Abstract: A system and method utilizing store fitting room information to develop targeted advertising and offers directed to customers whose information has been collected at least in part in the fitting room.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a compactor may include one or more of the following features: (a) a frame coupled to a base having side panels with a front portion, a side wall, and a rear portion, (b) a compaction plate assembly including a platen pivotally coupled to the side walls for rotation about a fixed axis, (c) a compaction plate driver coupled to a rear wall for driving the platen in a semicircular direction toward and away from a rear wall of a cart, (d) an electrical switch for preventing operation of the compaction plate driver when a door member coupled to the frame is ajar, and (e) a speaker for playing an audio message upon actuation of an electric motor.

Abstract: The invention comprises a trash compactor cabinet formed from two panels of sheet metal. The panels are the same shape and are attached with one being inverted compared to the other along a V-shaped channel at one end of the panel. The panels have a V-shaped channel in the back side of the panel to form a passageway between shelves in the cabinet and the rear wall of the cabinet. A front portion of the panel is formed by a channel for attaching doors or door frames to the front of the cabinet. The cabinet can be formed by quickly and easily bending sheet metal into the panels and welding the panels together.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a compactor for a restaurant facility may include one or more of the following features: (a) a base, a first side panel, and a second side panel, (b) a first door for access to the compactor to place trash into the compactor for compacting, (c) a second door for access to the compactor to remove compacted trash, (d) at least one door operably coupled to a counterbalance weight to provide easy movement of the at least one door to move along a track, and (e) at least one continuous channel beginning in an upper portion of a back wall and traversing to a front of the base, the channel having a curved portion transitioning from the back wall to the bottom wall.

Abstract: A refuse compactor especially designed for use in fast-food restaurant environments includes a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor for actuating a hydraulic ram to compress restaurant waste materials. The compactor includes a unique outer support structure that derives strength from the outer housing skins to support a compaction plate assembly. The compaction plate assembly maintains the platen inclined at a predetermined angle to the vertical when the platen is elevated and which forces the platen to a horizontal disposition during a downward compaction stroke. A motor operated closure member selectively blocks and unblocks a refuse-receiving opening formed in a front door of the compactor unit and with a motion detector controlling the opening and closing of the refuse entry door panel.

Abstract: A refuse compactor especially designed for use in fast-food restaurant environments includes a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor for actuating a hydraulic ram to compress restaurant waste materials. The compactor includes a unique outer support structure that derives strength from the outer housing skins to support a compaction plate assembly. The compaction plate assembly maintains the platen inclined at a predetermined angle to the vertical when the platen is elevated and which forces the platen to a horizontal disposition during a downward compaction stroke. A motor operated closure member selectively blocks and unblocks a refuse-receiving opening formed in a front door of the compactor unit and with a motion detector controlling the opening and closing of the refuse entry door panel.

Abstract: A trash compactor is provided with a channel in the cavity of the trash compactor for allowing string to pass behind and below the compacted trash in the cavity of the trash compactor making it easy to secure the compacted trash in bales before removing the bale from the cavity of the trash compactor. The channels are inside of the bottom and back walls of the cavity and allow a strap therein to draw a string from the top back wall of the cavity to the front of the bottom wall of the cavity. The string can then be extended to circumnavigate the bale and be tied off before removing the bale from the cavity. The straps can be reinserted in the channels ready to pull string around the back and underneath the next bale.

Abstract: Disclosed is a business rules workflow system that provides a single communication interface for communications between end user applications, such as an agent user interface, and back office applications. The business rules workflow system also provides a single interface to apply business rules to the end user application to back office application communications. The communications and business rules interfaces reduce the need for multiple user interfaces using multiple technology, thus reducing the complexity, maintenance, and upgrade costs for a typical business environment. The business rules workflow system sends and receives data form pre-existing data systems, converts the pre-existing data system data into a common format, and sends the data to the data consumer. Any business rules based on the pre-existing system data will be applied by the business rules workflow system.

Abstract: A refuse compactor especially designed for use in fast-food restaurant environments includes a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor for actuating a hydraulic ram to compress restaurant waste materials. The compactor includes a unique compaction plate assembly that maintains the platen inclined at a predetermined angle to the vertical when the platen is elevated and which forces the platen to a horizontal disposition during a downward compaction stroke. A motor operated closure member selectively blocks and unblocks a refuse-receiving opening formed in a front door of the compactor unit and with a motion detector controlling the opening and closing of the refuse entry door panel.

Abstract: A refuse compactor especially designed for use in fast-food restaurant environments includes a hydraulic pump driven by an electric motor for actuating a hydraulic ram to compress restaurant waste materials. The compactor includes a unique compaction plate assembly that maintains the platen inclined at a predetermined angle to the vertical when the platen is elevated and which forces the platen to a horizontal disposition during a downward compaction stroke. A motor operated closure member selectively blocks and unblocks a refuse-receiving opening formed in a front door of the compactor unit and with a motion detector controlling the opening and closing of the refuse entry door panel.

Abstract: An electric hand truck having positive and negative lift capability. The hand truck can lower objects from stairs, loading docks, or trucks. The hand truck can also lift objects from the floor upward and climb stairs. It has a platform with caster wheels for easy of mobility in tight places. It has brakes and an adjustable tilt with a dolly such that the cargo hauled can be wheeled on the hand trucks main wheels and on the dolly wheels which support the object at an angle. The objects are raised or lowered by an electric motor run on a battery. The switch for the motor is a strip switch running the length of the rail extrusions for ease of access. The hand truck is lightweight and maneuverable. The dolly tilts the rail extrusions are easily adjustable angles to suit the load. Handles attached to the rail extrusions make the hand truck easy to maneuver.

Abstract: A refuse compactor especially designed for fast food restaurants is of a predetermined limited height dimension allowing its upper surface to function as a serving tray storage rack. The refuse compactor is characterized by having a foldable compaction plate driven by a hydraulic ram. When the compaction plate is elevated to its uppermost position, it is folded in a way that does not interfere with the opening of the refuse entry door. When moving through its compaction stroke, the foldable compaction plate becomes locked in a flat, planar configuration. In this way, it is unnecessary to locate the compaction plate above the refuse entry door, thereby providing a lower profile to the refuse compactor cabinet.

Abstract: A unique automated and comprehensive through-the-wall waste handling and storage system for treating organic and inorganic waste generated in a building of interest is disclosed in which waste to be discarded is loaded into a through-the-wall system from one side of a wall of the building of interest, stored in a container, and removed from the container on the other side of the wall of the building of interest. The container of the invention includes space conditioning refrigeration system and contemplates embodiments of an integrated waste handling and storage system which accommodate all types of waste and many levels of automation and which also eliminate many prior art sanitation and sorting problems associated with the handling and the storage of waste prior to disposal.

Abstract: An unique automated and comprehensive through-the-wall trash handling and storage system and process which are disclosed in material to be discarded is loaded into a through-the-wall system from within and picked up by a hauler from outside an associated building. The invention contemplates embodiments of an integrated trash handling and storage system which accommodates all types of trash and many levels of automation and eliminates many of the prior art problems associated with sorting and sanitation in the handling and the storage of trash prior to disposal.

Abstract: A built-in bale ejector for use in a trash compactor comprises an elongated band which is fastened at one end to the floor portion of the compactor cabinet at a front edge thereof and which passes between the floor and a box in which the refuse is to be compacted and then up the inside rear wall of the compactor to a predetermined height. The compactor includes a vertically movable compaction plate which can be driven in reciprocal fashion downward into the box to compress the refuse therein and upward to a "ready" position. When it is desired to eject a filled box, a spring-loaded take-up reel mechanism coupled to the compaction plate can be latched against rotation by a locking mechanism. When so locked, the return stroke of the compaction plate pulls the band tight and thus urges the box filled with the compacted trash to be ejected out through the door opening of the compactor cabinet.

Abstract: A trash compactor of the type comprising a hollow cabinet containing a reciprocally movable compaction plate for crushing and reducing the volume of waste materials deposited therein also includes a sanitary air filtration system for inhibiting the release or airborne particles beyond the confines of the cabinet. A removable air plenum assembly is mounted within the cabinet and has an air inlet in fluid communication with the interior of the compactor cabinet and an air discharge. Motor driven fans create a negative pressure within the cabinet and a series of in-line filters are disposed in the air flow path for capturing airborne particles greater than about 0.3 microns in size and for deodorizing the air exiting the system. The motor-driven fans operate continuously at a low speed when the doors of the trash compactor cabinet are closed and switched to a higher speed when the doors are open to thereby inhibit any outward distribution of airborne particles except through the filter.

Abstract: An elongated, horizontally disposed cabinet of rectangular cross-section is mounted on wheels and is designed to store boxes or bags of compacted organic or inorganic refuse until they can be picked up by a trash hauler. To avoid the necessity of lifting the boxed or bagged-compacted trash, the cabinet includes a conveyor mechanism for facilitating the transport of such boxes or bags from the cabinet entrance to or towards its discharge end. The cabinet includes doors at each end thereof which, when closed, effectively seal the loaded refuse within the cabinet. To slow the decomposition process of the organic refuse, the cabinet is equipped with a temperature control including refrigeration means to be used when ambient temperature is above a predetermined temperature and heating means for prevent freezing when the ambient temperature is below freezing temperatures.

Abstract: A trash compactor of the type comprising a hollow cabinet containing a reciprocally movable compaction plate for crushing and reducing the volume of waste materials deposited therein also includes a sanitary air filtration system for inhibiting the release or airborne particles beyond the confines of the cabinet. A removable air plenum assembly is mounted within the cabinet and has an air inlet in fluid communication with the interior of the compactor cabinet and an air discharge. Motor driven fans create a negative pressure within the cabinet and a series of in-line filters are disposed in the air flow path for capturing airborne particles greater than about 0.3 microns in size and for deodorizing the air exiting the system. The motor-driven fans operate continuously at a low speed when the doors of the trash compactor cabinet are closed and switched to a higher speed when the doors are open to thereby inhibit any outward distribution of airborne particles except through the filter.

Abstract: A specially designed jointer is provided as an accessory attachment to a multipurpose power tool assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,945. The jointer may be mounted on the same bench surface as the multipurpose power tool itself and a tubular coupler is used to join the power take-off shaft of the multipurpose power tool to the jointer's drive shaft such that the same drive motor used for the multipurpose power tool can also provide power to the jointer.

Abstract: A cabinet for a trash or refuse compactor having a recessed area formed in the inside surfaces of its side and rear panels and extending upward from the floor thereof for a predetermined distance, the depth and size of the recess in the side and rear panels being such that the vertical sides of a box-type container may be disposed completely within the recess so as to avoid contact with a descending compaction plate.