EP1824742A1

EP1824742A1 - Device for removing packing wires from a bale and method for removing packing wires

Info

Publication number: EP1824742A1
Application number: EP05819078A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Mikael Lundgren; Rolf Carlander
Original assignee: Trancel Technics AB
Current assignee: TRANCEL SYSTEMS AKTIEBOLAG
Priority date: 2004-12-16
Filing date: 2005-12-15
Publication date: 2007-08-29
Also published as: WO2006065222A8; SE528039C2; EP1824742A4; SE0403071D0; WO2006065222A1; SE0403071L

Abstract

A device and a method for removing binding wires (3) from bales (4) of waste products. A base supports a bale and a cutting device (15) cuts the wires and the wires are removed from the bale by a device that takes up and removes the wires. The device that takes up and removes the wires has lifting devices (20, 21) that can be inserted into the material of the bale with a driving mechanism (22) that gives the lifting devices a penetrating movement into the bale inside the wires, and also a lifting movement for lifting the wires from the bale.

Description

DEVICE FOR REMOVING PACKING WIRES FROM A BALE AND METHOD FOR REMOVING PACKING WIRES

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a device for removing packing wires from a bale as described in the preamble to the following claim 1.

The present invention also relates to a method for removing wires from a bale as described in the preamble to the following claim 9.

BACKGROUND ART

Machines for removing wire from bales have been known for a long time. An example of a known machine is described in patent document EP 0745537 B1. This machine assumes, however, that the bale is separated in such a way that one section falls away, whereby the wires are released and can be picked up. This technique thus only works with bales that separate easily, and it is the case that unwanted material can end up in unwanted places and cause problems.

Patent document US 5,680,691 A1 shows a machine in which the wires are caught up by claw-like devices that pass outside the surface of the bale and are inserted between the bale and the wires. As a result, such wires that have penetrated into the bale are missed.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a device and a method that works effectively, irrespective of whether the wires have penetrated into the bale and irrespective of whether the bale is held together throughout the whole operation or separates unintentionally. The above objects are achieved by means of the device and the method according to the invention, which have the characteristics that are apparent from the following claims 1 and 9 respectively.

It is thus ensured by means of the invention that the packing wires are removed effectively, irrespective of whether the wires have penetrated into the bale or whether the bale separates or not.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in greater detail using two examples, with reference to the following drawings, in which

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device according to the invention in an initial position,

Figures 2 and 3 are a side view and an end view respectively of the device in the initial position,

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the device in a first stage of the method according to the invention for removing wires from a bale,

Figures 5 and 6 are a side view and an end view respectively of the device in the first stage,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the device in a second stage of the method,

Figures 8 and 9 are a side view and an end view respectively of the device in the second stage,

Figure 10 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the device according to the invention, with a clamping device in the clamping position,

Figure 11 is a corresponding view with the clamping device in a releasing position. PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference firstly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the basic construction of the device according to the invention will be described, with the device as a whole being called the wire-removing machine in the following for the sake of simplicity. The machine is constructed with a framework 1 that supports the various parts, and a base 2 at the bottom that supports the bales 4 of waste material, for example waste cardboard, that are bound by a number of wire loops 3, for example five wire loops. The wires consist of metal wire, suitably steel/iron wire, that is tightly strained to hold the material together and therefore penetrates in practice a little way into the material, so that it is slightly inside the four side surfaces of the bale, namely the front 5, the top 6, the back 7 and the underside 8, that are in addition to the two ends 9, 10 of the bale that are not bound with wire, as the wire loops 3 run in essentially parallel planes that extend vertically when the bale is in position.

The main shape of the bale is, in the example, a right-angled parallelepiped, that is essentially box-shaped, but other shapes are also possible, for example cylindrical or a shape between the two. In practice, bales of waste material are deformed, among other things by the tightly-strained wires, which makes special demands of the wire-removing machine.

The base 2 consists of a conveyor 11 for transporting the bales to the machine and supporting these in position one at a time in the machine for the removal of the wires. The conveyor has an inlet end 12, where the bales

4 are loaded onto the conveyor, and an outlet end 13 at the outlet side 14 of the machine, where, after removal of the wires, the bales can be tipped down into a vat, a grinding plant or the like for further processing into, for example, paper pulp. The base can, alternatively, be a sliding plate that is inclined to enable the bales to be slid along.

The machine comprises a cutting device 15 or wire cutting device that is located at the outlet side 14 of the machine at the bottom, at the outlet end 13 of the conveyor 11 , and is arranged to cut each wire 3 in a cutting stage at a cutting location 16 along a line that extends across the bale on its underside 8, that is at the front and at the bottom. In the example shown, the cutting device 15 consists of a circular saw 16 with a motor, that is mounted in a transverse guide 17 in front of the outlet end 13 of the conveyor and on a motor-driven carrier 18 that enables the carrier and thereby the circular saw to move in a linear direction with the saw blade projecting a short distance above the supporting surface 19 of the base 2, that is a short way into the bale, so that cutting of the wires is ensured. The cutting device can alternatively be provided with a saw blade that carries out the cutting with a sawing movement.

A central part of the machine is a device that takes up and removes the wires, which device, according to the invention, has freeing devices or lifting devices 20, 21 for the wires and a driving mechanism 22 for the lifting devices that, in the example shown, consist of two movable spikes. These extend with their longitudinal axes 23 essentially horizontal, in a transverse direction to the plane of the wire loops. The driving mechanism 22 is arranged to bring about an essentially linear forward and backward movement of the spikes 20, 21 along their longitudinal axes in order to insert them into the material of the bale and to withdraw them from the material, and also a lateral movement in a transverse direction to the inserting movement. For this purpose, the spikes have a lateral movement mechanism, in the example a swing-arm mechanism 24, that is mounted in such a way that it can rotate in a part of the framework 1 that can be raised and lowered (see below) around an essentially horizontal geometrical axis 25, that is essentially parallel to the longitudinal axes 23 of the spikes.

The wire-removing machine has a construction that is of the portal type, in that the framework 1 has two side parts 26, 27 and a bridging part 28, whereby a short tunnel 29 is created, dimensioned to let through bales of varying sizes, with the side parts consisting of two fixed vertical columns 30, 31 , one on each side of the tunnel, and the bridging part consisting of a unit that can be raised and lowered, that is adjusted to suit the height of the bales in question. The vertical columns 30, 31 form guides for the bridging part, on which a raising and lowering device 32 is arranged in the form of a linear motor, for example of the hydraulically-operated piston type, on each side. In the example shown, the raising and lowering movement of the bridging part 28 is linear and vertical.

The mounting of the swing-arm mechanism 24 described above is arranged in the bridging part 28 that can be raised and lowered, in the form of two opposing pivot points or mounting positions 33, 34 for two swing arms 35, 36 that are linked together by means of a transverse beam 37. In the example shown, the spikes 20, 21 are attached to the swing arms via their driving mechanisms, that consist of a linear motor in the form, for example, of a hydraulically-operated piston 38, 39, where the cylinder part 40 forms the fixed part and the piston part forms the spike. The fixed parts are advantageously slightly offset, so that the spikes do not run coaxially and the stroke length of the pistons is selected to be such that, in their fully extended position, the spikes can slightly overlap each other at their front ends 41 , 42.

The driving of the swinging movement of the swing arm mechanism 24 is achieved by, for example, a hydraulically-operated piston 43, 44 attached on each side of the bridging part, that acts against each swing arm 35, 36 between the pivot point 33, 34 and the fixed cylinder for the spikes, in order to create a turning moment in the swing arms in one or the other direction by means of the forward or backward movement of the piston in the cylinder, the swing arms being arranged to swing between two end positions, these end positions being with the spikes 20, 21 in a withdrawn position and in a penetrating position.

The machine comprises a pick-up device 45 for gathering together the cut wires 3 and transferring them to a rolling-up device 46, in the following called a winding mechanism. These two devices can be of previously known types and are described here relatively schematically. As is the case with the lifting device, the pick-up device 45 and the winding mechanism 46 are supported by the bridging part and are thereby arranged to move with it when it is raised and lowered, in order to adjust the positions and the movements to the size of the bales 4 in question, more specifically the height of the top 6 of the bale 4. In the example, the pick-up device is provided with a pick-up tool 47 that is supported by a swing arm 48 that is mounted in such a way that it can swing around a pivot point 49 on the bridging part and can be adjusted between a pick-up position down at the wires 3 and a delivery position up at the winding mechanism. The pick-up tool 47 is constructed as a linearly- movable fork with two jaws 50, 51 that can be moved towards each other, which pick-up tool is driven by its own pneumatically-operated piston 52, 53 and is attached to the respective piston rod 54, 55 in order to move in a transverse direction to the longitudinal direction of the wires to a clamping position with the wires gathered together in one place and clamped together ready to be carried to the winding mechanism by the swinging movement. The driving of the swinging movement of the pick-up device forwards and backwards between the pick-up position and the delivery position is achieved by means of a driving motor, which, in the example shown, consists of a pneumatically-operated piston 56 that is attached between the bridging part 28 and the swing arm 48 at a distance from the pivot point 49, in order to create a turning moment on the arm by the linear action of the piston. The winding mechanism is a reel driven by an electrical motor with a take-up mechanism arranged to take up the gathered-together bundle of wires, when the pick-up device 45 has delivered the bundle to the rolling-up device. In addition, the winding mechanism has an ejection mechanism that is driven by a small hydraulically-operated piston 57, for ejecting the rolled-up wire that is then caught up by a chute 58 (see Figure 10), that leads to a collection location for rolled-up wire waste, for example a container, that is not shown. The machine is provided with a clamping rod 61 , see Figures 2 and 5, that extends backwards on fixed arms 62 from the transverse beam 60. The function of the rod 61 is described below.

Figures 10 and 11 show an alternative embodiment of the wire-removing machine, that is here supplemented by a clamping device 59 for the bales in the position for removing the wire. In principle, a mechanical stop mechanism is not needed, as the bales are stopped on the conveyor 19 by the control system of the machine comprising a control unit (control computer) (not shown) and position sensors, whereby one bale at a time is stopped in the wire-removal position, see for example Figures 1, 2 and 10, with the bale 4 protruding slightly beyond the outlet end 13 of the conveyor 19. The clamping device 59 can, to a certain extent, serve as an auxiliary stop, but its primary function is to ensure that the bale stays together, even while the wire is being removed, so that sections of waste material do not end up in the machine and its base. In the example, the clamping device 59 consists of a clamping gate arranged to pivot on the bridging part 28, for example on a lateral beam 60, which clamping gate is adjustable by rotating it around a horizontal axis between a locked clamping position according to Figure 10 and a withdrawn released position according to Figure 11.

The method for removing wire by means of the wire-removing machine according to the invention will now be described briefly. The bales 4 bound by wire are loaded one at a time onto the conveyor 19 at the inlet end 12 and are fed forward in stages to the wire-removing position, that is the conveyor is driven by means of the control system for intermittent feeding determined by the cycle time of a wire-removing operation, during which the bales are stationary. When a bale is fed into the tunnel of the machine portal and forward to the wire-removing position, the device for taking up and removing the wire, that can be raised and lowered, called the wire-removing unit in the following, is in a withdrawn initial position, see Figures 1-3, supported by the bridging part 28 that can be raised and lowered. This is in a raised position, the lifting devices 20, 21, that is the spikes, are in their retracted position with a space between the ends 41 , 42 exceeding the width of the largest bale, and the pick-up device 45 is pivoted up into an initial position behind the winding mechanism 46. The cutting device 15 is also in a withdrawn initial position. The spikes are shown protruding in Figures 1 and 3, which is possible provided that the bridging part 28 is in its upper position.

When the wire-removing position is indicated for a bale 4 and the spikes 20, 21 are withdrawn, the driving mechanism for the lowering movement of the bridging unit is activated until a selected relative position is reached, for example by the bridging part resting on the top of the bale, for example with the transverse beam 37, that thereby also holds and stabilizes the bale and advantageously creates a small space between the beam 60 and the top 6 of the bale 4 and thereby does not clamp the wires 3. The relative position is precisely adjusted for the different functions, such as the height of the spikes relative to the top of the bale, so that when the spikes are ready to penetrate the material, they are well below the wires that are on the top of the bale, advantageously above the center of the bale, but, however, at a distinct perpendicular distance from the surface of the bale, in the example, the abovementioned side surfaces 5-8, with, however, a certain orientation towards the top. The driving mechanism is then activated, that is the pistons, for the linear penetrating movement of the spikes into the material of the bale along the longitudinal axes 23 of the spikes in a direction towards each other, until they are slightly overlapping, see Figure 6, below the parts of the wire that are to be supported and raised. The next stage is cutting of the wires 3, for which the circular saw is caused to rotate and is driven on the carrier 18 with a linear movement and with the saw blade penetrating slightly into the bale in a direction transverse to this, whereby it is ensured that the wires are cut.

When the wires have been cut, which is detected by the control system detecting that the saw has completed its movement and has returned to its initial position or has stopped on the opposite side in order to cut the wires of the next bale in the opposite direction, the following takes place. The driving mechanism of the lifting movement of the lifting devices, that is the spikes 20, 21 , is activated, that is the pistons for rotating the swinging mechanism 35 upwards are activated, so that the spikes are caused to carry out their lateral movement, in the example an arc-shaped parallel movement upwards and forwards through the material of the bale that has been separated by the spikes at least in their path of movement, so that the lifting devices make contact with the wires 3 from inside the bale and lift the wires and hold these up on the top of the spikes. Due to a relatively low positioning of the point of rotation, the movement component forwards is as large or larger than the upward movement component, which provides a very favorable releasing movement for the wires, which could stick if there was relatively high friction and could be liable to break if the pulling force was too large. As a result of the wires being cut at the bottom and in front, the wires are released most easily from in front and are thus caused to first leave the front and top of the bale. When the wire loops 3 have been cut and raised by means of the spikes 20, 21 , the rod 61 forms a clamp for the wires so that these do not burst open in an uncontrolled way. This is carried out by the rod being positioned within the sector of movement of the spikes, that is the angular area and radius, so that the wires are forced to be bent over the spikes and extend relatively uniformly. When the wires are resting on the spikes, see Figures 8 and 9, or simultaneously with the lifting movement, the pick-up device 45 is activated and swings down with the pick-up tool 47 open towards the wires, with a jaw width that is approximately the width of a bale. In the swung-down pick-up position with the jaws projecting downwards to a level clearly below the raised spikes, for example to the top of the bale, the tool is activated, that is the jaws are closed into the clamping position with the wires clamped together in one place. After this, the swinging movement of the pick-up device 45 is activated and the pick-up tool moves upwards carrying the wires to the winding mechanism, and goes past this so that the wires are laid over the reel of the winding mechanism, whereupon this is activated to roll up the wires. If these have not already been pulled up from the underside of the bale, this takes place during the rolling up. The rolled-up wires can be ejected and fall down into a chute 58.

When the active cycle is completed, the wire-removing unit with its parts is reset to the initial position, that is the spikes are withdrawn and swung down to the initial position and the bridging part 28 or the ramp is raised to be able to receive the next bale.

According to the invention, in addition to the pick-up or gathering-together mechanism, there is a separate lifting mechanism with its own driving mechanism that has its own movement and is based on the lifting devices penetrating deep into the material of the bale, making contact with the wires and raising these in order for them to be picked up and gathered together.

The invention is not restricted to the examples described above and shown in the drawings, but can be varied within the framework of the following patent claims. For example the spikes can be raised with a linear movement, suitably diagonally forwards and upwards. Instead of being offset laterally, it is possible for the spikes to move in a coaxial direction and, instead of overlapping, they can meet in the inserted position. In addition, the spikes can be replaced by flat elements, for example a sword-shaped element, that can penetrate into the bale. The pick-up device and the winding mechanism can be implemented in a different way, as can the cutting device for the wires. These can, for example, be cut or sawn through with a forward and backward sawing movement.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A device for removing binding wires (3) from bales (4) of waste product material, comprising a supporting device (2) for supporting a bale, a cutting device (15) for cutting the wires and a device that takes up and removes the wires for removing the wires from the bale, characterized in that the device that takes up and removes the wires comprises lifting devices (20, 21) that can be inserted into the material of the bale with a driving mechanism (22) that is arranged to give the lifting devices a movement for penetrating into the material in the bale inside the wires and also a lateral movement transverse to the direction of the penetrating movement for lifting the wires from the bale.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 , characterized in that the said lifting devices consist of one or more spikes (20, 21) that are arranged to penetrate inside the wires (3) and inside the surface (6) of the bale from the side.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the spikes (20, 21) are arranged in pairs and are arranged to penetrate into the bale opposite each other through two opposite sides (9, 10) of the bale.

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that direction of penetration of the spikes (20, 21) coincides essentially with their respective longitudinal axis (23).

5. The device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the spikes (20, 21) have pointed ends (41 , 42) that overlap each other in pairs in their inserted position.

6. The device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the lifting movement of the spikes (20, 21) is in a transverse direction to their respective longitudinal axis (23).

7. The device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the spikes (20, 21) and their driving mechanism (22) are arranged on arms (35, 36) that are mounted in such a way that they can pivot, and are arranged to carry out an arc-shaped lifting movement upwards and forwards to release the wires.

8. The device as claimed in any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the device that takes up and removes the wires is supported on a unit that can be raised and lowered, that can be adjusted according to the height of the bales (4).

9. A method for removing binding wires (3) from a bale (4) of waste product material, comprising the steps: movement of the bale to a supporting surface (2); insertion of lifting devices (20, 21 ) into the material of the bale inside the wires in the wire-bound bale; cutting of the wires; lifting of the wires by means of a lateral movement of the lifting devices in a transverse direction to the insertion movement so that the wires are at least partially outside the surface (6) of the bale; gathering up and removal of the wires from the bale.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the lifting of the wires (3) is carried out on the side of the bale that is opposite to the side where the wires are cut.