EP2767491B1

EP2767491B1 - Refuse collector with hatch

Info

Publication number: EP2767491B1
Application number: EP14155005.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Anders Westberg
Original assignee: Narpes Tra & Metall - Narpion Puu ja Metalli Oy AB
Current assignee: Narpes Tra & Metall - Narpion Puu ja Metalli Oy AB
Priority date: 2013-02-15
Filing date: 2014-02-13
Publication date: 2017-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 2034-02-13
Also published as: EP2767491A1

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to a hatch according to the preamble of claim 1. This type of hatch is mainly intended to close a container chamber of a refuse collector comprising at least two parallel chambers.
A hatch according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from DE 195 18 434 A1 . On the other hand, US 3,548,540 discloses a slidable hatch for a refuse collector.

Prior art

As the sorting of wastes has increased, the need for refuse collectors with two or more collection chambers for wastes of different type has also increased. To be able to have two or more chambers, the refuse collector container is usually divided by one or more longitudinal walls into two or more chambers. These separate chambers make it possible to transport wastes of different types, for instance paper in one chamber and compost waste in the other chamber.
It is naturally important that the different waste types cannot be mixed when the refuse collector is emptied. Therefore, it should be possible to empty the different chambers separately. A prior-art solution is to furnish both chambers with their own loading and unloading devices. However, this increases both the weight of the device and its manufacturing costs considerably.
Attempts have also been made earlier to construct closing devices that consist of a closing wall that is suspended from a horizontal axle on the upper edge of the chamber opening. When this device is closed and opened, its lower edge will define a curved or not quite horizontal path. The structure works well in principle, because it presses the waste into the chamber in a substantially horizontal direction. Unfortunately, it has in practice not been possible to arrange a sufficiently powerful hydraulic cylinder to manoeuver the closing wall so as to press it heavily against the waste in the chamber. This is why it has been difficult to close the closing wall especially when the waste is in a highly compressed state. In any case, a closing wall of this type needs to be locked mechanically to keep it closed.

Presentation of the problem

The object of the present invention is thus to provide a refuse collector, in which waste is conveyed into the chambers in such a manner that wastes of different type do not mix when the refuse collector is emptied. The closing wall that is used to close a container chamber can also be swung closed with sufficiently high force in relation to the surface of the wall.
This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by giving the hatch of the invention the characterising features of claim 1. The subsequent dependent claims present appropriate further developments and variations of the invention which further improve its operation.
In the following specification, the terms "up", "upper", "lower" and the like refer to directions in relation to the hatch or its structural details, as shown in the attached figures.
With the device described in the present invention, a plurality of significant advantages are achieved over the prior art. Thus, it has been possible to construct with the present solution a container with several compartments that are easy to empty, while also minimizing the extra weight of the closing device.
The present closing device is reliable in use and can easily be combined with existing feeding devices. It is also possible to utilise several closing devices of this type in one and the same container.
Further advantages and details of the invention become apparent from the description below.

Brief description of the figures

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the drawing, in which

Figure 1 shows obliquely from the back a superstructure for a refuse collector with its feeding element closed,
Figure 2 shows the superstructure of Figure 1 with its feeding element open, but with the hatch to the one chamber of the container closed, Figure 3 shows the superstructure of Figure 2 from the side,
Figure 4 shows the superstructure of Figure 1 with its feeding element and the hatch fastened to it open,
Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the back end of the superstructure and the feeding element arranged to it with the hatch to the one chamber of the container closed and the lower wall part of the hatch in its lower end position,
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of cooperation between the hatch and a guide in the container,
Figure 7 shows the position according to Figure 5 as seen obliquely from behind the container,
Figure 8 shows the position according to Figure 5 as seen from the chamber of the container and with the feeding element removed, and
Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the back end of the superstructure and the feeding element arranged to it with the hatch fastened to the open feeding element and both chambers of the container open.

Preferred embodiment

The above figures do not show the hatch in scale but only serve to illustrate structural solutions of the preferred embodiment and the operation of the embodiment. In this connection, the structural parts shown in the figures correspond to the structural solutions presented in the description below and denoted with respective reference numerals.
Figures 1 to 4 show a superstructure of a refuse collector, which further comprises a chassis and driver's cab not shown in the figure. The figures show a container 1, in which refuse is transported from one or more collection sites to one or more processing plants. In the present embodiment, the container 1 is divided into two adjacent chambers 2 and 3 by a vertical partition wall 4 that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle as shown in Figure 4. The back end 5 of the container is open to provide a feeding opening 6 that is also used to empty the chambers at the processing plants.
To feed refuse into the container 1, the refuse collector is equipped with a feeding device 7 behind the container as shown in Figure 5. Like the container, the feeding device has two chambers and is turnable around a rotation axis 8 on the upper edge of the back end. The feeding device has a trough-shaped bottom 9 and movable pivot plates 10 that move along the bottom of the feeding device toward the back end 5 of the container to transport refuse fed into the feeding device to the feeding opening 6 of the container. The part of the feeding device oriented toward the container has a wall 11 that essentially closes the feeding opening 6 of the container 1, when the feeding device is in the position shown in Figures 1 and 5. Said wall is best seen in Figure 9. Thus, during feeding of refuse, only the lower part of the feeding opening 6 of the container is in use, while the entire feeding opening can be opened when the container is emptied. Both the container 1 and the feeding device 7 have a conventional structure, which is why they are not described in more detail herein.
The refuse collector has a hatch 12 located in the feeding opening 6 of said at least one chamber. This hatch comprises upper and lower wall parts 13 and 14 as shown in Figures 7 and 8, for instance. The hatch is turnable in relation to the backend 5 of the container 1 around an essentially horizontal rotation axis 15, see Figure 9, parallel to the rotation axis 8 of the feeding device. The lower wall part 14 of the hatch is further arranged to be slidable vertically in relation to the upper wall part 13. In its end positions, the hatch will open or close the feeding opening 6 between the container 1 and feeding device 7. In the present embodiment, the lower wall part is shown to be manoeuvrable with one or more controls 16. Controls of this type can be made of cylinders that are driven by pressure medium, such as hydraulic oil. The control can also be a spindle motor or other devices suitable for the purpose.
To permit the emptying of the chamber 3 closed by the hatch 12, the hatch is arranged to follow the feeding device 7 in its turning movement in relation to the back end 5 of the container. This is why the lower wall part 14 has specific gripping members 17 that are arranged in the open position of the wall part to cooperate with a receiving member 18 of the feeding device. This cooperation and these members are best shown in Figure 9.
Said gripping member 17 comprises in accordance with Figure 5, for example, a hook arranged to open upward in the closed position of the hatch 12, while the receiving member 18 comprises a substantially horizontal crossbar arranged to project from the feeding device 7 toward the hatch, and in the closed position of the hatch, to lie above the hook, essentially against the upper wall part 13. When the lower wall part 14 of the hatch is moved vertically over the upper wall part 13 of the hatch, the hook slides over the crossbar. When the feeding device 7 is then rotated up to empty the container 1, the crossbar grips the hook and forces the hatch to open in a rotating movement around its rotation axle 15 and to thus free the otherwise closed chamber, as shown in Figure 9. To permit a trouble-free rotation of the hatch, the hook preferably has an elongated structure so as to allow a transport movement of the crossbar along a path parallel to the hatch.
Figure 6 shows a horizontal partial section of the container 1 and hatch. Special substantially vertical guides 19 can be seen in the figure. Guides of this type are preferably arranged on opposite sides of the feeding opening 6 and adapted to receive the lower wall part 14 of the hatch 12 so as to fasten this wall part to the container in the lower end position of the wall part as shown in Figure 6. The guides can be arranged to receive the vertical longitudinal sides of the wall part, but it is even more advantageous to equip the lower wall part with flanges 20 that are moved in the guides. The length of the vertical guides is preferably shorter than that of the flanges on the lower wall part. This way, possible refuse will empty from the guides every time the lower wall part is moved to its lower end position.
So as to further anchor the hatch 12 to its lower end position, the container may have receiving members 21 that are arranged on the lower edge of the feeding opening 6. The receiving members are arranged to receive the lower wall part 14 so as to fasten the lower wall part to the container in its lower end position.
The above description and the related figures are only intended to illustrate the present solution for construction of a hatch. Thus, the solution is not confined merely to the embodiments described above or in the attached claims but a plurality of variations or alternative embodiments is feasible without departing from the scope of the attached claims.

Claims

A refuse collector that comprises
a container (1),
a feeding device (7) arranged to said container,
the container being divided into at least two chambers (2, 3) with at least one partition wall (4) in the longitudinal direction of the container, whereby
a hatch is located in the feeding opening (6) of at least one of said chambers, and the hatch comprises an upper wall part (13) and a lower wall part (14), and
the hatch (12) is turnable in relation to the back end (5) of the container around an essentially horizontal rotation axis (15),
characterised in that
the lower wall part (14) of the hatch (12) is arranged to be vertically slidable in relation to the upper wall part (13), whereby
the hatch will in its end positions, with the lower wall part moved over the upper wall part (13) or respectively moved to its lower end position, either open or close the feeding opening (6) between the container (1) and feeding device (7) and
the lower wall part comprises at least one gripping member (17) while the feeding device (7) comprises at least one receiving member (18) such that
the at least one gripping member (17) and the at least one receiving member (18) are arranged to cooperate with each other whereby
the hatch in the open position of the lower wall part (14) is arranged to follow the feeding device in its turning movement in relation to the back end (5) so as to permit the emptying of the chamber closed by the hatch.
A refuse collector as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the container (1) has substantially vertical guides (19) arranged on at least one side of the feeding opening (6), the guides being arranged to receive the lower wall part (14) so as to fasten the lower wall part to the container in its lower end position.
A refuse collector as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the lower wall part (14) has flanges (20) to be arranged in the guides (19).
A refuse collector as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the length of the vertical guides (19) is shorter than that of the flanges (20) in the lower wall part (14).
A refuse collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the container (1) has receiving members (21) arranged on the lower edge of the feeding opening (6), the receiving members being arranged to receive the lower wall part (14) so as to fasten the lower wall part to the container in its lower end position.
A refuse collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the at least one gripping member (17) comprises a hook arranged to open upward in the closed position of the hatch, while the at least one receiving member (18) has a substantially horizontal crossbar arranged to project from the feeding device (7) toward the upper wall part (13) of the hatch (12).
A refuse collector as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that the hook-shaped gripping member (17) has an elongated structure so as to permit a transport movement of the receiving member (18) along a path that is parallel to the hatch (12).
A refuse collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the hatch (12) is arranged to be moved with one or more controls (16).
A refuse collector as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the control (16) comprises a cylinder driven by pressure medium.