JP2008178761A - Apparatus for reducing volume of foamed plastics - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for reducing the volume of foamed plastics which can reduce the occupied volume of the apparatus, can reduce manufacturing cost, and is easy in maintenance. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus 1 for reducing the volume of the foamed plastics is provided with: a charge port 2a of foamed plastics; a crushing chamber 3 of foamed plastics; and a carrying chamber 4 of foamed plastics, thereby reducing the volume of foamed plastics by a melting part 5 provided on the downstream side of the carrying chamber. The crushing chamber 3 and carrying chamber 4 are adjacently provided in the roughly horizontal direction, one rotary shaft 7 is disposed penetratedly through the adjacent crushing chamber 3 and carrying chamber 4, a crushing arm 8 is set at a part in the region of the crushing chamber of the rotary shaft, a screw blade 9 is set at a part in the region of the carrying chamber of the rotary shaft, a lower inner wall face of the crushing chamber is formed into a roughly half cylindrical shape coaxial with the rotary shaft, and multiple sending grooves 12 tilted toward the carrying chamber side in relation to the rotation direction of the crushing arm are provided on the half-cylindrical lower inner wall face of the crushing chamber. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a volume reducing device for foamed plastics.

For example, foam plastic boxes for storing fish, foam plastic packaging containers for packaging electrical appliances, foam plastic trays for packaging fish, meat, etc. are recycled after use. Is done. For this purpose, an apparatus that melts these foamed plastic containers and trays, removes the contained gas, forms them into blocks or the like, or forms them into pellets or the like is a volume reducing device.
Various types of volume reducing devices have been proposed and put into practical use.

  The apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a hopper for introducing foamed plastics and a processing chamber for performing volume reduction processing, and the processing chamber includes a pair of cutter blades for crushing the foamed plastics. A crushing shaft, a rotating shaft provided with screw blades for feeding the crushed foamed plastics forward, a tapered compression cylinder provided so as to surround the screw blades, and a heating cylinder following the compression cylinder Yes. And in this volume reduction machine of foamed plastics, foamed plastics, such as a foamed polystyrene put into the hopper, fall into the process chamber below that, and are pushed down between the crushing shafts while being crushed by the cutter blade. The foamed plastics that have been crushed and pushed down are sent forward by the lower screw blades, pushed into the compression cylinder, compressed and reduced, and heated and melted by the heating cylinder to form a rod and continuously extruded from the extrusion plate. It is.

  In the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, the rotating shaft provided in the processing chamber is provided with a crushing arm for crushing foamed plastics and a screw blade for feeding the foamed plastics in the same section, and is charged from the hopper. The foamed plastics are crushed around the rotation axis and sent in the direction of the subsequent compression cylinder to be compressed and reduced in the compression cylinder.

No. 6-5853 JP 2002-663370 A

  However, first, in the volume reduction device described in Patent Document 1 described above, a pair of crushing shafts provided with cutter blades for crushing foamed plastics in the upper stage of the processing chamber and foamed plastics crushed in the lower stage are moved forward. Since it is necessary to provide a rotating shaft with screw blades for feeding and compressing, the apparatus becomes large in size, and a plurality of driving means such as a motor are required, resulting in high costs.

  On the other hand, in the volume reduction apparatus described in Patent Document 2, since only one rotating shaft is used, the manufacturing cost can be considerably reduced, but the portion of the rotating shaft where the screw blades are provided is crushed. Since the arm is also provided, the structure of the rotating shaft is complicated, and there are problems in terms of manufacturing cost and maintenance. In addition, since the crushing part and the conveying part are in the same position, the foamed plastics are sent to the subsequent compression cylinder without being sufficiently crushed, or the crushed fine foamed plastic remains in the lower part of the crushing part and is not conveyed. There was sorrow.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the background art described above, and its purpose is to reduce the volume of foamed plastics that can reduce the volume occupied by the apparatus, reduce the manufacturing cost, and is easy to maintain. To provide an apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, the volume reduction device for foamed plastics according to claim 1 includes an inlet for charging the foamed plastics, a crushing chamber for crushing the supplied foamed plastics, and a crushed foamed plastics Reducing the volume of foam plastics that reduce the volume of foam plastics crushed by the compression mechanism provided in the transfer chamber and / or the melting part provided downstream of the transfer chamber. The crushing chamber and the transfer chamber are provided adjacent to each other in a substantially horizontal direction, and a single rotating shaft passes through the adjacent crushing chamber and the transfer chamber. A crushing arm is installed at a site in the crushing chamber region of the rotating shaft, a screw blade is installed at a site in the transporting chamber region of the rotating shaft, and the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber is connected to the rotating shaft. A substantially semi-cylindrical shape of the core is formed, and a plurality of feed grooves inclined toward the transfer chamber side with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm are provided on the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber of the substantially semi-cylindrical shape. It is characterized by that.

  Further, in the volume reducing device for foamed plastics of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, a plurality of fixed blades substantially perpendicular to the axis of the rotating shaft are provided on the inner wall surface of the crushing chamber. It is characterized in that the crushing arm installed on the rotating shaft passes between them.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the first or second aspect of the invention, wherein the crushing arm includes an arm extending radially from the rotating shaft and a protrusion provided at a tip of the arm. It is comprised from these.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the feed groove is 15-60 in the conveyance chamber side with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm. It is provided with the inclination angle of degree.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the melting portion is constituted by a heating plate having an uneven surface.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the filter absorbs or decomposes the odor of gas generated when the volume of the foamed plastics is reduced. It is provided with.

According to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the crushing arm and the screw blade are provided on one rotating shaft, the device can be easily downsized, Since only one motor is required to rotate the rotating shaft, the control is simple and the manufacturing cost can be reduced. In addition, since the crushing arm and the screw blade are provided at different locations on the rotating shaft, the structure of the rotating shaft is simplified, manufacturing and maintenance are facilitated, and the crushing portion and the transporting portion are separated. There is no possibility that the foamed plastics are transported to the volume reducing portion without being sufficiently crushed. Furthermore, because of the presence of a plurality of feed grooves provided on the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber, the crushed foamed plastics gradually move to the transfer chamber side with the rotation of the crushing arm. The foamed plastics that move due to the presence of the material are sufficiently crushed and made finer. Therefore, unlike the feeding by screw blades, only the sufficiently crushed foamed plastics are efficiently sent to the transfer chamber side. Can do.
Because of the effects as described above, the volume reduction device according to the present invention is used to reduce the volume of foamed plastics such as foamed fish boxes in facilities with a small installation area, such as a supermarket. Can be preferably used.

  According to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the second aspect of the present invention, the fixed blade fixed to the inner wall surface of the crushing chamber, the crushing arm fixed to the rotating shaft and rotating together with the rotating shaft, Since the foamed plastics are efficiently crushed, the apparatus can be further downsized.

  Further, according to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the third aspect of the present invention, since the tip portion of the crushing arm is large, it becomes easy to catch the foamed plastics, and further the crushing efficiency can be improved.

  Further, according to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention described in claim 4, since the inclination angle of the feed groove with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm is appropriate, the crushed foamed plastics are crushed. As the arm rotates, it can be efficiently moved to the transfer chamber side.

  Further, according to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention described in claim 5, since the melting part is constituted by the heating plate having a large heat transfer area, the foamed plastics are efficiently heated and melted. Therefore, the volume reduction efficiency is high.

  Further, according to the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention of claim 6, the odor contained in the gas generated during the volume reduction process can be removed.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 is a conceptual longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as “volume reducing device”), and FIG. It is a notional sectional view of a portion along line AA. 3 is a conceptual plan view of the crushing chamber of the volume reduction device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a conceptual development of the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber.

  In the volume reduction device 1 according to the present invention, for example, a foamed plastic fish box for storing fish, a foamed plastic packaging container for packaging electrical appliances, fish, meat, etc. A tray made of foamed plastic or the like (hereinafter referred to as “foamed plastics”) is fed from the charging port 2 a of the hopper 2. The injected foamed plastics fall into the crushing chamber 3 and are crushed there. The crushed foamed plastics are sent to the adjacent transfer chamber 4 and sent to the subsequent melting section 5 while being compressed by the screw blades, where they are melted and reduced in viscosity to be discharged from the discharge section 6. .

The upper part of the crushing chamber 3 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape that is directly connected to the hopper 2, and the lower part has a semicylindrical inner wall structure that continues to the rectangular parallelepiped. A rotating shaft 7 passes through the crushing chamber 3 and the transfer chamber 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the rotary shaft 7 is disposed along the center line of the semicylindrical inner wall of the crushing chamber 3. A plurality of crushing arms 8 are provided radially in the crushing chamber 3 portion of the rotating shaft 7, and screw blades 9 are provided in the conveying chamber 4 portion of the rotating shaft 7 to the vicinity of the melting portion 5. It is extended and provided. The rotating shaft 7 is rotationally driven by a motor 10. That is, the crushing arm 8 and the screw blade 9 are configured to be rotated by a single motor 10.
In this embodiment, the rotating shaft 7 is arranged substantially horizontally, but it can also be arranged so as to be inclined so that the transfer chamber 4 side is slightly below.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the crushing arms 8 is composed of a pair of arms 8 a and 8 b that are provided point-symmetrically in a plane perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotating shaft 7. Each arm 8 a, 8 b is formed in a thick plate, and its tip extends to the immediate vicinity of the inner wall of the crushing chamber 3. The five pairs of arms 8a and 8b are arranged on the rotary shaft 7 so that adjacent pairs of arms make an angle of 90 degrees with each other.
In this embodiment, five pairs of arms are arranged as the crushing arm 8, but it can be increased or decreased as necessary. In addition, each crushing arm 8 is not composed of two arms 8a and 8b, but a larger number of arms, for example, three arms can be arranged at intervals of 120 degrees.

  On the inner wall surface of the crushing chamber 3 on the side where the crushing arm 8 is lowered by rotation, the middle of each of the five pairs of crushing arms 8, 8,. Fixed blades 11 are respectively provided in the middle of the screw blades 9. The fixed blade 11 is made of a plate material extending in a plane perpendicular to the rotary shaft 7, and a rectangular fixed blade 11 a is provided on the upper vertical inner wall surface of the crushing chamber 3, and the lower semi-cylindrical inner wall is formed. A quarter-disk-shaped fixed blade 11b is provided on the wall surface, and the L-shaped fixed blade 11 is formed as a whole. When each crushing arm 8 descends between the fixed blades 11, 11, the foamed plastics are crushed by the fixed blade 11 and the crushing arm 8.

  Further, in the volume reduction device 1 according to the illustrated embodiment, in order to improve crushing efficiency, two protrusions 8c and 8d are provided on both surfaces of the tip portion of each crushing arm 8 formed of a thick plate. It has been. Note that the rightmost crushing arm 8 in FIG. 1 is provided with a protrusion only on one side. The protrusions 8c and 8d are formed by round bars extending in the axial direction of the rotary shaft 7, and the protrusions 8c and 8d reliably capture the foamed plastics between the fixed blades 11 and 11, and are efficient. Crush foam plastics. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the projection 8c closer to the tip is disposed slightly forward in the rotational direction than the other projection 8d. Thereby, the foamed plastics can be more reliably captured and crushed by the crushing arm 8 and the protrusions 8c and 8d.

  On the other hand, in the semi-cylindrical inner wall surface in the lower part of the crushing chamber 3, the inner wall surface on the side where the fixed blade 11 is not provided, that is, the inner wall surface on the side where the crushing arm 8 is raised by rotation is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4 and the like, a plurality of feed grooves 12 that are inclined toward the transfer chamber 4 with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm 8 are provided. In this embodiment, a plurality of round bars 13 are welded to the inner wall surface to form the feed groove 12 between them. Of course, the feed groove 12 can be formed by other methods. It is. Moreover, although the round bar material 13 was employ | adopted in the figure, rods, such as square shape, may be sufficient.

  Due to the presence of the feed groove 12, the foamed plastics crushed when the crushing arm 8 descends are scraped together when the crushing arm 8 rises in the region where the feed groove 12 exists, Therefore, it moves to the transfer chamber 4 side. Moreover, since the foamed plastics that move in contact with the feed groove 12 are sufficiently crushed and made fine, only the sufficiently crushed foamed plastics are efficiently used, unlike feeding by screw blades. Can be transported.

  The inclination angle θ (see FIG. 4) of the feed groove 12 with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm 8 (vertical direction of the rotating shaft 7) is suitably 15 to 60 degrees. When this inclination angle θ is too small, the moving speed of the foamed plastics becomes too slow. On the other hand, when the inclination angle is too large, the foamed plastics do not rise along the feed groove and often get over, and efficient conveyance cannot be performed. From this viewpoint, the inclination angle θ is more preferably 15 to 55 degrees, and particularly preferably 20 to 50 degrees.

  When the crushing arm 8 is rotated by the rotation of the rotating shaft 7 and the crushing arm 8 is lowered, the foamed plastics are crushed in cooperation with the fixed blade 11 and the crushing arm 8 is raised. The crushed foam plastics are scraped up and raised along the feed groove 12, so that the finely crushed foam plastics gradually gather in the direction of the transfer chamber 4. The collected foamed plastics are forced into the transfer chamber 4 by the screw blades 9.

  The transfer chamber 4 has a portion (inlet portion) close to the crushing chamber 3 formed in a tapered cone-shaped tube portion 4a, and a distant portion formed in a cylindrical tube portion 4b, so that crushed foamed plastics can be transferred smoothly. It has a structure. It is possible to reduce the volume by releasing the gas in the foamed plastics by simply compressing the foamed plastics with the screw blades 9 in the transfer chamber 4 to generate heat, but in the illustrated embodiment, A melting section 5 is provided in the subsequent stage of the transfer chamber 4.

  The melting part 5 includes a heater 5a and a temperature control device such as a temperature detecting means (not shown), and heats and melts the foamed plastics to a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, in order to improve the heat transfer efficiency to the foamed plastics, the corrugated uneven surface 5b is formed on the wall surface of the heating chamber 5 to increase the surface area. The foamed plastic sent from the opening 5 c communicating with the transfer chamber 4 is melted in the melting part 5 and discharged from the discharge part 6 provided at the lower part of the melting part 5. The foamed plastics immediately before being melted may be compressed by the screw blades 9, but may be configured to be melted only in the melting part 5 without being compressed and reduced in volume.

  In other embodiments, the gap between the peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 7 and the inner wall of the transfer chamber 4 (specifically, between adjacent blades of the screw blades 9, the peripheral surface of the rotary shaft 7, and the transfer chamber) The gas contained in the foamed plastics, which is melted by shearing heat generation and, if necessary, heat from the heater, while being compressed (by gradually reducing the volume of the space defined by the inner wall of 4), or The gas entrained during the supply of the foamed plastic is eliminated and the volume is reduced.

  The processed material that has been melted to become a viscous material falls into a container (not shown) placed under the discharge unit 6 and solidifies there. The processed product discharged from the discharge unit 6 is formed in an appropriate block such as a bar shape or a plate shape following the shape of the discharge unit 6. In some cases, it is formed into a pellet by further connecting an extruder for producing pellets downstream. And it is transported to the factory etc. which recycle foamed plastics.

  The gas generated in the crushing chamber 3, the transfer chamber 4, and the melting part 5 is discharged by the blower 15 through the filter 14 communicating with these regions. The gas has an odor of the foamed plastic itself, an odor of the gas contained in the foamed plastic, or an odor attached from the contents when the foamed plastic is used as a container. Is absorbed by activated carbon or the like built in the filter 14, or is thermally decomposed using a platinum catalyst or the like.

  The preferred embodiment of the volume reduction device for foamed plastics according to the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and is described in the claims. Naturally, various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

It is a conceptual sectional view showing an example of a volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a portion along line AA in FIG. 1. It is a conceptual top view of the crushing chamber of the volume reduction apparatus of FIG. It is a conceptual development view of the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Volume reduction apparatus 2 Hopper 2a Input port 3 Crushing chamber 4 Transfer chamber 4a Cone-shaped cylinder part 4b Cylindrical cylinder part 5 Melting part 5a Heater 5b Irregular surface 5c Opening 6 Discharge part 7 Rotating shaft 8 Crushing arms 8a, 8b Arm 8c, 8d Protrusion 9 Screw blade 10 Motor 11 Fixed blade 11a Rectangular fixed blade 11b Quarter disk fixed blade 12 Feed groove 13 Round bar 14 Filter 15 Blower

Claims (6)

  A compression mechanism provided in the transfer chamber, comprising an input port for supplying the foamed plastic, a crushing chamber for crushing the supplied foamed plastic, a transfer chamber for transferring the crushed foamed plastics, and / or Or a foamed plastics volume reducing device for reducing foamed plastics crushed by a melting section provided downstream of the transfer chamber, wherein the crushing chamber and the transfer chamber are adjacent to each other in a substantially horizontal direction. Provided in a state where one rotating shaft passes through the adjacent crushing chamber and the transfer chamber, and a crushing arm is installed at a portion of the rotating shaft in the region of the crushing chamber. Screw blades are installed in the region of the transfer chamber, and the lower inner wall surface of the crushing chamber is formed in a substantially semi-cylindrical shape concentric with the rotating shaft, and the lower inner wall surface of the substantially semi-cylindrical crushing chamber Before Characterized in that the feeding grooves of plural rows which are inclined to the conveying chamber side with respect to the rotational direction of the crushing arms are provided, the volume reduction system of the foamed plastics.   A plurality of fixed blades substantially perpendicular to the axis of the rotation shaft are installed on the inner wall surface of the crushing chamber so that a crushing arm installed on the rotation shaft passes between the fixed blades. The volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to claim 1.   3. The reduced plastic foam according to claim 1, wherein the crushing arm includes an arm extending radially from the rotating shaft and a protrusion provided at a tip of the arm. Container device.   The foamed plastic according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the feed groove is provided at an inclination angle of 15 to 60 degrees on the transfer chamber side with respect to the rotation direction of the crushing arm. Kind of volume reduction device.   The volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the melting part is constituted by a heating plate having an uneven surface.   The volume reducing device for foamed plastics according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a filter for absorbing or decomposing gas odor generated when the volume of foamed plastics is reduced.

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