Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The presen-t invention relates to a vehicle
for curbside collection of source separated recyclable
materials.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENl'ION
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Curbside source separation is one s-tep in
comprehensive waste control. In order to remove and to
re-use as much material in the waste s-tream, separate
collection of newspapers, glass bottles, plastic
containers, metal cans and, ultimately other marketable
materials, must be carried out with vehicles (trucks)
of special construc-tion capable of separately storing
the collected materials.
One presently known truck consists of an
enclosed compartmentalized body mounted on a low entry
walk~in cab with dual left and right hand driving
controls to facilitate the use of a one-person crew.
; Although this vehicle is capable of an adequate job, it
has been found that the loading height on the side of
the vehicle is too high, making it difficult for the
collector to place the materials in the truck body.
Another known vehicle consists of a -totally
enclosed compartmentalized self-dumping unit installed
on a standard chassis. The body is a steel structure
with center hung adjustable partitions. The truck is
equipped with an hydraulic lifting rail running the
length of the body. Laterally movable metal boxes are
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secured to -the rail and positioned in rela-tionship to
the partitions in the body. The collected materials
are placed in the metal boxes and are mechanically
lifted and emptied into the truck. When the loading
rail reaches the top of the body, the roof opens at a
45 angle. The lifting rail continues over the top of
the body and the boxes are dumped down into the body.
This unit eliminates two of the disadvantages of
existing recycling vehicles: the high loading height
and the fixed vertical posts between the side hatches
are avoided. However, one disadvantage of this unit is
the height of -the rooE when it is in the open position
and which is a source of problems because of low
hanging wires and branches in streets. The discharging
of the collection of the material on all known units is
carried out by opening one or two rear panels, each
compartment being discharged separately by removing
sequentially the dividing walls defining the
compartments. This operation requires a minimum of
four backing-up manoeuvres.
O~JECT AND STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to
provide a vehicle for the curbside collection of source
separated recyclable materials which overcomes the
above problems associated with presently known
vehicles.
It is also an object of the present invention
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to provide a vehicle where the discharging can be done
on any one side or rear of the vehicle, with a minimum
of truck movement.
The present invention thereby relates to a
vehicle for curbside collec-tion of source separated
collection of recyclable materials which comprises:
A vehicle for curbside collection of source separated
collection of recyclable materials comprising:
- a wheel-supported understructure having
front and rear sections;
- a driver compartment mounted to the front
section of the understructure;
- a dumping unit mounted to the rear section
of the understructure; the unit including a box-like
frame having front, rear and side walls and displaying
therein a plurality of longitudinally spaced dividing
walls defining a first series of compartments;
- a vertically movable trough extending
longitudinally of the frame along one side wall
; 20 thereof; said trough displaying therein a plurality of
longitudinally spaced dividing walls defining a second
series of compartments to receive source separated
recyclable materials;
- means on the unit for vertically guiding
the trough along the side wall; the guiding means
allowing the trough to move to an upper discharging
position whereby recyclable materials collected in each
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compartment of the trough are dumped into a
correspondi.ng compartmen-t of the box-like frame;
- actuatable means mounted between the
box-like frame and the understructure for moving the
frame relative to the understructure;
- hinge points on the frame and the
understructure, located a-t the lower portion of each
side wall;
- removable retaining means receivable in
each hinge point and cooperating with the actuatable
means to tilt the frame about those hinge points from
which the retaining means are not removed; and
~ latchable door means a-t the bottom of each
compartment of the frame allowing the materials to be
discharged when the frame is tilted.
In one form of the invention, the frame
includes a top wall which lS spaced from the top end of
the frame a distance sufficient to allow the
discharging of the trough into the first series of
compartrnents.
Other objects and further scope of
applicability of the present invention will become
apparent from the detailed description given
hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that
this detailed description, while indicating preferred
embodiments of the invention, is given by way of
illustration only, since various changes and
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modifi,cations within -the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the
art.
IN THE DRAWINGS
Figure l is a top perspective view of a
vehicle made in accordance with the present invention,
showing the trough side of the vehicle;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the vehicle
of Figure 1 showing the other side;
Flgures 3 and 4 are end elevational views
showing the box-like frame tilted in both directions;
Figure 5 is a top plan view of the box-like
frame as seen from under the top wall thereof;
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken
along lines 6-6 of Figure 5;
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view taken
along lines 7-7 of Figure 5; and
Figure 8 is a plan view of the tilting
mechanism mounted to the understructure of the vehicle.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to Figure 1 and 2, there is shown a
vehicle, generally denoted 10, for the curbside
collectlon of source separated recyclable materials.
The vehicle comprises a wheel-supported understructure
12, the front section of which receives a driver
compartment 14 and the rear section of which supports a
dumping unit 16.
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The dumping unit 16 includes a box-like frame
consisting of a front wall 18, a top wall 20, a rear
wall 22, a bo-ttom wall 23 (see Figure 3) and opposite
side walls 24 and 26.
Referring also to E'igures 3 and 4, the
understructure 12 comprises an elongated cen-trally
extending frame 28 consisting of two longitudinal beams
28a and 28b having their opposite front and rear
extremities fixedly connected to transverse frames 30
and 32. A cylinder 34 has its lower end pivotally
connected at 36 to a frame plate 37 (see Figure 8)
mounted to beams 28a and 28b and its upper end
pivotally connected at 38 in a recessed area 40 of the
bottom wall 23 of the frame.
Referring to Figure 5, the frame is formed of
a series of longitudinally spaced dividing walls 44,
~ 46, 48, 50 and 52 that define a series of compartments
; 54, 56, 58 and 60 which may be of varying dimensions.
An elongated trough 62 extends longitudinally
of the frame adjacen-t side wall 24 thereof. This
trough is formed of a series of longitudinally spaced
dividing walls 64, 66, 68 that define a second series
of compartments 70, 72, 74 and 76. As can be seen in
Figure 5, the width of these compartments correspond
substantially to that of compartments 54, 56, 58 and
60, respectively.
The opposite extremities 78 and 80 of the
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-trough are secured to arms 82 and 84 which, i.n turn,
fixedly mounted to a pair of endless chains 86, 88
mounted on associated sprockets and driven by a motor
90. The trough is upwardly moved by means of the
chain, sprocket and motor assembly from a material
collecting position shown in Figure 6 to a material
discharging position shown in Figure 7. The top wall
20 extends a distance above this discharging position
and beyond the side wall 24 to enable the displacement
of the trough. A limit switch 92 serves to stop the
motor to allow the discharging of the recyclable
materials from the compartment of the trough into the
various compartments 54, 56, 58 and 60. Means (not
shown) are provided to reverse the motor to return the
trough to its initial material receiving position shown
in Figure 6.
Hinge points are provided at each lower
corner of the frame at 100, 106, 108 and 114; they are
in the shape of annular members adapted to come into
registry with associated hinge points 102, 104, 110 and
112 provided at each outer extremity of the traverse
beams 30 and 32 of the rear section of the
understructure 12. Retaining pins 116, 118, 120 and
124 extend through corresponding pairs of hinge points
to secure the box-like frame to the undertructure of
the vehicle~ These retaining pins are removable as
explained below.
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Each of the compartments 54, 56, 58 and 60
has, at its lower part, a la-tchable door 126, 128, 130,
132 hingedly mounted -to the respective side walls 24,
26 of the vehicle.
In operation, recyclable materials collected
at curbside are separated and deposited in the various
compartmen-ts 70, 72, 74 and 76 of the trough. When
desired, the trough is upwardly raised by actuating
motor 90 causing the trough to be lifted to the
discharging position shown in Figure 7 where it is
stopped by the limit switch 92. The operation of the
motor is then reversed to return the trough to its
initial loading position. At the dumping site, pins in
the hinge points of the dumping side are kept in place
while the pins on the other side are removed. The
cylinder 34 is actuated causing -the box to tilt about a
pivot axis ex-tending through the retained pins. The
appropriate doors on that side of the vehicle being
unlatched, the collected materials are therefore
removed from their compartmen-t and dispensed at their
appropriate collecting location.
Although the invention has been described
above in relation to one specific form, it will be
evident to a person skilled in the art that i-t may be
refined and modified in various ways. For example, the
dividing walls in the box-like frame as well as in the
trough can be made longitudinally adjustable to provide
the flexibility of chanqing the capacity of -the
compartmen-ts and to allow daily variations in the
volume of materials collected. Similarly, a door could
be provided on the rear wall 22 to provide a rearward
discharging of the contents in the rear comparkment.
However, in such case, the hinge points would require a
construction different from that shown in the present
embodiment to allow for rear tilting. Still, a pair of
troughs of similar construction as trough 62 could be
provided on both lonqitudinal sides of the box-like
frame; in which case, means similar to the drivinq
means and the movinq means described above would be
required to operate the addi-tional trough. It is
therefore wished to have it understood that the present
invention should not be limited in interpretation
except b~ the terms of the following claims.
