Impac ASL, a clone of the old EMCO design (City of Weatherford, Oklahoma) In 2001, John W. Bingman designed a new rectangular-type side-loading refuse packer for Central Tank, which used the EMCO type lift on a body very similar to that of a standard front loader. called Sprinter, it featured a full-eject blade powered by cross-mounted telescopic cylinders. Bingman had worked with Marc Stragier back in 1974 on the original Rapid-Rail lift, and was also inventor of the Sunbelt Automated Systems lift in 1988. The Impac (circular) and Sprinter (rectangular) bodies were stablemates at Mabar. In 2003, an new company called Pendpac was formed, to make an all-new pendulum-blade ASL. Pendpac acquired certain intellectual rights and property from Central Tank. The Pendpac, Impac and Sprinter all became a family of refuse bodies. Pendpac even added an all-new front loader into the product line. Within a few years, Pendpac had taken legal action against several defendants including Central Tank, and a manufacturer called Southwestern Equipment Company of Justin, Texas. The lengthy allegations are linked in the case text (see references), and a central claim is that persons conspired to steal trade secrets from Pendpac. In their response, Southwestern noted that the models supposedly copied from Pendpac were commonly known, and that Central Tank had already copied the design of the circular Impac bodies (from the defunct EMCO). In 2011, Pendpac was acquired by Enviroquip LLC, and merged into the Labrie refuse equipment family. Three of the the models continue in production with Labrie (Pendpac Alleygator, Impac and Sprinter). The Pendpac Feenix front loader was redundant, and has now been discontinued. In Texas, Southwestern Equipment Co. (SEC) also manufactures the Challenger (circular) Champion (rectangular) side loaders which are very similar to the old Impac products. 
Impac 'City of St. Louis' series ASL; They were the first major city to buy the EMCO system 
2001 Impac is identical to the EMCO models of the 1970s 1999 CCC with Impac commercial side loader, still in back-up service for Rexburg, Idaho (Video courtesy of Northwest Garbage Trucks) 
Monstrous Impac 1-P-LH-33YD-5STAGE manufactured in 2004 
Impac body with leaf vacuum for Arlington County, Virginia; note vents along the roof 
Impac leaf vacuum for a Northern Virginia landscape company 
The Impac Sprinter side loader, designed by John Bingman 
The Sprinter looks very much like a typical front loader body from this angle 
Sprinter packer blade face and interior 
Sprinter full-eject cross-ram design 
The Pendpac Alley-Gator revived the pendulum-packer design used by Bowles and Shu-Pak in the 1960s, only now on a modern ASL Pendpac pendulum packer hopper video (Video courtesy of cnoel74) 
The Pendpac Feenix front loader became redundant when the brand was absorbed into Labrie/Enviroquip. SELECTED PATENTS
|
