WO2018066009A1

WO2018066009A1 - System for the compaction and management of recyclable waste and related incentive system

Info

Publication number: WO2018066009A1
Application number: PCT/IT2016/000233
Authority: WO
Inventors: Valerio CONTE; Vito ZIVOLI
Original assignee: Hts S.R.L.
Priority date: 2016-10-07
Filing date: 2016-10-07
Publication date: 2018-04-12

Abstract

A process performed by a special sorting machine for depositing, sorting and compacting recyclable waste, housed in an aluminium/sheet metal casing, enables fast sorting of the waste deposited and consists of the following stages: electronic identification of the user by barcode and QR Code reader; electronic identification of the material deposited and launch of the single automatic depositing system consisting of a cart which deposits the material in a bin placed below and a 10" monitor for displaying information; transferring materials deposited in the transfer bin to the hopper feeding the compacting system, by means of an automatic conveyor belt for high consumption products, and manually for low consumption products; automatic compactor that detects the presence of material inside the compacting chamber and proceeds with the compaction cycles by means of an 8 tonne vertical press; automatic ejection of the bale formed by a pusher, through a tunnel where it is tied manually or automatically by an automatic strapping machine; loading by an optical reader of the waste points awarded.

Description

DESCRIPTION

OF A "SYSTEM FOR THE COMPACTION AND MANAGEMENT OF RECYCLABLE

WASTE AND RELATED INCENTIVE SYSTEM"

• TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention concerns a method and the equipment for collecting, compacting and managing recyclable waste, particularly plastic.

This process and the related equipment deals with the total recycling of household plastic (PET, HDPE) and aluminium, awarding the contributor with points equivalent to cash spendable in stores participating in the initiative.

The invention thus stems from the desire to recover and recycle plastic that in large part is lost in landfills and incinerators.

• BACKGROUND ART

The concept developed to date by some players in the market has always clashed with the need for a massive human presence required for managing the compacting machines and the waste stored and, furthermore, the equipment used and related processes do not offer satisfactory performance with respect to the current needs.

This invention is able to minimise human presence, automating the compaction process and creating spaces where to store the compacted bales, increasing the collection and transfer intervals to two or three times a month. The technical problem underlying this invention is to provide a sorting and automatic compacting process and the relative equipment, allowing to overcome the drawbacks mentioned referring to the technology now being used.

·· DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The invention consists of a machine and a related system of incentives aimed to collecting, managing and compacting, as specified above, which features the following stages:

- Optical reading of barcodes and QR codes for user identification;

- Depositing recyclable waste in a circular or rectangular opening (depending on the type of product to be deposited) equipped with LED lighting that, depending on the depositing stage, lights up green (product compliant), red (nonconforming product) and blue (product during depositing) and displaying on a 10" LED monitor the time of acceptance and user data; - Identification of user equipped with card or APP registered with the system;

- Identification of the product deposited by electronic sensors;

- Automatic depositing by a cart storing the product given in the bin below;

Transfer of the products from the large depositing bin to the hopper feeding the compaction system, by means of automatic conveyor belt, for the high consumption products, and manually for lower consumption products;

- Automatic compaction system that detects the presence of material inside the compacting chamber and proceeds with the compaction cycles by means of an 8 tonne vertical press.

Once completed the compaction cycles (about 1200 PET bottles, 2000 aluminium cans, 1000 detergent bottles) the system provides to eject automatically the bale formed by means of a pusher, conveying it into a tunnel where the bale is tied manually or automatically by an automatic strapping machine.

Periodically, an operator takes care of arranging the bales for optimising the storage space.

The island is designed to accommodate up to 2 tonnes of compacted products, the system is provide with a computerised system that can provide information about the process stages by remote access. This system also takes care of sending automatic alerts to communicate the machine/system status.

The depositing area is divided by type: HDPE (detergent bottles up to 5 1) 3 depositing inlets, PET (plastic bottles from 0.25 to 2 litres) 4 depositing inlets, aluminium (cans up to 50 cl) 2 depositing inlets.

Every deposit inlet is provided with sensors, which count the number of containers delivered and awards the user a point worth 0.25€.

The user loads the points accumulated on a card (ReGreen Card) in the form of coins called "Recoins" to be spent as discounts in certain shops belonging to the circuit.

When a user inserts a bottle inside the inlet, this is collected in a first container from which, subsequently, it is transferred by an automated system to a hydraulic press that forms bales of compacted material weighing 20-50 kg. These bales are automatically ejected from the machine already tied and ready for storage.

The system, constantly connected to the Internet, launches an alert to headquarters when the storage area is about to be full, to prepare for the withdrawal of compacted bales.

The system developed for collecting, compacting and managing recyclable materials is based on an incentive system. This consists of an ecological island (fig.1) with minimum dimensions in metres of 5.00 L x 5.00 W x 3.20 H, expandable with 1.00 m modules in the two dimensions in plan, built with shaped aluminium/steel sheet, customisable by the licensee with graphics.

The complete system includes:

1. DEPOSITING AND COMPACTING ISLAND

2. CIRCUIT SHOPS

3. INFORMATION AND ADVERTISING SYSTEM

1. DEPOSITING AND COMPACTING ISLAND

1.1 EXTERNAL DEPOSITING SYSTEM.

The external depositing system consists of:

8 bar code and QR code optical readers for user identification;

8 RFID or NFC proximity readers;

^ 8 circular or rectangular depositing inlets;

8 x 10" LED monitors with a display system describing the depositing stages;

1.2 INTERNAL COMPACTING SYSTEM.

The automatic depositing and identification system of the product is equipped with sensors for the identification of the material and consists of a cart that deposits the product inserted in the large bin below.

Transfer of the products from the large depositing bin to the hopper feeding the compacting system is done by means of an automatic conveyor belt, then the automatic compacting system detects the presence of material inside the compacting chamber and proceeds with the compacting cycles by means of an 8 tonne vertical press.

Once completed the compacting cycles (about 1200 PET bottles, 2000 aluminium cans, 1000 detergent bottles) the system provides to automatically eject the bale formed by means of a pusher (fig.4 no.2), conveying it into a tunnel where it is manually or automatically tied by a strapping machine.

The press creates bales with a weight between 25 to 50 kg, depending on the compacted material.

The bales thus formed may be stored in a semiautomatic way by an idler roller system. Periodically, an operator takes care of arranging the bales to optimise the storage space.

The island is designed to accommodate up to 2 tonnes of compacted products. The system includes a computer system that can give information about the process stages by remote access. This system also takes care of sending automatic alerts to communicate the machine/system status.

On the outside of the island, on the wall opposite the depositing wall, there is a LED information system with minimum dimensions in metres of 2.00 W x 1.00 H (expandable by 50 cm increases) displaying advertisements of the shops participating in the circuit or institutional advertisements by the host municipality or commercial messages paid for by customers that are not part of the shop circuit, as well as an information system composed of three 32" LED monitors (40" optional) located on the depositing side and on the remaining sides, for a total of max twelve 32" LED monitors (40" optional).

Depending on the requirements, you can increase the size of the island in both directions by 1.00 m at a time, increasing the depositing inlets and the type of materials that can be deposited. The electronics and mechanics of the transfer cart are designed and manufactured specifically for identifying the user depositing the product and the type of product deposited in order to avoid the insertion of non-recyclable products.

When the transferring user is identified, his/her credentials are displayed on a specific 10" monitor.

From this moment, the user is enabled to insert his/her waste by the following steps:

• A transparent lid mounted on the depositing inlet (fig.2 no. 4) is released and the RGB LED colour changes to indicate this condition.

• After identifying the user, the depositing inlet is illuminated with a green RGB LED and the lid is unlocked.

• The user lifts the lid and puts the material in the inlet, kicking off the identification of the product by the sensors mounted on the internal transferring cart.

• If all the parameters are correct, the material is accepted and conferred in different hoppers (fig.3 no.6.a, 6.b, 6.c) for the accumulation.

• During the transferring stage, the lid is locked and cannot be used and the RGB colour is blue.

• When the product does not conform to the requirements, the lid is blocked and the RGB colour changes to flashing yellow.

• When the depositing inlet is in error mode or blocked, the RGB colour turns RED.

• When the depositing inlet is in stand-by, the internal LED is off.

• At the end of the identification process of the physical parameters of the objects, the system drives a stepping motor in order to open the sliding trapdoor;

• The material drops onto a conveyor belt and is conveyed to appropriate storage containers for subsequent compaction.

• The trapdoor is closed again and the cycle starts again from the beginning for a new deposit.

• At this stage, the system adds the credits awarded to the user.

No document is issued upon completion of depositing, but only digital information displayed on the specific monitor.

The user examines the current credit and, upon closing the session, this credit is updated on the network server.

Each machine is connected via the Internet to a server system where user data with the related credits are stored.

Access to the server using the specific web service and communications are encrypted with AES256 algorithms in order to prevent fraud and malicious damage. On one side of the ecological island hut there is an access door to the technical compartment, useful for maintenance and for collecting the bales.

On one side of the ecological island hut there is an access door to the technical compartment, useful for maintenance and for collecting the bales, (fig.1 , # 5).

2. CIRCUIT SHOPS

The incentive system offers the possibility of spending the accumulated credits in a shopping circuit in the form of discounts, or at the host municipalities in the form of discount on the waste tax or on other kinds of municipal services (transport, refills, etc.). The user takes care of making his/her registration with a dedicated interface and depositing recyclable products in the collection island, receiving spendable credits in exchange. Credit amounts to about€ 0.25 per PET bottles, HDPE bottles and aluminium cans.

With the accumulated credit, the user can go to the shops belonging to the circuit, also equipped with a computer system able to identify the customer and check the accumulated credit, purchase goods and get a discount on the shopping done. The discount rate is at the discretion of the business and may also vary based on the current offers. The credit can also be spent in the participating municipalities. In this case there will be a municipal counter equipped with a computer system capable of identifying the customer, verifying and downloading the accumulated credit.

3. INFORMATION AND ADVERTISING SYSTEM

Each collection island is provided with an information and advertising system.

The advertising system is installed on the ecological island's walls and is equipped with audio video LED panels for transmitting advertisements.

The advertising system is installed on the sides 1 and 4 fig. 1.

This system consists in:

- 1 LED panel for external minimum dimensions in meters 2.00 L x 1,00H (expandable to 50 cm in 50 cm);

- 3 LED panels 32" to be installed on three sides not occupied by the largest LED display;

- computer system of LED panels management and advertising messages to be transmitted;

- sound system for advertisements and video tutorials transmission.

• BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The "Figure 1 " is the exploded view of the SYSTEM FOR THE COMPACTION AND MANAGEMENT OF RECYCLABLE WASTE with its internal and external details;

The "Figure 2" represents a detail of the external depositing side on which the depositing inlets are located;

The "Figure 3" represents the internal compacting system;

The "Figure 4" represents the internal compacting system seen from above with the various sections;

The "Figure 5" represents the inner side of the compacting system with depositing inlet mechanisms;

The "Figure 6" represents the device housed on each depositing inlet useful to place the material given in the corresponding collection tanks;

The "Figure 7" is a linear scanner sensor housed on the device shown in Figure 6, which is useful to the detection of conferred materials;

The "Figure 8" is a top view of the linear scanner sensor;

The "Figure 9" is the electronic mother board of the linear scan sensor.

• BEST WAY FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The best way to implement the invention is surely to make it available to the community through public facilities (eg. Public buildings, roads, municipal parks etc.) or private (department stores, shopping centers, etc.), in order to create a network of points of deposit and encourage people to make the recycling of waste giving them in exchange credits to spend in the shops affiliated or reductions in waste taxes.

Claims

CLAIM 1) The external depositing system (fig. In.1) is made by a sheet iron shell consisting of: • 8 bar code and QR code optical readers for user identification (fig.2 n.6); « 8 RFID or NFC proximity readers; (fig.2 n.6); • 8 circular or rectangular depositing inlets (depending on the type of product to be deposited) equipped with LEDs that, depending on the depositing stage, light up GREEN (compliant product), FLASHING YELLOW (nonconforming product), BLUE (product being deposited), RED (depositing inlet blocked) (fig.2 n. 4); • 8 X 10" LED (fig.2 n.5) monitors with a display system describing the depositing stages with the following messages: - Identification of user equipped with card or APP registered with the system - Begin to deposit - You have deposited no. products - You have accumulated the following credit - Your current balance amounts to - Customised institutional greeting. 2) The internal compaction system composed of a machine enabled to selection and compaction of the recycling waste consisting of the following parts:

1. mobile cart with sensors for the recognition and sorting of the material / waste (Figure 6 and Figure 7);

2. tanks for the collection of waste (fig.3 #6a,# 6b, #6c);

3. conveyor belt (fig. 3 # 5);

4. vertical press for compacting and pusher (fig. 3, #1, 2);

5. strapping machine (Fig. 3 # 3)

6. idle rollers (fig. 3 # 4)

7. computer system states queried remotely communication also provides the sending of automatic alerts to communicate the state machine / system type: "stuck car", "warehouse full", "power loss", "lack of consumables" "return system block", "forced door", other information that is set by the operator

3) User recognition system by means of optical reading (fig.2 # 6) as claimed in claim #1 with: a generic bar code of recognition, or alternatively, recognition by scanning Fiscal Code or, alternatively, recognition of QR code or, alternatively, recognition by RF tags or, alternatively, fingerprint recognition or, alternatively, the recognition via NFC. When transferring user is recognized, their credentials are displayed on monitor 10 "dedicated.

4) A transparent lid mounted on the depositing inlet (fig.2 #4) is released and the RGB LED colour changes to indicate this condition;

5) The depositing inlet lights up with a green RGB colour and the lid unlocks; The user lifts the lid and puts the material in the inlet, kicking off the identification of the product by the sensors mounted on the internal transferring cart;

6) If all the parameters are correct, the material is accepted and conferred in different hoppers (fig.3 #6.a, #6.b, #6.c) for the accumulation. During the transferring stage, the lid is locked and cannot be used and the RGB colour is blue; When the product does not conform to the requirements, the lid is blocked and the RGB colour changes to flashing yellow; When the depositing inlet is in error mode or blocked, the RGB colour turns RED; When the depositing inlet is in stand-by, the internal LED is off;

7) The system provides for the identification of materials by means of sensors (fig. 6,7) mounted on the depositing cart (fig. 6) according to the following stages:

x) Detection of metallic materials

The on-board metal detector designed for this system has no similarities with other metal detectors on the market, we have created a local low noise precision LC oscillator where the resonant coil is a sensitive element of the system. The signal generated by the local oscillator is conditioned and suitably amplified to adapt to the micro controller Rail The micro controller performs 2 checks on the signal generated by the local oscillator:

• Control of the period of each wave

• Frequency control in the time window.

These two controls are capable of discriminating false positives and false negatives if small metal objects are moving within the control compartment, such as rings, bracelets, watches, rather than cans or generic scrap metal.

The invention of this portion of the system consists in the fact that it is possible to detect a metal object deposited within the control compartment that is made of steel (also a metal).

So the discriminating ability is very high because the system performs automatic tuning and automatic setting through an intelligent algorithm especially developed for this purpose.

Moreover, the system is able to distinguish ferrous metals from nonferrous metals allowing, in fact, to increase the value of the bale of metals deposited.

xx) Size detection

The on-board sensor designed is a one-dimensional, far infrared scanner. It consists of an array of photo transmitters and photo receivers tuned in the wavelength and frequency modulated. The scan takes place via multiplexing of each transmitter and receiver pair placed one opposite the other; the analysis of the absorption of the beam of each receiver and transmitter pair allows to determine the degree of transparency - opacity interposed in the beam.

A transparent body, such as PET, in any case clear, produces an attenuation of the beam itself and thus is detected as a physical barrier by change in transmittance.

Size detection consists in counting the number of optical beams obstructed by the object interposed. But the same applies to objects such as glass and metal where the absorption of the beam can be greater for glass or total for metal and HDPE.

xxx) Weight detection

For this stage, a specially designed precision scale with ultra-high 3-point resolution is employed. The weight of the object is the sum of the weights of each point. Weighing is intelligently managed through an automatic setting and noise cancelling algorithm.

The scale measures the tare weight before each new deposit with a minimum of 10 mg appreciation. The full scale of each sensor is 50 kg.

xxxx) Colour detection

A circuit consisting of a point reader on the three red, green and blue channels was designed for this physical parameter.

Colour is detected by reflectance and transmittance. The object is illuminated with a white light. The algorithm performs an automatic colour setting in the absence of an object in the depositing space.

A reading of the light coming from the object analysed by reflection or transparency is carried out for each colour channel. Once detected the three basic colours, these are compared with an internal colour table in order to select the materials.

8) Automatic depositing (fig. 6) by a cart which deposits the product inserted in the large bin below (fig.3 #6a,#6b,#6c);

9) Transferring the products from the large depositing bin to the hopper feeding the compaction system by means of an automatic conveyor belt ( fig. 3, # 5);

10) Automatic compaction system that detects the presence of material inside the compacting chamber and proceeds with the compaction cycles by means of an 8 tonne vertical press; (fig. 3 # i);

11) Automatic ejection of the bale by means of a pusher (fig. 4, #2);

12) Strapping the bale formed by means of a strapping machine (fig. 3 # 3); 13) Semi-automatic storage of the bales through an idler rollers system (fig. 3 # 4);

14) The crediting stage: The system performs an accumulation of the credit awarded to the depositing user; Digital information is displayed on the dedicated monitor; The user examines the current credit and upon closing the session,

15) the credit is updated on the network server as claimed in claim n.14.

16) User registration with the dedicated interface where the following data are stored: name, surname, date of birth, address, tax code, mobile phone number, email, issuance of a personal card with a Barcode, magnetic stripe, QR code and RFID chip, activation of the APP related to the personal card.

17) The registered user deposits recyclable products in the collection island and, in return, receives spendable credits;