Who invented can crusher

Shinn, Lewisville, Tex. This invention relates to a can crusher and to a crusher which is effective without requiring excessive power or force on the part of an operator for accomplishing the results. It is an object of the invention to provide an anvil or base structure, against which the can is forced by the application of power, and to provide a crushing plate suitably mounted with relation to the base so that the said plate oscillates with relation to the base and is effective to crush the can and to permit escape of the can from between the plate and base when the plate is moved outwardly for a repetition of the operation.

It is a further object of this invention to produce a can crusher having a movable plate or jaw operated in one direction through the employment of a cam engaging the outer surface of the jaw, which cam is effective to force the jaw on the compression stroke of the jaw; means being provided for retracting. It is a still further object of the invention to so mount the jaw with relation to the base or anvil that a space is afforded for the escape of the crushed can during the outward movement of the jaw after the crushing operation.

It is furthermore an object of the invention to provide means for mounting the apparatus in stationary position where cans may be conveniently inserted between the jaw and the anvil and thereafter crushed and discharged in their crushed state during the successive steps of operation of the means by which the jaw is operated. It is a still further object of the invention to provide a can crusher of the character indicated comprising comparatively few, inexpensive parts which have proven eflicient and satisfactory in use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination Figure 2 illustrates a vertical sectional view thereof;.

Figure 3 illustrates a sectional yiew of the crusher on the line 33 of Fig. Figure 4 illustrates a plan view of the crusher, partly in section; and. Figure 5 illustrates a sectional view on the I line of Fig. His invention has been featured in Farm Show Magazine.

Parnell is developing two more machines and says if you can get a huge supply of cans, it could make you a lot of money. Most homeowners cannot walk along the side of the road and pick it up, but if you can get your neighbors in a neighborhood, school or club, you will see the money is there very quickly," said Parnell.

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Bearings, alone, or bearing mounted wheels of any kind may be used to support and guide the drum, The tautness of the chain may be maintained or adjusted by a Teflon. An idler wheel may, of course, be used to maintain tautness of the chain, as may be any other mechanism which can be positioned so as to roll or ride against the chain and maintain it in any of these desired degrees of tautness. A somewhat simplified drawing, with many components omitted, is shown in FIG.

Making reference now to FIGS. The roller rotator 36 of the resilient crusher roller is supported by a spacer and a bearing mounted on a bar and a plate which are, in turn, secured to the plate 82 and the bracket This arrangement provides for the crusher roller to be mounted in a vertical orientation on an axis of rotation which is parallel to the axis of rotation of the catch drum The roller rotator 36 is driven by means of a sprocket , chain and idlers and and by sprocket which is driven by the shaft of motor In this manner, the motor provides power for both the rotation of the crusher roller and the catch drum.

By gearing arrangements, however, the rotation of the catch drum 20 and the resilient crusher roller 30 are different such that there is no coincidence of location as between the catch drum and the resilient crusher roller. The idlers and may be idler rollers mounted on bearings or may simply be a self-lubricating idler made of Teflon, for example, which maintains the position of chain and keeps the chain taut.

The side bar , bearing an upright support position the can support comb 40 in the location as previously described. The plate is not necessarily required for support, but is provided to prevent the cans from dropping directly on the chain While no particular criticality is attributed to materials, other than to the resilient crusher roller, it is necessary that the assembly be very ruggedly built to withstand the vibration and the stresses created during the crushing operation.

The resilient crusher roller is custom made. Many materials were evaluated and many were used in earlier prototypes of the present invention without success or with limited success. The requirements for the resilient crusher roller were found to correspond reasonably closely to the requirements for heavy duty vehicle tires.

The material must be resilient and yet very tough and resistant to cuts and abrasions. In general, those resilient materials suitable for fabrication of heavy duty vehicle tires will be suitable for use in manufacturing the resilient crusher roller. In the preferred embodiment, carbon filled vulcanized natural rubber was found to be the most desirable material from the point of view of having excellent resilience and toughness.

The resilience is necessary to prevent jamming of the crushing device by the adhesion of aluminum cans or fragments or simply the build up of aluminum on the crusher roller. It is pointed out, again, that while a specific set of mechanisms for driving the crusher have been disclosed, other drive mechanisms could be used with equal success.

For example, two motors could be used, one to drive the drum and one to drive the crusher roller. Mechanical linkages by way of gears or gear boxes or V-belts could be used. Thus, it would be apparent that many alterations and variations can be made without departing from the scope and content of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

This invention is useful in environmental industries and particularly in the recycling of aluminum beverage cans. The beverage can crusher of claim 1 wherein the means for supporting uncrushed cans comprises a can support comb supported proximate the bottom open end of the catch drum in the can receiving space, said can support comb comprising means on one end for preventing cans from being caught on said comb. The beverage can crusher of claim 2 wherein the can support comb further comprises can guide projections extending toward the tuner surface of the catch drum.

The beverage can crusher of claim 1 wherein the resilient crusher roller defines in the external surface thereof a plurality of can grabber grooves extending substantially the length of said external surface. The beverage can crusher of claim 1 wherein the resilient crusher roller further comprises a crushed can remover blade mounted for rotation with said roller proximate the bottom open end of the catch drum.

The beverage can crusher of claim 1 wherein the catch drum further comprise a plurality of can driver projections extending inwardly from the inner cylindrical surface thereof. The beverage can crusher of claim 7 wherein the resilient crusher roller further comprises a crushed can remover blade mounted for rotation with said roller proximate the bottom open end of the catch drum. The beverage can crusher of claim 8 wherein the means for supporting uncrushed cans comprises a can support comb supported proximate the bottom open end of the catch drum in the can receiving space, said can support comb comprising means on one end for preventing cans from being caught on said comb.

The beverage can crusher of claim 9 wherein the can support comb further comprises can guide projections extending toward the inner surface of the catch drum. The beverage can crusher of claim 7 wherein the means for supporting uncrushed cans comprises a can support comb supported proximate the bottom open end of the catch drum in the can receiving space, said can support comb comprising means on one end for preventing cans from being caught on said comb.

The beverage can crusher of claim 11 wherein the can support comb further comprises can guide projections extending toward the inner surface of the catch drum. The beverage can crusher of claim 12 wherein the catch drum further comprise a plurality of can driver projections extending inwardly from the inner cylindrical surface thereof. Oct 16, A non-galling, jam resistant aluminum beverage can crusher is disclosed. Industrial Application This invention is useful in environmental industries and particularly in the recycling of aluminum beverage cans.

Referenced Cited. Patent Documents July Lohre et al. Patent History. Current U. Justia Legal Resources. Find a Lawyer. Law Students. US Federal Law. US State Law. Other Databases. Marketing Solutions.