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US 12,157,573 B2Granted
Compactor device for aeronautical use
OwnerLucio Iacobucciinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compactor trolley for aeronautical applications, more particularly a trolley, includes a flap for direct access to the waste storage compartment and a safety locking mechanism for the flap.
Claims13
A compactor trolley for aeronautical applications having:
- a parallelepiped trolley structure;
- a compactor device positioned in a front upper zone of the compactor trolley;
- a compaction chamber situated underneath the compactor device and configured to house at least one box for collecting waste to be open at a top and along sides thereof;
- a flap disposed at a front of the compaction chamber for access to the compaction chamber, the flap being movable between a closed position and an open position,
- wherein the compactor device comprises a compaction plate designed to move in both senses of a vertical direction between a raised rest position and a lowered position for compaction of the waste inside a box housed inside the compaction chamber;
- a safety locking mechanism for the flap, arranged inside the compactor trolley and configured to lock mechanically the flap in the closed position when the compaction plate is in a position other than the raised rest position,
- wherein the safety locking mechanism comprises a first element fixed to the flap and a locking element connected to the trolley structure or a door thereof and movable between a position disengaged from said first element, corresponding to the raised rest position of the compaction plate, and a position engaged with the first element,
- wherein the locking element and the first element fixed to the flap mechanically lock the flap in the closed position when the compaction plate is not disengaged in the raised rest position,
- wherein the first element comprises a collar which defines a seat or a hole and is fixed to the flap, wherein the locking element comprises a pin sliding for insertion inside the seat or hole of the first element so as to cause a stable coupling together of the pin and seat or hole in the engaged position of the locking element and first element,
- wherein the locking element comprises an arm integral with the pin and projecting towards an inside of the trolley structure, so that by operating the arm the pin is actuated in both senses of a sliding direction;
- and
- an actuating block integral with the compaction plate a vertical direction and comprising an actuating part designed to act mechanically on the safety locking mechanism so as to cause a locking and/or a release of the flap, said actuating part being arranged at a height in the vertical direction situated above the compaction plate,
- wherein the arm, the pin and the collar are arranged at a height in the vertical direction above the compaction plate in the raised rest position.
10 more elements
A method of compacting waste in an aeronautical sector by using a compactor trolley having a parallelepiped structure and comprising a compactor device positioned in a front upper zone of the compactor trolley, the method comprising:
- housing a box, which is open at a top and on sides and inside which waste to be compacted is collected, in a compaction chamber of the compactor trolley, in a position situated below a compaction plate of the compaction device;
- closing a flap for access to the compaction chamber;
- operating the compaction plate of the compaction device in a vertical direction from a raised rest position into a lowered position, for compaction of the waste inside the box housed in the compaction chamber;
- and
- mechanically locking the flap in the closed position when the compaction plate moves into a position other than the raised rest position, using a safety locking mechanism for the flap, which is arranged inside the compactor trolley and operated by an actuating block in a vertical direction, using an actuating part which acts mechanically on the safety locking mechanism so as to cause a locking and/or release of the flap, said actuating part being arranged at a height in the vertical direction situated above the compaction plate,
- wherein the safety locking mechanism comprises a first element fixed to the flap and a locking element connected to the trolley structure or a door thereof and movable between a position disengaged from said first element, corresponding to the raised rest position of the compaction plate, and a position engaged with the first element,
- wherein the locking element and the first element fixed to the flap mechanically lock the flap in the closed position when the compaction plate is not disengaged in the raised rest position, wherein the first element comprises a collar which defines a seat or a hole and is fixed to the flap,
- wherein the locking element comprises a pin sliding for insertion inside the seat or hole of the first element so as to cause a stable coupling together of the pin and seat or hole in the engaged position of the locking element and first element,
- wherein the locking element comprises an arm integral with the pin and projecting towards an inside of the trolley structure, so that by operating the arm the pin is actuated in both senses of a sliding direction, and
- wherein the arm, the pin and the collar are arranged at a height in the vertical direction above the compaction plate in the raised rest position.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.