JP2002079125A - Device and process for treating used toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a used toner cartridge treatment device capable of crushing a toner cartridge under safe and good environmental conditions and subjecting the cartridge to separate treatment for each of the constituent materials of the cartridge, even when the used cartridge, as it is, is charged into the device without performing any handwork and without disassembling the cartridge. SOLUTION: This treatment device consists of: a crusher for crushing a used toner cartridge in a closed crushing chamber while maintaining the atmosphere within the crushing chamber in such a state that the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere is lower than the explosion limit; and a separator for separating the crushed material discharged from the crusher into constituent materials of the cartridge. Thus, by only charging a used toner cartridge for a copying machine, or the like, as a cartridge integral body as it is, into the device without requiring any pretreatment handwork for bringing the cartridge into an almost disassembled state, constituent materials of the cartridge, such as residual toner, metal (e.g. iron and nonferrous metal), glass and plastic material, are safely and automatically subjected to separate recovery from each other without any risk of causing explosion. Accordingly, the used toner cartridge can be treated with remarkably high efficiency, through very simple, clean and safe treatment work, by using such a simple treatment device, and further, at a low cost as a whole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus and a processing method for a used toner cartridge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a toner cartridge includes a storage case for storing toner therein, and a seal member for sealing a toner drop opening of the storage case.
Further, some of the apparatuses have a mounting or rotating shaft core and a shutter member for closing a toner dropping opening of a used toner cartridge. Further, the toner cartridge body itself has a double container structure including an inner container and an outer container, or includes a fresh toner tank and a waste toner tank, or a type having an integral developing chamber. , A toner stirrer, a toner supply roller and the like.

[0003] The material of such a toner cartridge is
Glass or plastic for the storage case, plastic film for the sealing member, plastic or metal for the shutter member, container and tank, iron or non-ferrous metal or plastic for the shaft or stirrer, and the supply roller is also metal or plastic. There is a great variety. In particular, the toner itself is carbon black and is an ultrafine powder.

Conventionally, when such a toner cartridge becomes used, it is replaced with a new one. Although a small amount of toner still remains in the used product, and the toner still adheres to the surface of the cartridge, it has been manually dismantled and disposed of by landfilling. There has been no example in which a used toner cartridge is automatically processed using a machine.

[0005]

The manual disassembly of a used toner cartridge is a very dirty operation because the fine powder of carbon adheres to the body, scatters around, or is accidentally inhaled. And may be harmful to health. Further, even if the processing is performed mechanically without manual operation, in the case where the processing is performed in a large amount, there is a risk of dust explosion due to scattering of residual toner. Furthermore, if a large amount of used waste is simply disposed of without reusing resources, many environmental problems may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to crush the used toner cartridge in a safe and favorable environment even if the used toner cartridge is inserted into the apparatus without manual operation and without disassembly. An object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus and a processing method for a used toner cartridge that can perform a separation process for each material.

[0007]

To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a crushing apparatus for crushing a used toner cartridge while maintaining an atmosphere below the explosion limit in a sealed crushing chamber, A processing device for a used toner cartridge, comprising a sorting device for separating the crushed material discharged from the crushing device for each material, was constituted.

According to the above construction, even if the whole toner cartridge is put into the crushing apparatus without dismantling the used toner cartridge for each part or each material, the whole is finely crushed in the closed crushing chamber. In addition, since the crushing is performed while maintaining the atmosphere below the explosion limit, a natural explosion due to dust can be prevented. And in order to crush finely,
By the sorting device, it is possible to collectively sort and collect iron, non-ferrous metal, plastic, glass, and the like for each material.

When an atmosphere below the explosion limit is formed by the supply of the inert gas (claim 2), the atmosphere is immediately filled to every corner, so that dust is generated or the organic solid such as plastic is crushed. Suitable. Further, by injecting an inert gas such as nitrogen or carbon dioxide into the crushing chamber, the oxygen concentration can be reduced to an explosion limit or less (so-called oxygen-deficient state: for example, an oxygen concentration of 7% or less).

During the crushing of the used toner cartridge,
If the temperature control means is provided in the crushing chamber so that the toner as the fine powder is appropriately granulated (claim 3), the remaining toner solidifies from the fine powder state into a granule or a lump (dumpling).
Separation of the toner alone and subsequent handling are facilitated. For example, a water cooling jacket is provided on the outer periphery of the crushing chamber as a temperature control means, and the inside of the crushing chamber is controlled within a range of 10 to 70 ° C. As a result, the fine powder toner can be solidified into predetermined particles and discharged. The temperature control means controls an excessive rise in temperature in the crushing chamber, and the granulation of toner also helps prevent dust explosion.

When the crushing means in the crushing chamber is caused by an impact which rotates a flexible linear body attached to the outer periphery of the rotating shaft at a high speed (claim 4), the crushing means may be a gas which suppresses the explosion below the explosion limit in the crushing chamber. Since the concentration of the dust becomes uniform due to the eddy current accompanying the high-speed rotation, and the concentration can be accurately grasped, it is possible to take measures to prevent the dust explosion.

When the flexible linear body is a chain (claim 5), it can be operated without failure, and the number of worn parts is minimized as compared with the case of multi-step processing. In addition, materials that are partially and very closely adhered can be separated for each particle size before processing.

Further, according to the processing apparatus, as a processing method, the used toner cartridge is finely crushed in a nitrogen gas atmosphere in an airtight casing.
The heat generated during the crushing is used to control the temperature inside the crushing device so that the toner, which is a fine powder, is formed into appropriate granules, and the toner discharged from the crushing device, such as iron and non-ferrous metals. , Plastics, and other residues can be separated and collected, respectively, so that the apparatus is reasonably simple and the work efficiency can be reasonably improved.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, the shape of the crushing chamber is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the crushing chamber is in a cylindrical shell shape. In a crushing room maintained in an atmosphere below the explosion limit (atmosphere below the explosion limit refers to a dust or gas concentration / humid atmosphere that does not generate an oxygen concentration or explosion below the explosion limit), it has a shell shape in a closed room. In some cases, for example, as in the case of a rectangular crushing chamber,
Since there is no portion, the atmosphere in the crushing chamber is easily maintained uniformly.

The solid is crushed by the high-speed rotation of the flexible linear body mounted on the outer periphery of the rotator below the crushing chamber. At the time of crushing, an inert gas is supplied, and the atmosphere is always maintained at a constant condition, and is uniformly maintained at an atmosphere below the explosion limit.

The rotation center of the linear body coincides with the center of the crushing chamber, and by rotating horizontally, the crushed object is moved while the crushed object is moving. It is crushed finely by crushing by each other. Further, by making the crushing chamber into a shell shape, even if a small explosion occurs, the crushing chamber is strong in strength, so that the crushing chamber is limited to a closed space and does not affect the outside.

As the flexible linear body, for example, a chain, a wire, a bendable link material, and the like can be appropriately mentioned. In addition, the linear body is attached to the lower part as a drop stop position of the object to be crushed, but it may be provided in several steps above, so that the solid is crushed even during falling, so that the crushing efficiency is high. Become

[0018]

According to the processing apparatus and the processing method of the present invention,
It is not necessary to add any manual work to the used toner cartridge containing toner such as a copy machine as a pretreatment in a state close to disassembly at all, just put it in the crusher at once and leave the remaining toner, iron or non-iron. Metals, glass, plastics, etc. can be safely and automatically separated and collected without danger of explosion. For this reason, there is an excellent effect that the processing operation is very simple, clean and safe, the efficiency is remarkably high, the apparatus is simple, and the processing can be performed at a low cost as a whole.

[0019]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing the whole of a processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The processing apparatus separates a crushing device A, which is kept in a nitrogen gas atmosphere, and a crushed material for each material. And a sorting device B. The process includes a crushing process in which crushing is performed in an atmosphere of nitrogen gas, and a crushing material is used for toner, plastic, glass, iron,
It consists of a sorting process for separating into non-ferrous metals and the like.

In the crushing apparatus A, the used toner cartridge 1 is put into the supply conveyor 2 and transferred to the shredder 4 via the bunker 3. Here, the supply conveyor 2, the bunker 3, and the shredder 4 are configured in an airtight (sealed) state as a whole, and are maintained in an atmosphere of nitrogen gas supplied from the nitrogen generator 5 (oxygen gas concentration is preferably 7% or less). ing. In addition, supply ports 6a, 6b, 6c are opened at a plurality of appropriate locations for stable supply of nitrogen gas.

The used toner cartridge 1 does not need to be manually processed in a state close to disassembly as a pretreatment, and is put into the supply conveyor 2 as it is. An appropriate air lock is provided at the entrance and exit of the supply conveyor 2 (not shown). The bunker 3 has a cylindrical shape with the same diameter as the shredder 4, and has a dropper opening from the supply conveyor 2 at the upper end, and a double-opening opening / closing device 7 at the lower end. By opening and closing, the used toner cartridge 1 can be adjusted to an appropriate amount into the shredder 4 and stably supplied.

The shredder 4 is a crushing chamber, which is formed of a cylindrical casing and has a pair of linear bodies 1 at the bottom at a boss 9 integral with a rotating shaft 8 protruding from below at the center.
0 and 10 are attached, and a chain is used for it. The object to be crushed is crushed by the high-speed rotation of the chain 10 along the bottom surface, and a closed structure is provided so that the crushing is performed in an atmosphere of nitrogen gas. I have.

A water cooling jacket 11 is mounted on the peripheral wall of the shredder 4, and is configured to control the temperature of the crushed material via a cooler 12 and a pump 13. The main purpose of this is to solidify a fine powder toner which may cause a dust explosion to a particle size which does not cause the explosion and appropriately granulate the toner.

A return port 14 for nitrogen gas is provided in the upper part of the shredder 4, and is configured to be circulated through a circulation pipe 17 through a filter 16 by suction of an exhaust fan 15. In the lower part of the shredder 4, there is a discharge port 18 for crushed material, and the discharge side gate 1
Subsequent to 9, a sorting device B is configured.

In the material sorting apparatus B, the crushed and crushed material discharged from the discharge side gate 19 is sent to the sieve device 21 by the inclined conveyor 20, and the crushed and crushed material is blown by the air jet 22 at the rear end of the sieve device 21. It can be separated by particle size) or weight (specific gravity). A bunker 23 is provided between the discharge side gate 19 and the inclined conveyor 20.
(For example, a buffer screen) is provided so that the crushed material can be supplied to the inclined conveyor 20 in a quantitatively stable manner.

The sieving device 21 has the first half 21a of 2 to 5
The toner particles and glass powder that have passed through the sieve are separated and placed in the container 24. Also, the rear half 21b of the screen device 21 has a size of 10 to 15 mm.
In the latter half portion 21b, coarse toner particles, crushed plastics, and mixed crushed materials such as small metals are separated from the first half portion 21a and stored in the container 25.

At the rear end of the screen device 21, the air jet 2
The light debris that has passed through the screen device 21 by 2 is moved upward,
It is configured to sort heavy debris down. Among the light fragments, films, sheets and papers are separated by a cyclone 27 via a riser 26 and stored in a container 28. Dust that has passed through the cyclone 27 is separated by the filter 29 and stored in the container 30. The exhaust gas is supplied to the riser 31 from the screen device 21 and the filter 2.
The air is exhausted to the atmosphere by the exhaust fan 32 after 9.

The heavy fragments that have fallen downward due to the air jet 22 have different degrees of fall depending on their specific gravities, so that metal fragments, which are materials such as shafts, can be easily separated from plastic fragments and rubber fragments. And 34.

Although not shown, the sorting device B
The metal separated in the above is further separated into iron and non-ferrous metal by a magnetic separator and the like, and plastic fragments and non-ferrous metal fragments are separated by an eddy current separator and the like, and toner particles and other materials ( Glass powder and plastic pieces) are also separated by a suitable sorter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing a used toner cartridge processing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A Crushing device B Sorting device 1 Used toner cartridge 3 Bunker 4 Shredder 5 Nitrogen generator 7 Opening / closing device 10 Chain (linear body) 11 Water cooling jacket 19 Drain side gate 20 Inclined conveyor 21 Fluy device 22 Air jet 23 Bunker 24, 25 , 28,30,33,34 Container

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B09B 5/00 ZAB G03G 15/08 112 G03G 15/08 112 B09B 5/00 ZABZ F-term (Reference) 2H077 AA01 4D004 AA21 CA04 CA08 CA09 CA32 CB13 CB31 CC01 DA02 DA06 4D021 AA01 AA08 CA01 CA20 EA10 EB01 FA02 GB01 HA10 4D065 AA17 BB03 EA09 ED02 ED12 ED32 ED35 ED50 EE02 EE18 4G004 AA02 KA00

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A crushing device for crushing a used toner cartridge in an enclosed crushing chamber while maintaining an atmosphere below the explosion limit, and a sorting device for separating crushed materials discharged from the crushing device for each material. And a used toner cartridge processing device. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the atmosphere below the explosion limit is an atmosphere of an inert gas. 3. The use according to claim 1, wherein a temperature control means is provided in the crushing chamber so that the fine powder toner is appropriately granulated during crushing of the used toner cartridge. Processing unit for used toner cartridges. 4. The crushing means in the crushing chamber is provided by an impact which rotates a flexible linear body attached to an outer periphery of a rotating shaft at a high speed.
A used toner cartridge processing device as described in the above. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the flexible linear member is a chain. 6. A used toner cartridge is finely crushed in a nitrogen gas atmosphere in an airtight casing, and toner as a fine powder is granulated into appropriate particles by utilizing heat generated during the crushing. Used toner cartridge characterized by controlling the temperature inside the crushing device to separate and collect toner, metals such as iron and non-ferrous metals, plastics, and other residues discharged from the crushing device. Processing method.