US2939594A - Refuse loading mechanism - Google Patents

Description

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June 7, 1960 Filed Feb. 5. 1956 J. M. GWINN, JR

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 7, 1960 J. M. GWINN, JR

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 3. 1956 Jase Z Mazi lg ffix BY I v- 20114,

June 7, 1960 J. M. GWINN, JR

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 3. 1956 fi- P m ray/van;

June 7, 1960 J. M. GWINN, JR

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 5, 1956 J. M. GWINN, JR

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM June 7, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 3, 1956 *Ema, raPNE/S I June 7, 19 60 J. M. GWINN, JR 2,939,594

REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 3. 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Q Jase; I!

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United States Pate 2,989,594 REFUSE LOADING MECHANISM Joseph M. Gwinn, In, Dearbom, Mich, as'signor to Gar Wood Industries, 1110., Wayne, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Feb. '3, 1956, Ser. No. 563,297

17 Claims. (Cl. 214-603) This invention relates to loading mechanisms adapted to be connected to trucks or the like for loading refuse into trucks for subsequent disposal.

It is common practice in urban areas to collect refuse, such as garbage and miscellaneous trash, in trucks so that the same may be transported to a dumping area or the like for disposal. In order to make this operation aseasy and rapid as possible, loading devices have been applied to trucks sothat the refuse may be dumped into a hopper disposed at a convenient level for workers and then moved into the body of the truck for transport. In one such type of device, when the hopper is filled, a mechanism is actuated to transfer and compress the refuse into the truck body. With such a device a relatively large amount of refuse can be compacted into the truck, but, none can be dumped into the hopper during the actuation of the transferring and compacting mechanism, thereby slowing up the disposal operation. Another type of device which has been used is one which a conveyorlil'ce mechanism continually transfers refuse from the hopper to the truck body, but such devices are subject to the disadvantage that while the refuse is continuously transferred into the container portion of the truck, it is not compacted during the transferring or loading operation, and therefore the truck fills rapidly and cannot carry to the dumping area as large a load as can t s wherein the refuse has been compressed.

it is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a refuse loading mechanism for trucks which will continuously transfer refuse from a hopper into the body of the truck, and which mechanism will compact the refuse during the loading operationv into the container portion of the truck without causing any significant interruption in the truck loading operation, while at the same time permitting the truck to carry a maximum load.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a loading mechanism; of the aforementioned type which is capable of handling a wide variety of and also bulky refuse as well as light or extremely fine refuse, i.e., a device which is capable of handling relatively large tree branches, furniture, lumber, wooden boxes and barrels, metal, garbage, vehicle tires, large book's, stacks of paper, ashes and other types of trash or refuse commonly encountered. v

It is a still further object'of this invention to provide a mechanism of the aforementioned type which is supported on a tail gate of a dump truck so that the refuse may be dumped from the truck by opening the tailgate in a relatively conventional manner.

it is a still further object of this invention to provide a device of the aforementioned type in" which the refuse which is dumped into a hopper will be automatically fed or moved upwardly into the container portion of the truck and will not flow by gravity back into the hopper when the feeding operation is stopped, as during transport.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide in. a loading mechanism of the aforementioned type an improved arrangement whereby" when the feeding and trol of the operation of both the feeding and compacting mechanism and the auxiliary compressing mechanism with a single actuating lever.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a loading mechanism in combination with a refuse container, such as a truck body, which is rugged in construetion, efficient in operation, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational View of a mechanism of this invention supported on the tail gate of a dump truck or the like;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 2 with parts broken away for purposes of clarity;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View partially in section partially in elevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3.

taken along the line 4--4 thereof; 1

Fig. 5 is a view partially in section and partially in elevation of the structure illustrated in Fig. 3 taken along the line 5-5 thereof, and illustrating the auxiliary compressing device in its advanced position;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partially in section and partially in elevation, similar to Fig. 5, and illustrating the auxiliary compressing device in its retracted position;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure" illustrated in Fig. 3 taken along the line 77 thereof;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 7 taken along the line 8-8 thereof; and

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of the hydraulic mechanism for actuating the loading and compacting mechanism and the auxiliary compressing mechanism.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that a dump truck type vehicle 11 is illustrated having an enclosed body 13, the interior of which forms a container 15 into which refuse is deposited by the loading mechanism of this invention. The body 13 is supported on the truck chassis such that the front portion of the body may be raised by any conventional mechanism so as to dump material Within the container 15 in a suitable dumping area or the like. A closure or tail gate structure 17 is supported on the back of the body 13 so as to close the same. The tail gate structure 17 is pivotally supported at its upper end at 19 on the body 13 and has its lower end releasably connected to the body by latches or the like so that when the body is raised to its dumping position and the latches released, the lower end of the tail gate structure may be swung by suitable power means away from the truck body to permit the material within the body container 15 to be dumped. .The tail gate or closure structure 17, when in its closed and latched position, seals the back of the body so that no refuse can leak therefrom.

The loading and compressing mechanism is mounted on and forms a part of the tail gate structure 17, and is provided with a hopper 23 having side walls 25 and arcuate bottom wall portion 27 merging with an upwardly and rearwardly extending bottom portion 28 which terminates at the hopper opening. The hopper 23 is thus disposed rearwardly of and below the truck body container 15 so that the hopper opening will be low enough to facilitate deposit of refuse therein. The hopper bottom portion 27 joins and is integral with a bottom or forward wall 29 of a passageway 31, which passageway is enclosed by the bottom wall 29, an upwardly diverging top wall 33, and forwardly diverging side walls 35. The passageway 31 extends angularly upwardly and the bottom wall 29 meets the rear edge of the bottom of the truck body container 15 and the walls thereof are connected at their forward ends to thetail gate structure 17. The top and bottom walls 33 and 29, as well as the side walls 35, are forwardly divergent, for a reason which will hereinafter appear.

A plurality of spaced apart, rigid, vertically extending, stationary members 37 are disposed in the hopper and areirigidly supported on a pair of transverse rods 39 carried by a housing 40 supported on the tail gate. The members 37 when viewed from-the side are in effect U-shaped bars having the central portion partially filled in for purposes of rigidity, thus appearing as a perforated plate-like construction. The outer peripheral edge portion-of each member 37 extends in a somewhat U-shaped path and is spaced from the arcuate hopper wall portion 27 so as to define a relatively narrow charging opening 41 having a converging entrance through which the refuse is compressed and forced by means hereinafter described. It, likewise, will be noted that the lower peripheral edges of the members37 are in substantial alignment with the upper wall 33 of the passageway 31. The members 37 are disposed in a spaced apart side-by-side relationship so that-a vertically extending grate is disposed in the hopper forwardly of the hopper wall 28 and above the hopper bottom 27. The peripheral edges of the members 37, particularly the inner edges, are substantially fiat or concave, for a reason which will hereinafter be apparent. The expression substantially flat as here applied to the edges of the members 37 means that such edges in transverse section are not convex, but are either straight or slightly concave.

. A rotary feeding, crushing and compacting device 43 is supported in the hopper 23 for feeding refuse through opening 41 and into the passageway 31 and into the truck body or container 15. The device includes a plurality of groups of blade or rotor members, and each group is illustrated as comprising a double-ended blade or rotor member 45 having a center hub portion 47 which is cen trally apertured at 49, with the periphery of the aperture being scalloped to provide a plurality of circumferentially spaced notches or serrations 51. A blade member 45 is disposed between each pair of members 37, and each of the members 37 has an aperture 48 therein in which is received the blade hub portions 47 of the adjacent blades.

The hub portions of adjacent blades abut each other and,

therefore, act as spacers to maintain the blades in the proper relationship to the stationary members 37. A shaft 50, which is substantially square in cross-section, extends through and supports the groups of blade members 45. The shaft is journaled adjacent its opposite ends on the hopper side walls and the groups of blade members 45 are fitted onto the shaft 50. As shown in Fig. 8, the circumferential position of the blades may be adjusted depending on which of the notches or serrations 51 in each blade member hub are engaged with the corners of the shaft.

In the illustrated embodiment, the stationary members 37 and the rotor members 45 are approximately inch thick, and the space between the side faces of the stationary members is substantially equal to the thickness of the blade members. With these dimensions it is found that refuse, even refuse such as ashes, which is compacted into passageway 31, will not pass through the space between the stationary members or bars 37. It has been found that a running clearance provided by a inch difference between the width of the rotor blades 45 and the space between the stationary members 37 is satisfactory for most applications.

In the illustrated embodiment, the minimum distance between the peripheral edges of the stationary members 37 and the hopper wall 27, or in other words, the height of the charging opening 41, is inches, with the distance between the ends of the rotor blades and the hopperand passageway walls being approximately /s inch. It

will, of course, be appreciated that all of the aforementioned dimensions, while proving satisfactory for a device which is adapted to handle all kinds of refuse and trash, from bulky items to fine ashes, could be varied depending on the use of the device and the material which it is to handle. In any event, the aforementioned dimensions provide a device which is rigid enough to handle lumber, furniture, books, metal parts, relatively large tree branches, garbage, ashes, wooden boxes, vehicle tires, etc., and the dimensions are such that the compacted material in the passageway 31 will not flow by gravity back into the hopper, and are such that the device may be operated on a truck without requiring the use of an impractically large motor or pump. As will be apparent, the blades 45 rotate counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 5, and after they pass the charging opening 41 they are wiped clean of refuse by. members 37 since they pass upwardly past the inner edges of the members 37, which diverge upwardly from the axis of the blades. The forward edges of blades 45 are curved as shown in Fig. 5 so that they do not tend to force refuse between the members 37 as the blades move upwardly in passageway 31.

The forward edges 52 of the blades 45 and the outer peripheral edges of the stationary members 37 are either flat or concave (hereinafter referred to as substantially handling of all of the aforementioned types of refuse or trash. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, a series 60 of blades 45 in the center portion of the hopper is mounted on the shaft in the same circumferential relationship or position so that they are all disposed in a common plane containing the axis of the shaft. A series 62 of blades 45 adjacent each end of the shaft and on opposite sides of series 60 is disposed in a staggered circumferential relationship on shaft 50 so that each blade lies in a different plane from its adjacent blade. With this arrangement, if it is desired to feed a bulky, solid article, such as a large telephone book, into the mechanism, the article may be inserted into the central portion of the hopper so as to engage the grate while the blades of series 60 are out of interfering relationship, and thereafter the blades will engage and force the article through the charging opening and into the passageway 31. If all of the blades were staggered or circumferentially offset relative to each other, the device will operate satisfactorily on practically all types of refuse, but it was foundthatif a large telephone book or the like was placed in the hopper, the ends of some of the blades might hit on top of the book and jam the mechanism. On the other hand, if, all of the blades 45 were disposed in a common plane, they would engage the trash or refuse at the same time and extremely high loads would be applied to the driving motor or actuating mechanism, and this, of course, in many instances, would not be desirable and might cause unnecessary stalling of the rotor. It will be noted that in the instant arrangement the group of blades 45 in series 60 constitutes less than one-half of the total number of groups of blades 45. Therefore, the arrangement illustrated is a compromise to permit the device to handle large-or bulky items and to reduce the application of high loads to the actuating mechanism as much as possible.

In order to rotatably drive the shaft 50, a sprocket 53 is connected with the outer end of the shaft and is drivingly connected with a small sprocket 55 through a chain 57. The sprocket 55 is fixed to a shaft 59 which is rd tatab-ly supported in the housing 40. A third sprocket 61 is mounted on the shaft 59 and is drivingly connected with a small sprocket 63 through a chain 65. The sprocket 63 is' mounted on the output shaft67 of a hydraulic motor 69. Therefore, rotation of the output shaft 67 will cause rotation of the rotor shaft 50 and the speed of rotation of the shaft 50' will be relatively slow compared with the speed of rotation of the motor output shaft 67 because of the speed reducing drive employed therebetween. The hydraulic motor 69 is connected through suitable valves, which will be hereinafter described, to a hydraulic pump which, in turn, is operatively connected with the truck engine so as to be driven therefrom. The pump is of the constant displacement type, and a suitable switch or the like is provided on the dashboard of the truck to cause the truck engine to rotate at a desired speed. The pump is provided with a relief valve which may be set at a pressure in the order of 1000 pounds per square inch. Satisfactory results have been achieved when the shaft 50 rotates at a speed of the order of 12 to 20 r.p.m. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the tip of the blades 45 will exert a force of approximately 5000 pounds which is sufficient to crush and handle almost all types of refuse. The stationary members 37 and the rotor blades 45 have been designed so as to stand up under such loads without breakage or the like. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to machines having these specifications.

Refuse, therefore, which is dumped into the hopper 23 will pass through the charging opening and will be crushed or broken up and compacted as it passes through the opening and will be fed into and compacted in the passageway 31. The material forced through the charging opening will be under pressure from the walls of passageway 31 and will not flow by gravity downwardly into the charging opening. Because the walls of the passageway 31 are forwardly and upwardly divergent, the area of the passageway adjacent the truck body is greater than the area adjacent the hopper so that the compacted column of material can be moved upwardly through the passageway into the truck body container 15 without excessive friction but cannot drop downwardly. The rotor mechanism will thus move the compacted mass upwardly and toward the front of the truck body container 15 and will gradually fill the truck body container. As the truck body container fills, the downward pressure exerted by the refuse in the passageway 31 and container 15 increases and ultimately the load on the rotor mechanism will be such as to stall the rotor blades 45 and prevent rotation thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the operator then actuates an auxiliary compressing and load-shifting device or panel 73 which is provided at the rear of the container 15 for additionally compacting the mass and moving it forwardly in the container. It will, of course, be appreciated that the rotor mechanism can be used without an auxiliary panel provided that it is of a sufficiently heavy construction and is supplied with sufficient power to force the refuse up through the passageway 31 against the load of refuse in the truck. It is, however, advantageous to keep the weight of the tail gate structure to a minimum, and it is more economical to employ less power to drive the rotor mechanism in conjunction with an auxiliary compressing device than would be required if the rotor alone were used to completely fill the truck body. Therefore, in the preferred construction, the auxiliary panel is provided which may be operated periodigally as required to advance theload of refuse in the 6 truck body and move it away from the point at which it exerts a downward pressure upon the column of refuse in the passageway 31.

The illustrated auxiliary compressing device 73 is in" the form of a rigid panel disposed above the passageway 31 and at the rear of the truck body container 15. The panel 73 is pivotally supported at 75 and has an arcuate lower end face 79 so that as the panel swings from its inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 6 to its compressing position illustrated in Fig. 5, the lower face 79 will stay in substantial wiping engagement with the upper or forward end 81 of the upper passage wall 33 to prevent refuse from leaking therepast. The auxiliary panel 73 is actuated by a pivotally mounted piston and cylinder unit 83 having a piston rod 85 extending therefrom and pivotally connected to ears 87 which are rigidly supported on a torque tube 89. The tube -89 has its opposite ends closed by end plates 90 which are connected with a shaft 91 which is rotatably supported in the housing 40. The longitudinal axis of the shaft 91 is offset from the axis of the tube 89 so that, in effect, an eccentric mounting is provided. Links 93 are pivotally connected at 95 to the panel 73 and at 97 to the tube end plates 90. When the piston rod 85 of the piston and cylinder unit 83 is in its retracted position, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the front face of the panel 73 is in substantial alignment with the upper wall 33 of the passageway 31. When it is desired to move the panel into the truck body container 15 to compact the mass therein, the piston and cylinder unit is actuated, by means to be hereinafter described, to extend the piston rod 35 to the position illustrated in Fig. 5. The extension of the piston rod 85 will cause rotation of the torque tube 89 and actuation of the links 93 will swing the panel 73 forwardly, as illustrated in Fig. 5, to force the material in the container portion of the truck body forwardly and upwardly. Therefore, while the rotary mechanism 43 crushes, compacts and feeds the refuse into the container, the auxiliary panel functions to more densely compress the mass within the container andmove it away from passageway 31, but does not act to any appreciable extent to crush the particles or material of the mass as this is done as the material passes through the charging opening. It is, therefore, ordinarily necessary to actuate the auxiliary panel only after the rotor mechanism has stalled. The panel is preferably wider than the hopper so that it will more effectively move the mass forwardly in the container. The panel 73 may be operated by a separate manual control as desired. However, it has been found that preferably it should not be operated while the rotor mechanism is operating.

As a further feature of the invention, the auxiliary panel 73 and the rotor mechanism are controlled by a common control which correlates their action in the most advantageous manner, and thus a hydraulic mechanism and circuit to perform this function is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 9. Referring to Fig. 9, it will be seen that a conduit 101 connects the pressure side of the pump with a four-way valve 103, and a return or tank conduit 105 is provided for connecting a reservoir or tank with the four-way valve. The piston and cylinder unit 83, which actuates the auxiliary panel 73, is connected to the four-way valve 103 by a conduit 107 which is connected with one end of the cylinder K108 and by a conduit 109 which is connected with the opposite end of the cylinder. Two spaced apart pistons .111 and 113 are provided in cylinder 108, both of which are connected to the piston rod 85. The tank conduit 105 previously described is connected directly to the cylinder 108 at substantially the center thereof, as well as with the valve 103, as previously described. The motor 69 for actuating the rotor mechanism is connected with the piston and cylinder unit 83 by a pair of conduits 115 and 117. As can be seen in Fig. 9, the conduit 117 is connected with cylinder 108 above or on one side of the tank conduit 105, and the conduit 1-15 is connected with the cylinder below or on the opposite side of the tank 105. The arrangement is such that when the pistons 111 and 113 are in their uppermost position and valve 103 is in its running position, as viewed in Fig. 9, wherein the piston rod 85 is fully retracted, oil under pressure can flow from the pressure supply conduit 101 through the four-way valve 103 to conduit 109 and into the lower or forward portion of the cylinder .108 and thence through conduit 115 to the motor 69 so as to cause forward rotation of the rotor mechanism. Exhaust fluid from the motor 69 flows through conduit 117 to the upper or rearward portion of the cylinder 108, above or behind the piston 113, thence through tank conduit 105 back to tank. Piston 113 blocks flow between conduits 105 and 115 at this time. When the rotor mechanism stalls or slows down substantially because of the mass in the truck body container and passageway 31 or otherwise, the operator can actuate a lever 119 for shifting the four-way valve 103. The lever 119 is illustrated as being of a bail-type having a central rod portion extending across the hopper above the opening therein so that the operator can grasp and actuate the lever 119 with one hand. This arrangement is provided for safety purposes and also as a convenience to enable the operator to easily actuate the auxiliary compressing device and to stop the rotor motion, if necessary. When the four-way valve is thus actuated by the lever 119 pressure supply conduit 101 is connected to conduit 107, and conduit 109 is connected to the tank conduit 105. This causes the flow of oil through conduit 109 to stop and thus rotation of the rotor blades 45 will stop. Oil under pressure will fiow through conduit 107 into the cylinder 108 and will move the pistons 111 and 113 and thus the piston rod 85 downwardly or forwardly so as to actuate the panel 73. Exhaust fluid flowing from the cylinder through conduit 109 will flow to the tank conduit 105 through the valve 103. When the panel has reached its fully actuated position, the conduit 117 leading to the hydraulic motor 69 will be connected through the upper end of cylinder 83 to line 107 and oil under pressure will flow to the opposite side of motor 69, thus causing the rotor to rotate in reverse and loosen up or unclog any debris or rubbish which may be clogged in the mechanism. Oil will flow from the opposite side of the motor 69, through conduit 115 to cylinder 108 and through the tank conduit 105 to the tank or reservoir. If the operator desires, when the compacting operation by the auxiliary panel 73 has been completed, he may immediately return the lever 119 to its original position, thus shifting valve 103 so that the auxiliary panel will return to its initial position as illustrated in Fig. 6 without causing a reversal in the direction of rotation of the rotor 43. That is, if there is no material clogged in the charging opening or in the rotor and there is no necessity to reverse the rotor to unclog the mechanism, then the operator merely actuates the lever 119 when the auxiliary panel has completed its compressing operation. If desired, the four-way valve may be of a type which has a neutral position into which it may be shifted by the lever 119 so as to merely by-pass oil from conduit 101 to conduit 105 so that no oil under pressure will be supplied to the motor 69 to rotate the rotor mechanism 43 in either direction.

It will thus be seen that with the mechanism of this invention, all types of refuse and the like may be dropped into a conveniently located hopper on the back of a dump truck and the material will be fed and compacted continuously by the rotor mechanism as it passes through the charging opening and will be moved in its compacted condition into the truck body container disposed above and forwardly of the hopper. It will, furthermore, be appreciated that a simple mechanism is provided to actuate an auxiliary compressing device to insure that the mass will be compacted as fully as possible in the truck body to enable the truck to carry the maximum weight of refuse before it is necessary to dump the same. It, likewise,

will be appreciated that the compacted mass in the truck body container may be easily dumped by merely raising the front end of the truck body and unlatching and raising the tail gate on which the feeding and compacting mechanism is mounted so that the material can be dumped from the truck body. Thus, the mechanism of this invention permits more pounds of various types of refuse to be loaded in a truck in a shorter period of time than has been heretofore possible.

What is claimed is: p

l. A loading mechanism for a container having a charging opening, a plurality of spaced parallel stationary members defining a portion of said opening and so restricting the opening as to retain material within the container, and a movable loading mechanism for forcing material into the container through the opening, said mechanism including a plurality of spaced parallel rigid elements which project through the spaces between said stationary members and into said opening and engage and force material into and through said opening while moving through the spaces between said stationary members, said stationary members being sufiiciently close to said elements to strip said material therefrom.

2. In combination, a refuse'container having a charging opening, an external charging hopper having an arcuate bottom wall merging with the lower edge of said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth the ends of which move in proximity to said arcuate bottom wall of said hopper, the portion of said opening at the upper side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening and which are sufficiently close to said teeth to strip refuse material therefrom.

3. In combination, a refuse container having'a charging opening, an external charging hopper having an arcuate bottom wall merging with the lower edge of said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth the ends of which move in proximity to said arcuate bottom wall of said hopper, the porton of said opening at the upper side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening and which are sufficiently close to said teeth to strip refuse material therefrom, said teeth being of a thickness measured parallel to said axis to substantially fill the spaces between said bars respectively.

4. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening, an external charging hopper having an arcuate bottom wall merging with the lower edge of said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth the ends of which move in proximity to said arcuate bottom wall of said hopper, the portion of said opening at the upper side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the'teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening and which are sufiiciently close to said teeth to strip refuse material therefrom,

9 said teeth being of a thickness measuredparallel to said axis to substantially fill the spaces between said bars respectively, said bars having substantially flat inner surfaces of a width equal to the maximum thickness of the bars and said teeth having substantially flat forward faces of a width equal to the maximum thickness of the teeth.

5. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening, an external charging hopper having an armate bottom Wall merging with the lower edge of said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on anaxis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth the ends of which move in proximity to said arcuate bottom wall of said hopper, the portion of said opening at the upper side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening and which are sufficiently close to said teeth to strip refuse material therefrom, said teeth being of a thickness measured parallel to said axis to substantially fill the spaces between said bars respectively, said bars having substantially flat inner and outer surfaces of a width equal to the maximum thickness of the bars and said teeth having substantially flat forward and rearward faces of a width equal to the maximum thickness of the teeth.

6. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening, an external charging hopper having an arouate bottom wall merging with the lower edge of said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth the ends of which move in proximity to said arcuate bottom wall of said hopper, the portion of said opening at the upper side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening and which are sufiiciently close to said teeth, to strip refuse material therefrom, said teeth being of a thickness measured parallel to. said axis to substantially fill the spaces between said bars respectively and at least some of said teeth being staggered circumferentially with respect to the, closest teeth axially spaced therefrom.

7.. In combination, a refuse container having a charging. opening, and a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material intosaid container through said, opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member. journaled 0n anv axis positioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced. rigid teeth, the portion of said opening at one. side of said. axis being. closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as: said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening, said teeth. being of a thickness measured parallel to said axis to substantially fill the spaces between said bars respectively, the teeth on said member being arranged in a plurality of axially spaced groups, each group comprising equally spaced radially projecting teeth lying in a single plane transverse to said; axis, said groups: of teeth being staggered such, a. manner that the number of teeth lying in any single plane conta-iningsaid axis andprojecting in the same direction from said} a-xis does not exceed one-half of the number of groups.

8. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening, a loading mechanism including means for forcing refuse material into said container through said opening, said loading mechanism comprising a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis po'sitioned adjacent said opening and having a plurality of axially and circumferentially spaced rigid teeth, the portion of said opening at one side of said axis being closed by a plurality of stationary parallel bars which are spaced to permit passage therebetween of the teeth of said member as said teeth move outwardly with respect to said opening, said teeth being of a thickness measured parallel to said axis to substantially fill the spaces be tween said bars respectively, the teeth on said member being arranged in a plurality of axially spaced groups, each group comprising equally spaced radially projecting teeth lying in a single plane transverse to said axis, and a plurality of said groups of teeth located centrally of all of said groups and numbering between one-half and onequarter of all of said groups having their teeth aligned in planes containing said axis and the remaining teeth being circumferentially staggered with respect to the teeth of the central groups in such a manner that no more than one-half of all said groups have teeth lying in any single plane containing said axis and projecting in the same direction from the axis.

9. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening near the lower portion thereof, an upwardly inclined enclosed diverging passageway defined by top, bottom and side walls and leading from said opening into the container, and a rotary loading member journaled on a horizontal axis above said opening and having a plurality of axially spaced rigid teeth which engage, compress and force material into and through said opening and passageway and into said container, at least the lower portion of the top wall of said passageway being formed by a plurality of spaced stationary parallel bars against which said teeth crush said material and between which said teeth swing out of said passageway after they have performed their material engaging and forcing function, said opening and said passageway being so restricted in cross section and the angular slope and spacing of said walls defining said diverging passageway being such that the compressed and crushed material .will engage said walls and remain in contact with said walls throughout the travel of the refuse material to said container and tend to clog said passageway so as to resist reverse flow of material from said container through said passageway.

10. In combination, a refuse. container having a charging opening near the lower portion thereof, an upwardly inclined enclosed passageway enclosed by top, bottom and side walls and leading from said opening into the container, said Walls being divergent away from said opening so that the area of said passageway adjacent said container is greater than the area adjacent said opening, and a rotary loading member journaled on a horizontal axis above said opening and having a plurality of axially spaced rigid teeth which engage and force material into and through said opening and passageway and into said container, at least the lower portion of the top wall of said passageway being formed by a plurality of spaced parallel bars between which said teeth swing out of said passageway after they have performed their material engaging and forcing function.

l1.. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening near the lower portion thereof, Wall means defining an upwardly inclined enclosed diverging passageway leading from said opening into the container, said wall means being divergent away from said opening so that the cross sectional area of said passageway adjacent said container is greater than the cross sectional area of said passageway adjacent said opening, and a loading mechanism including means for compressing and forcing refuse material through said opening and said passageway into said' container, said opening and said passageway being so restricted in cross section and the angular slope and spacing of said Walls defining said diverging passageway being such that the compressed and crushed mate- 11 rial will engage said walls and remain in contact with said walls throughout the travel of the refuse material to saidcontainer to prevent the free flow of refuse material from the container through the passageway and opening by gravity.

12. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening near the lower portion thereof, an upwardly inclined enclosed diverging passageway defined by top, bottom and side walls and leading from said opening into the container, a rotary loading member journaled on a horizontal axis above said opening and having a plurality of axially spaced rigid teeth which engage, compress and force refuse material into and through said opening and passageway and into said container, at least the lower portion of the top wall of said passageway being formed by a plurality of spaced parallel stationary bars against which said teeth crush said refuse material and between which said teeth swing out of said passageway after they have performed their material compressing, crushing and forcing function, said opening and said passageway being so restricted in cross section and the angular slope and spacing of said walls defining said diverging passageway being such that the compressed and crushed material will engage said walls and remain in contact with said walls throughout the travel of the refuse material to said container and tend to clog said passageway so as to resist reverse flow of material from said container through said passageway, and an external charging hopper having an arcuate bottom wall portion which lies in proximity to the path of movement of the ends of said teeth and merges with the bottom wall of said passageway at said opening.

13. In combination, a refuse container provided with a horizontally directed charging opening positioned adjacent the lower portion thereof, an external hopper having an arcuate bottom portion which joins the lower edge of the opening, a plurality of stationary rigid spaced parallel members extending downwardly from the upper edge of the opening across the upper portion of said opening and terminating in spaced relation to the armate bottom of the hopper to provide a narrow opening below the ends of the lower ends of the members through which refuse material may pass, the bottom of said hopper flaring upwardly and outwardly from said arcuate bottom portion, and a rotary loading and crushing member journaled on an axis generally concentric with the bottom of said hopper and having a plurality of axially spaced rigid teeth which are adapted to pass through the spaces between the stationary members respectively and in close proximity to the arcuate bottom of said hopper, the inner edges of said stationary members diverging from the axis of said member in an upward and inward direction to strip refuse material radially off said teeth and the outer edges of said stationary members being positioned inwardly toward the container from the outermost reach of the ends of the teeth so that the teeth will crush refuse against the bottom of the hopper and against the stationary members and force material into the container through the opemng.

14. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening located near the lower portion of the container,a rotary loading mechanism for forcing material into said container through said opening during continuous rotation in one direction, an auxiliary pusher member movable between retracted and advanced positions in a path, effective to move material in said container away from the vicinity of said opening as it moves toward its advanced position, reversible means for rotating said mechanism and for moving said member from its retracted to advanced position and return, a control element movable between two positions, and means operable when said elementis move d from one position to the other and said mechanism is rotating forwardly to effect in succession first stoppage of said mechanism, second advance movement'of said pusher member and third reversal of said mechanism upon substantial completion of the advance movement of said pusher member and operable when said element is moved back to its first position to effect in succession first stoppage of said mechanism, second retraction of said pusher member and third forward rotation of said mechanism upon substantial completion of the retraction of said pusher member.

15. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening located near the lower portion of the container, a hopper communicating with the charging open ing and into which refuse may be deposited, a loading mechanism for forcing material from the hopper into said container through said opening, control means operable to control the actuation of said loading mechanism and including a bail-type lever supported for movement adjacent said hopper and having a portion extending transversely across said hopper in position to be engageable by a person depositing refuse into said hopper.

16. In combination, a refuse container having an inlet opening, a continuously operating feed mechanism for forcing material through said opening into said container, an auxiliary load-shifting mechanism supported on said refuse container and actuatable to move material in said container away from said inlet opening, and a common movable control means operatively connected with said feed mechanism and said load-shifting mechanism and effective when shifted to one position to stop said feed mechanism and cause actuation of said load-shifting mechanism.

17. In combination, a refuse container having a charging opening located near the lower portion of the container, a rotary loading mechanism for forcing material into said container through said opening during continuous rotation in one direction, an auxiliary pusher member movable between retracted and advanced positions in a path effective to move material in said container away from the vicinity of said opening as it moves toward its advanced position, a hydraulic motor for rotating said loading mechanism, a hydraulically actuated piston and cylinder unit connected with said auxiliary pusher member for moving the same between its advanced and retracted positions, a manually actuatable control valve movable between two positions, conduit means connecting said control valve with said piston and cylinder unit and with said hydraulic motor, said control valve being connectible to a source of fluid under pressure and to a reservoir, said control valve when in one position being eifective to direct hydraulic fluid to said piston and cylinder unit and to said hydraulic motor so as to cause rotation of said loading mechanism in said one direction while retaining said auxiliary pusher member in its retracted position, said control valve when moved to its second position being effective to cause stoppage of the rotation of said loading mechanism and movement of said pusher member to its advanced position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 774,155 Butterfield Nov. 2, 1904 919,499 Ulery Apr. 27, 1909 2,031,544 Moore Feb. 18, 1936 2,151,886 Barrett Mar. 28, 1939 2,522,304 Schuch Sept. 12, 1950 2,573,269 Miller Oct. 30, 1951 2,670,775 Elofson Mar. 2, 1954 2,675,138 Reitz Apr. 13, 1954 2,692,062 Calamore Oct. 19, 1954 r- M w

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