Waste pit stirrer

An adjustable stirring device for agitating into a slurry state the solid and liquid components of a waste material in an enclosure having an ingress/egress port of a tubular structure and having a predetermined diameter and being connectable to a power source comprising:

• (a) an adjustable frame structure having a frontal end and being constructed and arranged to align the device in an operative position, said frame structure having a rotatable shaft mounted at said frontal end;
• (b) an angularly adjustable linear and hollow positioning sleeve of a predetermined length having first and second open ends, said positioning sleeve being mounted at said first open end to said rotatable shaft and being pivotable from the horizontal to about 50 degrees with respect to said frame structure to thereby align said positioning sleeve with the ingress/egress port;
• (c) an adjustable first linear force means pivotally and directly connected at one end to said frame structure and pivotally and directly connected at its opposite end adjacent said second open end of said positioning sleeve and being constructed and arranged for rotationally aligning said positioning sleeve with the ingress/egress port;
• (d) a drive shaft assembly having a central axis and a diameter less than the ingress/egress port and having two ends for extending through and outwardly from said positioning sleeve ends and being movable therethrough, said one end being pivotable with said positioning sleeve with respect to the frontal end of said frame structure and being for insertion into the waste structure and said other end for connection to the power source and being for translation of a rotational force from the power source to the insertable end of said drive shaft assembly, said drive shaft assembly further having means to lock said drive shaft assembly in a fixed position in said positioning sleeve;
• (e) an adjustable winch assembly fixed to said positioning sleeve and connected to said drive shaft assembly and being constructed and arranged for inserting and removing said drive shaft assembly through said positioning sleeve into and from the enclosure;
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• (f) a collapsible, directional flow agitator assembly for homogenizing waste material having a diameter in its collapsed state smaller than the predetermined diameter of the ingress/egress port and being connected to the insertable end of said drive shaft assembly, said agitator assembly having a hub and a plurality of propellor blade bodies that are hinged thereto so that said blades collapse into a structural configuration having a cross-sectional structure for insertion into the enclosure port and which expand by centrifugal force to an operative diameter greater than that of the ingress/egress port upon the activation of the power source, said blades further having tip ends bent forwardly and away from said drive shaft assembly, said tip ends being obtusely angled between 140 to 170 degrees with respect to said blade bodies, whereby said stirring device is usable through the tubular port by only the insertion of said drive shaft assembly and said collapsible agitator assembly therethrough.

An adjustable stirring device for agitating non-homogeneous waste materials in structures having angularly disposed ingress/egress ports of a tubular structure and a predetermined diameter comprising:

• (a) a collapsible agitator assembly having a collapsed diameter greater than that of the ingress/egress port when in an operative state and having a hub and three blade bodies hingedly attached thereto and being constructed and arranged so that said blade bodies collapse with respect to said hub to form a triangular cross/sectional configuration for insertion into and removal from the ingress/egress port, said blade bodies further having a planar rectangular configuration and being angled outwardly with respect to a vertical cross-sectional plane through said hub and said planar blade bodies being angled in a range of 20 to 45 degrees. therefrom when in their operative state, said agitator assembly having an exhaust direction and further having tip ends that are bent toward the direction of said agitator assembly exhaust at an obtuse angle with respect to the blade bodies in a range of 140 to 170 degrees;
• (b) a drive member assembly connected to said agitator assembly, said drive member assembly further having a central axis, said vertical cross-sectional plane through said hub being perpendicular to said central axis;
• (c) a power source connectable to said drive member assembly;
• (d) a frame structure having a frontal end and a rotatable shaft mounted at said frontal end for supporting said drive member assembly and being for aligning said agitator assembly in an operative position;
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• (e) alignment means mounted to said frame structure being constructed and arranged to tilt said drive member assembly about said rotatable shaft with respect to the frontal end of said frame and to slide said drive member assembly into and from the waste structure ports, said alignment means further being comprised of a sleeve member directly and pivotally connected to said rotatable shaft and a first and second linear force means, said first force means comprising a hydraulic cylinder being directly and pivotally connected to said frame structure and to said sleeve member to pivot said sleeve member with respect to said frontal end of said frame structure, said second force means being connected to and operative on said sleeve member to position said drive member assembly in and through the tubular port structure, whereby said stirring device is usable through the tubular port by only the insertion of said drive member assembly and said collapsible agitator assembly therethrough.