Various types of refuse collection vehicles exist in the art. These vehicles include numerous types of pick up or collection arms. The collection arms usually move from a pick up position, picking up a garbage can at the curb, to a dump position, dumping the garbage can in a hopper. Ordinarily, these arms include various types of linkages to move the arm from one position to the other. These linkages utilize a number of parts as well as hydraulic cylinders. Due to the movement from one position to the other, the collection arms can be very complicated and include numerous parts. While these arms work satisfactory for their intended purpose, designers strive to improve the art.
When these collection arms require significant maintenance, it generally requires the entire collection arm being removed from the vehicle. Thus, this requires significant down time of the vehicle. Also, due to their complexity, the collection arms are substantially heavy and add additional weight to the vehicle.
The present disclosure provides the art with a refuse collection vehicle that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior devices. The present disclosure provides the art with a telescoping collection arm that includes a pivot bearing assembly that enables vertical movement of the collection arm. In addition, the pivot may slide along a track inside the hopper to provide additional horizontal movement of the arm. The pick up arm can be quickly removed from the pivot bearing assembly for replacement or substitution of other like arms. The collection arm includes a dynamic control to alter its vertical and horizontal movements which, in turn, alter the position of the gripping fingers. The collection arm and the bearing assembly are coupled with the vehicle body hopper to enable the collection arm to pivot with respect to the hopper.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds