Abstract:
The present invention provides an improved system and method for on-site document shredding, through the use of a self-contained roll-off compactor including a high-volume shredder. This self-contained roll-off shredding compactor permits users to collect, shred, compact and temporarily store the shredded confidential documents, using their own personnel in a cost-effective manner. A waste management service provider periodically picks up, transports and empties the roll-off shredding compactors. In a preferred embodiment, the roll-off shredding compactor is owned by the waste management service provider and leased to the user.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to self-contained roll-off waste compaction systems. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    With the increasing incidence of identity theft and other misuse of private or proprietary information, the desirability and necessity of protecting such information is becoming increasingly important. In recent years, laws have been passed in various jurisdictions regulating the use and protection by businesses, health care providers, and other entities, of sensitive or private information on customers, patients, and the like. At the federal level in the United States, the HIPAA and Gramm-Leach-Bliley laws require specific measures, such as document shredding, in order to comply with the laws&#39; provisions for protecting certain designated types of information. 
         [0003]    Discarding sensitive documents in an unshredded state is risky, because identity thieves, investigative journalists, and other unscrupulous individuals often engage in “dumpster diving” to retrieve documents from trash dumpsters or garbage cans. Accordingly, the demand for document shredding has surged. For entities having a small amount of documents requiring shredding, personal-sized shredders that are purchased or leased may be adequate. However, for many businesses and other organizations, the large volume of documents and other materials to be shredded makes such an approach impractical. Accordingly, document-shredding service providers have arisen to meet the increasing demand for large-volume shredding. 
         [0004]    In the early history of document-shredding services, typically the documents to be shredded were picked up by the service provider and transported to a central facility for shredding. This form of shredding service is still prevalent today. Central document shredding certainly can accomplish its intended purpose, if carried out properly. The drawbacks to central shredding include the necessity of strictly safeguarding the documents against theft or unauthorized access throughout the entire chain of custody from the time the documents are picked up from the customer to the time they are shredded, the necessity of properly documenting the chain of custody and the measures taken to safeguard the documents, and the fact that the users cannot independently verify that the documents were in fact shredded. This latter factor can give rise to a general sense of unease among some users of central shredding services. 
         [0005]    Consequently, there is now a trend toward on-site document shredding using mobile shredders. A mobile shredder generally consists of a truck having a shredder mounted therein, and a storage volume for storing the shredded material. Typically, the users place the materials to be shredded in bins or “toters” that usually have wheels for rolling the bins to a location for pickup, such as a curbside location on a street. Mobile shredders typically have some type of bin lift and dump unit, such as those commonly employed on garbage collection trucks, for lifting the bins and emptying them into the shredder. Mobile shredding, however, also has certain drawbacks, including high labor costs, frequent pickups, high fuel costs, high truck maintenance costs, and security issues arising from delays in shredding confidential documents. 
         [0006]    What is needed, therefore, is an efficient, low-cost alternative to the industry-standard techniques of central-facility shredding and mobile on-site document shredding. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The present invention provides an improved system and method for on-site document shredding, through the use of a self-contained roll-off compactor including a high-volume shredder. This self-contained roll-off shredding compactor permits users to collect, shred, compact and temporarily store the shredded confidential documents, using their own personnel in a cost-effective manner. A waste management service provider periodically picks up, transports and empties the roll-off shredding compactors. In a preferred embodiment, the roll-off shredding compactor is owned by the waste management service provider and leased to the user. 
         [0008]    Thus, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, there is provided a roll-off shredding compactor suitable for transport by a transport vehicle, comprising: a roll-off base having at least one wheel; a compaction unit mounted on the roll-off base, including a compaction chamber having an upper opening for receiving waste and a horizontal opening for ejecting compacted waste; a waste storage compartment mounted on the roll-off base and having a horizontal opening for receiving compacted waste ejected from the compaction chamber; and a shredder unit connected to the compaction unit such that shredded waste passes through the upper opening of the compaction unit into the compaction chamber. 
         [0009]    In another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of operating a self-contained roll-off shredding compactor having a roll-off base, a shredding unit including a shredder motor, a compaction unit having a hydraulic ram and including a compaction chamber, and a waste storage compartment. The method comprises the steps of: activating the shredder motor in the shredder unit, such that waste that is inserted into the shredder unit is shredded by the shredder unit and deposited into the compaction chamber; deactivating the shredder motor; and cycling the hydraulic ram in the compaction unit to compact the shredded waste and eject the compacted waste into the waste storage compartment. 
         [0010]    In yet another embodiment of the invention, there is provided a method of providing document destruction services to a user having confidential documents to be destroyed. The method comprises: (a) leasing a roll-off shredding compactor to the userentity; (b) delivering the roll-off shredding compactor to a site designated by the entityuser; and (c) periodically picking up the roll-off shredding compactor at the designated site, emptying its contents, and returning it to the designated site 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a side elevational view of a roll-off shredding compactor in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is a left-end elevational view of the roll-off shredding compactor illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of a roll-off shredding compactor having an integral bin-lift-and-tip mechanism in accordance with another embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of a roll-off shredding compactor in accordance with still another embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a left-end elevational view of the roll-off shredding compactor illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0017]    The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0018]    A roll-off shredding compactor  100  in accordance with one embodiment of the invention is depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 .  FIG. 1  depicts a side elevational view, and  FIG. 2  depicts a left-end elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The roll-off shredding compactor  100  comprises a roll-off base  2  including at least one roll-off wheel  4 , a compaction unit  16  mounted on the roll-off base  2 , a waste storage compartment  34  mounted on the roll-off base  2 , and a shredder unit  18 . Although roll-off base  2  is described conceptually as a separate component, compaction unit  16  and waste storage compartment  34  may be manufactured as an integral unit. In this case, roll-off base  2  should be construed to include the bottom side of the integral unit including compaction unit  16  and waste storage compartment  34 . 
         [0019]    The compaction unit  16  includes a compaction chamber  6  having an upper opening for receiving waste and a side opening for ejecting compacted waste. Waste storage compartment  34  has a corresponding side opening for receiving compacted waste ejected from the compaction chamber  6  and at least one door  36  for discharging the compacted material. The shredder unit  18  is connected to the compaction unit such that shredded waste passes through the upper opening of the compaction unit into the compaction chamber. 
         [0020]    Shredder unit  18  may include a hopper  22  for receiving and directing waste material into the shredder unit  18 . Hopper  22  may be provided with one or more panels  28  to allow access to the top of shredder unit  18  for maintenance purposes. The upper front face and top face of hopper  22  are open to front and to above, respectively, and a lip  24  is provided, upon which a waste container may be rested and tipped into hopper  22 . A hopper cover  32  may also be provided to restrict access to the hopper  22  and to the shredder unit  18  when the shredding compactor is not in use. Shredder unit  18  may also include a means for opening and closing the hopper cover, which may include a manual chain or rod-based opening assembly (not shown), or more preferably, a hydraulic or electric actuator  30  or a rotary hydraulic or electric motor (not shown). 
         [0021]    The compaction unit  16  preferably includes a horizontally-acting hydraulic piston  12  and compaction platen  8  to compact waste within the compaction chamber and to eject the waste into the waste storage compartment  34 . Other piston and platen assemblies may be employed. The platen  8  is movable between a storage position (shown in  FIG. 1 ) and an operating position. In the storage position, the platen  8  is disposed rearward of the upper opening of compaction chamber  6 , such that the front face of platen  8  and the side walls of the compaction unit  16  form the compaction chamber  6 . Once the hydraulic piston  12  is actuated, the platen  8  advances toward the waste storage compartment  34 , thereby directing the waste material in the compaction chamber  6  into the waste storage compartment  34 . Compaction unit  16  is preferably capable of providing a total normal force of about 40,000 pounds and a total maximum force of about 50,000 pounds. 
         [0022]    The shredder unit  18  is preferably a high-capacity single-shaft rotary shredder having a rotor with rigid cutters and a stationary counter-knife, such as those described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2004/0118958A1 and in European Patent EP 419 919 B1, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The rotary shredder receives material to be shredded, shreds the material into small flake-like pieces, and passes the shredded material through a screen (not shown) into the compaction chamber  6  for compaction into waste storage compartment  34 . The screen has apertures suitably sized to regulate the size of the pieces of shredded material. Shredder unit  18  may be electrically powered or hydraulically powered by shredder drive  20 . High-capacity single-shaft rotary shredders and shredder drives suitable for use in the invention are commercially available. For example, shredder unit  18  may be a 25-horsepower shredder, model no. ST-25, available from Shred-Tech, located in Cambridge, Ontario. 
         [0023]    The roll-off shredding compactor  100  may further include a pull-out bar connected to the waste storage compartment for receiving a hook of a winch of the transport vehicle, so that the roll-off shredding compactor can be rolled onto the transport vehicle. 
         [0024]    A stand-alone bin lift and dump unit  26  may also be provided. Bin lift and dump unit  26  may be any mechanism adapted to receive a waste bin at ground level or at the level of a loading dock, raise the waste bin up to hopper  22 , and tip the waste bin so that its contents fall into hopper  22 . Suitable bin lift and dump units are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and are commercially available, e.g., from Shred-Tech. 
         [0025]    Hydraulic power for the compaction unit  16 , shredder drive  20 , the hopper cover actuator  30 , and the bin lift and dump unit  26  is preferably provided by a remote hydraulic power unit (not shown) connected to hydraulic terminals  10 . The remote hydraulic power unit is preferably sized to accommodate simultaneous operation of the shredder drive  20  and the bin lift and dump unit  26 . Suitable remote hydraulic power units are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and are commercially available. 
         [0026]    Control panel  14  may be provided to control the operation of the roll-off shredding compactor and the bin lift and dump unit  26 . Separate controls may be provided for each of the compaction unit  16 , the shredder unit  18 , hopper cover actuator  30 , and the bin lift and dump unit  26 . In a preferred embodiment, however, control panel  14  includes a master start control and a master stop control. Activating the master start control may initiate a complete shredding and compacting sequence, which may include: (1) automatically opening the hopper cover  32 , e.g., by actuating hopper cover actuator  30 ; (2) activating the shredder motor  20  in shredder unit  18 ; (3) cycling the bin lift and dump unit  26  to empty waste in the waste bin into hopper  22 , whereupon the waste is shredded by shredder unit  18  and deposited into the compaction chamber  6 ; (4) cycling the hydraulic ram  12  in compaction unit  16  to compact the shredded waste and eject the compacted waste into waste storage compartment  34 ; and (5) deactivating shredder motor  20  and automatically closing the hopper cover  32 , e.g., by retracting hopper cover actuator  30 . In a further embodiment, the control panel may be configured, upon activating the master start control, to activate the bin lift and dump unit  26  a predetermined plurality of times (i.e., for a predetermined number of waste bins), before proceeding to activate the hydraulic ram  12  in compaction unit  16 . Control panel  14  may be implemented in electronic or hydraulic form in accordance with known techniques. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  illustrates a roll-off shredding compactor  300  incorporating an integral bin lift and dump unit in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention. The integral bin lift and dump unit depicted in  FIG. 3  comprises at least one lift actuator  38 , at least one shield member  40 , at least one force translation member  44 , an axle  46 , and at least one bin engaging member  48  adapted to engage a waste bin  50 . Lift actuator  38  is connected to the force translation member  44  at a point  42  radially offset from axle  46 , and force translation member  44  is connected to axle  46 . Finally, bin engaging member  48  is also connected to axle  46 , at a point along axle  46  such that waste bin  50  is properly aligned with hopper  22 . 
         [0028]    When lift actuator  38  is actuated, force translation member  44  causes axle  46  to rotate, which in turn causes bin engaging member  48  and waste bin  50  to rotate around the center of axle  46 . In this matter, waste bin  50  is lifted from a first position at ground level to a second position at the intake opening of hopper  22 , such that waste in waste bin  50  is discharged into hopper  22 . Shield member  40  serves to protect a user&#39;s hands from coming into contact with moving parts during operation. In a preferred embodiment, an lift actuator  38  and a force translation member  44  are provided on each side of roll-off shredding compactor  300 , and a bin engaging member  48  is provided on each side of the waste bin  50 . It should also be understood that other types and configurations of integral bin lift and dump units are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and may be used in roll-off shredding compactor  300 . 
         [0029]    In  FIGS. 4 and 5 , another roll-off shredding compactor  400  in accordance with a further embodiment of the invention is depicted.  FIG. 4  depicts a side-elevational view, and  FIG. 5  depicts a left-end elevational view of the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 . Like roll-off shredding compactor  100  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , roll-off shredding compactor  400  in  FIGS. 4 and 5  comprises a roll-off base  2  including two or more roll-off wheels  4 , a compaction unit  16  mounted on the roll-off base  2 , a waste storage compartment  34  mounted on the roll-off base  2 , and a shredder unit  18 . The compaction unit  16  includes a compaction chamber  6  having an upper opening for receiving waste and a side opening for ejecting compacted waste. Waste storage compartment  34  has a corresponding side opening for receiving compacted waste ejected from the compaction chamber  6 . The shredder unit  18  is connected to the compaction unit such that shredded waste passes through the upper opening of the compaction unit into the compaction chamber. 
         [0030]    In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , however, the shredder unit  18  and motor  20  are positioned within the enclosure for the compaction unit  16 , and a doghouse  56 , rather than a hopper, is positioned over the shredder unit  18 . Doghouse  56  includes access doors  54 ,  58 , which, when opened, serve as a positioning guide to align waste bin  50  with shredder unit  18  and to guide waste from the waste bin  50  into shredder unit  18 . The access doors  54 ,  58  may be mounted on the doghouse via hinges  62  and  64  shown in  FIG. 5 . Lock  60  may also be provided to secure access doors  54 ,  58 . Additional access doors (not shown) may also be provided in the enclosure for compaction unit  16  to allow maintenance access to shredder unit  18  and shredder motor  20 . Further, ladder steps  52  may be provided on the side of compaction unit  16  to enable easier access to the interior of doghouse  56  and to the top of shredder unit  18 . Roll-off shredding compactor  400  may further include a stand-alone or integral bin lift and dump unit as described above with reference to  FIGS. 1 and 3 . 
         [0031]    In a further embodiment, the invention is a method of providing document destruction services to a user (which may include a person or a company) having confidential documents to be destroyed. The method comprises: (1) leasing a roll-off shredding compactor to the user; (2) delivering the roll-off shredding compactor to a site designated by the user; and (3) periodically picking up the roll-off shredding compactor at the designated site, emptying its contents, and returning it (or another roll-off shredding compactor) to the designated site. In a preferred embodiment, the roll-off shredding compactor may include an integral bin lift and dump unit. Alternatively, the method may include selling or leasing a stand-alone bin lift and dump unit to the entity for use with the roll-off shredding compactor. 
         [0032]    Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.