AU656820B2 - Method and means for bundling scrap - Google Patents

Description

41441 AWT:LL 65 6 8 2 0 P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

SName of Applicant: S.W. AND B J. GREGORY :Actual Inventors: SYDNEY WARREN GREGORY AND KYM WARREN GREGORY Address for Service: COLLISON CO.,117 King William Street, Adelaide, S.A. 5000 invention Title: METHOD AND MEANS FOR BUNDLING SCRAP Details of Associated Provisional Application: AUSTRALIAN Patent Application No. PK9580 Dated 20th November 1991 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: This invention relates to a method and means for the bundling of scrap materials particularly to enable collection of such materials so that they can be transported in a more convenient package to a dump or for recycling the like.

The recycling of scrap materials particularly sheet steel and other metals is a most important process but to be used it must be economic and, as labour expenses are very high, the process must be made as non-labour intensive as possible. This invention proposes an arrangement for the bundling of scrap materials particularly sheet scrap metal but could also be used for other materials such as scrap timber. The invention enables a large number of small pieces of scrap metals such as sheets of old roofing iron or parts of car *bodies to be bundled into a conveniently sized bundle which can be handled S by a fork lift or the like.

An important problem with such bundling is that the scrap is formed into a 1 5 bundle of a convenient size and shape and then held into that shape so that it can be easily transported. It has been proposed to collect scrap materials in a bin and to transport the bin to a recycling depot or dump but this requires a *"*.large capital outlay on bins and the transporting the bins to a collection place.

While this may be possible for suburban areas it is not convenient for the country where large distances are involved. Further a bin standing for some time during filling represents poor economic use of the asset.

It is the object of this invention to provide a method of doing such bundling and an apparatus which will enable the bundling to occur without high capital S"outlay or to at least provide the public with a useful alternative.

In one form therefore the invention is said to reside in a method of bundling materials together comprising the steps of assembling a bundling frame into a rectangular arrangement, placing the materials to be bundled within the frame until the space defined within the frame is substantially full, removing the bundling frame and strapping around the materials to hold the bundle together.

It will be seen that there is provided a method of bundling scrap materials in which the finished bundle does not have any frame around it and the bundling 3 frame can be reused on site for further bundles while the scrap material can be by itself transported to a dump or to a recycling depot.

The bundling frame is preferably four separate walls each of which is independent but adapted to be joined to adjacent side walls so that a rigid structure is formed so that packing will not distort the frame and make it uneven for loading onto a truck or the like. Preferably the frame includes corner portions to ensure that the rectangular arrangement is maintained.

To assist with first of all strapping of the bundle and then to enable a fork lift truck for instance to lift the bundle on to a truck there may be provided spacer 1 0 members underneath the frame before the stacking of the materials occur.

Such spacer members will not be bundled with the bundles so these can be reused when the frame is re-assembled for further bundles of scrap materials.

o In some arrangements it may be preferable to strap the material before the :bundling frame is removed or the bundling may be done after the frame has 1 5 been removed.

In an alternative form of the invention the invention is said to reside in a bundling frame comprising four rectangular frame members adapted to be arranged in a rectangular layout, at least two of the frame members being of a first size and two of the frame members being of a second size, co-operating brackets on the short sides of the rectangular frame members adapted to enable assembly of the frame members into the bundling frame and pin members at each corner of the frame, each pin member having means to engage the co-operating brackets to join the frame members together with their short sides adjacent and the pin means having means to engage 2 5 adjacent frame members to hold adjacent frame members at right angles to each other.

It will be noted that this bundling frame does not have a base and hence after filling the bundling frame with scraps such as scrap metal it can be easily removed by removal of the pin members from each corner and then each 3 0 frame member can be easily lifted away. The bundled pack of material can then be easily lifted on to a truck or the like.

It is particularly important that the frame includes the pin members having means to engage the frame members to hold the adjacent frame members at right angles because this will ensure that an accurate square load is produced which can be loaded on to a truck or railway carriage for transport to a suitable wa.ste recycling facility. If the bundle is not of a rectangular shape but is distorted because the frame was not held square then an optimum load could not be loaded on to a truck or rail carriage. Preferably each pin member comprises a L shaped bracket having an elongate pin extending from the apex of the L shape and further pins spaced apart from the elongate pin on the arms of the L shape. The elongate pin is adapted to engage the co- 1 0 operating brackets of adjacent sides of the frame and the further pins are adapted to engage corresponding aperture in the sides to maintain the sides in their rectangular arrangement in use.

Each frame member may be comprised of a rectangular frame having a infill so as to define a planar inner surface so as to assist the removal of the frame i- 15 members after filling of the bundling of the bundling frame with scrap. Such an infill may be a sheet of steel or the like on the inner surface of the frame.

alternatively the infill of the frame may be vertical or horizontal bars extending between the sides or ends defining each frame.

e *o *In one preferred embodiment the bundling frames of this invention may be devised for the loading of scrap metal on to a semi-trailer and as a semi-trailer tray is approximately eight feet wide and forty feet long a bundling frame i: suitable for this invention may have a lengti of eight fe and a width of ten feet. The height of the frame in one preferred embodiment may be three feet.

This will mean that four bundled units of scrap material may be placed along 25 the length of a semi-trailer tray and perhaps three bundles high.

oe0 S"If scrap material is to be transported by train then alternative sizes of bundling frame adapted to particularly suit the railway truck may be made.

Bundling may be done by known techniques using bundling strap or wire and as discussed above the bundling may be done either before or after the frame 3 0 has been disassembled.

This then generally describes the invention but to assist with understanding the invention reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which show preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings: FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of a bundling frame according to this invention, FIG. 2 shows a pin member adapted to be used with the embodiment Sshown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 shows one embodiment of a frame member for a bundling frame in elevation view, and FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3.

Now looking more closely at the drawings and in particular FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 it 1 0 will be seen that the bundling frame comprises four rectangular walls 1, 2, 3 and 4 joined together on their short sides by means of co-operating brackets for instance brackets 5 and 6 joined to wall 2 and brackets 7 and 8 joined to wall 1. The pin mermber 10 shown in more detail in FIG. 2 includes a first pin 11 which extends down through the co-operating brackets 8, 7, 6 and 5 and 1 5 smaller pins 12 which extend into apertures not visible in FIG. 1 in the walls 1 and 2. The pin 11 prevents the walls from coming apart and the pins 12 maintain the walls at right angles to each other. Two types of infill are shown in FIG 1. Wall 1 has a solid infill aligned with the inner edge of the wall. Wall oooo• 2 has a plurality of vertical bars extending from upper and lower rails and 20 defining the infill.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the wall 20 may be not solid as shown in the wall 1 0..

of the embodiment in FIG. 1 but include a top and bottom rail and side rails 21.

Co-operating brackets 22 are provided at one end of the frame and 23 at the other end. The brackets are circular and welded to the frame members as can be seen in FIG. 4. Aperture 24 is provided for insertion of the long pin 11 in the pin member shown in FIG. 2 and aperture 25 is provided for insertion of pin 12.

It will be seen that by this invention there is provided an arrangement by which a frame can be accurately and rigidly assembled so that during the packing of 3 0 the frame it does not become distorted.

6 The method of this invention allows bundling of scrap material such as sheet scrap metal for easy transport for recycling because of the great reduction in labour necessary to load a single bundle on to a truck over the high labour content of loading individual sheets or portions of scrap on to a truck.

00 o

Claims (8)

1. A bundling frame for the bundling of scrap materials, the frame comprising four rectangular frame members adapted to be arranged in a rectangular layout, at least two of the frame members being of a first size and two of the frame members being of a second size, co-operating brackets on the short sides of the rectangular frame members adapted to enable assembly of the frame members into the bundling frame defining a cubic space therewithin and pin members at each corner of the frame, each pin member having means to engage the cu-operating brackets to join the frame members 1 0 together with their short sides adjacent and the pin means having means to engage adjacent frame members to hold adjacent frame members at right angles to each other.

2. A frame as in claim 1 wherein each pin member comprises a L shaped bracket having an elongate pin extending from the apex of the L 5 shape and further pins spaced apart from the elongate pin on the arms of the L shape whereby the elongate pin is adapted to engage the co-operating o brackets of adjacent sides of the frame and the further pins are adapted to S° engage a correE. Jnding aperture in each of the respective frame members to maintain the each frame members in their rectangular layout in use. oSoo 20

3. A frame as in claim 1 or 2 wherein each frame member is comprised of a rectangular frame having a infill to define a planar inner surface so as to assist the removal of the frame members after filling of the bundling of the S•bundling frame with scrap.

4. A frame as in claim 3 wherein the infill is sheet of steel or the like on the inner surface of the frame.

A frame as in claim 3 wherein the infill of the frame is vertical or horizontal bars extending between sides or ends defining each frame.

6. A bundling frame substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 8

7. A method of bundling materials together comprising the steps of assembling a bundling frame as defined in any one of claims 1 to 6 into a rectangular arrangement, placing the materials to be bundled within the frame until the space defined within the frame is substantially full, strapping around the materials to hold the bundle together and removing the bundling frame.

8. A method as in claim 7 wherein the step of removing the frame is carried out before strapping around the materials. 1 0 Dated this 25th day of November 1994. SYDNEY WARREN GREGORY KYM WARREN GREGORY By their Patent Attorneys COLLISON CO. o 999 .0 *9 *o *•o oo** ABSTRACT A method of bundling scrap materials in which the finished bundle does not have any frame around it and a bundling frame can be reused on site for further bundles while the scrap material can be by itself transported to a dump or to a recycling depot. Also a bundling frame for use with the method comprising four frame members adapted to be arranged in a rectangular layout, co-operating brackets on the frame members adapted to enable assembly of the frame members into the bundling frame and pin members having means to engage the co-operating brackets to join the frame members 1 0 together. 0*G o O «o« *aooo eo o 0 *8 S S