Patent ID: 7007598

Claim:
A self-contained public access trash compaction system, the system comprising a freestanding cabinet, a trash compaction mechanism within the cabinet, the cabinet including a trash compaction compartment, the cabinet having a front surface, a trash loading vestibule, the vestibule projecting forwardly of the front surface, the vestibule including a planar top wall, a pair of side walls, a downwardly sloped bottom wall and an upper panel, the interior of the vestibule defining a downwardly sloped passageway, the vestibule having an entrance and a discharge outlet, the entrance being defined by forward edges of the top, side and bottom walls, the entrance being at a higher elevation than the discharge outlet, the upper panel extending between the entrance and the discharge outlet along a continuous curve a trash loading carriage pivotally connected to the vestibule adjacent a lower edge of the entrance, the carriage including a first panel and a second panel, the second panel being positioned between the side walls, the first panel comprising a lid which blocks the vestibule entrance when the lid is closed and the carriage is in a first position, the second panel blocking the discharge outlet when the carriage is pivoted to a second position wherein the lid is open and trash may be deposited upon the carriage, whereby when the carriage is pivoted to return to the first position, trash deposited on the carriage is discharged through the discharge outlet and into the trash compaction compartment for compaction by the trash compaction mechanism.