Refuse collection system, refuse collection truck and loader assembly therefor
First Claim
1. An improved loader apparatus for a refuse truck including a bed having an open top loading station and a refuse storage area, said open top loading station including means operatively disposed at the one end thereof for moving the refuse emptied into said open top loading station into said refuse storage area and compacting same therein, said loader apparatus being utilized for lifting a refuse container and emptying the contents thereof into said open top loading station for refuse collection purposes, said improved loader apparatus comprising:
- a rail guide assembly fixedly secured substantially at one exterior side of the bed and the frame of said refuse truck adjacent said open top loading station, said rail guide assembly including means for forming a set of roller wheel tracks and means for forming a drive chain track, said rail guide assembly further including an elongated, substantially vertical lower end portion and an arcuately turned upper end portion having its distal end terminating downwardly in the direction of the open top of said open top loading station;
carriage means including a set of roller wheel means for moving along said set of roller wheel tracks of said rail guide assembly, said carriage means including an interior carriage support means including said roller wheel means for up and down movement along said set of roller wheel tracks of said rail guide assembly, an exterior carriage support means, and extension/retraction means operatively connected between said interior and exterior carriage support means for extending and retracting said exterior carriage support means horizontally with respect to said interior carriage support means and for connecting said exterior carriage support means to said interior carriage support means for generally vertical up and down movement therewith along said set of roller wheel tracks, said extension/retraction means having a closed fully-retracted home position and a fully-extended pick-up position in which said interior carriage support means and said extension/retraction means are laterally spaced from said interior carriage support means;
gripping means operatively carried by said exterior carriage support means and having an opened position for operatively receiving a refuse container therein and a closed position for grippably retaining said refuse container for refuse collection purposes;
a single finite length of drive chain having first and second opposite end portions which are unconnected from one another, said drive chain being operatively housed at least partially within said drive chain track for up and down movement therealong;
means for driving said drive chain along said drive chain track and including means for operatively controlling the speed, acceleration and deacceleration thereof;
means operatively coupled to said interior carriage support means for removably coupling and uncoupling said carriage means to said drive chain for vertical up and down movement therewith;
cam means having a cam shaft operatively driven by said driving means and having an outer peripheral cam surface thereon;
cam follower means responsive to the contour of said outer peripheral cam surface of said cam means for at least partially controlling the speed, acceleration and deacceleration of said chain drive means; and
means operatively coupled to said extension/retraction means, said gripping means, said chain drive means, said carriage coupling means, and said valve means for selectively controlling the operation thereof.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved loader apparatus for a refuse collection truck or vehicle which includes a vertical rail assembly, a carriage apparatus mounted for vertical up and down movement along the rail assembly, a single length of drive chain for lifting and lowering the carriage apparatus between a home or down position and a dump or up position, a hydraulic motor system for driving the drive chain such that the refuse container-engaging apparatus carried by the carriage assembly can be position laterally outwardly therefrom for operatively engaging a refuse container to be emptied. The system includes a feedback system for controlling the speed, acceleration and deacceleration of the pick-up, transporting, emptying, lowering, and releasing cycle for minimizing cycle time while simultaneously maximizing the dumping efficiency of the system. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention an improved refuse collection vehicle having a plurality of individual different and distinct refuse storage bins each designated for receiving one and only one type of refuse therein such as glass, aluminum cans, plastics, other metals, garbage, trash, paper, and the like, or one and only one predetermined mix of such types. A plurality of refuse containers are located at each pick-up site, and each includes indicia for identifying the particular type or type mix of refuse contained therein for bin-selection purposes. The improved refuse collection truck of the present invention includes an improved loader assembly which has a longitudinal positioning system for selectively positioning the rail assembly and carriage assembly, including the operatively engaged refuse container to be emptied, longitudinally along the side of the vehicle to a position adjacent the particular bin designated for receiving the particular type of contents identified as being within the selected refuse container, and an automated system for longitudinally positioning, lifting, emptying, transporting, lowering, restoring and releasing the emptied refuse container to its orignal or another suitable position at the pick-up site.
118 Citations
13 Claims
-
1. An improved loader apparatus for a refuse truck including a bed having an open top loading station and a refuse storage area, said open top loading station including means operatively disposed at the one end thereof for moving the refuse emptied into said open top loading station into said refuse storage area and compacting same therein, said loader apparatus being utilized for lifting a refuse container and emptying the contents thereof into said open top loading station for refuse collection purposes, said improved loader apparatus comprising:
-
a rail guide assembly fixedly secured substantially at one exterior side of the bed and the frame of said refuse truck adjacent said open top loading station, said rail guide assembly including means for forming a set of roller wheel tracks and means for forming a drive chain track, said rail guide assembly further including an elongated, substantially vertical lower end portion and an arcuately turned upper end portion having its distal end terminating downwardly in the direction of the open top of said open top loading station; carriage means including a set of roller wheel means for moving along said set of roller wheel tracks of said rail guide assembly, said carriage means including an interior carriage support means including said roller wheel means for up and down movement along said set of roller wheel tracks of said rail guide assembly, an exterior carriage support means, and extension/retraction means operatively connected between said interior and exterior carriage support means for extending and retracting said exterior carriage support means horizontally with respect to said interior carriage support means and for connecting said exterior carriage support means to said interior carriage support means for generally vertical up and down movement therewith along said set of roller wheel tracks, said extension/retraction means having a closed fully-retracted home position and a fully-extended pick-up position in which said interior carriage support means and said extension/retraction means are laterally spaced from said interior carriage support means; gripping means operatively carried by said exterior carriage support means and having an opened position for operatively receiving a refuse container therein and a closed position for grippably retaining said refuse container for refuse collection purposes; a single finite length of drive chain having first and second opposite end portions which are unconnected from one another, said drive chain being operatively housed at least partially within said drive chain track for up and down movement therealong; means for driving said drive chain along said drive chain track and including means for operatively controlling the speed, acceleration and deacceleration thereof; means operatively coupled to said interior carriage support means for removably coupling and uncoupling said carriage means to said drive chain for vertical up and down movement therewith; cam means having a cam shaft operatively driven by said driving means and having an outer peripheral cam surface thereon; cam follower means responsive to the contour of said outer peripheral cam surface of said cam means for at least partially controlling the speed, acceleration and deacceleration of said chain drive means; and means operatively coupled to said extension/retraction means, said gripping means, said chain drive means, said carriage coupling means, and said valve means for selectively controlling the operation thereof. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
2. The improved loader apparatus of Claim I wherein said means for driving said drive chain along said drive chain track includes:
-
a hydraulic motor; means for controlling the operation and speed of said hydraulic motor; a motor drive shaft having one end portion operatively coupled to and rotated by said hydraulic motor; a chain drive sprocket gear operatively mounted on the opposite end portion of said drive shaft for rotation therewith, said chain drive sprocket gear having sprocket-engaging means on the outer peripheral edge thereof for driving said chain. - View Dependent Claims (3)
-
-
13. An improved refuse collection system including a refuse truck having a truck cab for housing at least an operator, a truck frame, and a bed carried by said frame, said bed including an elongated bottom, a pair of longitudinal sides, a front end, and a rear tailgate defining a substantially hollow bed interior divided into an open top loading station and a refuse storage portion, said system including a refuse container-loading apparatus comprising:
-
rail means operatively fixedly mounted to at least one of said truck frame and one side of said bed adjacent said open top loading station at substantially one side of said truck, said rail means including means for forming a first set of wheel channels and a drive chain channel, said rail means including a relatively vertical lower end portion and a partially semicircular arcuately downwardly turned upper end portion extending over said one side of said bed and facing on said open top loading station; carriage means including wheel means operatively disposed within said set of wheel channels for up and down movement therein and having a down home position and an up dump position; means operatively carried by said carriage means for retainably engaging and releasing a selected refuse container; means operatively coupling said carriage means and said engaging and releasing means for extending said engaging and releasing means to a pick-up position a predetermined distance from said one side of said bed and spaced from said rail means for retainably engaging a refuse container to be emptied and releasing an emptied refuse container and retracting said engaging and releasing means to a home position adjacent said one side of said bed for enabling said carriage means to lift and lower same along said rail means for dumping purposes; a single finite length of sprocket drive chain having first and second end portions which are unconnected from one another housed within said drive chain channel for up and down movement along said rail means; means for operatively coupling and uncoupling said drive chain to said carriage means; hydraulic motor means for driving said drive chain up and down said rail means; and speed control responsive to the actual speed, acceleration and deceleration of said carriage means for automatically controllably adjusting the speed, acceleration and deceleration of said hydraulic motor means for minimizing the time required to lift a refuse can to be emptied, dump the contents thereof into said open top loading station and lower said emptied refuse container to said home position while simultaneously optimizing to dumping efficiency of system.
-
Specification