Sargent Industries, Inc.

Essef Corporation

George J Korzeniowski

Fred T Smith

Thomas G Carter

William B Goldsworthy

A process of fabricating a composite vessel includes the steps of: A) fabricating a thermoplastic liner for the vessel; B) overlaying a layer comprising fiber and a thermoplastic material (preferably by winding commingled filaments, rovings or yarns) onto the thermoplastic liner to obtain a composite intermediate structure (the fiber and thermoplastic material can be heated if desired during the overlaying, e.g. winding, step); C) heating the composite intermediate structure in a mold while applying at least one force thereto tending to urge the composite intermediate structure against and into the shape of the interior walls of the mold; D) continuing step C) until the thermoplastic liner and the overlaid layer consolidate to form a composite vessel; E) cooling the mold and composite vessel until the composite vessel is solidified; and F) removing the formed composite vessel from the mold. The at least one force applied during step C) may be obtained by introducing gas pressure into the interior of the composite intermediate structure. Suitable materials for the thermoplastic material include: polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutylene terephthalate and polyethylene terephthalate. The resulting composite vessel exhibits superior mechanical and aesthetic properties.

Method for fabricating composite pressure vessels

A container in which trash may be stored until such time as the container can be dumped into a truck for transportation to a sanitary disposal site. Trash may be inserted and compacted within the container by a compactor unit formed integrally with or fixedly attached to the container. The compactor unit includes a hopper into which trash may be dumped. A packing panel may be pivotally mounted to move through the hopper to push the trash into the container and compact it therein. The packing panel may move from a position in which the hopper is fully opened to a position in which the panel serves as a door to close the hopper and prevent access to the hopper. The panel can be moved from the 'door' position to a third position approximately 180.degree. from the fully opened position. In the third position, the panel has moved all of the trash out of the hopper and into the container. A ball-screw mechanism is provided to drive the panel with a constantly increasing torque as the panel moves from the fully open position to the trash-compacted position. A rim switch may be enclosed within the lip of the hopper so that a very light compression force between the panel and the lip of the hopper will cause the panel movement to be reversed automatically, thereby preventing any possibility of injury to an operator.

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Sherman Oaks, CA, United States of America

George J Korzeniowski