Abstract:
A plastic bottle compacting device is disclosed that provides for reducing the size of an empty plastic bottle by folding the empty bottle around itself. The plastic bottle compacting device can be mounted on a wall, cabinet table or desk to hold the device in position while it is being used. After the bottle is folded, a band, tape or strap is wrapped around the compacted bottle to maintain the compacted shape of the bottle. The apparatus includes holding pins to hold the empty bottle in a vertical or horizontal relationship and a rotating arm that folds the empty bottle upon itself. In another embodiment an empty bottle is placed in the holding pins and manually wrapped into a cylinder around the holding pins. After the bottle is crushed it is withdrawn from the holder wrapped and stored in a recycling container for reclaiming.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to a plastic bottle crusher. More particularly, the present invention relates to a crusher for plastic bottles where the crushing in performed by rotating the plastic bottle around its vertical length. After the bottle is crushed a band or tape may be placed around the bottle to maintain the bottle in a crushed orientation. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The need to recycle products such as paper, metals, plastics and glass continues to be a priority. Most states place a recycling fee on these materials to ensure that they are recycled instead of being thrown away with other trash. One problem with recycling materials is the volume of air that is inside an empty container. A number of patents have been issued that address compressing or shredding plastic container to reduce the amount of air that is inside the plastic container. 
         [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,946 issued to Laux on Sep. 12, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,638,957 issued May 19, 1953 to Danielson both disclose a bottle compacting apparatus. These patents disclose a rack and pinion mechanism that compacts the bottle along the length of the bottle. While these patents disclose a compacting mechanism, the mechanism does not compact the bottle by rotating the bottle around itself and the apparatus is large in size requiring a significant amount of space for using the device. The devices further are not intended for mounting on a wall to keep them out of the way and also ready to use. 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,498 issued to Hochanadel on Jan. 27, 1976 discloses a compacter for compacting objects such as cans and the like. This patent discloses a device that rotates cans and other objects, such as plastic bottles, along their elongated axis. This causes the walls of the can or bottle to collapse and the can is be twisted down upon itself. While this patent discloses a compacting mechanism, the mechanism does not compact the bottle by rotating the bottle around itself and the apparatus is large in size requiring a significant amount of space for using the device. The device is further not intended for mounting on a wall and requires electricity to power the rotating mechanism. 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,057 issued to Ellis, III on Apr. 7, 1992, discloses an automatic plastic crusher apparatus. This patent discloses an apparatus with powered twisting drums. When a plastic bottle comes in contact with the conical drums the bottle is twisted around its elongated vertical axis and is spun into a narrower elongated shape. 
         [0006]    What is needed is a plastic bottle crusher that rotates the bottle around it length to wrap the bottle onto itself. The ideal apparatus would be simple to operate and be mountable on a table, cabinet or wall. The apparatus would further utilize a banding, taping or wrapping mechanism that keeps the bottles in a wound configuration to reduce the amount of storage space that is needed for the empty bottles. The proposed apparatus provides this solution with a wall, cabinet or table mountable device that wraps an empty bottle upon itself and it can further be maintained in the wrapped shape with a band, tape or other similar restraining mechanism. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    It is an object of the plastic bottle folding compacter to provide a plastic bottle compacter that folds or rotates a plastic bottle around its length. This allows the bottle to be compacted, turning the bottle into approximately the shape of a small cylinder. This shape reduces the overall volume of the bottle to less than one fourth of its empty volume. The air from inside the bottle is pushed out of the empty bottle as it is folded. 
         [0008]    It is an object of the plastic bottle folding compacter to allow the compacter to be mounted on a wall, cabinet or table. Mounting the compacter on a wall allows the compacter to be within easy reach and does not use counter space. Mounting the compacter on a counter or table is ideal when it is difficult to ensure that the wall mounting location is sufficiently secure to not damage the wall or pull the compacter out of the wall when it is being used. 
         [0009]    It is another object of the plastic bottle folding compacter to provide a compacter that does not require electricity for operation. Since the compacter does not require electricity it can be located and operated in nearly any location including a park setting where people are likely to discard an empty bottle. 
         [0010]    It is another object of the compacter to provide bands, tape or other wrapping agents that ensure that the folded bottle will maintain a compacted orientation after it has been folded. The band, or tape keeps the bottle in a tight cylinder ensuring that the small size is maintained after the bottle is stored for recycling. The smaller size further allows for the storage of a greater number of bottles prior to taking the bottles for recycling. 
         [0011]    It is still another object of the plastic bottle folding compacter to provide the compacter with a rotatable arm where the user articulates the arm to fold the bottle into itself. The handle can rotate the bottle onto itself, or the handle can rotate the bottle around a mandrel to rotate the bottle onto itself. The end of the handle has a free rotating spindle to allow the spindle to rotate. In another embodiment the arm is eliminated and the operator can place an empty bottle into the holder and manually rotate the empty bottle into itself. 
         [0012]    Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. 
     
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  shows a top view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 1  with a bottle installed in the crusher. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3A  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 3  with the bottle in the initial stages of being crushed. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3B  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 3  with the bottle nearly completely crushed. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4  shows a second alternate embodiment of the plastic bottle crusher shown with the bottle placed inside the bottle crusher. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5  shows a top view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 4 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  shows a third alternate embodiment of the plastic bottle crusher shown with a bottle placed inside the bottle crusher and a wrapping dispenser. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]      FIG. 1  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher. In this embodiment of the plastic bottle crusher  10 , a mounting base  20  supports the mechanism. The base is essentially a flat member that is fabricated in a square, rectangular, round, oblong or elliptical in shape. The mounting base  20  is attached to a substantially flat surface such as a wall, table, cabinet or desk. Screws or other similar fasteners  70  and  71  pass through the mechanism and secure the mechanism to the wall, cabinet or table. In another contemplated method of fastening the mechanism a clamp secures the mechanism to a table, desk or other surface. The device is secured to prevent rotational movement of the device when a plastic bottle is being folded or crushed. The handle  30  is rotationally mounted to the base with a rotational coupling  90  that allows the handle to turn around the rotational coupling on the mounting base  20 . While a variety of bushings, bearings or other low frictional couplings are contemplated, working units have been fabricated where no bearing is incorporated and the base and handle are constructed from similar materials. 
         [0022]    In the prototypes that have been fabricated the material used in a metal such as aluminum, but other materials are contemplated including but not limited to ferrous metals, brass, copper stainless steel as well as having the parts molded and assembled into the mechanism. Some contemplated plastic materials provide both the structural strength and the lubricity to allow the mechanism to be molded or machined from the a common material. The end of the handle  30  has a cylindrical sleeve that rotates when the handle is being turned around on the base  20 . The cylindrical sleeve  40  makes rotational operation of the mechanism easier, but the rotational cylindrical sleeve or spindle  40  is not a necessary component to make the mechanism crush plastic bottles. A plastic bottle is placed into the mechanism, the plastic bottle is frictionally interference fit between two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51  that are securely mounted onto the handle mechanism  30 . When the handle  30  is being turned these pegs  50  and  51  rotate the bottle where it makes contact with peg  60  that is attached to the mounting base  20 . The pegs hold the bottle in the area below the top and above the body of the bottle. This location is generally the same universal size and shape regardless of the volume of fluid contained in the bottle. As the handle is further rotated the bottle is folded and crushed by the peg  60 . While it is preferred that a single round crushing peg  60  is used, it is contemplated that more than one peg can be utilized as well as using a peg that is square, rectangular, elliptical or other shaped. The folding and crushing operation is shown and described in more detail in  FIGS. 3 ,  3 A and  3 B. 
         [0023]      FIG. 2  shows a top view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 1 . The base  20  of the plastic bottle crusher is shown secured to a wall  80  or other essentially flat structure. Placement of the plastic bottle crusher on a wall is ideal because it provides a secure solid mounting surface. Locating the mechanism on a vertical wall also provides the benefit of placing the mechanism in a location where it is out of the way but also available when needed. The handle  30  is shown adjacent to the mounting base where it is rotationally secured to the base with a bearing  90 . As previously disclosed various types of bushings or bearings are contemplated, but operational prototypes have been fabricated without the use of a bearing, while still providing the rotational coupling function. At the end of the handle a cylindrical sleeve or spindle  40  makes rotational operation of the mechanism easier, but the rotational cylindrical sleeve  40  is not a necessary component to make the mechanism crush plastic bottles. The two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51  are shown mounted onto the handle mechanism  30 . The crushing peg  60  is shown mounted to the base  20 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 1  with a bottle installed in the crusher. The plastic bottle  100  is being held in the mechanism with frictional interference fit between two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51 . While the preferred embodiment is to hold the bottle with two round pegs, it is contemplated that more than two pegs can be utilized as well as the used of square, rectangular, elliptical or other shaped pegs can be utilized. The bottle is shown in an empty configuration with the cap removed. While the mechanism could be used with a bottle having some amount of fluid inside, as well as with the cap installed, the presence of fluid and or a cap will increase the amount of force required to crush the bottle because the pressure within the bottle would resist the crushing operation. Because of the aforementioned reason the preferred method of utilizing the mechanism is with an empty container. 
         [0025]    Under normal operation of the mechanism the cap is removed from the bottle prior to inserting the bottle into the mechanism and commencing the crushing operation. With the bottle installed within the mechanism the handle  30  is rotated in the direction of the arrow  110 . While in this example the rotational direction is shown as clockwise, the mechanism could be rotated counter-clockwise resulting in a similarly crushed bottle. The base  20  holds the mechanism securely to a wall, cabinet, desk or table while the handle  30  is being rotated on the center pivot  90 . The gripper end  40  is shown where a person holds the end of the handle  30  as they crush the bottle. The crushing peg  60  is shown mounted to the base  20 . As the handle is rotated in the mechanism, the bottle turns until the bottle makes contact with the crushing peg  60 . This is shown and further described in  FIGS. 3A and 3B . 
         [0026]      FIG. 3A  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 3  with the bottle in the initial stages of being crushed. The mounting base  20  in this figure is shown in the same orientation as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 . The handle is shown rotated further clockwise  110  and one side of the bottle  100  is making contact with the crushing peg  60 . The bottle is still shown secured between retaining pegs  50  and  51 . The gripper end  40  is shown where a person holds the end of the handle  30  as they crush the bottle. In this figure little or no deformation in the shape of the bottle is shown, but as the bottle is rotated further clockwise  110  with the handle  30  the crushing peg  60  folds the bottle onto itself. This folding is shown and described in more detail in  FIG. 3B . 
         [0027]      FIG. 3B  shows a front view of the plastic bottle crusher from  FIG. 3  with the bottle nearly completely crushed. The handle  30  is shown rotated about 270 degrees from the position shown in  FIG. 3A . The mounting base  20  in this figure is shown in the same orientation as shown in  FIGS. 1-3  and  3 A. The gripper end  40  is shown where a person holds the end of the handle  30  as they crush the bottle. The bottle is still shown secured between retaining pegs  50  and  51  but the shape of the bottle is significantly compromise to a condition where the bottle is essentially folded upon itself. The crushing peg  60  is still shown in contact with a portion of the bottle  100 . The handle  100  can be further rotated  110  until the end of the bottle passes past the crushing peg  60  and the bottle is removed from the mechanism where it exists in a condition significantly smaller in volume from its initial size. 
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows a second alternate embodiment of the plastic bottle crusher shown with the bottle placed inside the bottle crusher. The mounting base  20  is attached to a substantially flat surface such as a wall, cabinet, table or desk. Screws or other similar fasteners  70  and  71  pass through the mechanism and secure the mechanism to the wall, cabinet or table. In this embodiment, the bottle  100  is held in position in the mechanism  10  with a frictionally interference fit between the two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51 . The bottle wrapping member  62  incorporates a tape dispenser showing a roll of tape  140  mounted onto the handle  30 . The tip of the bottle wrapper  62  is curved to slide over the side wall of the bottle as it is being wrapped. The handle rotates the wrapping member  62  around the fixed bottle  100  and essentially wraps the bottle around itself when the handle is turned  110  clockwise. The handle  30  could also be rotated counter-clockwise resulting in a similarly crushed bottle. The handle  30  is rotationally mounted to the base with a rotational coupling  90  that allows the handle to turn around the coupling on the mounting base  20 . While a variety of bushings, bearings or other low frictional couplings are contemplated, working units have been fabricated where no bearing is incorporated and the base and handle are constructed from similar materials. After the bottle has been wrapped, tape  145  from the tape dispenser is removed from the dispenser and wrapped around the bottle to keep the bottle in a tightly wrapped configuration. 
         [0029]      FIG. 5  shows a top view of the plastic bottle crusher  10  from  FIG. 4 . The base  20  of the plastic bottle crusher is shown secured to a wall  80  or other essentially flat structure. The handle  30  is shown adjacent to the mounting base where it is rotationally secured to the base. At the end of the handle a cylindrical sleeve or spindle  40  makes rotational operation of the mechanism easier. The two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51  are shown mounted onto the base mechanism  20  that extends through the handle  30 . A bottle  100  is shown retained between the two retaining pegs  50  and  51 . The crushing member  62 , tape roll  140  and the strip of tape  145  extending from the roll is shown mounted to the handle  30 . 
         [0030]      FIG. 6  shows a third alternate embodiment of the plastic bottle crusher shown with a bottle placed inside the bottle crusher and a wrapping dispenser  10 . This is the simplest embodiment contemplated where the mechanism has no moving parts. The mounting base  20  is attached to a substantially flat surface such as a wall, cabinet, table or desk. Screws or other similar fasteners  70  and  71  pass through the mechanism and secure the mechanism to the wall, cabinet or table. In another contemplated method of fastening the mechanism a clamp secures the mechanism to a table desk or other surface. The device is secured to prevent rotational movement of the device when a plastic bottle is being folded or crushed. A plastic bottle is placed into the mechanism, the plastic bottle is frictionally interference fit between two bottle holding pegs  50  and  51  that are securely mounted to the mounting base  20 . In this embodiment shown the pegs place the bottle in a horizontal orientation, but vertical as well as other orientations are contemplated. In operation the bottle is place into the mechanism and the bottle is manually rotated either clockwise or counter clockwise, twisting the bottle around the holding pegs  50  and  51  until the bottle is folded into a smaller size. A peg  120  holds wrapping bands, tape or material  130 . This material is dispensed from the holder, is placed around the crushed bottle, and the bottle is stored for recycling. Other dispensers are contemplated including but not limited to tape, bands, ribbon or wire. 
         [0031]    The size and shape of the bottle can be from a 12 ounce or smaller sized drinking bottle to 2 liter or larger sized bottle. Regardless of the size of the bottle being crushed or folded, the mechanism can be appropriately sized to accommodate the bottle. 
         [0032]    Thus, specific embodiments of a plastic bottle crusher have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.