JP3569033B2 - Products with recyclable parts - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to products having recyclable parts made of thermoplastic resin.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Various products such as an image forming apparatus including a copier, a printer, a facsimile, or a multifunction peripheral thereof, and other electronic devices are on the market and used by many users. Such a product has a sheet-like piece called a decal adhered to the component. Such a decal is made of a flexible or rigid sheet-like piece such as a resin sheet, a resin film or a thin resin plate, and predetermined information is displayed on the surface thereof. More specifically, for example, in a copying machine, decals in which various kinds of information such as a simple handling explanation for a user or a service person and a part replacement order number are written are attached to parts of the copying machine. It is attached. The information displayed on the surface of the decal is represented not only by characters but also by symbols such as arrows, figures, colors, or the like.
[0003]
In recent years, in particular, in recent years, there has been a strong demand for the appearance of products having excellent recyclability for the purpose of environmental protection and further effective use of resources.
[0004]
Therefore, conventionally, parts of various products are made of a thermoplastic resin, and when the parts are used up, the parts are recycled without discarding them. For example, a used part is crushed into a pellet shape by a shredder, heated and melted, molded again as a resin part, and the recycled molded article is reused.
[0005]
However, as described above, if the above-described decal is attached to a recyclable part and the decal and the part are made of different materials that are incompatible with each other, the part with the decal attached remains When they are crushed and melted as they are, they do not melt with each other, and the regenerated molded product obtained from such a molten material has extremely low mechanical strength, making it difficult to reuse it.
[0006]
In order to avoid such a defect, it is necessary to forcibly peel off the decal adhered to the used component by a grinder or the like before regenerating the used component, and regenerate the both separately. However, the operation of peeling off the decal from the component in this way is a laborious and time-consuming and very troublesome operation, and the disadvantage of increasing the cost of recycling the component is inevitable.
[0007]
Therefore, the present applicant has made the part and the decal adhered thereto a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with each other, and furthermore, the decal is subjected to a reprocessing treatment without peeling the decal from the part. Japanese Patent Application No. 6-192152 proposes a configuration for displaying character information indicating that it is possible. According to this configuration, since the decal and the component have compatibility, even if the decal is regenerated without peeling off the component, the strength of the regenerated molded product can be kept high. In addition, since decals have text information indicating that they do not need to be peeled off from the parts, recycling companies such as recovery processing companies must recycle the parts without peeling off the decals from the parts. Can be immediately known, and the work efficiency can be improved.
[0008]
The above-described character information is, for example, a decal indicating the phrase "the part on which this sheet is pasted can be recycled as it is without removing this sheet", and the decal is its original purpose. Since the predetermined information, for example, the above-mentioned handling explanation and the number of the parts replacement order, are displayed, when the size of the decal is small, the character information indicating that the sheet does not need to be peeled cannot be displayed on the decal. Sometimes.
[0009]
When a product with a decal is used in any country, the information may be expressed by symbols or pictures, rather than letters, so that the user can understand the specified information written on the decal. . For example, predetermined information describing the handling of a product is represented by a picture so that people in any country can understand it. In this way, the same decal can be used by attaching it to a product in each country without preparing a decal for each country, and the manufacturing cost of the decal can be reduced. However, in such a case, it does not make sense to display, for example, in Japanese, the words "Parts to which this sheet is pasted can be recycled without peeling off this sheet" in the decal. This is because those who do not understand Japanese cannot be informed.
[0010]
As described above, it is very useful to configure the decal and the part to which it is attached with mutually compatible materials, and to display character information indicating that the part can be reprocessed without peeling off the decal. However, in some cases, such character information cannot be displayed as a decal.
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made from the above-described viewpoint, and its purpose is to remove the decal from the part without displaying the character information indicating that the part can be reproduced by the decal without displaying it. The object of the invention is to provide a product of the type described at the outset, which can achieve the same purpose as described above.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention achieves the above object, in a product having a recyclable part made of a thermoplastic resin, made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part, and is attached to the part, A product is proposed that includes a decal displaying a mark indicating that the component can be reprocessed without peeling from the component, and a display member displaying the meaning of the mark.
[0013]
In this case, it is advantageous that the display member is constituted by a sheet-like member which displays the meaning of the mark on the surface.
[0014]
In the above configuration, it is advantageous that the decal and the sheet-shaped member are attached to the same recyclable part, and the sheet-shaped member is also made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part. It is.
[0015]
Further, in each of the above-described configurations, it is advantageous that information other than the content of the mark is displayed on the sheet-shaped member.
[0016]
In each of the above configurations, it is advantageous that the sheet-shaped member is detachably attached to at least one of a recyclable component to which the decal is attached and another component.
[0017]
Further, in each of the above-described configurations, it is advantageous that the sheet-shaped member is provided inside the product.
[0018]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a product having a recyclable part made of a thermoplastic resin, which is made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part, and which is adhered to the part. A decal on which a mark indicating that the part can be reprocessed without peeling from the part is displayed, and at least one of the recyclable part and other parts has the meaning of the mark directly. Suggest the product shown in.
[0019]
In this case, it is advantageous that the meaning of the mark is directly displayed on at least one of the recyclable part and the other part by printing.
[0020]
Further, it is advantageous that at least one of the recyclable part and the other resin part has the content indicated by the mark displayed by molding the part.
[0021]
【Example】
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0022]
FIG. 1 shows a copying machine as an example of a product having recyclable parts. This copying machine has an outer cover 1 of a main body thereof, and a front door 2 pivotally attached to a main body frame (not shown) so as to be openable and closable. And a plurality of components such as a document pressing pressure plate 3 provided at the upper part of the main body, a paper feed tray 10, a transfer paper transport section 11, and various elements (not shown) housed inside the main body. The transfer paper transport unit 11 is a part where the transfer paper (not shown) fed from the paper feed tray 10 is transported upward and guided to a transfer unit (not shown). Here, the front door 2 is taken as an example of recyclable parts, and a specific example in which the present invention is applied to the front door 2 will be clarified.
[0023]
The front door 2 is supported by the body frame so as to be rotatable and openable between a closed position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 1 and an open position indicated by a chain line. Decals are affixed. In the example of FIG. 1, a first decal 4 is attached to the front surface of the front door 2, and a second decal 5 is attached to the back surface of the front door 2. As described above, the decals 4 and 5 are made of a flexible or rigid sheet, film, or thin plate-shaped piece, and predetermined information is displayed on the surface thereof.
[0024]
In this example, the order of consumables and the contact information for copier repair are displayed on the first decal 4 as shown in FIG. 2, and the second decal 5 shows a transport trouble as shown in FIG. Image information describing a procedure for removing the transfer paper that has occurred is described. That is, when a paper jam of the transfer paper occurs in the transfer paper transport unit 11, the user opens the front door 2, and according to the information indicated by the second decal 5 attached to the back surface, the transfer paper transport unit. 11 can be opened in the direction of arrow A to remove the jammed transfer paper. When there is no jammed transfer paper in this portion, the jammed transfer paper can be taken out by pulling out the paper feed tray 10 in accordance with the display information of the same decal 5.
[0025]
When the above-described copying machine has been used up, the copying machine is carried in from a user to a recycler, where it is disassembled. Then, the reusable parts are reproduced and reused.
[0026]
Here, in order to facilitate the reproduction process of the copying machine, the front door 2 which is an example of the component is made of a thermoplastic resin, and the first and second decals 4 and 5 attached to the front door 2 are also made of a thermoplastic resin. Made of resin. Moreover, the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5 are made of mutually compatible thermoplastic resins. As described above, the decal adhered to the part made of the recyclable thermoplastic resin is made of the thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part.
[0027]
According to the above-described configuration, while both decals 4 and 5 are adhered to the front door 2, this is crushed into, for example, a pellet having a side of about 5 mm by a shredder (not shown), which is heated and melted. For example, since the resin material forming the front door 2 and the resin material forming the decals 4 and 5 melt well with each other, if such a material is molded into a predetermined part by a molding machine (not shown), It is possible to regenerate parts having characteristics that can sufficiently withstand use.
[0028]
In general, an outer cover 1 and a front door 2 of a copying machine are made of a thermoplastic resin such as PS (polystyrene), PPE (polyphenylene ether), ABS (acryl-butadiene-styrene), or PPO (polyphenyl oxide). In many cases, as the decals 4 and 5 attached to the front door 2 made of these resin materials, it is preferable to use the following resin materials.
[0029]
For the front door 2 made of PS, it is preferable to use, for example, PC (polycarbonate) or PMMA (methacrylic resin) compatible with the front door 2 and decals 4 and 5 made of the same PS as the material of the front door 2. Can be used. For the front door 2 made of PPE, besides, for example, PS, PET (polyethylene terephthalate), ABS, PC, or PMMA, which is compatible with the front door 2, and a decal 4 made of the same PPE as the material of the front door 2 5 can be used advantageously. Furthermore, for the front door 2 made of ABS, for example, PS, PET, PC or PMMA compatible with the front door 2 and decals 4 and 5 made of the same ABS as the material of the front door 2 are advantageously used. it can. In addition, for the front door 2 made of PPO, besides, for example, PS or ABS compatible with the PPO, decals 4 and 5 made of the same PPO as the material of the front door 2 can be advantageously used.
[0030]
The material can be displayed on the decal, and the decals 4 and 5 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are displayed with “PS” indicating the material.
[0031]
The front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5 attached to the front door 2 are made of a thermoplastic resin as exemplified above, so that the decals 4 and 5 can be regenerated without peeling off from the front door 2. However, characteristics of the recycled product, for example, mechanical strength (bending strength and impact strength) are not greatly reduced. Thus, the recycling cost can be reduced, and the cost of the recycled molded product can be reduced.
[0032]
Here, as can be understood from the above description, a plurality of elements, in the above-described example, the thermoplastic resins constituting the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5 have compatibility with each other. When the molded product obtained by regeneration is used for its original purpose, each thermoplastic resin constituting each element before regeneration has compatibility with each other to such an extent that the properties that can withstand the use can be maintained. Means that
[0033]
Since the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5 are made of mutually compatible thermoplastic resins, when the decals 4 and 5 are attached to the front door 2, it is possible to attach the two by heat fusion. In this case, it is not necessary to use an adhesive for attaching the two, but the decals 4 and 5 can be attached to the front door 2 using an adhesive. At this time, since the amount of the adhesive to be used is generally very small, it is not necessary to particularly consider the compatibility between the adhesive and the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5. It is particularly advantageous to use a thermoplastic resin that is compatible with the door 2 and the decals 4,5. That is, a thermoplastic resin compatible with the component and the decal is used as an adhesive for attaching the decal to the component. According to such a configuration, when the components such as the front door 2 are crushed and melted as described above without peeling off the decals 4 and 5, the overall compatibility including the adhesive is further enhanced, and the components are regenerated. It is possible to more reliably prevent the deterioration of the characteristics of the molded product.
[0034]
For example, PMMA can be used as an adhesive of the thermoplastic resin for joining the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5, and such an adhesive has good compatibility with, for example, PS, PPE, ABS, and the like. When is used as an adhesive, it is preferable that the front door 2 and the decals 4 and 5 are respectively composed of a resin such as PS, PPE, or ABS.
[0035]
As described above, the front door 2 to which the decals 4 and 5 are attached can be regenerated without peeling off the decals 4 and 5 from the door, but it is necessary to inform a recycling company of the fact. Therefore, it is conceivable to display, for example, on the decals 4 and 5 itself, a phrase such as "Parts to which this sheet is pasted can be recycled without peeling this sheet". As described above, such character information may not be displayed on each decal. For example, as in the case of the first decal 4 shown in FIG. 2, when the size is small, there is no space for displaying the above-mentioned text, and the text cannot be displayed. Further, in the second decal 5 shown in FIG. 3, predetermined information is represented only by pictures and symbols so that it can be commonly used in domestic and foreign countries. The affixed part can be recycled without removing the sheet. "
[0036]
In view of this, the decals 4 and 5 are provided with a mark indicated by the reference symbol M in FIGS. 2 and 3, and this mark M indicates that the component can be reprocessed without peeling the decal from the component. Is shown.
[0037]
As described above, each decal 4 or 5 is marked with a mark M that allows the front door 2 to be reprocessed without peeling it off, but all the recyclers understand the meaning of the mark. Not always. Therefore, the copying machine shown in FIG. 1 is provided with a display member on which the meaning of the mark M is displayed. In this embodiment, the display member is provided with a mark as shown in FIGS. It is constituted by a sheet-like member 7 formed by displaying the content of M on the surface. That is, the mark M is displayed on the sheet-shaped member 7 and "the sheet on which the sheet is pasted can be recycled without removing the sheet on which the mark is displayed (that is, decal)". Japanese language is displayed.
[0038]
According to the above configuration, the recycler can check the contents of the sheet member 7 and the mark M displayed on the decals 4 and 5 attached to the front door 2 without being lost. The front door 2 can be reprocessed without removing the decals 4 and 5. The above-mentioned contents can be displayed on the sheet-like member 7 in a country-specific language in which the copying machine is used, for example, English, German, French, or the like, or Japanese and these foreign languages can be written together. You may.
[0039]
The decal with the same mark as the mark M shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 can be attached to parts other than the front door 2, and usually, a large number of decals with the mark M are provided on one copier. It can be pasted, but only by providing a smaller number of sheet members 7 than these decals, for example, one sheet member 7, in the copying machine, it is possible to inform the recycler of the meaning of the mark M displayed on each decal.
[0040]
As a display member indicating the meaning of the mark M, a member other than the sheet-like member 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, for example, a tag-like piece suspended inside a copying machine may be used. When the sheet member 7 as shown in FIG. 4 is affixed to a component constituting the copying machine, for example, the front door 2 as shown in FIG. The possibility that the sheet-shaped member is lost can be eliminated.
[0041]
Also, as shown in FIG. 1, when the decals 4 and 5 with the mark M and the sheet member 7 are attached to the same recyclable part, that is, to different parts of the front door 2, the recycler can The meaning of the mark M displayed on the decals 4 and 5 can be easily and immediately understood, and the efficiency of the reproduction processing operation can be improved.
[0042]
As described above, when the decals 4 and 5 and the sheet member 7 are attached to the same part, in this example, the front door 2, the sheet member 7 also has compatibility with the front door 2 to which it is attached. It is desirable to use an adhesive which is made of a thermoplastic resin and has a compatibility with the front door 2 as an adhesive used for sticking. Just like the decals 4 and 5, the sheet member 7 is made of a material compatible with the front door 2. By doing so, the front door 2 can be reprocessed without peeling off the sheet-like member 7 from the front door 2, and a high-quality remanufactured product can be obtained.
[0043]
The sheet member 7a shown in FIG. 5 also shows the meaning of the mark M, that is, "the sheet on which the mark is displayed can be recycled without peeling off the sheet on which the mark is displayed". However, other information is also entered, and in the example shown in FIG. 5, a toner bottle (not shown) for replenishing toner to a developing device (not shown) in the copying machine body is loaded into the developing device. At the time of setting, information indicating that the toner bottle should be set on the machine after being shaken well is displayed. Such a sheet-like member 7a is attached to, for example, the back surface of the front door 2 shown in FIG. 1 instead of the above-described sheet-like member 7.
[0044]
The sheet-shaped member 7a serves to indicate the meaning of the mark M and also functions as a decal for displaying information such as how to use the elements of the copying machine. The cost can be reduced as compared with the case where they are separately configured. The sheet-shaped member 7a is also made of a component to which the front door 2 is adhered, for example, a thermoplastic resin compatible with the front door 2, and is also compatible with the front door 2 as an adhesive for attaching the same. If a certain material is used, a high-quality remanufactured product can be obtained even if the door 2 is reprocessed without peeling the sheet-like member 7a from the front door 2.
[0045]
In addition, the display form of the meaning of the mark indicating that the part can be reproduced without removing the decal from the part is not limited to those shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and other various forms may be adopted. it can. For example, as in a sheet-like member 7b shown in FIG. 6, the meaning of the mark M can be displayed by a simple expression such as "this sheet can be recycled without peeling it off".
[0046]
Also, as marks M indicating that the part can be reprocessed without peeling the decal from the part, three arrows arranged in a triangular shape are shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, but this is only an example. Yes, other suitable marks can be used. For example, a mark M as shown in FIG. 7 can be adopted as a mark indicating that the part can be reprocessed without removing the decal from the part. At that time, the mark M shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the decals 4, 5 or the sheet members 7, 7a, 7b shown in FIGS.
[0047]
Further, the sheet members 7, 7a, 7b as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 are easily detached from the front door, which is a recyclable part to which the decals 4, 5 are attached, and at least one of the other parts. It can also be mounted as needed. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a pair of rail-shaped holding parts 8, 8 are provided on the back surface of the front door 2, and the sheet-shaped members 7, 7 a or 7 b are fitted and held on these holding parts 8, 8. Keep it. According to this configuration, the sheet-like member 7, 7a or 7b can be easily removed from the holding portions 8, 8 before the regenerating process of the front door 2, so that the sheet-like members 7, 7a, 7b can be removed. The front door 2 may be made of a material that is incompatible with the front door 2, for example, a cardboard or a metal plate, and the degree of freedom in selecting the material can be expanded.
[0048]
The sheet-like members 7, 7a, 7b shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, and 8 can be attached to appropriate portions including the outer surface of a product such as a copying machine. , 7b are provided inside the product, so that the sheet-like members 7, 7a, 7b are hidden inside during normal use of the product, so that the appearance of the product can be prevented from lowering. Also in each of the above-described embodiments, the sheet-like members 7 and 7a are provided on the back surface of the front door 2, as shown in FIG. 1, that is, on a portion which is inside the copier when the front door is closed.
[0049]
In each of the embodiments described above, the meaning of the mark M displayed on the decals 4 and 5 is indicated by the display member formed of the sheet-like members 7, 7a, and 7b. The meaning of the mark M can be directly displayed on at least one of the recyclable part to which the mark is attached and the other part. For example, an indication indicating the mark M directly on the front door 2 on which the decals 4 and 5 are stuck, for example, "mark M" and "a part on which the sheet on which this mark is displayed without being peeled off without being peeled off" The message "This sheet can be recycled" or "This sheet can be recycled without peeling it off" is displayed.
[0050]
At this time, the meaning of the mark M can be directly displayed by printing on at least one of the recyclable parts such as the front door 2 to which the decals 4 and 5 are attached and the other parts. For example, the display is printed on the back surface of the front door 2 to which the decals 4 and 5 are attached. As the printing method, a method in which a resin sheet on which a hard coat or printing is applied is integrally molded with a resin component such as the front door 2 or a printing method such as a stamp can be adopted. According to such a configuration, the dedicated sheet-like members 7, 7a, 7b become unnecessary, and the cost of the product can be reduced. As described above, when the sheet members 7a and 7b shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 are not used, the information "Toner bottle ... please" is displayed on another decal.
[0051]
In addition, at least one of recyclable parts such as the front door 2 to which the decals 4 and 5 are attached and other resin parts are displayed with the meaning of the mark M by molding the parts. Also, with this configuration, as in the case described above, the exclusive sheet-like members 7, 7a, and 7b become unnecessary, and the cost of the product can be reduced. For example, when the front door 2 is molded and manufactured, the meaning of the mark M is engraved on the back surface of the front door 2 by the mold. In this way, it is very easy to form a display representing the meaning of the mark M as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 on a part such as a front door.
[0052]
The copying machine has been described above as an example of a product having recyclable parts. However, the present invention is applicable to any product such as other electronic devices, automobiles and containers.
[0053]
【The invention's effect】
According to the configuration of the first aspect, even if the decal is affixed to the part and the part is reprocessed, it is possible to prevent the characteristic of the refurbished product from being greatly deteriorated, and without removing the decal from the part. Even if the word that can be recycled is not displayed on the decal, the fact can be understood by the recycler.
[0054]
According to the configuration of the second aspect, the above-described effects can be obtained with a simple configuration.
[0055]
According to the configuration of the third aspect, the component can be reprocessed without peeling the sheet-like member from the component, and a high-quality regenerated product can be obtained.
[0056]
According to the configuration of the fourth aspect, since the sheet-shaped member is provided with a decal function, the total cost can be reduced.
[0057]
According to the configuration described in claim 5, the degree of freedom in selecting the material of the sheet-shaped member can be increased.
[0058]
According to the configuration of the sixth aspect, it is possible to prevent the appearance of the product from being deteriorated by the sheet-shaped member.
[0059]
According to the configuration described in claim 7, the meaning of the mark displayed on the decal can be understood by the recycler without using the sheet-shaped member.
[0060]
According to the configuration of the eighth aspect, the meaning of the mark displayed on the decal can be understood by the recycler at low cost without using the sheet-shaped member.
[0061]
According to the configuration of the ninth aspect, the meaning of the mark displayed on the decal can be understood by the recycler at low cost without using a sheet-shaped member.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a copying machine which is an example of a product having recyclable parts.
FIG. 2 is a front view of a first decal attached to a front door of the copying machine shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view of a second decal attached to a front door of the copying machine shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a front view of a sheet-like member attached to the back surface of the front door of the copying machine shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a front view showing another sheet member.
FIG. 6 is a front view showing still another sheet member.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a mark.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a sheet-like member which is easily detachably attached to a front door.
[Explanation of symbols]
4 decals
5 decals
7 Sheet-shaped members
7a sheet member
7b sheet member
M mark

Claims (9)

In a product having a recyclable part made of a thermoplastic resin, the part is made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part and is adhered to the part, and the part is recycled without being peeled off from the part. A product comprising: a decal displaying a mark indicating that processing can be performed; and a display member displaying the meaning of the mark. 2. The product according to claim 1, wherein the display member is configured by a sheet-like member that displays the meaning of the mark on a surface. 3. The product according to claim 2, wherein the decal and the sheet-like member are adhered to the same recyclable part, and the sheet-like member is also made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part. 4. The product according to claim 2, wherein information other than the meaning of the mark is displayed on the sheet-shaped member. 5. The product according to claim 2, wherein the sheet-like member is detachably attached to at least one of a recyclable part to which the decal is attached and another part. The product according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the sheet-shaped member is provided inside the product. In a product having a recyclable part made of a thermoplastic resin, the part is made of a thermoplastic resin having compatibility with the part and is adhered to the part, and the part is recycled without being peeled off from the part. A product comprising a decal on which a mark indicating that processing is possible is displayed, and the meaning of the mark is directly displayed on at least one of the recyclable part and another part. 8. The product according to claim 7, wherein the meaning of the mark is directly displayed on at least one of the recyclable part and the other part by printing. The product according to claim 7, wherein the meaning of the mark is displayed on at least one of the recyclable part and another resin part by molding the part.

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