Apparatus for loading solid material into a container

An apparatus for loading solid material into a receptacle or container, according to a four-phase cycle, comprises a loading blade for pushing material into the container and driving apparatus for operating the blade. The upper part of the blade and its driving apparatus are connected to a transverse beam running in a curved guide located in a vertical plane. The apparatus is particularly applicable to the compression of charges of material, particularly such as industrial or domestic waste, in a fixed or movable container or skip.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention forming the subject of the present description relates to an 
apparatus for loading charges of solid material into a container. More 
particularly, it relates to an apparatus for pushing such charges into and 
compressing them in a hopper or skip. This invention is applicable to all 
kinds of fixed or movable containers or hoppers intended to receive 
various materials and, in particular, to those which serve as receptacles 
for industrial or domestic waste materials. 
The various devices utilized up to the present for loading solid charges 
into and compacting them in containers are well known. In general, they 
comprise more or less complicated assemblies, which are heavy and of quite 
costly construction. These assemblies comprise a plate or shutter, serving 
as a blade for pushing the charges into the receptacle, and means, in 
particular jacks or piston/cylinder units, for operating the blade. 
Typical devices of the prior art utilize an arrangement of connecting rods 
or chains on toothed wheels to operate the apparatus, which makes the 
device cumbersome and fragile. In other known techniques, cables are 
provided or frames are hinged at the base in a hopper or, again, vertical 
guides are used, all of which means make the construction quite 
complicated and cumbersome. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides an improvement which gives a marked 
simplification in the loading device. It dispenses with the use of the 
customary arrangements and allows the construction of devices for loading 
or compressing various materials which are strong, simple and reliable in 
operation. These advantages are obtained in an unexpected manner by 
mounting the means for operating the loading blade below this blade, 
connecting it to a beam which slides in a curved guide located in the 
upper part of the assembly. Until now in similar devices, as for example 
those which are described in Swiss Patent Specification 516452 and French 
Published Applications 2189280 and 2218260, the cylinder units operating 
the blade have always been located above it. Also, guides for the beam 
carrying the blade, where provided in the prior art, have been straight 
and have traversed the lower part of the assembly. 
As in the known arrangements, there are in the apparatus according to the 
invention, a plate or shutter forming the loading blade and driving means 
for imposing on this blade the necessary movements. The driving means are 
mounted with respect to the blade in such a manner that it effects the 
complete cycle of loading the material into the receptacle, with 
compaction, in four distinct successive phases. Starting from the position 
where the receptacle is closed by the blade, the movements of the cycle 
are: first, raising the blade to a high position, substantially uncovering 
the entry into the receptacle; second, lowering the blade until its lower 
edge reaches the surface from which the charge is pushed into the 
receptacle; third, sweeping or scraping this surface towards the entry to 
the receptacle with the blade; fourth, raising the blade and closing the 
opening of the receptacle with it. 
The structure according to the invention allows the harmonious realization 
of the above-mentioned cyclic movements and is characterised in that the 
driving means for the blade have their points of attachment below the 
blade and are connected to a transverse beam sliding on a curved guide 
situated in a vertical plane between the blade and the entry of the 
receptacle to be charged. The curvature and length of the guide, as well 
as the lengths of the movable parts of the driving means, determine the 
four successive positions of the blade in the operating cycle. The movable 
beam is located at the top of a discharging bay mounted at the rear of the 
vehicle. The guide is in general an arc of a circle having its concavity 
towards the entry to the receptacle, and it extends from a point situated 
at the top of the apparatus, in the vicinity of the receptacle itself, to 
the bottom adjacent the central region of the apparatus. 
As the driving means in general comprise jacks or piston and units in 
devices of the type of the invention, the practical form of construction 
of them comprises hydraulic or electric cylinders for operating the blade. 
One of the ends of each cylinder is hingedly connected to the movable 
beam, as it also represents the height of the blade. 
According to a particular feature of the invention, the blade is provided 
with two cylinders or two groups of parallel cylinders. The end of the 
body of one of them is connected to a hopper or to a support fixed to the 
base of the container, while the end of the piston rod of the second 
cylinder is hinged to the blade itself, towards the middle of its height. 
One preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated, without 
limitation of the scope of the invention, in the following description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In FIGS. 1 and 6, there can be seen in the discharging bay 14 a blade 1, 
the upper part of which is pivotally connected to a beam 2 by pivot 3. 
This beam 2 runs on curved guides 11 through the intermediary of pulleys 
15-15' and 16-16'. FIG. 6 shows that there are in fact two guides 11, each 
at one of the lateral ends of the blade 1. 
This particular mounting, according to the invention, has the result of 
allowing the blade 1 to move along the guide 11, while at the same time 
giving the possibility of pivoting around the pivot axis 3. Therefore, in 
the high position of the beam 2 (FIGS. 1 and 2), the blade can pivot 
around the axis 3, as shown by the arrow f.sub.1. The first type of blade 
movement namely sliding along the guide 11, is produced by the action of 
two parallel cylinders 7, placed at the two lateral ends of the beam 2, as 
shown in FIG. 6. The cylinder 7 is pivotally connected, by the end 8 of 
its cylinder body, to the lower part of the hopper 9. The end of the 
piston of the cylinder 7 is connected by a pivot 10 to the sliding beam 2. 
Extreme extension of the cylinder, which can be seen in FIG. 2, thus 
corresponds to the high position of the beam 2 and consequently to the 
high position of the blade 1. In contrast, complete retraction of the 
cylinders 7 brings the beam 2 to the lower end of the guide 11, best shown 
in FIGS. 3 and 4. This corresponds to the low positions of the blade 1. 
The second type of movement of the blade 1, namely pivoting about the beam 
2, is effected by means of two parallel cylinders 4 mounted on the lateral 
ends of the blade 1. The end of the body of the cylinder 4 is connected to 
the beam 2 through the intermediary of a pivot 6 situated away from the 
axes of the pulleys 15-15' and 16-16', while the end of the piston of the 
cylinder 4 is pivotally connected at pivot 5 to the middle part of the 
edge of the blade. Thus, whatever the position of the beam 2 on the guide 
11, the action of the cylinder 4 can always raise or lower the blade 1. 
These movements are brought about by pivoting the blade around the pivot 3 
under the effect of the traction or pressure exerted at 5 by the cylinder 
4. Examples of such rotations are shown by arrows f.sub.1, f.sub.2 or 
f.sub.3. 
The figures illustrate the particular case, which is technically very 
important, where the compacting apparatus according to the invention is 
installed at the rear of a container or skip 13 above a hopper bay 9. It 
will be understood that the apparatus described can be utilized under 
other conditions, possibly without the hopper. For example, it can serve 
for collecting charges directly on a surface where they are stored, for 
example on the ground. 
In the embodiment represented, where the material is first discharged into 
the hopper 9 and then gathered up by the blade 1 in order to be pushed 
into the interior of the container 13, the preferred configuration of this 
hopper corresponds to a slightly hollowed or dish-shaped hearth base, so 
as to cause displacement of the lower edge of the blade 1 while it sweeps 
or scrapes across the base of the hopper towards the container. On the 
other hand, it is also preferable for the forward wall 12 of the hopper, 
directed towards the entry to the container 13, to have a slight convex 
curvature to the exterior, in order to harmonize with the displacement of 
the blade 1 when the latter rises, while effecting compression of the 
charge, towards the position of closure of the container (movement from 
the position of FIG. 4 to that of FIG. 1). 
In order that the material introduced into the container 13 is 
satisfactorily gathered up by the blade 1, it is necessary for the lower 
edge of the blade 1 to scrape the base of the hopper 9. It is necessary, 
however, to provide a certain clearance between this edge and the base, in 
order to avoid any jamming. This clearance varies with the nature and 
particularly the size of the matter constituting the material treated. It 
may be noted, however, that owing to the arrangement according to the 
invention with pivotal connections to the movable beam 2, the danger of 
jamming is much less than with known apparatus. 
As already indicated above, operation of the compacting apparatus described 
comprises four successive phases. FIG. 1 represents the closed position, 
which is taken in the following as the starting point in the cycle of 
operations. The blade 1 is then at rest, its lower edge level with the 
upper edge of the wall 12 of the hopper 9 and, for this reason, the entry 
to the receptacle 13 is closed. 
The first operative phase consists in raising the blade 1 from the closed 
position to that of complete opening, represented by FIG. 2. This 
movement, shown by arrow f.sub.1, is obtained by the action of the 
cylinder 4, while the beam 2 remains at the top of guide 11. Thus, 
following this first phase of the cycle, the blade 1 is at rest in its 
highest position, shown in FIG. 2. 
The second phase consists in making the blade 1 descend from its high 
position to the lowest (third) position, behind the material which is 
located on the hopper 9. This movement is obtained by retraction of the 
cylinder 7, which draws the beam 2 from its highest position to its lowest 
position at the lower end of the guide 11, as shown in FIG. 3. 
Starting from this third position, the blade 1 is made to rotate around the 
pivot 3 towards the entry to the container, as shown by arrow f.sub.2 ; 
This constitutes the third phase of the cycle. Following this movement, 
the blade 1 is located in the position of FIG. 4, after having pushed 
towards into the container the material which was originally on the hopper 
9. The material which at this time is thus ahead of the movement of the 
blade, is thus compressed ready for loading into the container 13. 
Finally, the cylinder 7 again opperates in order to cause a movement of the 
blade 1 in the direction indicated by arrow f.sub.3, thus accomplishing 
the fourth phase of the operative cycle. For this movement, extension of 
the cylinder 7 is effected, which moves the beam 2 along the guide 11 to 
the highest position, namely that shown in FIG. 1. During its rise, the 
beam 2 raises the pivot 3 of the blade 1 and, consequently, the latter is 
returned to its starting position, in which it closes the container 13. 
Sequential operation of the hydraulic cylinders 4 and 7 is regulated and 
controlled by known means which allow the desired movement of the blade to 
be effected at any time. 
In a variant of the invention, a third cylinder 17 is used to provide extra 
force to compress the material and force it into the container 13, if such 
extra force is needed. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, this cylinder is held in 
reserve, at rest, on a rear wall of the bay 14. It does not operate during 
the four phases of the cycle of loading the material, but can be brought 
into operation at the end of the fourth phase, that is to say when the 
blade 1 has closed the entry to the container 13. Often at this time it is 
desirable to compress further the material introduced into the container 
13. As the cylinder 4 may not suffice for this purpose, supplementary 
pressure is provided by the auxiliary cylinder 17, according to the 
invention. For, the head of the piston rod on this cylinder 17, which is 
not attached to and most of the time is not in contact with the blade 1, 
is applied to the blade 1 and the cylinder body receives the hydraulic 
pressure necessary to push the blade 1 further forward. It will be 
understood that the action of coupling the cylinder 17 to the blade 1, as 
shown in FIG. 5, can be effected by any known means, whether manual, 
electric or hydraulic. Temporary connection between the head of the 
cylinder 17 and the blade 1 can be realized, for example, by engaging a 
spherical head 18 on the piston rod of the cylinder in a hemispherical 
recess provided in the middle of the blade.