초록 ▼

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

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.

대표청구항 ▼

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 be

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.