A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compacting apparatus for use in conjunction with lawn grooming equipment such as a lawn mower, leaf blower and the like, for collecting and compacting grass cuttings, leaves, twigs and the like. In a further aspect of the invention, means are provided to supply a chemical agent through the compactor to react with the compacted material therein to form compost.
In connection with conventional lawn grooming equipment, the cuttings, leaves, twigs and other refuse material picked up by the machine are either blown back on the lawn or collected in special collection equipment for subsequent manual removal or removal by special collecting apparatus.
The picked-up material is quite voluminous, usually about 10 Kg/m.sup.3 -20 Kg/m.sup.3 per volume of dry weight, and, consequently, collection equipment must be correspondingly voluminous, and the grooming operation must be interrupted frequently for removal of the collected refuse material.
The present invention contemplates an apparatus which provides for continuous compaction of the refuse material during the uninterrupted operation of the lawn grooming equipment, which may be designed to compact the material to a weight volume which may be five times to ten times its non-compacted condition, and even greater.
The apparatus according to the invention also provides for continuous collection and packaging of the refuse material for easy removal to a common collecting site.
The invention also provides for injection of a composting fluid into refuse material during the compacting operation.
B. Discussion of the Prior Art
Compaction apparatus for use with lawn grooming equipment, such as lawn mowers, are known generally to the art. Such compactors, which can be positioned together with the working components of the lawn mower, or which can be separate units attachable to the lawn mower, and similar lawn grooming equipment, are illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,103,477; 4,069,649; 3,791,118; 3,736,736; 3,644,097; 3,242,658; 3,222,853; and 2,910,818.
The compactors disclosed by the aforementioned patents generally include a compactor housing having an inlet opening and means for propelling grass cuttings, usually by the centrifugal forces generated by the rotating cutting blades of the lawn mower, through the inlet opening and into the housing. Conveyor means are provided within the housing to convey the grass cuttings therein, and various means are provided to compact the cuttings within the housing. A more detailed discussion of each of the background patents noted above is provided in a document entitled "Disclosure Statement," filed concurrently herewith.
None of the aforementioned patents is believed to disclose a compactor of the general type discussed herein, which includes the feature of a compaction housing to provide an initial compacting step during which moisture and air pressed out from, or accompanying, the material are evacuated through holes in the compactor housing in combination with a tubular casing or hose of flexible material connected extensibly to the outlet opening and into which the initially compacted material is continuously and forcibly advanced by the conveyor means, separated and further compacted therein against the resilient wall of the casing to form a plug in the open end thereof, causing the resultant sausage of compacted material to crawl in serpentine fashion along a guided path on the cover of the lawn grooming equipment. Furthermore, none of the aforementioned background patents discloses a compactor for grass cuttings and other refuse material including means for injecting a chemical composting agent into the refuse material during the compacting operation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a compaction apparatus for use with a lawn mower, lawn vacuum cleaner and similar lawn grooming equipment incorporating the abovementioned features.