EP1008388A1 - Crusher - Google Patents

Abstract

The shredder consists of two or more pairs of toothed blades (1, 2) acting as jaws and capable of performing a reciprocating motion which moves them towards and away from one another, with some of the teeth engaging as they meet. Each successive pair of blades is offset and able to slide relative to its neighbour, producing vertical and horizontal shearing effects at the same time as the teeth on the upper sections of the blades crush the material being processed.

Description

The invention relates to a crusher or crusher for material made of loose, in a heterogeneous mixture, making it possible to reduce this material to particles of small dimensions in order to reduce the volume as much as possible. His operation uses a system of toothed blades in relative movements linear, simultaneously combining shear functions with crushing functions. If the material in question is essentially organic and not infectious, the ground materials obtained can be used as compost, while in otherwise they can be landfilled directly. Their sort or others treatments such as decontamination or sterilization will be facilitated.

The need to grind used materials is old and many processes and devices have been developed for grinding such materials allowing them to be crushed, cut, chopped, shredded, shredded, etc.

In reality, only a small number of processes are in common use. They use knives or scissors, such as paper shredders, rotating blades, for the destruction of metals, plastics and rubber, or jaws (stony or rocky materials). Each of these processes with often unacceptable drawbacks when used apart from their strict applications, for example for treating mixtures heterogeneous materials or various materials.

Nowadays, the increasing costs of transport and storage of waste makes it necessary to grind the materials in a place as close as possible from where they are produced. The demand is therefore great, and moreover in addition, for a space-saving and light usable waste shredder for example in the workshop or laboratory, or even simply as a device spare. This type of device must have a low consumption, make little noise and being able to process various materials of very variable thicknesses. As already indicated, the solutions known and cited above do not have much to offer from this point of view. The paper shredders are not strong enough to treat plastic and metals, even thin ones. The more grinders large dimensions generally operate using rotary blades which generate a noise that requires protection to stand nearby. Also stay the problem of grinding meat tissue and waste. Crushers or crushers used in quarries, in addition to the enormous noise they also generate, are too large dimensions, consume a lot of energy, and produce fines and excess dust.

Mention will be made of the ball or hammer type crushers, used in the laboratory or in industry to reduce materials to fine powder hard, but these instruments generate an unbearable noise and are not of all ways not designed to deal with materials made up of heterogeneous mixtures.

The invention, on the contrary, solves the problems mentioned above, with know how to obtain a particulate product which can be easily handled and treated later if necessary, transported and stored.

The mill according to the invention makes it possible to reduce particles to heterogeneous materials, organic as well as mineral or mixed; he's from small dimensions, silent and consumes little energy, content with a classic electrical connection, as can be found in a simple dwelling. We will also see that it is self-cleaning and that its very design allows very easy maintenance.

Its characteristic is that its operation combines an effect crushing which cooperates with a double shearing effect in two planes orthogonal of space.

Preferably, the orthogonal planes are vertical planes and horizontal.

According to one embodiment, the crusher comprises at least two successive pairs of movable toothed blades making jaws, each couple consisting of two corresponding toothed blades, facing each other, animated by a back and forth movement back and forth to come to a stop against each other when the teeth are engaged with each other, the second pair of blades sliding against the first pair of blades and coming in stop in a position offset from the stop position of the first couple of toothed blades.

The blades advantageously have a curved profile, for example S-shaped, to prevent long and thin pieces from protruding the blades without being cut.

Preferably then, the blades constituting the pairs of blades are in vertical position and have serrations having horizontal surfaces oriented upward, downward respectively, so that the effects of shear are vertical, respectively horizontal.

In an advantageous embodiment, the blades extend towards the top by upper zones, also toothed, but which do not come engage with each other and instead adopt a positioning geometrical in V when the toothed blades are in abutment against each other others in the crushing area.

The shape of the blades and their thickness, as well as the material used, will be chosen according to the products to be ground and the size of the ground ground desired, as will be explained later.

By this characteristic, the materials are pushed down, in the crushing area. Such a crusher self-feeds itself.

It is however possible to provide, for example for the treatment of light and large empty waste such as empty plastic bottles, additional means for pushing the material towards the blades.

In the crushing zone, the toothed blades constituting the pairs are advantageously arranged obliquely.

The pairs of blades can be animated relative to each other by a synchronous or asynchronous movement, and between the moving blades can be inserted between fixed blades or having a different stroke.

The blades can approach and move away in a linear stroke located along a coincident axis, in the same plane, or along two planes making between them an obtuse angle different from 180 ° up to 120 ° for example. The convergence movement is then oblique, preferably downwards to further accentuate the phenomenon of self-supply of waste.

It should also be noted that this back-and-forth movement, whatever the or planes, can also be curved or arched, preferably there also oriented the bottom in reconciliation. Such a result is easily obtained by shifting the axis of fixing the blades relative to the point where the back and forth movement properly says is applied to them. This generates a rocking movement, downwards if the point blade fixing is below.

By its very design, such a crusher can be presented under a modular shape, pairs of toothed blades that can be added to the side of existing blades to increase the grinding capacity, or removed to decrease capacity, weight and size. This is obviously a big advantage compared to traditional shredders, especially compared to screw mills, by nature fixed in their dimensions and capacities.

Of course, apart from the above elements which constitute the invention proper, the crusher also includes mechanical parts necessary for its operation, i.e. one or more powered motors electrically or pneumatically or hydraulically, the frames or supports required, the feed hoppers and the outlet and recovery of shredded products.

Of course, the blades are made of a material sufficiently resistant to cut and crush, while keeping a residual elasticity for take into account the shear forces. The material chosen for the blades or their coating, as well as the shape and design of the teeth and interfaces mechanical depends on the chosen applications. We will mention steel, carbides or nitrides, certain ceramics obtained by sintering in particular, in solid or in plating.

It should be understood here that when we speak of "stop", it does not does not necessarily mean that the teeth come into direct face contact against face; the stop movement may leave a slight space between these two blades, which is precisely of the order of magnitude of the dimensions of the particles of ground materials obtained. In addition, to allow mechanical tolerance, the teeth in the abutment area may have a slight cut at the end or chamfer.

Although the mill according to the invention requires at least a couple of blades to work, it is obvious that, in practice, the number of blades will be much higher, typically from a few tens to a few hundred, without this number necessarily being even. Everything will obviously depend on the required grinding capacity and constraints on general dimensions.

The width of the blades also depends on the dimensions of the particles of the ground material, as well as the maximum dimensions of the material to be ground, the number of blades placed side by side defining the maximum length of the material accepted.

• la figure 1 est une vue de côté du couple de lames coopérant, animé d'un mouvement de va-et-vient en rapprochement et en éloignement;
• la figure 2a est une vue d'un couple de lames identiques, représenté en perspective, mais dont la partie supérieure a une forme d'entonnoir;
• la figure 2b est une vue en perspective correspondant à la figure 2a, dans laquelle plusieurs couples de lames sont disposés côte-à-côte; et
• la figure 3 est une vue de dessus du schéma de principe expliquant l'interpénétration des lames et les effets de cisaillement.

The invention will be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings, given by way of nonlimiting example. In these drawings:

• Figure 1 is a side view of the pair of cooperating blades, driven back and forth in approach and in distance;
• FIG. 2a is a view of a pair of identical blades, shown in perspective, but the upper part of which has the shape of a funnel;
• Figure 2b is a perspective view corresponding to Figure 2a, in which several pairs of blades are arranged side by side; and
• Figure 3 is a top view of the block diagram explaining the interpenetration of the blades and the shearing effects.

As seen in Figure 1, the pair of blades includes a blade 1 or "male" blade, and a blade 2 or "female" blade cooperating with blade 1. Each of these blades comprises holes 3, 4 used to fix them on support shafts and motors not shown, respectively 5, 6 whose purpose is above all to lighten the whole. The male blade 1 comprises an upper zone 7 input which will be used to compact, pre-crush, possibly pre-crush and pre-rip, the material brought into this zone, and a lower zone 8, where crushing and final grinding. The female blade 2 also includes an upper zone 9 and a lower grinding zone 10 whose teeth interpenetrate and cooperate with the teeth of zone 8. The two zones upper 7.9 of the blades together form a V-shaped hopper whose role will be to advance downward the material taken in this hopper.

In the lower zone, the male blade 1 protrudes, while the part corresponding of the female blade 2 has an S shape, in order to define a passage for the ground material and to prevent pieces from crossing the blades without being treated.

These teeth are identified by the reference numbers 11.12 on each of the two male 1 and female 2 blades respectively. In their areas upper 7.9, the blades 11 have teeth which have a horizontal face 13 turned upwards. Since the other face 13 ′ of these same teeth 11 is tilted downward, the distance then the approximation of the blades will push the material down, as shown above, creating a self-feeding effect.

In the lower areas of the blades, which are advantageously inclined with respect to the vertical (by an angle α of approximately 45 ° in the figures, but which can for example be between 0 and 60 °, values which can vary depending on the application), the teeth have a horizontal face oriented downwards 14, respectively a horizontal face oriented towards the higher 15.

This is not shown in the figure for the sake of clarity, but the blades have a slight cut at the end to facilitate their nesting, in allowing mechanical tolerance in the assembly of blade systems.

Finally, between the upper zones 7 or 9 and the lower zones 8 or 10 of each blade 1 or 2, a connection zone comprising teeth 12 more conventional with inclined faces, these faces being complementary so as to be able to come and fit.

These blades are driven back and forth in approximation according to f1 or in distance according to f2. When they approach f1, all the teeth of the zones connecting intermediaries and lower areas fit together the others, the faces 14 and 15 of the corresponding teeth sliding one against others by exerting a horizontal shearing effect.

It should be noted here that by the words "horizontal" and "vertical", we mean mark relative to the axis of the mill as a whole, as it is normally installed, placed or fixed on the ground. It can be tilted, without it changing how whether it's crushing and shearing effects.

In FIG. 1, the upper zones of the two blades form a figure in right V, making feed hopper, with a half opening angle of about 45 ° from the vertical. This angle β, which can be identical or different from the angle α mentioned above, can also vary between 0 ° and 60 °, and the V can have a curvilinear profile or in successive sections of inclination different. This part therefore forms a funnel for the material to be ground and the form of the teeth present in the funnel goes, as has already been indicated and is clearly visible in Figure 2a, help bring the material down to the lower grinding zone.

On this figure 2a indeed which is only a diagram of principle simplifier representing only one pair of blades, we have illustrated by the arrow f3 the downward movement of the material. It will be observed that here the funnel has a not straight shape, in evolutionary curve.

In FIG. 2b, which repeats FIG. 2a, the grinder according to the invention is equipped with five consecutive pairs of blades (101,201; 102,202; 103; 203, 104,204; 105,205) some of which (201,102, 203, 104, 205) are fixed.

To fix the ideas, when one wishes to obtain a grinder whose size of particles of ground material obtained is of the order of 5 mm, a thickness of blades of the same order of magnitude (for example 3 to 5 mm), a height for teeth less than about 5-10 mm, blade height in the area 6 to 8 cm lower for a total height of the blades up to 20 cm; we will have for example sixty side-by-side for a width of 30 cm.

The value of 5 mm is only an example, since by varying the above parameters, one can choose the particle size of the ground material.

In this figure 2b the blade 101 is female and the blade 201 is male, the blade 102 is male and blade 202 is female and so on alternately, the zones 1 and 9, respectively 8 and 10 being correlatively alternately on each on both sides.

The mill works as follows. The blades move in approaching and moving away from each other and the material arranged in The hopper is, for large pieces, already torn and pierced. therefore first of all a compacting and partial crushing effect. Thanks to the shape of teeth, the material is pushed down where it compacts more and more.

Then begins a vertical shearing effect by sliding the two consecutive blades one on the other (101 against 202; 202 against 103, 103 against 204, etc.). The material then enters the connection area, then into the lower area of the blades (8,10) where it is crushed, ground, crushed, cut and sheared, in short shredded and reduced to small particles. There is always an effect of vertical shear between two consecutive blades, but it then adds an effect horizontal shear between the complementary faces, facing upwards (15), respectively downwards (14), of the teeth of the two blades facing and in reconciliation. To this double shearing effect is also added an effect of crushing between these same two blades in approach, making jaws or pincers.

Note that between Figure 1 and Figure 2a or 2b, the faces of teeth (14,15) of the blades in their lower area have been reversed on the blades males and females. This is to show that the relative arrangement of these faces is indifferent, provided they are horizontal.

The shearing effect between two consecutive blades sliding one against the other is a vertical shear effect cutting the material, while the shearing effect between two faces of horizontal teeth in the area of grinding is a horizontal shearing effect which also cuts the material. The effect of crushing is obtained by the blades which approach to come to rest one against the other, in the lower zone 8.

The parameters of the angles of the funnel and its shape, geometry and length of the lower grinding area are determined to allow pierce, tear or compress the material beforehand in the funnel, push into the grinding area where it will be ground when the teeth come engage each other until the stop, with the clearance imposed by the final size of the ground material.

Moreover, the blades can be mounted on an elastic device (springs or shock absorbers) with play, so that they do not come completely into face to face stop only if there is no ground material caught in them, leaving the necessary clearance otherwise.

Figure 3 is a top view of the blades in a variant where the grinder alternately comprises fixed blades (102,201,103,204, etc.), shown in gray, while the moving blades (101,202,103,204, etc.) are shown with hatching. The letters a, b, c and d represent different steps of moving away and moving the moving blades together. In a, all blades are separated. In b, the movable blades have exceeded the fixed blades and have therefore removed any material that may have attached to them (cleaning step). In c, the movable blades are just passed over each other and the material has been cut by shearing on the vertical edges. In d, the moving blades penetrate in the fixed blades and the material is sheared horizontally by the faces of the horizontal teeth sliding on each other, then it is crushed and ground into end of stroke. So the moving blades move away and we find ourselves in position at.

It will be observed here that the friction generated when the blades deviate will release the material or particles caught between them, which will fall down to be picked up by the teeth below. This geometry means that the mill according to the invention is "anti-blocking", that is to say that no particle of ground material can accumulate durably until it blocks the blade operation.

It will also be noted, in relation to the above that the grinder is also "self-cleaning", the blades being arranged so that, during their path, the vertical edge of a blade passes against the vertical edge of its neighbors. By moving forward, a blade pushes back the material that can stick on a tooth of its neighbors. The cut pieces will fall lower to undergo a new crushing and shearing action.

The blades are actuated by the shafts passing through them (see figure 1). It should be noted here that, depending on the weight of the blades making up the jaws and the material constituting the teeth, the motor movement must be sufficient. However, once the movement has started, the blades being advantageously accelerated over a length of about 30 mm in about a second, the material is cut not only by the force imparted to the blades by the motor movement, but also by the kinetic energy stored. For example, 60 pairs of blades 5 mm thick as shown in Figure 1, actuated by 4 cylinders 25 mm diameter powered by a hydraulic unit with a 0.75 kW motor provide a torque of more than 1 ton.

Due to its remarkable efficiency due to the triple shearing effect in two planes and crushing, the mill according to the invention can be of dimensions and reduced weight and thus find wide applications in the fields where it is necessary to have a light, energy-efficient grinder to reduce heterogeneous materials, such as waste, in particles as small as possible and decrease the volume.

Such a crusher can therefore be used advantageously in small workshops or laboratories or at home, as well as on board aircraft where weight and volumes are the enemies and where we usually only have one generation electric counted.

This crusher can moreover constitute one of the elements of a set of grinding in several stages, comprising several (n) grinders according to the invention installed in series. The ground material obtained by a grinder (n-1) feeds the grinder next (n) in the series.

The grinder, respectively the grinding assembly, will also find a special interest in hospitals. In fact, hospital waste is in generally a mixture of human tissues, various textile materials (compresses, etc.), rubber materials (surgical gloves, etc.), syringes (mixture plastic and metal), or even paper and cardboard (packaging). Because the fabrics humans are likely to be infectious, hospital waste should not be put in the traditional circuit. On the contrary, they must be treated separately, either in ad hoc centers outside the hospital, or in a treatment center internal to the hospital. They are still huge, noisy and voracious installations in energy, which are associated with sterilization facilities to destroy all pathogenic germs. In all cases, they must be transported out of the operating room.

Recently, medical treatment devices have been developed by microwave sterilization including a grinder for pre-treatment of waste, small enough that each operating room or each service can have its own device, which avoids any transport and external manipulation. Such a microwave processing device is described by example in WO 97/44069.

To keep the device in question a volume compatible with a operating room, hospital waste to be treated, heterogeneous in nature, are previously ground into small dimensions and this is precisely where that the crusher according to the invention intervenes, as an independent machine, or better in a combined grinding and sterilization installation, in particular microwave sterilization.

Claims (13)

Blade mill, characterized by an operation which combines an effect of crushing with a double shearing effect along two orthogonal planes of space. Crusher according to claim 1, characterized in that the planes orthogonal are vertical and horizontal planes. Crusher according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least two successive pairs of movable toothed blades making jaws, each couple consisting of two corresponding toothed blades (1,2) facing each other, moving back and forth (f2) and coming together (f1) to come up against each other when the teeth engage with each other other, at least part of the blade teeth (1,2) having an oriented face perpendicular to the plane of the reciprocating motion of the blades, and the second pair of blades sliding against the first pair of blades to come in stop in a position offset from the stop position of the first couple of toothed blades. Crusher according to claim 2, characterized in that the blades (1,2) constituting the pairs of blades are in vertical position and have teeth (11) having at least partly horizontal surfaces oriented towards the up (15), respectively down (14), so that the double effect of shear is due to a vertical shear effect produced by the crossing of successive blades sliding against each other, combined with a shearing effect horizontal produced by the crossing of the faces of the teeth facing upwards (15), respectively downwards (14), sliding against each other. Crusher according to claim 4, characterized in that the blades are extend upward by upper zones (7, respectively 9), toothed they too, but who do not come to commit to each other, adopting on the contrary a geometrical positioning in V making hopper when the blades teeth are engaged in each other in the lower stop zone (8, respectively 10). Crusher according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that in the area stop (8, respectively 10), the toothed blades (1,2) constituting the pairs are oblique. Crusher according to claims 4, 5 or 6, characterized in that, in the stop zone (8, respectively 10), the toothed blades (1,2) constituting the couples have a curved profile, for example in the shape of an S. Crusher according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that fixed blades are inserted between the movable blades. Crusher according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the blades approach and move away according to a linear race located in the same plane, or in two planes making an obtuse angle different from 180 °, the convergence movement then being oblique. Crusher according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the blades approach and move away in a curvilinear or arcuate course. Crusher according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comes in a modular form, pairs of toothed blades that can be added to the side of existing blades to increase the grinding capacity, or removed to reduce grinding capacity, weight and size. Multi-stage grinding assembly, including multiple grinders according to one of the preceding claims installed in series, characterized in that the crushed material obtained by a crusher feeds the next crusher of the series. Medical waste sterilization installation, characterized in that it includes, as a unit placed upstream of a microwave sterilization device, a grinder according to any one of the preceding claims or a grinding assembly according to claim 12.

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