Portable metal compacting device

Abstract

A metal crushing device includes a crush chamber having front and rear walls, side walls, a top wall and a base wall and a movable inner top wall mounted within the crush chamber and extending generally parallel with the base wall and four hydraulic cylinders mounted on the top wall and having extendable piston rods. The piston rods connect to the movable inner top wall through the top wall generally adjacent the corners thereof. Front and rear doors provide for loading and unloading of the crush chamber, and a lift device is mounted beneath the crush chamber for raising and lowering the crush chamber. An hydraulic actuator is operatively connected to the four hydraulic cylinders to extend the piston rods downwards forcing the movable inner top wall downwards to crush items within the crush chamber between the movable inner top wall and the base wall.

1 . A metal crushing device comprising:
 a crush chamber having side walls, a top wall and a base wall;   a movable inner top wall mounted within said crush chamber and extending generally parallel with said base wall;   at least four hydraulic cylinders having extendable piston rods, each of said at least four hydraulic cylinders mounted on said top wall of said crush chamber;   said piston rods of said at least four hydraulic cylinders extending downwards through said top wall of said crush chamber and connected to said movable inner top wall generally adjacent the corners of said movable inner top wall whereby extension and retraction of said piston rods moves said movable inner top wall up and down within said crush chamber;   a guide structure mounted atop said movable inner top wall and extending upwards through said top wall of said crush chamber, said guide structure operative to guide said movable inner top wall as it moves downwards within said crush chamber thereby generally preventing significant shifting of said movable top wall during the crushing process;   a loading door formed in one of said walls of said crush chamber for loading items to be crushed into said crush chamber;   an unloading door formed in another of said walls of said crush chamber for removing crushed items from said crush chamber; and   hydraulic actuator means operatively connected to said at least four hydraulic cylinders such that engagement of said hydraulic actuator means drives said at least four hydraulic cylinders to extend said piston rods downwards forcing said movable inner top wall downwards to crush items within said crush chamber between said movable inner top wall and said base wall.   
   
   
       2 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said crush chamber is trapezoidal-shaped with said rear wall having a width slightly greater than the width of said front wall such that once the crushing process has been performed, during removal of the crushed metal, frictional engagement of the side edges of the crushed block of material with said side walls of said crush chamber is substantially reduced. 
   
   
       3 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said movable inner top wall comprises a horizontally extending metal wall plate which extends substantially the entire width and depth of the crush chamber. 
   
   
       4 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said guide structure comprises at least one upwardly projecting guide post mounted on said movable inner top wall and a plurality of guide post slide plates mounted on said top wall of said crush chamber, said guide post slide plates positioned to slidably guide said at least one guide post such that movement of the guide structure in any direction except directly up and down is substantially prevented. 
   
   
       5 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said front door comprises a front door gate mounted on said front wall, said front door gate being pivotable between a closed position generally parallel with said front wall and an open position permitting access to the interior of said crush chamber, and at least one hydraulic cylinder operably connected to said front door gate for pivoting said front door gate between said closed and open positions. 
   
   
       6 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said rear door comprises a vertically movable panel mounted adjacent said base wall of said crush chamber, said panel operative to move between an open position exposing an opening in said rear wall extending from said base wall upwards towards said top wall of said crush chamber to permit crushed material held within said crush chamber to exit therethrough and a closed position covering said opening. 
   
   
       7 . The metal crushing device of  claim 1  wherein said hydraulic actuator means further comprises a reactive fluid flow control valve operative to compensate for unequal pressures encountered by said at least four hydraulic cylinders as said piston rods are being extended downwards, thus driving said movable inner top wall towards said base wall, thereby ensuring that said movable inner top wall remains generally horizontal within said crush chamber during the crushing process. 
   
   
       8 . A metal crushing device comprising:
 a crush chamber having side walls, a top wall and a base wall;   a movable inner top wall mounted within said crush chamber and extending generally parallel with said base wall;   at least four hydraulic cylinders having extendable piston rods, each of said at least four hydraulic cylinders mounted on said top wall of said crush chamber;   said piston rods of said at least four hydraulic cylinders extending downwards through said top wall of said crush chamber and connected to said movable inner top wall generally adjacent the corners of said movable inner top wall whereby extension and retraction of said piston rods moves said movable inner top wall up and down within said crush chamber;   a loading door formed in one of said walls of said crush chamber for loading items to be crushed into said crush chamber;   an unloading door formed in another of said walls of said crush chamber for removing crushed items from said crush chamber;   hydraulic actuator means operatively connected to said at least four hydraulic cylinders such that engagement of said hydraulic actuator means drives said at least four hydraulic cylinders to extend said piston rods downwards forcing said movable inner top wall downwards to crush items within said crush chamber between said movable inner top wall and said base wall; and   said crush chamber being generally trapezoidal-shaped with said rear wall having a width slightly greater than the width of said front wall such that once the crushing process has been performed, during removal of the crushed metal, frictional engagement of the side edges of the crushed block of material with said side walls of said crush chamber is substantially reduced.   
   
   
       9 . The metal crushing device of  claim 8  wherein said movable inner top wall comprises a horizontally extending metal wall plate which extends substantially the entire width and depth of the crush chamber. 
   
   
       10 . The metal crushing device of  claim 8  further comprising a guide structure mounted atop said movable inner top wall and extending through said top wall of said crush chamber, said guide structure operative to guide said movable inner top wall as it moves downwards within said crush chamber thereby generally preventing significant shifting of said movable inner top wall during the crushing process. 
   
   
       11 . The metal crushing device of  claim 8  wherein said front door comprises a front door gate mounted on said front wall, said front door gate being pivotable between a closed position generally parallel with said front wall and an open position permitting access to the interior of said crush chamber, and at least one hydraulic cylinder operably connected to said front door gate for pivoting said front door gate between said closed and open positions. 
   
   
       12 . The metal crushing device of  claim 8  wherein said rear door comprises a vertically movable panel mounted adjacent said base wall of said crush chamber, said panel operative to move between an open position exposing an opening in said rear wall extending from said base wall upwards towards said top wall of said crush chamber to permit crushed material held within said crush chamber to exit therethrough and a closed position covering said opening. 
   
   
       13 . The metal crushing device of  claim 8  wherein said hydraulic actuator means further comprises a reactive fluid flow control valve operative to compensate for unequal pressures encountered by said at least four hydraulic cylinders as said piston rods are being extended downwards, thus driving said movable inner top wall towards said base wall, thereby ensuring that said movable inner top wall remains generally horizontal within said crush chamber during the crushing process. 
   
   
       14 . A crushing device for solid objects comprising:
 a crush chamber having side walls, a top wall and a base wall;   a movable generally planar inner top wall mounted within said crush chamber and extending generally parallel with said base wall;   at least two hydraulic cylinders each having extendable piston rods, each of said at least two hydraulic cylinders mounted on said crush chamber;   said at least two hydraulic cylinders operatively connected to said movable inner top wall whereby extension and retraction of said piston rods engages said movable inner top wall to be moved up and down within said crush chamber;   a front door gate mounted on one of said walls, said front door gate being pivotable between a closed position generally parallel with said one of said walls and an open position permitting access to the interior of said crush chamber, and at least one hydraulic cylinder operably connected to said front door gate for pivoting said front door gate between said closed and open positions whereby solid objects to be crushed in said crush chamber are loadable therein;   a rear door formed in another of said walls of said crush chamber, said rear door having a vertically movable panel mounted adjacent said base wall of said crush chamber, said panel operative to move between an open position exposing an opening in said rear wall extending from said base wall upwards towards said top wall of said crush chamber to permit crushed material held within said crush chamber to exit therethrough and a closed position covering said opening for removing crushed items from said crush chamber; and   hydraulic actuator means operatively connected to said at least two hydraulic cylinders such that engagement of said hydraulic actuator means engages said at least two hydraulic cylinders to force said movable inner top wall downwards to crush items within said crush chamber between said movable inner top wall and said base wall.