US2965254A - Load packer for truck body - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 20, 1960 s. v. BowLEs LOAD PAOKER FOR TRUCK BODY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed OCb. 1, 1957 INVENTOR .5A/nuez. 1./ 50u/5 @mZ/2% Dec. 20, 1960 s. v. BowLEs LOAD PACKER FOR TRUCK BODY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. l, 1957 INVENTOR.

' HYDRAULIC RESERVO IQ nited States Patent LOAD PACKER FOR TRUCK BODY Samuel V. Bowles, 12039 Branford, Sun Valley, Calif.

Filed Oct. 1, 1957, Ser. No. 687,506

11 Claims. (Cl. 214-518) This invention relates generally to trucks utilized for the collection and transportation of compressible material, and more particularly to an improved load packer for loading and packing compressible material such as refuse into the body of a truck.

Self-loading trucks of the type represented generally by the disclosure in my Patent No. 2,784,853, issued March l2, 1957, and entitled Self-Loading Truck, have greatly facilitated the collection of refuse and similar materials. Such trucks utilized power operated loaders which hoist the material being collected from the ground into the truck body thus eliminating the slow, laborious manual methods formerly used. To further mechanize the collection of such materials which are compressible in nature and to more fully utilize the advantages provided by the above-mentioned loaders, load packers are now used to compress the material in the trucks body after it is loaded, thus increasing the load capacity. Conventional load packers are also designed to move the material after it has been loaded into the body so that an enclosed body with an opening at one end for receiving the material can be used. This is quite helpful in preventing the loaded material from blowing out of the truck during transportation.

Although several different types of load packers are presently available, none prior to this invention has been completely satisfactory. The principal diiculty with these prior load packers is that they are considerably more complex and expensive than necessary. Also, they do not function as electively as desirable, and require considerable manual assistance and frequent shut-downs for adjustment.

The most common of presently used load packers has a blade disposed vertically in the truck body which is moved longitudinally to compress the material against the end of the body. Usually, this blade is supported by the sides of the body and is moved by power means attached to its side edges. In such installations, the blade has a tendency to cant with respect to the sides of the body and jam when the load distribution on the blade becomes unbalanced.

Furthermore, in many installations of the aforementioned type, the blade design and mounting is such that the blade may not be carried suiciently close to the side walls and bottom of the body to prevent the by-pass of material. Material therefore leaks past the blade during packing and collects on the wrong side. This interferes with the blades operation and requires that the packer be frequently shut down to permit removal of the bypassed material.

Another disadvantage found in packers prior to this invention arises in those installations which utilize a dump body truck for unloading the compressed material. Since it is impractical in most applications to make the blade travel the full length of the body, the blade can only be used to force the loaded material part way out of the body during unloading. As a result when loads are tightly packed in the body, they often become so rrnly wedged that the force of gravity provided by the usual dump body is not sufficient to fully dump the load without considerable manual assistance.

It is therefore a major object of this invention to provide a truck for the collection of compressible material with a load packer which is simply and inexpensively constructed and yet quite effective in operation.

It is also an important object of this invention to provide a truck for the collection of compressible material with a load packer and a dump type body which cooperate to automatically release a wedged load upon dumping.

It is another object of this invention to provide a truck of the type described with a load packer which has a blade that moves reciprocally in the trucks body and is so mounted as to allow a slight amount of canting for ilexibility in operation but to prevent excessive canting which would result in jamming.

A further object of this invention is to provide a truck with a load packer of the type described which has its packer blade disposed in such closely spaced relationship with the Walls and bottom of the truck lbody that the bypass of material during packing is reduced to a minimum.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a truck with a load packer of the type described above in which the blade is supported principally on the bottom of the truck body and is guided by the side walls of the body.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of presently preferred forms of my invention when read together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a side elevational view of a self-loading dump truck embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional plan view taken on line 2 2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional plan view of a portion of the side walls shown in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional elevational view taken on line 4-4 in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevational view taken on line 5-5 in Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a schematic view of the hydraulic system used to power the load packer in my invention;

Figure 7 is a sectional plan view similar to Figure 2 of a slightly modified form of my invention; and

Figure 8 is an elevational view showing the truck of Figure 1 with the body in its dump position.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to Figure l thereof, the numeral 1l) designates a self-loading truck having a body 11 and a cab 12. The body 11 has a rear portion 13 which is covered by a top 14 and has two hinged doors 15 which form the rear wall. Vertical ribs 16 are provided on the rear portion side walls 17 to prevent the walls from bulging outwardly when material is packed between them. The body 11 also has an open-topped front portion 18 with parallel side walls 19 which extend forwardly of the rear portion 13 up to and over the cab 12.

A front loader 2li is mounted on the truck 10 in such a position that it can load material into the body through the open top. The loader 20 has two parallel arms 21 which have their proximal ends pivotally attached to the truck and are simultaneously movable from a generally horizontal to a generally vertical position by hy-` draulic cylinders 22. The arms 21 when disposed in their horizontal position extend forwardly of the truck iii and have offset portions 23 which position them out of the way of the trucks front wheels 24. A bracket 25 is pivotally mounted between the distal ends 26 of the arms 21 by leg portions 27 and has outwardly extending tapered lingers 28 disposed at right angles to the leg portions. Hydraulic cylinders 29 are mounted on the arms 21 near their distal ends 26 and connected to ears 30 on the leg portions 27 in such a manner that operation of the cylinders causes bracket 25 to pivot with respect to arms 21.

A bucket 31 suitable for collecting refuse or other compressible material is releasably held on the bracket 25 by'means of U-shaped bands 32 which engage the ngers28.

To load compressible material into the front body portion 18, the bucket 31 is engaged by the bracket 25 when the arms 21 are in their horizontal position. The arms 21 are then swung to their vertical position by hydraulic cylinders 22 and the bracket 25 is pivoted with respect to the arms by hydraulic cylinders 29 to dump the contents of the bucket into the front body portion 18. After dumping, the bucket 31 is returned to the ground and released from bracket 25.

To prevent the wind from blowing the contents of the bucket 31 away from the truck body while it is being dumped, shields 33 are provided which extend above the top 14 and the side walls 19 of front body portion 18, and have tapered leading edges 34 to avoid interference with the distal ends 26 of arms 21.

To pack material after it has been dumped into the front portion 18 of the body 11, the truck 10 is equipped with a load packer 411 (see Figures 2 through 5). The load packer 40 has a blade 41 which extends between the sides 19 of front body portion 18 and is rollingly supported on the bottom of the body. The blade 41 is disposed generally vertically but has its upper edge 4Z tilted slightly toward the front of the truck so that lower edge 43 leads when the blade is moved rearwardly. To help support the blade 41 and maintain lower edge 43 in closely spaced relationship from the bottom of body 11, rollers 44 are provided on the lower portion of the blade which engage and travel on tracks 45 disposed on the bottom of body 11. The rollers 44 are protected from the material being packed by means of cover guards 46.

The blade 41 is normally positioned adjacent the for ward wall of front body portion 1S so that material dumped into the body falls rearwardly thereof. Therefore, when the blade is moved rearwardly, it carries the material in front body portion 1% with it and packs this material into the rear body portion 13.

To drive the blade 41 rearwardly, two hydraulic actuators 47 are provided. The actuators each comprise a double acting hydraulic cylinder carrying a conventional piston, the connecting rods of the pistons being connected one to each side of the blade by guide means 4S. Each of the guide means 48 consists of a plate 49 which carries two rollers, a forward roller t) and a rearward roller 51. The plate 49 is disposed vertically and positioned adjacent the inside of each side wall 19 of front body portion 18 and the rollers 50 and 51 are carried rotatably on pins 53 which extend horizontally outward from the plates. The pins 53 have shoulders 53a which bear against the rollers to space them horizontally from plate 49 and threaded portions 53h which extend outwardly of the rollers, each carrying a nut and washer 53C to retain the rollers on the pins. Elongated horizontal openings 54 are provided in the side walls 19 to permit the pins 53 and the rollers 5@ and 51 carried thereon to extend therethrough.

.To support the two plates 49 on the side walls 19. yangles 55 areprovided on each side wall 19 above and below the opening 54. These .angles 55 carry longitudinal tracks 56 which are so disposed that they project into the opening 54. The rollers 5t! and 51 are hanged at 58 to guidingly engage the tracks 56. The rollers 50 and 51 are therefore constrained to horizontal travel between angles 55 and in engagement with the tracks 56.

To attach the plates 49 to the blade 41, hinge means are provided and include horizontally directed iianges 60 on the upper and lower edges of each plate. The anges 60 have aligned holes 61 therethrough which receive a vertically disposed pin 62. The blade 41 has a recess 4 63 formed in each lateral edge adjacent the plate 49 which recess contains horizontally disposed outwardly extending ears 64 spaced apart so as to contact and fit between the flanges 60. The ears 64 are bored at 65 in alignment with the holes 61 through the flanges 60. ri`he bores 65 and holes 61 receive a pin 62 forming a hinge connection between the blade 41 and plate 49. Cotter pins 68 are also provided to secure the pin 62 in place.

From the above description of the mounting of plate 49 and the hinge connection between plate 49 and blade 41, it will be understood that although the plates 49, which are connected to each end of the blade 41, can move only parallel to the side walls 19 because of the engagement between the rollers 50 and 51 and their tracks 56, a limited amount of relative swinging movement between blade 41 and the plates 49 is allowed by the hinge connection. This swinging movement permits slight shifts in the blades position without stressing the guide means 48.

Each plate 49 is connected to one of the actuators 47 by means of a connector 7i). Each connector includes an outwardly extending bracket 71 secured to the respective plate 49 and a rearwardly extending arm 72 pivotally connected by a pin 74 to a clevis 7S mounted on the outer end of the respective piston rod 76.

The piston rods 76 connect to conventional pistons which are carried in cylinders 82 of the hydraulic actuators 47 and move slidably in sleeve bearings 73 and 79 mounted on the side walls 17 and 19. rlhe cylinders 82 are mounted inside the rear body portion 13 on mounting plates S3 attached to the side walls 17 and offset walls 81.

Since the portions of the piston rods 76 which extend forwardly of the oifset walls 81, the connector 70, and the rollers 50 and 51 are exposed on the outside of the side walls 19, a U-shaped cover 85 is provided to enclose these parts. Each of the covers 85 is attached by a hinge 86 to the angle 55 above the opening 54 and by screws 37 to the angle 55 below the opening 54. The cover 85 may be swung open on the hinge 86 when the screws 87 are removed.

As previously explained, the packer blade 41 is normally positioned adjacent the front wall of body 11 so that material dumped into the body from bucket l31 falls rearwardly of the blade. To pack the dumped material the blade 41 is moved rearwardly by the hydraulic actuators 47', pressure iluid being admitted at the forward ends of the cylinders 82 for this purpose.

As the pistons and the piston rods 76 are thus forced rearwardly they carry with them the plates 49, to which they are connected, thereby causing the plates 49 and rollers 56 and 51 to travel rearwardly along the tracks 56.

Since the plates 49 are connected to the blade 41 at each side edge, the blade is carried rearwardly with the plates, the supporting rollers 44 on its lower portion rolling along the tracks 45. As the blade 41 is moved rearwardly in this manner, it pushes the dumped material rearwardly and packs it with any material already stored.

To energize the hydraulic actuators 47, I provide a hydraulic system 96 which has a pump 92 driven from the truck transmission 93. The pump 92 is supplied from a hydraulic reservoir 94 and pumps duid into a line having a four-way valve 95. The valve 95 is controlled from the cab of the truck and when disposed in a pack" position, it connects the pump 92 to a forward port '96 in each of the cylinders 82, and connects rearward ports 97 thereof to the hydraulic reservoir 94. With this c onnection the pump 92 forces hydraulic uid into the forward ends of cylinders 82 and drives their pistons rearwardly causing the hydraulic fluid in the rearward portions of the cylinders to be discharged through -the ports 97 and returned to the hydraulic reservoir 94. As Vthe pistons noverearwardly,` they carry the piston rods .76 and the'blade 41 with them as previously described.

To reverse the hydraulic system 90 and drive the blade 41 forwardly in the truck body to return it to its original position, the valve 95 is switched to a return position. In its return position the valve 95 connects the pump 92 to rearward ports 97 of the cylinders 82, and connects forward ports 96 to the hydraulic reservoir 94. With this connection, pump 92 forces hydraulic fluid into the rearward ports 97 and drives their pistons forwardly causing the hydraulic uid in the forward portions of the cylinders to discharge through the forward ports 96 and return to the hydraulic reservoir 94.

To prevent the material being packed from by-passing the blade 41, outwardly projecting flanges 88 are provided on the side edges of the blades rearward face. The flanges 88 extend into closely spaced relationship with the side walls 19, and with the plates 49 at the points where they are connected to the blade 41. The bottom edge 43 of blade 41 is positioned quite closely to the bottom of body 11 and held in this closely spaced relationship by the rollers 44 as previously explained, thus preventing material from by-passing the blade on the bottom.

From the above description of the operation of my load packer it will be understood that although a slight swinging of the blade is permitted by the hinge connection between plate 49 and blade 41, excessive swinging will jam the guide means 48 and force the anges 88 into side walls 19 thereby preventing the movement of the blade 41. A significant unbalance of the distribution of dumped material with respect to blade 41 will put a greater load on one of the hydraulic actuators 47 than on the other and thereby tend to cause such excessive swinging.

To prevent this and cause blade 41 to travel in body 11 with relatively pure translatory movement, I provide a displacement equalizer 91 in the hydraulic system 90. The equalizer 91 assures that equal amounts of fluid are pumped into and out of the ports 96 of each of hydraulic cylinders 82 so that regardless of the distribution of load on blade 41, one of the hydraulic cylinders cannot move its side of the blade a greater distance than the other.

To achieve the foregoing result it is desired that whenever one edge of the blade tends to run ahead of the other, part of the force applied to that edge be transferred to the other. For this purpose a pair of gear pumps 98 and 99 each adapted to serve as a motor when necessary, are connected in the hydraulic lines of the respective actuators 47 and these two pump-motors are drivingly interconnected to form the equalizer 91. The pumpmotors 98 and 99 are connected into the hydraulic system 90 as a ow divider so that when the valve 95 is in its pack position, fluid from pump 92 ows by means of a divided or forked line through each of the pump-motors and thence to the forward ports 96 of the respective hydraulic cylinders 82. The pump- motors 98 and 99 are mechanically connected by a shaft 100 so that they both move at the same speed. Since gear pumps and motors are of the positive displacement type, it is impossible with this arrangement for the pump-motor 98 to pass more hydraulic fluid into the left hand cylinder 82 than the pump-motor 99 passes into the right hand cylinder. Therefore, as the actuators 47 drive the blade 41 rearwardly an equal amount of fluid is supplied to each of the cylinders 82 regardless of the distribution of load on the blade.

When the valve 95 is in its return position, the pump- motors 98 and 99 are connected between the forward ports 96 of the left hand and right hand hydraulic cylinders 82 respectively, and the hydraulic reservoir 94. With this connection the equalizer 91 operates in reverse and the pump- motors 98 and 99 equalize the discharge of uid from the forward ports 96 of the respective cylinders. The equalizing elect in this arrangement is brought about by the fact that it is impossible to force more fluid out of one cylinder 47 than out of the other because of the positive displacement characteristics mentioned above.

To dump a load of material packed in the body 11, the doors 15 are opened and the body is tilted into its dump position, as shown in Figure 8. The load packer blade 41 is then driven rearwardly to start the load sliding out. Since blade 41 cannot move all the way to the rear of body 11, it can only start the packed load and the force of gravity must be depended on to carry it on out of the body. When the load is tightly packed against the side Iwalls of the body, gravity is often not sufficient for this purpose. In my body, however, the side walls are offset at the rearmost point of travel of the blade 41 so that the side walls 17 of the rear body portion 13 are wider apart than the side walls 19 of front body portion 18. Therefore, when the load has been forced rearwardly in the truck body 11 as far as possible by blade 41, the principal portion of the load remaining in the truck is narrower than the rear body portion 13 because it was originally packed between the narrower side walls 19 of front body portion 18. In this condition, little if any of the load is compressed against the side walls and the force of gravity is sufiicient to carry it on out of the truck.

In Figure 7, I have shown a modified form of my invention in which a body is provided which consists of a front body portion 111, similar to front body portion 18 of my first embodiment, and a rear body portion 113 with side walls 114 that taper outwardly in a rearward direction. A load packer `112 is provided with a blade 115 which, in this form, is mounted on wheels 116 which run on tracks 117 on the bottom of body 110 and is carried at its side by guide plates 118 which move on rollers 119. The guide plates 118 are connected by connectors 120 to piston rods 121, which are motivated by hydraulic actuators 122. The hydraulic actuators 122 are attached at their rear ends to the rear of rear body portion 113 and at their forward ends, extend outside of body 110 and parallel to the side walls of front body portion 111. The body 110 in this second embodiment is also a dump body and blade 115 moves rearwardly only the distance of the front body portion 111. The tapered walls 114 of rear body portion 113, however, permit a packed load to be carried out of the body by the force of gravity after it has been pushed part way out by blade 115 because the remaining portion of the load is no longer compressed against the side walls.

While the forms of my invention herein shown and described are fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages herein stated, it is to be understood that they are primarily illustrative of presently preferred embodiments of my invention, and that I do not mean to limit myself to the particular details specified other than as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A truck for collecting loose material comprising: a body having an open-topped portion for receiving said material as loaded and an enclosed portion for transporting said material; a blade disposed generally vertical in said body and normally positioned adjacent said top open* ing at the side opposite said enclosed portion; track and roller means disposed between the bottom of said body and the bottom edge of said blade for movably supporting said blade in said body in closely spaced relationship with said bottom; guide means attached to the vertical edges of said blade and movably mounted in the sides of said open-topped body portion for guiding said blade when the same is actuated for movement from said normal position across said open-topped portion to said enclosed portion and back again; hinge means connecting said guide means to said blade which allow limited swinging movement of said blade with respect to said guide means about a generally vertical axis; and hydraulically operated power means connected to said guide means for actuating said blade as aforesaid whereby to pack material disposed in said open-topped portion into said enclosed portion, said power means having equalizer means which assures equal movement of each of said guide means regardless of the distribution of load on said blade.

2. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: a body having an open-topped front portion and an enclosed portion; a blade disposed generally vertical in said body and normally positioned adjacent said top opening at the Side opposite said enclosed portion; track and roller means disposed between the bottom of said body and the bottom edge of said blade for movably supporting said blade in said body; guide means attached to the vertical edges of said blade and movably mounted in the Sides of said open-topped body portion for guiding said blade from said normal position across said open-topped portion to said enclosed portion and back again; and power means mounted on said body for powering said blade movement whereby to pack material disposed in said open-topped portion into said enclosed portion and to return said blade to said normal position, said power means including a pair of reciprocating hydraulic force applying elements, respectively attached to opposite edges of said blade, a single source of pressure hydraulic fluid and power dividing means interposed between said source and force applying elements to equalize the rate of blade movement away from said normal position whereby to effect relatively pure translatory motion of said blade during said packing of material.

3. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: a body having an open-topped portion and an enclosed portion; a blade disposed in said body and normally positioned adjacent said top opening at the side opposite said enclosed portion; guide means attached to two oppositely disposed sides of said blade and movably mounted in said open-topped portion for guiding said blade from said normal position across said open-topped portion to said enclosed portion and back again; hinge means connecting said guide means to said blade which allow limited pivotal movement of said blade with respect to said guide means; and power means connected to said guide means for powering said blade movement whereby to pack material disposed in said open-topped portion into said enclosed portion, said power means having an equalizer which assures equal movement of the sides of said blade attached to said guide means regardless of the distribution of load on said blade.

4. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: a body having an open-topped portion and an enclosed portion; a blade disposed generally vertical in said body and normally adjacent said top opening at the side opposite said enclosed portion; track and roller means disposed between the bottom of said body and the bottom edge of said blade for movably supporting said blade in said body in closely spaced relationship to said bottom; guide plates disposed parallel to oppositely disposed walls of said body; guide rollers mounted on said 'guide plates; guide tracks mounted on said Voppositely disposed walls of said vbody and engaged by said guide rollers to permit movement of said Yguide plates with respect to said oppositely disposed body walls, said guide tracks extending from the normal position of saidblade to said enclosed portion; hinge means connecting said guide plates to vertically disposed edges of said blade, said hinge means having a generally vertical axis and permitting limited pivotal movement of said blade with respect to said guide plates about said axis; a pair' of hydraulic actuators mounted on said body and each connected to one of said guide plates, said actuators being operable to move said guide plates on said guide tracks by means of said guide rollers and thereby carry said blade vfrom said normal position across said open-topped portion to said enclosed portion vand back again; and equalizerr means opera'iiveiy' associated with said -hydraulic actuators for equalizing the flow of hydraulicfluid to said actuators thereby assuring equal movement of said guide plates regardless of the load distribution on said blade.

5. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: a body having a front wall, a rear wall and generally parallel side walls which form an open-topped body portion at the front end for receiving said material and an enclosed portion at the rear end for storing said material, said rear wall Vbeing openable to permit dumping, and said side walls having offsets between said portions whereby said enclosed portion is wider than said open-topped portion; a blade disposed generally vertical in said open-topped body portion generally normal to and extending between said parallel side walls and normally positioned adjacent said front wall, said blade being tilted forwardly upward and having flanges on the generally vertical edges of its rearwardly directed face which extend into a closely spaced relationship with said side walls; linearly movable support means for supporting said blade in said body in closely spaced relationship to said bottom; guide plates disposed inside said opentopped portion parallel to and closely adjacent said side wals, said guide plates being attached to the vertical edges of said blade forwardly of said flanges; elongated longitudinally disposed side openings in the side walls of said open-topped portion extending from said front wall to said offsets; guide tracks disposed above and below each of said side openings and extending the length thereof; a pair of fore and aft guide rollers mounted on each of said guide plates which project through said side openings and engage said guide tracks for travel thereon with said fore rollers disposed forward of said blade and said aft rollers disposed rearward of said blade, said guide rollers being contained between said guide tracks and having radial llanges which engage side surfaces of said guide tracks to maintain said rollers in alignment with said tracks and said guide plates parallel to said side walls during said travel; hinge means connecting said guide plates to the vertically disposed edges of said blade, said hinge means having a generally vertical axis and permitting limited pivotal movement of said blade with respect to said guide plates about said axis; a pair of hydraulic actuators mounted inside said enclosed body portion, one adjacent each of said side walls and attached to and extending rearward of said olsets, said hydraulic actuators each including cylinders with pistons having rods extending forwardly of said oisets outside and parallel to the side walls of said open-topped portion; means connecting said pistons to said guide plates; a hydraulic control system powered by said truck for actuating said hydraulic actuators to reciprocally move said pistons, said system having a control valve which when disposed in a pack position directs hydraulic fluid to the front of said cylinders and drives said pistons rearwardly thereby carrying said blade from its normal position rearwardly to said oisets, and when disposed in a return position directs hydraulic fluid to the rear of said cylinders and drives said pistons forwardly thereby returning said blade to said normal position; an equalizer in said hydraulic system and including two mechanically interconnected gear pumps, one connected in the supply lines of each of said cylinders whereby one of said cylinders is prevented from moving its piston a greater distance than the other and thereby preventing excessive canting of said blade with respect to the side walls of said open-topped portion regardless of the distribution of load on said blade; and dump means for raising 4 the forward end of said body with respect to the rear end to urge said material therein rearwardly by force of gravity.

6. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: a body having a front wall, a rear wall and generally parallel side walls which forman open-topped portion at the front end for receiving said material and an enclosed portion at the rear end for holding said material during transit, said rear wall being openable to permit dumping, and said side walls having offsets between said portions providing said enclosed portion of a width greater than said open topped portion; a packer blade disposed generally vertical in said open-topped portion generally normal to and extending between said parallel side walls and normally positioned adjacent said front wall; reciprocally movable mounting means for mounting said blade in said open-topped portion in closely spaced relationship to the bottom and side walls thereof; power means mounted on said body and connected to said blade to move said blade from said normal position across said open-topped portion to said offsets and back again; and dump means for raising the front end of said body with respect to the rear end to urge material dislodged by the motion of said packer blade rearwardly by force of gravity, said packer blade thereby coacting with the tilting of said body to unload compressed material therefrom.

7. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: an enclosed body having an opening at the top front end thereof for receiving said material and a separate opening for discharging said material; a blade disposed in said body and normally positioned adjacent the end near said opening, said blade being disposed generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body and extending into closely spaced relationship with the walls thereof; reciprocally movable mounting means for mounting said blade in said body for longitudinal movement; a pair of hydraulic actuators mounted on said body and having cylinders containing pistons with rods extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said body and connected to the periphery of said blade at substantially opposite positions; a hydraulic control system powered by said truck for energizing said hydraulic actuators to reciprocally move said pistons in said cylinders, said system having a control valve which when disposed in a pack position directs hydraulic fluid into Ithe front end of said cylinders and drives said pistons rearwardly thereby longitudinally moving said blade from its normal position toward the end furthest from said opening and when disposed in a return position directs hydraulic uid into the rear end of said cylinder and drives said pistons forwardly thereby returning said blade longitudinally to said normal position; and an equalizer in said hydraulic system and including a single source of pressure hydraulic fluid with separate supply lines to said respective cylinders, two mechanically interconnected gear pumps, one connected in the supply lines of each of said cylinders for equalizing the supply of hydraulic fluid thereto, whereby one of said cylinders is prevented from moving its piston a greater distance than the other thereby preventing excessive swinging of said .blade with respect to said longitudinal axis regardless of the distribution of load thereon. p

8. A truck for collecting compressible material which includes: an enclosed body having a front wall, a rear wall, and side walls disposed parallel to the longitudinal axis of said body to form a front portion with said front wall and taper rearwardly outward to form a rear portion with said rear wall, said front portion having an opening therein at the top for receiving said material and said rear wall being openable to permit dumping of said material; a packer blade disposed in said front portion generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body and extending into closely spaced relationship with said side walls, said blade being normally positioned adjacent said front wall; reciprocally movable mounting means for mounting said blade in said body; power means mounted on said body and connected to said blade, said power means being operable to move said blade longitudinally in said body from said normal position through said front portion to said rear portion and back again; and dump means for positioning the front of said body upwardly with respect to the rear to urge material dislodged by the motion of said packer blade rearwardly by force of gravity said packer blade thereby coacting 10 with the tilting of said body to unload compressed material therefrom.

9. In a truck for collecting compressible material which has a body with an opening near one end, a load packer which includes: a blade disposed generally vertical in said body generally normal to and extending between the side walls thereof and normally positioned adjacent the end near said opening, said blade being tilted forwardly upward and having flanges on the generally vertical edges which extend into closely spaced relationship with said side walls; linearly movable support means disposed between the bottom edge of said blade and bottom of said body for supporting said blade in closely spaced relationship with said body bottom; guide plates disposed inside of said body closely adjacent said side `walls, said guide plates being attached to each of the vertical edges of said blade forwardly of said flanges; elongated horizontally disposed side openings in the side walls of said body extending from the end near said opening rearwardly; guide tracks disposed above and below each of said side openings and extending the length thereof; fore and aft guide rollers mounted on each of said guide plates which project through said side openings and engage said guide tracks for travel thereon with said fore rollers disposed forward of said blade and said aft rollers disposed rearward of said blade, said guide rollers being contained between said guide tracks and having radial ilanges which engage vertical surfaces of said guide tracks to maintain said rollers in alignment with said tracks and said guide plates parallel `to said side walls during said travel; a pair of hydraulic actuators mounted inside said body, one adjacent each of said side walls, said hydraulic actuators each including cylinders with pistons having rods extending forwardly thereof parallel to the side walls of said body and connected to said guide plates; and a source of pressure iluid for said actuators said source including a single pump and a flow divider to equalize the rates of delivery to said actuators and prevent angular movement of said blade during the aforesaid guided movement thereof.

l0. In a truck for collecting compressible material which has an enclosed body with a front wall, a rear wall, and side walls which parallel the longitudinal axis of said body to form a front portion with said front wall and a rear portion with said rear wall, a top opening in said front portion, and a hydraulically operated loader for loading material into said opening, a load packer for packing said loaded material which includes: a blade disposed in said front portion and extending between said side walls, said blade being normally positioned forwardly of said opening; guide means attached to two oppositely disposed sides of said blade and movably mounted in said front portion for guiding said blade from said normal position toward said rear portion and back again; hinge means connecting said guide means to said blade which allow limited pivotal movement of said blade with respect to said guide means; track and roller means disposed between the bottom edge of said blade and the bottom of said body for movably supporting said blade in closely spaced relationship with said body bottom; and power means connected to said guide means for powering the movement of said blade as aforesaid, said power means having an equalizer mechanism which assures equal movement of said oppositely disposed sides of said blade.

ll. In a truck for collecting compressible material which has an enclosed body with a front wall, an openable rear wall, and side walls which parallel the longitudinal axis of said body to form a front portion with said front wall and form a rear portion with the rear wall which is wider than said front portion, an opening in said front portion, dump means for positioning said front portion above said rear portion to urge material in said body rearwardly by force of gravity, and hydraulically operated loader means for loading material from in front of said truck into said opening, a load packer for packing 1l t said loaded material which includes: a blade disposed iu said front portion and extending between said side walls, said blade being normally positioned forwardly `of said opening; guide means attached to two oppositely disposed sides of said blade and movably mounted in said front portion for guiding said blade from said normal position toward said rear portion and back again; hinge means connecting said guide means to said blade which allow limited pivotal movement of said blade with respect to said guide means; track and roller means disposed between the bottom edge of said blade and the bottom of said body for movably supporting said blade in closely spaced relationship with said body bottom; and power means connected tosaid guide means for powering the movement of said blade as aforesaid, said power means having an equalizer mechanism which assures equal movement of said oppositely disposed sides of said blade.

References Cited in the ijle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 955,852 Coyle Apr. 26, l1910 2,047,602 Tomlinson July 14, 1'936 2,342,311 Thompson Feb. 22, 1944 2,643,011 Brisson et al. June 23, 1953 2,652,163 Stickney Sept. 15,'1953 2,750,055 Hunes June 12, 1956 2,824,655 Harbers Feb. 25, 1958 2,832,488 Kamin Apr. 29, 1958

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