Air Cylinder-Operated Automatic Can Crusher
Using a variety of miscellaneous parts, Dave Sand built an electric and air-operated can crusher that works automatically when the can is thrown into it.
The 2-ft. long machine is 1 1/2 ft. wide at the top, but angles down to a trough that’s only 8 in. wide. It uses a 10-in. long, 8-in. dia. air cylinder attached to a plunger to crush cans. The air cylinder is activated by a programmer that responds to a sensor and a reflector. The air cylinder, plunger and sensor are located under a control panel at one end of the machine, and the reflector is at the other end.
The sensor shoots a continuous light beam toward the reflector, and when a can is thrown into the container it interrupts the beam and activates the programmer. The plunger then forces the air cylinder through the bottom half of an 8-in. dia. steel pipe, which is closed off at one end. As the cylinder returns, the crushed can falls through a slot cut into the bottom of the trough and drops into a big barrel.
“It really works good and makes crushing cans an almost effortless job. It can handle 3 or 4 cans at a time and will even crush bean and soup cans,” says Sand. “My son and my brother helped me build it a few years ago. At the time my son was taking electronics and pneumatics classes at a local vo-tech school. I got the sensor off an old machine and bought the air cylinder at an auction.
“The control panel contains several push buttons for switching to manual operation in case the cylinder gets stuck on a can, but I seldom have to use them. I can also rub my finger across a small black controller to activate the machine.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Sand, Avon, Minn. 56310.
Using a variety of miscellaneous parts, Dave Sand built an electric and air-operated can crusher that works automatically when the can is thrown into it.
The 2-ft. long machine is 1 1/2 ft. wide at the top, but angles down to a trough that’s only 8 in. wide. It uses a 10-in. long, 8-in. dia. air cylinder attached to a plunger to crush cans. The air cylinder is activated by a programmer that responds to a sensor and a reflector. The air cylinder, plunger and sensor are located under a control panel at one end of the machine, and the reflector is at the other end.
The sensor shoots a continuous light beam toward the reflector, and when a can is thrown into the container it interrupts the beam and activates the programmer. The plunger then forces the air cylinder through the bottom half of an 8-in. dia. steel pipe, which is closed off at one end. As the cylinder returns, the crushed can falls through a slot cut into the bottom of the trough and drops into a big barrel.
“It really works good and makes crushing cans an almost effortless job. It can handle 3 or 4 cans at a time and will even crush bean and soup cans,” says Sand. “My son and my brother helped me build it a few years ago. At the time my son was taking electronics and pneumatics classes at a local vo-tech school. I got the sensor off an old machine and bought the air cylinder at an auction.
“The control panel contains several push buttons for switching to manual operation in case the cylinder gets stuck on a can, but I seldom have to use them. I can also rub my finger across a small black controller to activate the machine.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Sand, 11080 Lynn Rd., Avon, Minn. 56310 (ph 320 237-6189; the3sands@yahoo.com).
