US3662680A - Locking assembly for refuse containers - Google Patents

Abstract

A locking assembly for refuse containers comprises a reinforced locking bar spring mounted above the refuse exit doorway of a compactor. The locking bar is drawn tightly down over the refuse removal doors of a refuse container while the container is held in place against the compactor, to prevent the opening and buckling of these doors during compaction of refuse in said container. The locking bar is drawn into place by a quick-acting load binder.

Description

United States Patent Palopoli et al,

[ 1 May 16, 1972 [54] LOCKING ASSEMBLY FOR REFUSE CONTAINERS [72] Inventors: Frank Palopoli, Babylon; Salvatore Palopoli, Amity Harbor, both of NY.

[73] Assignee: Sanitary Controls, Inc., Deer Park, NY.

[22} Filed: Feb. 18, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 116,330

[52] US. Cl. ..l00/229 A, 100/255 [51] Int. Cl ..B30b 15/00 [58] Field of Search ..l00/229, 229 A, 255;

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS French et a] ..lOO/229 A 3,575,103 4/1971 Charles ..lO0/229 A Primary ExaminerBilly J. Wilhite Attorney-Gottlieb, Rackman & Reisman [5 7] ABSTRACT A locking assembly for refuse containers comprises a reinforced locking bar spring mounted above the refuse exit doorway of a compactor. The locking bar is drawn tightly down over the refuse removal doors of a refuse container while the container is held in place against the Compactor, to prevent the opening and buckling of these doors'during compaction of refuse in said container. The locking bar is drawn into place by a quick-acting load binder.

13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures TUBE BENDER AND METHOD This invention relates to a novel tube bender. It also relates to a novel method of bending a tube. In one of its aspects the invention relates to a tube bender having a tube gripping means and a roller means. In another aspect of the invention it relates to a tube bender suited to bending various kinds of pipe or tubing, more especially plastic coated tubing. In still another of its aspects the invention relates to a tube bender having a stationary tube roller means. In a further aspect of the invention, it relates to a combination of a tube roller, tube bending and a tube gripping means.

In one of its concepts the invention provides a tube bender having a grippable handle means having a land portion at one end portion thereof and grippable means extending from said land portion toward the other end thereof; a rotatable tube roller mounted on said land; a tube holding means pivotally fixed by a pivot to said land adjacent said roller; a wheel on said pivot positioned in a manner to permit a tube to fit between said roller and said wheel; said wheel being fixed to said tube holding means and thus adapted to rotate about said pivot together with said holding means.

In another of its concepts the invention provides a tube bender as described wherein the tube holding means comprises a tube gripping means actuatable independently from the action of the tube bender when it is bending a tube. In a further concept of the invention it provides a tube bender as described wherein the tube gripping means comprises a set of tube gripping elements, or jaws, at the respective ends of a pliers portion of said tube holding means, the said ends of the pliers portion being located adjacent said wheel whereby the tube can be firmly secured against said wheel while being bent therearound.

In a further concept still the invention provides a tube bender which is adjustable in that the rotatable tube roller is mounted in said land slidably away and toward said wheel, e.g., as in a slot in said land, said slot being cut along a line joining the axes of said roller and said wheel, a suitable fixing element or slide lock being provided to retain the roller in a desired position of adjustment during use of the bender, thus to hold the roller against the tube for rolling the bend.

A further concept still of the invention is in that it provides a method for bending tubing, including plastic coated tubing by drawing the tubing firmly gripped around a wheel against which it is held and, therefore, formed by a rotatable wheel.

In a further concept of the invention there is provided in conjunction with a tube bending wheel or segment around which a tube is to be bent a plierslike holding means having gripping elements orjaws as herein described.

Tube benders have been available for a long time and are exemplified, for example, in patents such as the following:

U.S. Pat. No. 1,879,868 issued Sept. 27, 1932,

U.S. Pat. No. 2,887,914 issued May 26,1959,

U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,532 issued Mar. 26, 1968 Further, various tube benders are illustrated in catalogues of manufacturers of the same.

The tube benders available in the prior art have been found unsatisfactory for bending delicate tubing, for example, tubing which has been coated with a coating which can be marred, cracked, or otherwise destroyed, eg, a plastic coating or other coating such as paint, enamel, etc. I have conceived and designed a tube bender which will bend plain tubing as well as coated tubing without changing parts. A plier-like grip to grip the tubing is provided with a roller to bend the tube. A wheel is provided around which the tube is to be bent by action of the roller which actually rolls the bend by rolling the tube around the wheel. In its preferred form the roller rotates upon a ball bearing for ease of rolling. A slide lock or other adjustment is provided for fixing the roller precisely to the tubing, thus to encompass the same between the roller and said wheel prior to gripping the tube with the plier-like grip before bending the same. I have found that my tube bender or method of bending a tube which has been coated, as with plastic, will not break the plastic coating, nor will it scar uncoated or plain tubing. The tube is not flattened in the bend, rather it rolls out with a nice smooth bend. This is so whether the tube is coated or uncoated.

One of the problems in the prior art has been to provide a tube bender which will permit operation while holding the tube securely without marring or otherwise injuring the same or its surface. I have provided a readily, quickly operable tube gripping section within a tube bender, the tube gripper being like unto a pliers having elements or jaws of the pliers to encompass substantially the entire periphery of the tube at the place of gripping. In the preferred embodiment, the elements are semicircular jaws gripping the tubing therebetween over a substantial length thereof of the order of a quarter inch or more, usually depending upon the diameter of the tubing. The pliers-like gripping device can be substituted for the usual tube holder and can be used with tube benders wherein the 1 bending element or the bending handle, i.e., the bending shoe, slides upon the tubing as the tubing is bent, thereby around a curved object, e.g., a wheel.

An object of the invention is to provide a tube bender. Another object of the invention is to provide a method for bending a tube. A further object of the invention is to provide a tube bender and method particularly suited to bending a tube without marring or scarring the same or injuring a coating on the surface thereof, for example, a plastic or painted coating. Still further an object of the invention is to provide a tube bender and method of bending a tube which will give a nice smooth bend without any flattening of the tube in or near the bend.

Other aspects, concepts and objects of the invention are apparent from a study of this disclosure, the drawing and the appended claims.

According to the invention there is provided a tube bender having a pliers-like tube gripping means, a means around which to bend the tube and a tube bending means. Still according to the invention the tube bender comprises a combination of a wheel around which a tube can be bent and a rotatable bending roller mounted in juxtaposition to said wheel adapted to roll the tubing against said wheel as the tubing is drawn between said roller and said wheel when said wheel is rotated as by motion of the tube gripping means to which said wheel can be attached.

The invention is applicable to putting various degrees of bend into various kinds of pipe or tubing; thus, pipes of metal, plastic, or other materials can be bent up to or more, depending upon the structure and/or configuration of, say wheel Referring now to the drawings in which a now preferred embodiment of the concepts of the invention have been combined to produce a tube bender.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a tube bender according to the invention showing one form of the combinations possible of the grippable handle means, the rotatable roller wheel which is hearing mounted, the wheel around which the tube is bent or curved and the plier-like tube holding or gripping means.

FIG. 2 shows the grippable handle means by itself in plan view to permit the viewer to see the wheel pivot securing threaded hole and the rotatable roller slot in which the roller can be securely fixed in position whereby the distance between the wheel and roller is made to accommodate quite precisely the diameter of the tube.

FIG. 2a is a longitudinal side view of the grippable handle means showing particularly the two-level land or platform portion of the grippable handle means upon and to which the roller and wheel are respectively fixed, the wheel being fixed mediately to the land, as can be observed in FIG. 1 with the extended portion of the plieror tube-holding means fixed to the pivot between said wheel and said land.

FIGS. 3 and 3a illustrate the details of the element which acts beneath the slot in the land to slidably lock the rotating roller in a desired position thereof.

FIG. 4 shows in plan view the longer of the two elements of the plieror tube-holding means.

FIG. 5 shows the shorter of the two elements of the tubeholding means.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show in plan view and FIGS. 6a and 7a show in elevational cross-section, respectively, the roller and the wheel.

FIG. 8 shows the holding and tightening shanked bolt for securing the operative positions, respectively, of the fixed wheel and rotating roller of the tube bender of the invention.

FIG. 9 shows the shanked bolt of the plier-like gripping means.

FIGS. 10 and 10a and FIGS. 11 and 11a show the structure of the tube gripping elements of the plier-like tube-holding means.

FIGS. 10 and 10a show, respectively, in end and plan view the larger of the elements or jaws and FIGS. 11 and 11a show, respectively, the same views of the smaller of said elements.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2 and 2a, grippable handle means 1 is provided with a land means generally indicated at 2. The land means 2 possesses an upper and lower level 3 and 4, respectively, on which are mounted rotating roller 5 and wheel 6. The plier-like tube gripping or holding means generally indicated at 7 is composed of elements 8 and 9. Element 9 extends to and is encompassed between land portion 4 and wheel 6. The roller is rotatably secured to portion '3 of the land by shank bolt 10. Further, element 9 is secured to wheel 6 by means of screws, one of which is shown in phantom view at 12. The adjustable slide lock mechanism is generally indicated at 13 and is composed of substantially right angular element 14 shown in detail in FIGS. 3 and 3a. As can be seen in FIG. 1, but referring also to FIGS. 2, 2a, 3, and 3a, a pin 15 is secured in land portion 3 and coacts with slot 16 of FIG. 3 to position pin 15 at the base of slot 16. When right angular element 14 of the slide lock is rotated in counterclockwise direction the roller 5 is adjusted with respect to the pipe to be bent and wheel 6 and the shank bolt 10 is tightened. Shank bolt 10 in this embodiment extends into element 14 so that bolt 10 secures together wheel 5, land 3 and element 14. In lieu of shank bolt 10 there can be used a bolt or machine screw which extends upwardly from under land 3 and land 4. Such a screw can serve to fasten element 14 up under land 3.

With reference to FIGS. 1, 10, 10a, 11, and 11a the tube gripping elements 17 and 18 coact when elements 8 and 9 are brought together by the action of shanked bolt 11 to grip or hold the tube in the cylindrical or tubular channel 20 formed by said elements 17 and 18.

Referring to elements 17 and 18 which in this embodiment form the tube gripping or holding jaws, it will be seen that element 17 has a bottom portion terminating upon element or handle 9 and that jaw or element 18 has a bottom portion terminating at the lower level at the top surface of element or handle 8. Thus, channel 20 is formed and aligned with the axis of a tube nested in the groove of wheel 6. This particular arrangement of the combination of the gripping jaws and the wheel 6 constitutes an important feature of my invention and in combination with the two-level land. A further feature of the invention, one skilled in the art will see, is that shank bolts 10 provide for rotation therearound of roller 5 and wheel 6, respectively. a While wheel 6 has been shown as a unitary element, it is possible to provide the same composed of two or more pieces; for example, a bottom half and a top half; thus, the top portion of a composited wheel 6 can be removed as when a tube has been bent more than 180.

For sake of completeness, though it may not be necessary for one skilled in the art, viewing the drawings, FIGS. 4 and 5 show the holes through which or into which the respective bolts or screws which have been mentioned are placed. Detailed description of these figures is omitted for sake of brevity. The combination of the figures clearly elucidates to one skilled in the art just how the details of the apparatus are constructed and how the elements are brought into operative relationships.

Referring specifically to wheel 6 which is shown in FIGS. 7 and 7a, in this embodiment of the invention, the upper flange has been out along the chord of a circle facing the roller 5 and directly opposite thereto at the jaws of the plier-like tube holding or gripping means. This form or design of wheel 6 permits a more compact apparatus in that the tube can be more readily inserted and removed from between roller 5 and wheel 6 and also from around wheel 6 and from the gripping jaws when these are opened. Further, slide lock 14 need only be moved in a direction away from wheel 6 sufficiently to insert and to remove the tube as will be understood by one skilled in the art. When many tubes have to be bent and/or when working in confined space, the feature of wheel 6 here discussed requires less motion of the slide lock and roller 5 and of element 8.

Though it is now preferred that the portion of roller 5 and wheel 6 contacted by the tube during bending form as nearly as possible an espousal of the tube, it is clear that a complete espousal is not always necessary. For example, a somewhat different radius of curvature for one or both the roller and wheel might be used with respect to a tube of given radius, or the same shape and size of curvature of roller 5 and wheel 6 can be used with tubes of different radii. Thus a series of tubes of different radii can be bent acceptably without changing, necessarily, a given set of roller 5 and wheel'6. Tubes which can be bent according to the invention can have other than a circular cross section, as will be understood by one skilled in the art in possession of this disclosure.

Such tubes as discussed herein can be accommodated readily by suitable adjustment of shank bolt 10 and locking element 14 in view of the slot 22 in land 3 through which shank bolt 10 passes.

Depending upon the material of construction of the tube; i.e., the nature of its bendability, roller 5 and/or wheel 6 need not be grooved or recessed at the point of contact with the tube; thus, so long as the tube will bend acceptably at wheel 6 without being deformed unacceptably by roller 5, the configuration of roller 5 and/or wheel 6 can be of any desired shape.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure, the drawing and the appended claims to the invention the essence of which is that there has been provided a tube bender, a tube gripper or holding means and a combination in a tube bender of said tube holder and in a specific embodiment, the tube bending means with which the tube holder is combined comprises a rotatable tube roller and a wheel which moves in fixed relation with the tube holder as it is moved to bend the tube around said wheel with aid of said rotatable tube roller; the tube holding means in one embodiment comprising a plier-like arrangement having the tube holding means formed in the form of elements or jaws as described; and also, the tube roller being slidably mounted and locked to permit adjustment thereof with respect to the tube to be bent and the wheel around which the tube is to be bent; and, finally, that a wheel design has been set forth which permits ready disengagement of the bent tube as well as engagement of the tube to be bent, especially when working in confined spaces.

I claim:

1. A tube bender comprising a pliers-like tube gripper having two pivoted handles and having coacting jaw portions one on each handle adapted to grip a tube when the handles are moved towards each other, said pliers being pivotally fixed to a pivot with a wheel also fixed to said pivot around which the tube to be bent is bent by actuating said tube gripper, and a roller positioned to encompass a tube between said roller and said wheel, the roller functioning to hold the tube against said wheel while the tube is drawn around said wheel by activating said roller.

2. A tube bender according to claim 1 wherein the tube gripper is comprised of a pliers-type portion, the jaws of which are shaped to conform to the shape of the tube and to hold the same therebetween.

of the door 46 and resists and reinforces the door 46 so that it does not buckle under extended and prolonged pressure from the ram 20. When next the ram withdraws backward into the compactor, there is a sufficient spread and dilution of pressure so that the door 46 would not be caused to buckle. When the compaction process has been carried out so that the refuse container is full, the load binder 76 is disengaged, and specifically the handle 86 is brought by a worker from a vertical orientation to a horizontal orientation, permitting the bar 48, under the influence of the bias of the spring 68, to move partially upwardly.

The hooks 84 are then disengaged from the loops 74 on the anchors 72, whereby the spring 68 moves the locking bar 48 further upwardly to the position shown in FIG. 1. Next, the hooks 28 of the turnbuckle assembly 26 are removed from the apertures 39 in the frame 38 of the container 30, and the refuse container 30 can be removed from the compactor 12. The refuse container can be raised and dumped into the body of a dump truck in a conventional manner, or if the refuse container 30 is quite large, it may be brought directly to a refuse dump and emptied. In either of these operations, the door 46 is opened, so that the refuse within the container leaves it through the opening left by the rotation of the door 46.

It will now be appreciated that the locking assembly 10 of the present invention is quickly and efficiently able to hold the door 46 of a refuse container closed, and is able to resist the heightened pressure and stress engendered by the compactor ram. The locking assembly is kept out of the way while the refuse container is engaged with the compactor, and is brought to its locking position by a worker quickly and easily. The provision of the locking assembly enables the doors of the container to be made of relatively lightweight material, whereas otherwise extremely heavy reinforced plates would have to be utilized to resist the aforesaid buckling and tendency to open.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope of the invention herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A locking assembly for use with a refuse container of the type adapted to be coupled to a compactor, said assembly comprising an elongated locking bar, hinge means mounting the locking bar on the compactor for movement between a position out of interference with the refuse container and a position locking the door of the container, and means for temporarily retaining the locking bar in its locking position.

2. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the temporary retaining means includes a load binder.

3. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein the temporary retaining means comprises an anchor and a load binder attaching the bar to the anchor.

4. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the anchor comprises an elongated strut at ground level fixed to and projecting from the compactor.

5. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the anchor comprises an elongated strut fixed to the compactor and carrying a loop, and the load binder has a hook matable with said loop.

6. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the temporary retaining means comprises a pair of spaced parallel anchors fixed to the compactor and terminating in loops and a pair of load binders fixed to the bar and matable with said loops.

7. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein each load binder is connected to the bar by a chain and terminates in a hook.

8. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge means includes a spring biasing the bar to a position out of interference with the container.

9. A lockmg assembly as set forth 11'] claim 8 wherein said position forms an acute angle with the horizon.

10. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein the spring includes a section positioned against one of the bar and the compactor and a section positioned against the other of the bar and the compactor.

11. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bar is of ladder-like construction.

12. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein the ladder-like construction extends beyond the container, when the container is linked to the compactor.

13. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge means is fixed to the compactor at a level immediately above the level of the container door.

Claims (13)

1. A locking assembly for use with a refuse container of the type adapted to be coupled to a compactor, said assembly comprising an elongated locking bar, hinge means mounting the locking bar on the compactor for movement between a position out of interference with the refuse container and a position locking the door of the container, and means for temporarily retaining the locking bar in its locking position.

2. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the temporary retaining means includes a load binder.

3. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 2 wherein the temporary retaining means comprises an anchor and a load binder attaching the bar to the anchor.

4. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the anchor comprises an elongated strut at ground level fixed to and projecting from the compactor.

5. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the anchor comprises an elongated strut fixed to the compactor and carrying a loop, and the load binder has a hook matable with said loop.

6. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 3 wherein the temporary retaining means comprises a pair of spaced parallel anchors fixed to the compactor and terminating in loops and a pair of load binders fixed to the bar and matable with said loops.

7. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 6 wherein each load binder is connected to the bar by a chain and terminates in a hook.

8. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge means includes a spring biasing the bar to a position out of interference with the container.

9. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 8 wherein said position forms an acute angle with the horizon.

10. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 9 wherein the spring includes a section positioned against one of the bar and the compactor and a section positioned against the other of the bar and the compactor.

11. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bar is of ladder-like construction.

12. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 11 wherein the ladder-like construction extends beyond the container, when the container is linked to the compactor.

13. A locking assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein the hinge means is fixed to the compactor at a level immediately above the level of the container door.

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