CA2167772A1 - Deflectable overhead bar refuse bag opener - Google Patents
Deflectable overhead bar refuse bag openerInfo
- Publication number
- CA2167772A1 CA2167772A1 CA 2167772 CA2167772A CA2167772A1 CA 2167772 A1 CA2167772 A1 CA 2167772A1 CA 2167772 CA2167772 CA 2167772 CA 2167772 A CA2167772 A CA 2167772A CA 2167772 A1 CA2167772 A1 CA 2167772A1
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- bars
- conveyor
- refuse
- plates
- bags
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
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- Crushing And Pulverization Processes (AREA)
- Refuse Collection And Transfer (AREA)
Abstract
A refuse bag opening device has a bag transporting conveyor positioned beneath a closed upper plate conveyor. Sharpened bars extend outwardly from the conveyor. The bars initially puncture a refuse bag from below as the bags are discharged from an infeed chute. Bars are mounted to the upper conveyor. As the lower conveyor moves the stream of bagged refuse below the upper conveyor, the upper conveyor bars move at a speed greater than that of the lower conveyor, andthus puncture and rend the refuse bags from above, ripping the bags open and scattering the refuse contained within out onto the conveyor. To lessen the possibility that a large refuse article will jam the apparatus, the bars are formed of leaf spring material and are deflectable in a cross-machine direction, preferably being stiffened by gussets which extend between the bars and a rigid base in a machinedirection.
Description
PATENT APPLICATION
TITLE:
DEFLECTABLEOVERHEADBARREFUSEBAG OPENER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to recycling equipment in general and, more particularly, to such equipment for discharging the contents of refuse bags.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Municipalities all over the world are experiencing a growing waste disposal problem. Most suitable landfill space is quickly becoming filled. Water pollution concerns have severely limited off-shore solid waste disposal. The existing untreated municipal refuse both above and below ground has raised public concerns about future health risks and possible ground water contamination. Continued dumping of solid refuse has become an unattractive option for most municipalities. Refuse recycling, however, continues to grow as an appealing alternative to refuse dumping.
Many municipalities and waste management companies have begun to more thoroughly sort collected refuse into recyclable and non-recyclable items. To save time, money, and manpower some municipalities have used advertising to encouragetheir citizens to separate recyclable and non-recyclable refuse themselves before pick-up. Nonetheless, recycling programs have met with varying levels of success.
Thousands of tons of potentially recyclable materials still routinely find their way into landfills or into the sea alongside biodegradable and non-recyclable waste.
Most household and non-toxic business refuse today is collected in plastic refuse bags which are secured at the top and then left at the roadside for pick-up.
The refuse bags are then trucked to refuse processing plants. For sanitation reasons and consumer convenience, these plastic refuse bags are purposely designed to resist breakage and degradation. Specifically, because refuse contained within the ~7772 plastic bags can be hard and sharp, refuse bags are designed to stretch before tearing. The tear strength of the piastic refuse bags is often even sufficient enough to withstand the mechanical compaction that is applied by refuse collection trucks.Moreover, because plastic refuse bags are designed to resist breakage, refuse bags are diffficult to open during processing, and thus complicate the entire recycling process. Additionally, the process of collecting, loading and unloading the refuse bags, breaking the bags open, and sorting and separating the refuse into recyclable and non-recyclable materials at a refuse processing plant is an unpleasant and labor-intensive task. Hence, many municipalities and waste management companies desire specialized machinery to aid refuse processing personnel in sorting and separating refuse.
In the past, it was common for refuse processing facilities to shred and pulverize municipal refuse in hammer mills or similar devices. The result left amixture of useless recyclable and non-recyclable material ready for the landfill.
Today, however, in order to effficiently and effectively recycle this otherwise useless waste, it is necessary to maintain the structural integrity and prevent breakage of the contents within the refuse bag during processing. A bag breaking device that breaks or damages potentially recyclable containers and shreds recyclable paper goods only creates more unusable wastes that will eventually end up in the already overflowing landfills.
What is needed is a simple, low maintenance, effficient, and economical device to aid in the sorting and separating of refuse that minimizes the possibility for damage to the potentially recyclable contents within the refuse bag.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The refuse bag opening apparatus of this invention has a horizontal refuse bag lower conveyor having a plurality of outwardly extending bars. An upper plate conveyor is positioned above the lower conveyor and has bars which interdigitatewith the lower conveyor bars. The upper bars are advanced faster then the lower conveyor bars to engage and rend bags positioned on the conveyor.
~g77~
EFû8958 1 499US
The bars are formed of leaf spring steel, and are resilient in the cross-machinedirection and stiffened by gussets in the machine direction. Thus the bars may bend out of the way of large trash items without jamming or breaking.
Upper and lower bar cleaners may be provided to remove any refuse that may be impaled or stuck to either the upper or lowe~ conveyor bars.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus for efficientlyand economically opening refuse bags and processing the refuse within the bags.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide a simple, low maintenance, apparatus for opening refuse bags.
It is additional feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus that is not easily clogged or jammed by loose refuse.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a bag breaking apparatus which is tolerant of large nonbreakable items within the refuse flow.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the refuse bag breaking apparatus of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2.
FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a bar cleaner of the apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the bar cleaner of FIG. 4 taken along line 5-5.
~lg7~72 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary isometric view of several teeth of the bar cleaner of FIG. 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring more particularly to the FIGS. 1-6, wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a refuse bag opening apparatus 10 is supported on a frame (not shown) on a refuse processing plant floor. The apparatus 10 has a looped linked plate lower conveyor 11 which transports and supports a refuse stream consisting of refuse bags 14 beneath an overhead bag-breaking linked-plate moving upper conveyor 31. Both the lower conveyor 11 and the overhead upper conveyor 31 have protruding bars which coact to puncture and rend refuse bags and discharge the contents for further processing.
The lower conveyor 11 is a looped belt 13 formed of rectangular metal plates 12 which are connected to a plurality of parallel looped chains 17. The chains 17 extend between sprockets on a drive drum 21 and sprockets on a tail drum 23. Thedrive drum 21 is driven at a selected speed by a drive means (not shown) such as an electric motor. The metal plates 12 are durable and easy to maintain and keep clean.
The plate conveyor 11 has few interstices for accumulation of debris or contaminants, and is thus resistant to jamming. The plates 12 are hinged together, or alternatively may be supported only on the chains with overlapping flanges to prevent materialfrom passing between the plates as the distance between plates grows as the plates move from a circular path around the drums to a linear path between the drums.
Although shown somewhat schematically in the figures, the size of any gaps between plates may be minimized by making the width of each plate in the machine direction small with respect to the diameter of the drums in a conventional manner for plate conveyors.
Each plate 12 has a plurality of outwardly extending bars 30. The bars 30 are preferably formed to be stiff in the machine direction, but to be flexible in the cross-machine direction. In a preferred embodiment this is achieved by utilizing leaf spring steel for the bars, about three-eighths to three-quarters of an inch thick in the ~7~2 cross-machine direction, and of a greater width in the machine direction. To further stiffen the bars 30 in the direction of movement of the lower conveyor 11, front and rear gussets 18 extend between each bar 30 and a bar base 19. By being flexible in the cross-machine direction, the bars 30 accommodate large unbreakable refuse items without breaking. Thus, for example, should an engine block or heavy piece of scrap find its way into the processed refuse stream, jamming may be avoided by the flexing of the bars 30.
A row of bars 30 is positioned on each plate 12, with a spacing of less than sixinches, to insure that even small refuse bags are engaged and punctured.
Alternatively, the bar bases 19 may be bolted in slots on each plate 12 to allowrepositioning of the bars for certain applications. Bars 30 on neighboring plates 12 are also preferably spaced less than six inches apart.
Rollers 45 are mounted under the plate belt 13 between the two drums 21, 23 to better support the belt 13 and retain it in a horizontal orientation.
The bag-breaking overhead plate conveyor 31 is mounted directly above the lower conveyor 11 and runs parallel to the lower conveyor 11. The closed loop upper conveyor 31 is formed of plates 12 mounted on parallel chains 22 which extend between sprockets on an upper drive drum 34 and an upper tail drum 36.
The upper drive drum 34, located at the rear of the apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 3, drives the conveyor 31 so that the parallel portions of the upper conveyor 31 which overlie the lower conveyor 11 travel in the same direction as the plates 12 of the lower conveyor 11. The upper conveyor 31 is driven by a conventional drive mechanism such as a motor.
The upper conveyor 31 has upper bars 32 identical to those on the lower conveyor 11, and the upper bars are stiffened by gussets just as are the lower bars 30. The upper bars 32 extend downwardly from the upper conveyor 31 to near the surface of the lower conveyor 11. The upper bars 32 are positioned on the upper conveyor 31 to be intermediate between the lower bars 30, to thereby interdigitate 7 ~
with the lower conveyor bars 30 which are traveling below the upper conveyor 31.Rollers 46 support the linked plate belt of the upper conveyor 31 between the two drums 34, 36.
Because pieces of refuse and bags tend to become wrapped around or attached to the bars 30, 32 during processing, both the upper conveyor 31 and the lower conveyor 11 are preferably provided with bar cleaning apparatus 120, an exemplary type of which is shown in FIGS. 4-6:
The bar cleaners 120 automatically clean the bars on both the lower conveyor 11 and the upper conveyor 31. As shown in FIGS. 4-6, the bar cleaners 120 have acomb-shaped structure 130 which has a support beam 132 which supports the bar cleaner 120 approximately perpendicular to the direction of motion of the bars. The bar cleaner has a multiplicity of teeth 134. Each tooth 134 has a rectangular portion 136 and a tapered section 138. Adjacent rectangular portions 136 define slots 140 which are sized to narrowly pass the bars.
The teeth 134 are cut from a plate 142 and are stiffened by gussets 144 which are welded to the plate 142. The plate 142 is bolted to the beam 132 by bolts 147.
Each gusset 144 stiffens a tooth 134. Mounted on either side of the gusset 144 and aligned with the edges 146 of the slots 140 are right-angle cutting flanges 148. The cutting flanges have upstanding legs 150 which terminate in a cutting edge 152 which is part of a blade surface 154. Thus the sides of the slots 140 have sharp edges 152 which shear material off the bars as they interdigitate with the teeth 134 passing through the slots 140. The tapered portions 138 of the teeth 134 help to center the bars and guide them into the slots 140.
A bar cleaner 120 is mounted near the rear of the upper conveyor 31 horizontally, or inclined somewhat from the horizontal. A bar cleaner 120 is also mounted near the rear of the lower conveyor 11 vertically so that the bars are perpendicular to the processing plant floor below. It should be noted that any 2~G7772 appropriate bar cleaner may be employed, for example a simple comb structure which eliminates the costs associated with blades.
When the paper and plastic refuse bags 14 of various shapes and sizes arrive at the refuse processing plant, the refuse bags are loaded onto a metal refuse bag infeed chute 16 which discharges the bags to the inlet end 15 of the lower conveyor 11.
When the refuse bags 14 enter the inlet end 15 of the lower conveyor 11 for processing, the refuse bags are punctured and impaled from below by the lower conveyor bars 30. The lower conveyor bars 30 are moved along at a constant firstspeed by the lower drive drum 21. As the impaled refuse bags 14 travel along down the lower conveyor 11, the bags are further punctured and split open from above by the plurality of upper bars 32. The upper conveyor drive drum 34 moves the upperconveyor 31 and the upper bars 32 along at a constant second speed that is greater than the speed of the lower conveyor 11. The upper bars 32 extend down below thelevel of the tops of the lower bars, so that both sets of bars engage a bag simultaneously. While the bags are impaled on the lower bars, numerous upper bars travel through the bags, completely disrupting the bag and scattering its contents. The- upper and lower bar configuration ensures that every refuse bag 14 traveling along the lower conveyor 11 will be punctured and broken open by the interdigitating bars 30, 32. The speed of the upper conveyor 31 is preferably at least four times the speed of the lower conveyor 11, to promote shearing and rending of the bags 14.
After the bags 14 have been punctured and broken open and the refuse within has been scattered out on to the lower conveyor 11, the conveyor moves the splitand broken refuse bags and scattered refuse along with recyclabie items toward aconveyor outlet end 60 . Once the refuse exits through the conveyor outlet end 60, the refuse will move on to further processing in other areas of the refuse treatment plant.
21g77~2 It should be noted that the upper bars 32 of the upper conveyor 31 and the lowerbars 30 of the lower conveyor 11 may vary in size, shape, and configuration to facilitate the piercing and tearing of the refuse bags 14 traveling on the conveyor.
It is understood that the invention is not !imited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.
TITLE:
DEFLECTABLEOVERHEADBARREFUSEBAG OPENER
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to recycling equipment in general and, more particularly, to such equipment for discharging the contents of refuse bags.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Municipalities all over the world are experiencing a growing waste disposal problem. Most suitable landfill space is quickly becoming filled. Water pollution concerns have severely limited off-shore solid waste disposal. The existing untreated municipal refuse both above and below ground has raised public concerns about future health risks and possible ground water contamination. Continued dumping of solid refuse has become an unattractive option for most municipalities. Refuse recycling, however, continues to grow as an appealing alternative to refuse dumping.
Many municipalities and waste management companies have begun to more thoroughly sort collected refuse into recyclable and non-recyclable items. To save time, money, and manpower some municipalities have used advertising to encouragetheir citizens to separate recyclable and non-recyclable refuse themselves before pick-up. Nonetheless, recycling programs have met with varying levels of success.
Thousands of tons of potentially recyclable materials still routinely find their way into landfills or into the sea alongside biodegradable and non-recyclable waste.
Most household and non-toxic business refuse today is collected in plastic refuse bags which are secured at the top and then left at the roadside for pick-up.
The refuse bags are then trucked to refuse processing plants. For sanitation reasons and consumer convenience, these plastic refuse bags are purposely designed to resist breakage and degradation. Specifically, because refuse contained within the ~7772 plastic bags can be hard and sharp, refuse bags are designed to stretch before tearing. The tear strength of the piastic refuse bags is often even sufficient enough to withstand the mechanical compaction that is applied by refuse collection trucks.Moreover, because plastic refuse bags are designed to resist breakage, refuse bags are diffficult to open during processing, and thus complicate the entire recycling process. Additionally, the process of collecting, loading and unloading the refuse bags, breaking the bags open, and sorting and separating the refuse into recyclable and non-recyclable materials at a refuse processing plant is an unpleasant and labor-intensive task. Hence, many municipalities and waste management companies desire specialized machinery to aid refuse processing personnel in sorting and separating refuse.
In the past, it was common for refuse processing facilities to shred and pulverize municipal refuse in hammer mills or similar devices. The result left amixture of useless recyclable and non-recyclable material ready for the landfill.
Today, however, in order to effficiently and effectively recycle this otherwise useless waste, it is necessary to maintain the structural integrity and prevent breakage of the contents within the refuse bag during processing. A bag breaking device that breaks or damages potentially recyclable containers and shreds recyclable paper goods only creates more unusable wastes that will eventually end up in the already overflowing landfills.
What is needed is a simple, low maintenance, effficient, and economical device to aid in the sorting and separating of refuse that minimizes the possibility for damage to the potentially recyclable contents within the refuse bag.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The refuse bag opening apparatus of this invention has a horizontal refuse bag lower conveyor having a plurality of outwardly extending bars. An upper plate conveyor is positioned above the lower conveyor and has bars which interdigitatewith the lower conveyor bars. The upper bars are advanced faster then the lower conveyor bars to engage and rend bags positioned on the conveyor.
~g77~
EFû8958 1 499US
The bars are formed of leaf spring steel, and are resilient in the cross-machinedirection and stiffened by gussets in the machine direction. Thus the bars may bend out of the way of large trash items without jamming or breaking.
Upper and lower bar cleaners may be provided to remove any refuse that may be impaled or stuck to either the upper or lowe~ conveyor bars.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus for efficientlyand economically opening refuse bags and processing the refuse within the bags.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide a simple, low maintenance, apparatus for opening refuse bags.
It is additional feature of the present invention to provide an apparatus that is not easily clogged or jammed by loose refuse.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a bag breaking apparatus which is tolerant of large nonbreakable items within the refuse flow.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the refuse bag breaking apparatus of this invention.
FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 taken along line 2-2.
FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a bar cleaner of the apparatus of FIG. 1.
FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the bar cleaner of FIG. 4 taken along line 5-5.
~lg7~72 FIG. 6 is a fragmentary isometric view of several teeth of the bar cleaner of FIG. 4.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring more particularly to the FIGS. 1-6, wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a refuse bag opening apparatus 10 is supported on a frame (not shown) on a refuse processing plant floor. The apparatus 10 has a looped linked plate lower conveyor 11 which transports and supports a refuse stream consisting of refuse bags 14 beneath an overhead bag-breaking linked-plate moving upper conveyor 31. Both the lower conveyor 11 and the overhead upper conveyor 31 have protruding bars which coact to puncture and rend refuse bags and discharge the contents for further processing.
The lower conveyor 11 is a looped belt 13 formed of rectangular metal plates 12 which are connected to a plurality of parallel looped chains 17. The chains 17 extend between sprockets on a drive drum 21 and sprockets on a tail drum 23. Thedrive drum 21 is driven at a selected speed by a drive means (not shown) such as an electric motor. The metal plates 12 are durable and easy to maintain and keep clean.
The plate conveyor 11 has few interstices for accumulation of debris or contaminants, and is thus resistant to jamming. The plates 12 are hinged together, or alternatively may be supported only on the chains with overlapping flanges to prevent materialfrom passing between the plates as the distance between plates grows as the plates move from a circular path around the drums to a linear path between the drums.
Although shown somewhat schematically in the figures, the size of any gaps between plates may be minimized by making the width of each plate in the machine direction small with respect to the diameter of the drums in a conventional manner for plate conveyors.
Each plate 12 has a plurality of outwardly extending bars 30. The bars 30 are preferably formed to be stiff in the machine direction, but to be flexible in the cross-machine direction. In a preferred embodiment this is achieved by utilizing leaf spring steel for the bars, about three-eighths to three-quarters of an inch thick in the ~7~2 cross-machine direction, and of a greater width in the machine direction. To further stiffen the bars 30 in the direction of movement of the lower conveyor 11, front and rear gussets 18 extend between each bar 30 and a bar base 19. By being flexible in the cross-machine direction, the bars 30 accommodate large unbreakable refuse items without breaking. Thus, for example, should an engine block or heavy piece of scrap find its way into the processed refuse stream, jamming may be avoided by the flexing of the bars 30.
A row of bars 30 is positioned on each plate 12, with a spacing of less than sixinches, to insure that even small refuse bags are engaged and punctured.
Alternatively, the bar bases 19 may be bolted in slots on each plate 12 to allowrepositioning of the bars for certain applications. Bars 30 on neighboring plates 12 are also preferably spaced less than six inches apart.
Rollers 45 are mounted under the plate belt 13 between the two drums 21, 23 to better support the belt 13 and retain it in a horizontal orientation.
The bag-breaking overhead plate conveyor 31 is mounted directly above the lower conveyor 11 and runs parallel to the lower conveyor 11. The closed loop upper conveyor 31 is formed of plates 12 mounted on parallel chains 22 which extend between sprockets on an upper drive drum 34 and an upper tail drum 36.
The upper drive drum 34, located at the rear of the apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 3, drives the conveyor 31 so that the parallel portions of the upper conveyor 31 which overlie the lower conveyor 11 travel in the same direction as the plates 12 of the lower conveyor 11. The upper conveyor 31 is driven by a conventional drive mechanism such as a motor.
The upper conveyor 31 has upper bars 32 identical to those on the lower conveyor 11, and the upper bars are stiffened by gussets just as are the lower bars 30. The upper bars 32 extend downwardly from the upper conveyor 31 to near the surface of the lower conveyor 11. The upper bars 32 are positioned on the upper conveyor 31 to be intermediate between the lower bars 30, to thereby interdigitate 7 ~
with the lower conveyor bars 30 which are traveling below the upper conveyor 31.Rollers 46 support the linked plate belt of the upper conveyor 31 between the two drums 34, 36.
Because pieces of refuse and bags tend to become wrapped around or attached to the bars 30, 32 during processing, both the upper conveyor 31 and the lower conveyor 11 are preferably provided with bar cleaning apparatus 120, an exemplary type of which is shown in FIGS. 4-6:
The bar cleaners 120 automatically clean the bars on both the lower conveyor 11 and the upper conveyor 31. As shown in FIGS. 4-6, the bar cleaners 120 have acomb-shaped structure 130 which has a support beam 132 which supports the bar cleaner 120 approximately perpendicular to the direction of motion of the bars. The bar cleaner has a multiplicity of teeth 134. Each tooth 134 has a rectangular portion 136 and a tapered section 138. Adjacent rectangular portions 136 define slots 140 which are sized to narrowly pass the bars.
The teeth 134 are cut from a plate 142 and are stiffened by gussets 144 which are welded to the plate 142. The plate 142 is bolted to the beam 132 by bolts 147.
Each gusset 144 stiffens a tooth 134. Mounted on either side of the gusset 144 and aligned with the edges 146 of the slots 140 are right-angle cutting flanges 148. The cutting flanges have upstanding legs 150 which terminate in a cutting edge 152 which is part of a blade surface 154. Thus the sides of the slots 140 have sharp edges 152 which shear material off the bars as they interdigitate with the teeth 134 passing through the slots 140. The tapered portions 138 of the teeth 134 help to center the bars and guide them into the slots 140.
A bar cleaner 120 is mounted near the rear of the upper conveyor 31 horizontally, or inclined somewhat from the horizontal. A bar cleaner 120 is also mounted near the rear of the lower conveyor 11 vertically so that the bars are perpendicular to the processing plant floor below. It should be noted that any 2~G7772 appropriate bar cleaner may be employed, for example a simple comb structure which eliminates the costs associated with blades.
When the paper and plastic refuse bags 14 of various shapes and sizes arrive at the refuse processing plant, the refuse bags are loaded onto a metal refuse bag infeed chute 16 which discharges the bags to the inlet end 15 of the lower conveyor 11.
When the refuse bags 14 enter the inlet end 15 of the lower conveyor 11 for processing, the refuse bags are punctured and impaled from below by the lower conveyor bars 30. The lower conveyor bars 30 are moved along at a constant firstspeed by the lower drive drum 21. As the impaled refuse bags 14 travel along down the lower conveyor 11, the bags are further punctured and split open from above by the plurality of upper bars 32. The upper conveyor drive drum 34 moves the upperconveyor 31 and the upper bars 32 along at a constant second speed that is greater than the speed of the lower conveyor 11. The upper bars 32 extend down below thelevel of the tops of the lower bars, so that both sets of bars engage a bag simultaneously. While the bags are impaled on the lower bars, numerous upper bars travel through the bags, completely disrupting the bag and scattering its contents. The- upper and lower bar configuration ensures that every refuse bag 14 traveling along the lower conveyor 11 will be punctured and broken open by the interdigitating bars 30, 32. The speed of the upper conveyor 31 is preferably at least four times the speed of the lower conveyor 11, to promote shearing and rending of the bags 14.
After the bags 14 have been punctured and broken open and the refuse within has been scattered out on to the lower conveyor 11, the conveyor moves the splitand broken refuse bags and scattered refuse along with recyclabie items toward aconveyor outlet end 60 . Once the refuse exits through the conveyor outlet end 60, the refuse will move on to further processing in other areas of the refuse treatment plant.
21g77~2 It should be noted that the upper bars 32 of the upper conveyor 31 and the lowerbars 30 of the lower conveyor 11 may vary in size, shape, and configuration to facilitate the piercing and tearing of the refuse bags 14 traveling on the conveyor.
It is understood that the invention is not !imited to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.
Claims (8)
1. An apparatus for opening refuse bags comprising:
a lower conveyor having a plurality of outwardly extending bars, wherein the lower conveyor bars impale refuse bags disposed on the lower conveyor and advance said bags toward a discharge end; and an upper conveyor positioned over the lower conveyor, wherein the upper conveyor has a plurality of outwardly extending bars which are conveyed to extend through refuse bags supported on the lower conveyor, and wherein the upper bars extend toward the lower conveyor below the level to which the lower bars extend above the lower conveyor, and wherein the upper conveyor bars and lower conveyor bars are advanced at different speeds to rend the bags.
a lower conveyor having a plurality of outwardly extending bars, wherein the lower conveyor bars impale refuse bags disposed on the lower conveyor and advance said bags toward a discharge end; and an upper conveyor positioned over the lower conveyor, wherein the upper conveyor has a plurality of outwardly extending bars which are conveyed to extend through refuse bags supported on the lower conveyor, and wherein the upper bars extend toward the lower conveyor below the level to which the lower bars extend above the lower conveyor, and wherein the upper conveyor bars and lower conveyor bars are advanced at different speeds to rend the bags.
2. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein the bars are flexible in the cross-machine direction to deflect sidewardly when impinging upon a large stiff article of refuse.
3. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein the conveyor bars are mounted on plates, and wherein each plate is closely spaced from an adjacent plate to restrict refuse from falling through the conveyor.
4. The apparatus of Claim 1 wherein the speed of the upper conveyor is at least four times the speed of the lower conveyor.
5. An apparatus for opening refuse bags comprising:
a plurality of upper plates connected together in a closed loop;
a means for driving the connected upper plates along a looped path;
a plurality of lower plates connected together in a closed loop;
a means for driving the connected lower plates along a looped path beneath the upper plates;
a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the upper plates; and a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the lower plates, and a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the upper plates, wherein the lower plate bars extend to a first level above the lower plates, and wherein the upper plates are spaced from the lower plates such that the bars on the upper plates extend beneath the first level, and wherein each bag breaking bar is deflectable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the looped paths, such that refuse bags disposed on the lower plates will be impaled by the bars and rent thereby, and the bars being deflectable upon encountering a large article.
a plurality of upper plates connected together in a closed loop;
a means for driving the connected upper plates along a looped path;
a plurality of lower plates connected together in a closed loop;
a means for driving the connected lower plates along a looped path beneath the upper plates;
a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the upper plates; and a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the lower plates, and a plurality of bag breaking bars fixed to the upper plates, wherein the lower plate bars extend to a first level above the lower plates, and wherein the upper plates are spaced from the lower plates such that the bars on the upper plates extend beneath the first level, and wherein each bag breaking bar is deflectable in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the looped paths, such that refuse bags disposed on the lower plates will be impaled by the bars and rent thereby, and the bars being deflectable upon encountering a large article.
6. The apparatus of Claim 5 wherein the means for driving the connected upper plates drives the upper plates at a speed greater than the speed of the lower plates.
7. The apparatus of Claim 5 wherein each bar is mounted to a base, and wherein a stiffening gusset extends in the machine direction between the bar and the base to thereby limit deflection in the machine direction while permitting deflection in the cross-machine direction.
8. The apparatus of Claim 6 wherein each bar is a leaf spring.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US38231495A | 1995-02-01 | 1995-02-01 | |
| US08/382,314 | 1995-02-01 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2167772A1 true CA2167772A1 (en) | 1996-08-02 |
Family
ID=23508420
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2167772 Abandoned CA2167772A1 (en) | 1995-02-01 | 1996-01-22 | Deflectable overhead bar refuse bag opener |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPH08257429A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA2167772A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6079929A (en) * | 1998-05-28 | 2000-06-27 | Muma Manufacturing Inc. | Refuse bag opener |
Families Citing this family (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP5357708B2 (en) * | 2009-11-13 | 2013-12-04 | カヤバ工業株式会社 | Crusher |
| JP5624306B2 (en) * | 2009-11-13 | 2014-11-12 | カヤバ工業株式会社 | Crusher |
| JP5612847B2 (en) * | 2009-11-13 | 2014-10-22 | カヤバ工業株式会社 | Crusher |
| JP5564284B2 (en) * | 2010-02-23 | 2014-07-30 | カヤバ工業株式会社 | Crusher |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| JPH0655090A (en) * | 1991-03-26 | 1994-03-01 | Abb Gadelius Kk | Bag rupturing machine |
| CA2090659C (en) * | 1992-03-23 | 1995-12-12 | Rader Canada Company | Garbage bag opener |
| JPH06304494A (en) * | 1993-04-26 | 1994-11-01 | Shizukou Kk | Bag breaking device |
-
1996
- 1996-01-22 CA CA 2167772 patent/CA2167772A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 1996-01-31 JP JP1488696A patent/JPH08257429A/en active Pending
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US6079929A (en) * | 1998-05-28 | 2000-06-27 | Muma Manufacturing Inc. | Refuse bag opener |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPH08257429A (en) | 1996-10-08 |
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