EP2456691A1

EP2456691A1 - Collection trucks for emptying waste collection receptacles

Info

Publication number: EP2456691A1
Application number: EP10752084A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Xavier Morel; Vincent Renaudie; Fabrice Ollier; Domingo Casellas Sole
Original assignee: Ros Roca SA; Plastic Omnium SE
Current assignee: Ros Roca SA
Priority date: 2009-07-22
Filing date: 2010-07-22
Publication date: 2012-05-30
Anticipated expiration: 2030-07-22
Also published as: WO2011010073A1; FR2948348B1; FR2948348A1; ES2823454T3; EP2456691B1

Abstract

The invention relates to a collection truck (1) for emptying waste collection receptacles (20), said truck including a collection tray (2) and mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) for taking a receptacle (20) to be emptied and putting it through a complete emptying movement from the moment that said receptacle (20) is raised from the ground until the moment when it is placed back on the ground, and including the moment when the receptacle (20) is turned over in order to be emptied into the tray (2), said truck (1) being characterized in that it includes at least one parameterizable member among the mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10), said member being capable of following at least two modes of operation that are distinguishable by at least one parameter that predetermines the kinematics and/or the dynamics of the mechanical emptying means during the movement of completely lifting a receptacle (20).

Description

Collection truck for emptying waste collection bins

The present invention relates to the field of emptying waste collection bins.

It is known that the handling of the collection bins generates noise nuisances that it has already been attempted to remedy by providing various devices for attenuation of noise on the bins.

These devices reduce the noise generated by the bins when rolled on the floor or opening or closing their lids, which is already significant improvements.

On the other hand, when emptying bins by collection trucks, the noise generated continues to be very important, which poses variable problems, depending on the environment in which the operations are carried out. We know that, in a quiet environment, the collection trucks are a source of noise that may be complaining to some residents.

The present invention aims to propose a solution to this problem.

The present invention relates to a collection truck for emptying the waste collection bins, comprising a collection bucket and mechanical emptying means for taking a tank presented dump and make it follow a complete emptying movement, from the moment said tray is lifted from the ground until it is rested on the ground, passing through the moment when the tray is reversed to empty into the bucket, said truck being characterized in that it comprises at least one configurable member among the mechanical emptying means, said member being capable of following at least two modes of operation distinguished by at least one parameter determining the kinematics and / or the dynamics of the mechanical emptying means during the emptying movement of a complete tank.

For the purposes of the present invention, the term kinematic mechanical means of emptying the criteria defining the trajectory and orientation of the tank at each moment of its emptying movement and dynamic means means of emptying the criteria defining the speed and the acceleration of the tank at each moment of its emptying movement, speed and acceleration being algebraic data, that is to say potentially negative, which includes decelerations. The invention makes it possible to implement bin emptying operations reducing the noise emissions caused by the truck itself and by the sound interactions, of shock or vibration types, occurring between each tank and the truck during emptying, precisely adapting the trajectory of the tank, its orientation, its speed and its acceleration at every moment, so as to make the emptying operation as quiet as possible.

In the state of the art, the parameters determining trajectory, orientation, speed and acceleration of the tank during its emptying were determined according to the desired efficiency of the emptying and, especially, to ensure the emptying of all types of tanks likely to be emptied by the collection truck. As a result, some parameters were necessarily over-dimensioned with respect to certain tanks and some inappropriate trajectories, at least with regard to the noise generated, notably because fast and brutal movements were often retained as providing the best average efficiency of emptying against several types of bins.

In a first embodiment, the truck comprises a manual means of selecting between several emptying modes, each emptying mode corresponding to a different parameter setting of the configurable body of the mechanical emptying means.

This embodiment has the advantage of being very simple to execute: the person responsible for presenting bins to the truck for emptying selects a dump mode before triggering the dump. The modes of emptying proposed can depend on the type of tank or more simply of a choice between "rapidity", "economy of energy" and "silence". This choice can be made by the operator according to the time he has and the environment in which the emptying takes place. Another possible choice, compatible with the previous one, is "normal cycle" or "very dirty cycle", depending on what the operator can observe the contents of the tray.

In another embodiment, the invention is implemented with collection bins of the type comprising an electronic tag containing data, said label being readable by a reader on the collection truck.

In this embodiment, the collection truck comprises:

an electronic tag reader capable of collecting information contained in such a label carried by a bin when this bin is presented for its emptying,

means for determining a dump mode adapted to the data read on the electronic tag, a means for parameterizing the configurable member of the emptying means, as a function of the adapted emptying mode.

The Applicant has already described, particularly in FR2899362, a collection bin having the characteristics adapted to this embodiment.

The data present in the electronic label carried by the tray can be of different natures, namely:

type of bin, with reference to a list of known types. In this case, the collection truck can access a database, remotely or on board, making the relationship between each type of known ferry and dimensional data and / or mass exploitable by the means of determining a dump mode adapted, or directly between each type of known tray and a parameter to provide the configurable body of emptying means.

dimensional and / or mass data usable by the means for determining a suitable emptying mode.

In addition to these data, the electronic tag can of course contain data relating to the maintenance of the bin, the owner of the bin, a possible billing of the collection, etc. as described in FR2899362.

The two previous embodiments can be combined in a third embodiment in which the data present in the electronic label of the tray to determine the empty mode adapted to the tray and the operator can add his preference as to the emptying mode . In this case, the choices available to the operator may be, as previously described: "speed",

"Energy saving" or "silence", or "normal cycle" or "very dirty cycle", according to his judgment when observing the tank.

In one embodiment, compatible with what has been previously described, the configurable member is a lifting arm of the tray, whose trajectory and / or speed and / or acceleration during the complete lifting movement of the tray can take at least two configurations.

In another embodiment of the invention, compatible with the above, the collection truck comprises a compactor and a means for setting the movements of this compactor and this setting means is controlled according to the emptying mode selected. For example :

- If a power saving or silent mode is selected, the compactor may be triggered less frequently. -AT-

- If data relating to the bin are used, the movement of the compactor can be synchronized with that of the mechanical emptying means so as to avoid putting the tray in contact with the compactor when it is in the bucket. Another possibility is to limit the movement of the compactor for the same purpose.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the configurable member is a lifting arm comprising an upper comb and a lower support, the upper comb being intended to engage under a collar of the tray to lift it, while the lower support is intended to rest against the blank of the tray located under the comb, the lifting arm being oriented, depending on the geometry of the tray, provided by its electronic tag or by a database, so as to that the lower support is already in support against the blank of the tray when the comb raises the tray. In this way, the tank does not bump against the support when it takes off from the ground, which is a source of noise.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the configurable lifting member is a set of at least two grippers, for example a comb and support pair on the one hand, circular grippers on the other, or several pairs comb and support of different dimensions, said set of grippers being able to present, for the lifting of a tray, the gripper adapted to this tray, according to the indications provided by the electronic label of the tray.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the configurable member consists of a damping bar, located in the upper part of the rear of the truck, above the opening of the bucket, damping bar against which a dump tank comes to bear when it has been overturned by mechanical lifting means.

The damping bar can be set, according to the invention, so as to position itself automatically at the right distance given the dimensions of the tray provided by its electronic tag or by a database, so that said tray, once reversed , come to bear against it leaving a minimum play, or even negative (that is to say under stress), so as to eliminate vibrations generating noise due to repeated shocks of the tray against the damping bar.

In a particular embodiment of the invention, the parameterizable element is a lifting arm which, depending on the geometry of the tray, provided by its electronic tag or by a database, orients the tray when depositing it. on the floor so as to put the wheels of the tank first in contact with the ground, then the feet of the tray. In this way, the friction of the feet of the tank on the ground are avoided, which reduces the noise emissions. In another embodiment of the invention, compatible with the previous ones, the collection truck comprises:

means for weighing a tank at the beginning of its lifting,

- A means for determining a dump mode adapted to the weight of the tray, - a parameter setting means of the configurable member of the emptying means, depending on the appropriate dump mode.

In this case, it is not necessary to have an electronic label containing mass data relating to the tray. The actual weight of the bin, including waste, is taken into account to determine the most appropriate emptying mode to empty the bin.

The invention also relates to a combination of a collection truck as described above and at least one collection bin of the type comprising an electronic tag containing data, said label being readable by a reader on the truck of collection.

The invention provides the main advantage of allowing the reduction of noise during the emptying of the bins, but also additional advantages, corollaries of the principal, and in particular:

the invention preserves the bins, in particular their lids, and the collection trucks by requesting them less mechanically,

the invention makes it possible to save energy by allowing a reduction in the energy consumed by the mechanical lifting means during certain phases of emptying,

the invention makes it possible to secure the lifting operation and in particular gripping the tray, if this first lifting step is adapted to the type of emptied container, which improves the safety of the personnel responsible for presenting the bins to the truck.

The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a side view of the rear of a collection truck and a waste collection tank according to one embodiment of the invention, the waste collection bin being ready to be lifted;

- Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, the waste collection tank being in emptying position.

Figure 1 shows the rear of a collection truck 1 for emptying bins 20 waste collection.

The collection truck 1 comprises a collection bin 2. A lifting arm 3,

4, 5 is attached to the rear of the truck 1 by known means. This arm includes a support 5 fixed on the truck and able to move vertically, a link 3 pivotable about two horizontal axes at its ends, one of these axes being carried by the support 5, and a gripper 4 articulated on the link 3 around from its other horizontal axis. The gripper 4 takes a substantially vertical position when the arm 3, 4, 5 is in the rest position. These three components of the lifting arm 3, 4, 5 comprise means (not shown) for controlling their displacement. These means may in particular be configured so that the acceleration of the lift arm, either of the support and / or of the link, is variable. These means may comprise for this purpose one or more proportional valves.

The gripper 4 comprises, in its upper part, a comb 6 and, in its lower part, a support 7. As is known, the comb is intended to engage under a collar 21 for gripping the tray 20 while the support 7 is intended to come to bear against the blank of the tray 20 to compensate for the torque generated by the comb when it pulls the tray upward exerting a force not passing through the center of gravity of the tray. The collection truck 1 also comprises a damping bar 8 pivotally attached to a horizontal axis at the rear of the truck 1, above the opening of the bucket 2. This damping bar 8 serves to prevent the tank 20 to switch in the bucket 2 when it is at the top of its rising race. This bar 8 carries means 10 for damping its movement relative to the truck 1. These means 10 are conventional. These means 10 may also comprise means (not shown) for controlling the movement of the bar. The free end of the damping bar 8 carries noise attenuation means 9 during contact of the tray 20 with the damping bar 8.

The bin 20 is a known collection bin. As already mentioned, it comprises a grip collar 21 adapted to cooperate with the comb 6 to allow the lifting arm 3, 4, 5 to lift the tray 20. The lower portion of the tray has two wheels 23 and two feet 24.

In this embodiment, the truck 1 carries a means 1 1 manual selection of the emptying mode.

In this embodiment, the person in charge of presenting bins 20 to the truck 1 to empty them, by means of the manual selection means, the emptying mode the most appropriate mode. The choice can be made between the mode "speed", "energy saving", "silence". Another possible choice, compatible with the previous one, is "normal cycle" or "very dirty cycle". These choices are made by the operator as a function of the time he has, the environment in which the emptying takes place and what he observes as to the contents of the bins. The operator places the tray 20 facing the comb 6. The comb 6 engages under the collar 21 gripping. Then, the lifting arm 3, 4, 5 moves to lift the tray and bring it to the empty position with speeds, accelerations

(positive and negative, that is to say decelerations) and the trajectory determined by the choice of emptying.

For example, when the operator selects the "fast" dump, the lift arm is controlled so that the speed of the lift arm quickly reaches a significant value. In addition, the lift arm is not or only slightly decelerated when approaching the damping bar.

When the operator chooses the "economic" dump, to save energy at the truck, the acceleration varies gradually so that the lift arm gradually reaches a low lifting speed. In addition, the lift arm is not or only slightly decelerated when approaching the damping bar.

When the operator chooses the "silent" dump, the lift arm is progressively decelerated as the damping bar approaches so that its velocity is almost zero when the tank is approaching the bar. amortization.

In addition, when the operator chooses the cycle "very dirty", the tray can be driven so as to make a slight backward movement and is again advanced against the damping bar, so as to be projected several times against the damping bar during the same lifting movement.

Figure 2 shows the tray 20 in emptying position. In this figure, the dashed lines represent the part of the tank hidden by the wall of the bucket of the collection truck. The tray 20 is positioned against the damping bar 8 and the noise attenuation means 9 is in direct contact with the lower portion of the tray 20. The contents of the tray 20 fall into the bin 2 collection.

The lifting arm 3, 4, 5 moves to deposit the tray 20 on the ground. The parameters of the trajectory and the speed and acceleration during the descent are a function of the choice of emptying made by the operator. The operator retrieves the empty bin 20 and may have another bin 20 for the dump operation. During "silent" mode, the lift arm is for example also decelerated very gradually so that the speed of this arm is almost zero when the tray touches the ground.

It should be noted that the invention is not limited to what has been described above.

Other embodiments of the invention will now be described. These modes are compatible with each other. In another embodiment, the invention is implemented with collecting bins 20 of the type comprising an electronic tag 22 containing data (type of bin, dimensional data, maintenance, etc.), said tag 22 being readable by a reader (not shown) embedded on the truck 1 collection. The truck also comprises a means for determining an emptying mode adapted to the data read on the electronic tag 22 and a means for setting the lifting arm 3, 4, 5 and / or the damping bar 8, in function of the adapted dump mode. According to the data read on the electronic label, the speed; the acceleration and / or displacement (or trajectory) of the lifting arm and its support and / or the positioning of the damping bar are set to optimize the emptying of the collection tray.

The two embodiments described above can advantageously be combined with each other.

In another embodiment, the data read from the electronic tag makes it possible to parameterize the movement of the lifting arm so that the comb 6 engages under the collar 21 of the container to lift it while the gripper 4 is oriented towards so that the lower support comes to rest against the blank of the tray located under the comb. In this way, the tank does not bump against the support when it takes off from the ground.

In another embodiment, the damping bar 8 also carries means (not shown) of displacement control for positioning it. Thus, according to the data read on the label carried by the tray, once the tray at the top of its stroke, said tray is supported against the damping bar leaving a minimum clearance, or negative, so as to eliminate the noise generated by the repeated shocks of the tank against the damping bar if it is incorrectly positioned.

In another embodiment, the data read on the electronic tag makes it possible to parameterize the displacement of the lifting arm 3, 4, 5, and in particular the orientation of the gripper 4, so as to first deposit the wheels 23 of the tray 20 on the ground and feet 24 to remove the noise that can be generated by the friction of the feet of the tray when removing if they touch the ground first.

In another embodiment of the invention (not shown), compatible with the preceding, the collection truck comprises means for weighing a tank at the beginning of its lifting, a means for determining a suitable emptying mode the weight of the tray and a parameter setting means of the configurable member of the emptying means, depending on the appropriate dump mode. In this case, it is not necessary to have an electronic label containing mass data relating to the tray. The weight The actual container, including waste, is taken into account to determine the most appropriate emptying mode to empty the bin.

It is understood that the embodiments described above are not limiting in nature and that they can receive any desirable modifications without departing from the scope of the claims.

Claims

A collection truck (1) for emptying waste collection bins (20), comprising a collection bucket (2) and mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) for taking a container (20) presented to emptying and make it follow a complete emptying movement, since the tray (20) is lifted from the ground until it is rested on the ground, passing through the moment when the tray (20) is overturned to empty in the bucket (2), said truck (1) being characterized in that it comprises at least one of the mechanical setting means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9 , 10), said member being capable of following at least two modes of operation distinguished by at least one parameter determining the kinematics and / or the dynamics of the mechanical emptying means during the complete lifting movement of a tank (20).

2. Lorry (1) for collecting according to claim 1, comprising a manual means (11) for selecting between several emptying modes, each emptying mode corresponding to a parameter setting different from the configurable member of the mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10).

3. Truck (1) of collection according to claim 2, wherein the proposed emptying modes depend on the type of tray (20).

4. Truck (1) for collection according to one of claims 2 and 3, wherein the proposed dump modes depend on a choice between "speed", "energy saving" and "silence".

5. Truck (1) collection according to one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the proposed empty modes depend on a choice between "normal cycle" or "very dirty cycle".

6. Truck (1) for collection according to one of claims 1 to 5, comprising: - an electronic tag reader (22) capable of taking information contained in such a tag (22) carried by a tray (20) when this bin (20) is presented for emptying,

a means for determining a dump mode adapted to the data read on the electronic tag (22),

a means for parameterizing the configurable member of the emptying means, as a function of the adapted emptying mode.

A collection truck according to claim 6, comprising means for accessing a database, located remotely or on board, making the connection between known tank types (20) and dimensional and / or mass data usable by the means for determining a suitable emptying mode, or directly between each type of tank (20) known and a parameter to be provided to the organ configurable emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10).

8. Truck (1) of collection according to one of claims 1 to 7, comprising means for setting the movements of its compactor, the setting means being controlled according to the empty mode selected.

9. Truck (1) of collection according to claim 8, wherein the movement of the compactor is synchronized with that of the mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10) so as to avoid putting the container ( 20) in contact with the compactor when it is in the body (2).

10. Truck (1) of collection according to claim 8, wherein the movement of the compactor is limited so as to avoid putting the tray (20) in contact with the compactor when it is in the bucket (2).

11. Truck (1) for collection according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the configurable member is a lifting arm (3, 4, 5) of the tray (20), whose path and / or speed and / or acceleration during the complete lifting movement of the tray can take at least two configurations.

The collection truck (1) according to claim 6 and any one of the other claims 1 to 10, wherein the parameterizable member is the lifting arm (3, 4, 5) comprising an upper comb (6) and a lower support (7), the upper comb (6) being intended to engage under a collar (21) of the tray (20) to lift it, while the lower support (7) is intended to lean against the bottom of the tray (20) under the comb

(6), the lifting arm (3, 4, 5) being oriented, depending on the geometry of the tray (20), provided by its electronic tag (22) or by a database, so that the lower support (7) is already resting against the blank of the tray when the comb (6) lifts the tray (20).

13. Collection truck according to one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the configurable member consists of a damping bar (8), located in the upper part of the rear of the truck, above the opening of the bucket (2), damping bar (8) against which a tray (20) during emptying is supported when it has been overturned by the mechanical emptying means (3, 4, 5), the damping bar (8) being set to automatically position at the right distance given the dimensions of the tray (20) provided by its label electronic (22) or by a database, so that said tray (20), once reversed, comes to lean against it leaving a minimal game, or even negative.

14. Truck (1) of collection according to claim 6 and any one of the other claims 1 to 13, wherein the configurable member is the lifting arm (3, 4, 5) which, depending on the geometry of the tray (20), provided by its electronic tag (22) or by a database, orients the tray (20) when it is placed on the ground so as to put the wheels (23) of the tray (20) first. ) in contact with the ground, then the feet of the tank (24).

15. Truck (1) of collection according to one of claims 1 to 14, comprising: - means for weighing a tray (20) at the beginning of its lifting,

a means for determining an emptying mode adapted to the weight of the tank (20),

a means for parameterizing the parameterizable element of the emptying means (3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10), as a function of the adapted emptying mode.

16. Combination of a collection truck (1) according to one of claims 1 to 15 and at least one collection container (20) of the type comprising an electronic tag

(22) containing data, said label (22) being readable by a reader embedded on the truck (1) of collection.