AU717175B2 - Waste collection vehicle - Google Patents

Description

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P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 en...

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: FIREBELT PTY LIMITED Idwall Charles Richards and Rhys William Richards

INTELLPRO

Patent Trade Mark Attorneys Level D, 308 Edward Street BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 (GPO Box 1339, BRISBANE, 4001) WASTE COLLECTION VEHICLE No(s): Australian Patent Application March 1995 Details of Associated Provisional Application(s) No. PN1688 filed 14 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a waste collection vehicle and in particular to a side loading waste collection vehicle capable of storing different wastes in different sections of a container.

In one aspect, the present invention resides in a side loading waste collection vehicle having a cab, a waste container rearwardly of said cab, said waste container being divided into at least two container sections for containing different waste types, first and second waste receiving section between said cab and said waste container, 10 means for transferring waste from said waste receiving sections into said *ooo container sections, and *g oil.

a bin emptying device operable from within the cab to engage a single compartment waste collection bin or a multi-compartment waste collection bin and discharge the contents thereof into said first and/or second said waste 15 receiving sections, and wherein the contents of a single compartment bin may be discharged into said first or second waste receiving sections in accordance with the waste type within said bin and wherein the contents of the compartments of a multicompartment bin may be simultaneously discharged into said first waste receiving section and said second waste receiving section respectively.

The second waste receiving section suitably includes divider means and diverting means are provided for directing waste from a single compartment bin to a selected side of the divider means in accordance with the waste type carried by the bin. The divider means may be fixed but is preferably selectively movable 3 and comprises the transfer means of the second waste receiving section. The movable divider means suitably comprises a blade which oscillates to transfer waste into respective container sections.

Most preferably, the first waste receiving section is disposed at an elevated position above the second waste receiving section.

The bin emptying device is preferably supported on an end of a retractable means so the emptying device can be moved out to engage and retrieve a bin under remote control from the cab of the vehicle. The emptying device is preferably carried on guides and includes drive means to move the emptying 10 device to a selected position for inverting a bin over a selected waste receiving o a section. The guides are preferably vertical guides and the drive means is typically ooo* a hydraulic ram means adapted to raise and lower the emptying device.

The waste receiving sections suitable comprise hoppers for receiving the waste.

15 The container is preferably divided into two or three sections. Where three sections are employed, one of the hoppers includes the moveable internal divider so that waste can be selectively diverted between two of sections.

In a further aspect, the present invention provides a method for the selective distribution of wastes of three different types into one of three storage sections of a waste collection vehicle, the method comprising providing a vehicle with first and second waste receiving sections for receiving waste and delivering the waste to a selected one of said storage regions, and bin emptying means for engaging and emptying single compartment or multiple compartment bins, said method including operating said bin emptying means to either engage and move 4 a single compartment bin to empty the contents thereof into said first or second waste receiving section in accordance with the waste type contained therein or engage and move a multiple compartment bin having at least two compartments containing separately stored waste types to a position for simultaneous discharge of said compartments into said first and second waste receiving sections respectively.

Typically, the wastes are garbage, co-mingled recyclables and green waste.

Preferably, one of the waste receiving sections includes divider means and the method includes emptying waste from the bins to opposite sides of the divider 10 means in accordance with the waste type carried by the bins.

o In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into *ooo practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings and S•wherein:- Figure 1 'is a part cut-away side view of a waste collection vehicle 15 according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a section through the vehicle of Figure 1; Figures 3 to 8 are schematic sectional views illustrating operation of a waste collection vehicle according to the present invention; Figures 9 and 10 are schematic views illustrating operation of a bin lifting and emptying device suitable for use in a vehicle according to the present invention; and Figures 11 to 12 are perspective views illustrating operation of a preferred hopper and compaction arrangement suitable for a vehicle according to the present invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figures 1 and 2, there is illustrated a side loading waste collection vehicle 10 having a cab 11, two hoppers 12 and 13 communicating with respective sections of a container 14 behind the hoppers, and a bin emptying device 15 operable from within the cab 11 to selectively empty a bin into a selected one of the hoppers 12 or 13.

In the illustrated embodiment, the container 14 is divided into three sections 16, 17 and 18 with the section 16 being sized to receive co-mingled recyclables typically including recyclables such as plastic bottles, paper, cardboard and/or glass bottles while section 17 is sized to contain compacted 10 garbage and section 18 is to receive green waste such as tree clippings, grass clippings and the like. Mobile dividers 19 and 20 are employed to separate the sections 16, 17 and 18 and allow for the volume of the sections 16, 17 and 18 a to change in response to load.

1 Figures 3 to 8 illustrate a typical method by which waste can be delivered to the sections 16, 17 and 18.

It will be appreciated that as the present illustrated embodiment involves collection of garbage, recyclables or green waste, that bins could be made available to householders either as separate bins for each kind of waste or as separate and/or divided bins, depending on the particular householders needs.

The present invention provides the capacity to empty single compartment bins or multi-compartment bins and for the waste in those bins to be correctly delivered to the separate sections of the container. In the embodiment of Figures 3 to 8, this is achieved using a retractable chute 21 operating in combination with a bin lifting and emptying device that can be selectively positioned to empty waste into either the hopper 12 or the hopper 13.

In Figure 3, a bin containing garbage only is emptied into the hopper 12 while in Figure 4, a bin containing recyclables only is emptied into the hopper 13. The difference in operation is that the bin is raised to a higher position in Figure 4, than in Figure 3 before it is inverted. In Figure 5, the bin is raised to an intermediate position and the chute 21 is lowered to the position illustrated in Figure 5 so that a bin containing recyclables only is discharged into the far side of the hopper 12 in front of an oscillating compaction blade 22.

10 In Figure 6, a divided bin containing garbage and recyclables in compartments thereof is discharged insofar as the top compartment containing the recyclables is located above the hopper 13 while the garbage freefalls into the near side of the hopper 13 in front of the oscillating paddle 22.

1 Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, there is illustrated a bin lifting and 15 emptying device 30 suitable for raising and lowering a bin to the positions 04: illustrated in Figures 3 to 6. The bin lifting and emptying device 30 employs a bin engaging means 31 suspended on the end of a retractable boom 32a so that to.: the loading mechanism can be moved out to engage a bin as shown in Figure 7 in phantom. Upon retraction and actuation of the ram 32 to extend to the position illustrated in Figure 7, the bin lifting and emptying device raises the bin over the hopper 13 and discharges its contents usually full of recyclables into the hopper.

Figure 8 shows the position of the bin when the ram 32 is fully retracted.

As can be seen, the loading mechanism 31 is carried on a carriage employing opposed pairs of rollers 33 travelling in a pair of spaced guides 34, one of which can be seen in Figures 7 and 8.

The ram 32 can be suitably controlled to cater for intermediate positions with typically the four emptying arrangements illustrated in Figures 9 to 12 being most common.

The loading mechanism can include suitable lid opening means and typically, a nozzle ejecting a spray of water on the underside of the lid 35 of the bin 36 is used to flip the lid back as the bin is being raised.

10 According to external markings on the bin, the driver of the vehicle can i identify whether the bin is a divided bin, a bin solely carrying green waste, *Poo recyclables or garbage and can decide how the bin is to be emptied. The :oo hydraulics and electronics controlling emptying of the bin can involve a single switch operation so that the bin emptying sequence follows a predetermined co- 15 ordinated action according to the bin selected.

6Referring now to Figures 9 to 12, there is illustrated a preferred hopper and compaction arrangement 40. The hoppers 12 and 13 include compaction blades 41 and 42 with the blade 41 being adapted to oscillate through 1800 while the blade 42 is adapted to oscillate through 900.

The blade 42 forms a quadrant filling at any one time half the area of the hopper bottom and when in the position illustrated in Figure 9, its edge 43 is level with the bottom of the divider 21. What this means is, in the position illustrated in Figure 9, any garbage emptied into the hopper 12 will fall on top of the blade 42 and as the blade 42 moves into the opposite section 44 of the 8 hopper 12, the divider edge 22 will sweep garbage off the upper surface 45 of the blade 42 and this garbage will fall behind the face 46 so that upon return of the blade 42, the garbage will be swept back into the garbage section of the container 14.

Figure 9 illustrates emptying of a bin containing recyclables directly into the hopper 13 when the loading mechanism is in its uppermost position.

Figure 10 illustrates emptying of a divided bin with garbage falling on top of the compaction blade 42 as previously discussed while at the same time recyclables are being emptied from a dual compartment bin 47.

10 Figure 11 illustrates emptying of garbage straight into the hopper 12 while 9* the blade face 46 is about to return, while Figure 12 illustrates emptying of green waste into the far side 44 of the hopper and on top of the blade with the chute 21 in its lowered position.

The present invention offers many collection permutations. For example *owi a collection service can employ one or two single compartment bins containing :separately any combination of wastes. Alternatively two divided bins providing a total of four compartments is possible. In this case a compartment of each bin would hold recyclables with the other containing either optionally green waste or garbage. The householder can even on occasion fill both compartments with the same waste as long as the driver is made aware of this by a suitable signal.

For example the lid could be left open where there are recyclables in the bin.

It will be appreciated that the present invention illustrates one example only of bins for separate and selective collection of different types of waste using single compartment or multiple compartment bins and selective operation of the 9 bin emptying process from within the vehicle cab. It will be appreciated that other combinations of compartments and vehicle sections are possible and fall within the scope of the invention.

It will be appreciated that the method can be achieved in many ways and the above are only being given by way of illustrative example of the present invention, many variations and modifications thereto will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

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Claims (16)

1. A side loading waste collection vehicle having a cab, a waste container rearwardly of said cab, said waste container being divided into at least two container sections for containing different waste types, first and second waste receiving section between said cab and said waste container, means for transferring waste from said waste receiving sections into said container sections, and a bin emptying device operable from within the cab to engage a single compartment waste collection bin or a multi-compartment waste collection bin and discharge the contents thereof into said first and/or second said waste *see receiving sections, o and wherein the contents of a single compartment bin may be discharged into said first or second waste receiving sections in accordance with the waste oo type within said bin and wherein the contents of the compartments of a multi- 0 0 compartment bin may be simultaneously discharged into said first waste receiving section and said second waste receiving section respectively.

2. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said second waste receiving section includes divider means and there being provided diverting means for directing waste from a single compartment bin to a selected side of said divider means in accordance with the waste type carried by said bin for transfer into respective said container sections. 11

3. A side loading waste collection material according to claim 2 wherein said divider means is movable and comprises said transfer means of said second waste receiving section.

4. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 3 wherein said movable divider means comprises a blade which oscillates to transfer waste into respective container sections.

A side loading waste collection vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said first waste receiving section is disposed at an elevated position above said second waste receiving sections.

6. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 5 wherein said bin emptying device is supported to said vehicle for vertical movement to o:,o position a bin for discharge into said first or second waste receiving sections.

7. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 6 wherein said vehicle includes vertical guide means for guiding movement of said bin emptying S;device.

8. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 7 and including a mobile carriage for supporting said bin emptying device, said carriage being selectively movable along said guide means.

9. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to claim 8 and including ram means for moving said carriage along said guide means.

A side loading waste collection vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims wherein two of said container sections are separated by a mobile divider. 12

11. A side loading waste collection vehicle according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said waste receiving sections comprise hoppers.

12. A method for the selective distribution of waste of three different types into one of three storage sections of a waste collection vehicle, the method comprising providing a vehicle with first and second waste receiving sections for receiving waste and delivering the waste to a selected one of said storage regions, and bin emptying means for engaging and emptying single compartment or multiple compartment bins, said method including operating said bin emptying means to either engage and move a single compartment bin to empty the contents thereof into said first or second waste receiving section in accordance with the o• Swaste type contained therein or engage and move a multiple compartment bin having at least two compartments containing separately stored waste types to a position for simultaneous discharge of said compartments into said first and second waste receiving sections respectively.

13. A method according to claim 12 wherein said waste types comprise garbage, co-mingled recyclables and green waste.

14. A method according to claim 12 wherein one of said waste receiving sections includes divider means and wherein said method includes emptying waste from said bins to opposite sides of said divider means in accordance with the waste types carried by said bins.

A side loading waste collection vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 13

16. A method of selective distribution of waste into one of three storage sections of a side loading waste collection vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 21st day of June 1999 FIREBELT PTY LIMITED By its Patent Attorneys INTELLPRO oo. C *oo o