Apparatus for treating waste material

Claim 1

Garbage treating apparatus comprising a hopper having a discharge opening through its bottom, a breaking drum means rotatably mounted within said openning and comprising a central cylindrical member with a plurality of teeth fixed thereto and extending outwardly therefrom, the opposite ends of said drum means being disposed closely adjacent the opposite ends of said opening; anvil means disposed at and defining one side of said opening, said anvil means including a plurality of anvil elements extending between adjacent teeth of said breaking drum means, check means rigidly supported from the side of said opening opposite said first-mentioned side and including check plates disposed between the respective teeth of said breaking drum means and encircling said cylindrical member, power means for rotating said breaking drum means at a low peripheral speed in a direction such that its said teeth rotate downwardly between said anvil elements to force the treated garbage downwardly through said opening, while said check plates occupying the spaces between adjoining teeth prevent the upward return of garbage into the said hopper; a horizontally disposed tube means below said breaking drum means and communicating through said opening with the hopper; a receptacle having a horizontally directed opening telescopically receiving and movable lengthwise on said tube means, and means supporting the receptacle for lengthwise movement on the said tube means in response to the pressure of treated garbage as caused by rotation of said breaking drum means, said breaking drum means projecting downwardly through said opening into said tube means to produce said pressure on the treated garbage and movement of the treated garbage through the tube means.