Machine for densifying plastic containers and the like

Claim 1

A machine for densifying plastic containers and the like comprising a feeder and a shredder, said feeder including an enclosure having a front panel, rear panel and side panels and an inlet and an outlet with a rotatable shaft rotatably journaled in the side panels between the inlet and the outlet, a paddle wheel mounted on the rotatable shaft with radial vanes having a length and width sufficient to effectively block the return of material from the shredder between the paddle wheel and the enclosure and having a plurality of radial slots at the tip of the radial vanes, a plurality of scraper blades attached to the interior of the rear panel correspondingly spaced apart and aligned with the slots in the radial vanes such that the scraper blades pass through the radial vanes as they are rotated upwards towards the rear panel; and said shredder including an enclosure having a front panel, rear panel and side panels and an inlet and an outlet with a shredder shaft rotatably journaled in the side panels between the inlet and the outlet, a plurality of rotary shredder elements mounted on the shredder shaft in spaced apart relationship on the shaft, each of which includes a rotary knife with a generally radially extending cutting edge that slopes in a direction opposite of rotation of said knife, a plurality of stationary shredder elements mounted on the inside of the front panel in spaced apart relationship, each of which includes a stationary knife with a generally transversely extending cutting edge that slopes in the direction of rotation of the rotary knives and intersects the cutting circle of the rotary knives, said stationary knives aligned such that the rotary knives pass between them to provide a cooperative scissoring action, and a scraper plate mounted on the rear panel adjacent the outlet of the enclosure and inclined upward towards the shredder shaft and inwards towards the front panel, said scraper plate including a plurality of slots that are correspondingly spaced apart and aligned with rotary knives such that the rotary knives pass therethrough and are cleaned of any material which might be caught thereon; and, wherein the front and rear panels of the feeder and shredder are oriented in the same direction and the outlet of the feeder is attached to the inlet of the shredder.