Patent ID: 8171846

Claim:
Apparatus for forming a self-supporting bale of metal cans comprising a baler including a compaction chamber having first and second opposite side walls defined along the length of said compaction chamber, an array of parallel open-face grooves defined in said first side wall of said compaction chamber and an array of parallel open-face grooves defined in said opposite second wall of said compaction chamber, said grooves of said first and second side walls being aligned horizontally, a platen having first and second side edges and being mounted for reciprocatory movement within said compaction chamber, an array of projections defined along each of said first and second side edges of said platen, said projections extending outwardly from said side edges with respective ones of said projections being received in meshing relationship with respective ones of said grooves defined in said side walls of said compaction chamber, each of said projections effectively closing its respective groove to define a compacting subchamber, drive means adapted to move said platen reciprocatably along the length of said compaction chamber whereby cans disposed within said compaction chamber are compacted into a bale, said cans disposed within said subchambers being compacted to a higher degree of densification than the degree of densification of central portions of said bale.