Machine and method for laying film on face of landfill

• US 5,620,281 A
• Filed: 02/16/1996
• Issued: 04/15/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 08/10/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: EPI Environmental Technologies (Nevada) Inc.
• Original Assignee: EPI Environmental Products Inc.
• Inventors: Lammers, Arville J., Gho, Joseph G., Garcia, Rodrigo A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Suchfield, George A.
• Application Number:
  US08/603,153
• Time in Patent Office: 424 Days
• Field of Search: 405/36, 405/128, 405/129, 405/264, 405/270
• US Class Current: 405/129.9
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 1/004 Covering of dumping sites
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 2323/02 not modified by chemical after treatment
• CPC Class Codes: C08J 5/18 Manufacture of films or sheets
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/013 Fillers, pigments or reinforcing additives
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 3/26 Carbonates; Bicarbonates
• CPC Class Codes: C08K 5/098 Metal salts of carboxylic acids
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 23/02 not modified by chemical after-treatment
• CPC Class Codes: F02B 1/04 with fuel-air mixture admission into cylinder
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/30 Landfill technologies aiming to mitigate methane emissions

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a machine which is attached to the compactor to lay film over the face of a landfill. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a machine and the method for laying a polyolefin film over the face of a landfill and distributing available solids such as dirt, clay, gravel or other solid material inside the edges of the film to hold the film against the face of the landfill.

Claims

1. A method of providing a daily cover for a working face of a landfill which comprises:

dumping trash into a landfill during a period of operation, creating an open face of trash;

at the end of a working day, using mechanical means to unroll a first strip of degradable polyolefin film having a top and edges over a portion of said open face;

concurrently depositing mechanically-fed anchoring material onto said top and inside said edges of said first strip of film;

cutting said first strip of film;

unrolling a second strip of degradable polyolefin film adjacent and parallel to said first strip of film, while depositing more of said anchoring material onto said second strip;

cutting said second strip of film;

repeating the above-described steps of unrolling, depositing, and cutting strips of film a plurality of times until said open face is completely covered.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said degradable polyolefin film has high elongation characteristics and a strong resistance to tears and punctures.

3. A method according to claim 1 wherein said anchoring material is selected from a group consisting of dirt, clay, gravel, sand, gains, chippings, stones, and sludge, and wherein each piece of said anchoring material has a diameter less than two inches.

4. A method according to claim 1 which further includes the step of placing additional trash onto said strips of film during a further period of operation.

5. A method according to claim 1 which further includes the step of rerolling the film from the face of the landfill at the beginning of a subsequent working day.