Refuse vehicle with an automatically ejecting pack panel

A refuse vehicle comprising:

• a chassis;
• a cab coupled to the chassis;
• a refuse compartment supported by the chassis and including a storage volume and a hopper volume;
• a tailgate pivotally coupled to the refuse compartment and movable between an open position and a closed position;
• a tailgate sensor configured to detect a position of the tailgate and provide an indication of whether the tailgate is in the open position or the closed position;
• a packing assembly including a pack panel and a packing actuator, wherein the packing actuator is configured to selectively move the pack panel between a retracted position and an extended position during an ejection procedure;
• and
• a controller including a processor and at least one memory, the controller being in communication with the tailgate sensor and the packing actuator and being configured to:
• receive an input corresponding to performing the ejection procedure based on activation of an ejection input;
• determine if the tailgate is in the open position or the closed position;
• in response to determining that the tailgate is in the closed position, prevent the packing actuator from performing the ejection procedure;
• and
• in response to determining that the tailgate is in the open position, automatically initiate the ejection procedure where the controller is configured to automatically instruct the packing actuator to:
• sequentially extend the pack panel to a plurality of extended positions between the retracted position and the extended position, wherein the plurality of extended positions includes a first position, a second position, and a third position;
• and
• instruct the packing actuator to retract the pack panel to the retracted position or the first position after extending to each of the second position and the third position.

A method of initiating an ejection procedure on a refuse vehicle, the method comprising:

• determining if a tailgate is in an open position or a closed position;
• upon determining that the tailgate is in the closed position, preventing a packing actuator from extending past a retracted position;
• and
• upon determining that the tailgate is in the open position and receiving an activation of an ejection input, automatically initiating an ejection procedure, the ejection procedure comprising:
• sequentially extending a pack panel to a plurality of extended positions between the retracted position and an extended position, wherein the plurality of extended positions includes a first position, a second position, and a third position;
• and
• retracting the pack panel to the retracted position or the first position after extending to each of the second position and the third position.