How should Ben continue building his automatic can crusher? Post your idea + you might get a free Ben Heck t-shirt!

I think that an automating the feed system will effectively negate the need for high speed crushing.

I have attached a quick sketch of my idea.

The system would be a fairly simple gravity fed hopper, of a type I have seen coupled with Arm-Strong can crushers. A hopper positioned above the crushing piston and would have the cans prearranged in a manner that would facilitate the crushing process.

A can would fall in place before the crushing piston and prevent any further cans from falling in. This is very very much like the ammunition feed system in a original Gatling Gun. The piston would begin to crush the can, pushing it out of the way of the waiting cans. The piston itself would prevent the cans from loading until the piston has returned. Again, much like the bolt in a Gatling Gun.

On the other end of the containment cylinder, a crushing bulkhead would provide the resistance necessary to crush the can. I understand this differs from Ben's design and would require that this bulkhead be firmly mounted to the super structure of the device.

Once the can comes in contact with a pressure sensor, the bomb-bay style doors would open allowing the crushed can to drop out once the piston begins to retract. This would need to be on some kind of delay to prevent jamming. Once the piston retracts, the crushed can can fall into the recycle bin.

The piston will then return to the original position, allowing the next can to drop into place.

I think that an automating the feed system will effectively negate the need for high speed crushing.

I have attached a quick sketch of my idea.

The system would be a fairly simple gravity fed hopper, of a type I have seen coupled with Arm-Strong can crushers. A hopper positioned above the crushing piston and would have the cans prearranged in a manner that would facilitate the crushing process.

A can would fall in place before the crushing piston and prevent any further cans from falling in. This is very very much like the ammunition feed system in a original Gatling Gun. The piston would begin to crush the can, pushing it out of the way of the waiting cans. The piston itself would prevent the cans from loading until the piston has returned. Again, much like the bolt in a Gatling Gun.

On the other end of the containment cylinder, a crushing bulkhead would provide the resistance necessary to crush the can. I understand this differs from Ben's design and would require that this bulkhead be firmly mounted to the super structure of the device.

Once the can comes in contact with a pressure sensor, the bomb-bay style doors would open allowing the crushed can to drop out once the piston begins to retract. This would need to be on some kind of delay to prevent jamming. Once the piston retracts, the crushed can can fall into the recycle bin.

The piston will then return to the original position, allowing the next can to drop into place.

I had a similar idea, but I don't think you need a door to activate; the full-size can wouldn't drop through the slot for a crushed can, and the can wouldn't drop until the piston removed pressure from the can.  Gravity could do the rest.  I thought of the hopper idea, but how would we get it to automatically orient the cans so they would enter the crushing cylinder properly?