Achille Talenti Co. Rome, Italy By Eric Voytko Battery-electric refuse truck operated by Tudini-Talenti in Rome, 1942     Engineer Achille Talenti (1895-1971) was partner in the the firm of Tudini-Talenti, a large public works construction company that built many projects for the Italian government, and was once contractor for refuse collection in the City of Rome. The firm used KUKA rotary refuse collection bodies, and this is probably what inspired Talenti became involved in the building of his own designs. As early as 1956, he was co-applicant on a patent with KUKA, with none other than Walter Gabler listed as one of the inventors.     Achille Talenti formed a company bearing his name to produce municipal equipment, and his first refuse body patent dates to 1959. The main difference in Talanti rotaries (as compared with KUKA) was the design of the internal screw, to speed the unloading process. Talanti bodies also had resilient vanes at the rear (loading) end of the drum, which would flex against torsion bars if an incompressible object jammed the machine.     By the 1950s, manufacture of refuse bodies was in full swing These were based heavily on the German KUKA design, but with unique features. One of the biggest export customers with the city of Antwerp, Belgium, which was a Talenti customer right through the 1970s.     The new Rotomatic body became the company flagship of the 1970s, and would help Talenti become one of the few European manufacturers to successfully tap into the USA market. Achille Talanti died in 1971, but the company bearing his name continued. In 1974, they entered into an agreement with Orbital Collection Systems (USA), acquiring the rights to the Orbie System in Italy. Talenti provided their Rotomatic body, which was exported to USA and branded as the Orbie 202 Series.     Talenti was purchased by Orbital later that year, for 10 million dollars in stock. Talenti-Orbital bodies had modest success in America, selling their bodies on domestic truck chassis and usually combined with a paper sack collection system. A satellite dump truck was also produced, mounted on a three-wheeled Piaggio "Ape" scooter, which was also exported to the USA. The company appears to have ceased operations around 1980. Talenti rotary body being fed by a Piaggio scooter with high-lift dumper 1970s Talenti Rotomatic body, which was also imported to the USA and sold under the Orbital name REFERENCES Tudini & Talenti Company page at Wikipedia Espana Patent no. 192401, October 6, 1948: Bin lift device (co applicants KUKA and Talenti) Canada Patent no. 530976, Hans Tilch and Walter Gabler, September 25, 1956: Charging and Discharging device for vehicles Deutsches Patent no. 1154394, Achille Talenti, December 4, 1959: Rotary refuse body Orbital Systems page at Classic Refuse Trucks KUKA album at Classic Refuse Trucks 12/12/21 © 2021 Eric Voytko All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted