The present invention relates to a multi-vehicle transport system for the movement of bulk materials where the materials are stored or maintained in confined areas; and more particularly to a multi-vehicle transport system for waste disposal.
In the trash pick up industry, it is common to encounter areas, either residential or industrial, which have restricted access. In these restricted access areas, the large trash receiving collecting and/or compacting vehicle cannot go to the site where the trash bins are located in order to lift them and then deposit the trash into a trash collecting vehicle.
As a result, it has been the practice to have work crews who go to the remote site and then by hand, roll the trash bin to an area where the trash collection vehicle can receive it and where it is then emptied. The empty bin is then returned to its original spot in a second labor-intensive trip.
Alternately, some companies have utilized a pickup truck with pickup prongs thereon which can then go into the limited access area, pick up the remote bin, carry the bin outwardly to the area of the trash pickup truck, empty the trash bin, and then again return the now empty bin back to its original spot. Obviously, either method requires two return trips to each site where the bin is stored.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,120 to John W. Pickrell, issued Sep. 12, 1978, discloses a trash container with a bustle and bustle actuator which is removably carried on a vehicle with a tiltable chassis. A container is moved on and off the chassis through the tilting of the chassis and a crusher is pivotally mounted on the trash container to force trash downwardly into the container providing both movement of the trash and compaction. Independent racks are provided to support the containers when they are not on the vehicle and a hauling truck having a tiltable container support is adapted to carry a plurality of these containers.
The device as disclosed by Pickrell in U.S. Pat. No. 4,113,120, further discloses a small transport dump truck having a trash container mounted upon it that is operable to haul and compact the refuse. Further, a larger pickup vehicle is also described which is operable to pick up the compacted trash from the smaller compacting vehicle. In the Pickrell system, the trash container while it is operable to be off-loaded from the transporting vehicle, it is not physically transported to the larger trash-containing vessel. Extensive man power would be expended, and time consumed in the processing of trash using the Pickrell system because the Pickrell system does not allow the larger trash collecting vehicle to directly remove the trash bin from the smaller collecting vehicle, empty it and then return the trash bin to the collection vehicle.
It is in the interests of economy to drive onto properties having limited access where larger transport vehicles cannot go. In the waste management business locations requiring small truck service include; narrow driveways, congested areas, cul de sacs, steep driveways and buildings having waste collection being located in covered parking facilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,464 to Melvin H. Parks et al. issued Jan. 10, 1978, discloses a refuse compaction and ejection system for a location having restricted vertical angular movement due to a lack of free space between the vehicle and the bin. In the Parks et al. device, a body slide-lift mechanism for shifting the refuse storage compartment rearward in combination with vertical movement to adjust the level of refuse ejection to desired height is disclosed. The Parks et al. device is directed to a rearward displacement movement of the waste compaction compartment away from the body obstructing access to the bin. Further, this system requires the main collection vehicle to back up to the compaction vehicle in order to transfer the remotely collected waste.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds