JPH11319771A - Bottle volume reduction device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bottle volume reduction device in which working time necessary for charging a bottle is shortened and furthermore operation excepting charging is made unnecessary and operation is simplified. SOLUTION: When a bottle is charged from a charging port 1 and a door is closed, opening and closing of the door are detected by a detecting and locking part 2. A conveyor 5 is sent together with locking of the door. When the conveyor 5 is moved by one pitch, locking of the door is released and the following bottle can be charged. The maximum six pieces of bottles are continuously charged and temporarily held in a small chamber comparted by partition plates 7. Thereafter, volume reduction operation is started by a volume reduction part 8. The bottle is sandwiched between a pressing plate 12 driven back and forth by a motor 9 and a stop plate 14 and compressed. When the pressing plate 12 is retreated, a shutter 15 is opened and the bottle applied to volume reduction is held in a container box 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bottle volume reducing device for reducing the volume of a bottle used as a container for beverages when collecting the bottle. PET bottles using PET resin are frequently used as containers for drinks such as tea and juice. In order to collect used PET bottles for the purpose of recycling the raw materials, a collection device is installed in which consumers can put their used bottles at supermarket stores, etc. The present invention relates to a bottle volume reducing device for reducing the volume of a bottle so as to facilitate collection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for reducing the volume of bottles used by general consumers in supermarkets, etc., a bottle volume reducing device has conventionally been used in which empty bottles are inserted one by one into an inlet and the volume is reduced each time the bottle is inserted. There is. In this case, when reducing the volume of multiple bottles, after putting one bottle into the volume reduction device, wait for the next bottle to be loaded until the container is volume-reduced. I am trying to put it in.

[0003] In addition, there is a volume reducing device capable of simultaneously charging a plurality of bottles, but the mechanism is such that the simultaneously charged bottles are simultaneously reduced in volume.

[0004]

However, most users of bottle volume reduction devices installed in stores or the like bring 4 to 5 empty bottles from the home and put one bottle in to reduce the volume. In the case of an apparatus that requires the next bottle to be inserted after the processing is completed, the user is required to insert the next bottle until the one bottle has been completely reduced in volume. There is a problem that it takes a long time to reduce the volume of all the bottles brought in by the user, which takes a very long time.

Further, a device for simultaneously reducing the volume of a plurality of bottles has a problem that the volume reduction capability such as the compression ratio tends to be limited, and the number of bottles that can be reduced at the same time can be processed only by a relatively small number of about two. there were. Furthermore, in order to simultaneously reduce the volume of multiple bottles, it is conceivable to provide multiple mechanisms for reducing the volume of the bottles. There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and enables continuous loading of a plurality of bottles without increasing the size of power and equipment, and shortens the work of the user. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle volume reducing device which can be easily operated without special switch operation by a user.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a bottle volume reducing device according to the present invention is a volume reducing device for compressing a bottle inserted from an input port to reduce the volume. An opening / closing detection switch for detecting, a lock means for locking the opening so as not to be opened, a holding section for temporarily holding bottles which are continuously charged before being compressed, and a signal for the opening / closing detection switch. Counting the number of bottles charged based on the number of bottles based on the number of bottles, and when the number of bottles has become equal to the maximum number of bottles held in the holding unit, or when the slot has not been opened or closed for a predetermined period of time, And an operation controller for controlling to shift to the operation of compressing the bottle held in the holding section after locking.

[0008] The bottle volume reducing apparatus of the present invention is provided with a holding section for temporarily holding the inserted bottles between the charging port and the volume reducing section. Since the volume is reduced by the volume reducing unit, the bottles can be continuously charged from the viewpoint of the user, and the working time can be reduced. And
Since the setting of the number of bottles to be inserted and the activation of the volume reducing unit are automatically performed in conjunction with the opening and closing of the inlet, the user does not need to perform any operation other than the bottle insertion, and the operation is simple.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bottle volume reducing device according to the present invention.

[0010] The bottle to be reduced in volume is introduced into the apparatus through the inlet 1. The opening and closing of the door of the insertion port 1 is detected by a detection switch provided in the detection and lock unit 2, and the lock mechanism locks the door so as not to open during internal operation. Details of this operation will be described later.

First, the bottle 18 is temporarily stored in the holding unit 3. The holding unit 3 is placed between two pulleys 4 and is rotated clockwise in the drawing.
And a partition plate 7 erected in the vertical direction of the conveyor 5.
And a cover 6 that guides the movement of the bottle 18 and receives it so as not to fall down. In the example of FIG. 1, the conveyor 5 composed of a chain or a belt is provided with six partition plates 7.
Up to 6 bottles can be stored in each small room
The individual bottles are temporarily held in the holding unit 3.

The conveyor 5 is moved in the direction of arrow B as the pulley 4 is rotated by a motor (not shown). As the conveyor 7 moves, the partition plate 7 and the bottles 18 moored in each small room also move sequentially.
When the small room is oriented downward, the bottle falls downward (moves from B4 to B3 in FIG. 1), but a cover 6 is provided to hold and guide this. Since the charged bottles 18 are sequentially moved from B6 to the position indicated by B1 in FIG. 1, the six bottles sequentially charged become B1 and B2 as shown in FIG. ,
B3, B4, B5, and B6 are sequentially arranged.

When the loaded bottle 18 is carried to the position B1, the cover 6 is broken, so that the bottle falls downward as shown by the arrow C and moves to the volume reducing section 8. Volume reduction section 8
Are a stopper plate 14 fixed to a frame, a push plate 12 for crushing the bottle with the stopper plate 14 interposed therebetween, a screw rod 10 and a nut 11 for linearly driving the push plate 12, and a screw Motor 9 for rotating rod 10
It is composed of The stopper plate 14 is provided with a scattering prevention plate 16 for preventing the bottle from scattering in an unexpected direction when the bottle falls from the holding unit 3 to the volume reducing unit 8.

When the motor 9 fixed to the frame or the like rotates in the forward direction, the screw rod 10 connected to the rotation shaft rotates, and the nut 11 engaged with the screw rod 10 and the nut 11 are integrated. The push plate 12 advances in the direction of the stop plate 14, and compresses and reduces the volume of the bottle at the position B1. After the bottle is compressed, if the rotation direction of the motor 9 is set to the opposite direction to the case where the volume is reduced, the push plate 12 retreats away from the stop plate 14. The stopper 13 is attached to the threaded rod 10, and mechanically restricts the moving range of the push plate 12 by being hit by the nut 11. In addition, a limit switch for determining the front and rear driving range of the push plate 12 is also provided. The shutter 15 is usually fixed at the position indicated by the solid line in the figure, and serves as a bottom plate of the space between the stopper plate 14 and the push plate 12 to support the bottle before volume reduction.
After the bottle is crushed, the bottle is rotated and opened to the position indicated by the dotted line with the hinge as the center of rotation as shown by the arrow D, so that the reduced-volume bottle 19 falls into the storage box 17 disposed below. .

The configuration around the inlet 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The door 31 of the insertion port 1 is substantially L-shaped integrally with the plate portion 33, and can be opened and closed in a direction indicated by an arrow A by a hinge at a corner thereof. A tote 32 is provided on the outside of the door 31 for the user to open the door 31 by hand. When the door 31 is opened and a bottle is inserted, the bottle once rides on this L-shape and the door 31 is closed. As a result, it rolls down to the position indicated by B6 in FIG.

A solenoid 35 is provided inside the frame near the insertion port 1 so that a pin 36 can be electrically inserted and removed. The pin 36 is connected to the door 31 when the door 31 is closed according to a signal from a control unit (not shown). A lock mechanism that fits into the pin engagement portion 34 provided inside 31 and prevents the door 31 from being opened. Further, a detection switch 37 for detecting that the door 31 is closed or opened is provided near the solenoid 35. Although not shown, a control unit including a power supply for taking in the detection switch 37 and other signals and operating the motor 9, the solenoid 35, and other driving sources in a predetermined sequence is provided inside the bottle volume reducing device. Is provided.

Next, the operation of the present apparatus will be described step by step. (1) Open the door 31 of the inlet 1 and put the bottle inside,
Subsequently, when the door 31 is closed, the opening / closing operation thereof is detected by the detection switch 37, and the pin 36 is protruded by the force of the solenoid 37 and fits into the pin engagement portion 34,
The door 31 is locked so as not to be opened.

(2) Next, the conveyor 5 on which the partition plate 7 is mounted is rotated in the direction of arrow B by the motor, and
Is sent to the holding unit 3. When the partition plate 7 is fed by one pitch and the partition plate 7 hits a one-pitch detection switch provided on the side surface of the holding section, the motor is turned off, the drive of the conveyor is stopped, and the pin 36 of the solenoid 37 is turned off. The door 31 is retracted to unlock the door 31.

(3) When the next bottle is inserted within about 12 seconds, the operations of (1) and (2) are repeated, and the bottle is accumulated in the holding unit 3. The sixth bottle is loaded or about 12
When the next bottle is not inserted within the second and a timeout occurs, or when a separately provided volume reduction start button is pressed, the door 31 of the insertion port 1 is locked again and the volume reduction operation is started.

(4) At the time when the sixth bottle is inserted, the first bottle is dropped from the holding unit 3 to the volume reduction unit 8. At the time of time-out or when the volume reduction start button is pressed, the conveyor 5 and the partition plate 7 are sent until the first inserted bottle falls into the volume reduction section.

(5) Next, the operation of reducing the volume of the bottle is started. The motor 10 of the volume reducing section 8 is turned on, the screw rod 10 rotates, and the nut 11 is fed. Push plate 12 is nut 11
As the nut 11 is fed, the bottle advances in the direction of compressing the bottle with the stopper plate 14.

(6) When the front position is detected by the limit switch, the motor 9 reverses, and the push plate 12 is returned to the position of the limit switch in the standby position. Even when the limit switch at the previous position has not been pressed for three seconds or more after the motor 9 was turned on, the motor 9 is reversed and the push plate 12 is returned to the standby position.

(7) With the reciprocation of the push plate 12, the shutter 15 which was initially closed opens when the push plate 12 is moving forward to compress the bottle, and the ratchet is used while the push plate 12 returns to the standby position. It is held open by the mechanism.

(8) Since the shutter 15 is open while the push plate 12 returns to the standby position, the bottle whose volume has been reduced falls into the storage box 17. Immediately before the push plate 12 returns to the standby position, the ratchet that opens the shutter 15 is removed, and the shutter 15 is closed by the spring.

(9) Reserving unit 3 to reduce the volume of the next bottle
And the next bottle is sent to the volume reduction unit 8 to perform the operations (5) to (8). This is repeated as many times as the number of bottles inserted.

(10) When all the bottles put in at a time are reduced in volume, the lock of the inlet 1 is released and a new bottle can be put in.

(11) The total number of bottles charged and reduced is 8
If the number exceeds 0, “Full” is displayed and door 3 of slot 1
1 is locked, and it is not possible to make any further inputs. From the full state, after discarding the reduced-volume bottles 19 accumulated in the storage box 17, the reset switch is pressed to return the number of bottles charged to zero and return to the initial state.

The maximum number of items to be stored in the holding part 3 and the maximum number of items to be stored in the storage box 17 and the waiting time for the operation described above are merely examples. It is not limited to. Also, a compression volume reduction mechanism using a screw rod and a nut of the volume reduction section 8 and a shutter 14 are provided.
The mechanism using a ratchet is also an example, and the volume may be reduced by compression using a cylinder using hydraulic pressure or air pressure, or the shutter 14 may be opened and closed by an air cylinder.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A holding section is provided between the charging port and the volume reduction section to temporarily store the bottles that have been inserted.The bottles are stored in the storage section one after another, and then the volume is reduced by the volume reduction section. This makes it possible to reduce the waiting time of the user and reduce the work time required for inputting.

Since the setting of the number of bottles to be inserted and the activation of the volume reducing section are automatically performed in conjunction with the opening and closing of the opening of the inlet, the user does not need to perform any operation other than the bottle insertion and the operation is simple. It is.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a bottle volume reducing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing details of a bottle inlet.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An opening / closing detection switch for detecting opening / closing of an inlet, a lock means for locking the inlet so as not to be opened, and a continuous volume reducing device for compressing and reducing the volume of a bottle inserted from the inlet. The number of bottles charged based on a signal from the open / close detection switch is counted, and the number of bottles charged is the maximum number of bottles held by the holding unit. When the number is equal to or equal to, or when the opening is not opened or closed for a predetermined time or more, the locking means locks the inlet and then controls to move to a compression operation of the bottle held in the holding section. A bottle volume reducing device, comprising: