Can Crusher - Take 2

Why not use an hydraulic system.  You can use a piston to crush the can, then retract the piston and open a door to drop the crushed can from the machine.  This could use limit switches to detect when the piston is at full extension, then retract it automatically.  The limit switches can also cause the can to be dropped from the crusher.

As a bonus you could super crush the can, then shred it so a bin can hold even more cans (or can remnants).

An even snazier option would use something similar to what the super splitter log splitter uses:

http://www.supersplit.com/principle.htm

That would surely crush a can!

Is there a specific axis of crushing?

I would still love to revisit this.

Gotta be a simple, home-appropriate solution.

-Ben

It seems many people use airpowered pneumatic crushers.  I'd prefer an electric option but am unsure of the strength needed to do so.  Maybe we can experiment with that actuator you have.

Excuse my non technical language, I have an idea, perhaps put a weight on the end of a motor, so when you put the (standing) can underneath the weight and turn it on the weight lowers down and starts to crush the pop can and when it cant be crushed anymore the weight lifts back up and then something on the side pushes the can off the stand and into a recycling bin. Or if you dont want a hanging weight around perhaps you can do it on a track of some sort and the can instead of standing up is laying down.

Hope that makes sense!

I understand what you are saying, but it wouldn't be fast or efficent.  To crush a can with a weight requires either a quick release on it that allows it to have momentium when it hits the can or be extremely heavy(175+ lbs).  The motor to lift that such of a weight would be large, loud and ineffient.  Also it would be slow.  It would take at least 10 seconds to compelete a single cylce.  Ben is wanting it to be quicker than one person would be with a manual crusher(~3 seconds a can)

Is there a reason for crushing the can in its vertical orientation? You're working against a cylinder that way, which is a structurally strong shape (no vertices to spread the load unequally). I propose a system that crushes cans that are lying down. A flat base with a sliding/crushing top, the top would stay perpendicular to the base, but move downwards at an angle  (so it would fold the can more than crush it). The previous can could be ejected from the mechanism by the next one. Might need some sort of rubber inside to provide enough friction to keep the can relatively stable (you could even go the original Nike method - use a waffle iron to mold the rubber). This way, the force required is reduced both by attacking the can along its less stable axis and the amount of metal being crushed is reduced.

If I didn't phrase this very well, try laying a can on its side and then skating on it. That should demonstrate the concept. 

I agree Ryan.  I would flatten in the same way, but the desired effect may be to crush the can in the "crush can against head" fashion.  Don't know.

Build an industrial paper shreder and rip the can to pieces.  Place in a container and smash it down into a block once the container is full.

Better yet make that container a crucible and melt them and pour them into a block.  Bonus use, Ben can create sand molds of parts he needs for projects and pour can aluminum into the molds and make his own aluminum parts.

Maybe run an air compressor and have a solenoid valve to release the air pressure into a ram, reverse for lifting (a 'nipple' on each side of the plunger in the cylinder of the ram).