Jumping Bean Van Drie Engineering El Segundo, California     The Jumping Bean Bag Collector was an attachment which could be used to load bagged refuse from the street to a compaction body while the truck was in motion. The creation of Gerhardt Van Drie, it was actually used by the City of Covina, California during the early 1970s. The prototype model was bolted on to the side of a standard truck with a Shu-Pak side loader. Covina put the Jumping Bean in service with two 40-yard Bowles full-pack front loaders, having modified the International Harvester cabs to accommodate the loader ramp directly next to the driver. These trucks could collect bagged refuse while moving at a speed of 10 MPH, and could be used as conventional front loaders with the Jumping Bean unit detached.     The early 1970s saw wider acceptance of plastic sacks for refuse disposal, and the Jumping Bean was one of three attempts to automate their collection (the other two being the Gulf MBR and the Litter Gulper). The need for parking control in collection areas, the potential mess caused by animals scattering trash, and the general unsightly-ness of piles of bags probably doomed all of these attempts. Van Drie filed a second patent in 1978, which would seem to indicate there was still some market potential at that time. However, the "mainstreaming" of automated container systems was also taking place, and the industry went the way of the plastic cart. Prototype Jumping Bean loader used with a Shu-Pak side loader; the packer could not keep up with the rate of collection. One of Covina's modified IHC cabovers, with a 40-yard Bowles full-pack front loader Street-side view of the loader. It's highly probable that Bowles did the fitting of the loader and cab mods for Covina In operation in Covina in 1974; parking had to be curtailed during collection times Upper and lower conveyor belts made of flexible rubber grabbed and carried the bags into the body A Right-hand-drive version with a telescopic-lift cab and left-hand pickup SELECTED PATENTS Patent # Description Inventor Assignee Date US3923169 Apparatus for collecting solid-waste material Van Drie May 10, 1973 US4185731 Apparatus for collecting solid and loose-waste materials Van Drie March 7, 1978 8/21/16 © 2016 All Rights Reserved Logos shown are the trademarks of respective manufacturers Photos from factory brochures/trade advertisements except as noted