JP2000317403A - Empty container size classifier - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To sort empty bottles by size while conveying them without using vibration. SOLUTION: Plural rollers 2 are arranged so that their spacings are gradually widened in a horizontal state. On the outer peripheral surfaces of the rollers 2, spiral blades 3 are provided, and by the rotation of the rollers 2, empty bottles are conveyed for one side toward the other side along the axial direction. From the gaps of the rollers 2, cullet, bottles of small size, and bottles of medium size are discharged in order. Bottles of large size are discharged from the other side of the rollers 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is installed in a recycling facility for collecting and recycling empty containers such as glass empty bottles, and sieving cullet from the collected empty containers and further selecting empty cullets according to size. The present invention relates to a container size sorting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the recycling of empty containers such as glass empty bottles, they can be reused many times by collecting and washing them. It is transported to. Then, at the recycling facility, the case is transferred from the case to the hopper and separated by size by the separation device, and further, the color,
After being sorted by type, it is washed and regenerated for use. On the other hand, broken bottles and glass are also separated and collected as cullet at the same time, crushed by removing foreign matter, and then melted to be regenerated as glass bottle material.

[0003] Here, in a separation apparatus for separating empty bottles for each size, a screen in which a plurality of straight rods or taper rods are juxtaposed at equal intervals as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-124522. An empty bottle is put on the top, and while being vibrated and conveyed, a small bottle having a smaller diameter than the gap between the rods is sifted off, and the larger bottle is conveyed on the screen. As a result, empty bottles are sorted by size and stored.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above separation apparatus,
A vibrating device that imparts vibration to transport empty bottles is provided, and the structure of the entire device becomes complicated, and a mechanism for preventing the vibration from being transmitted to other components must be added. In addition, the chance that empty bottles come into contact with each other increases,
There is also a danger of loud noise and cracking of empty bottles.

[0005] Even if a vibration device is not provided, the empty bottle can be slid down along the rod if the rod is arranged at an angle. However, depending on the direction of the empty bottles, the bottles fall down on the rods, do not fall through gaps between the rods, and cannot be sorted. Moreover, since the rod must be inclined, there is a problem that the height of the device is increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an empty container size separating apparatus capable of reliably separating empty containers such as empty bottles by size with a simple mechanism.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems According to the present invention, a plurality of rollers are provided so as to be rotatable in a horizontal or slightly inclined state, and a gap between adjacent rollers is moved from one side in the axial direction to the other side. The rollers are arranged so as to gradually widen, and blades are formed on the outer peripheral surface of each roller to advance the empty container in the axial direction with the rotation of the roller.

With these blades, the empty containers travel from one side in the axial direction to the other side, and the empty containers of the larger size are discharged from the gaps of the rollers in order from the smaller size to the smaller size. Is done.

Here, in order to gradually widen the gap between adjacent rollers, straight rollers are arranged so that the gap gradually increases. Alternatively, the roller may be a stepped roller and the rollers may be arranged in parallel, and the gap gradually increases in the axial direction.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 show an empty bottle size separating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this sorting apparatus, a plurality of straight rollers 2 are rotatably supported on a frame 1 in a horizontally or slightly inclined state, and a gap between adjacent rollers 2 is changed from one side in the axial direction (lateral direction) to the other side. They are arranged in the front-back direction so as to gradually widen toward the front. The roller 2 is made of iron or stainless steel, and when the empty bottle is fed, the roller 2 has a low friction and thus is easy to slip, and can easily guide the empty bottle to the gap. In addition, a rubber roller or a roller whose surface is covered with a soft member such as urethane may be used.

A spiral blade 3 is integrally formed on the outer peripheral surface of the roller 2 so that the empty bottle can be transported in a direction along the axial direction of the roller 2. The height of the spiral blade 3 is extremely smaller than the diameter of the roller 2 unlike the spiral blade of a general screw. That is, if the spiral blade 3 is high, the empty bottle is caught between the roller 2 and the spiral blade 3 and bites even if there is a gap between the rollers 2 in the same manner. The problem of cracking occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to make the spiral blade 3 small, and specifically, 1/6 of the diameter is optimal from the viewpoint of the ability to transport in the axial direction.

One side of the roller shaft 2a of the roller 2 is supported via a bearing 5 on an L-shaped cover 4 attached to the frame 1, and a sprocket 6 is attached to an end of the roller shaft 2a. Covered in. Chains 7 are hung on adjacent sprockets 6, respectively, and the respective rollers 2 are connected. A chain 7 is hung between the sprocket 6 at the rear end and the pulley 8a of the motor 8,
Each roller 2 is driven to rotate by the drive of the motor 8.
The other side of the roller shaft 2a is rotatably supported by a bearing 9 attached to the frame 1. Here, since one side of the roller 2 has a narrower gap than the other side, a space is created between the roller 1 and the frame 1 in the front-rear direction. The size of the device can be reduced.

Below the roller 2, there are provided a cullet chute 10, a small bottle chute 11, and a middle bottle chute 12 for receiving cullets and empty bottles falling from the gap, respectively.
The partitions 11 and 12 are separated by a partition plate 13 so that empty bottles falling from the roller 2 do not jump into the other chutes 10, 11 and 12.

A roof 14 is provided above the roller 2.
An empty bottle inlet 15 is formed on one side of the roof 14, and the empty bottle is dropped on the roller 2 located on the rear side.
A fall prevention cover 16 is provided along the front roller 2 to prevent the empty bottles conveyed from the rear to the front from falling.

Next, a description will be given of the separation of the collected empty bottles. Miscellaneous empty bottles are collected and stored in a case.
Each case is reversed and put into an empty bottle size separation device. The empty bottle input from the input port 15 falls onto the rotating rear roller 2. Since a pushing force acts on the empty bottle obliquely to the roller 2 by the spiral blade 3 of the roller 2, the empty bottle entering the gap between the rollers 2 is conveyed toward the other side and is on the roller 2. Some empty bottles are conveyed to the front side and dispersed from the rear side to the front side.

At this time, the cullet mixed in the collected empty bottles falls through the gap between the rollers 2 and is removed.
Collected as residue from the chute 10 through a conveyor.

The empty bottle is turned by the spiral blade 3 on the way to the front side, and is turned in the axial direction. Then, the small bottles enter the gaps between the rollers 2 and first fall from the gaps, and the small bottles are sorted out. The remaining empty bottles further advance to the other side, and the medium-sized empty bottles fall from the gap between the rollers 2 to sort out the medium-sized empty bottles. The remaining large-sized empty bottles proceed to the end without falling from the gap between the rollers 2, are discharged from the other side of the rollers 2, and are stored as they are.

Thereafter, the small and medium-sized empty bottles are sorted and sorted for each color such as transparent, brown, and green, and are discharged by the conveyor, and only the transparent empty bottles are stored. on the other hand,
Since colored empty bottles are difficult to reuse as they are, they are once collected together with the cullet, crushed by a crusher and stored.

As described above, by rotating and using the roller 2 on which the spiral blades 3 are formed, empty bottles can be easily transported while being dispersed without vibration.
Noise can be reduced and the probability of damage to empty bottles can be reduced. Further, since the rollers 2 can be arranged in a horizontal state, the height of the apparatus can be reduced. Therefore, the structure of the device can be simplified and the size can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and many modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the present invention. The above separation apparatus may be applied to the separation of empty cans and empty PET bottles other than empty bottles. Also,
The blades may not be formed continuously in a spiral shape or may be formed intermittently, and a plurality of disks are obliquely fitted to the rollers at equal intervals.

[0021]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the function of transporting empty containers in the axial direction is added to the rollers themselves. The empty containers can be discharged from the gap between the matching rollers, and can be sorted for each size according to the size of the gap.

Then, it is only necessary to provide a mechanism for rotating the roller, and a mechanism for vibrating, a soundproofing, and an antivibration measure as in the related art are not required. Further, it is not necessary to incline the roller, and the height can be suppressed. Therefore, the structure is simplified, and the size of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is also a front view

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Frame 2 Roller 3 Spiral blade 8 Motor 15 Input port

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] January 27, 2000 (2000.1.2
7)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

A plurality of rollers are rotatably arranged in the front-rear direction while being horizontal or slightly inclined, and the gap between adjacent rollers is gradually widened from one axial side to the other. A blade is formed on the outer peripheral surface of each roller to advance the empty container in the axial direction with the rotation of the roller, and a charging port is provided in a portion above the roller,
A plurality of chutes are provided below the roller in order in the axial direction.
The empty containers are discharged by size from the gaps between the rollers while traveling from one side in the axial direction to the other side while being transported from the rear side to the front side. Size sorting equipment. ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 28, 2000 (2008.2.
8)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of rollers are provided rotatably in a horizontal or slightly inclined state, and the gap between adjacent rollers is arranged so as to gradually increase from one side in the axial direction to the other side. On the outer peripheral surface, blades are formed to advance the empty container in the axial direction with the rotation of the roller, and while the empty container travels from one side in the axial direction of the roller toward the other side, the size of each roller is determined from the gap between the rollers. An empty container size sorting device characterized by being discharged.