Abstract:
The present invention is directed to an improved trash compactor using an automatic drain operation associated with the unloading placement of the compactor on the support pad. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pad is provided with a pad stop. The waste compactor is fitted with an extending arm that operates through a mechanical connection to open a waste gate valve when the extending arm is pushed against the pad stop during placement of the compactor on the pad. The arm is spring loaded so that the valve is automatically closed when the compactor is removed from the pad and the arm is separated from contact with the pad stop.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to and is a continuation in part of U.S. Provisional Application 61/277,462, filed Sep. 25, 2009 by Garold Flemming of Springdale, Ark. and Craig Remington of Fayetteville, Ark. ALSO entitled AUTOMATIC WASTE COMPACTOR DRAIN SYSTEM. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable. 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable. 
     RESERVATION OF RIGHTS 
     A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to intellectual property rights such as but not limited to copyright, trademark, and/or trade dress protection. The owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to improvements in drain systems for waste compactors. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements particularly suited for pad placed drain systems for automatically receiving liquid waste streams from waste compaction. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to an operating arm connected to a valve that automatically opens the valve during placement of the compactor on the compaction pad, and automatically closes the valve for transportation of the compactor. 
     2. Description of the Known Art 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, trash compactors are known in various forms. Manual drain valve systems are known on self-contained compactors. Manual systems have problems due to the driver error in forgetting to close the valves and thus dripping compactor juices onto the pad and/or streets, or the driver forgetting to open the valve when placing the unit onto the pad or use location such that liquid draining is not provided during the subsequent use of the device. 
     Patents disclosing information relevant to trash compactors and/or drainage systems include: U.S. Pat. No. 902,115, issued to Sharp on Oct. 27, 1908; U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,656 issued to Kamin on October 1965; U.S. Pat. No. 3,229,622 issued to French et al. on January 1966; U.S. Pat. No. 3,880,072 issued to Ord on April 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,453 issued to Lundy on March 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 5,234,309 issued to Foster on August 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,900, issued to Lackner et al. on May 30, 2000; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,022, issued to Paleschuck on Feb. 7, 2006. Each of these patents is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
     Most of these patents are cited in reference to U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,900, issued to Lackner, et al. on May 30, 2000 which is entitled Trash compactor with liquid disposal. The abstract reads as follows: A trash compactor having a compactor unit and a separable trash storage container is provided that accommodates liquid within the trash that is compacted. The liquid is admitted into a reservoir within the storage container of the trash compactor where it is isolated from the compacted trash. When the storage container is removed to a disposal site, the compacted trash is emptied and the liquid from the reservoir is also emptied at the disposal site. For trash that has a large volumetric quantity of liquid, an overflow tank may be provided in the storage container to receive the overflow from the reservoir within the storage container. The overflow tank may also receive liquid that accumulates in the compactor unit while the compactor is operating. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,022, issued to Paleschuck on Feb. 7, 2006 is entitled Aircraft Trash Management System. The abstract reads as follows: An aircraft trash management system including a, trash bag, a trash compactor, a modified bilge drain valve and an improved control valve assembly. The trash bag has a porous bottom and non-porous sides. The bottom of the trash bag is impregnated with a non-leaching antibacterial and a leaching enzyme. The trash compactor has two chambers separated by a movable wall. One chamber is the compacting chamber and is sealable from ambient cabin pressure and the other chamber is always open to cabin pressure. The bottom of the compacting chamber is provided with an upper drain and a lower drain. The modified bilge valve provides a fluid path to the atmosphere outside the aircraft. The inventor also relates to a central valve assembly for simultaneous compacting and draining. 
     From these prior references it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved automatic drain trash container is needed to overcome these limitations. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to an improved trash compactor using an automatic drain operation associated with the unloading placement of the compactor on the support pad. In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pad is provided with a pad stop. The waste compactor is fitted with an extending arm positioned to contact the pad stop when the compactor is placed onto the pad. The extending arm also operates through a mechanical connection to open a waste gate valve when the extending arm is pushed against the pad stop during placement of the compactor on the pad. The extending arm on the compactor is spring loaded so that the valve on the compactor is automatically closed when the compactor is removed from the pad and the arm is separated from contact with the pad stop. It is an object of this invention to provide an automatic waste valve operation that is not dependent on an operator remembering to open and close a manual valve. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention, along with features of novelty appurtenant thereto, will appear or become apparent by reviewing the following detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the following drawings, which form a part of the specification and which are to be construed in conjunction therewith, and in which like reference numerals have been employed throughout wherever possible to indicate like parts in the various views: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a waste compactor. 
         FIG. 2  is an enlarged side view of a portion of the waste compactor of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows a bottom view of the waste compactor of  FIG. 1  with the compactor pulled away from the pad stop to extend the push arm assembly. 
         FIG. 4  shows the bottom view  FIG. 3  with the compactor pushed up against the pad stop to compact the push arm assembly. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to an automatic self-contained compactor drain system. This system uses a valve  1  located in the bottom floor  110  of a self-contained compactor  100  to gravity drain liquids from the compacted waste into drain  106  positioned on the pad  102 . The valve  1  is actuated by a mechanical connection that opens when the compactor  100  is placed in position on a pad  102  at the use location. The mechanical connection closes the valve when the waste hauler pulls the compactor onto the transport truck. This allows for fluids to be removed from the compacted waste and disposed of by the user instead of having to pay transport and dumping fees for the liquid. This becomes very important when dealing with valuable fluid streams such as oil that can be sold for a profit when separated from the solid waste in the compactor. This also reduces the weight of the waste that is to be hauled off, thus reducing by-weight disposal fees. The user can either capture the fluid stream for recycling or drain the waste stream into a sewer or other disposal system as appropriate for the fluid stream that is being captured. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3 , and  4  of the drawings, a trash compactor  100  having a compactor unit  200  and a separable trash storage container  300  is provided.  FIG. 1  shows the trash compactor  100  in place on the rails  101  of the pad  102  with the push arm assembly  21  contacting the pad stop  104  and thereby moving the valve to the open position.  FIG. 2  shows an enlarged view of the push arm assembly shown in  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 4  shows the same area from underneath with the pad  102  removed for clarity and the pad rails  101  cut away to show the relative positioning of the drain  106  in association with the valve  1  and the push arm assembly  21  contacting the pad stop  104 .  FIG. 3  shows the same area of view, but now shows the trash compactor  100  pulled away from the pad stop  104  with the push arm assembly  21  allowed to extend to close the valve  1 . Operation of the push arm assembly  21  and the valve  1  may best be understood by  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 . 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  shows the underside of the trash compactor  100 . Beginning at the exposed end of the push arm  21 , we see that a push arm screw  11  is adjustably threaded into the push arm  21 . The push arm screw is made from a threaded rod with a hex nut welded onto the end to allow adjustment of the push arm screw  11  into and out of the push arm assembly  21 . This allows for adjustments to individual site conditions for the pad stop  104 . The push arm assembly  21  is slidably supported by the push arm support  14 . The push arm support is fixed to the bottom of the trash compactor  100  and the push arm guard  17  by welding. Continuing inward on the push arm assembly  21 , a nut and screw  10  are used to hold a spring biasing plate  23  in position on the push arm assembly  21 . The spring  2  pushes against this spring biasing plate  23  to bias the push arm assembly  21  to the extended position. The other end of the spring  2  presses against the retainer ring  12 . The retainer ring has an aperture small than the spring diameter but larger than the push arm assembly  21  to also slideably support the push arm assembly  21 . The retainer ring is mounted by welding to the trash compactor  100  using gussets  22  and push arm guard  17 . The inner end of the push arm assembly  21  has a clevis end  24  that is pivotally connected to the first end of the pivot arm  18  by a nut and first pivot arm screw  9 . 
     The pivot arm  18  is pivotally mounted off of the bottom of the trash compactor  100  using a second hole pivotally fitting over a pivot pin assembly  16 . The pivot pin assembly  16  is welded to a pivot pin support  20  that is welded to the trash compactor  100  using a channel  19 . The pivot pin support  20  supports one side of the pivot arm  18 , and the other side of the pivot arm is held on the pivot pin assembly  16  by a floating washer  3  that is retained by a screw and nut assembly  7  that passes through the pivot pin  16 . 
     The inner end of the pivot arm  18  also has another pivot hole that is pivotally connected by a nut and screw  8  to the operating arm of the knife valve  1 . One may observe that the pivot arm  18  has two different lengths of extension  30 ,  40  to change the relative operating movement of the other components. These lengths of extension occur with the first length of extension  30  from the floating pivot screw  7  to first pivot arm screw  9  and the second length of extension  40  from floating pivot screw  7  to the operating arm retention screw  8 . Thus, the first pivot length goes from the pivot pin assembly  16  to the push arm assembly  21 , and the second length goes from the pivot pin assembly  16  to the operating arm of the knife valve  1 . These two different lengths allows for the connections to occur at different radiuses from the pivot pin to provide different ranges of motion for the push arm assembly  21  and the knife valve  1 . This movement can be seen by comparing  FIGS. 3 and 4 . In the preferred embodiment shown, the first pivot length is longer than the second pivot length such that the push arm assembly  21  has a greater range of travel than the knife valve  1 . It is envisioned that different pivot arm  18  designs would be used as appropriate depending on different arrangements. It should also be noted that we chose to use the offset design of the present invention to allow access to the push arm assembly from the side of the compactor for easy repairs. It is also envisioned that push arm assembly  21  could be centrally mounted and directly connected to the knife valve  1  such that the movements are directly coordinated. Also anticipated is the use of an extended length spring or a shock absorbing extension to protect the knife valve  1  from excessive external forces. 
     The knife valve  1  is flowably connected to control access to the inside of the trash compactor  100 . The casing of the knife valve  1  is sealably mounted using a gasket  13  sealing the knife valve  1  to a fastener plate assembly  15  that is welded to the bottom of the trash compactor using a channel  19 . The valve  1  is shown as a knife valve that may be placed in any appropriate drain location on the trash compactor  100 . In this Figure, the valve  1  is shown close to the operating end  110  of the trash compactor  100  where the push arm assembly  21  contacts the pad stop  104 . 
     Reference numerals used throughout the detailed description and the drawings correspond to the following elements:
         knife valve  1     push arm spring  2     floating washer  3     floating pivot screw  7     operating arm retention screw  8     first pivot arm screw  9     spring retention screw  10     push arm end screw  11     retainer ring  12     valve gasket  13     push arm support  14     fastener plate assembly  15     pivot pin assembly  16     push arm guard  17     pivot arm  18     valve support channel  19     pivot pin support  20     push arm assembly  21     gussets  22     spring biasing plate  23     clevis end  24     a trash compactor  100     rails  101     pad  102     pad stop  104     pad drain  106     bottom floor  110     compactor unit  200     separable trash storage container  300         

     From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention well adapted to obtain all the ends and objects herein set forth, together with other advantages which are inherent to the structure. It will also be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims. Many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof. Therefore, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 
     When interpreting the claims of this application, method claims may be recognized by the explicit use of the word ‘method’ in the preamble of the claims and the use of the ‘ing’ tense of the active word. Method claims should not be interpreted to have particular steps in a particular order unless the claim element specifically refers to a previous element, a previous action, or the result of a previous action. Apparatus claims may be recognized by the use of the word ‘apparatus’ in the preamble of the claim and should not be interpreted to have ‘means plus function language’ unless the word ‘means’ is specifically used in the claim element: The words ‘defining,’ ‘having,’ or ‘including’ Should be interpreted as open ended claim language that allows additional elements or structures. Finally, where the claims recite “a” or “a first” element of the equivalent thereof, such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.