JPH09156702A - Container separation and recovery device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To separate containers such as pet bottles, bottles and cans and make automatic compression volume reduction on them. SOLUTION: A container holding part 7 for holding a container is constituted so as to oscillate. The length of the container is detected with a detector 1 held by the container holding part 7. The container is pressed by a pressing plate 11, and a container compression inspection device 13 discriminates if the volume of the container has been already compressively-decreased. This device is also provided with a recovery box consisting of a pet bottle recovery part 6a, a bottle recovery part 6b, a steel can recovery part 6c and an aluminum can recovery part 6d.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is to automatically separate and collect discarded soft drink water containers and the like,
The present invention relates to a container separation / collection device that facilitates reuse of this container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When discarding a container for soft drinks,
If it is collected by distinguishing whether this container type is a PET bottle (polyethylene terephthalate bottle), a bottle (glass bottle), a steel can (iron can) or an aluminum can (aluminum can), Reuse becomes easy and waste of resources can be reduced. But,
It is surprisingly troublesome to manually sort and collect these containers by each type. Therefore, a container separation / collection device that automatically separates a steel can and an aluminum can, which are not particularly easily distinguished by hand, depending on whether or not they are attracted by a magnet, has been conventionally developed.

In the case of collecting PET bottles and cans, if they are stored in the collection box as they are, the containers will be filled up immediately. Therefore, the containers are compressed and reduced before being stored in the collection box. Separate collection devices have also been developed.

[0004]

However, since these conventional container sorting and collecting apparatuses cannot automatically sort PET bottles, bottles and cans, it is necessary to prepare a separate collecting apparatus for each type. However, there is a problem that the cost for installing a plurality of devices increases. In addition, it is troublesome for the user to select the recovery device according to the type of container to be discarded, and there is a problem that the user tends to hesitate to use the device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a container separation / collection device capable of automatically separating containers according to their types and compressing and reducing the volume to recover the containers. Has an aim.

[0006]

That is, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a container length detection device for determining whether or not the length of the inserted container is not less than a predetermined value by the container separation and collection device. Means, a compressing means for compressing and reducing the volume of the container by pressing the container at a predetermined pressure or less, a container compression inspecting means for determining whether or not the container can be compressed and reduced by the compressing means, and a container length detecting means. When it is determined that the length is more than a predetermined length, the container compressed and reduced by the compression means is distributed to the PET bottle collection box and sent to the PET bottle collection means, and the container compression inspection means can compress and reduce the volume of the container. If it is determined that the container is not present, it is determined whether this container is a steel can or an aluminum can, and a can collecting means for distributing and sending to the steel can collecting box or the aluminum can collecting box is provided. Characterizing

According to the above means, when the plastic bottle is thrown in, the container length detecting means judges that the length is longer than a predetermined length. Therefore, after the plastic bottle is compressed and reduced in volume by the compressing means. The PET bottle collecting means can distribute the PET bottles to the PET bottle collecting boxes. Further, when the bottle is loaded, the container compression inspecting means determines that the volume cannot be compressed and reduced at a pressure lower than the predetermined pressure by the compressing means, so the bottle collecting means sorts and collects the bottle in the bottle collecting box. be able to. Furthermore, when the can is thrown in, the container length detection means determines that the length is not longer than a predetermined length, and the container compression inspection means determines that the volume can be compressed and reduced. It can be sorted and collected in a can collection box. In addition, at this time, by applying a magnet to the cans, the steel cans and the aluminum cans can be distinguished from each other and sorted into the steel can collection box and the aluminum can collection box, respectively.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 6 show one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the operation of the container sorting and collecting apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of the container sorting and collecting apparatus. 3 is a left side view in vertical cross section showing the internal structure of the sorting and collecting apparatus for containers, FIG. 4 is a plan view of a collection box, FIG. 5 is a front view in vertical cross section showing the internal structure of the sorting and collecting apparatus for containers, and FIG. 6 is a structure of a pressing plate. It is a top view which shows in detail.

As shown in FIG. 2, the container sorting / collecting apparatus of this embodiment has a charging port 2 on the upper left side of the front of a box-shaped main body 1, and a container is charged into this charging port 2. ing. Further, on the right side of the charging port 2, a charging possible lamp 3 and an operating lamp 4 are provided, and when the container can be charged into the apparatus, the charging possible lamp 3 is turned on and
When the apparatus is in operation to process the previously loaded container and a new container cannot be loaded, the operating lamp 4 is turned on to call the user's attention. Further, a door 5 is provided at the lower front portion of the main body 1 so that the internal recovery box 6 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 can be easily taken out.

The container charged into the charging port 2 is temporarily held by a container holding portion 7 inside the main body 1, as shown in FIG. The container holding part 7 is a holding member that can slide down the container held by swinging it to either the front side or the back side, and the recovery box 6 is arranged below the container holding part 7. As shown in FIG. 4, the collection box 6 is divided into a front side and a back side, and is also divided into a right side and a left side as viewed from the front, and the left side on the back side serves as a PET bottle collection section 6a and the back side. On the right side is the bottle collecting section 6b, on the front right side is the steel can collecting section 6c, and on the front left side is the aluminum can collecting section 6d. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, an inclined plate 9 whose inclination angle is changed by a solenoid 8 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the container held by the container holder 7 is pressed to the left by a pressing plate 11 driven by a compression motor 10.
However, since the compression motor 10 includes a torque limiter (not shown), the pressure plate 11 is prevented from being applied with a pressure (about 1 t) or more. This pressing plate 11 is, as shown in FIG. 6, actually used for the compression motor 1
It is composed of a base portion 11a which is moved in the left-right direction by 0 and a pressing portion 11c which is arranged on the left side of the base portion 11a and is further urged in the leftward direction by springs 11b and 11b. The base 11a is provided with a needle 11d that penetrates the pressing portion 11c and can project to the left. The pressing portion 11c of the pressing plate 11 is an electromagnet.

As shown in FIG. 5, the container holding unit 7 is provided with a container length detector 12, and the container holding unit 7 is provided with the container length detector 12.
It is possible to detect whether or not the container held in the container has a predetermined length or more. Further, a container compression inspecting device 13 is also provided for inspecting whether or not the container is compressed and reduced when the pressing plate 11 is extended to the left and the container held by the container holding portion 7 is pressed. .

FIG. 1 shows the operation of the container sorting and collecting apparatus having the above structure.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG. Container is input port 2
When the container length detector 12 detects the length of the container, the container length detector 12 detects the length of the container in step 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as “S”). If it is determined that the length of the container is equal to or greater than the predetermined length, it can be determined that the container is a PET bottle, and therefore the compression motor 10 is driven to push the pressing plate 11 to the left (S2). At this time, if the plastic bottle has a lid, the pressing portion 11c does not move because it is not easily compressed, but the springs 11b, 11b.
The base portion 11a moves to the left side against the urging force of, and the tip of the needle 11d projects to the left side of the pressing portion 11c. Then, the tip of the needle 11d opens an air hole in the PET bottle, so that the PET bottle can be easily compressed and reduced in volume.

When the plastic bottle is compressed and reduced in volume, the compression motor 10 is driven in the reverse direction to pull back the pressing plate 11 to the right (S3), and the container holding portion 7 is swung back (S4). Then, the plastic bottle held by the container holding portion 7 slides down on the inclined plate 9. Moreover, at this time, since the solenoid 8 is not energized, the PET bottle is guided by the inclined plate 9 and drops into the PET bottle collecting section 6a, whereby the PET bottle collecting operation is completed.

Even when it is determined in S1 that the length of the container is not longer than the predetermined length, the compression motor 10 is driven to extend the pressing plate 11 to the left (S5). Then, the container compression inspector 13 determines whether or not the container has been compressed and reduced (S6). Here, since the pressure of the pressing plate 11 is limited by the torque limiter of the compression motor 10, if the maximum pressure is set so that the bottle is not destroyed, the container compression inspector 13 compresses and reduces the volume of the container. If it is determined that the container is not present, the container can be determined to be a bottle. Therefore, when it is determined in S6 that the container has not been compressed and reduced in volume, the compression motor 10 is driven in the opposite direction to pull back the pressing plate 11 to the right (S7), and the container holding portion 7 is moved to the rear side. While swinging (S8), the solenoid 8 is energized to change the tilt angle of the tilt plate 9 (S8).
9). Then, the container is guided by the inclined plate 9 having a different inclination angle and falls into the bottle collecting portion 6b, whereby the bottle collecting operation is completed.

When the container compression tester 13 determines in S6 that the container has been compressed and reduced in volume, the electromagnet of the pressing portion 11c is energized (S10), and then the pressing plate 11 is pulled back to the right (S11). Stop energizing the electromagnet (S
12), swing the container holder 7 to the front side (S1)
3). Then, when the container is a steel can, the pressing plate 11 is attracted by the pressing portion 11c energized by the electromagnet.
Since it moves to the right with it, it falls into the steel can collecting unit 6c on the front right side. Further, when the container is a non-magnetic aluminum can, only the pressing plate 11 returns to the right side, and this aluminum can remains at the left end as it is, and therefore falls into the aluminum can collecting section 6d on the front left side. Then, this completes the can collecting operation.

As described above, according to the container sorting / collecting apparatus of this embodiment, PET bottles, bottles, steel cans, and aluminum cans are automatically sorted, and the PET bottle collecting section 6a in the collecting box 6 is separated from each other. Since it is distributed to any of the bottle collecting unit 6b, the steel can collecting unit 6c, and the aluminum can collecting unit 6d, the user can load the container into the charging port 2 regardless of the type. Moreover, since the PET bottles, steel cans, and aluminum cans are compressed and reduced in volume and then distributed to the recovery box 6, there is no possibility that the recovery box 6 will be full.

Although the steel can and the aluminum can are distinguished by the attraction force of the electromagnet in the above embodiment, they may be distinguished by the detector for detecting whether the container is a magnetic substance or not.

[0020]

As is clear from the above description, according to the container sorting and collecting apparatus of the present invention, the PET bottle, the bottle, the steel can and the aluminum can are automatically sorted, and the PET bottle and the can are compressed. It can be collected in each collection box after the volume is reduced. Therefore, since various containers can be separated and collected by one collecting device, the device is not wasted. Also, since it is not necessary for the user to distinguish the type of the container, the use of the recovery device is promoted, and the cooperation for resource saving can be easily achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a flowchart showing an operation of a container sorting and collecting apparatus.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a front view showing an external appearance of a container sorting and collecting apparatus.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and is a left side view of a vertical cross section showing the internal structure of the container sorting and collecting apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a collection box according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing the internal structure of the container sorting and collecting apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a plan view showing the structure of the pressing plate in detail.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 Collection Box 6a PET Bottle Collection Section 6b Bottle Collection Section 6c Steel Can Collection Section 6d Aluminum Can Collection Section 7 Container Holding Section 9 Inclined Plate 11 Press Plate 12 Container Length Detector 13 Container Compression Inspector

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A container length detecting means for judging whether or not the length of a charged container is more than a predetermined value, a compressing means for pressing the container with a pressure not more than a predetermined value to compress and reduce the volume, and the compressing means. When the container length detection means determines that the container is longer than a predetermined length, the container compression inspection means for judging whether or not the container can be compressed and reduced by PET bottle collection means to send to the PET bottle collection box and bottle collection means to send to the bottle collection box when the container compression inspection means determines that the container could not be compressed and reduced in volume, and container compression When the inspection means determines that the container can be compressed and reduced in volume, it is determined whether the container is a steel can or an aluminum can, and the product is distributed to the steel can collection box or the aluminum can collection box and sent. Can Container fractional recovery apparatus characterized by comprising a means.