US3446026A - Landfill refuse-burying method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

T. H. FIKSE 3,446,026 LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS May 27, 1969 Sheet Filed Dec. 21, 1967 INVENTOR. rVMA/V Kl. F/KSZ" A TT'ORA/E Sheet ol of 6 T. H. FIKSE May 27, 1969 -BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS LANDFILL REFUSE Filed Dec. 21, 1967 May 27, 1969 T. H. FIKSE 3,446,026

I LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21, 1967 Sheet i of 6 FY EKL QQWKAEEQ INVENTOR 77/ 414 ll F/(S'' ATTORNEY 3,446,026 LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21. 1967 A T. H. FIKSE May 27, 1969 Sheet MM hm;

Jrraxemey 3,446,026 LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS 967 T. H. FIKSE May 27, 1969 Sheet Filed Dec. 21, l

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May 27, 1969 T. H. FIKSE 3,446,026

LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Dec. 21, 1967 Sheet of e INVENTOR TIMAA/ ll. FIL SE @ZLMM ATI'ORN EY United States Patent Oflice 3,446,026 Patented May 27, 1969 3,446,026 LANDFILL REFUSE-BURYING METHOD AND APPARATUS Tyman H. Fikse, 1459 Loraine St., Enumclaw, Wash. 98022 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 507,124,

Nov. 10, 1965. This application Dec. 21, 1967, Ser.

Int. Cl. E02f 5/12; B65g 6'5/30; B3011 9/00 US. Cl. 61-35 24 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A hollow body of rectangular cross section fitting snugly in a trench has a refuse-receiving opening in its upper portion, a refuse-discharge opening in one end opening substantially horizontally and located a substantial distance below the refuse-receiving opening and a closed end opposite the refuse-discharge opening. A ram in the lower portion of the body is expandable to force refuse from the body hollow through the refuse-discharge opening beneath a deep layer of dirt over the refuse-discharge opening and the force thus exerted to discharge refuse moves the body along the trench away from the refuse-discharge opening. Side flanges projecting forward from the closed end of the body shave the trench wall to a size corresponding to the hollow body to enable it to move along the trench. Such side flanges can be pivoted to be swung for steering the body in the trench. The body can be raised and lowered relative to endless tracks mounted on the swinging ends of swingable outrigger arms to raise or lower the body relative to the ground surface. A pivoted door of arcuate shape can be swung by a jack toward a second pivoted door above the ram, swingable by a second jack to move its swinging edge along the face of the curved door for pressing refuse from the upper portion of the body hollow into the lower portion in alignment with the ram and refuse-discharge opening. Pivoted tamping bars mounted on the rear end of the body can be swung to tamp backfill dirt in the trench.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my application Ser. No. 507,124, filed Nov. 10, 1965, now abandoned, for Landfill Garbage-Disposal Method and Apparatus.

Disposal of garbage by use of the landfill technique has advantages over the conventional method of disposing of garbage by landfill. The landfill method of disposing of garbage heretofore used extensively has been practiced with varying degrees of sanitation. In the poorest type of operation a pit of considerable size has been dug, into which garbage and trash has been dumped, the combustible material has been burned, and after an indefinite time the remaining garbage and trash has been covered with dirt. Such an operation creates air pollution, produces objectionable odors, and provides an environment in which scavenger vermin thrive.

A better type of landfill garbage-disposal procedure which has been employed heretofore has been to provide a natural or dug pit for receiving garbage and trash, into which such garbage and trash has been dumped, and the combustible material has not been burned. An attempt has been made to compact or consolidate the garbage and trash such as by running a large bulldozer over it. Each day, or more frequently, the garbage and trash deposited during that day or shorter period has then been covered with fill dirt in an attempt to reduce odors and discourage the operation of scavenger vermin. Even such a garbage disposal operation has serious objections, however. The principal objections are that by driving a heavy bulldozer over garbage and trash dumped into place a thorough and uniform compaction cannot be obtained, so that the garbage fill remains quite porous after such compaction. The covered garbage is therefore still accessible to vermin, and if combustible material should become ignited inadvertently, the fire can smolder underground, causing disagreeable odors and air pollution, and can be very difiicult to extinguish. Morever, as moisture penetrates into the garbage, vegetable matter can decay, which produces obnoxious odors that can exude through the cover material to create a nuisance. Consequently, objections have been raised to landfill garbage-disposal sites being located close to population centers, which has increased the cost of hauling garbage from population centers to remote disposal sites.

Because of the objections that are common to the operation of disposing of garbage by landfill methods, as discussed above, two other principal methods have been proposed: first, that of incineration, and, second, that of composting. Incineration requires the construction of expensive incinerator plants which are difiicult to operate without air pollution and which require greater operating cost for personnel than landfill garbage disposal. Composting technique for kitchen gar-bage usaully requires that such garbage be separated from trash and must be handled carefully to prevent the production of objectionable odors. Such an operation also is expensive as compared to landfill garbage disposal.

Despite the objections discussed above to disopsal of garbage by landfill methods, such an operation has been so much more economical than either incineration or composting that it has been preferred. It is the principal object of the present invention to eliminate the objectionable features of garbage disposal by the landfill methods which have heretofore been prevalent.

More specifically it is an object to provide garbage and trash landfill in which the refuse material is packed so tightly that it is impervious to scavenger vermin, and such packing also minimizes settlement following decay of vegetable material.

It is also an object to provide a method for disposing of garbage by use of the landfill technique which will be sanitary and provide a minimum period of exposure of the garbage to open air.

At the same time it is an object to provide a landfill method of garbage disposal which will be economical both for operating expense and in the volume of garbage and trash which can be accommodated in an excavation of given size.

Such objects can be accomplished by burying garbage and trash deeply in highly compacted condition and providing a dirt cover over such refuse immediately. This operation can employ a refuse-burying compactor which receives garbage and trash at substantially ground level,

moves such garbage to a location a substantial distance below ground level, packs the garbage and trash tightly, and ejects successive charges of garbage and trash deeply beneath mounded fill dirt.

A further object is to provide a refuse-burying compactor which can be received in and moved along a trench and which is able to raise itself or lower itself relative to the trench and steer itself from side to side to guide itself along a curved trench.

3 from those shown in FIGURE 2, and FIGURE 4 is a similar view with parts shown in still a different position.

FIGURE 5 is a top perspective of a modified type of mechanism including a refuse-burying compactor having mechanism for raising or lowering the compactor body and for steering it; FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of such mechanism with the compactor body raised and FIGURE 7 is a similar view with the compactor body in a lower position.

FIGURE 8 is a rear elevation of the mechanism shown in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 and FIGURE 9 is a longitudinal vertical section through such mechanism.

FIGURE 10 is a horizontal longitudinal section through ram moving mechanism of the compactor and FIGURE 11 is an end elevation of such mechanism seen from line 11-11 of FIGURE 10.

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged detail section of a portion of the steering mechanism taken on line 12-12 of FIG- URE 9.

FIGURE 13 is a somewhat diagrammatic top perspective of mechanism for altering the elevation of the compactor body relative to the track-mounting arms.

FIGURES 14, 15, 16 and 17 are somewhat diagrammatic longitudinal vertical sections through the refuseburying mechanism.

The general purpose of the refuse-burying compactor is to compact successive charges of garbage and trash into the lower portion of a trench in which the compactor is lodged and beneath a layer of dirt sufiicient to maintain substantially the degree of compaction of the refuse produced by the compactor. Preferably such trenches are provided in unexcavated ground, and successive trenches may be located quite close together, such as being spaced apart approximately one-half the width of the trench. The width of the trench may be approximately ten feet so that the spacing between successive trenches would be five feet.

In the drawings FIGURE 1 shows the beginning of a refuse landfill operation in which the original grade of ground 1 has been excavated by a hoe H to provide a trench 2. Such trench may be approximately ten feet wide and approximately twenty feet deep, for example. In any event the trench should be of a width such that the refuseburying compactor body will fit down into the trench and project above the initial grade level 1 only a small distance, such as a couple of feet. The initial length of trench excavated must, of course, be at least as great as the over-all length of the compactor, and the compactor can be lowered into the trench or dragged lengthwise down into the trench, as may be preferred, in order to start the landfill operation.

The refuse-burying compactor shown in FIGURES l to 4, inclusive, includes a body having an upper deck 3 bridging between upright side walls 4, in which deck is provided an opening to a cavity forming a refuse-receiving hopper. At opposite ends of such cavity are short sloping wall sections 5 and 6 by which refuse is guided toward the center of the hopper cavity. Refuse 7 dumped into such hopper cavity descends to the bottom of the body where it is lodged in a cavity having one end wall 8, opposite side walls 9, a top wall 10 extending over a portion of its length, and a bottom 11 which constitutes the bottom of the entire compactor.

Between the upper guide wall 5 and the end wall 8 of the ifinal compaction chamber is a door 12 swingably mounted on a hinge 12', the axis of which extends horizontally and which is located immediately above one edge of the compaction chamber. To a pivot 13 located between the upper and lower edges of the door 12 is secured a fluid pressure jack 14 reacting from an inner wall 15 of the compactor body. The stroke of such jack should be long enough to swing the door through approximately 45 between the broken-line position and the solid-line position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the d 12 is curved arcuately with its concave side facing a swinging door 16 at the opposite side of the refuse hopper. Such door 16 is mounted on a hinge 16' extending horizontally and transversely of the compactor body immediately above the compacting chamber and at one side of the opening to such compacting chamber. The curvature of the door 12 is centered at the axis of hinge 16' when such door has been swung to its position of closest approach to pivot 16', as shown in full lines in FIGURES 3 and 4.

The extent of door 16 radially of its hinge 16' is approximately equal to the spacing between hinge 16' and the concave face of the door 12 when it is in its full-line position of FIGURES 3 and 4. The door 16 can therefore be swung about its hinge 16 from the full-line position shown in FIGURE 3 to the full-line position of FIGURE 4, through an angle of approximately into horizontal position coplanar with the upper wall 10 of the compaction cavity.

Actuating mechanism to effect swinging of door 16 about its hinge 16 may react from a wall 17 of the compactor body and include a fluid pressure jack 18 connected by a pivot 19 to a thrust link 20 which is connected by pivot 21 to door 16 at a location approximately midway between its hinge 16' and its swinging edge. To guide the pivot 19 during swinging of the door a guide link 22 may be connected between such pivot and a fixed pivot 23. The bifurcated linkage can then move between the fullline positions shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, through the broken-line position of FIGURE 3.

When the refuse is to be compacted in the compaction chamber with the door 16 in the horizontal position shown in FIGURE 4, the end wall 8 can be reciprocated from the position shown in FIGURE 3 to the position of FIGURE 4. Such end wall is guided for sliding movement by the skirt 24. The force for moving such end wall can react from a fixed wall of the body to which fluid pressure jacks 26 are pivoted. Several of these jacks, such as four of them, can be mounted between the wall 25 and the end wall 8 in parallel arrangement and be interconnected to carry the same fluid pressure.

When moved by the fluid pressure jacks 26, the end wall 8 becomes a ram which will pack the refuse in the compaction chamber tightly so that the charge of refuse is reduced to the small volume indicated at 7. As each charge is compacted, it will be pushed to the right as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4 until it is finally extruded through and ejected from the open end of the tunnel 27 beneath the layer of dirt 28 overlying the discharge end of the extruding tunnel 27. Such dirt layer may be twelve to twenty feet in depth.

The refuse will be compacted so tightly that after each packing operation previously compacted charges cannot be reduced appreciably further in volume. Also, charges ejected from the tunnel 27 cannot be slid along the trench bottom appreciably. Consequently, after a charge of refuse has been compacted to the size illustrated, for example, it cannot be compacted further by the compactor, but the jacks 26 will still be expanding. During the last increment of jack movement, therefore, the ram 8 will come to a stop relative to the ground, and the body of the compactor will be moved to the left relative to the ground along the trench 2 by the force exerted by fluid-pressure jacks 26. During such movement the sloping front wall 29 of the compactor body may scoop up some dirt from the trench bottom, as indicated in FIG- URES 3 and 4. Preferably cutting flanges 30 are provided at each side of the front plate 29 to shave the side walls of the trench evenly, and the compactor bottom 11. may have a lip 31 protruding forwardly from it to excavate the bottom of the trench continuation.

The body of the compactor cannot be expected by itself to excavate the trench 2 ahead of the compactor. Moreover, as the compactor moves forward along the trench, the body of the compactor would tend to move out from under the fill dirt behind it. It is necessary,

therefore, to provide equipment supplemental to the compactor to excavate additional trench ahead of the compactor and to maintain a suflicient quantity of fill dirt behind the compactor as it moves forward. Such fill dirt conveniently can be supplied by spoil excavated ahead of the compactor.

Equipment to transfer spoil from a location ahead of the compactor to a location behind the compactor may include a belt conveyor 32 driven by a motor 32' as shown in FIGURE 1. Such conveyor preferably is selfcontained and is mobile, having one end supported by wheels 33 adjacent to the hoe H and the other end supported in elevated position by a column 34, the lower end of which is supported by wheels 34. A hopper 35 may be provided over the lower end of the conveyor into which dirt excavated from the trench by the hoe H can be dumped. Beneath the upper end of the conveyor is a cross-conveyor 36 extending from the conveyor 32 to a location above and directly behind the rear end of the compactor.

In order to be able to operate the compactor safely and efficiently it is preferred that the operating controls for the fluid pressure jacks 14, 18 and 26 be located in a cab 38 which is mounted at one end of the bodys hopper opening, so that the compactor operator will occupy a vantage location from which the entire operation can be viewed without danger to the operator. For this reason it is preferred that the cab be located on the rear deck of the compactor so that there is no danger of it being struck by the hoe H.

After the trench 2 has been excavated sufiiciently'so that the compactor can be placed in it, the actual placement of the refuse for landfill purposes can be accomplished by two operators, one located in the cab 38 to control operation of the compactor and the other in the hoe H to excavate dirt for extending the trench ahead of the compactor. Actually, in some instances it is probable that there will be an appreciable period from time to time between loads of refuse hauled to the site of landfill, in which case the same operator may operate both the compactor and the hoe by leaving the cab 38 periodically to man the hoe. It is necessary, however, that the excavation of the trench ahead of the compactor and the transfer of the spoil from such excavation by the conveyor 32, 36 to a location behind the compactor keep fairly even pace with the intermittent step-by-step shifting of the compactor along the length of the trench. Such coordination of the excavation, compactor movement, and piling of the spoil behind the compactor is necessary in order to maintain a proper depth of fill dirt over the aft end of the tunnel 27 from which the charges of compacted refuse are ejected successively.

In order to provide the most efiicient operation of the compactor its capacity is of importance. Thus it is desirable for all of the refuse hauled to the landfill site to be transported by trucks T of the same capacity, and that the capacity of such trucks be not any larger than the capacity of the compactor hopper, so that the entire load of a truck T can be compacted by the compactor as a single charge. Such a truckload of refuse should, however, not fill the hopper of the compactor more than approximately to the level on the doors 12 and 16 indicated by the top of the garbage pile 7 in FIGURE 2.

When such a quantity of refuse has been dumped directly by the truck T into the hopper of the compactor, the operator may manipulate his controls first to extend the fluid pressure jacks 14 from the position of FIGURE 2 to that of FIGURE 3. By such extension of jacks 14 the upper edge of door 12 will be swung from the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 2 and in broken lines in FIGURE 3, in which its upper edge is in registry with the lower edge of the inclined hopper wall 5, into the fullline position of FIGURE 4 in which the concave side of the door 12 is disposed tangential to the lower end wall 8 of the hopper and the curvature of such wall is disposed concentrically of the axis of hinge 16' for door 16. Such movement of the jacks 14 will constitute their maximum extension.

While maintaining the jacks 14 in their fully-extended positions, the operator will next etfect extension of the fluid-pressure jacks 18 connected to the bifurcated linkage 20, 22, operable to swing the door 16 about its hinge 16. By such jack extension the door will be swung from the full-line position of FIGURES 2 and 3, in which its swinging edge is in registry with the lower edge of the inclined hopper wall 6, toward the broken-line position shown in FIGURE 3. During such movement the upper portion of the refuse will be pushed toward door 12 and downward. As extension of the jacks 18 is continued, the door 16 will be swung from the broken-line position of FIGURE 3 down into the horizontal position of FIGURE 4. During such movement the swinging edge of the door Will sweep the curved face of the door 12 and scour refuse from it, so that by the time the door 16 reaches the horizontal position of FIGURE 4 it will have moved all of the refuse into the lower portion of the hopper below the level of walls 10 and 15 and will have compacted the refuse to some extent.

As the door 16 is swung from the full-line position of FIGURE 3 into the horizontal position of FIGURE 4, it will be seen that the thrust link 20 swings through an angle of approximately relative to such door. When the link is in the position shown in FIGURE 3 in full lines, its thrust will have one component directed toward the hinge 16' and a second component directed perpendicular to the door which effects its swinging. When the door has been swung to the broken-line position shown in FIGURE 3, the entire thrust exerted by link 20 will be perpendicular to the door and tending to swing it about the axis of hinge 16'. As the swinging movement progresses toward the horizontal position of the door shown in FIGURE 4, the thrust components of the link 20 will be one along the door away from the hinge 16' and the other perpendicular to the door. The swinging efiiciency of the linkage will, however, be reasonably great throughout the entire angle of door swing.

When the door 16 has reached ifs horizontal position of FIGURE 4, it will be disposed in registry with the horizontal wall sections 10 and 15 of the compactor body. The fluid-pressure jacks 26 may then be energized to drive the ram 8 to the right, as seen in FIGURE 4, without any possibility of refuse escaping upward from the tunnel, but the refuse will all be packed ahead of the ram 8, as shown in FIGURE 4. During the last portion of the ram extension, the body of the compactor will be indexed to the left, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, a distance equal to the horizontal thickness of a charge 7' for each stroke of the ram 8.

As soon as the face of ram 8 has passed hinge 16' the operator can reverse the flow of fluid to the jacks 14 and 18 so as to swing the doors 12 and 16 back into their hopper-forming positions of FIGURE 2. At that time a further charge of refuse can be dumped into the hopper, even though the ram has not been retracted by the jacks 26, because the ram skirt 24 will support any garbage deposited between doors 12 and 16 and prevent it from moving down into the body tunnel behind the ram head 8. During operation of the compactor care must be exercised to prevent refuse from being deposited into the compactor when the doors 12 and 16 are not in hopper-forming position, that is, when either of the doors 12 and 16 is in a position with its upper edge out of registry with its respective stationary upper wall 5 or 6.

As soon as the ram head passes the hinge 16 during its movement to the left, any refuse above the tunnel will begin to fall into the tunnel from the upper portion of the hopper, but this will not be objectionable. Such operation of the compactor receiving part or all of a fresh charge of refuse before the packing ram 8 has been completely retracted will expedite operation of the compactor.

It is desirable for the upper stationary sides and 6 of the hopper to be of sufiicient length so that a complete charge of refuse can be deposited in the hopper above the level of the horizontal wall 10, without the hopper overflowing.

As each charge of packed refuse is ejected from the aft end of the tunnel 27 beneath the layer of fill dirt 28, the weight of such fill dirt will maintain the refuse in compacted condition. Usually the depth of such fill dirt layer will exceed to some extent the depth of the trench because such fill dirt is provided by spoil from the trench excavation. The bottom of the fill dirt layer will, of course, be elevated above the bottom of the trench by the depth of the compacted refuse, and because such spoil will be less dense than the dirt in the trench right-of-way prior to excavation, the total depth of spoil would be considerably greater than the depth of the trench if it were not for the fact that above the original grade 1 of the ground the spoil will spread transversely of the length of the trench to provide a base for the mound 37 which is of a width considerably in excess of the width of the trench in order to provide the necessary angle of repose for opposite sides of the spoil mound. A reasonable time after completion of the landfill operation in a particular section of the trench, the mound of spoil above the original grade 1 can be leveled by a bulldozer to provide a new ground surface elevation. Because of the great density of the packed refuse, settling of the new ground level will be much less than in conventional landfill garbage-disposal operations, if there is any settlement at all.

Thus it will be seen that during the operation of the compactor a charge of refuse is confined in the tunnel of the compactor between the walls 9, 10, 11 and 16, and is packed in the bottom portion of the trench by movement horizontally of the trench effected by rearward movement of the packing ram 8. The refuse thus packed is confined in the tunnel behind the hopper with little opportunity for recovering any of its lost volume as the compactor tunnel progresses incrementally to the left, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, relative to such packed refuse charges. As the tunnel moves beyond each successive charge, the confinement of the refuse effected by the tunnel will be replaced by confinement of such refuse charges by the fill dirt in the upper portion of the trench and above the trench. Consequently, the compaction of the confined refuse charges will be maintained in the underground deposit of refuse after the compactor has progressed away from such charges along the trench.

It is desirable for the hollow body of the compactor to fit quite snugly in the trench. The portion of the trench ahead of the hollow body can even be somewhat norrower than the width of the body so that, as the body is pushed ahead in the trench by reaction from the force urging the packed refuse through the tunnel and out of its end 27, the side flanges and lower lip 31, forming blades, will shave the sidewalls and bottom of the trench so that the body will fit the trench closely. The sidewalls 4 of the body will then support the trench walls and prevent them from caving in even if the trench should be partially filled with water or the trench walls should have a caving tendency. The sidewalls 4, bottom 11 and front wall 29 of the body preferably are joined in watertight relationship and, in most instances, the successive charges of refuse 7' will be packed in the tunnel sufliciently tightly to prevent influx of water to the body hollow through the tunnel. Even if groundwater should partially fill the tunnel, therefore, appreciable water should not leak into the body.

Usually the refuse deposited in the upwardly opening upper portion of the body hollow is reasonably dry and, consequently, can be packed to occupy a small proportion, such as from 10 to of its original volume. Watersoaked garbage and paper products would be much less compressible. It is entirely practical, therefore, to use the compactor of the present invention to force compacted refuse into the bottom portion of a trench below groundwater level.

Instead of lowering the garbage-disposal apparatus into a trench 2 by a derrick of some type or dragging the apparatus down into the trench, as discussed with reference to the compactor of FIGURES 1 to 4, the compactor can be of the self-elevating type, as shown in FIGURES 5 to 17. Apparatus of this type can be supported by outrigger endless tracks 39 which will bear on the surface of the ground 1 at opposite sides of a trench 2 dug for the purpose of accommodating the apparatus. While such tracks could be powered so that the apparatus could actually be self-propelled, such powering of the tracks would only be required to shift the apparatus from one trench location to another. Consequently, it is preferred that the tracks be of the idler type. The apparatus can be supported by such tracks, however, or towed such as by the hoe H shown in FIGURE 1 or by a bulldozer B such as shown in FIGURE 17.

In order to be able to raise and lower the apparatus by use of a single set of tracks, it is preferred that each endless track support the apparatus substantially at its center of gravity. For this purpose, the track mounting and guiding mechanism 40 is mounted by a single pivot 41 at its center on the swinging end of an outrigger arm 42 attached by a pivot 43 to one end portion of the apparatus. As shown in FIGURES 5, 6 and 7, the arm 42 may extend from the track 39 upward to a location adjacent to the cab 38. For access from the ground to such cab, steps 44 are mounted on the upper side of the arm 42 so that an operator can step up onto the track 39 and from the track ascend such steps to the cab.

Operating machinery for the apparatus is located principally at the side of the hopper 4 opposite the control cab 38. To afford easy access to such machinery and auxiliary outrigger arm 45 can be disposed in relationship crossing the arm 42. The lower end of such auxiliary arm can rest on a projection 46 extending outwardly from the outer side of the arm 42 generally centrally between its ends. Steps 47 on the auxiliary arm 45 ascend from the central portion of the arm 42 up to the deck 3 above the machinery pit. The operator can reach such deck therefore either from the ground by ascending the lower portion of the steps 44 and then ascending the steps 47 or he can reach such deck from the cab 38 by descending the upper portion of the steps 44 on arm 42 and then ascending the steps 47 on arm 45.

The elevation of the compactor body relative to the tracks 39 can be altered by changing the position of the swinging end of arms 42 elevationally relative to the respective sides 4 of the compactor. For this purpose each side wall of the compactor has in it a recess 48, one edge of which forms an arcuate ledge 49 shown in FIGURE 13 concentric with pivot 43. Along this ledge a shoe 50 mounted on the swinging end of arm 42 can be moved. This shoe carries one or more pulleys 51 of line and pulley rigging connected between the compactor body and arm 42 for the purpose of supporting the compactor body from the arms 42 and, consequently, from the tracks 39, as shown best in FIGURES 6 and 13.

The rigging is attached to the lower portion of the body such as by a line end anchor and one or more pulleys 52 located in the recess 48. Additional guide pulleys 53 and 54 can be mounted at convenient locations on the body to guide the line 55 from the tackle blocks 51 and 52 to a winch drum 56 located in the machinery pit in the upper portion of the body, as shown in FIGURE 6. Rotation of such drum to reel in the line 55 will cause the tackle to draw the shoe 50 toward the anchored components 52 of the tackle so that the body will be raised relative to the swinging end of arm 42 from a position such as shown in FIGURE 7 toward a position such as shown in FIGURE 6. Conversely, if line 55 is paid out from drum 56, the body can settle relative to the swinging ends of arms 42 from a position such as shown in FIG- 9 URE 6 to a position such as shown in FIGURE 7 or beyond. By such manipulation, the compactor body can be raised out of a trench or lowered into a trench.

Although by proper manipulation of a line and pulley rigging connecting the compactor body and the arms 42, as described above, the angular relationship between such arms and body can be altered controllably, the body can rock freely relative to the tracks 39 about pivots 41 connecting the mounting structures of the tracks and the respective arms by locating such pivots so that their axes are disposed substantially in the same vertical plane as the center of gravity of the body. The body can be raised and lowered in a substantially level attitude without any ground contact, but maintaining a portion of the bottom of the body in contact with the ground, such as the inclined bottom of an upwardly or downwardly sloping trench, promotes longitudinal tilting stabilization of the body with respect to the axis of pivots 41. While such pivot axis shifts longitudinally of the body to some extent between extreme raised and extreme lowered positions of the body, generally represented in FIGURES 6 and 7, suitable ballasting may be provided to trim the body to a level position by shifting its center of gravity if desired. The ram head 8 and its associated drive mechanism may serve as such ballasting by shifting it longitudinally of the body relative to the center of gravity of the components of the machine suspended from pivots 41. An important attribute of the pivot mounting of the tracks is that the tracks and body can tilt freely relative to each other, such as when the tracks travel over uneven ground, or even on opposite sides of a trench extending along a hillside, or when the body is moving down into or up out of a trench along a sloping ramp section.

Retainers 57 for shoe 50, as shown in FIGURES and 6, may be arranged along the arcuate ledge 49 of recess 48 for the purpose of preventing movement of the shoe sidewise out of engagement with the ledge. Such retainers have pointed ends and are spaced apart sufiiciently to minimize resistance to movement of the compactor body along the trench by engagement of such retainers with the trench wall. Resistance to movement of the body along a trench is also reduced by forming the lower portion 58 of the front end wall as an upwardly and rearwardly inclined scooping surface. Such scooping surface engaging a substantial amount of dirt in the trench ahead of the body, as shown in FIGURES 14, 15, 16 and 17, will hold the front end of the body down so that it does not tend to rise out of the ditch as the compactor body moves forward. The central portion 59 of the front end wall can be vertical and the upper portion 60 of the wall can even slope forwardly and upwardly from the vertical section.

If it is desired to alter the depth of the trench, it is only necessary for the hoe H to dig the trench preceding the compactor body either deeper or shallower. The dirt ahead of the compactor body shown in FIGURES 14 to 17 as bearing on the inclined front end scooping surface 58 is loose dirt and the bottom of the trench would be compacted relatively hard. The compactor body is heavy and, consequently, if the ditch is dug so that its bottom gradually slopes downward, the weight of the compactor body would hold its bottom 11 in contact with the bottom of the trench unless the rigging described above were anchored so that the weight of the body was supported by the tracks 39. Alternatively, if it were desired to raise the body, such adjustment could be effected by reducing the depth of the trench dug by the hoe H to provide an upwardly sloping trench bottom. -Movement of the compactor body up such slope could be assisted by reeling in line 55 progressively or incrementally so that the compactor body is raised relative to tracks 39 as the apparatus moves along the trench 2.

Neither the weight of the compactor body nor the rigging for varying the elevation of the body relative to the tracks 39 will assist in swinging the body laterally.

It may be desirable, however, to curve the refuse-receiving trench gradually in one direction or the other for some reason. The side cutting flanges 30 shown in FIGURES 1 to 4 would clean the width of the trench to facilitate movement of the compactor body along it, but would not assist in swinging the body for the purpose of altering its course. In the apparatus of FIGURES 5, 6, 7 and 9, wings 61 are mounted on the upright edges of the front end of the comparator body, which have outwardly and forwardly sloping vanes 62. Such wings are mounted by pivots 63 shown in FIGURE 12 to tilt about an upright axis, both for the purpose of altering the degree of projection of the vanes transversely beyond the sides of the compactor body and for altering the angle of such vanes. The degree to which such wings are tilted relative to the body can be altered by extending or contracting fluid pressure jacks 64, shown best in FIGURE 12.

When the jacks 64 for the wings on both sides of the front end of the compactor body are fully contracted, the wings will be in the position shown in FIGURE 12 so that the leading edges of the vanes will simply serve as trench-scouring cutting edges having an action corresponding to the action of the cutting flanges 30 on the compactor body shown in FIGURES l to 4. If the jacks 64 at one side of the body are extended, however, they will tilt their wing 61 to a corresponding degree so that the cutting edge of the vane 62 will be shifted outwardly to a greater or lesser extent beyond the side of the compactor body. Such vane leading edge can then engage a side wall of the trench 2. The resistance created by the digging action of such vane edge will retard movement of that side of the compactor body so that as the apparatus moves forward the compactor body will swing to a greater or lesser extent toward the side on which the wing was swung.

It will, of course, be necessary for the hoe digging the trench ahead of the refuse-burying apparatus to dig it curved in the direction which it is desired to have the compactor body turned. The appropriate jacks 64 will then be extended so that the wing 61 will tilt to dig its vane 62 into the convexly curved side of the trench. This action will have the duel effect of increasing the resistance to movement of that side of the compactor body and, also, will remove dirt from that side of the trench to provide additional clearance for the compactor body so that it can turn. Movement of the compactor body along the trench will be effected by expulsion of compacted refuse from the rear end of the body as described in connection with FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. As has been mentioned, the tracks 39 preferably are simply idler tracks and do not provide any propulsive effort to move the apparatus.

While the principle of propulsion for the apparatus shown in FIGURES 5 to 17 is the same as that utilized for the apparatus shown in FIGURES 1 to 4, the actual refuse compacting and expelling mechanism provided for the apparatus of FIGURES 5 to 17 is somewhat different from that used in the apparatus of FIGURES 1 to 4. In the compactor of FIGURES 9, l0 and 14 to 17, the end wall 8 of the tunnel compaction chamber still ejects the finally compacted refuse rearwardly out of the tunnel between the top wall 10 and the bottom wall 11. Such end wall 8 is preferably substantially square, as shown in FIGURE 8, and has a skirt 24 extending forwardly from it. In the mechanism of this compactor, however, no doors are provided in the front wall 5' or in the rear wall 6' of the refuse-receiving hopper. Instead, the hopper end walls 5' and 6 slope more steeply than the end walls of the hopper shown in FIGURES 2 and 3 and the bottom opening of the hopper is longer.

Because of the longer opening in the bottom of the refuse-receiving hopper, it is necessary for the compacting end wall 8 to travel a correspondingly greater distance. Instead of using single-acting jacks to move the end wall 8 as in the apparatus of FIGURES 2, 3 and 4, therefore,

a compound jack structure shown in FIGURES 9, and 11 is used. The housing of this compound jack is a cluster of interconnected cylinders including a central cylinder 65 and two smaller side cylinders 66. Such cylinders are proportioned so that the crosssectional area of each cylinder 66 is approximately half of the cross-sectional area of cylinder 65. A plunger 67 can be projected from one end of cylinder 65 and its end 68 is attached to the compacting end wall 8. Such plunger can be projected by introducing fluid under pressure into the cylinder 65 to act on the piston 69 on the inner end of plunger 67.

From each side cylinder 66 a plunger 70 can be projected in the direction opposite the direction of projection of plunger 67. The outer ends 71 of these plungers can be anchored to the front wall 58 of the compactor body. Such plungers are projected by supplying fluid under pressure between the cylinders 66 and the pistons 72 on the inner ends of the plungers 70. It will be seen in FIGURE 9 that projection of plungers 70 from cylinders 66 will move the body of the compound jack toward the right relative to the compactor body as seen in FIGURE 9. If fluid under pressure is supplied simultaneously to cylinder 65, plunger 67 will be moved to the right relative to the compound jack body so that such plunger will move twice as far as the cylinders relative to the comparator body.

The combined lengths of the plunger 67 and each of the plungers 70 is such that the compacting end wall 8 can move from a position in registry with the lower edge of hopper wall 5 into the full-line position of end wall 8, as seen in FIGURE 9. When such wall is at its extreme left position, the entire bottom of the refuse-receiving hopper will be open so that refuse can drop into the compaction passage onto the bottom 11 of the compactor body. When sufficient refuse has been dumped into the hopper so that virtually the entire portion of the body hollow below the lower edges of the hopper walls 5' and 6' and rearwardly of the lower edge of wall 5 is filled with refuse, fluid under pressure may be supplied to the cylinders 65 and 66 for the purpose of projecting the compacting end wall 8 into the position of FIGURE 9. The progressive movement of the compound jack, compacting end wall and associated mechanism is illustrated in FIG- URES 14 to 17.

In the starting position of FIGURE 14 a charge of refuse has been forced through the tunnel far enough so that the flaring exit walls 27' shown in FIGURE 9 will prevent the compacted refuse from expanding back into the tunnel for any substantial distance. In FIGURE 14 the compacting end wall 8 has been retracted, refuse has fallen into the tunnel and the parts are in a relationship ready for the next compacting operation. Supply of fluid under pressure to the cylinders 65 and 66 project the plungers 67 and 70 to move the compacting end wall 8 across the bottom opening of the hopper from the position of FIGURE 14 to that of FIGURE 15. During such movement refuse cannot drop into the tunnel behind the compacting end wall 8 because the skirt 24 of the end wall has an upper surface 73 which moves across the bottom opening of the hopper and when it has moved part way across such opening, it will draw a second closure plate 74 after it because of the interengagement of flanges 75 carried by the trailing edge of plate 73 and leading edge of plate 74, as shown in FIGURE 9.

As the compacting wall 8 is moved by further extension of the plungers 67 and 70 from the position shown in FIGURE to that of FIGURE 16, the refuse will be further compacted to some extent, but primarily the compactor body will be moved through an incremental movement along the trench toward the left. During this movement the cover plates 73 and 74 will be moved farther to the right relative to the bottom opening of the hopper into the extreme position, as shown in FIGURE 16. Each of the cylinders 65 and 66 is double acting so that by supplying fluid under pressure to the opposite ends of these cylinders, the compound jack can be contracted from the fully-extended position of FIGURE 16 to the fully-contracted position of FIGURES l0 and 17. Such retracting movement of the compacting wall also moves the hopper bottom cover plates 73 and 74 into their contracted overlapping relationship shown in FIGURE 17 so that again the entire bottom opening of the hopper is in communication with the compaction tunnel.

The closure plate 74 is guided for reciprocation by tracks 76 shown in FIGURE 9. This closure plate is slid in one direction or the other by movement of plate 73. When this plate moves sufliciently far to the right, as seen in FIGURES 9 and 15, the flanges will engage to draw plate 74 to the right as plate 73 continues to move until plate 74 has been pulled into the extreme right position shown in FIGURE 16. When the compound jack begins to contract, however, plate 74 will not begin to move to the left immedittely. On the contrary, this plate will remain substantially stationary until plate 73 has moved to the left into position virtually completely under plate 74. The left end of plate 73 will then contact flange 77 projecting downwardly from the left end of plate 74. Continued movement of plate 73 to the left will then push on flange 77 to move plate 74 from the position of FIG- URE 16 to the position of FIGURE 17 retracted out of the hopper bottom opening.

The compactor body of the apparatus shown in FIG- URES 5 to 17, inclusive, is moved incrementally to the left along the trench by the force exerted by the compound jack as it forces compacted refuse generally from the position of FIGURE 15 to that of FIGURE 16 as discussed above. The tunnel through which the compacted refuse is ejected is long enough so that backfill dirt can be piled on the top wall 10 of the tunnel as well as behind its ejection opening, as shown in FIGURE 15 When the compactor body is moved forward in the trench to the left, a cavity will be opened between the face of the pile of backfill dirt and the rear end of the compactor body above the tunnel. Into this cavity additional dirt can fall or be pushed either by transfer of spoil by the conveyor 32 from the hoe H, as shown in FIGURE 1, or supplied from any source by a bulldozer B. In order to provide a compact layer of backfill dirt in the trench over the discharge opening of the tunnel, suitable packing mechananism can be provided.

An internal combustion engine 78 located in the machinery pit forward of the refuse-receiving hopper can be used to provide fluid under pressure either as compressed air or to generate electricity for operating hydraulic pumps or both. The packing mechanism, also, can use such power source. As shown in FIGURES 8, 9 and 16, in particular, a row of packing bars 79 may be provided in the rear end of the compactor body above the refuse discharge tunnel, which are mounted by pivots 80 at their lower ends to swing about a horizontal axis. The upper ends of such packing bars can be swung rearwardly by fluid pressure jacks 81 to tamp the backfill dirt as indicated in FIGURE 16. A wedge-shaped void will thus be provided, as indicated in FIGURE 17, over which additional fill dirt may be pushed by the bulldozer B to fall into the cavity formed when the compactor body is moved forward the next increment.

I claim:

1. A landfill refuse-burying method which comprises placing in a ground depression a body having an interior hollow, a refuse-receiving opening in the upper portion of the body communicating with its interior hollow and an underground refuse-discharge opening communicating with such interior body hollow, placing a deep layer of dirt over such refuse-discharge opening, depositing refuse into the interior hollow of such body through such refuse-receiving opening, and ejecting the refuse from such body hollow through such refuse-discharge opening beneath such deep layer of dirt over it.

2. The refuse-burying method defined in claim 1, including compacting the refuse in the interior body hollow in successive charges, and ejecting such compacted charges through the refuse-discharge opening in succession beneath such deep layer of dirt and thereby maintaining such ejected refuse in compacted condition by such dirt layer.

3. The refuse-burying method defined in claim 1, including excavating a trench to form the ground depression in which the body is placed, the refuse-discharge opening being through an upright wall of the body, and progressively moving the body along such trench in the direction away from the refuse-discharge opening as refuse is ejected from the interior body hollow through the refuse-discharge opening.

4. The refuse-burying method defined in claim 3, in which force is applied from the hollow body to exert pressure on the refuse toward the refuse-discharge opening in the body and such force simultaneously ejects refuse through such refuse-discharge opening and correspondingly effects movement of the body along the trench.

'5. The refuse-burying method defined in claim 3, including compacting the refuse in the interior body hollow in successive charges, and simultaneously ejecting such compacted charges through the refuse-discharge opening in the body in succession and moving the body intermittently along the trench step-by-step in accordance with such ejection of successive compacted charges of refuse.

6. A landfill refuse-burying method which comprises excavating a trench, placing in such trench a body elongated lengthwise of such trench and having an interior hollow and a refuse-ejecting tunnel opening at one end thereof located a substantial distance below the top of the trench, placing fill dirt in the trench above the tunnel opening, placing refuse in the interior hollow of the body, and pressing such refuse through the tunnel and out through the refuse-ejecting tunnel opening beneath the fill dirt in the trench above such opening.

7. The refuse-burying method defined in claim 6, in which force is applied from the hollow 'body to the refuse in pressing refuse out of the refuse-ejecting tunnel opening, and as resistance to movement of the refuse increases to a value greater than the resistance to movement of the hollow body along the trench such force effects movement of the hollow body along the trench in the direction away from the tunnel opening.

8. A landfill refuse-burying method which comprises excavating a trench, placing snugly in such trench a body having an interior hollow and a refuse-receiving opening in the upper portion thereof communicating with its hollow, an underground refuse-discharge opening in one end communicating with such interior hollow of the body and a closed end opposite the refuse-discharge opening end, and exerting pressure on refuse in the hollow body in a substantially horizontal direction toward the refuse-discharge opening in the body and thereby simultaneously ejecting refuse from the body through such refuse-discharge opening and moving the hollow body along the trench, closed end first, with the sides ofthe hollow body sliding along the side walls of the trench.

9. The landfill refuse-burying method defined in claim 8, in which the hollow body has side digging blade means on its closed end, and moving the digging blade means in contact with the trench wall by movement of the hollow body along the trench and thereby shaving the trench wall contour to a cross-sectional size corresponding to that of the hollow body to enable the hollow body to move along the trench.

10. The landfill refuse-burying method defined in claim 9, including deflecting the digging blade means on one side of the hollow body to engage the trench wall on that side of the body and produce a resistance to movement of such side of the hollow body along the trench greater than the resistance to movement of the other side of the hollow body and thereby effecting swinging of the hollow body to steer it along a curved trench.

11. A landfill refuse compactor comprising an elongated body having an interior hollow, having a refusereceiving opening in the upper portion of said body and communicating with the interior hollow of said body and having a refuse-discharge opening in one end of said body communicating with such interior body hollow, opening substantially horizontally and located a substantial distance below said refuse-receiving opening, the end of said body opposite said refuse-discharge opening end being closed, digging blade means on said closed body end, and compacting means in said body movable toward such refuse-discharge opening to press toward it refuse having a greater resistance to movement out of the hollow body than the resistance of the hollow body to movement along a trench and thereby moving said digging blade means along the trench.

12. The refuse compactor defined in cairn 11, in which the closed end of the body includes a front surface sloping forwardly and downwardly and the digging blade means includes flange means projecting forwardly from marginal portions of the closed body end beyond said sloping surface and having forwardly directed digging edges.

13. The refuse compactor defined in claim 11, and side wings, pivot means mounting a side wing on each side of the closed end of the body, and actuating means for swinging each side wing about its pivot means relative to the body.

14. The refuse compactor defined in claim 11, in which the digging blade means includes flange means projecting forwardly from marginal portions of the interior hollow of the body having forwardly directed digging edges.

15. A landfill refuse compactor comprising an elongated body having an interior hollow, having a refusereceiving opening in the upper portion of said body communicating with its interior hollow and having a refusedischarge opening in one end of said body communicating with such interior body hollow, opening substantially horizontally and located a substantial distance below such refuse-discharge opening, compacting means in said body movable toward such refuse-discharge opening to press toward it refuse compacted by said compacting means, outrigger ground-engaging means attached to said body, and elevation-altering means connecting said outrigger ground-engaging means and said body for effecting relative elevational movement thereof.

16. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 15 in which the ground-engaging means are a plurality of endless tracks, and attaching means attaching said respective tracks to the body including arms having pivots spaced lengthwise thereof, one pivot connecting its arm to the body and another pivot connecting its arm to an endless track means.

17. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 16, the elevation-altering means being connected between each outrigger arm and the body for swinging such arm relative to the body about the pivot connecting such arm and body.

18. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 15, in which the elevation-altering means includes line-andpulley rigging.

19. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 15, in which an outrigger ground-engaging means is pro vided on each side of the compactor body and the elevation-altering means is operable to effect independent elevational relative movement between the body and the respective outrigger ground-engaging means on opposite sides thereof.

20. A landfill refuse compactor comprising an elongated body having an interior hollow, a refuse-receiving opening in the upper portion of said body communicating with its interior hollow and a refuse-discharge opening in one end of said body communicating with such interior body hollow, opening substantially horizontally and located a substantial distance below said refuse-receiving opening, compacting means in said body movable toward such refuse-discharge opening to press toward it refuse compacted in such interior body hollow, and packing means exteriorly of said body and above such refuse-discharge opening and including a plurality of bars having their lengths extending generally upright, pivot means pivotally mounting the lower ends of said bars on said body, and actuating means engaged between said body and said packing bars and operable to swing said packing bars about said pivot means for tamping fill dirt overlying such refuse-discharge opening.

21. A landfill refuse compactor comprising an elongated body having an interior hollow, a refuse-receiving opening in the upper portion of said body communicating with its interior hollow and a refuse-discharge opening in one end of said body communicating with such interior body hollow, opening substantially horizontally and located a substantial distance below said jack having 2. refuse-engaging member, a cluster of interconnected cylinders, a plunger projectable in one direction from a cylinder of said cluster to press against said body and a plunger projectable from another cylinder of said cluster in the opposite direction engageable with said refuse-engaging member to effect movement thereof.

22. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 21, in which the cluster of cylinders includes a first cylinder from which a plunger is projecta ble in one direction and a plurality of plungers projectable in the opposite direction from cylinders the combined cross-sectional area of which is substantially equal to the cross-sectional area of said first cylinder.

23. The landfill refuse compactor defined in claim 22, in which the cluster of cylinders includes two cylinders disposed symmetrically on opposite sides of the first cylinder.

24. A method of producing landfill by burying refuse with apparatus including a body having an interior hollow, a refuse-receiving opening in the upper portion of the body communicating with its interior hollow and a refusedischar-ge opening for discharging refuse generally horizontally therethrough from such interior body hollow, which method comprises excavating a trench, disposing such body with its refuse-discharge opening in such trench, depositing refuse into the interior hollow of such body through such refuse-reciving opening, and applying, on refuse in the interior hollow of the body, force directed toward the refuse-discharge opening and reacting from the body for discharging refuse through such refusedischarge opening beneath a deep layer of dirt adjacent to the body above such refuse discharge opening and, by reaction to pressure of the refuse being discharged against refuse previously discharged, simultaneously effecting movement of the body along the trench.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,013,675 12/1961 Schonrock 214-41 3,277,850 10/1966 Jackson et a1 -95 X 3,289,572 12/1966 Pioch 214-41 X 3,352,115 11/1967 Jurisich 61-35 JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Certificate Patent No. 3,446,026 Patented May 27, 1969 Tyman H. Fikse Application having been made by Tyinan H. Fikse, the inventor named in the patent above identified, for the issuance of a certificate under the provisions of Title 35, Section 256, of the United States Code, adding the name of David A. Johnston as a. joint inventor, and a showing and proof of facts satisfying the requirements of the said section having been submitted, it is this 20th day of January 1970, certified that the name of the said David A. Johnston is hereby added to the said patent as a joint inventor with the said Tyman H. Fikse.

LUTRELLE F. PARKER Law Examiner.

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