JP2013000733A - Device for crushing used toner cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device capable of safely crushing a used toner cartridge with high efficiency, and also at low cost.SOLUTION: The device includes a housing 1 having an inlet 1a and an outlet 1b. The housing includes therein, a crushing unit 2 for crushing and discharging the used toner cartridge C which is input from the inlet into a plurality of crushed pieces by overriding. The device further includes: a belt conveyor 9 for receiving and conveying the crushed pieces from the crushing unit to the outlet; and an air jet cleaning unit 10 arranged at the downstream side of the crushing unit on the belt conveyor. The air jet cleaning unit has: a tunnel 11 which surrounds the upper space of the conveying surface of the belt conveyor, and through which the crushed pieces can be passed; and an air nozzle 12 installed in a tunnel inner wall surface. The air jet cleaning unit always sucks and exhausts air in the housing to the outside, and injects the compressed air against the crushed pieces which are conveyed on the belt conveyor from the air nozzle.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for disassembling a used toner cartridge.

  A toner cartridge mounted on a copier, a printer, or the like is discarded as a used toner cartridge when the toner in the cartridge runs out. Conventionally, used toner cartridges have been disposed of by being buried underground as industrial waste. However, recently, from the viewpoint of environmental protection and resource recycling, they are dismantled and collect residual toner while collecting plastic materials and metal. After being separated into materials, they are being reused.

  Previously, the dismantling of used toner cartridges was done exclusively by hand.However, it is very laborious to disassemble the cartridge while collecting the toner after disassembling the remaining toner cartridge with a tool. There is also a risk of damaging the health of workers. Therefore, several devices for mechanizing this work have been proposed recently.

Many of these types of apparatuses are configured to automatically perform the steps from crushing a used toner cartridge, collecting residual toner, and removing and collecting toner adhering to each crushing piece.
By the way, in these apparatuses, in order to prevent the toner from scattering outside the apparatus, all the processes are executed in a housing maintained in a substantially sealed state. However, when the toner scatters in such a sealed space, the toner becomes dust, and the risk of a dust explosion increases due to a spark or the like generated during crushing. Therefore, measures to avoid this are required.

  As a conventional apparatus of this type, for example, an inert gas atmosphere is maintained in the crushing chamber (see, for example, Patent Document 1), or residual toner in the toner cartridge is removed from the high-pressure steam before crushing the toner cartridge. In some cases, the toner is heated and melted to adhere to the toner cartridge and then cooled to prevent the toner from becoming dusty (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  However, in the former, it is necessary to use a large amount of an inert gas and to provide an inert gas supply device therefor, and there is a problem that the cost of the dismantling process increases and the profitability of recycling cannot be obtained. . In the latter case, it takes a long time to heat and melt the residual toner and then cool it down, the efficiency of the dismantling process is very poor, and further, the toner remains welded to the plastic member after disassembly. There was a problem that it was not easy to reuse.

JP 2002-79125 A JP 2008-23474 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of disassembling a used toner cartridge safely and efficiently at a low cost.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an apparatus for disassembling a used toner cartridge, and includes a housing having an inlet and an outlet, and a used toner cartridge disposed in the housing and inserted from the inlet. A crushing unit that disassembles and discharges into a plurality of crushing pieces by push-off, and the crushing unit includes a table on which the used toner cartridge is placed at a predetermined position, and the table has the predetermined position. At least one opening extending across the used toner cartridge placed on the toner cartridge, and the opening is formed such that at least one of the edges intersecting with the used toner cartridge is linear. The crushing unit further includes a fixed blade attached upward to the plurality of linear edges of the opening, and a front A block disposed above the table so as to be movable up and down, a block drive mechanism for moving the block up and down, and a movable blade attached at a position facing the fixed blade on the lower surface of the block. A standby position where the movable blade is positioned above the used toner cartridge placed at the predetermined position with an interval, and the movable blade enters the opening of the table, It is possible to move between the cutting position for pushing and cutting the used toner cartridge by cooperation, and the apparatus is further disposed in the housing, and the table of the crushing unit from the inlet side of the housing. Extending below the housing to the outlet side of the housing, receiving the crushed pieces from the crushing unit and receiving the outlet A belt conveyor that conveys the belt conveyor, and an air jet cleaning unit disposed downstream of the crushing unit on the belt conveyor, and the air jet cleaning unit surrounds an upper space of the conveyor surface of the belt conveyor, A tunnel through which the crushed pieces transported on the belt conveyor pass, a plurality of air nozzles provided on the inner wall surface of the tunnel spaced apart from each other, and directed to the transport surface of the belt conveyor; An air supply source, an air supply duct for supplying compressed air from the compressed air supply source to the air nozzle, a control valve provided in the middle of the air supply duct for controlling the flow rate of the compressed air, and a wall of the tunnel At least one exhaust port provided in the exhaust, an exhaust fan for exhausting air to the outside of the housing, An exhaust duct connecting the exhaust port and the exhaust fan, and a dust collector disposed in the middle of the exhaust duct, and the exhaust fan always operates during the operation of the device, so that Air is sucked and exhausted from the entrance and exit of the tunnel to the outside of the housing, and compressed air is injected by the air nozzle at a predetermined timing to the crushed pieces conveyed on the belt conveyor. The apparatus is characterized by being a thing.

  In the above configuration, preferably, the opening of the table is a single rectangular opening extending across the used toner cartridge placed at the predetermined position at a right angle, and the fixed blade includes the fixed blade, The openings are respectively attached to a pair of opposite sides orthogonal to the used toner cartridge. In this case, the distance between the pair of opposite sides of the opening is preferably about 1/3 of the length of the used toner cartridge in the longitudinal direction.

In the above configuration, it is preferable that at least a part of a tunnel wall of the air jet cleaning unit forms a part of the housing.
Moreover, it is preferable that the plurality of air nozzles are arranged in at least one row along the belt conveyor.

Moreover, it is preferable that the said apparatus is provided with the vibration mechanism which vibrates the conveyance surface of the said belt conveyor.
Further, the apparatus is disposed inside the housing and outside the tunnel outlet of the air jet cleaning unit, and at least one for jetting static electricity removing air toward the crushed pieces coming out of the tunnel. It is preferable to provide two air guns.

  According to the present invention, the used toner cartridge introduced from the inlet of the housing is disassembled into a plurality of crushed pieces by a crushing unit by a crushing unit, and the crushed pieces are conveyed to the outlet of the housing by a belt conveyor. On the downstream side of the crushing unit on the belt conveyor, an air jet cleaning unit that surrounds the space above the conveying surface of the belt conveyor and allows crushing pieces to pass through and an air nozzle provided on the inner wall surface of the tunnel is arranged. The air jet cleaning unit constantly sucks and exhausts the air in the housing to the outside and injects compressed air onto the crushed pieces conveyed on the belt conveyor.

In this way, since the used toner cartridge is crushed by pressing, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of sparks that induce a dust explosion during crushing. Also, during the dismantling process, the air in the housing is always sucked and exhausted to the outside, and the toner concentration in the housing is maintained to be lower than the lower explosion limit (minimum concentration of dust causing fire propagation). Dust explosion is reliably prevented. Also, most of the toner adhering to the crushed pieces can be separated and floated by jetting compressed air and recovered, and the crushed pieces can be washed sufficiently, so that the plastic material and metal material can be separated manually after dismantling. It is easy to do and even those materials can be reused.
In addition, it has a very simple configuration of crushing by pushing and cleaning by injecting compressed air while sucking and exhausting the air in the housing. Compared to a significant reduction.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a used toner cartridge disassembly processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the exhaust_gas | exhaustion and toner collection system of the dismantling processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the state in which the used toner cartridge was mounted in the predetermined position of the table of the crushing unit. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the block of a crushing unit, (A) shows the state which has a block in a standby position, (B) has shown the state which has a block in a cutting position. (A) is a perspective view showing a state before crushing a used toner cartridge, and (B) is a perspective view showing a state after crushing a used toner cartridge.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a used toner cartridge disassembly processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration of an exhaust and toner recovery system of the disassembly processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. For the sake of clarity, a part of the exhaust system configuration is omitted in FIG.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a used toner cartridge disassembly processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing 1 having an inlet 1a and an outlet 1b, and a used toner disposed in the housing 1 and fed from the inlet 1a. The cartridge C is provided with a crushing unit 2 that disassembles the cartridge C into a plurality of crushing pieces by pushing and discharging them.

  The crushing unit 2 includes a table 3 on which a used toner cartridge C is placed at a predetermined position. In this embodiment, the used toner cartridge C is inserted from the inlet 1 a so that the long side thereof is parallel to the inlet 1 a of the housing 1, and is placed at a predetermined position on the table 3.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, a single rectangular opening 4 extending across the used toner cartridge C at a right angle is formed at the predetermined position of the table 3. Fixed blades 5a and 5b are attached upward to a pair of opposite sides 4a and 4b orthogonal to the used toner cartridge C in the opening 4, respectively. In this case, the distance between the pair of opposite sides 4a and 4b of the opening 4 is preferably about 1/3 of the length of the used toner cartridge C in the longitudinal direction.

  In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3B, the table 3 is formed with two rectangular openings 4 ′ and 4 ″ extending across the used toner cartridge C at right angles. The fixed blades 5a ', 5b'; 5a ", 5b" are respectively provided in a pair of opposite sides 4a ', 4b'; 4a ", 4b" perpendicular to the used toner cartridge C of the openings 4 ', 4 ". Is mounted upwards.

  Table Opening The configuration of the opening 4 of the table 3 is not limited to the embodiment shown in FIG. In other words, the table has at least one opening extending across the used toner cartridge placed at a predetermined position, and at least one of the edges intersecting the used toner cartridge is formed in a straight line. It only has to be done. And a fixed blade is attached to the some linear edge of an opening part.

The crushing unit 2 is also located at a position facing the fixed blades 5 a and 5 b on the lower surface of the block 6, a block 6 disposed above the table 3 so as to be movable up and down, a block drive mechanism 7 that moves the block 6 up and down. Attached movable blades 8a and 8b are provided.
In this embodiment, the block drive mechanism 7 comprises a known appropriate hydraulic drive mechanism having a hydraulic unit 7a and a hydraulic cylinder 7b.

The block 6 includes a standby position (see FIG. 4A) positioned above the used toner cartridge on which the movable blades 8a and 8b are placed at predetermined positions, and the movable blades 8a and 8b. It enters into the opening 4 of the table 3 and presses the fixed blades 5a and 5b against the used toner cartridge on the table 3 under a certain pressure (5 MPa to 12 MPa in this embodiment). It is possible to move between the cutting position (see FIG. 4B) in which the used toner cartridge is pushed by cooperation.
In this case, at the cutting position, a fixed interval is maintained between the block 6 and the table 3, and the portion of the used toner cartridge C remaining on the table 3 is crushed by moderate pressure contact with the block 6. 6 so that it will not be crushed.

Thus, in this embodiment, the used toner cartridge C is disassembled into _three crushing pieces C _{1 to} C ₃ by the crushing unit 2 as shown in FIG.
According to the present invention, since the used toner cartridge C is crushed by push-off, a spark that can induce a dust explosion does not occur during crushing.

  The used toner cartridge disassembly processing apparatus is further disposed in the housing 1 and extends from the inlet 1a side of the housing 1 to below the table 3 of the crushing unit 2 to the outlet 1b side of the housing 1 to crush the unit 2. A belt conveyor 9 that receives the crushed pieces from the belt to the outlet 1b, and an air jet cleaning unit 10 disposed on the belt conveyor 9 on the downstream side of the crushing unit 2. Further, a plastic / metal recovery box 1c for recovering the washed crushed pieces is disposed between the end of the outlet 1b of the belt conveyor 9 and the outlet 1b.

  The air jet cleaning unit 10 includes a tunnel 11 that surrounds the space above the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 9 and through which the crushed pieces conveyed on the belt conveyor 9 pass. In this case, the entire tunnel 11 may be disposed in the housing 1, but at least a part of the wall of the tunnel 11 forms a part of the wall of the housing 1 in order to simplify the structure of the apparatus. More preferably, as in this embodiment, the entire wall of the tunnel 11 forms part of the wall of the housing 1.

In addition, a plurality of air nozzles 12 are provided on the inner wall surface of the tunnel 11 at intervals, and are directed toward the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 9.
In this embodiment, the air nozzles 12 are arranged in two rows on the ceiling surface of the tunnel 11 along the belt conveyor 9.

The air jet cleaning unit 10 is also provided with a compressed air supply source 13, an air supply duct 14 for supplying compressed air from the compressed air supply source 13 to the air nozzle 12, and a midway of the air supply duct 14. A control valve 15 for controlling the flow rate is provided.
In this embodiment, the compressed air supply source 13 is composed of a compressor 13a, a regulator 13b and a compressed air storage tank 13c, and the control valve 15 is composed of a diaphragm type electromagnetic valve. Opening and closing of the control valve 15 is controlled by the sequencer 16.

  Thus, when the control valve 15 is opened and closed at a certain timing, the compressed air stored in the compressed air storage tank 13c (in this embodiment, 0.5 to 0.6 MPa) is supplied from the air nozzle 12 for a certain time. Injected at intervals (in this example, 3-5 second intervals). In this embodiment, compressed air is injected from the air nozzle 12 at a speed close to the sound speed (up to 250 m / sec).

  The air jet cleaning unit 10 further includes at least one exhaust port 17 provided in the wall of the tunnel 11 (in this embodiment, one each on the inlet side and the outlet side of the upper wall of the tunnel 11 as shown in FIG. 2). ), An exhaust fan 18 for exhausting air to the outside of the dismantling apparatus, an exhaust duct 19 connecting the exhaust port 17 and the exhaust fan 18, and a dust collector 20 disposed in the middle of the exhaust duct 19. Yes.

The exhaust fan 18 is always operated during the operation of the dismantling processing apparatus, whereby air in the dismantling processing apparatus is always sucked and exhausted from the entrance of the tunnel 11 to the outside of the dismantling processing apparatus.
In this case, the exhaust amount of the exhaust fan 18 is an airflow from the entrance / exit of the tunnel 11 of the air jet cleaning unit 10 to the exhaust port 17 and thus from the inlet 1a and the outlet 1b of the housing 1 to the exhaust port 17 during the operation of the dismantling apparatus. Is always generated, so that the toner concentration in the housing 1 is set to be lower than the lower explosion limit (minimum concentration of dust causing the propagation of fire).

In this embodiment, the dust collector 20 is a dry filtration dust collector having a pulse jet cleaning function. Then, the toner in the exhaust from the housing 1 is collected by the filter cloth built in the dust collector 20, and when a certain amount of toner is collected on the filter cloth, the toner is removed from the filter cloth by the air pulse. Then, the toner is collected in a toner collecting bottle 22 disposed in the lower part of the dust collector 20.
A filter 21 is further disposed between the dust collector 20 and the exhaust fan 18. Then, the air purified through the dust collector 20 and the filter 21 is discharged to the outside.
In addition, normally, sufficient air-cleaning capability is obtained only with the dust collector 20, and the filter 21 is arrange | positioned as needed.

Next, the operation of the used toner cartridge disassembly processing apparatus of the present invention will be briefly described.
When the dismantling processing apparatus starts to operate, first, the used toner cartridge C is loaded from the inlet 1a of the housing 1 and placed at a predetermined position on the table 3 of the crushing unit 2 by the operator's manual work. The used toner cartridge C is pushed out by the crushing unit 2 and disassembled into three crushing pieces. A part of the toner cartridge C naturally falls on the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 9 through the opening 4 of the table 3, and the rest is a work. It is dropped onto the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 9 from the table 3 by a person's hand.

  Next, the crushed pieces are conveyed on the belt conveyor 9 and pass through the tunnel 11 of the air jet cleaning unit 10. During this passage, compressed air is blown from the air nozzles 12 of the tunnel 11 to the crushed pieces at regular time intervals, and the scattered toner is floated on the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 9 and is also broken into the crushed pieces. The adhering toner is peeled off and floated, rides on the airflow in the tunnel 11, is sucked from the exhaust port 12, is collected by the dust collector 20, and is then collected in the toner collection tank 22.

  The crushed pieces sufficiently cleaned by the jet of compressed air are conveyed on the belt conveyor 9 to the outlet 1b of the housing 1 and collected in the plastic / metal material collection box 1c. When a certain amount of crushed pieces are accumulated in the plastic / metal material recovery box 1c, the dismantling apparatus is stopped and the plastic / metal material recovery box 1c is taken out from the outlet 1b. The crushed pieces collected in the resin / metal collection box 1c are separated into a plastic material and a metal material by a subsequent manual operation.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment.
For example, according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a vibration mechanism is provided for vibrating the conveyor surface of the belt conveyor. As a result, the crushed pieces conveyed on the belt conveyor vibrate, and the separation of the toner adhering to the crushed pieces is promoted.
According to yet another preferred embodiment, at least one air gun for injecting static electricity removal air inside the housing and outside the exit of the tunnel of the air jet cleaning unit towards the fragments coming out of the tunnel Is placed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a Inlet 1b Outlet 1c Plastic / metal material collection box 2 Crushing unit 3 Table 4 Opening part 5a, 5b Fixed blade 6 Block 7 Block drive mechanism 7a Hydraulic unit 7b Hydraulic cylinder 8a, 8b Movable blade 9 Belt conveyor 10 Air jet cleaning Unit 11 Tunnel 12 Air nozzle 13 Compressed air supply source 13a Compressor 13b Regulator 13c Compressed air storage tank 14 Air supply duct 15 Control valve 16 Sequencer 17 Exhaust port 18 Exhaust fan 19 Exhaust duct 20 Dust collector 21 Filter 22 Toner recovery tank C Used toner cartridge

Claims (7)

An apparatus for disassembling a used toner cartridge,
A housing with an inlet and an outlet;
A crushing unit disposed in the housing and disassembled into a plurality of crushing pieces by push-cutting and used toner cartridges introduced from the inlet;
The crushing unit is
A table on which the used toner cartridge is placed at a predetermined position, and the table has at least one opening extending across the used toner cartridge placed at the predetermined position; Is formed such that at least one of the edges intersecting the used toner cartridge is formed in a straight line,
The crushing unit further comprises:
A fixed blade attached upward to the plurality of linear edges of the opening;
A block arranged to be movable up and down above the table;
A block drive mechanism for moving the block up and down;
A movable blade attached at a position opposite to the fixed blade on the lower surface of the block, and the block is spaced above the used toner cartridge on which the movable blade is placed at the predetermined position. A movable position between the standby position and the cutting position in which the movable blade enters the opening of the table and pushes the used toner cartridge in cooperation with the fixed blade,
The apparatus further comprises:
A belt conveyor that is disposed in the housing, extends from the inlet side of the housing across the table of the crushing unit to the outlet side of the housing, receives the crushed pieces from the crushing unit, and conveys them to the outlet. When,
An air jet cleaning unit disposed downstream of the crushing unit on the belt conveyor,
The air jet cleaning unit is
A tunnel that surrounds the space above the conveying surface of the belt conveyor and allows the crushed pieces conveyed on the belt conveyor to pass through;
A plurality of air nozzles provided on the inner wall surface of the tunnel, spaced apart from each other, for injecting compressed air onto the crushed pieces on the belt conveyor;
A compressed air source;
An air supply duct for supplying compressed air from the compressed air supply source to the air nozzle;
A control valve provided in the middle of the air supply duct;
At least one exhaust port provided in the wall of the tunnel;
An exhaust fan for exhausting air to the outside of the housing;
An exhaust duct connecting the exhaust port and the exhaust fan;
A dust collector disposed in the middle of the exhaust duct and collecting toner in the exhaust, and the exhaust fan is always operated during operation of the device, so that the air in the housing is always kept at the entrance of the tunnel. In addition, the compressed air is injected by the air nozzle at a predetermined timing with respect to the crushed pieces that are sucked and exhausted from the outlet to the outside of the housing and conveyed on the belt conveyor. Equipment.   The opening of the table is a single rectangular opening extending across the used toner cartridge placed at the predetermined position at a right angle, and the fixed blade is the used toner of the opening The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is attached to a pair of opposite sides orthogonal to the cartridge.   The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a distance between a pair of opposite sides of the opening is approximately ３ of a length in a longitudinal direction of the used toner cartridge.   The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of a wall of the tunnel of the air jet cleaning unit forms a part of the housing.   The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of air nozzles are arranged in at least one row along the belt conveyor.   6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration mechanism that vibrates a conveying surface of the belt conveyor.   Inside the housing, provided outside the tunnel outlet of the air jet cleaning unit, and comprising at least one air gun for injecting static electricity removing air toward the crushed pieces coming out of the tunnel The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

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