Abstract:
The present invention provides an effective compactor apparatus and method for crushing empty recyclable containers. The compactor has a housing for containing the container to be crushed with a plunger that is able to be moved downwardly and rotated within the housing. The combined downward and rotational movement serves to achieve a maximally compressed container. The compressed container is ejected from the housing by further extension of the plunger.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of compactors for crushing recyclable containers, and more particularly to such compactors that are manually actuated. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Recycling conserves resources and also conserves space, particularly landfill space. Containers for liquids are primary examples of items for which recycling is logical. A container, when empty, takes up space without performing a function. By keeping a container from a landfill, the useful life of the landfill is extended and surrounding land does not have to be acquired for this purpose. By recycling a container, the material of which it is made can be used again, rather than making more of the same material from a diminishing supply of natural resources. 
     However, containers, in their full size, require space to store and vehicle space to transport. Thus, reducing the volume by crushing minimizes the space requirement to a more manageable amount. Even for non-recylcable containers, reduction of size is beneficial to reduce the space needed for garbage handling and in landfills. 
     Numerous devices have been developed for the purpose of crushing containers for recycling. Some examples are as follows: 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,519 to Sabino describes a Vertical Can Crusher. This patent involves placing a recyclable container into a receptacle and forcing a ram down onto the container by means of a lever handle. To remove the crushed container from the device, the receptacle is moved out of its crushing position and the crushed can is pushed out of the receptacle. 
     U.S. Pat. No. Des. 266,566 issued to Schmid for an Aluminum Can Cruncher. This design patent depicts a device having a ram that is positioned over an anvil and a lever arm for actuating the ram. The ram has a disk attached to its lower end that is formed with a rim in a lower surface thereof that is intended to engage the upper rim of a can being crushed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention involves a method and apparatus having a housing and a plunger and the apparatus being adapted for compacting empty containers, particularly large soft drink containers. The housing is formed having a circular cylindrical bottom portion, a conical transition portion, and a circular cylindrical top portion. The bottom portion is larger in diameter than the top portion. The bottom end of the bottom portion cylinder is open. The plunger has a shaft extending between a conical shoe on its bottom and a handle on its top. The shaft fits slidingly into the top portion of the housing with the handle above and the shoe within the cylinder. The apparatus is placed for use with the housing surrounding a container to be compacted, and with the shoe resting on the upper end of the container. The user presses down while rotating the handle so that the container is compressed and twisted simultaneously, minimizing the space it ultimately occupies. The apparatus is lifted and the handle pushed farther to discharge the compressed container. The compactor is sized to compress containers from a 12 ounce soft drink can to large bottles of up to three liters in capacity. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In order for the invention to become more clearly understood it will be disclosed in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of the compactor of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is front elevation view of the compactor of FIG. 1 with a plastic beverage container positioned within for being crushed. 
     FIG. 3 is the view of FIG. 2 after the plastic container has been crushed. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, compactor  10  comprises a combination of two main components, housing  12  and plunger  26 . Housing  12  includes neck portion  16  which is substantially tubular with an internal bore, transition portion  18  which is substantially conical with its narrow, upper end contiguous with the bottom of neck portion  16 , and body portion  20  which is substantially cylindrical, with its upper end contiguous with the wide, lower end of transition portion  18 . Each of the portions making up housing  12  is circular in any cross section in a horizontal plane. The bottom end of body portion  20  is open in the preferred embodiment and rests on supporting surface S when compactor  10  is being used to crush a container. Neck portion  16 , transition portion  18 , and body portion  20  are all substantially coaxial. 
     Continuing with FIG. 1, plunger  26  comprises shoe  34  which is substantially conical with an open bottom, shaft  30  which is substantially tubular, the lower end of which is contiguous with the narrow top of shoe  34 , and handle  28  which is connected to the upper end of shaft  30 . Shoe  34  is formed, in the preferred embodiment, with included angle ∝ of about 90°. Handle  28  is of any convenient cross sectional shape, and is circularly tubular in the preferred embodiment. Shaft  30  and shoe  34  are substantially coaxial. The conical internal configuration of shoe  34  is adapted for firmly engaging the top of the cylindrical wall of container C. The invention further recognizes that other shapes for shoe  34 , e.g., partial-spherical, pyramidal, etc. could be used. 
     The inside diameter D of neck portion  16  is slightly greater than the outside diameter d of shaft  30  so that shaft  30  slides and rotates freely within neck portion  16 . The length L of neck portion  16  is sufficiently long to keep shaft  30  substantially coaxial with housing  20 . The inside diameter D′ of body portion  20  is slightly greater than the outside diameter d′ of shoe  34  so that shoe  34  will not bind when plunger  26  is moved vertically or rotated with respect to housing  12 . 
     The height H, representing the distance from the juncture between shoe  34  and shaft  30  and supporting surface S when plunger  26  is fully raised, is sufficient to accommodate a recyclable beverage container, e.g., a two liter soft drink bottle, when within housing  12 . 
     The above described components comprising compactor  10  are, in the preferred embodiment, formed of substantially rigid plastics resin such as polyvinyl chloride. The components described may be formed by the process of injection molding, although it is recognized that handle  28  will preferably be assembled subsequent to shaft  30  being inserted through neck  16  of housing  12 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, compactor  10  is illustrated in front elevation view with an empty beverage container C positioned standing coaxially therewithin. Container C portrayed in FIG. 2 is, for example, a three liter soft drink plastic bottle. For reasons of drawing clarity, internal wall lines are omitted. As housing  12  rests on surface S, the upper part of container C is enclosed within shoe  34  of plunger  26 . Plunger  26  is in its uppermost position. 
     To compress container C, the user presses downwardly on handle  28 , causing shoe  34  of plunger  26  to move down into housing  12 . As the user presses down on handle  28 , the user also causes handle  28  to rotate, for example in the direction of arrow A (seen in FIG.  3 ), so as to cause container C to collapse. By applying a rotating motion as plunger  26  is pressed down, the pattern of collapse of container C enables a more effective and complete compression than can be obtained with a straight downward push. In the case of larger diameter containers, crushed container C′ will generally push against the inner wall of body portion  20 . The user then lifts compactor  10  off surface S to remove crushed container C′ therefrom. If crushed container C′ is stuck in body portion  20 , the user presses plunger  26  farther to eject compressed container C′ out of housing  12 . Shaft  30  is long enough to push shoe  34  to the end of body portion  20 . The resultant crushed container C′ can then be stored in substantially less space than a non-compressed container. 
     Compactor  10  may also be utilized to crush smaller containers, including 12-ounce beverage cans. A smaller container would be positioned within body portion  20  and beneath shoe  34 . Because smaller containers are typically smaller in diameter as well as height, such smaller containers must be positioned near the center of housing  20  so that conical shoe  34  will uniformly contact the top surface of the container being crushed. 
     The above detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention sets forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor for carrying out the invention at the time of filing this application and is provided by way of example and not as a limitation. Accordingly, various modifications and variations which may be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to which it pertains are deemed to lie within the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth in the following claims.