JPH0899317A - Recovery device of plastic bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enhance the cost efficiency for a plastic bottle by a method wherein efficiency of a recycling system is improved a process in a reprocessing plant is simplified, and a commodity value is raised by improving purity of flakes of a product bottle. CONSTITUTION: An external appearance sorting process part A possessing an outer diameter inspection part A1, weight detecting part A2, height detecting part A3 and bottle eliminating part A4, a neck cutting process part B cutting a neck part of a bottle, a quality inspection process part D provided with a color detection part D1 and a quality of a material a detecting part D2 for PVC bottle detection, pulverizing process part F pulverizing the bottle into a flaky state and quality classification process parts E, G classifying the bottle or cut bottle chips by a result of the quality inspection process part D are provided. The device is set up at a classifying and collecting place and the bottles are inspected and classified one by one, through which correct classification is realized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plastic bottle recovery apparatus that plays a role in a recycling system by separating used plastic bottles (such as PET bottles) by type and reducing the volume.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, plastic bottles were often collected and disposed of together with general waste, but in recent years, local governments and consumers have been using plastic bottles for the purpose of effective utilization of resource waste. Usefulness is recognized,
A recycling system is being formed to collect plastic bottles by separating them from general waste for reprocessing and reuse. Plastic bottles are made of various materials such as aluminum and aluminum for caps, and labels are made of a combination of different materials such as paper, polyethylene, and vinyl chloride, but the bottle body is made of a single material. By processing the bottle bodies individually, the purity of the raw material for the final recycled product can be increased and the efficiency and economic efficiency of the recycling system can be improved.

By the way, in this plastic bottle,
In addition to polyethylene terephthalate bottles (hereinafter referred to as PET bottles), which are usually called PET bottles, polyvinyl chloride bottles (PVC bottles), polyethylene bottles (hereinafter referred to as PE bottles), polypropylene bottles (hereinafter referred to as PP bottles), etc. There is.

As shown in FIG. 4, the flow of collection in a conventional plastic bottle recycling system is, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, a separate collection flow 1 processed in a separate collection place such as a supermarket or a living cooperative, and a reprocessing plant. It is separated from the recycling processing flow 2 in which the separately collected materials are produced as bottle flakes that are raw materials for recycled products.

That is, the separation and collection flow 1 includes a sorting step 1A in which the separated and collected plastic bottles are stored in a collection box and manually selected by a work mark, and a press bale forming step in which the plastic bottles are pressed and compressed. 1B and the volume-reduced bales are transported to and collected at the reprocessing plant.

The regeneration treatment flow 2 comprises, in order from the upstream side, a weight separation step 2A for separating the veil by weight to separate a glass bottle and the like, and a PVC separation step 2B for removing the PVC bottle by a detector and the like. A first cleaning step 2C for cleaning the bale, a manual separation step 2D for visually separating foreign matters by a worker, a crushing step 2E for crushing the bale into flakes, and a second cleaning step 2F for cleaning the flakes. A specific gravity separation step 2G for separating flakes of different materials by a specific gravity, a wind force separation step 2H for further selecting flakes by a wind force, an aluminum removal step 2I for removing aluminum such as caps entrained, and a flake cleaning step 2J. And a drying process 2K.

[0007]

In the recycle processing flow 2 carried out in the recycle processing factory, there is a problem that the processing steps are complicated and a large number of them are required, and a large-scale facility is required for the processing.

Further, in the regeneration processing flow 2, a large amount of recovery bales are processed at a high speed, and therefore, for example, the PVC separation step 2
In the pre-treatment of B, a plurality of bale that is crimped is separated,
It is difficult to completely separate, and the bale of multiple bottles is continuously inspected in a fixed state, and in the specific gravity separation step 2G and the wind separation step 2H, a large number of flakes are processed at a high speed and in a large amount. In addition, PVC bottle flakes and other bottle flakes are often mixed with PET bottle flakes, colored bottle flakes are mixed, and further aluminum cap pieces are mixed, and as a result, the resulting bottle flakes Low purity,
There was a problem that the product value was low. In particular, PVC bottle flakes are a serious problem because they generate hydrogen chloride near the melting point.

The present invention solves the above problems and can change the recovery processing step in the current plastic bottle recycling system, greatly simplifying the processing flow in the processing factory and providing high purity. An object of the present invention is to provide a plastic bottle recovery device capable of producing high-quality bottle flakes and improving the efficiency and economy of the recycling system.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems, the present invention relates to an appearance selection process section for detecting the appearance of a bottle and eliminating non-specified bottles, and a neck cutting for cutting the bottle neck section. It is provided with a process unit, a quality inspection process unit for inspecting the quality of the bottle, a quality separation process unit for performing classification based on the result of the quality inspection process unit, and a crushing process unit for crushing the bottle.

In the above structure, the neck cutting process unit and the quality inspection process unit are sequentially arranged on the downstream side of the appearance selection process unit,
Further, a quality separation process unit and a crushing process unit are arranged on the downstream side.

Further, in the appearance selection process section having the above-mentioned structure, an outer diameter inspection section for preventing a bottle having a predetermined outer diameter or more from being carried in by a predetermined space, and a weight detection section for detecting the weight of the bottle,
A height detecting unit for detecting the height of the bottle and a bottle excluding unit for removing the non-specified bottle based on the detection values of the weight detecting unit and the height detecting unit are provided.

Further, the quality inspection process section having the above-mentioned configuration is provided with a color detection section for detecting the color of the bottle and a material detection section for detecting the material of the bottle. Furthermore, a detector for detecting a bottle made of polyvinyl chloride is provided in the material detecting section having the above-mentioned configuration.

Further, the neck cutting process section having the above structure is provided with a neck detecting section for detecting the mouth plug section of the bottle, a bottle reversing section capable of reversing the bottle, and a cutting section for cutting the neck section. .

[0015]

In the above-mentioned structure, the bottles are installed at the sorting collection points of supermarkets, lifestyle cooperatives, etc., and the bottles sorted and collected are sorted according to the appearance in the appearance sorting process section, and the bottles made of aluminum are sorted by the neck cutting process section. By cutting off the neck part that may have a cap attached, it is possible to reliably eliminate the mixing of caps and different types of resin. Furthermore, the quality inspection process section checks the material of each bottle one by one and separates it in the quality separation process section. Therefore, the bottle flakes obtained by crushing the bottles can be separated with high purity by material. Furthermore, the volume reduction is realized, and it can be easily transported to the next reprocessing plant, and these bottle flakes can omit the processing steps in the first half of the reprocessing flow of the reprocessing plant. The bottle flakes obtained at the processing plant can be made into high-quality bottle flakes with high purity, and the recycling system can be made highly efficient and economical.

By arranging the appearance selecting step section, the neck cutting step section and the quality inspection step section in this order, and further arranging the quality separating step section and the crushing step section on the downstream side thereof, the glass carried in by the appearance selecting step section By eliminating things that are difficult to cut, such as bottles, troubles in the neck cutting process part can be solved in advance, and by arranging the quality separation process part on the downstream side of the quality inspection process part, the bottle body Can be reliably separated one by one.

Further, in the appearance selection process section, the outer diameter inspection section and the height detection section prevent a bottle having a size larger than the specified one from being carried in to prevent troubles such as clogging in the bottle conveying section, and further detect the weight. The supply of glass bottles, metal bottles, and the like can be blocked at the section to properly collect the bottles.

Further, in the quality inspection process section, the color detection section detects the color of the resin, and the material detection section further detects the type of the resin to surely separate the plastic bottles that inhibit other resins. PET bottle flakes can be recovered with high purity.

Furthermore, by providing a detector for detecting polyvinyl chloride bottles in the quality inspection process section, it is possible to reliably detect and eliminate PVC bottles that generate hydrogen chloride near the melting point.

Further, by providing the neck detecting section and the bottle reversing section in the neck cutting section, the cutting can be surely performed on one side of the bottle.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the plastic bottle collecting apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

This plastic bottle collecting device is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 2, an appearance selection process unit A that detects the appearance of the bottle b and eliminates the bottle b that does not meet the specification in order from the upstream side of the flow of the bottle b, and a neck that cuts the neck portion of the bottle b. Based on the inspection result of the cutting process unit B, the bottle storing process unit C that movably stores the bottle body b ′, the quality inspection process unit D that inspects the quality of the bottle body b ′, and the inspection result of the quality inspection process unit 4. A first quality sorting section (quality sorting step section) E for sorting the bottle body b ', and a crushing step section F for crushing the bottle body b'into chip-like or flake-like crushed pieces.
And a second quality classification unit G that classifies flakes based on the inspection result of the quality inspection process unit D.

The appearance selection step A is for selecting a bottle b within a specified size that can be processed depending on the outer diameter, weight and height. For example, in the case of a bottle b of 0.9 to 1.5 liters,
Diameter is 70-100mm, weight is 60-70g, height is 290-310m
The range of m is the specified dimension.

That is, first, the outer diameter inspection member 12 is provided in the bottle inlet 11 with a space corresponding to the specified outer diameter of the bottle.
Is provided so that only a bottle b having a prescribed bottle outer diameter or less can be loaded.
The passed bottle b is stored in the vertical passage 13, and the first push cylinder 14 is arranged corresponding to the lowermost bottle b to detect the weight of the next bottle b one by one. The first push cylinder 14 is configured to push out to the weight detection unit A2, and the first push cylinder 14 detects the bottle b put in the vertical passage 14 by a sensor or a proximity switch 15.
Is detected and driven by.

In the next weight detection unit A2, a weight scale 17 is provided on the cradle 16 from which the bottle b is pushed out, and
The weight of the bottle b pushed out by the push cylinder 14 is measured. The bottle b after the measurement is pushed out by the subsequent bottle b onto the first belt conveyor 18 so that the bottle b extends in the belt width direction.

A height detection unit A3 for detecting the height of the bottle b is provided at the starting end of the first belt conveyor 18, and a measuring cylinder 19 for pushing out one end of the bottle b and the other end of the bolt b are provided. Comprised of a reference plate 20 for receiving,
The height of the bottle b can be detected by pressing one end of the sent bottle b in the height direction by the measuring cylinder 19 and bringing the other end into contact with the reference plate 20 to detect the protrusion amount of the measuring cylinder 19.

On the downstream side of the height detecting section A3, there is provided a bottle removing section A4 for removing the non-specified bottle b based on the detection values of the weight detecting section A2 and the height detecting section A3. It is composed of a sorting cylinder 21 that pushes out the non-specified bottle b on the belt conveyor 18 to the side, a sorting chute 22 that guides the pushed-out bottle b, and a non-specified bottle tray 23.

The next neck cutting step B is provided with a neck detector B1 for detecting the neck of the bottle b conveyed by the first belt conveyor 18. The neck detecting portion B1 is movable in and out of the first belt conveyor 18 by the retractable cylinder 24, and is engaged with the locking plate 25 which is brought into contact with the front surface of the bottle b and is synchronously moved, and both ends or one of the bottle b. The detection rod 26 is disposed at an end portion and is biased toward the spout portion and can come into contact with the strain sensor 27. The strain sensor 27 detects the deflection of the detection rod 26. It is possible to determine which side has the neck part of.

On the downstream side of the neck detecting section B1, there is provided a bottle reversing section B2 for reversing the bottle b in which the spout is not located on the cutting side. The bottle reversing portion B2 is a pushing cylinder 28 that pushes out the target bottle b to one side of the first belt conveyor 18, and a curve that is detoured downward from one side of the first belt conveyor 18 to invert the bottle b. Guide 2
9 and the first belt conveyor 1 from the end of the curved guide 29.
The lifting cylinder 30 lifts the carrying level of 8 and the return cylinder 31 that returns the bottle b lifted by the lifting cylinder 30 to the first belt conveyor 18 from the other side.

A cutting portion B3 for cutting the neck portion is provided on the downstream side of the bottle inverting portion B2, and this cutting portion B3 is provided.
Includes a clamp cylinder 32 and a clamp member 33, which are provided on the bottle b side to fix the bottle b on the first belt conveyor 18 so as to be retractable, a cutting cutter 34 and a cutter rotation motor 35, and a cutting cutter 34. And a moving cutting cylinder 36, and is configured to cut the neck portion of the passing bottle b.

The appearance selection process section A and the neck cutting process section B are arranged on the upper side of the apparatus, and the quality inspection process section D, the first quality sorting process section E and the crushing process section are arranged on the lower side with a predetermined interval. F and the 2nd quality classification process part G are arrange | positioned, and the bottle storage process part C is provided between them. In this bottle storage process section C, a bottle storage path section C1 in which a meandering guide member 41 which alternately inclines and meanders in a zigzag shape is arranged is provided. A bottle body b ′ discharged from the first belt conveyor 18 is Can be temporarily stored. And
When it is confirmed by the proximity switch 42 that the bottle body b ′ has been stored up to the inlet of the bottle storage path portion C1, the second push cylinder arranged corresponding to the lower end outlet of the bottle storage path portion 31. The bottle bodies b ′ are extruded onto the second belt conveyor 44 one by one by 43.

In the next quality inspection process section D, a color detecting section D1 for detecting the color of the bottle body b ', and a material detecting section for detecting the material of the bottle body b'are provided at the starting end of the second belt conveyor 44. And D2. The color detector D
No. 1 emits light from the light projector 45A to the shoulder portion near the neck portion of the bottle body b '(since there is almost no resin that wraps the bottle here), and changes in its transmittance or color intensity are detected by the color sensor 45B. It is detected and identified by. As a result, it is possible to separate the bottle body b ′ that is extremely dirty. Further, the material detection unit D2 detects a minute amount of gas generated by locally heating the bottle body b ',
It is composed of a chloride detector 46 which is a cation emission type halogenated hydrocarbon detection element for judging whether it is a PVC bottle or another bottle. In addition, for example, by an X-ray sensor, P
In addition to the ET bottle, a PVC bottle, a PE bottle, and a PP bottle may be selected.

The first quality classification process section E includes a color detection section D1.
And a bottle sorting unit E1 for sorting the bottles based on the detection value of the material detecting unit D2. The bottle sorting unit E1 dispenses the bottle body b'at a predetermined position of the second belt conveyor 44, for example, two units. Sorting cylinders 47A and 47B are arranged. This is configured such that, for example, the first sorting cylinder 47A dispenses only the colorless PET other bottle body b'and the next sorting cylinder 47B dispenses the colored PET other bottle body b'containing a PVC bottle.

Further, in the crushing process section F, a first crusher 51A dedicated to colorless PET and other bottles and a second crusher 51B dedicated to other bottles and a neck portion are arranged, and the bottle main body b ', etc., which have been thrown in, are disposed. It can be crushed into flakes of 8 mm or less.

The second quality separation process unit G is composed of a flake separation device 61 attached to the second crusher 51B. This flake separation device 61 includes a color detection unit D1 and a material detection unit D1. The bottle flakes discharged from the second crusher 51B can be sorted and received based on the detected value. That is, for example, the slide table 6
Colored PET and other bottle flake tray 63B and PV on 2
C bottle flake tray 63C and neck tray 63D
Are arranged, and the slide cylinder 6 is arranged based on the selection signal.
4 is driven to move the slide base 62 to each tray 63B to 63B.
Since D corresponds to the bottle flake discharge port of the second crusher 51B, different types of flakes can be sorted. When a certain amount of the neck cutting pieces discharged from the neck cutting section 23 is accumulated in the hopper 71, the opening / closing damper 72 is driven to remove the neck cutting pieces from the second crusher 5.
1B, crushed and discharged to the neck tray 63D. A colorless PET other bottle flake tray 63A is arranged at the bottle flake discharge port of the first crusher 51A.

Incidentally, the PVC bottle flakes and the other bottle flakes are separated from each other in a separation process in a later reprocessing plant, and the PET bottle flakes and the PE bottle flakes or the PP bottle flakes are separated due to the difference in specific gravity. It can be easily separated, but since PET bottle flakes and PVC bottle flakes have very close specific gravities, they cannot be separated due to the difference in specific gravity, and the PVC separation process in reprocessing plants is extremely unreliable. This is because. Therefore, in order to improve the purity of the product bottle flakes, it is an essential condition to accurately separate the PVC bottle flakes.

In the above configuration, the bottle b supplied to the appearance selection process section A is excluded from the bottle b having a diameter outside the regulation by the outer diameter inspection section A1, and the bottle b by the weight detection section A2 and the height detection section A3. The weight is detected to remove glass bottles and the like, and those with heights outside the specified range are selected and removed in the bottle removing unit A4. Then, in the neck cutting process section B, in order to delete the one in which the cap made of aluminum is attached to the spout part or the one in which another type of plastic is used, first, the side with the spout part is connected to the neck detection part B1. Only the one whose bottom is located on the cutting side after being detected is reversed by the bottle reversing section B2, and the neck is cut by the cutting cutter 34 of the cutting section B3. The neck cut piece is
Later, it is crushed by the second crusher 52A. The bottle body b ′ after cutting is carried to the bottle storing process section C and stored in the bottle storing path section C1.

Next, the color and material (whether it is a PVC bottle or not) of the bottle body b'which is sent from the bottle storing step C to the quality inspection step D is detected by the color detecting section D1 and the material detecting section D2. . On the basis of this result, in the bottle sorting unit E1 of the first quality sorting process unit E, the sorting cylinder 47
It is separated into a colorless PET other bottle and a colored PET other bottle containing PVC by A and 47B and discharged to the first crusher 51A and the second crusher 51B, respectively. In the second crusher 51B, the flake sorting device 61 is operated based on the detection results of the color detector D1 and the material detector D2, and bottle flakes or neck flakes discharged from the outlet of the second crusher 51B. Is separated and stored in the colored PET other bottle flake tray 63B, the PVC bottle flake tray 63C, or the neck tray 63D. The flakes discharged to the non-color PET other bottle flake tray 63A and the other trays are packed in a bag made of the same material as that material, transported to a reprocessing plant, and processed together with the bag.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the plastic bottles molded of various resins and fitted with the aluminum caps and the like are subjected to the material identification, the color identification, and the foreign matter separation for each one with certainty. The purity of the product bottle flakes can be significantly improved, and the profitability can be significantly improved. Also, if necessary, separate bottles of different materials, such as colored PET bottles and foreign matter-contaminated neck cut flakes, which are separated in each process part, are separately packaged in a bag of the same material to obtain a different product. Can be separated. As shown in FIG. 3, the product bottle flakes thus obtained can be supplied to the second cleaning step 2F in the conventional recycling plant, and the steps can be largely skipped, and the aluminum removing step 2I can be omitted. Therefore, it can be efficiently recycled and commercialized. In addition, by arranging this plastic bottle collection device in a separate collection place such as a supermarket or a lifestyle cooperative, the process at the reprocessing plant can be reconstructed as described above, and the recycling system can be simplified and efficiency improved. And high economic efficiency can be expected.

[0040]

As described above, according to the present invention, the bottles, which are installed in a sorting collection place such as a supermarket or a lifestyle cooperative, are sorted and sorted according to the appearance in the appearance sorting step, The neck cutting process part cuts the neck part where aluminum caps may be attached to ensure that caps and dissimilar resins are not mixed in. Furthermore, the quality inspection process part checks the material of each bottle one by one. Then, since it is separated in the quality separation step, the bottle flakes obtained by crushing the bottles can be separated in high purity by material. Furthermore, volume reduction is also realized, and it can be easily transported to the next reprocessing plant, and these bottle flakes can omit the processing steps of the first half of the reprocessing flow of the reprocessing plant.
In addition to being able to process with small-scale equipment, the bottle flakes obtained at the reprocessing plant can be made into high-quality bottle flakes with high purity, aiming to improve the efficiency and economic efficiency of the recycling system. be able to.

By arranging the appearance selection process section, the neck cutting process section and the quality inspection process section in this order, and further arranging the quality separation process section and the crushing process section on the downstream side thereof, the glass carried in by the appearance selection process section By eliminating things that are difficult to cut, such as bottles, troubles in the neck cutting process part can be solved in advance, and by arranging the quality separation process part on the downstream side of the quality inspection process part, the bottle body Can be reliably separated one by one.

Further, in the appearance selection process section, the outer diameter inspection section and the height detection section prevent the loading of a bottle having a size larger than the specified value to prevent troubles such as clogging in the bottle transfer section, and further the weight detection. The supply of glass bottles, metal bottles, and the like can be blocked at the section to properly collect the bottles.

Further, in the quality inspection process section, the color detection section detects the color of the resin, and the material detection section further detects the type of the resin to surely separate the plastic bottles that inhibit other resins. PET bottle flakes can be recovered with high purity.

Furthermore, by providing a detector for detecting polyvinyl chloride bottles in the quality inspection process section, it is possible to reliably detect and eliminate PVC bottles that generate hydrogen chloride near the melting point.

Further, by providing the neck detecting section and the bottle reversing section in the neck cutting section, the cutting can be surely performed on one side of the bottle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a plastic bottle recovery device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing each step of the plastic bottle recovery apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a process diagram showing a plastic bottle recycling system in which the plastic bottle recovery device is installed.

FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing a conventional plastic bottle recycling system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 b Bottle b ′ Bottle body A Appearance selection process part B Neck cutting process part C Bottle storage process part D Quality inspection process part E First quality separation part F Crushing process part G Second quality separation part A1 Outer diameter inspection part A2 Weight detection Part A3 Height detection part A4 Bottle exclusion part B1 Neck detection part B2 Bottle reversal part B3 Cutting part C1 Bottle storage path part D1 Color detection part D2 Material detection part 45 color sensor 46 Chloride detector 47A Separation cylinder 47B Separation cylinder 51A No. 1 crusher 51B 2nd crusher 61 Bottle sorter

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masao Kinoshita 5-3-28 Nishikujo, Konohana-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture Hitachi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An appearance selection process section for detecting an appearance of a bottle to eliminate a non-regulated bottle, a neck cutting step section for cutting a bottle neck portion, and a quality inspection step section for inspecting the quality of the bottle. A plastic bottle collecting apparatus comprising a quality sorting process unit for sorting based on a result of the quality inspection process unit and a crushing process unit for crushing bottles. 2. A neck cutting process unit and a quality inspection process unit are sequentially arranged on the downstream side of the appearance selection process unit, and a quality separation process unit and a crushing process unit are further arranged on the downstream side thereof. Item 1. The plastic bottle recovery device according to item 1. 3. An outer diameter inspection section that prevents a bottle having a predetermined outer diameter or more from being carried in by a predetermined space, a weight detection section that detects the weight of the bottle, and a height of the bottle that are detected in the appearance selection step section. The plastic bottle according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a height detecting unit and a bottle removing unit that removes non-standard bottles based on detection values of the weight detecting unit and the height detecting unit. Recovery device. 4. The quality inspection process section is provided with a color detection section for detecting the color of the bottle, and a material detection section for detecting the material of the bottle. Plastic bottle collection device. 5. The plastic bottle collecting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the material detecting section is provided with a detector for detecting a polyvinyl chloride bottle. 6. The neck cutting process section is provided with a neck detection section for detecting a mouth plug section of a bottle, a bottle reversing section capable of reversing the bottle, and a cutting section for cutting the neck section. The plastic bottle recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.