US 5,938,394 AGranted

Collection apparatus

AssigneeMcNeilus Truck and Manufacturing, Inc.

InventorRonald E. Christenson

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A refuse collection apparatus including a container lifting and emptying apparatus connected to a collection receptacle which is dumped into a refuse hauling vehicle. The container lifting and emptying apparatus includes a container manipulator attached to a support arm which is connected to an extensible boom which is, in turn, connected to the collection receptacle. The container manipulator engages a container of interest and the support arm pivots the engaged container between a lowered position and a raised position for dumping. The collection receptacle typically includes multiple compartments wherein the support arm includes a pendulum pivot or is pivotally attached to the collection receptacle such that the engaged container may be tilted over any one of a plurality of the storage compartments. Another version of the collection apparatus includes a collection receptacle having three or four compartments wherein one compartment is adjacent and between the manipulator and a far storage compartment. The support arm includes a collapsing parallelogram arm construction which is retracted to address the adjacent or near compartment and extended to address the far compartment.

Claims14

Dependent claims

A container handling system including apparatus for automatically unloading a container into a selected material receiving compartment in a multi-compartment collection receptacle, the apparatus comprising:

(a) said material receiving collection receptacle including walls and a floor and at least one intermediate partition for dividing the receptacle into a plurality of compartments;
(b) a container handling device carried by said collection receptacle for automatically engaging and unloading a container of interest into said collection receptacle, said container handling device further comprising:
(1) an automated support arm carried by said collection receptacle and pivotally operable in a first plane between a raised position and a lowered position, and a pivoting device connected between said support arm and said collection receptacle enabling said support arm to pivot in a second plane;
and
(2) a container manipulator attached to said support arm for engaging the container and moving between the raised and the lowered positions with said support arm, said pivoting device being further mounted for pivotally adjusting the attitude of said container manipulator in said second plane to determine and adjust the point of discharge of the engaged container to address the selected material receiving compartment.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/063,248Filed 20 Apr 1998 · division
Priority: 8 Jun 1995
Granted: 17 Aug 1999
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

B65F 3/046
Pivoted arms or pivoted carriers: with additional means for assisting the tipping of the receptacle after or during raising
B65F 3/001
Vehicles particularly adapted for collecting refuse: for segregated refuse collecting, e.g. vehicles with several compartments
B65F 3/041
Linkages, pivoted arms, or pivoted carriers for raising and subsequently tipping receptacles: pivoted arms or pivoted carriers
B65F 2003/023
The discharging means comprising elements for holding the receptacle: gripper arms for embracing the receptacle