Material or article handling – Device for emptying portable receptacle – Elevator type
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-17
2003-11-11
Brahan, Thomas J. (Department: 3652)
Material or article handling
Device for emptying portable receptacle
Elevator type
C414S646000, C414S648000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06644907
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to the waste disposal industry. More particularly, it relates to a cart having a rotatable mechanism for retrieving, transporting, lifting, and emptying heavy compacted waste from a novel portable container into a large waste receptacle such as a dumpster.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Large machines called compactors are used in many industries for compacting waste materials to save space. A compactor is essentially a box with a motor-driven plate in it that compresses waste in the box. The compressed waste is then pressed into a portable waste container and the portable waste container is then transported to a dumpster.
Perhaps the most difficult part of the waste disposal process is the emptying of the portable waste container. The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,475 to the present inventor entitled “Retriever And Cart For Handling Heavy Containers” discloses a retriever that retrieves and transports multiple waste containers at one time. However, it includes no means for elevating a waste container to a preselected height and for rotating the container upon attaining that height so that the contents of the waste container may be discharged therefrom under the influence of gravity into a floor level waste receptacle.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that lifts and rotates a waste container so that its contents may be dumped into a floor level waste receptacle.
The highly compressed waste in the portable waste container may also become stuck in the container. Thus, there is also a need for an improved waste container that is designed so that the compressed waste therein falls out easily when the waste container is emptied.
It is also not an easy task for a single worker to retrieve a heavy waste container from a compactor, and to transport it to a dumpster. Most systems require a worker manually place the waste container on a cart.
Thus a need exists for a retriever mechanism that enables a single worker to retrieve a waste container in the substantial absence of manual effort.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be efficiently and elegantly fulfilled.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for an apparatus operated by a single worker that retrieves a portable waste container from a compactor, transports it to a dumpster, and that elevates and rotates the waste container to empty it into a dumpster in the substantial absence of physical exertion by the worker is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention.
The novel manually-operated cart of this invention is adapted to retrieve a novel portable waste container from a compactor, transport the waste container to a dumpster, elevate the waste container to a preselected height, and to dump the contents of the waste container into a larger waste collection receptacle.
The portable waste container is novel as well because it is designed to prevent waste tightly compacted therein from becoming stuck so that it slides out easily upon tilting of the container by the novel cart.
The novel portable cart includes a vertical back frame formed primarily by a pair of parallel, transversely opposed, upstanding (vertical) channel members. A barrier means is fixedly secured to a preselected channel member of the back frame at a preselected height. The barrier means serves as a pivot point and performs the function of causing the waste container to rotate as it is lifted as more fully described hereinafter.
A pair of parallel, horizontally disposed support arms are secured to the respective lower ends of the channel members that form a part of the vertical back frame. The support arms extend from their respective channel members in cantilevered relation thereto in a forward direction. The forward end of each cantilevered support arm is supported by a rotatably mounted caster wheel and the rearward end of each cantilevered arm is supported by a primary tire.
A first and second auxiliary tire of a size smaller than the primary tires is rotatably mounted to the rearwardmost end of first and second rearwardly-extending cantilevered arms to enable an operator to safely tilt the cart back upon encountering an obstacle such as a curb.
A base frame is positioned between and adapted to movably engage the channel members so that the base frame is movable between a lower end of the back frame and an upper end of the back frame. A waste container-engaging frame is secured to the base frame. The waste container-engaging frame includes a back frame member secured to the base frame and a pair of parallel container-engaging members secured to opposite ends of the back frame. The parallel container-engaging members are mounted in cantilevered relation to the back frame member and extend in a horizontal plane in a forward direction. As used herein, the term “forward” refers to the side of the cart that supports the waste container and the term “rearward” refers to the side of the cart where the operator stands or walks when the cart is in use.
A winch means selectively lifts and lowers the base frame, and the container-engaging members that extend therefrom, along the vertical extent of the vertical back frame. The winch means may be provided in the form of a common boat winch. It is mounted on the rearward side of the vertical back frame at a preselected height so that it does not interfere with the raising and lowering of the base frame. The preselected height is selected to make the control handle of the winch easily operable by a person of ordinary height.
A waste container rotating means is secured to and supported by the base frame member. The waste container rotating means has a planar construction and is positioned in a vertical plane that is coplanar with the base frame and parallel to the plane of the vertical back frame. A track that slidingly receives the above-mentioned barrier means is formed in the waste container rotating means. The track has a vertical part, a horizontal part, and a gradual ninety-degree bend in open communication with the vertical and horizontal parts. The track is in vertical alignment with the barrier means so that the barrier means enters into the track when the winch means lifts the base frame and hence the waste container rotating means to a first preselected elevation above the barrier means.
The waste container is gradually inverted as the barrier means encounters the gradual ninety-degree bend as the winch means lifts the base frame to a second preselected elevation above the first preselected elevation. The base frame pivots about a fixed position axle member as the base member is lifted and lowered.
A waste container-engaging means holds the waste container as the waste container is rotated or tilted so that contents of the waste container fall from the waste container under the influence of gravity when the waste container is so rotated or tilted.
The novel container has four walls, each of which is preferably tapered on an inside surface thereof, first at a gradual taper as the side walls extend downwardly from the rim of the waste container and secondly at a steeper taper as the side walls approach the bottom wall of the container. Upstanding ribs that project inwardly from the side walls also serve to prevent a vacuum from forming in the waste container when a full plastic bag is pressed thereinto by a compactor.
The vertical back frame of the novel cart further includes a horizontal top frame that interconnects respective uppermost ends of the upstanding pair of channel members, a horizontal bottom frame that interconnects respective lowermost ends of said upstanding pair of channel members, and at least one horizontal interconnecting frame that interconnects the channel members at a preselected location between the top and bottom frames. The winch means is mounted to the at least one interconnecting frame
Brahan Thomas J.
Smith Ronald E.
Smith & Hopen , P.A.
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