CA1053502A - Compactor with separate bin for receiving materials - Google Patents

Abstract

COMPACTOR WITH SEPARATE COMPARTMENT
FOR RECEIVING MATERIALS

Abstract of the Disclosure A compactor which includes a compaction receptacle and a separate compartment disposed above the receptacle to permit materials to be deposited in the compactor without moving the entire receptacle out of the compactor housing. A bottom wall of the compartment is pivotally mounted for movement between a first position in which material is retained in the compartment and a second position in which the contents of the compartment dump into the receptacle. In one embodiment of the invention, the pivotal bottom wall is fixed with respect to the front wall or access door of the compartment and pivots in response to movement of the front wall as it is opened and closed.
In other embodiments the pivotal bottom wall moves to a dumping position in response to movement of the receptacle from its compacting position.

Description

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Bac~ground of the Invention It has been found highly advantageous to utilize a slide-mounted container, such as a drawer, as a compaction receptacle in compactors ~ecause of the ease with which the receptacle may be moved out of the compactor housing for emptying, cleaning or the depositiny of large materials in the receptacle. In many instances, however, the materials to be deposited in the receptacle are relati.vely smal.l, and it is undesirable to require that the entire compaction ~ ~ .
receptacle be slid out of the housing each time materials, regardless of siæe, are to be deposited in the compactor.
In U.S. Patent No. 3,841,214, dated October 15, 197~, a compactor is disclosed having a drawer-mounted compaction receptacle, which provides the convenience of this type of construction, and a separate compartment into which materials particularly waste materials of small size, can be deposi~ed without opening the entire drawer.
In the compactor disclosed in the above-noted U.S. patent, the receptacle is provided with a slopiny wall which forms the bottom wall of the compartment, so that as the receptacle is opened, materials in the compartment slide down the sloping wall into the receptacle. In other .
em~odiments the compaction receptacle is normally offset from the compacting ram and in direct communication with the materia].s receiving compartl-nent, so that materials deposited in the compartment fall directly into the receptacle. When ~'' . , 1053510;~
it is desired to compact the materials in the receptacle, the receptacle is positioned in alignment with the ram to permit the ram to enter the receptacle during compacting stro~es.
In none of the embodiments disclosed in the above-noted application is the compartment provided with a bottom wall capable of positive movement relative to the receptacle ~etween a position in which material is retained in the com-partment and a second position in which the material deposited in the compartment is dumped into the compaction receptacle.

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Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a compactor which includes a drawer-mounted receptacle and, positioned above the receptacle, a compartment having a bottom wall mounted for movement relative to the receptacle between a first position in which material is retained in the compartment and a second ~-position in which material deposited in the compartment is dumped into the compaction receptacle.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention there is provided in a compactor which includes a housing, a com-paction receptacle received in the housing and movable be-tween a compacting position disposed entirely within the housing and non-compacting positions displaced outwardly of the compacting position, and a compacting ram positmnned above ~ - 3 -: .:

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~ocket 5957 the receptacle when it is in its compacting position, the impr~vement comprisin~ a material receiving compartment positioned in the housing above the receptacle with means providing access to the compartment independently of the -:
receptacle, a bottom wall of the compartment, the bottom wall having front and rear edges, and means mounting the bottom wall along one of the front or rear edges for pivotal movement relative to the receptacle between a first position in which material is retained in the compartment and dumping positions in which mate~ial deposited in the compartment falls into the receptacle.
In one embodiment of the invention, the bottom wall is fixed wit.h respect to the front wall or access door of the compart~ent ana pivots simultane~usly therewith. With this construction, when the front wall is pivoted downwardly to open the compartment, the bottom wall p.ivots upwardly. There-after, when the front wall is closed, the bottom wall pivots D
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downwardly, dul-lpillc3 the material reccived in the cornpartment into the receptacle. This allows material to be deposited in the compactor without opening thc drawer, but prevents a person from insertin~3 their hand into the compactor through the open access door.
In a second embodiment o~ the present invention the bottom wall is pivoted along a forward edge thereo~ and supported in a materials-receiving position to prevent downward pivoting thereof by an underlying lower wall which projects upwardly beneath the bottom wall. This lower wall may be formed integrally with the compactor drawer or with a liner for the drawer, preferably with the latter in order to receive any liquid drippings from items deposited in the compartment.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the bottom wall is pivoted along its rear edge to the compaction receptacle. In this embodiment, as the compaction receptacle slides outwardly from the compacting position thereof, the upper forward edge of the bottom wall pivots upwardly to dump the contents of the compartment into the receptacle.
In any of the embodiments described above, it may be desirable to provide spring pressure for urging the bottom wall of the compartment to a particular position thereof.
For example, the bottom wall would preferably be spring-loaded to a dumping position. In the first embodiment described above this would insure that the bin is closed except when it is desired to deposit materials therein, and in the remaining embodiments spring pressurerwould provide a positive dumping action as the compaction receptacle is opened.

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,ct 5~7 ~rief D~scri~tion o~ the Drawin~s __ ___ _ Fi~. 1 is ~ el~vatioll~l view with portions removed showing a compactor ln accordance with the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a vi~w similar to Fi~. ], but showing only a portion of a compactor in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention;
Fig. 3 is a partial elevational view with parts removed showing a modified version of the embodiment of Fig. 2;
and Fig. 4 depicts still another embodiment of the invention.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments __ As seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a compactor 10 in accordance with the present invention includes a housing 12 receiving a receptacle 14 which is preferably in che form of a drawer, slidably supported by suitable slide structure, indicated generally at 16. The receptacle 14 is thus slidably supported for movement between the fully-extended position shown in dotted lines and a compacting position shown in solid lines.
The receptacle will be provided with a handle 18 and a sloping wall 20 pivoted at 22 to allow the wall 20 to be pivoted upwardly when the receptacle is positioned outside of the housing 12 to expose a storage space 24 for bags or the like. In the compacting position, it will be seen that the receptacle 14 is positi,oned beneath a ram 26 which may be of the type shown in U.S. Patent No. 3l734~009.

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~ s descril-ed in that paterlt, the ram is substantially hollow and contains a motor 28 driving pulleys 30 rotatah]y mounted on the ram to ca-lse the ram to rnove upwardly and down~
wardly along t~-le stationary jack screws 32~ The latter are preferably disposcd in a triangular pattern with one jack screw extending aLong the rear wall of the housing centrally thereof and a pair of identical screws positioned on opposite sides of the ram adiacent the front thereof.
Material deposited in the receptacle 14 is compacted to a portion of its original volume by move~ent of the ram 26 along the jack screws 32 into the receptacle 14. In order to deposit material in the ram 14 without moving the entire receptacle outwardly from its compacting position, a compartment 34 is disposed in the compactor housing adjacent the front thereof and generally above the receptacle 14.
ln the embodiment shown in Fig. l of the drawings, a compactor is provided with a bottom wall 36 fixed to a front wall or access door 38 and arcuate side walls 40, only one of which is shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The assembly of the bottom, front and side walls 36, 38 and 40 is pivotally mounted to the compactor housing at 42, so that by grasping the handle 44, the assembly can be moved from the solid line position shown in Fig. l of the drawings to the dotted line position.
In the dotted line position, waste materials can be deposited in the compartment 34, but because of the wall 46 extending downwardly in front of the ram 26 and the - !
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~ 57 l9S;~5~2 bottom wall 3G o~ tlle cc)m~artment, a person cannot insert their halld into the compactol- hcneatll thc ram 26. This provides a sa~ety ~eature which al~ows the ram to be operated when the access door 38 is o~e3led, so tha~ materials can be deposited in the compartment 34 without regard to whether or not the compactor is in operatlon.
After materials have been so deposited, the access door 38 is closed, pivoti~g the bottom and slde walls 36 and 40 to the solid line position shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings and allowing material deposited in the compartment to fall into the receptacle 14, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1 of the drawings.
In Fig. 2 of the drawings, a second embodiment 50 of the invention is shown which permits material to be deposited in the compactor without opening the receptacle 14 and in which a compartrnent 52 is provided having a bottom ~7all 54 mounted for positive dumping movement relative to the receptacle.
The receptacle is slidably received in a housing 56 and a wall 58 extends downwardly adjacent the front of the ram 26 and defines a rear wall of compartment 52.
The compartment 52 is also provided with a front wall or access door 60 and side walls 62, only one of which is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Both the front and bottom walls 60 and 54 are pivotally mounted independently of each other to the housing at 64 and in the compacting position of the receptacle 14, an upwardly sloping wall 66 extends beneath the lower edge of the bottom wall 54 and supports it in the position shown in Fig. 2.

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The wall 66 may be formed as an integral part of a liner 68 associated with and positioned within the receptacle 14. The liner is preferably of molded, two piece construction, self-supporting and designed to be removed from 5 the receptacle wh~n full, emptied and reused. Reference may be had to U.S. patent No. 3,807,299, dated April 30, 1974, for a suitable liner of this type.
With this construction it will be seen that, as the receptacle 14 is moved from its compacting position outwardly 10 to noncompacting positions displaced outwardly from its compacting position, the bottom wall 5~ pivots downwardly with a positive dumping movement to allow material deposited in the compartment 52 to dump into the receptacle 14.
Fig. 3 of the drawings depicts another embodiment 70 15 of the invention which is similar in many respects to that shown in Fig. 2. Thus, a compartment 72 is formed in a housing 74 by a front wall or access door 76, a bottom wall 78 and a downwardly-extending wall 80 separating the ram 26 from the :
compartment 72. However, rather than a liner positioned 20 within a recep'cacle providing an upwardly extending wall positioned beneath the bottom wall 78, a wall 82 is formed integrally with the slide mounted receptacle 84.
In all other respects, the embodiment of Fig. 3 is the same as tha t shown in Fig. ~ and it will be noted that 25 as the receptacle 84 .is slid outwardly from the solid line, compacting position to a noncompacting position displaced ' i 8 .~ ,~ , .

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~ 5957 outwardly frolll the comp.lctillg posi~ion, the bottom wall 78 may dl-op downwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 allowi.ng the contents of compartment 72 to drop into the receptacle 84.
In Fiy. 4 of the drawin~s, an embodiment 90 is shown includi.ng a compactor housing 92, a compactor ram 26 and a receptacle 94. Positioned above and in front of the receptacle 94 is a cornpartment 96 defined by a downwardly extending rear wall 98, a pair of side walls 100, only one of which is shown, a front wall or access door 102 and a pair of cooperating upper and lower bottom walls 104 and 106, respectively.
The wall 104 i.s fixed with respect to the housing 92 and extends only a short distance downwardly and rearwardly.
The bottom wall 106, on the other hand, is pivoted, as at 108, to the receptacle 94 and is provided with a sprlng 110 urging it upwardly in a alockwise direction. With this con-struction, it will be seen that the front wall 102 may be pivoted downwardly about its hinge connection 112 to provide access to the compartment 96.
As the receptacle 9fi is then moved from the solid line position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings outwardly of --the housing, the spring-loaded bottom wall 96 pivots upwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow to the position shown in dotted lines to cause material deposited in the compartment 96 to dump into the drawer 94. Thereafter, when the receptacle 94 is moved back to the solid line position, the upper bottom , 1 ~ . ' sket 595~ 10'i3SOZ

wall 10~ ent3(1ges tlle lowex bottom wall 106 ad~acent the upper edge thereof and pivots it back to the solid line position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.
Of course, if desired, the spring 110 may be dispensed with and a stop member provided on the side walls of the housing to engage the lower bottom wall lQ6 as ~he receptacle 94 is moved outwardly. On the other hand, -the bottom walls 36, 54 and 78 may be spring loaded to their dumping positions if desired.
From the above it will be seen that the present invention provides a compactor having a bottom wall mounted for positive dumping movement with respect to the compaction receptacle.
While the forms of apparatus herein described con-stitute preerred embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood tha; the invention is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes may be made thereln without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

In a compactor including a housing, a compaction receptacle received in said housing and movable between a compacting position disposed entirely within said housing and non-compacting positions displaced outwardly of said compacting position, and a compacting ram positioned above said receptacle when in said compacting position thereof, the improvement comprising:
a material receiving compartment positioned in said housing above said receptacle, means providing access to said compartment independently of said receptacle, a bottom wall of said compartment, said bottom wall having front and rear edges, and means mounting said bottom wall along one of said edges for pivotal movement relative to said receptacle between a first position in which material is retained in said compartment and dumping positions in which material deposited in said compartment falls into said receptacle.

The compactor of claim 1 wherein:
said bottom wall is pivotally mounted along said rear edge thereof.

The compactor of claim 1 wherein:
said mounting means mounts said bottom wall for pivotal movement on said receptacle.

The compactor of claim 1 wherein:
said bottom wall is pivotally mounted along said front edge thereof, and a lower wall is provided underlying and projecting upwardly beneath said bottom wall.

The compactor of claim 4 wherein:
said receptacle comprises a drawer and said lower wall projects upwardly from a lower edge of said drawer.

The compactor of claim 4 wherein:
said receptacle comprises a drawer, a liner is positioned in said drawer, and said lower wall projects upwardly from a lower edge of said liner.