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A wall mountable can crushing apparatus for self-feeding and rapidly repeating manual crushing of beverage cans or the like through user striking includes a housing section for feeding cans through a chute and detaining cans in a crush chamber before crushing. A punch pad for receiving the user stri

A wall mountable can crushing apparatus for self-feeding and rapidly repeating manual crushing of beverage cans or the like through user striking includes a housing section for feeding cans through a chute and detaining cans in a crush chamber before crushing. A punch pad for receiving the user strikes is attached to a movable portion carrying a crush piston from a retracted position into a crush position driven into contact with a can in a crush chamber. The piston is biased to be returned to the retracted position after a can is crushed and a discharge allows a crushed can to freefall out of the apparatus. Novelty features such as a pressure activated sound card or advertising mounts may be added to the can crusher for promotional appeal.

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I claim: 1. Can crushing apparatus for crushing a can from a predetermined configuration having a side profile to a reduced configuration, comprising: a housing including a back section for mounting to structural wall and a cover section complementally shaped to receive the back section therein; a

I claim: 1. Can crushing apparatus for crushing a can from a predetermined configuration having a side profile to a reduced configuration, comprising: a housing including a back section for mounting to structural wall and a cover section complementally shaped to receive the back section therein; a crush chamber on the back section for receiving the can and including a bottom wall formed with a discharge opening having horizontal cross section smaller than the side profile of the can and configured to pass the can in the reduced configuration; a piston is rigidly mounted to a front wall of the cover section, the piston including a driving end and a working end aligned with the chamber and reciprocable from a retracted position to a crushing position projecting into the chamber to, upon shifting to the crushing position, contact a can in the chamber to crush it to the reduced configuration to fit through the discharge opening; and a punch pad extending over a front surface of the front wall of the cover section, the punch pad to be struck directly by a user to drive the piston from the retracted position to the crushing position. 2. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the cover and back sections are constructed with peripheral walls slidably fitted together; and the piston is carried from the front wall to be, upon the front wall being driven from the retracted position to the crushing position, drive the piston into the chamber to crush the can to the reduced configuration. 3. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 including: means for biasing the piston to the retracted position. 4. The can crushing apparatus of claim 2, including: at least one spring interposed between the back section and cover section biasing the cover section to the retracted position. 5. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 that includes: a chute leading to the chamber; and a tooth mounted to one side of the chute and spaced from the opposite side of the chute a distance less than the diameter of the can. 6. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a discharge slide connected to the discharge opening and projecting exteriorly from the housing. 7. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a holder on the back section for holding a pressure actuated audio card; and an actuator mounted on the cover section, the actuator responsive to the piston being shifted from its retracted position to its crushing position to activate the card. 8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: advertising mount carried on the housing. 9. The can crusher apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the cover and back sections are constructed with peripheral tubular walls complementally shaped to be inter-fitted and slide relative to one another from respective retracted to crushing positions; at least one wall of one of the sections is configured with an elongated guide; and at least one peripheral wall of the other section includes a slider received in the guide. 10. The can crusher apparatus of claim 1 that includes: a plurality of pairs of confronting, axially aligned biased posts carried from the respective back and cover sections; and coil springs interposed between the respective pairs of posts. 11. The can crusher apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the back and cover sections are formed with respective complementally shaped peripheral walls which are received in sliding, inter-fitting relationship for sliding from the retracted position to the crushing position and the punch pad is in the form of a compressible pad extending over the front surface of the cover section. 12. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 that includes: a flexible window carried over the punch pad for receiving there behind a graphic sheet. 13. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the housing includes mounting means for mounting an advertising screen. 14. The can crushing apparatus of claim 1 that includes: a chute mounted on the back section for conveying the can to the crush chamber. 15. Can crushing apparatus comprising: a back section including a back wall and a back tubular peripheral wall; a cover section including a front wall and a front tubular peripheral wall complementally shaped to receive the back tubular peripheral wall in female relationship thereover for shifting of the front wall from an extended position to a retracted crushing position; a crush chamber mounted from the back wall, opening forwardly and configured with a bottom wall including a discharge slot; a can chute carried from the back section for conveying cans to the crush chamber; a guide device interposed between the cover and back sections for guiding travel of the cover section from the extended to the crushing position; pairs of spring mounts on the respective cover and back sections; coil compression springs interposed between the spring mounts for biasing the cover section away from the back section to the extended position; and a crush piston mounted from the cover section, projecting rearwardly to, upon the cover section being shifted from the extended to the crushing position, engage a can in the crush chamber to crush it to a crushed configuration to be ejected through the discharge slot. 16. Can crushing apparatus for crushing a can from a predetermined configuration to a reduced configuration, comprising: a vertically elongated back section for mounting to a structural wall and a cover section complementally shaped to receive the back section therein; a crush chamber on the back section for receiving the can and including a bottom wall formed with a discharge opening having horizontal cross section smaller than a length of the can and configured to pass the can in the reduced configuration; a piston is rigidly mounted to a front wall of the cover section, the piston including a driving end and a working end aligned with the chamber and reciprocable from a retracted position to a crushing position projecting into the chamber to, upon shifting to the crushing position, contact a can in the chamber to crush it to the reduced configuration to fit through the discharge opening; a punch pad extending over a front surface of the front wall of the cover section, the punch pad to be struck directly by a user to drive the piston from the retracted position to the crush position; and the back and cover sections formed with respective complementally shaped peripheral walls which are received in sliding, inter-fitting relationship for sliding of the cover section from the retracted position to the crushing position and the punch pad is in the form of a compressible pad extending over the front surface of the cover section. 17. Can crushing apparatus for crushing a can from a predetermined configuration to a reduced configuration, comprising: a vertically elongated back section for mounting to a structural wall and a cover section complementally shaped to receive the back section therein; a crush chamber on the back section for receiving the can and including a bottom wall formed with a discharge opening having horizontal cross section smaller than a length of the can and configured to pass the can in the reduced configuration; a piston is rigidly mounted to a front wall of the cover section, the piston including a driving end and a working end aligned with the chamber and reciprocable from a retracted position to a crushing position projecting into the chamber to, upon shifting to the crushing position, contact a can in the chamber to crush it to the reduced configuration to fit through the discharge opening; a punch pad extending over a front surface of the front wall of the cover section, the punch pad to be struck directly by a user to drive the piston from the retracted position to the crush position; the cover and back sections constructed with peripheral walls slidably fitted together to shift from the retracted position to the crushing position; and wherein the piston is carried from cover section to be, upon the cover section being driven from the retracted position to the crushing position, drive the piston into the crush chamber. 18. Can crushing apparatus for crushing a can from a predetermined configuration to a reduced configuration, comprising: a vertically elongated back section for mounting to a structural wall and a cover section complementally shaped to receive the back section therein; a crush chamber on the back section for receiving the can and including a bottom wall formed with a discharge opening having horizontal cross section smaller than a length of the can and configured to pass the can in the reduced configuration; a piston is rigidly mounted to a front wall of the cover section, the piston including a driving end and a working end aligned with the chamber and reciprocable from a retracted position to a crushing position projecting into the chamber to, upon shifting to the crushing position, contact a can in the chamber to crush it to the reduced configuration to fit through the discharge opening; a punch pad extending over a front surface of the front wall of the cover section, the punch pad to be struck directly by a user to drive the piston from the retracted position to the crush position; a holder on the back section for holding a pressure actuated audio card; and an actuator mounted on the cover section, the actuator responsive to the piston being shifted from its retracted position to its crushing position to activate the card.