ES2358830B1 - GLASS RECYCLING MACHINE FOR THE OBTAINING OF CALCÍN. - Google Patents

Abstract

Glass recycling machine for obtaining calcin of the type comprising a supporting structure (1), glass entry means and means for storing and removing the calcine (10) formed by storage compartments that receive the calcine from a selective pouring hopper (4), where a color detection means discriminate the type of glass, activating the selective pouring hopper (4) to locate the area or deposit suitable for the detected color, as well as crushing means ( 3, 5); and where, the glass, once the color has been detected, pressed and crushed in the crushing media (3, 5), passes to the selective pouring hopper (4), placed according to the color of the detected glass, and where they place screening means (8) of the unwanted contaminating elements.

Description

Glass recycling machine for obtaining calcine.

The purpose of the glass recycling device intended for domestic use by consumers of glass, both business and private, whose objective is to perform at origin, that is, at the same point of disposal of glass containers, a large part of the industrial process of recycling glass by grinding it, color separation and elimination of contaminating residues, all in a fully automated and safe way, so that the final product obtained is the calcine or basic raw material used to The manufacture of new glass. Background of the invention

The recovery of glass is initially attributed to Germany and Switzerland, although the Danes were the pioneers in this field, beginning in 1962. The selective collection of glass containers is the first that began in Spain in the 80s (specifically in 1982 in Barcelona, with a result of 836 Tm), at the initiative of the packaging manufacturers themselves in order to reduce their manufacturing. Over time, the selective collection of glass is being implemented in most large municipalities until, with the entry into force of the new Law 11/1997 on packaging and waste, the integrated management system (GIS) of ECOVIDRIO for the recycling of glass, with the aim of recycling the maximum amount of glass waste.

The collected glass is, for the most part, of domestic origin, and is conducted in special transports to the treatment plants, where, properly selected, it is processed for recycling.

Generally, the glass to be treated contains a large number of impurities, such as plastic and metal plugs, corks, stones, papers, plastics, etc. Under these conditions, it would be practically impossible to manufacture new containers, since these foreign bodies would create defects in the new glass, so that during a phase of the process, the glass melts at high temperatures to eliminate these residues that remain on the surface forming a layer called "cream" and that is removed.

In turn, and so that the glass can be reused in the manufacture of new containers, the most important requirement is that it be separated by colors, distinguishing mainly three of these colors: green, transparent and opaque or amber. The glass, once treated and selected by size, color and type, is deposited in the silos and subsequently supplied to the glass manufacturers who, with this raw material called "calcine", manufacture the glass products.

The glass is 100% recycled and can be recycled again and again for life, being the main destination of the recovered glass manufacturing new containers that have exactly the same quality characteristics as the original. In addition, recycled glass is also used in the manufacture of other products, such as kitchen countertops, tiles or reflective paints.

It is necessary to continue favoring the recycling of glass as this brings important advantages, such as energy saving, the contribution to environmental conservation, savings in raw materials and other additional advantages. However, and despite the undeniable advantages of glass recycling, approximately 40% of the glass containers consumed are not recycled and go to the landfill. Particularly, the sectors of the economy that are large consumers of glass, such as hospitality and catering, have a serious glass recycling deficit, in that it is an inconvenience and added costs for the scarce resources of which They have for the most part. In addition, the rapid pace of business operation, the need for a glass storage space, away from the work area, transport to the special container, and the lack of encouragement from the responsible agencies also make these consumers desist from recycling.

It is therefore important that part of the glass transformation process for recycling is initially transferred to the consumer, so that what arrives at the treatment plants are not mixed glass container waste and with contaminant elements as until now, but something much more similar to the calcine necessary for the manufacture of new glass, ignoring the inventors, experts in the field, of the existence of a machine as described in the present invention. Description of the invention

As has been described, the glass recycling process that is currently used in all countries is carried out entirely in treatment plants for this purpose, requiring only the consumer to, when discarding the glass containers, separate them from other waste solids such as plastics, metal, cardboard, as well as organic waste to, in this way, facilitate its treatment. This means that a large part of the glass treatment process (and therefore, of its costs) is dedicated to cleaning said glass, eliminating the so-called “infusible” contaminants, such as plastic, cork, metal, porcelain and stones, and separating it. by colors, to finally obtain a pure raw material with which new glass can be manufactured: calcine.

The solution to this technical problem lies in the inclusion of part of the treatment process at source, so that instead of reaching the raw glass to the recycling plants, what came to be the calcine, crushed and separated by colors and with the most of the contaminant waste removed.

This is why the glass recycling device is presented, which consists essentially of a completely watertight cube-shaped machine, with the exception of a top opening through which any glass container is introduced, which through the use of optical sensing technology and completely automatically, it is separated according to its color - green, opaque or amber, and transparent - to be crushed and separated from contaminating waste such as metal or plastic and, finally, it is deposited in waterproof bags, already converted into calcín, where it is stored with all the guarantees of safe sealing, for its subsequent transport to the manufacturing plants.

Thanks to the device so described, basically, a saving in logistics and transport costs is achieved, since the storage capacity of the containers would be significantly increased, reducing the frequency and, therefore, the collection costs in collection vehicles specialized. Currently, between 3% and 5% of what consumers deposit in containers is not glass, which is a very important added cost, since trash is transported instead of glass, which results in a higher cost of treatment process

Obviously, although the treatment of glass in specialized industrial plants is necessary, the costs of the process of treating glass containers, which currently range between 20e and 25e per ton, would be significantly reduced. This cost saving, in the same way, allows to increase the glass recycling rate and the cost in terms of environmental protection.

The idea that underlies the present invention is not so much to substantially alter the collection and transport process, but to make it more efficient, being able to be used both in glass-consuming establishments (restaurants, bars, discos, hotels, etc.) and in the field domestic, or in the glass container itself, properly adapted. Brief description of the fi gures

A series of drawings that help to better understand the invention and that expressly relate to an embodiment of said invention which is presented as a non-limiting example thereof is described very briefly below.

Fig 1. Shows a perspective view of the glass recycling device for obtaining calcin, object of the present invention. Preferred Embodiment of the Invention

The present invention, as can be seen in the attached figure, consists of a glass recycling device for obtaining calcine, wherein said device essentially comprises an inlet or container of glass containers located in the upper part of the device and that offers an opening in its central zone that facilitates the vertical fall of the glass containers; and where, in addition, there is a gate system formed by a trapdoor at the bottom of the opening.

In the lower part of the gate, in an orifice made for this purpose, the electronic photocell is configured to detect the color of the glass, and which activates, depending on the color, the selective pouring hopper (4), which is It is divided into three compartments, for transparent, green and opaque or amber glass. In the same way the motor-reducer (2) is activated for the beginning of the crushing process.

This crushing process materializes, firstly, with the press (5) located just below the inlet gate (1) and where, as a result of it, the container can only fall vertically and with the seat of it down. This press (5) is constituted, in its preferred embodiment, by two folded metal plates that form a vertically closed perimeter block in rectangular form. The position between both plates is, in its initial phase, slightly open at the top to allow the glass container to enter, and closed at the bottom. The union between both plates depends on an axis located at the bottom of these. The upper lift is carried out by means of a horizontal axis that runs along the entire length of the plate at its upper edge.

The movement of said plates is offered by the motor-reducer (2) fixed to a base plate, which transmits a continuous circular movement to a horizontal axis, which drives two crankshafts and two connecting rods (6) located on each side of the plates which convert the initial circular movement into horizontal movement. Said movement is transmitted to the plates by the connecting rods (6) achieving a separation between them with different measurement states.

As a consequence of this, in the upper part of the plates a greater separation is achieved than in the lower part, for which reason the first breakage of the glass is carried out in the highest part of the press. In the lower part the separation obtained is smaller and, therefore, the fragmentation of the package is greater, obtaining fragments of very small size.

The crushing process continues after the press (5) with the grinding system (3), which consists of at least two horizontal rollers formed by tubes and metal shafts. The rollers or wheels are responsible for the final crushing of the glass. The fixation of said assembly is formed by a junction box that keeps the rollers permanently stable. The junction box is screwed to the bottom of the press (5).

The grinding system rollers (3) rotate on their axes in opposite directions, favoring the falling of the crushed glass between them towards the selective pouring hopper. The transmission of the rollers is obtained by means of a pinion placed at the end of the axis of one of the rollers, which causes the rotation of the other roller in the opposite direction, by pushing. One of the rollers is provided with metal wheels arranged longitudinally on the perimeter surface thereof.

The crushed product falls by gravity into the selective pouring hopper (4) located just below the grinding system (3) and fixed thereto. It consists of a metal plate through which the crushed glass is poured into each of the three receiving bags depending on their color. Depending on the color of the glass detected by the photocell, and depending on it, this sheet acting as a gate adopts a certain position, allowing the crushed glass to be deposited only in its corresponding bag according to its color.

The hopper (4) has three possible positions, which are commanded according to the color of the glass. In the first position, the gate is kept completely vertical in line with the exit of the rollers of the ground system (3) and allowing the deposit of the calcine (crushed and ground glass) in the central bag. In positions two and three, the hopper adopts an angle of 45º and -45º respectively on the vertical, towards one side and another respectively, depending on the color and in order to deposit it in the side bags.

The hopper (4) also includes means to eliminate unwanted contaminating residues that the containers contain by default, such as plastics, papers, corks, etc. Said means consist of a sieve (8) based on a series of metal rods placed longitudinally in the pouring hopper (4), with a separation between them that allows the crushed glass to pass, retaining most of the contaminating waste, which in the previous process they have been deformed but not crushed, so that their volume is greater than that of glass. These rods have a slight inclination on the horizontal plane to allow the fall of these contaminating residues to a removable metal box (9) from the outside for its emptying, cleaning and replacement.

Finally, the calcine storage compartments (10) are located in the lower part of the assembly. They allow the differentiated installation of three units of bags for the storage of the calcín, which are totally fireproof and watertight. The size of these bags will depend on the size of the machine, logically. The users access to the compartments (10) is done through the front of the machine, and by means of a rectangular door located at the bottom that is part of the outer enclosure of the machine and that has a safety lock which prevents machine operation if it is open.

The whole set is supported by a steel structure (i) or other material capable of withstanding the different elements that make up the machine.

Claims (15)

1. Glass recycling machine for obtaining calcin of the type comprising a supporting structure (1) containing glass entry means and means for storing and removing the calcine (10) formed by storage compartments that receive the calcine of a selective pouring hopper (4) characterized in that the color detection means discriminate the type of glass, activating the selective pouring hopper (4) to locate the area or deposit suitable for the color detected, as well as some grinding means, which in turn comprise at least one press (5) and a grinding system (3); and where, the glass, once the color has been detected, pressed and ground in the crushing media (3,5), passes to the selective pouring hopper (4), placed according to the color of the detected glass, and where they place screening means (8) of the unwanted contaminating elements, such that the storage compartments receive the calcine constituted by the crushed and screened glass.

2.

Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the glass container inlet means are located in the upper part of the device and offer an opening in its central area that facilitates the vertical fall of the glass containers and with the seat of the same down;

and where, in addition, there is a gate system formed by a trapdoor n at the bottom of the opening.

3.

Recycling machine according to claim 2 characterized in that in the lower part of the hatch or hatch, in an orifice made for this purpose, the electronic photocell configured to detect the color of the glass is located, and which activates, depending on the color, the selective pouring hopper (4).

Four.

Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the selective pouring hopper is divided into three compartments, for transparent, green and opaque or amber glass.

5.

Recycling machine according to claim 1, characterized in that the crushing means (3.5) comprise a press (5) located just below the inlet gate and where, by effect thereof, the container can only fall so vertical and with its seat down;

and where this press (5) is constituted by two folded metal plates that form a vertically closed perimeter block in rectangular form, the position between both plates (51,52) being, in its initial phase, slightly open at the top for allow the entry of the glass container, and closed at the bottom.

6.

Recycling machine according to claim 5 characterized in that the union between the plates of the press (5) depends on an axis located in the lower part of these, while the upper lift is carried out by means of a horizontal axis that runs along the entire length of the plate at its upper edge.

7.

Recycling machine according to claim 6 characterized in that the movement of the press plates is offered by a motor-reducer

(2) fixed to a base plate, which transmits a continuous circular movement to a horizontal axis, which drives two crankshafts and two connecting rods (6) located on each side of the plates that convert the initial circular movement into horizontal movement, said being movement transmitted to the plates by means of the connecting rods (6) achieving a separation between them with different measurement states.

8.

Recycling machine according to claim 7 characterized in that in the upper part of the plates a greater separation is achieved than in the lower part, for which reason the first breakage of the glass is carried out in the highest part of the press, and where in the lower part the separation obtained is smaller and, therefore, the fragmentation of the package is greater, obtaining fragments of very small size.

9.

Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the grinding means (3, 5) comprise a grinding system (3), which is constituted by at least two horizontal rollers formed by tubes and metal shafts, configured for the final crushing of the glass, and where the fixing of said assembly is formed by a junction box that keeps the rollers permanently stable, said junction box being screwed to the bottom of the press (5).

10.

Recycling machine according to claim 9 characterized in that the rollers rotate on their axes in opposite directions, favoring the falling of the crushed glass between them towards the selective pouring hopper (4), and where the transmission of the rollers is obtained by means of a pinion placed at the end of the axis of one of the rollers, which causes the other roller to rotate in the opposite direction, by pushing; and where in addition one of the rollers is provided with metal wheels arranged longitudinally on the perimeter surface thereof.

eleven.

Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the product crushed in the grinding media (3.5) falls by gravity to the selective pouring hopper (4) located just below the grinding system (3) and fixed thereto , said hopper (4) being constituted by a metal sheet through which the crushed glass is poured to each of the three receiving bags depending on their color.

12.

Recycling machine according to claim 11, characterized in that the hopper (4) has three possible positions, which are controlled according to the color of the glass, where in the first position, the gate is kept completely vertical in line with the exit of the rollers of the grinding system (3) and allowing the deposit of the calcine in the central bag, while in positions two and three, the hopper (4) adopts an angle of 45 o and -45 or respectively on the vertical, towards one side and another respectively, depending on the color and in order to deposit it in the side bags.

13.

Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the screening means (8) consist essentially of a sieve based on a series of metal rods placed longitudinally in the selective pouring hopper (4), with a separation between them that allows the passage of the crushed glass, retaining most of the contaminating residues, and where these rods have a slight inclination on the horizontal plane to allow the fall of these contaminating residues to a removable metal box (9) from the outside for its emptying, Cleaning and replacement.

the differentiated installation of three units of bags for the storage of calcine, which are fireproof and waterproof. 14. Recycling machine according to claim 1 characterized in that the calcine storage compartments (10) are located in the lower part of the assembly and are configured to SPANISH OFFICE OF THE PATENTS AND BRAND Application no .: 200930920 SPAIN Date of submission of the application: 28.10.2009 Priority Date: REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE 51 Int. Cl.: B02C19 / 00 (2006.01) RELEVANT DOCUMENTS

Category

Documents cited Claims Affected

Y

EN 2278546 A1 (COLOMES ALGUE JORDI) 01.08.2007, the whole document. 1-4,9-14

Y

US 4573641 A (DEWOOLFSON BRUCE H et al.) 04.03.1986, column 2, line 15 - column 3, line 34; column 6, line 25 - column 7, line 43. 1-4,9-14

Y

WO 2008116252 A1 (HICKS ALDOUS MONTAGU) 02.10.2008, page 8, line 15 - page 9, line 2. 1-4,9-14

TO

US 5372317 A (WILLIS W COY) 13.12.1994, column 2, line 50 - column 3, line 55. 1-14

TO

US 5927626 A (SHINJO HIROSHI et al.) 27.07.1999, column 5, line 10 - column 8, line 30. 1-14

TO

JP 4354577 A (DOWA MINING CO) 08.12.1992, (summary) [online] [retrieved on 04.26.2011]. Summary of the EPODOC database. Recovered from EPOQUE. 1-14

Category of the documents cited X: of particular relevance Y: of particular relevance combined with other / s of the same category A: reflects the state of the art O: refers to unwritten disclosure P: published between the priority date and the date of priority submission of the application E: previous document, but published after the date of submission of the application

This report has been prepared • for all claims • for claims no:

Date of realization of the report 29.04.2011

Examiner B. Aragón Urueña Page 1/4

REPORT OF THE STATE OF THE TECHNIQUE Application number: 200930920 Minimum documentation sought (classification system followed by classification symbols) B02C Electronic databases consulted during the search (database name and, if possible, terms of search used) INVENES, EPODOC, WPI State of the Art Report Page 2/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 200930920 Date of Completion of Written Opinion: 04.29.2011 Statement

Novelty (Art. 6.1 LP 11/1986)

Claims Claims 1-14 IF NOT

Inventive activity (Art. 8.1 LP11 / 1986)

Claims 5-8 Claims 1-4, 9-14 IF NOT

The application is considered to comply with the industrial application requirement. This requirement was evaluated during the formal and technical examination phase of the application (Article 31.2 Law 11/1986).  Opinion Base.- This opinion has been made on the basis of the patent application as published. State of the Art Report Page 3/4  WRITTEN OPINION Application number: 200930920 1. Documents considered.- The documents belonging to the state of the art taken into consideration for the realization of this opinion are listed below.

Document

Publication or Identification Number publication date

D01

ES 2278546 A1 (COLOMES ALGUE JORDI) 01.08.2007

D02

US 4573641 A (DEWOOLFSON BRUCE H et al.) 04.03.1986

D03

WO 2008116252 A1 (HICKS ALDOUS MONTAGU) 02.10.2008

2. Statement motivated according to articles 29.6 and 29.7 of the Regulations for the execution of Law 11/1986, of March 20, on Patents on novelty and inventive activity; quotes and explanations in support of this statement The object of the present invention is a glass recycling machine to obtain calcine. Document D01 discloses an apparatus and process for recycling glass that consists of a structure that contains a reception opening for glass containers that gives way to a crushing chamber and that is followed by an outlet opening of the crushing chamber with a sieve element and a collection system for crushed glass particles. The device may have more than one collection container for crushed glass and a light detection cell to detect the color of the glass to be crushed (see the whole document). Document D02 discloses an apparatus for storing glass bottles consisting of a pressing area after a color selection mechanism. For grinding, there are some discs capable of grinding the glass to calcine. Next, collection hoppers are positioned to collect the glass calcine (see column 2, line 15-column 3, line 34; column 6, line 25-column 7, line 43). Document D03 discloses an apparatus for processing recycling materials, such as glass. The container has a lid through which the device is loaded and after passing through a washing and drying chamber the material passes through a system that detects its color so that the separation of the glass takes place. Subsequently, pressing and grinding will take place. Said unit, one for each color of glass, includes two cylinders with meshed teeth that rotate in opposite directions. The calcine falls from each pressing and ground unit to a storage unit (see page 8, line 15-page 9, line 2). The object of the invention set forth in claim 1 has been collected in document D01 and in document D02 with the difference that in the invention in addition to crushing the material is ground. Said stage incorporated into a glass recycling machine is found in document D03, and it is considered that the person skilled in the art could combine the characteristics of both documents (D01 and D03 or D02 and D03) in order to minimize the size of grain of the calcine obtained. Therefore claim 1 lacks inventive activity (Art. 8.1 Patent Law). In view of the aforementioned documents, the rest of the claims are design features that are considered within the scope of the usual practice followed by the person skilled in the art: means of entering the containers, lower hatch, electronic photocell, spilled hopper , ground by horizontal rollers and screened. Therefore, the invention as claimed in claims 2-4, 9-14 lacks inventive activity. (Art. 8.1 Patent Law). However, the dependent claims regarding the design of the elements that make up the pressing, none of the aforementioned documents describe the arrangement of the elements as set out in the invention. Therefore claims 5-8 are new and involve inventive activity. (Art. 6.1 and Art. 8.1 Law Patents). State of the Art Report Page 4/4