Patent ID: 7980173

Claim:
A hydraulic compactor system comprising a movable container adapted to be moved by a truck and defining a chamber for receiving waste material to be compacted, a ram within said chamber and movable between a retracted position and an extended position, a double acting hydraulic cylinder supported by said container and connected to move said ram within said chamber between said retracted position and said extended position and movable with said container, a first set of hydraulic fluid hoses connecting said cylinder to a set of corresponding connect/disconnect fittings supported by said container, a hydraulic power supply unit spaced remotely from said container and connected by a second set of hydraulic fluid hoses to corresponding said fittings, a breakaway coupler within an intermediate portion of each of said hoses in said second set of hydraulic hoses and spaced from said fittings, each said breakaway coupler including a first section and a second section each defining a hydraulic fluid passage and releasably coupled for moving said sections between a coupled condition and a separated condition in response to a predetermined tension force on said hoses of said second set, a spring bias valve member within said hydraulic fluid passage in each of said first and second sections of each said coupler and movable between an open position when said first and second sections are in said coupled condition and a closed position when said first and second sections are in said separated condition, and said sections of each said coupler being movable from said coupled condition to said separated condition in response to accidentally moving said container, said ram, said hydraulic cylinder, said first set of hoses and said fittings away from said power supply unit and said second set of hoses without first manually disconnecting said set of connect/disconnect fittings.