APPARATUS FOR CHARGING SOLIDS UNDER COMPRESSION INTO A RECEPTACLE

Abstract: Apparatus for charging solids under compression into a receptacle (2) which apparatus comprises a charging unit comprising two charging and compressing plates (9, 10) which are driven by two driving means (17, 18) and guided by a guiding means (12) in such a manner that the charging space (8) of the hopper (1) has a very appropriate form.

Description: The present invention relates to an apparatus for charging solids under compression into a receptacle according to the preamble of claim 1. Such an apparatus is known from, for example, EP-A-0 100 264. The movements of the plates disclosed in the above document are achieved by means of hydraulic jacks, where one of the jacks is attached between the two plates in order to cause pivoting movements mainly of the lower most of the plates, whereas the other jack has one of its end parts attached to a part of the hopper, and its other end attached to an attachment point creating the pivoting centre of the lower most plate. This pivoting centre is, in accordance with this prior known solution, a common attachment point for both of the jacks and is situated on a lever arm, which arm is arranged opposite the effective part of the lower most plate. Since the pivoting centre is not constituted by the common joint, the lower most plate has to be dimensioned in relation thereto and therefore has a large pivoting radius, which means that the charging pocket of the hopper has to be unfavorably shallow, at the same time that the pivoting range of the press plate has to be relatively restricted, so that the dimensions of the hopper will not be too large in relation to the other dimensions of the apparatus. Furthermore a large press plate requires more force than a small press plate in order to achieve the same surface pressure. From US-A-3 797 680 there is known a refuse collection apparatus comprising a charging unit reciprocably movable along a linear guiding means. The charging unit comprises a transport plate and a press plate which are pivotably connected by a common axis. The transport plate is constrained to move in a linear direction along the guiding means, whilst the press plate can perform a pivoting movement about the common axis. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus by which a large charging space of the hopper is achieved in relation to the outer dimensions of the apparatus and in which apparatus a relatively short press plate can be used in order to achieve a high packing surface pressure on the refuse. Said object is achieved by means of an apparatus according to claim 1. In the following a preferred mode of example of the invention will be explained more in detail with reference to the annexed drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a side view of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, placed in a hopper, from which one of the side walls is thought to be removed in order to improve the lucidity, Fig. 2 is a view from behind of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, whereas Figs. 3 - 10 schematically show the apparatus in accordance with the invention in different positions during the charging and compression work of the apparatus. As is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the charging device is placed in a hopper 1 for a receptacle 2 intended to receive compressible material, e.g. refuse. The receptacle 2 can be a mobile refuse container, placed on a vehicle, intended for collecting refuse. Alternatively, the receptacle 2 can be a stationary container at a collection station for refuse. The hopper 1 can be a detachable unit mounted at the back of the receptacle, said hopper comprising two side walls 3, 4, one of which has been removed to improve the clearness of Fig. 1 so that the charging device is fully visible from the side. The hopper 1 is open at the back having, in the shown example, a mainly rectangular opening 5. The bottom part 6 of the hopper is formed as a pocket having a partly curved form. The opening 5 is delimited at its lower part by a generally horizontal charging edge 7. By means of the above described form of the hopper a pocket-like charging space 8 is achieved in which the refuse, e.g. garbage bags, can be put by charging through the opening 5. The hopper 1 can be totally open at the top or be protected by means of a cover plate or a similar means. The charging device in accordance with the invention comprises a movable charging unit which consists of a transport plate 9 and a press plate 10. The transport plate 9 and the press plate 10 are movably interrelated to each other by means of a joint 11. As is best shown in Fig. 2 the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10 substantially co-extend with the charging opening 5 and are intended to mainly shut the receptacle 2 which on the other hand is open towards the charging pocket 8. The charging device further comprises a guiding means 12, which for practical purposes is subdivided into two guides, each being placed adjacent one side plate 3, 4, of the hopper, e.g. in the form of a groove or channel-like means 13 arranged at each side plate. In the shown example the guides are straight, which results in a linear movement for those parts which are guided by the guide means. The transport plate 9 is provided with a guideable means 14 in connection with its upper end, which is interrelated with the guiding means 12, and is movably controlled by the groove 13 of the guiding means so that the upper end of the transport plate 9 is guided by the groove during the movement along it in a way as will be described in more detail below. In a corresponding manner, a press plate 10 is guided along the guiding means 12 by being provided with a guideable means 15 which is interrelated with the guiding means 12 and is arranged on a lever arm 16 and is thereby distanced from the joint 11. The movements of the charging device are effected by means of driving units, more precisely a first driving means 17 which is connected to the transport plate 9 for movement of the charging unit, i.e. for movement of the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10, between an upper and a lower level, and a second driving means 18 which is arranged between the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10 in order to effect the pivoting movement of the press plate 10 around its pivoting axis which is the joint 11. The driving units 17, 18 constitute linear engines in the form of units which are able to expand and have two attachments point. The first driving unit 17 effects a linear movement of the charging unit along the guiding means 12, whereas the other driving unit 18 effects a pivoting movement of the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10, since the press plate 10 is pivotably arranged about its pivoting axis 11 and driving unit 18 is attached thereto at a distance from the pivoting axis 11 so that a lever arm is created which is constituted by the lever arm 16. The driving units 17, 18 are preferably constituted by hydraulic jacks having a cylinder 19, 20 which is pivotably attached to an attachment point 21, 22, and a rod 23, 24 which is pivotably attached to another attachment point 25, 26. The attachment points 22, 26 are situated in the groove 13 and are guided thereby so that they follow its extension. The closing of the refuse receptacle 2 by means of the charging device is supplemented by means of a partition 27, which in the shown example is constituted by a resilient plate attached to the hopper 1. The plate has such a length and is so adapted that it resiliently contacts the inner surface 28 of the transport plate 9 even during the pivoting and longitudinal movements thereof so that a continuous closing of the receptacle is provided for with exception for the charging opening, which is created at the lower end at certain moments of the charging process, as will be described more in detail below. The partition 27 is at its lower end provided with a triangular-like part 29 creating an upwardly directed part 30, which constitutes a support for the refuse in the upper rear parts of the receptacle during the charging, thereby preventing refuse fall-back while charging. From Fig. 2 it can be seen that the first as well as the second driving unit 17, 18 each constitutes two jacks, as a consequence of the width of the device. This ensures good power symmetry and a practical design. Each of the jacks 17 of the first driving unit, are arranged within in a box-like beam 41, 42 extending in an inclined manner upwards along a respective side plate 3, 4. This box-like beam could also comprise the groove 13 of the guiding means 12. The jacks of the upper driving unit 18 are arranged on each side of the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10. One of the attachment points 21 for the first driving unit 17 constitutes a fixed attachment point on the hopper, e.g. in the form of a transversal axis, onto which the jack is pivotably arranged. The opposite attachment point 25 constitutes an attachment point movable in relation to the hopper, and also constitutes a pivoting joint which makes possible a pivoting movmement of the transport plate 9 relative to the rod 23 of the driving unit 17. The other two jacks 20 which constitute the second driving unit 18 are attached so that the attachment points 22, 26 are placed each one in a guidable means 14, 15, of which in the shown example there are four. The attachement points 22, 26 for the second driving unit 18 are guided in order to only produce a linear movement within the track 13 defined by the guiding means 12. In the shown example the upper attachment point 22 is not directly mounted to the transport plate 9 but at a distance above this by means of two support arms 31, whereas the upper attachment point 25 for the first driving unit 17 is arranged in the transport plate and accordingly distanced from the attachment point 22 for the second driving unit. The attachment point 25 constitutes a pivoting axis for the transport plate 9, about which the transport plate can pivot, as will be described in more detail below. The lower attachment point 26 for the second driving unit 18 is arranged at the lever arm 16, by means of which the press plate 10 is pivoted about its pivoting axis 11. The lever arm 16 constitutes more precisely two lever arms placed at each side of the press plate 10. The hopper 1 is detachably mounted at the rear end of the receptacle 2, e.g. by means of flanges 32, 33, which by means of screws and nuts are attached to the corresponding flanges 34, 35 of the refuse receptacle. The function of the combined charging and compressing device in accordance with the invention will be more closely described with reference to the schematic drawings 3 - 10 which show different positions of the device during the working cycle. Fig. 3 shows the device in a starting position in which the charging unit is situated in an upper end position with the press plate directed inwardly against the bottom 36 of the receptacle and more precisely against that edge 32 which is created by the transition area between the bottom 36 of the receptacle and the bottom part 6 of the hopper. In this position the charging device mainly creates a closure of the rear of the receptacle 2, since the transport plate 9 and the press plate 10 together with a partion 27 form a continuous unit. In this starting position the jack 17 is in its most expanded position, so that the charging unit 9, 10, which is movable along the guiding means 12, has its upper guidable means 14 substantially in the upper end of the groove 13. The jack 18 is also in its most expanded position, thereby creating a maximum distance between the attachment points 22, 26 of the jack. In a corresponding manner the attachment points 21, 25 for the jack 17 are kept at a maximum distance. This starting position can constitute a stationary position when the charging and compressing device is not in operation, e.g. during loading of refuse material 43 into the pocket-like space 8, or during transport if the receptacle 2 and the hopper 1 are arranged on a vehicle. Since the charging device effects a closure of the receptacle, the charged material within the receptacle will be kept back. When the charging device is in operation, the position shown in Fig. 3 constitutes only one of the positions which together create a whole working cycle of the charging device. Fig. 4 shows an intermediate position during pivoting of the press plate in a counterclockwise direction, which is effected by the contraction of the jack 18, which makes the lever arm pivot upwards. A pivoting of the press plate 10 about the pivoting axis 11 is hereby effected. The charging unit is still situated in its upper end position, accordingly still with the jack 17 in its most expanded position. Since both of the attachment points 22, 26 of the jack 18 are guided by the groove 13 of the guiding means 12, in order to only make linear movements, a movement of the pivot axis 11 of the press plate 10 in direction towards the groove 13 takes place and therefore also a pivoting movement of the transport plate 9 about the upper attachment point 25 of the jack 17. As a consequence thereof, an insignificant movement of the upper attachment point 22 of the jack 18 and the guidable means 14 take place. By means of its resiliency, the partition 27 follows this pivotal movement and during the whole working cycle substantially contacts the inner surface of the transport plate. In Fig. 5 the end position of the outswinging motion of the press plate 10 is shown, in which position both the press plate 10 as well as the transport plate 9 are directed mainly co-extensively with the groove 13. In conjunction to the termination of the outswinging motion of the press plate 10 in accordance with Fig. 5, the charging unit 9, 10 is effected to be lowered by a movement following the guiding device 12 and more precisely in a direction towards the bottom plate 6 of the hopper, towards the outer part thereof. This lowering movement is shown in an intermediate position in Fig. 6 and is achieved by the contraction of the jack 17, which applies a downwardly directed force onto the upper attachment point 25, directed along the extension of the groove 13. During this lowering motion, the inner surface of the transport plate 9 is allowed to slide against the outer side of the partition 27. Fig. 7 shows the lower end position of the charging unit 9, 10 in which position the front edge 38 of the press plate 10 is situated insignificantly distanced from the concavely rounded wall part 39 of the charging space 8, more precisely adjacent the outer end of the latter, somewhat inside the edge 7 of the charging opening. In connection with the linear downwardly directed movement along the direction of the guiding means 12 reaching its lower end position, the charging device is activated to perform that part of the working cycle which constitutes the real charging and compression movement. This is effected by a clockwise pivoting movement of the lever arm 16 of the press plate 10, whereby the press plate is pivoted clockwise about its pivoting axis 11. This is effected by the expansion of the jack 18 whereby the guidable means 15, which is attached at a lower attachment point 26 of the jack, is moved in a linear way along the groove 13 causing the pivoting axis 11 to perform a movement in a direction away from the groove 13, more precisely a circle shaped movement about the axis 25 of the transport plate. Accordingly, the transport plate also performs a corresponding pivoting movement about its pivoting centre which, when the charging unit is also in its lower most position, is constituted by the upper attachment point 25 of the jack 17. As is evident from the Figs. the charging space 8 of the hopper presents a special form having said bow-shaped curved concave wall part 39 whose radius successively diminishes in a direction towards the bottom of the charging space 8 and thereafter it merges into a mainly plane wall part 40 which extends up to the transition edge 37. This form of the charging space is strongly related to the pivoting movement of the press plate 10, mainly comprising a pivoting movement of the press plate 10 about its pivoting axis during a simultaneous, small movement of the pivoting axis 11 in accordance with that described above. The pivoting movement of the press plate 10 under a first section of the pivoting movement sweeps over a major part of said charging space 8 with its front edge part 38 and, at the same time, a pivoting movement of the transport plate 9 in a direction towards the plane part 40 of the charging space 8 takes place, which provides a substantial pre-compression of the refuse during the pivoting movement within this first section, which mainly is a movement from the position shown in Fig. 7 in a direction towards the plane part 40 to a position shown in Fig. 8. This pre-compressing is highly effective since a major part of the refuse is crushed against the plane wall part 40. A pre-compression is also taking place due to the direct activity of the press plate, since the refuse being closest to the press plate 10 is hindered by the refuse being squeezed between the transport plate 9 and said wall part 40. The latter described movement reaches its completion when it reaches the position as shown in Fig. 9 in which position the transport plate 9 is even more pivoted in a direction towards the wall part 40. At this stage, however, the movement of the pivoting axis 11 in a direction towards the wall part 40 is retarded, causing a diminishing radius for the pivoting movement of the edge part 38, which makes it generally correspond to the distance between the pivoting axis 11 and said edge 38 so that the edge part 38 generally follows the form of the bottom of the charging space 8, being insignificantly distanced therefrom. The pivoting movement of the press plate 10 is terminated when it reaches the position according to Fig. 9, in which the jack 18 terminates its expansion and is kept in its most extended position. During the whole above-described pivoting movement of the press plate 10, the refuse 43 that is put on the bottom of the charging space 8 is brought along, since the edge part 38 is moving closely to the bottom of the charging space and since the press plate together with the transport plate 9 and also the partition 27 forms a closed wall. In connection with the press plate 10 reaching its terminal position as shown in Fig. 9, the jack 17 is activated for the linear movement of the charging unit, i.e. a movement of the press plate and the transport plate upwardly directed along the guiding means 12, during which movement the press plate 10 is kept at its inwardly swung position, generally perpendicular to the extension of the transport plate 9. Thereby the refuse is lifted in an upwardly inclined direction into the refuse receptacle 2 and compressed against the refuse within the receptacle. In the shown example, the angle of inclination of the plane part 40 of the charging space 8 chosen so as to be slightly greater than the angle of inclination of the extension of the guiding means 12 which guides the upwardly inclined movement of the press plate 10. As a consequence, the distance between the edge part 38 of the press plate 10 and the plane part 40 of the charging space 8 increases during the upwardly directed movement of the press plate 10, which has proved to facilitate the movement of the refuse over the transition edge 37. The movement of the edge part 38 is indicated in Fig. 1 by a dash and dotted line. The jack 18 is arranged in such a manner that if the resistance from the refuse exceeds a certain value, the press plate 10 tends to yield which would make it pivot outwardly during the lifting movement. This function reduces the risk of damages due to overloading of the mechanics and hydraulics comprised in the device. A working cycle is terminated when the combined charging and compression device has reached its terminal position at the position shown in Fig. 10, which corresponds to the starting position shown in Fig. 3. Accordingly, a very efficient precompression of the refuse is achieved by the device, which results in an increase of the charging capacity of the receiving receptacle. Thanks to the above described movement of the device, is it possible to have a press plate 10 being comparatively shorter than those used for prior art devices, which results in a higher effective surface pressure against the refuse and leads to an increased compression. Furthermore, the form of the charging space 8 in relation to the total dimensions of the hopper can be formed in a more appropriate way having a large depth which increases the charging capacity, although the dimensions of the press plate are relatively small. The invention is not restricted to the above described nor to the mode of examples showed in the drawings, but can be varied within the scope of the claims. It is for example possible that the guiding means 12 has a non-linear extension so that the lifting and lowering movement of the charging device would be curved. Further, it is possible that said partition 27 is exchanged for a wall which is hingedly connected between the upper part of the hopper and the transport plate 9. In theory it is also possible to exclude the partition 27 and to replace this by some other means, e.g. an upwardly directed extension of the transport plate 9. In principle, it is possible that the driving means could be of any other kind than hydraulic, e.g. pneumatic or electric. Moreover, it is possible to use one single jack instead of the double system which is used for the driving means. As a reason of simplicity there has only been made references to one detail in relation to the Fig. 3 to 10, e.g. a groove 13, the jack 17, 18, the lever arm 16, etc, although all these parts are doubled as has been shown and described with reference to Fig. 2.

Claims: 1. Apparatus for charging solids under compression into a receptacle (2) from a hopper (1), which apparatus comprises a guiding means (12) fixed to the hopper along which a charging unit is reciprocably movable, said charging unit consisting of two plates (9, 10) with one of the plates constituting a transport plate (9) having an upper and a lower end, and the other plate constituting a press plate (10) which is pivotable between an inner and an outer position, said two plates being pivotably connected by a common axis (11) arranged at the lower end of said transport plate (9), and two driving means (17, 18) effecting the movement of the plates, a first of said driving means (17) being pivotably fixed to the hopper at one end (21) and arranged to achieve said movements of the charging unit between an upper and a lower end position along said guiding means, said second driving means (18) being arranged to effect an outwardly pivoting movement of the press plate when the charging unit is in its upper end position and an inwardly directed pivoting movement of the press plate towards the receptacle when the charging unit is in its lower end position, the upper end of the transport plate being guided by said guiding means and the press plate being guided by the guiding means via a lever arm (16) forming a partial extension of said press plate, characterized in that said first driving means (17) is attached at its other end to the upper end of said transport plate (9) at a point which forms a pivoting centre (25) for the transport plate (9), thereby securing said upper end of the transport plate against movement along said guiding means during a substantial part of the pivoting movement of the press plate (10) and achieving a simultaneous pivoting movement also of the transport plate (9) towards the receptacle. 2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the guiding means (12) extends generally rectilinearly, being inclined in relation to the vertical axis and that said lever arm (16) is guided by the guiding means (12) by means of a guidable means (15) which is arranged so as to move along the guiding means during the pivoting movement of the press plate (10), whereby the pivoting centre (11) of the press plate (10) is caused to move in a direction towards and away from the guiding means respectively. 3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that the first driving means (17) is constituted by at least one jack. 4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 characterized in that the bottom part (6) of the hopper (1) presents a curved concave form which curvature successively increases towards the bottom and which thereafter decreases in a direction towards the receptacle where it finally merges to constitute a wall part (40) which substantially has the same inclination as the guiding means (12). 5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4 characterized in that said wall part (40) has a somewhat larger inclination in relation to the vertical axis than the guiding means, whereby the distance between said wall part and the press plate increases during the reciprocal movement of the press plate in a direction from the lower end position towards the upper end position.

Inventors: DAHLIN, INGEMAR
Applicants: NORBA AB
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65F3
IPC codes: B65F3