COMPACTING APPARATUS FOR USE WITH LAWN GROOMING EQUIPMENT

摘要

COMPACTION APPARATUS FOR USE WITH LAWN GROOMING EQUIPMENTABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA compaction apparatus for use with lawn grooming equip-ment such as a lawn mower, leaf blower and the like, includinga compactor housing having an inlet opening at one end to receivethe refuse material picked up from the lawn and a screw conveyorrotatably mounted within the housing to transport and compact thereceived material as it is advanced through the conveyor housing.Perforations in the housing provide outlets for evacuating fromthe housing, air and moisture separated from the compressedmaterial as it is initially compacted in the housing. A flexibletubular collector casing or hose is extensibly connected to theoutlet end of the compactor housing, into which the initiallycompacted material is continuously advanced. The cuttings andother refuse material are further compacted against the interiorwall of the casing by the force of the continuously advancingmaterial and form a plug in the end of the hose-like casing,causing it to extend from the outlet end of the compactor hous-ing like a sausage. This sausage of compacted refuse materialcrawls in serpentine fashion along a guided path on the top ofthe main body of the grooming equipment. When the casing, filledup with backed-up refuse material, has been extended or unfolded,the resultant sausage is severed from the compactor housing andmay be dropped on the lawn for subsequent removal to compostingdump or other collection site.The screw conveyor may be provided with a bore for trans-porting a composting fluid from the inlet end of the conveyor tobe discharged into the housing towards its outlet end.