AU763186B2 - Device for treating composite elements - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device (10) for treating composite elements made of solid organic and/or inorganic composite materials. Said device (10) contains a flow path situated between a feed channel (34) and a tube-like outlet (38, 38a) in a housing. Said flow path is used for a transport fluid which is produced by disintegrating the composite materials and which carries particles made of solid matter. A conveyor element (78) is allocated to the cross section of the tube-like outlet. Said conveyor element (78) contains plate-like surface agents (76) which extend in the direction of the flow. A grid element or sieve element (86) which extends at least partially through said cross section is also allocated to said cross section. Plates (76) which are configured as surface agents protrude radially and parallel in relation to the longitudinal axis of a shaft from the shaft (74) that extends in the direction of flow and is pivotably mounted. Said plates are adjusted to the longitudinal section of the interior (84) of a tube-like housing (72) and can be pivoted like paddles in said interior.

Description

Description Device for treating composite elements The invention relates to a device for treating composite elements made up from solid organic and/or inorganic composite materials such as composites made from metal/metal, plastic/plastic, metal/plastic, or mineral composites with metals and/or plastics, possessing a flow path between a feed channel as well as a tube-like outlet in a housing for a transport fluid carrying solid particles produced from the composite elementls by disintegration. A preferred embodiment of the device is to be equipped with a host of moved acceleration means arranged relative to a stator about an axle turning them at plates disposed one above another arranged on a structural circle at a distance to 1o each other forming a rotor and which each form a trailing edge in the direction of the flow so a to create an eddy from the transport fluid and its solids payload, with the plates determining several super-imposed planes of acceleration within a cylindrical walling of the housing as the stator; the housing [together] with the plates carrying the acceleration means limits said flow path formed as a kind of annular area.

1C Coiiiljt: O e iot1ii s ui iilt: iypU dsciibed ar ifur exarmlpie inned uppr cuuuluur U1iEa& UI circuits, fibre-reinforced plastics or copper-coated aluminium wires in co-extruded or laminated form.

Thus metal-metal composites for example with coaxial cables consist primarily of a metal carrier, for instance an aluminium wire with a copper layer applied by galvanic or thermal process; plastic- S.o: plastic composite elements consist, in the application area of food packaging foil, of a plastic carrier i *20 formed from polyamides (PA) lined, laminated or co-extruded with polyethylene Also fibre-glass epoxy boards as carrier with copper plating as basic material for printed circuits.] Metal-plastic composites include among others an aluminium sheet carrier with a protective polypropylene (PP) foil glued on as building facade panels and weather shielding.

These composite elements produce problems in particular during waste disposal, since to date there is no separation of the materials forming the composite. These composite elements are today almost without exception in an ecologically incompatible manner- burned or placed in landfill and are thus removed from the economic circulation.

Among the composite elements that must be disposed of in an orderly fashion are in particular S"also remains of the packaging area; particularly here co-extruded and laminated products are to date o 30 irreplaceable, since the materials in the composite possess excellent characteristics for packaging when combined.

S" .With conventional treatment the disintegration of the composite element is carried out by way of the grain respectively particle size, which is smaller than the respective layer thickness of the components. This disintegration is generally carried out by an at least single-stage pulverisation in appropriate mills for instance hammer mills, impact crushers or counter flow mills as the case may be with the aid of nitrogen for rendering the materials inert and/or for deep-freezing them.

The applicant's DE-A- 195 09 808 already describes a process by which solid particles are created from the cited composite elements and are adduced to a transport fluid such as air, with at least one flow obstacle crossing this flow as a trailing edge for creating rear eddies that accelerate the mixture being moved in relation to the flow of the mixture of solid particles and transport fluid.

Transition into these rear eddies produces not only a sudden increase in the acceleration of the solid particles but also friction among them that disintegrates them. The mixture of transport fluid and solid particles is adduced to the separation or disintegration process at the trailing edges at an acceleration of 20 to 25 m/sec 2 after the composite elements to be treated have been coarsely crushed or have been concentrated prior to the separation or disintegration process. According to DE-A-195 09 808 the composite elements are initially triturated to particles that are above the grain size of pulverisation processes and are then adduced to the separation or disintegration zone, thus are accelerated within the air flow. The individual materials forming part of the composite are liberated, the physically different metallic layers as well as the plastic layers separate from each other. This process of separation takes place along the borders of the phases.

FR-A-1 562 613 has made known a trituration mill having a rotor comprising several rotating plates and a cylindrical housing surrounding the former in which material to be conveyed for milling is carried by a screw to the lower end of the rotor and is then taken up by the air current from a fan spanning the rotor above a sieve bottom and below the rotor bearing. The grinding stock travelling upwds s ttI uuateU Uy o-CaLud plaqu-es deu: b-oy9e, that is, by ll.I..y Of CuFAUI pl-altes that extend radially from rotating rotor plates and are arranged close to the housing wall. The milling or crushing plates that cooperate with the housing wall are each equipped at their ends with an elliptical frame; these frames run on a structural circle at the inner side of the housing and are intended to increase the milling and trituration effect. Incidentally, eddies are additionally involved in this trituration process, according to the author of the said FR-A-1 562 613. Below the fan a bypass is attached to the housing which carries sieved-off coarse particles back to the lower inlet.

DE-A-42 00 827 also describes such a trituration mill, the top-facing outlet of which possesses two cyclones in series as precipitators. The grinding stock obtained in the first cyclone is combined with the grinding stock of the second cyclone by means of a worm gear and both components are 25 removed by way of a cellular wheel sluice.

A plant according to DE-A-42 13 274 includes as one of the machines the trituration mill of FR- A-1 562 613 and describes a special formation of milling plates attached to the stator as well as a radial outlet channel near the milling plates. Within the outlet channel there is disposed a triangular in plan view impact ledge for the grinding stock.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to substantially overcome or at least ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages of the prior art, or at least to provide a useful alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a device for the treatment of composite materials from solid organic and/or inorganic materials such as composites of metal/metal, plastic/plastic, metal/plastic, or mineral composites with metals and/or plastics, with a flow path between a feed channel and a tube-like outlet in a housing for a transport fluid carrying solid particles produced by disintegration of the composite material/s, wherein to the cross-section of the tube-like outlet are allocated a conveyor element S" having plate-like planar elements extending in the direction of flow and which can be moved in the LibC/567391spec 3 cross-section and at least one grid or sieve element extending at least partially through the crosssection.

In the preferred embodiment, an advantageous separation of composite elements into fractions may be carried out, in particular for recovering costly materials; the composite elements are to be able to be returned to the economic circulations without harming the environment. In addition, the device should be easily adapted to the conditions of the industrial processes.

According to the preferred embodiment, on the one hand a conveyor element having plate-like planar organs extending in direction of the flow and moveable in the cross-section is allocated to the cross-section of the tube-like outlet, and on the other hand a grid or sieve element that at least partially extends through the cross-section is allocated to the latter. The planar elements advantageously consist of plates that extend radially from a shaft extending in the direction of flow which runs in bearings, with two of their edges running parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft and which are adapted to the longitudinal section of the interior area of a tube-like housing and can be rotated like paddles within said interior area.

Here it has proven advantageous to make the diameter of ii housi y iiii~io yieia e han twice the diameter of the outlet tube. The disk-like housing is placed between two sections of preferably coaxially extending sections of the outlet tube into the latter in such a way that the plates of the shaft run over the mouths of the tube sections lying in the upper area of the housing. It has proven advantageous to this end to arrange the shaft which runs in bearings in the frontal walls of the housing outside the interior area of the housing so as to be able to adapt the size of the plates to the longitudinal section of this interior area of the housing which follows the diametrical axis.

Before the solid particles traversing the tube cross-section in the direction of flow by way of the transport fluid reach the opposite mouth of the tube section continuing the outlet path they encounter a sieve element; the planar sieve element is allocated in the framework of the invention to the edges 25 of the plates pointing in the direction of flow, preferably clamped to these as well as fixed and it retains the larger particles in the housing interior in accordance with its mesh size.

According to a further characteristic of the invention, in order to receive the particles two neighbouring plates extending from the shaft form, together with the one end of the sieve element or straining net extending transversally to them, a moveable receptacle for accepting the solid particles retained by the sieve element. These are transported by the rotating plates around the shaft to an outlet opening situated in the cylindrical wall of the housing and preferably at the lowest point of the interior area below the mouths of the sections of the outlet tube.

Overall, the device according to the invention permits a separation of solid particles from the 0 remaining carrier flow in a simple manner.

35 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Further advantages, characteristics and details of the invention are apparent from the subsequent description of preferred examples of embodiment as well as by way of the figures. These •*oo show in: 0 0 Fig. 1 a partially sectioned side elevation of a device for treating composite elements, with inlets and outlets for these; LibC/567391spedci Fig. 2 the plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a frontal view of a device in enlarged section compared to Fig.1; Fig. 4 a view of another embodiment of the device essentially corresponding to Fig.3;Fig. the cross-section of Fig. 3 according to the line V V of the former, in which central built-in parts have been neglected for the sake of better clarity; Fig. 6 a lateral section of a portion of an outlet of the device with an integrated treatment facility; Fig. 7 a front view of the treatment facility according to arrow VII in Fig. 6.

e LibC/567391spec Composite elements made from solid organic and/or inorganic compound materials such as composites of metal-metal, plastic-plastic, metal-plastic or mineral compounds with metals and/or plastics are triturated to a grain size of about 5 mm to 50 mm and subsequently selectively disintegrated in a separation or disintegration facility 10 by means of an acceleration process.

The disintegration facility 10 possesses, above a cubic base frame 12, a rotor 14 with vertically disposed rotor shaft 16 engaging in the base frame 12 as well as a base extension 18 having adjustable mountings 19 for a drive unit 20; the lower end 15 of the rotor shaft 16 possesses a V-belt bushing 22 that is linked to a drive shaft 21 of the drive unit 20 by means of several narrow V-belts indicated at 23. The distance a between the rotor axis A and the drive axis B can be varied by sliding the drive unit.

The rotor 14 having for example an outer diameter d of 1200 mm is surrounded above the base frame 12 by a circular wall 24 of a housing 24, the interior area 26 of which is closed at the top by a replaceable housing lid 27; this in turn carries on the inside a central extension 28 of the diameter bof around 600 mm. The disk-like bottom 28 of this extension 28 extends close to the upper 417 9 ALIL A^_I 1 ZI~h U r_ A i ,U I I f uI.1 IV o IG arV i povldes a seat IIL r-y. I.

In a cover plate 30 that also serves as'housing floor of the base frame 12 is situated near the rotor shaft 16 traversing the cover plate 30 with [axial] play the mouth 32 of an inlet channel 34 for the air-guided stream of pre-triturated composite elements. In an embodiment of the disintegration facility that is not shown, the inlet channel 34 is equipped with at least two mouths 32. Next to this inlet channel 34 runs a heavy-particle outlet 36; heavy suspension particles fall down from the airguided material stream and are removed from the cover plate 30 by way of the heavy-particle outlet 36.

wt In the top area of the rotor 14 an outlet tube 38 extends tangentially from the housing wall 24 with attachment flange 39. Since the outlet tube 38 is fixed to the housing 25 said housing cover 27 can be lifted easily, for instance for replacing the rotor 14. Not shown are housing doors and control o. panels or similar attachments to the housing The rotor shaft 16 runs in bearings in the area of said cover plate 30 by means of an angular contact ball bearing 40 within a shaft tube 42, its invisible lower end rests in a further ball bearing.

In Fig. 3 one can see, above the fixed bearing 40 and overlaying the latter, a collar 44 of the o 30 free upper portion of the rotor shaft 16. This free rotor portion, together with the acceleration plates 46 surrounding it, define the active rotor area.

":The acceleration plates 46 each proffer an acceleration plane and carry a multiplicity of radially extending acceleration fins 48 as tools. Acceleration fins 48 adjacent to an acceleration plate 46 together form a central angle of in this case about 10 degrees. The plate-like acceleration fins 48 are specially shaped depending on the respective deployment purpose. The lowest of the acceleration plates 46 forms an integral constructive unit with a distribution plate Amid insertion of an intermediate sheet 52, respectively, the above-mentioned lower constructive unit 46/50 is spanned by four or more further plate-like acceleration planes 46 that are axially superimposed about the free portion of the rotor shaft 16 by means of hub bushings 47.

UbC/567391sped A banking plate 54 formed by two disks fixed at a central holding sleeve forms a banking-up plane on the intermediate sheet 52 of the upper acceleration plane 46. The upper disk of the banking plate 54 has a smaller diameter than the lower plate. Between the disks distance bolts 56 are situated at a distance from the rotor axis A.

A flange plate 58 screwed to the rotor shaft 16 in the rotor axis A covers the hojding sleeve of the banking plate 54. Tensioning rods 59 run through the flange plate 58 as well as through pushing channels in the superimposed hub sleeves 47 and end in the distributor disk The cylindrical wall 24 of the housing 25 serving as stator delimits the outer side of the flow path for a mixture of solid particles and carrier fluid, for example air, introduced by way of the inlet io channel 34 adjacent to the rotor shaft 26; the other side of the flow path is delimited in the five levels indicated in Fig. 5 by the acceleration fins or plates 46. The mixture of solid particles and transport air is introduced at the distributor disk 50 to a narrow annular area between housing wall 24 and rotor 14 in the area of the acceleration fins 48 of the constructive unit 46/50 in such a way that it flows against the direction of rotation x of the rotor 14. A rear eddy is thereby created in the direction of flow x eL-- J -I ub ,,iiu 1 l I: Ule ui 4 0ll iiIi i iiiiUy. VVILII III L U IIIIALUR IIUW Ib dUIU LIY accelerated, the solid particles rub against each other and are thereby dissolved into their components. To this end the circumferential velocities of the trailing edge, the process temperature and the amount of air throughput are pre-selectable and adjustable.

Before entry to the next level the mixture stream can temporarily expand before it reaches the subsequent annular area. In the region of the banking plate 54 the content of solid particles guided upwards and thereby disintegrated are conducted towards the outlet tube 38.

S.In Fig. 3 an annular element 60 is inserted above the banking plate 54 in the housing wall 24, :i from which extends a radial tube 62 flanged to the outer side. In it is inserted a guide device 64, indicated in Fig. 5, that protrudes about radially into the interior area of the housing 26. This guide insert 64 protrudes into the interior housing area with a cantilever head 68 offering a blade 66 curved against the direction of flow y, in plan view. The free radial cantilever length e of this guide or control insert 64 is adjustable; the latter is equipped to this end with a strip-like contact section 69 that can be laterally screwed into the radial tube 62 with different insertion lengths t. This cantilever length e is so :chosen that end edge 67 of the blade surface 66 that is parallel to the rotor axis A at the in plan e 30 view about triangular cantilever head 68 runs in the boundary area between the outer area of movement of coarse particles Q visible in Fig. 5 on the one hand and the adjacent inner area of movement of fine particles Q1 the coarse particles Q are collected by guide insert 64 and ducted away through the radial tube 62 serving as particle outlet.

The disintegration facility 10a of Fig. 4 shows several at least two of the above-mentioned annular elements 60 stacked; these carry out the different particle types Q, Q1.

The composite element introduced into the disintegration facility 10, 10a is disintegrated by selectively releasing the different physical characteristics of the compound materials in particular the density, shearing resistance, rebound force, thermal expansion and thermal conduction as well as elasticity and the molecular structural difference attached thereto and the adhesions of the compound materials are mutually negated.

LibC/567391 speci By treatment in the disintegration facility 10, 10a there occurs a disintegration of the composite element into different structures, with the individual components also behaving differently as regards dimension and geometry due to their different physical characteristics.

The composite elements may, as mentioned, be concentrated prior to disintegration. It has been shown that in this selective disintegration the components of polyethylene remain essentially unchanged whereas metallic components, for example aluminium which previously presented in planar form are deformed into onion-like structures. Plastic composites, for instance polystyrene/polyethylene, disintegrate into different structures without distinct deformation [but] with recognisable differences in relation to particle sizes; these are considerably larger than the mentioned aluminium onion structures.

By the selective disintegration the individual layers of the composite element are peeled off without the layer thickness of the components being reduced.

According to Figs. 6, 7, a separation or capture device 70 is built into an outlet tube 38a, by means of which larger particles indicated at Q are removed from the stream of material, in which i 1IG.II uIII III t Lila IICI pamld e(s1 IIIdaIII. uCLVVVCII LVVi LUUG OIoCUVIuIo VI LImI VULd1 LUUC jvIa 6CUIIJppU with flanges 39 and an interior diameter i is in turn inserted a tubular housing 72 with the internal diameter n; the latter is longer than twice the intemal diameter i of the outlet tube 38a.

In the housing axis E a shaft 74 having radially extending paddle-like plates 76 oriented along housing axis E one of which is partially indicated optically by partial hatching in Fig 6, top runs in bearings 75 rotatably as conveyor element 78; the bearings 75 sit in the housing front walls 73. The shaft 74 is connected to a drive 82 attached to a lateral socket 79 by means of an endless belt 80 and can be so rotated by it that the plates 76 filling the longitudinal section of the interior housing area 84 :can move evenly within the latter.

*:At the rear edges 77 of the plates 76 in direction of flow y a grille or sieve 86 is extended which separates those coarse particles Q from the particles Q1 of lesser grain size; the retained coarse particles Q are carried along within the housing 72 and conducted towards an outlet opening 88 situated in its base area, which is laterally delimited by angle profiles 90 in Fig. 7.

L* *i l LibC/567391spe1

Claims (12)

1. Device for the treatment of composite materials from solid organic and/or inorganic materials such as composites of metal/metal, plastic/plastic, metal/plastic, or mineral composites with metals and/or plastics, with a flow path between a feed channel and a tube-like outlet in a housing for a transport fluid carrying solid particles produced by disintegration of the composite material/s, wherein to the cross-section of the tube-like outlet are allocated a conveyor element having plate-like planar elements extending in the direction of flow and which can be moved in the cross-section and at least one grid or sieve element extending at least partially through the cross-section.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein plates are radially extending from a rotatably carried shaft extending in the direction of flow and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shaft, being planar elements which are adapted to the longitudinal section of the interior area of a tubular outlet-housing and can be rotated like paddles in said interior area.

3. Device according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the diameter of the interior housing area of the outlet-housing is greater than twice the diameter of the outlet tube. Ib

4. Levice accoLe dL, UlUIIy oLU Uilli c I 1 11, L VI Li L ii i l L I11 II i 11 ,t b t ends in frontal walls of the outlet-housing.

Device according to either of claims 2 or 3, wherein the outlet-housing is inserted eccentrically axially parallel into the outlet tube and that the diameters of the two sections of the outlet tube lie opposite each other in the upper portion of the interior housing area.

6. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the shaft is arranged outside the cross-section of the outlet tube.

7. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sieve element is allocated to the edges of the plate-like planar elements or plates pointing in the direction of flow.

8. Device according to claims 1 or 7, wherein the planar sieve element is clamped to and 25 fixed to the plate edges. see.•

9. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein two adjacent plates protruding from the shaft form a moveable receptacle together with the sieve element for solid particles retained by the sieve element.

10. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 9, wherein the cylindrical wall of the outlet- housing is equipped with at least one outlet opening, which is the cross-section of a part of the outlet- tube.

11. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the outlet opening is arranged below the mouths of the sections of the outlet tube at the base of the outlet-housing respectively in the interior area of the outlet-housing.

12. A device for the treatment of composite materials substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated 16 April, 2003 S. Result AG "Patent Attorneys for the Applicant/Nominated Person SPRUSON FERGUSON LibC/567391speci