AU2011100266A4

AU2011100266A4 - Glass crusher

Info

Publication number: AU2011100266A4
Application number: AU2011100266A
Authority: AU
Inventors: John Cross
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-03-10
Filing date: 2011-03-10
Publication date: 2011-05-12
Anticipated expiration: 2019-03-10

Description

1 GLASS CRUSHER FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 This invention relates to apparatus which facilitate the crushing of glass objects and in particular glass bottles in order to reduce the volume of used bottles for recycling. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 10 There are a number of prior art bottle crushing machines. For example US2010/031148 teaches a machine which has an upper staging area including a carousel, an electric crushing unit attached to a sealed collection barrel in order to pulverize glass bottles into small pieces of glass and a housing for a collection 15 barrel. In W02007/031086 a glass crusher has a housing wherein a plurality of rotating impact members are rotatably mounted on a horizontal shaft driven by a motor. When a bottle is conveyed into the machine onto the stationary plate parts, it is crushed by the rotating impact members and the crushed glass is conveyed down into a container. 20 These motorised machines are relatively bulky and complicated, require power for their operation and have to be disassembled to free the crushing mechanism when it jams. Accordingly they are not suitable for use in the home or in public places where use is intermittent and by casual users. 25 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a glass crushing machine which does not require power and is efficient for casual intermittent use 30 or which at least provides a useful alternative to the prior art devices.

2 STATEMENT OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention a glass object crusher comprises a vertical crushing frame slideably mounted in a housing, a vertical grate fixed in the base 5 of the housing, a receptacle which feeds the glass object onto the grate and means to draw the frame from an open position down onto the glass object breaking it and forcing crushed glass through the grate. Preferably the frame has a plurality of vertical bars which break the object and 10 force crushed glass through the grate. Preferably the frame carries two or more guide rollers restrained in two vertical tracks mounted inside the housing and has one or more handles extending outside the housing to draw the frame down onto the grate. 15 Preferably the frame is suspended within the housing by one or more springs fixed between the frame and the top of the housing. Preferably the receptacle has a lid which contains fractured glass and there is a 20 chute attached to the housing under the grate to receive crushed glass. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 25 An embodiment of the invention is now described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a front exposed perspective view of a bottle crushing machine in its open configuration Fig 2 is a side perspective view of the machine of Fig 1 30 Fig 3 is a front perspective view of the machine of Fig 1 in operation Fig 4 is an exploded view of the machine of Fig 1 and Fig 5 is a detailed view of the crushing frame of the machine of Fig 1.

3 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In Figs 1 to 3 housing 1 is mounted vertically on a wall or post (not shown) at a height suitable for an adult user to operate handles 2 attached to a frame 3 of 5 vertical parallel crushing bars. Fig 5 shows the detail of frame 3 in which guide rollers 4 are mounted on bars 5 and contact guide rails 6 attached to the vertical sides of housing 1 so that frame 3 moves vertically up and down within housing 1. 10 Coil springs 7 are fixed between bars 8 and top cover 9 of housing 1 so that when frame 3 is drawn down by handles 2 moving in guide slots 10 springs 7 are extended and exert an upward force on frame 3. Tray 11 is attached in front of slot 12 in housing 1 as shown in Fig 4 to receive bottles to be crushed and has lid 13 to prevent crushed glass flying out during crushing. 15 Vertical plates 14 are located in the base of housing 1 so that bottles (not shown) placed in tray 11 roll through slot 12 and rest on top of plates 14. Accordingly when frame 3 moves down extended bars 15 break the bottles and all the bars of frame 3 pass between plates 14 crushing the broken glass into smaller pieces 20 and forcing it through plates 14 into chute 16 and thence into a collection bin (not shown). To operate the crushing action, handles 2 are pulled down forcefully and the impact of the weight of frame 3 on the bottle fractures it into pieces. Springs 7 25 then cause frame 3 to move back up to the start position and to oscillate up and down crushing the fractured pieces through plates 14 so that they fall into chute 16. ADVANTAGES 30 It will be obvious that the present crusher has a simpler construction than the prior art machines and does not require power for its operation. Further in the 4 event that the crusher bars of frame 3 become jammed in plates 14 the front of housing 1 is easily removed to allow access. Accordingly operation and maintenance cost less than with prior art machines. 5 VARIATIONS It will be realized that the foregoing has been given by way of illustrative example only and that all other modifications and variations as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of 10 the invention as herein set forth. Throughout the description and claims of this specification the words "comprise" and variations of that word such as "comprises" and "comprising" are not intended to exclude other additives components integers or steps. 15 20 25 30

Claims

1. A glass object crusher comprising a vertical crushing frame slideably mounted in a housing, a vertical grate fixed in the base of the housing, a receptacle which 5 feeds the glass object onto the grate and means to draw the frame from an open position down onto the glass object breaking it and forcing crushed glass through the grate.

2. The crusher of claim 1 in which the frame has a plurality of vertical bars which 10 break the object and force crushed glass through the grate.

3. The crusher of claim 1 in which the frame carries two or more guide rollers restrained in two vertical tracks mounted inside the housing and has one or more handles extending outside the housing to draw the frame down onto the grate. 15

4. The crusher of claim 1 in which the frame is suspended within the housing by one or more coil springs fixed between the frame and the top of the housing.

5. The crusher of claim 1 in which the receptacle has a lid which contains 20 fractured glass and a chute attached to the housing under the grate to receive crushed glass. 25 30