Garden composter

1. A garden composter for decomposing organic waste, the garden composter having a longitudinally extending cylindrical drum for mounting to a support frame adapted to space the drum from a supporting surface and tumbling means for coupling the drum to the support frame for rotation of the drum relative to the support frame about an axis of rotation of the drum, the cylindrical drum having at least two load openings formed in a cylindrical wall portion thereof between two end wall portions;

removable closure caps for selectively closing said load openings;

at least one partition for dividing the cylindrical drum into a number of chambers disposed side by side along said axis, each chamber communicating with a respective load opening, the said at least one partition having a fixed portion coupled to the drum and a relatively movable portion, said fixed portion and said movable portion each having at least one flow control partition opening, said movable portion being adapted to be moved so that the associated said at least one flow control partition opening may be selectively brought into registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that transfer of composted material between adjacent chambers is permitted and out of registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that all of the at least one flow control partition opening are fully obstructed;

wherein the said at least one partition has a handle fixed to the movable portion and extending radially through the cylindrical wall portion for arcuate movement along the cylindrical wall portion of the drum, the drum having an arcuate slot for receiving the handle and disposed to lie in registration with said partition to define open and closed limit positions, in which the flow control partition openings are in registration and fully open and in which the flow control partition openings are out of registration and fully closed, respectively;

whereby the garden composter may receive organic waste through said load openings for decomposition in said chambers, and the waste may be aged selectively in said chambers to adjust its residence time, as required, before discharge from the composter.

2. A garden composter according to claim 1 in which the cylindrical drum has at least one discharge opening formed in an end wall portion thereof for discharging composted material from the drum.

3. A garden composter according to claim 2 in which the cylindrical drum has at least one discharge opening formed in both end wall portions at opposite ends of the drum for discharging composted material from the drum.

4. A garden composter according to claim 2 in which the said at least one discharge opening is formed to discharge composted material from a height above the supporting surface corresponding to the axis of rotation of the drum.

5. A garden composter for decomposing organic waste, the garden composter having a longitudinally extending cylindrical drum for mounting to a support frame adapted to space the drum from a supporting surface and tumbling means for coupling the drum to the support frame for rotation of the drum relative to the support frame about an axis of rotation of the drum, the cylindrical drum having at least two load openings formed in a cylindrical wall portion thereof between two end wall portions;

removable closure caps for selectively closing said load openings; and

at least one partition for dividing the cylindrical drum into a number of chambers disposed side by side along said axis, each chamber communicating with a respective load opening, the said at least one partition having a fixed portion coupled to the drum and a relatively movable portion, said fixed portion and said movable portion each having at least one flow control partition opening, said movable portion being adapted to be moved so that the associated said at least one flow control partition opening may be selectively brought into registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that transfer of composted material between adjacent chambers is permitted and out of registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that all of the at least one flow control partition opening are fully obstructed, whereby the garden composter may receive organic waste through said load openings for decomposition in said chambers, and the waste may be aged selectively in said chambers to adjust its residence time, as required, before discharge from the composter;

wherein the cylindrical drum has end wall portions formed into respective outwardly extending trunnions for rotation inside respective, receiving cradle openings formed in the support frame, the trunnions having at least one discharge opening formed therein for discharging composted material from the drum;

the support frame having a pair of bearing plates for location against said end wall portions, each bearing plate having a cradle opening for receiving a respective one of said trunnions, and supporting a number of radially disposed roller bearings for rolling engagement with an end wall portion on rotation of the drum.

6. A garden composter according to claim 5 having a closure cap for each said trunnion.

7. A garden composter according to claim 1 in which the said at least one partition is circular and the fixed and movable portions have a number of sector shaped flow control partition openings formed therein, the flow control partition openings being radially offset from each other to leave wall portions in between for closing the flow control partition openings when the handle is brought to said closed limit position.

8. A garden composter according to claim 1 in which the tumbling means consists of a toothed peripheral rim formed at one end of the composting drum for cooperation with a pinion wheel mounted to said support frame.

9. A garden composter for decomposing organic waste, the garden composter having a longitudinally extending cylindrical wall portion extending between two end wall portions about a longitudinal axis, the end wall portions having respective outwardly extending trunnions formed on said longitudinal axis and defining discharge openings in said trunnions, at least two load openings being formed in the cylindrical wall between said end wall portions;

removable closure caps for selectively closing said openings;

at least one partition for dividing the cylindrical drum into a number of chambers disposed side by side along said axis, each chamber communicating with a respective load opening, the said at least one partition having a fixed portion coupled to the drum and a relatively movable portion, said fixed portion and said movable portion each having at least one flow control partition opening, said movable portion being adapted to be moved so that the associated said at least one flow control partition opening may be selectively brought into registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that transfer of composted material between adjacent chambers is permitted and out of registration with a corresponding said at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion so that all of the at least one flow control partition opening in the fixed portion are fully obstructed;

a handle fixed to the movable portion of the partition and extending radially from the cylindrical wall portion for arcuate movement along the cylindrical wall portion of the drum, the drum having an arcuate slot for receiving the handle and disposed to lie in registration with said partition to define open and closed limit positions, in which the flow control partition openings are in registration and fully open and in which the flow control partition openings are out of registration and fully closed, respectively;

a support frame having a pair of bearing plates for location against said end wall portions, each bearing plate having a cradle opening for receiving a respective one of said trunnions, and supporting a number of radially disposed roller bearings for rolling engagement with an end wall, the support frame being adapted to space the drum from a supporting surface;

tumbling means for coupling the drum to the support frame for rotation of the drum relative to the frame about said longitudinal axis, the tumbling means consisting of a toothed peripheral rim formed at one end of the composting drum cooperating with a pinion wheel at one end of a pinion shaft rotatably mounted to the support frame and having a handle for rotation of the pinion shaft, whereby the pinion wheel engages the toothed peripheral rim to rotate the drum and organic waste received through said load openings is decomposed in said chambers, the waste being aged selectively in said chambers to adjust its residence time, as required, before discharge from the composter.

10. A garden composter according to claim 9 in which the said at least one partition is circular and the fixed and movable portions have a number of sector shaped flow control partition openings formed therein, the flow control partition openings being radially offset from each other to leave wall portions in between for closing the flow control partition openings when the handle is brought to said closed limit position.