The fact of being an"empty", and a bulky one, especially the larger bottles for water and beverages, means that a serious source of pollution is being created, especially as these plastic containers are not biodegradable.

A further problem arises because compacting generally requires compression implying application of a combined bending and compressive load to structures that offer high resistance.

The disclosure here described solves these problems by providing a simple, compact and easily used container able to handle"empties" of both thick and thin plastic material as well as of thin metal.

Subject of the invention is an apparatus for compacting empty containers of thick or thin plastic or of thin metal, used for packaging various products such as water, beverages, food in general.

The apparatus comprises a compression chamber to receive the empty container, covered by a lid and having a flat mobile base, a set of electric resistances inside the walls of the chamber, a processor

for programming and operating the compacting cycle, a control board with keys to be chosen according to the most suitable operative cycle for the type of container to be compacted.

The chamber is preferably cylindrical.

The strongly constructed lid is hinged to the back of the chamber, with a fixing means at the front consisting of a mobile tongue, hinged close to the mouth of the chamber, in which is a hole of a sufficient diameter to receive a tongue that projects from the front of the lid opposite to its hinged rear.

Close to the lid is a safety sensor to ensure that the lid is closed and thus enable the compacting cycle to begin.

An empty container is placed in the chamber, the lid is closed by the above mobile tongue and the compacting operation is begun by pressing one of the keys on the pad; one key is for compacting thin metal containers cold, another for compacting thin plastic containers at a moderate temperature and another for compacting thick plastic containers at a high temperature.

The processor gives an acoustic warning when the cycle is completed.

Below the base plate of the chamber is a set of hydraulic jacks placed at an equal radial distance one from another and connected, through a distributor and a processor-controlled electronic valve, to the hydraulic pump, operated by an electric motor, and to a tank also connected to the pump.

Having started the cycle, the motor-operated hydraulic pump draws in fluid from the tank and, through the valve and distributor, transfers it under pressure to the hydraulic jacks, causing the pistons to raise the mobile base of the chamber and so compact the container, completion of which operation is announced by an acoustic and a visual signal.

The pump is preferably a rotary pump.

Having completed the compacting cycle and having released the lid by rotating the closing tongue outwards, a sensor connected to the processor raises the mobile base of the chamber nearly up to the edge of the chamber so bringing the compacted container to the surface from where it can be conveniently picked up and removed.

Having removed the compacted container and by pressing any one of the keys, the apparatus is returned to its original condition, namely with the mobile base at the bottom of the compression chamber, while the fluid is returned to the tank by the hydraulic pump worked by the electronic valve.

In one preferred execution the apparatus presents a main cylindrical oblong body with the set of parallel hydraulic jacks standing upright below the mobile base of the cylindrical chamber.

The electric motor, the hydraulic pump and the tank are vertically aligned parallel to the hydraulic jacks inside a vertical cylindrical extension of the main body, situated at the top of which extension is the control board with the electronic processor below it.

The invention offers evident advantages.

The hydraulic jacks by their very nature produce greatly increased power while an electric motor makes it possible to operate at a high speed.

It follows that the increased force generated, together with the high speed ensured by an electric motor, enable the hydraulic jacks to create the very high pressure needed for compacting, overcoming the combined bending and pressing stresses of the empty containers, all this being possible with a compact and easily operated apparatus.

In the case of thick plastic containers, the possibility of using heat to soften the plastic greatly speeds up the compacting process.

Characteristics and purposes of the invention will be made still clearer by the following example of its execution illustrated by diagrammatically drawn figures.

Fig. 1 The apparatus with chamber for empty containers to be compacted, perspective view cut through longitudinally.

Fig. 2 An empty bottle of thin plastic, perspective.

Fig. 3 An empty can of thin metal, perspective.

Fig. 4 The apparatus with the empty bottle in Figure 2 placed in the compression chamber, perspective, partly cut away, with detail.

Fig. 5 The apparatus while compacting the empty bottle, perspective partly cut away.

Fig. 6 The apparatus on completion of compacting, when the lid has been opened and the compacted bottle extracted, perspective, partly cut away.

The apparatus 10 is formed of a substantially cylindrical body 20 standing on a solid base 22, with a cylindrical chamber 60 above it of a length about half that of the body 20 and of a slightly smaller diameter.

This chamber, comprised between a lower ring 62 and an upper ring 25, is closed by a substantially flat disk-shaped lid 30 joined to the edge of said body 20 by a diametral hinge 40 fixed onto a plate 41.

Extending from the lid, opposite to the hinge on the same diameter, is a strongly-built tongue 35, while a hook-shaped part 45 for closure is fixed to the edge of the body 20, said hook turning freely round a pin 47 through the support 48.

In said hook 45 is a hole 50 through which the tongue 35 on the lid fits when the lid has to be closed.

Said tongue 35 presents a curve, its radius lying on the centre of the axis of said pin 47, facilitating closure of the lid 30 when the hook 45 is turned upwards as shown in Figure 4.

A cavity 95 is created between the chamber 60 and the body 20 to receive a helical electric resistance 96.

On the bottom of said chamber 60 is a discoid plate 90 fixed to rods 75,76, 77 placed at an equal angular distance and freely sliding inside hydraulic jacks 70-72.

At their lower ends said rods 75-77 present pistons, respectively 80- 82, fitted with elastic bands 85 to ensure a seal inside the cylinders enclosing the hydraulic jacks 70-72.

Said rods 75-77 penetrate the lower disk 62 through holes 64.

Low down at one side of said cylindrical body 20 is a substantially cylindrical extension 100.

Inside said extension and substantially corresponding to its vertical axis, from the top downwards, is an electric motor 105 joined to the hydraulic pump 110 below it by a shaft 106.

This pump is joined by a pipe 112 to the tank 115 connected by a pipe 113 to an electric valve 120.

This valve is joined by a pipe 116 to the hydraulic pump 110 and by a pipe 122 to the distributor 125.

Through smaller radial pipes 130-132 the distributor 125 supplies the three hydraulic jacks 70-72 with pistons 80-82.

On the flat upper surface of the extension 100 is the keypad 145 below which is the electronic processor 140.

The processor can be connected by a cable 164, bushing 170 and plug 175 and a socket 177 to main electricity. Through a cable 165 electric current is supplied to the resistances 96, through another cable 166 to the motor 105 operating, through a further cable 167, the electronic valve 120.

The diameter and length of the cylindrical chamber 60 substantially correspond to the dimensions of the well-known bottles 180 for mineral water, beverages and the like, and can therefore also receive

thin metal cans 185 these usually being smaller and shorter than the bottles 180.

To compact empty containers, whether of plastic like the bottle 180, or of thin metal like the can 185, these"empties"are put inside the cylindrical chamber 60 after which the electric motor 105, the hydraulic pump 110, the valve 120 and the three pipes 130-132, cause fluid from the tank 115 to flow inside the hydraulic jacks 70-72.

Pressure generated by the hydraulic pump 110, greatly empowered by the hydraulic jacks 70-72, forces the disk-shaped plate 90 to move upward.

The described apparatus can compact in the most appropriate fashion, empties of thick or thin plastic or of thin metal.

Pressing a key 147 on the keypad 145 (Figure 4) turns on the electrical resistances 96 and sets in motion the compacting sequence for containers of thick plastic.

According to the type of material and allowing time needed to soften the empty plastic container, a timer or a thermal sensor starts up the electric motor which, through the hydraulic pump and the hydraulic jacks, causes the discoid plate 90 to rise so compacting the container.

Pressing the second key 148, the same process using moderate heat, compacts the thin plastic containers in the chamber 60.

Key 149 on the keypad 145 operates the cold compacting cycle suitable for thin metal cans 185.

On opening the lid 30, the discoid plate 90 (Figure 6) automatically rises further, so pushing the compacted container 195 outside the chamber 60 from where it can be easily picked up for removal.

Each key 147-149 is respectively connected to its pilot light 155-157 which light up to show operation of the cycle.

The labels 150-153 show the user which compacting method is to be adopted using one of the three keys 147-149.