JPH1128700A - Cutting device for polyethylene terepthalate bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate a human-powered load in cutting; to safely cut a polyethylene terephthalate bottle(PET); and to reduce its capacity. SOLUTION: A cutting device 1 for polyethylene terephthalate(PET) bottle has a PET bottle housing space R for housing an empty PET bottle P and is provided with a PET bottle forcing guide body 7 movable along the PET bottle housing space R in the up and down direcitions guided by supports 2A, 2B, and holding the bottom part of the PET bottle P inversely placed in the PET bottle housing space R and retaining the inverted state of the PET bottle until cutting canpletion. Heating wires 13a, 13c, 13d for PET the pet bottle P along the vertical direction is spread and provided in a parallel crosses state in the plane view in the PET bottle housing space R at its lower side.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a PET bottle cutting device used for reducing the volume of a PET bottle which has been emptied at home, for example, for the sake of convenience when storing the bottle until the date of collection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In April 1997, the "Container and Packaging Recycling Law" was enacted to reduce the amount of general garbage and reuse resources, and the recycling of PET bottles became mandatory. However, PET bottles have the lowest collection rate among the seven items to which the law is applied. Last year, the recovery rate was only 2.8%. One reason for this is that PET bottle containers are so bulky that they take up space for storage at home.

[0003] In such a social background, a cutting device for reducing the volume has been proposed so that PET bottles can be easily stored in a home or a business place. FIG.
Is a cutting device composed of an annular member 51 and a handle 52 having a cutter blade 53 oriented in an oblique direction. The PET bottle P is spirally cut by the cutter blade 53, and the volume can be reduced to about の of the original volume.

[0004]

However, in the case of the cutting device 50, considerable labor is required for cutting. All cutting is done manually, and the length of the cut is several times the length of the plastic bottle. Normally, the burden of labor is too large considering that the cutting work is usually performed by the housewife's hand at home. In addition, there is a danger that the cutter blade may be accidentally touched with the hand and may be damaged.

[0005] Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a PET bottle cutting device capable of safely cutting a PET bottle without a human burden at the time of cutting.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a plastic bottle cutting apparatus, wherein the plastic bottle cutting means is a heating wire stretched in a grid or grid shape in plan view. It is characterized by the following.

[0007] A specific first device structure has a plastic bottle accommodating space for accommodating an empty plastic bottle and is movable along the vertical direction of the plastic bottle accommodating space by being guided by other members. A plastic bottle pushing guide body that holds the bottom of the plastic bottle placed upside down in the plastic bottle housing space and maintains the plastic bottle upside down until cutting is almost completed,
A heating wire for fusing the PET bottle along the longitudinal direction is stretched in a cross-girder shape in a plan view below the PET bottle storage space. In this case, the PET bottle pushing guide body is composed of two elevating plates arranged in upper and lower stages, and a push rod for connecting these to be freely separated from each other, and the push bar is substantially the same as the upper stage elevating plate. One end is fixed to the central portion, and a shaft portion extending downward projects through the lower stage elevating plate and protrudes to the lower surface side thereof, and has a contact plate at the distal end which contacts the bottom of the plastic bottle. It is desirable.

The second device structure includes a plastic bottle support table for holding an empty plastic bottle standing upside down, a vertically movable unit guided by another member, and a plan view inside the opening frame. And a fusing elevating frame for vertically fusing the PET bottle with a heating wire stretched in a grid pattern.

Further, the third device structure is a plastic bottle storage box for storing an empty plastic bottle in an inverted state, and is fitted in the plastic bottle storage box so as to be movable vertically. It is characterized by comprising a PET bottle pushing guide body and a heating wire stretched in a double girder shape in plan view in the PET bottle housing box for fusing the PET bottle along a longitudinal direction. is there.

[0010] The fourth device structure comprises: a PET bottle housing box for housing an empty PET bottle in a horizontal state; and a heating wire stretched in a lattice shape in plan view in the PET bottle housing box. Characterized by the following. In this case, as in the third device structure, a plastic bottle pushing guide body that is fitted in the plastic bottle housing and can be moved in the vertical direction may be provided.

On the other hand, the end support structure of the heating wire adopts a structure in which the fixed end of the heating wire is elastically supported in a stretching direction in order to prevent the heating wire from becoming loose due to thermal expansion accompanying power supply. It is desirable to do.

A timer for turning off the power supply to the heating wire for a predetermined time, or a guide for pushing the plastic bottle in, so that the user can leave the place when the switch is turned on and to prevent forgetting to turn off the electricity. Alternatively, it is preferable to provide a limit switch that detects the lowest position of the fusing lift frame and turns off the electricity.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front view of a PET bottle cutting device 1 according to the first example, and FIG.
It is a part enlarged view. The PET bottle cutting device 1
Since the side view of FIG. 1 appears almost the same as the front view, the illustration is omitted.

The PET bottle cutting device 1 comprises four columns 2A to 2D arranged at the vertices of a square in plan view.
(2C and 2D are not shown) is a device having a frame structure which is independently supported by an upper connecting member 3 disposed at an upper end portion and an intermediate connecting member 4 disposed in the middle. These four
The space surrounded by the two columns 2A to 2D is a storage space R that stores an empty plastic bottle P. In addition, the said support | pillar 2A ~
The connection between the 2D and each of the connecting members 3 and 4 is performed by nut members 6 and 6 screwed on both sides of the connecting members 3 and 4.

The upper connecting member 3 and the intermediate connecting member 4
And a plastic bottle pushing guide body 7 which is movable along the vertical direction of the plastic bottle storage space R.
(Hereinafter, simply referred to as a pushing guide body). The pushing guide body 7 is composed of two elevating plates 8 and 9 arranged in the upper and lower stages and a push rod 10 for connecting these members so as to be able to freely contact and separate from each other. Cylindrical members 8a to 8 fitted to the columns 2A to 2D, respectively.
d, 9a to 9d are provided integrally and are movable along the vertical direction. One end of the push rod 10 is fixed to a substantially central portion of the upper stage elevating plate 9, and a shaft extending downward projects through the lower stage elevating plate 8 to a lower surface thereof, and a plastic bottle P Abutment plate 1 that abuts against the concave bottom
0a, and supports the plastic bottle P placed upside down in the plastic bottle storage space R as shown in the figure. In addition, a non-slip member 11 such as an elastic material such as sponge, rubber, or foamed resin, or a wire mesh is attached to the lower surface of the lower-stage elevating plate 8 so as to contact and hold the PET bottle P so that the PET bottle P is unlikely to rotate during fusing. It has become. This upper and lower two-stage lifting plate 8,
The operation of the pushing guide body 7 composed of 9 or the like will be described in further detail in the section on cutting procedure at a later stage.

On the other hand, the intermediate connecting member 4 has an opening 4a formed at the center thereof so that the blown PET bottle P can pass therethrough. In the frame wall 12, heating wires 13a to 13d such as nichrome wires for fusing the plastic bottle P along the longitudinal direction are stretched in a grid shape in plan view. The heating wire 13a~13d, the size of the rectangular frame formed by these heating wire 13a~13d can be inserted mouth P ₁ PET bottle P, and the heating wire 13a~ against the shoulder portion of the bottles P 13d is stretched so as to hit. PET bottle mouth P ₁ of P, the material other than the normal polyethylene terephthalate, such as vinyl chloride, if it is formed of a separate material such as polypropylene is large and when the PET bottle is reproduced fibers such as the playback factory However, the work of removing the lip portion in the preparation stage is extra. Therefore, if this part is cut separately from other parts at the time of cutting at home in advance, it is possible to omit the work of removing the lips at the remanufacturing factory, and to achieve a significant labor saving.

Further, since the heating wires 13a to 13d are expanded by thermal expansion at the time of power supply, the heating wires 13a to 13d have a structure in which a fixed end is elastically supported in a stretching direction so as not to be loosened at the time of fusing. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a hole 12 a penetrating the wall is formed in the frame wall 12, and a seat member 14 having a boss 14 a fitted in the hole 12 a is arranged on the outer surface side of the frame wall 12. Then, a bolt-shaped member 15 having the heating wire 13a bound at one end thereof is penetrated through the seat member, and a nut 16 is screwed in a state in which a spring 17 is fitted on the shaft portion. The part is elastically supported. As shown in FIG. 3, the heating wire support structure is such that the heating wire 13a is turned by a roller 18 and the end is fixed to the fixing member 1 with a spring S interposed therebetween.
9 may be connected. In any case, if the heating wire end is such an elastic supporting structure, even if the heating wire 13a is expanded by thermal expansion, the tension state can be always maintained.

The cross-sectional shapes of the heating wires 13a, 13b,... Include tape-shaped ones having a width of about several mm and circular-shaped ones. According to experiments conducted by the present inventors,
It has been confirmed that the tape-shaped thing is twisted in the process of fusing the PET bottle P, and the PET bottle P cannot be blown cleanly in the vertical direction. Therefore, it is known that a circular cross section is preferable, but it is found that a smaller cross sectional dimension tends to be more easily blown along a vertical direction line than a larger cross sectional dimension.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, an electric circuit for the heating wires 13a, 13b.
3a to 13d are connected in series by electric wires 23, 23...
1, 21 ... are interposed. In the circuit,
22 is a choke coil, and 20 is a timer.

Using the PET bottle cutting device 1 described above,
In cutting the PET bottle P, as shown in FIG. 1, the PET bottle P is brought into the PET bottle storage space R in an upside down state, and the bottom thereof is held by the pushing guide body 7. Holding the PET bottle P in an upside-down state prevents the fusing portion from being cooled by the liquid when the remainder of the liquid remains in the container, so that the fusing by the heating wires 13a, 13b... Becomes difficult. By holding the PET bottle P upside down, the remaining liquid can be quickly drained, and the subsequent fusing can be performed smoothly.

When power is supplied from this holding state, fusing by the heating wires 13a, 13b,... Is automatically performed. The pushing guide body 7 is composed of four columns 2A, 2B
… Supported by a vertically movable plastic bottle P
Is advanced, and even if the PET bottle P descends, the PET bottle P descends. In addition, the weight of the pushing guide body 7 exerts a weight load on the PET bottle P, so that the fusing speed is increased and the fusing is performed efficiently. The weight of the lifting plates 8 and 9 is approximately 150 to 2 respectively.
It has been found through experiments by the present inventors that it is desirable to use about 00 g. Further, the heating wires 13a, 13
The amount of electricity given to b ... is approximately 15 to 40 V,
Preferably, the range is 20 to 30 V, and the current is 1.5 to
It is desirable to be in the range of 2.2A, preferably 1.7 to 2.0A. Furthermore, if the timer 20 is set, it is possible to leave the place, and it is not necessary to forget to turn off the power, which is convenient for handling.
In addition, as an automatic power-off device, a limit switch (not shown) may be provided at the lowest position of the PET bottle pushing guide body 7 so as to perform the power-off when the fusing is completed.

The fusing of the PET bottle P progresses, and in the final fusing step, the vertically movable plates 8 and 9 of the pushing guide body 7 and the pushing rod 10 play an important role. That is, when a single lifting plate is used, it is difficult to apply a weight load to the bottom when the bottom of the PET bottle P is blown, but as shown in FIG. After reaching the lowermost position, as shown in FIG. 5, the elevating plate 9 on the upper stage further descends from the current position together with the push rod 10 to apply a weight load to the PET bottle P. I have. In particular, at the time of fusing the thick bottom which is difficult to be blown, the time required for fusing can be reduced by continuing to apply a weight load even at this stage.

The PET bottle P passes through the cutting section and is vertically cut off by the heating wires 13a, 13b..., As shown in FIG.
It is divided into ten pieces: a bottom small piece 27 and side face divided pieces 26A to 26H whose side faces are divided into eight strips. If the cut pieces 25 to 27 of the blown PET bottles are bundled with rubber bands or the like, the later handling becomes easy. The volume reduction rate is approximately 1/10 to 1/20 from the bottle state. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, the storage box 5 is placed below the cutting section of the PET bottle, and each of the PET bottle cut pieces 2 after the cutting is cut.
5 to 27 may be left free.

Next, a PET bottle cutting device 1A according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.
The plastic bottle cutting device 1A includes a plastic bottle support 28 that supports an empty plastic bottle P upside down.
And a supporting column 30 erected on the side of the plastic bottle support base 28, and a fusing lifting frame 31 guided by the supporting column 30 and movable vertically.

The plastic bottle support base 28 supports the plastic bottle P upright at a substantially central portion of the upper surface thereof, and is preferably made of natural rubber, synthetic rubber, or the like.
9 is provided, and the mouth of the PET bottle P is inserted into the truncated-cone-shaped projection 29a formed on the upper surface side of the upright support member 29, and the PET bottle P is supported upright.

The fusing lift frame 31 is provided with heating wires 13a to 13d stretched in a double girder shape in a plan view in an opening frame, and the fusing lift frame 31 is pulled up by hand. Then, the PET bottle P is set, and is lowered by its own weight from this state, so that the PET bottle P passes through the opening frame and the PET bottle P is melted in the vertical direction. The own weight of the fusing lifting frame 31 is approximately 300 to
Desirably 400 g. Further, similarly to the first example, a limit switch is provided for the PET bottle support base 28, and if the fusing lift frame 31 is lowered to the lowermost position, the power is automatically turned off. Good.

Further, a PET bottle cutting device 1B according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The present PET bottle cutting device 1B is an example of a box-shaped device structure, and the basic cutting principle is the same as that of the first example. More specifically, the heating wire 13a has an opening 35a on one side surface, an opening on the upper surface and a lower surface, and is stretched like a girder in plan view on the lower side.
13b, and a push-in guide body 36 which is removably fitted in the plastic bottle housing box 35 and is movable vertically. When the pushing guide body 36 is placed on the bottom of the plastic bottle P to maintain the inverted state of the plastic bottle, and power is supplied to the heating wires 13a, 13b... In this state, the plastic bottle P is automatically lowered thereafter. It is blown. It is needless to say that a non-slip member 11 such as sponge, rubber, foamed resin or the like is preferably provided on the bottom of the pushing guide body 36. Further, in order to prevent the rotation of the plastic bottle P, as shown in FIG.
By fixing the adapter member 37 having a hole matching the bottom shape of the plastic bottle P in the pushing guide body 36, the plastic bottle P may be held so as to be unrotatable. In addition, a plurality of types of the adapter member 33 are prepared in advance for each size of the plastic bottle.

On the other hand, the fourth apparatus example shown in FIG. 12 is a PET bottle cutting apparatus 1C in which the PET bottle P is turned sideways to melt. In this case, it is not necessary to hold the push guides 7 and 36 in the first and third examples because the push guides 7 and 36 are not necessarily required. Of course, if a pushing guide body is provided, this will become a heavy load and the fusing speed can be improved. In such a device,
A plurality of, specifically, 3 to 6 heating wires are stretched at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the PET bottle housing box 38.

In the initial forecast, it was thought that the fusing speed in the horizontal arrangement was higher than the fusing speed. However, in fact, contrary to the expectation, the vertical type devices according to the first to third examples were contrary. As a result, the time required for fusing was shorter. The reason is that the bottom of the PET bottle is thicker than the other parts, and it takes a very long time to melt the PET bottle in the vertical direction. Even if the head side of the PET bottle can be blown quickly, it takes time to blow the bottom side, and as a result, it takes a long time to blow.
In addition, in the case of this example, since the contact extension with the heating wire is long, the amount of smoke generated is large, and the odor is anxious around. found. However, it is the same as the first to third examples in that the PET bottle can be easily cut without manual intervention.

[0030]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, there is no need for human labor when cutting, and it is possible to cut and reduce the volume of plastic bottles safely, thereby improving the recovery rate and, consequently, effectively utilizing resources. It will contribute to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a PET bottle cutting device 1 according to a first example.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion K in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of the elastic support structure at the end of the heating wire.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view (part 1) of an essential part showing an operation state of the pushing guide body 7;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view (part 2) of an essential part showing an operation state of the pushing guide body 7;

FIG. 6 is an electric circuit diagram relating to a heating wire.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a divided state after cutting the PET bottle.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a PET bottle cutting device 1A according to the second example.

FIG. 9 is a view taken on line IX-IX of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plastic bottle cutting device 1B according to the third example.
It is a perspective view of.

FIG. 11 is an adapter member 37 for holding a plastic bottle.
FIG.

FIG. 12 is a plastic bottle cutting device 1C according to the fourth example.
It is a perspective view of.

FIG. 13 is a cutting procedure diagram of a conventional PET bottle cutting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1.1A-1C ... PET bottle cutting device, 2A-2D
.., Support column, 3... Upper connecting member, 4... Intermediate connecting member, 5... Accommodation box, 7.36... PET bottle pushing guide body, 8.
... Non-slip member, 12... Fusing section frame wall, 13 a to 13 d.
Heating wire, 20 ... timer, 28 ... PET bottle support,
29: standing support member, 30: support column, 31: fusing lifting frame,
35 ・ 38 ・ ・ ・ Plastic bottle storage box, 37 ・ ・ ・ Adapter member

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A plastic bottle cutting device, wherein the plastic bottle cutting means is a heating wire stretched in a grid or lattice shape in plan view. 2. A plastic bottle storage space for accommodating an empty plastic bottle, wherein the plastic bottle is guided by another member and is movable vertically along the plastic bottle storage space. A plastic bottle pushing guide body which holds the bottom of the plastic bottle placed upside down and maintains the plastic bottle upside down until the cutting is almost completed, and vertically places the plastic bottle below the plastic bottle storage space. A heating device for fusing along a line is stretched in a grid pattern in plan view. 3. The PET bottle pushing guide body is composed of two elevating plates arranged in upper and lower stages and a push rod for connecting these to be freely separated from each other. One end is fixed to a substantially center portion, and a shaft portion extending downward projects through the lower stage elevating plate and projects to the lower surface side thereof, and a tip is provided with a contact plate abutting against the bottom of the PET bottle. 3. The cutting device for PET bottles according to 2. 4. A plastic bottle support base for supporting an empty plastic bottle in an upside-down state, and is vertically movable by being guided by another member, and is stretched in a cross-shaped manner in a plan view in an opening frame. And a fusing lifting frame for vertically fusing the PET bottle with a heating wire provided. 5. A plastic bottle container for accommodating an empty plastic bottle in an inverted state, and a plastic bottle pushing guide body fitted in the plastic bottle container and movable vertically. And a heating wire stretched in a cross-shaped shape in a plan view in the plastic bottle housing to cut off the plastic bottle along the longitudinal direction. 6. A plastic bottle container for accommodating an empty plastic bottle in a horizontal state, and a heating wire stretched in a lattice shape in plan view in the plastic bottle container. A cutting device for PET bottles. 7. The plastic bottle cutting device according to claim 6, further comprising a plastic bottle pushing guide body fitted in the plastic bottle housing box and movable vertically. 8. The PET bottle cutting device according to claim 1, wherein a fixed end of said heating wire is elastically supported in a stretching direction. 9. A timer for turning off the power supply to the heating wire for a predetermined time, or a limit switch for turning off the power by detecting the lowest position of the PET bottle pushing guide body or the fusing lifting frame. Item 10. A plastic bottle cutting device according to any one of Items 1 to 8.