JP2004114145A - Apparatus for treating waste - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify and miniaturize the constitution of an apparatus with which wastes are compressed and simultaneously these materials are distinguished. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for treating the wastes compressing the wastes W such as a can, a PET bottle, is provided with a waste inserting hole 2 for inserting the wastes, a compressing means 4 for compressing the wastes inserted from the waste inserting hole, a means for supplying electric current to the compressed wastes, a distinguishing means for distinguishing the wastes from the conducting state of the waste by electrically supplying, a rotary plate 7 for classifying the wastes compressed with the compressing means in respective materials distinguished with the distinguishing means and holding means 11, 12 for holding the wastes W classified with the classifying means in respective materials. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a waste disposal apparatus for compressing waste such as an empty can or a resin (for example, a resin such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate)) bottle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to reuse empty cans, empty bottles, and the like as resources from the viewpoint of resource protection or environmental considerations, these waste treatment apparatuses are receiving attention. As this type of waste disposal apparatus, for example, a partition plate is vertically arranged in an apparatus box, and is formed by dividing an upper portion from a substantially central portion into three compartments, and an insertion port is opened at an upper part of each compartment. In addition, empty cans and resin bottles are separated and inserted from each insertion port, and a crushing roller device that performs crushing by rotating a pair of rotating blades in a reverse direction by a motor is provided in each of the compartments, and the inserted empty cans are inserted. There is known a sorting and crushing apparatus that crushes a resin bottle and stores and collects small fragments in each container (see Patent Document 1).
Since this separation and crushing device is for the user to separate empty cans, empty bottles and PET bottles and insert it into the device box, the device configuration is simple, but on the other hand, there is troublesome insertion, and at the time of insertion There is a problem that the separation cannot be surely performed if it is accidentally inserted into another compartment.
[0003]
Therefore, a device that automatically separates the inserted waste has been proposed. For example, (1) the inserted empty can is identified by a magnetic sensor as to whether the material is paper or metal, and if it is determined to be made of metal, it is compressed by a pressing plate, and after compression, the presence or absence of eddy current loss is detected. Discriminating and compressing empty cans to be sorted and stored in respective stockers by discriminating whether they are made of steel or aluminum (see Patent Literature 2), (2) Judging inserted waste into metal cans and empty bottles using a metal sensor Empty can compression means for compressing only metal cans, separating aluminum cans and steel cans by an aluminum sensor after compression and storing them in an empty can collection box (see Patent Document 3), (3) disposal The barcode attached to the object is read and compressed when the waste is registered for miniaturization (the protrusions pierce the surface of the waste to allow air in the waste to escape) And barcode Fractional recovery processing apparatus beverage containers such as waste (see Patent Document 4) is known to be fractionated identify Luo material.
Further, (4) the waste (metal container, resin bottle) inserted from the waste insertion opening is hit, and a blow sound generated from the waste at the time of the hit is collected by a microphone, and the fixed frequency is set. There is also known a waste treatment apparatus that discriminates a material of waste by analysis and guides and stores pieces of a resin bottle and a metal can crushed by a rotary blade in respective storage sections (see Patent Document 5).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-9-206616 (abstract, claims)
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-5-77096 (abstract, paragraph numbers (0012), (0016), (0021) to (0024))
[Patent Document 3]
JP-A-8-187598 (abstract, paragraph numbers (0020), (0022))
[Patent Document 4]
JP-A-2000-58171 (abstract, paragraph number (0049), (0062), (0064))
[Patent Document 5]
JP 2001-113260 A (abstract, paragraph numbers (0037) to (0042))
[0005]
The apparatuses described in Patent Literatures 2 to 5 described above can automatically identify or determine the inserted or inserted waste material and perform the separation process. The problem is that the discrimination and the crushing or compression are performed independently, and the configuration is complicated, and the method of reading barcodes cannot handle waste without barcodes in the first place. There is.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and a first object of the present invention is to simplify a device configuration by enabling simultaneous identification of waste materials when compressing an inserted waste. In order to reduce the size.
A second object of the present invention is to further simplify the apparatus configuration and reduce the cost by allowing the means for discriminating the material at the time of compression to simultaneously release the gas in the container.
It is a third object of the present invention to accurately determine the conductivity of a waste regardless of its coating or surface treatment.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a waste disposal apparatus for compressing waste such as a can or a resin bottle, wherein the waste is inserted through the waste insertion slot and the waste inserted through the waste insertion slot. Compression means for compressing the object, means for energizing the waste to be compressed, discriminating means for discriminating the material of the waste from the conductive state of the waste due to the energization, and for each material discriminated by the discriminating means, A waste treatment apparatus, comprising: a separation unit that separates waste compressed by the compression unit; and a storage unit that stores the waste separated by the separation unit according to the material. is there.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the waste disposal apparatus according to the first aspect, the compression means includes an energizing electrode on a pressing surface, and the electrode has a sharp tip facing the waste surface. It is a waste disposal apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the waste disposal apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the waste inserted from the waste insertion port is temporarily locked at the compression unit, and the waste is compressed. A waste disposal device comprising a locking means for releasing a stop.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the waste disposal apparatus according to the third aspect, the locking means locks the waste based on a detection signal of a detecting means for detecting the inserted waste, and compresses the waste. A waste disposal apparatus wherein the lock is released based on an end signal.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the waste disposal apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the separating means for separating includes a rotating plate attached to a rotating shaft at an angle, and the discrimination is performed. A waste treatment apparatus characterized in that the rotating plate is rotated by a predetermined angle based on a material of the waste to change a discharge path.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the waste disposal apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the compressed can is further separated into a steel can and an aluminum can according to its material, And a storage means for storing aluminum cans, respectively.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a waste disposal apparatus according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the waste treatment apparatus 1 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing, and a waste insertion opening 2 is provided at an upper front portion of the housing. The waste insertion opening 2 is provided with an insertion guide path 2a for guiding the inserted waste downward into the compression means for compressing the inserted waste. In the vicinity of the outlet on the compression means side of the insertion guide path 2a, there is provided a sensor 3 for detecting inserted PET bottles or cans, for example. Can be used.
[0010]
The compression means 4 includes pressure plates 4a and 4b that can move to the left and right in the figure, and compresses the falling PET bottle or can (empty can) between the opposing pressure plates 4a and 4b.
The pressure plates 4a and 4b are provided with a plurality of positive or negative electrodes 4c protruding on the surface side serving as the pressure surfaces, and the electrodes 4c are energized and controlled by a later-described control unit 20 provided on the control board 6. You. Further, the moving distance of the pressing plates 4a, 4b is restricted so that the electrodes 4c do not come into contact with each other even at the position where the pressing plates 4a, 4b are closest to each other.
The flapper 5 is pivoted below the compression means 4 and is provided to be openable and closable by opening and closing means (not shown) driven and controlled by the control unit 20. In the closed position, the flapper 5 is inserted through the waste insertion port 2. It functions as a locking means for receiving the waste W such as a PET bottle or a can which has fallen through the insertion guide path 2a in the compression means, and releases the compressed waste W on the upper surface of the guide rotating plate 7 by opening. Let it fall.
The rotating plate 7 is mounted to be inclined with respect to the rotating shaft 8 in order to guide the compressed waste W such as a PET bottle or a can to either the collecting container 11 or 12. That is, the rotating plate 7 is integrally connected to a driven roller (not shown) via a rotating shaft 8, and the driven roller is rotatably driven by a driving pulley of a selection motor 10 via a belt 9. . When the rotating plate 7 rotates, the direction of the inclined surface changes. Therefore, by rotating the rotating plate 7 by a predetermined angle, waste can be reliably guided to either the collection container 11 or 12.
[0011]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the waste disposal apparatus 1 provided on the control board 6.
The control unit 20 is connected to the sensor 2, the compression unit 4, the locking unit (flapper) 5, the determination unit 22, and the classification unit (rotating plate) 7, and detects inserted waste such as a plastic bottle or a can. After that, it works to control a series of processing operations from the compression processing to the separation.
[0012]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the electrode 4c and the PET bottle (or can) W before and after compression. FIG. 3A shows a state before compression, and FIG. 4B shows a state after compression.
In the compressed state, as shown in FIG. 3B, the sharpened electrodes 4c provided on the pressing surfaces of the left and right pressing plates 4a and 4b completely bite into the plastic bottle (or can). That is, during the compression process, the sharp tip of the electrode 4c first contacts the surface of the plastic bottle, hits the surface of the plastic bottle or hits the surface of the plastic bottle, and breaks it, and with the approach of the pressure plates 4a, 4b. By penetrating the surface, the compression can proceed after the residual gas in the plastic bottle (or can) is released, and the plastic bottle can be prevented from exploding during the compression. In addition, since the tip of the electrode can be reliably contacted with the material by exposing the material by breaking the surface of the surface of the waste or painting the surface treatment surface, the electrode can be reliably contacted with the material. It is possible to reliably detect the energized state of the waste material by eliminating the influence.
[0013]
Next, the operation of the waste disposal apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to a flowchart illustrating the waste separation processing procedure shown in FIG.
First, when a waste such as a PET bottle or a can is inserted from the waste insertion port 2 of the waste treatment apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the sensor 3 provided in the insertion guide path 2a detects this (S101). The flapper 5, which is a locking means, receives the dropped PET bottle or can. Based on the detection of the sensor 3, the control unit 20 controls the driving of the compression means 4 to bring the pair of pressure plates 4a, 4b closer to each other, and moves the plastic bottle or can placed between the pair of pressure plates 4a, 4b in the horizontal direction. (Press) (S102).
The driving of the pressurizing plates 4a and 4b is performed by a piston / cylinder mechanism using air or fluid, a linear motion mechanism using a cam or a link, or other known motion mechanisms.
[0014]
When the compression by the pressing plates 4a and 4b is completed, the control unit 20 receives the completion signal and starts energizing the electrodes 4c (S103). Here, the determining means 22 determines whether or not the electrodes 4c are energized through the waste due to the energization (S104). When energization is recognized (S104, YES), the waste is determined to be a metal, ie, a can. When energization is not recognized (S104, NO), the waste is determined to be a plastic bottle and the waste is determined. The result is passed to the control unit 20. The control unit 20 drives the selection motor 10 based on the determination result, rotates the driven pulley by a required angle via the drive pulley and the belt 9, and the separation unit integrally provided on the rotation shaft 8 by the rotation. A certain rotating plate 7 is set on the empty can side (S105) or the PET bottle side (S106).
When receiving the setting completion signal from the rotating plate 7, the control unit 20 drives the opening / closing mechanism of the flapper 5, opens the flapper 5, and drops the plastic bottle or can as the content (S107). The falling direction of the fallen PET bottle or can is controlled by the direction of the inclined surface of the rotary plate 7 set at a predetermined position, and the fallen PET bottle or can is stored in the PET bottle or empty can storage container 11 or 12, respectively, and collected (S108). The waste separation and collection process ends.
[0015]
In the above-mentioned waste separation processing, the energization is performed after the compression of the waste. However, the energization is not necessarily limited to this. It is also optional.
[0016]
As described above, the separation and collection processing of the PET bottle and the metal can has been described. However, when the discriminating means 22 discriminates the metal can by energization, by measuring the amount of energization, it is possible to determine the difference between the amount of energization and the steel can. Or an aluminum can, or by adding an optional sensor such as a magnetic sensor, a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of eddy current loss, or an aluminum sensor, the compressed can is turned into a steel can. Or an aluminum can.
In that case, instead of the empty can collection container, a collection container for steel cans and aluminum cans is installed, and the control unit 20 receives the discrimination result from the discrimination means 22 and converts the compressed cans into steel according to the respective materials. As described above, the rotation of the rotating plate 7 is controlled by a predetermined angle so as to guide the container to a collecting container for a can or an aluminum can.
The present invention can of course be applied to containers made of non-metallic and compressible reusable materials other than PET bottles.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the material of the waste can be determined at the same time when the inserted waste is compressed, the apparatus configuration can be simplified and downsized, and the material can be determined at the time of compression. Since the gas in the container can be simultaneously vented by the discriminating means, the apparatus configuration can be further simplified and the cost can be reduced.
Further, even if the surface of the waste is coated or surface-treated by the sharp tip of the electrode provided on the pressing surface of the pressing plate, the coating or the like is peeled off when the sharp tip breaks through the surface of the waste. As a result, the material and the electrode can surely come into contact with each other, so that the conductivity of the material can be accurately determined.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a waste treatment apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing a configuration for controlling the waste disposal apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a comparison between the state before compression and the state of compression of the waste.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a waste disposal procedure in the waste disposal apparatus shown in FIG. 1;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Waste treatment apparatus, 2 ... Waste insertion port, 3 ... Sensor, 4 ... Compression means (press), 5 ... Flapper (locking means), 6 ... Control board, 7 ... Rotating plate (separation means), 8 ... Rotating shaft, 9 ... Belt, 10 ... Motor for sorting, 11 ... Collection container for PET bottles, 12 ... Collection container for empty cans, 20 ... Control unit.

Claims (6)

What is claimed is: 1. A waste disposal apparatus for compressing waste such as cans or resin bottles, comprising: a waste insertion opening into which the waste is inserted; and a compression means for compressing the waste inserted through the waste insertion opening. Means for energizing the waste to be compressed, discriminating means for discriminating the material of the waste from the conductive state of the waste due to the energization, and for each material discriminated by the discriminating means, compressed by the compressing means. A waste treatment apparatus, comprising: a separation unit that separates the waste waste; and a storage unit that stores the waste separated by the separation unit according to the material. 2. The waste disposal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said compression means includes a current-carrying electrode on a pressurized surface, and said electrode has a sharp tip facing said waste surface. Processing equipment. In the waste disposal apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A waste treatment apparatus comprising a locking means for temporarily locking the waste inserted from the waste insertion port at the compression means and releasing the lock after compression. The waste disposal apparatus according to claim 3,
The waste disposal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the locking means locks the waste based on a detection signal of a detecting means for detecting the inserted waste, and releases the locking based on a compression end signal. In the waste disposal apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The separating means for separating includes a rotating plate attached to a rotating shaft at an angle, and rotates the rotating plate by a predetermined angle based on the discriminated waste material to change a discharge path. Waste treatment equipment. 6. The waste disposal apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for further separating the compressed can into a steel can and an aluminum can according to the material, and storing the separated steel can and the aluminum can, respectively. Containment means;
A waste treatment device comprising:

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