the moveable wall 30 backwards and forwards along the upper storage compartment 22 two or more times to completely empty the compartment 22

The control unit is programmed to operate the compaction device of the rearmost storage compartment 50 when desired to compact material contained therein, such as cardboard boxes A pressure switch may be provided for controlling the downward travel of the platen of the compaction device Interlock switches may be provided for preventing operation of the compaction device unless the loading and unloading doors of the rearmost storage compartment 50 are closed

When it is desired to empty the front and/or rear storage compartments 34,36, the respective front walls 44 are unlatched or released and the respective central portion 38 is raised to tilt the bottom 40 and rear 42 walls of the storage compartments 34,36 to their inclined orientations to tip material out of the storage compartments Interlock switches may be provided for preventing raising of the central portion 38 unless the front walls 44 are released first Simulataneously the rear unloading doors of the rearmost storage compartment may be opened such that the raising of the central portion 38 also lifts the rear wall 52 of the storage compartment 50, tilting the bottom wall 52 thereof to eject material from the rearmost storage compartment 50.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1 A waste collection apparatus adapted for mounting on a vehicle chassis, said waste collection apparatus having a plurality of storage compartments for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling, said apparatus including means for facilitating emptying said plurality of storage compartments at a recycling facility

2 An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one upper storage compartment is provided in an upper region of the apparatus, elevating means being provided for delivering waste into said upper storage compartment

3 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2, wherein said elevating means comprises a collection hopper for receiving waste in a reception area in a lower region of the apparatus, said collection hopper being moveable between a lower position in said reception area and an upper position in said upper region of the apparatus for delivering said refuse into said upper storage compartment

4 An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the collection hopper is arranged to be tipped and/or inverted when in said upper position for emptying the contents of the collection hopper into the upper storage compartment

5 An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein said reception area is located in front of said further storage compartments

6 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein said collection hopper is supported by one or more elongate members, such as lifting chains, extending around guide means, such as sprockets, provided at the upper and lower regions of the apparatus, said elongate members being driven by a motor for moving the collection hopper between said lower and upper positions thereof

7 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein said collection hopper includes a laterally extending member adapted to act against a cam or projection as the hopper is lifted to its upper position to invert the collection hopper to empty the contents thereof into the upper storage compartment

8 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 7, wherein said upper storage compartment comprises an elongate trough or chamber extending from a forward region of the apparatus to a rear region of the apparatus

9 An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein a transversely extending moveable wall or plate is provided within the upper storage compartment, extending across the width of the storage compartment, said wall being moveable along the upper storage compartment to urge material therein towards a rearward end of the first storage compartment to compact material within the upper storage compartment and to facilitate emptying of said storage compartment

10 An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein said moveable wall is moveable by means of one or more hydraulic rams and/or a chain drive

11 An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, whereine said moveable wall is movable by means of a hydraulically driven chain extending the full length of the upper storage compartment

12 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 9 to 11 , wherein a rear wall of the upper storage compartment comprises or includes a door, said door being openable to define a discharge opening, said moveable wall being advanceable towards the discharge opening of the upper storage compartment to eject the contents of the upper storage compartment through the discharge opening

13 An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 2 to 12, wherein a plurality of further storage compartments are provided beneath said upper storage compartment

14 An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein said further storage compartments are provided with access openings in the sides and/or rear of the apparatus to allow selected waste materials to be placed into the respective storage compartment

15 An apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein at least one further storage compartment is provided on each side of the apparatus

16 An apparatus as claimed any of claims 13 to 15, wherein at least one of said further storage compartments comprises a bottom wall, a rear wall, and a front wall, said front wall of the storage compartment comprising a portion of the side or rear of the apparatus and being openable to allow waste to be removed from the storage compartment

17 An apparatus as claimed in claim 16, wherein said bottom wall is adapted to be tilted from a substantially horizontal orientation to an inclined orientation to facilitate emptying of the storage compartment

18 An apparatus as claimed in claim 17, wherein an outer side of said bottom wall is hingedly connected to a fixed point adjacent to the front wall and an inner side of the bottom wall is hingedly connected to a lower side of the rear wall, an upper side of the rear wall being hingedly connected to a lifting means adapted to be moved between a lower position, wherein the bottom wall is substantially horizontal and said rear wall is substantially vertical, and a raised position, wherein said bottom and rear walls are tilted to an inclined orientation to facilitate emptying of waste from the respective storage compartment through the open front wall

19. An apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein an upper region of the front wall is hingedly connected to the side or rear of the vehicle to allow the front wall to be raised to facilitate emptying of the respective storage compartment.

20. An apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 19, wherein at least one of said further storage compartment located beneath the first storage compartment includes a compaction device for compacting waste therein.

21. An apparatus as claimed in claim 20, wherein said compaction device comprises a moveable wall of the respective storage compartment, in the form of a press platen.

22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21 , wherein said movable wall is reciprocally movable by means of one or more hydraulic rams.

23. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21 or claim 22, wherein the moveable wall comprises an upper wall of the at least one further storage compartment.

24. A refuse collection vehicle for the separate collection of different types of waste for facilitating recycling, said refuse collection vehicle including a waste collection apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 23.