IL40325A - A tipper for discharging refuse containers into refuse collector - Google Patents

Description

A Tipper for Diacharging Refuse Container a into Refuse Collector ηοκη -pn N HSWN ' 3"»α npnnV na'sn 7pnn This invention relates to a tipper combination for discharging large-capacity refuse containers into a refuse collector, e.g. a refuse lorry.

Lift-and-tip or tipper mechanisms for discharging refuse vessels into a refuse collector, are known in a wide variety of forms. The known tipper mechanisms fundamentally operate on the principle that the refuse vessel, bin or the like, after engagement with the mechanisms, is firstly lifted from the ground and then tipped into the loading opening of the refuse collector, when tipping in the refuse vessel in this way, generally its cover is opened by a special device. The empty vessel ,is then swung back again and lowered to the ground. The known tipper mechanisms , on the other hand , together with the refuse vessel which has been lifted from the ground or lifted up by hand and suspended in position, simply perform a tipping movement into the loading opening of the refuse collection container, and then swing back out again. Large-capacity is refuse containers , aid this/generally meant to indicate ones with a capacity of between about 0.2nr to about 2 m^, are normally lifted directly from the ground by the tipper mechanism and discharged into the refuse collector by lifting and tipping, or by tipping alone. Large-capacity refuse containers of this kind are generally mobile in design so that they can be moved easily up to the tipper mechanism.

One difficulty in discharging this kind of large capacity refuse container, using tipper mechanisms, This difficulty will increase as time goes by, because of the dramatic increase which has taken place and is still taking place, in domestic and industrial refuse outputs; the refuse vessels or dustbins hitherto still widely used, are progressively being replaced by the aforesaid large-capacity refuse containers in order to be able to cope with the ever-increasing volume of refuse being produced and depending on the extent particular local circumstances to some/slightly larger or smaller large-capacity refuse containers are being used, as for example of the kind already encountered in numerous towns and municipalities.

In order to handle and empty refuse vessels and containers of different sizes, which in practice means of different widths (for, ease of opening and closing the lid , the height is virtually always the same) a tipper mechanism has been proposed which is equipped with two pivotting arms arranged at a lateral interval from one another and designed to accomodate the container in question between them(German Patent Specification No. 1,235,800) one at least of which arms is displaceable horizontally in relation to the other on a common pivot spindle, a pneumatic or hydraulic adjuster device which displaces the pivot arms in relation to one another, together with an arrangement which, at each particular spacing of the pivot arm mechanically interconnects them to perform the common pivotting motion, being provided also.

In this context, for the horizontal adjustment of the pivot arms on the pivot spindle, this latter is device, is required to displace the pivot arms.

Mefchanical elements of this kind on a tipper mechanism used for a refuse collection container, e.g. on a refuse collection lorry where dust and dirt can never be completely avoided, are intrinsically prone to "breakdown. Also, this known mechanism presents the operative with an additional burden in that he has to adjust the pivot arms to accord with the particular size of the container being discharged.

Again, a tipper mechanism on refuse collection vehicles, for the dust-free discharge 6f refuse vessels of different sizes, is known Ί which is equipped on its lift slide with identical, two-part spaced side-by-side clamp arrangements which in terms of length and design, correspond with coupling elements on a large and a small (in terms of capacity) refuse collection lorry respectively, one two-part clamping arrangement being provided in each case, for a small refuse collection lorry and the two clamp arrangements together for a large refuse collection lorry (German Auslegeschrift No. 1 231 616). Apart from the fact that this known tipper mechanism is suitable only for two sizes of refuse vessels, preferably ones of l.lnr and 0.33m , and not for intermediate and larger sizes, and apart, too, from the fact that the refuse vessels must be equpped with special fixing means at top and bottom so that the clamp arrangement can engage them, this known device also requires further drive elements and mobile guides for the clamp arrangements provided there, so that to that extent, too, there are the same drawbacks as already described in relation to the first of the said known devices.

The object of the invention is to provide a tipper combination for discharging large capacity refuse containers into a collection container e.g. a refuse collection vehicle, by means of which, without using any mobile displacing components and therefore without any special mechanic outlay (with the attendant risk of breakdown) , large capacity refuse containers can be handled and discharged.

The present invention is a tipper combination for discharging large-capacity refuse containers into a refuse collector having a loading opening comprising the combination of a tipper mechanism having an upper gripper rail cooperating with a locking arrangement, and a lower support, both of which extend substantially over the width on of the loading opening, and/the refuse containers on those of their sidewalls which, during discharge, face said tipper mechanism, on or near the rim of the opening, an outward-projecting pick-up designed to cooperate with the gripper rail and the locking arrangement .

By means of the invention, the result is ch eved that in articular a lar e ca acit refuse container range which includes containers of different sizes, can be handled and discharged into a collection container in a totally arbitrary sequence by means of the lift-and-tip or tipper mechanism without requiring any adjustment on the part of the mechanism to accomodate the particular size of container being handled. Also, other large capacity refuse containers of different sizes, not belonging to the particular standard range or to the system, can be handled and discharged, if they are suitably designed to accord with the pick-up mechanism. In this context, the design of the pickup mechanism used with this invention is as simple as conceivably possible from the condtructional and manufacturing points of view, is inexpensive and has no parts which are susceptible to breakdown. The invention a thus makes it possible to provide/ ipper mechanism which, especially in association with refuse collection vehicles, facilitates the conversion of refuse disposal to large capacity refuse container use in communities, because in adaptation to the particular, differing local circumstances, the large capacity containers of the most varied sizes, ranging either upwards or downwards, can be handled and discharged using the same device , in par&cular the same refuse collection vehicle.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be describe, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings , in which Pig. 1 illustrates a refuse collection vehicle with a mechanism in accordance with the invention, in its basic position, the view being an oblique perspective vJew from the rear; Pig. 2 illustrates a cross-section through the rear part of the refuse collection vehicle and the tipper mechanism in accordance with Pig. 1, the latter being in the basic position with a large capacity refuse container (this in elevation), in position; Pig. 3 illustrates the same kind of situation as Pig. 2, this time however, with the refuse containeijat the end of the lift phase; Pig. 4 illustrates a similar situation to Figs. 2 and 3» this time however with the refuse container half tipped and engaged in the lid-opening device ; Pig. 5 illustrates the. same kind of situation as Figs. 2 to 4 but with the refuse container this time at the end of the tipping motion; and Pig. 6 illustrates a schematic view of the gripper rail of the lift and tip mechanism, showing how large-capacity refuse containers of different sizes are engaged by the gripper rail and abut against a lateral guide plate associated therewith.

In the example shown in the drawing, a vehicle 1 with a rear loading opening 2 is provided, as a refuse collection container, the opening 2 extending substantially transversely over the width of the Beneath the loading opening 2, there is provided on the vehicle 1 a tipper mechanism generally indicated by the reference 7, which consists of a four-link guide arrangement for lifting and a pivot arm 8 for tipping. The pivot arm 8 is fixed to a pivot spindle 9 extending transversely across the width of the rear of the vehicle 1 below the loading opening 2. The spindle is rotatable by means of two rams 10 engaging the spindle through rack and pinion systems. The four-link guide arrangement comprises the bottom end of the pivot arm 8 , two pairs 11, 12 of crosslinks articulated thereto and arranged one above the other, and a support plate 13 which is articulated to the free ends of said pairs of cross-links 11, 12.

To displace the four-link guide arrangement, i.e. to raise or lower the support. plate 13, two cylinders 14 are^ provided.

^Affixed to the support plate 13, at its upper edge there is a gripper rail 15 extending substant"iTlly~trans^versely over the width of the loading opening, and at its lower edge a support 16 likewise extending over said width and (as illustrated) taking the form of a continuous or sectional rail, with buffers 17. The pivot arm 8 is provided at its top end with an extension projecting outwards beyond the pivot spindle 9 r which extension serves as a locking arrangement 19 in cooperation with the gripper rail 15. This extension or locking arrangement 19 is equipped at its to end with dam in buffers 20 and is cranked The gripper rail 15 is provided over its full length, at the exterior with upward-projecting claws 21 and intervening recesses 22. The inside of the gripper rail 15 is formed by a lip 25 projecting above the claws 21. Furthermore, guide plates 24 are provided at the ends of the gripper rail 15.

The large-capacity refuse container 6 is provided at its rim 25 or in the vicinity thereof, at least on that sidewall 26 which faces the lift-and-tip mechanism during discharge, with a pick-up facility 27 which projects externally on the container so that it can be gripped by the gripper rail 15 and its claws 21. Conveniently, the pick-up facility 27 has a U-shaped cross-section open in the downward direction and, when applied to the rim 25 of the container 6, simultaneously serves to reinforce said rim. The pick-up faility 27 thus designed, or similarly designed, is 'provided over the length of the container side wall 26 with stiffening ribs 28 arranged at the pitch of the recesses 22 in the gripper rail 15· The operation of the mechanism of the present invention is as follows : When, as shown in Fig. 2, the large capacity refuse container 6 has been set down in front of the lift-and-tip mechanism 7 and placed on the latter' s gripper rail 5 ( which is in the starting position), in contact with one of the guide plates 24, the cylinders 14 are actuated (e.g. by compressed air), through the medium of known kinds of control devices. Consequently, the support plate 13 , controlled by the pairs of cross-links 11 , 12 is moved upwards and engages the container 6 by cooperation of the claws 21 with the pick-up facility 27 , the stiffening ribs 28 of the facility 27 locating in the recesses 22 in the gripper rail 15. The bottom support 16 at the same time bears with its burfers 17 against the bottom area of the container 6. At the end of the lift phase, shown in Fig. 3 , the gripper rail 15 is forced with its lip 23 , by the further operation of the cylinders 14, against the underside of the substantially horizontal flange of the locking arrangment 19 , so that the container 6 is clamped by its pick-up facility 27 between the locking arrangement 19 and the claws 21 , and has only a small degree of play there. The container 6 is thus securely held to the pivot arm 8 during the ensuing tipping operation.

After the end of the lift phase, the pivotting rams 10 are pressurised; consequently, the pivot arm 8, driven by the pivot spindle 9 i executes a tipping motion and this is transmitted to the container 6 through the support 16. If the container 6 is in the half-tipped position represented in Fig. 4, then its cover » during the further progress of the tipping phase, comes into contact through its normal handle 29 , with the opening device which latter, as the tipping motion progresses, swings into the loading opening 2 until the final tipping position of Fig. 5 is reached, lifting the curtain 3 as it does so and placing the lid in the open position, return springs in the letter's hinges being loaded as this happens.

As Pig. 4- and 5 show, the upward-angle flange of the L-section of the locking arrangement 19 serves simultaneously with the opening motion of the lid, as a cover to prevent refuse from dropping through the gap between the pivot spindle 9 and the loading opening 2. The container 6 is set down after discharge, in the reverse order, the return springs of the lid 5 cooperating in the return pivotting motion, until the pre-tipping position of Fig. is reached.

In the case of large capacity refuse containers with a hinged lid, the lid is drawn into the open position during the tipping operation, by a similar, known opening device and the container 6 can be secured by hooks provided on the support 16, which hooks engage behind a ledge on the bottom edge of the container during the lifting phase, against falling over at the end of the lift phase.

As already emphasised, the invention is not limited to the illustration in the drawing or to the examples of embodiment and application-^' hereinbefore referred to. The device in accordance with the invention can, for example, also be used on stationary refuse collection containers. Then, it is entirely conceivable to provide the device in accordance with the invention on a pure tipping mechanism in which the gripper rail 15 and the bottom support 16 come into engagement with or come up against the pick-up facility 37 of the container 6 purely as a consequence of a pivoting motion so that then the four-link guide arrangement and the cylinders 14 are not required. - 12 -bph:rb: 1291

Claims (6)

1. A tipper combination for discharging large-capacity refuse containers into a refuse collector having a loading opening comprising the combination of a tipper mechanism having an upper gripper rail cooperating with a locking arrangement , and alower support, both of which extend substantially over the width of the loading opening, and, on the refuse containers on those of their sidewalls which, during discharge, face said tipper mechanism, on or near the rim ofthe opening an outward-projecting pick-up designed to cooperate with the gripper rail and the locking arrangement. I I

2. A combination as claimed in Claim 1, in which the gripper rail is provided over its full length, at the exterior and at equal intervals, with outward-projecting claws and intervening recesses whilst at its inside it has a lip which projects above the claws.

3· A combination as claimed in Claim 1 in or Claim 2,/which the gripper rail is provided at its ends with a downward-pro ecting guide plate.

4. A combination as claimed in any preceding claim in which the locking arrangment is designed as an outwardly-projecting rail of L-shaped cross-section disposed above the pivot spindle of a pivot arm on which the tipper mechansim is mounted the angled flange of said outwardly projecting rail being directed obliquely upwards and towards the loading opening.

5. A combination as claimed in Claim 2 or either of Claims 3 and 4 when dependent on Claim 2, in particular for large-capacity refuse containers made of synthetic material, in which the pick-up of the container extends at least across that sidewall of the container which, during discharge, is disposed towards the tipper mechanism, the said pick-up having a U-shaped cross-section in the downward direction, and being further more stiffened internally and below by ribs attached to the body of the container, the intervals between the ribs corresponding with those between the recesses and claws of the gripper rail.

6. A tipper combination substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings. C P.0. Box 33116 , Te!-Aviv AiSoiriaeys ior Applicant