MXPA97008491A - Apparatus and method to form pacas of materials suel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for forming bales of loose materials, comprising: a housing defining an extended cargo passage and a compaction chamber in communication with the cargo passage, wherein the cargo passage is adapted to receive the loose materials, and a compaction piston assembly disposed at least partially within the loading passage and adapted to move therebetween between a retracted position and an extended position, the compaction piston assembly having a piston plate of the piston. compaction to push the loose materials which are received into the loading passage in the compacting chamber, and to compact the loose materials inside the compacting chamber in a bale as soon as the compacting piston assembly moves forward from the position retracted to the extended position, characterized by a compaction piston controller for co controlling the mounting movement of the compacting piston in such a way that bales of various sizes are formed, and a movable door assembly with a door movably mounted to the housing, the door having a leading edge portion; drive to move the door from an initial position to a final position, wherein the front edge portion of the door is in general in alignment with the compaction piston platen, thereby defining an opening from the compaction chamber having a size that corresponds to the position of the compaction piston plate and through which compacted bales of various widths are ejected

Description

APPARATUS AND METHOD TO FORM PACAS OF LOOSE MATERIALS TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming bales of loose materials and in particular, to an apparatus for forming bales of waste material with a controllably positioned door assembly and related driving methods.

PREVIOUS TECHNIQUE A number of machines have been developed to form compacted bales of loose materials, such as waste materials, relatively dense, compact bales. Compacted bales of waste material, often of a reasonably non-uniform size, can be more easily transported to a storage or disposal site, where they occupy less space. In particular, as the amount of space available for landfill continues to decrease, the compacting of waste materials into dense, compact bales, prior to transportation and storage in landfills, will become increasingly important in order to reduce adlcionalmente the space that the waste materials occupy inside the land of filling. In addition, with the increased emphasis on environmental concerns and recent improvements in recycling technology that allow even greater percentage of waste materials, such as paper, plastic and cans, to be recycled and reused, the formation of Bales of waste materials have become even more important, since recyclable waste materials are usually compacted in a bale before being transported to an appropriate recycling facility. Conventional bale forming machines generally include a deposit or hopper into which loose materials, such as waste materials, are deposited. The deposited materials are usually collected in a defined loading passage inside the machine to form bales. The load passage is a longitudinally extending passage, which typically has a parallelepiped shape, such as a rectangular solid shape. Conventional bale forming machines also generally include a compaction piston assembly disposed within the load passage and adapted for longitudinal movement therein. In particular, the compaction piston assembly includes a compaction piston plate which is adapted for reciprocating longitudinal movement through the load passage between a retracted position and an extended position. In the retracted position, loose materials that are deposited in the hopper are collected in the cargo passage. As soon as the compaction piston plate is moved longitudinally towards the front from the retracted position to the extended position, the loose materials are pushed through the loading passage and into a compaction chamber. The compaction chamber is also defined within the bale forming machine and is in communication with an outlet end of the load passage. Accordingly, the loose materials which are pushed by the compaction piston stage extended through the loading passage are compacted in bales within the compaction chamber. The compacting chamber of such conventional bale forming machines generally has a rectangular solid shape, which has predetermined dimensions, including a predetermined width. In addition to the front surface of the compaction piston platen in the extended position, the compaction chamber is typically defined by a floor, a roof and an end wall, opposite the compaction piston platen, which are fixed in position . The compaction chamber is further defined by a pair of opposed side walls which are adapted to move cooperatively to eject a compacted bale. In particular, once a bale has been formed in the compacting chamber, the bale is ejected in such a way that the next bale can be compacted. The ejected bale can then be tied or taped before transport. Conventional bale forming machines generally include a discharge piston assembly having a discharge piston cylinder for ejecting a compacted bale. Typically, the discharge piston assembly moves from a retracted position where the discharge piston plate forms a first side wall of the compaction chamber to an extended position advancing the discharge piston plate through the compaction chamber in such a way that the compacted bale is expelled from it. Generally, the discharge piston plate advances longitudinally in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the loading passage. Conventional bale machines typically operate in one of two modes, namely a separation mode and a bale mode of obstruction. In the separation mode, the second side wall of the compaction chamber includes a door which is closed during the compaction operations and which is opened once the compacted bale has been formed in such a way that the compacted bale can be ejected from the compaction chamber.

The door can then be closed before compaction of the next bale. In clogged bale mode, the second side wall of the compaction chamber also includes a door. However, the door remains open during compaction operations in the clogged bale mode and the back portion of a previously compacted bale fills the opening in the side wall of the compaction chamber during compaction of the bale that follows. Once the bale that follows has been compacted, it can be expelled in the opening, so it pushes the previously compacted bale, which has previously obstructed the opening in the compaction chamber, additionally downstream in the bale-forming machine . The more recently compacted bale remains at least partially within the opening, however, it serves as the bale of obstruction to fill the opening in the side wall of the compaction chamber during compaction of the bale that follows. The bales which are formed by conventional bale forming machines typically have a predetermined size as defined by the predetermined size of the compacting chamber. However, in some cases, large bales are formed. For example, loose materials collected within the loading passage and pushed by the compaction piston assembly to the compaction chamber may exceed the capacity of the compaction chamber, even after compaction, such that at least one portion of the compacted bale extends beyond the compacting chamber and towards the loading passage. In such cases, conventional bale making machines are generally unsuitable for ejecting the large bale from the compacting chamber, since the doors of conventional bale machines are adapted to open only to the predetermined width of the compacting chamber . Therefore, any attempt to eject large bales from such machines to form conventional bales can damage the machine to form bales. Therefore, after the formation of a large bale, the bale-forming machine operator must temporarily suspend the operations to form bales and enter the compaction chamber to manually remove the excess material which is extends beyond the compacting chamber in such a way that the resulting bale is fixed within the compacting chamber and can be ejected. As will be apparent, this manual removal of excess material consumes time; It is dangerous and laborious. Accordingly, bale forming machines that are adapted to unload large bales of compacted waste material have been developed. For example, U.S. Patent No. 4,658,719 which was issued on April 21, 1987 to Jerry L. Jackson, et al. and assigned to Harris Press and Shear, Inc. describes a mechanism to release large bales from a bale former of waste material. The machines for forming waste bales of the Jackson patent "719, includes a discharge passage in which a compacted bale is ejected.The discharge passage has a predetermined width that defines the maximum width of a bale. of the Jackson 719 pate bale forming machine includes a side wall consisting of internal and external sections.By compacting and ejecting the bales of the predetermined size, the internal and external side wall sections are placed in However, after compaction of a large bale, the inner side wall section can be moved vertically and placed on the external side wall section, therefore the effective width of the side wall of the download passage is decreased and, consequently, the width of the discharge passage is correspondingly increased. In this way, a large bale can then be ejected from the bale forming machine. However, the internal wall section of the waste bale forming machine of the '719 Jackson patent is relatively thick such that the vertical movement of the inner wall section requires a relatively large displacement force, typically supplied by a hydraulic motor. Furthermore, the inner and outer walls must be machined precisely in such a manner that the coupling wall surfaces of the inner and outer wall sections can be slidably coupled. Another bale forming machine of waste material having a mechanism for unloading large bales is described by U.S. Patent No. 5,007,337, which was issued on April 16, 1991 to Horace R. Newsom and assigned to Mosely Machinery Company, Inc. The '337 patent of Newsom describes a horizontal waste bale forming machine, which also includes a discharge passage, adjacent to and downstream of the compacting chamber within which the compacted bales are expelled. In addition, the waste material bale forming machine of the '337 patent of Newsom may include a side discharge passage wall, adjacent to the outlet end of the load passage. The output end of the load passage is generally defined as the end of the load passage adjacent to the compaction chamber.

The side wall of the discharge passage defines the width of the discharge passage and, consequently, the maximum width of the compacted bale. In operation, the side wall of the discharge passage has a normal position, which defines the predetermined width of the standard compacted bales. In addition, the side wall of the discharge passage is adapted to move at a predetermined distance "d", laterally outward to a wider position in order to increase the width of the discharge passage so that a bale can be discharged. big size. In this way, the side wall of the discharge passage of the bale-forming machine of the waste material of the '337 patent of Newsom has two positions, namely a normal position and a wider position in which the side wall of The discharge passage has been moved laterally outward by a predetermined distance "d". As described above, some bale forming machines can operate in the bale mode, in which a pre-compacted bale is disposed within an opening in the compacting chamber during compaction of the bale that follows. During the compaction process, however, the material in the compaction chamber is subjected to relatively large forces. Accordingly, the compacting chamber itself, which includes the previously compacted obstruction bale, must be adapted to withstand large forces. Typically, the bale of obstruction is clamped within the opening in the side wall of the compaction chamber by frictional forces between the bale and the discharge passage. In some cases, such as cases in which the bale of obstruction has a relatively high moisture content or is slightly smaller in size, the frictional forces that retain the bale of obstruction within the defined opening in the compaction chamber can be overcome by the forces exerted on the material in the compaction chamber such that the obstruction bale is pushed from the opening and advanced in the discharge passage. Consequently, the bale that is formed within the compacting chamber will typically be without form or size due to the movement of the bale of obstruction from the opening. In order to further secure the bale of obstruction within the opening defined in the side wall of the compacting chamber, U.S. Patent No. 5,081,922 which was issued on January 21, 1992 to Brody W. Rudd, Jr., et al., And was assigned to C & M Company describes a device for controlling the discharge of a bale from a solid waste bale forming machine. The waste bale forming machine of the '922 patent of Rudd includes a discharge passage, which is aligned with, and in communication with, the compaction chamber. Once the waste bale forming machine of the '922 patent of Rudd has completed the compaction operations, the compacted bale is discharged through an opening in the side wall of the compacting chamber and into the discharge passage. However, a back portion of the compacted bale is retained within the opening in the side wall of the compaction chamber as an obstruction bale during compaction of the bale that follows. The longitudinally extending discharge passage of the waste bale forming machine of the '922 Rudd patent is defined by the upper and lower plates and a fixed side wall. The discharge passage is further defined by a laterally movable side wall which is mounted for increased movement in and out in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the discharge passage. In particular, the laterally movable side wall is mounted for increased movement in and out from a predetermined position in alignment with the output end of the load passage. Thus, the side wall, laterally movable can be moved incrementally laterally, following the ejection of a bale to push against, and to increase the frictional forces on the bale ejected in the discharge passage during compaction of the bale that follows. Consequently, the ejected bale is held in position within the opening defined in the side wall of the compaction chamber during compaction of the bale that follows. Once the bale has been compacted by the waste bale forming machine of the '922 Rudd patent, it is ejected into the discharge passage. However, if there is excessive resistance to the ejection of the compacted bale, such as in cases in which the recently compacted bale is larger than the previously compacted bale of obstruction, the laterally movable side wall can also be increasedly retracted from the predetermined position in alignment with the output end of the load passage to reduce the resistance to ejection of the compacted bale to thereby allow the compacted bale to be discharged into the discharge passage. Subsequently, the laterally movable side wall can again be moved laterally inwardly to more securely hold the blocking bale in position during compaction of the bale that follows.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus and an improved method for ejecting compacted bales of waste material without damaging the bale forming apparatus, thereby ensuring the controllable ejection of a large bale from a bale forming apparatus. , and wherein also an obstruction bale is securely retained at least partially within an aperture defined in a side wall of a compaction chamber of the bale forming apparatus. According to the invention, this object is met by an apparatus and method for forming bales of loose materials, such as waste material, which include a controllably placed door assembly. In one embodiment, the door assembly is adapted to be moved to a final position in which the leading edge portion of the door is generally aligned with the compaction piston platen. Therefore, the opening of the compaction chamber defined by the open door has a size corresponding to the position of the compaction piston plate and, consequently, is at least as wide as the compacted bale in such a way that the Bales of various widths, including large bales, can be ejected.

In another embodiment, in which the bale forming apparatus operates in the bale mode, the door assembly includes a door closing means for partially closing the door such that the front portion of the door is pushed against at least one bale partially ejected. In particular, the door closing means includes a speed detecting means for repeatedly determining the speed with which the door is being closed and a door position controller for stopping the additional closing of the door once the door detector is closed. speed determines that the speed with which the door is being closed is less than a predetermined speed. By properly selecting the predetermined speed, the ejected bale is securely clamped at least partially within the opening to the compacting chamber during subsequent compaction operations. The apparatus for forming bales of loose materials generally includes a housing defining a load passage, such as a longitudinally extending load passage, which is adapted to receive the loose materials. The housing also defines a compaction chamber in communication with the load passage. A compaction piston assembly is preferably disposed at least partially within the load passage and is adapted for movement, such as longitudinal movement, therein. In particular, the compaction piston assembly moves between a retracted position and an extended position. The compaction piston assembly includes a compaction piston plate for pushing the loose materials which are received into the loading passage to the compacting chamber and for compacting the loose materials within the compacting chamber in a bale as soon as the Compaction piston assembly moves from the retracted position to the extended position. Once a bale is formed, the movement of the compaction piston assembly and, in particular, the movement of the compaction piston plate is generally stopped, such as by a compaction piston controller. The bale forming apparatus of the present invention also preferably includes a movable door assembly that includes a door movably mounted to the housing and having a leading edge portion. According to one embodiment, the leading edge portion of the door moves, such as in a longitudinally backward direction, from an initial position to a final position. The final position is generally aligned with the compaction piston plate to thereby define an opening from the compaction chamber through which compacted bales of various widths can be ejected. In a modality, the front edge portion of the door moves in a final position which is aligned with the compaction piston platen. In another embodiment, the leading edge portion of the door moves to a final position which is rearward of the compaction piston platen. Since the compaction piston plate defines the maximum width of the compacted bale, a bale, such as a large bale, can be ejected once the gate has been moved to an overall position in alignment with the platen. compaction piston. The driving means of the movable door assembly may include a door position detector, mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the door, to generate signals indicative of the position of the door. The actuating means may also include a door position controller for determining the position of the door based on the signals generated by the door position detector. In addition, the actuating means may include a hydraulic actuator for moving the door from the initial position to the final position in response to the door position controller. The compaction piston controller may also include a compaction piston position detector, mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the compaction piston platen, to generate signals indicative of the position of the compaction piston platen. In this way, a bale of a predetermined width can be formed. In this embodiment, the door positioning controller preferably responds to the compaction piston controller in such a way that the position of the door relative to the position of the compaction piston plate can be determined once the piston is stopped. compaction piston assembly. The bale forming apparatus of the present invention may also include a discharge piston assembly that includes a discharge piston plate. The discharge piston cylinder is adapted to move through the compaction chamber from a retracted position to an extended position, once the compaction piston assembly is stopped and the doors have been moved to the final position. In this way, the compacted bale can be expelled through the opening into the compaction chamber defined by the open door. Typically, the discharge piston plate forms a portion of the compaction chamber in the retracted position. In a further embodiment in which the apparatus forming the bales of the present invention operates in an obstruction bale mode, the door assembly includes the door closing means for partially closing the door such that the edge portion front of the bale is pushed against a bale at least partially ejected.

Accordingly, the bale is retained at least partially within the opening to the compacting chamber during compaction of the bale that follows. The door closing means includes the speed sensor to repeatedly determine the speed at which the door is being closed. In addition, the door position controller of this mode, responds to the speed detector to stop further closing of the door once the speed detector determines that the speed with which the door is being closed is less than the default speed. In this way, the frictional force with which the bale is being retained within the opening can be controlled to prevent unwanted sliding of the bale of obstruction from the opening during compaction of the bale that follows. The closing means of the door may also include a hydraulic actuator for partially closing the door. In this embodiment, the door positioning controller may also include a pressure sensor to repeatedly provide signals indicative of the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator to partially close the door. Consequently, the door positioning controller of this mode can also stop the additional closing of the door, once the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator exceeds a predetermined pressure. In this way, once the speed with which the door is being closed is less than the predetermined speed, or once the hydraulic pressure required to close the door exceeds a predetermined pressure value, the additional closure of the door is it stops in this way and the ejected bale is retained, as a bale of obstruction, at least partially within the opening to the compaction chamber. The speed detector may include a position detector, mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the door, to generate signals indicative of the position of the door. In addition, the speed detector may include a synchronizer to determine the respective times at which signals indicative of the position of the door are generated by the position detector. In this way, the speed with which the door is being closed can be determined. In addition, the leading edge portion of the door may include an outwardly extending projection portion having a contact surface for securely contacting and holding the bale expelled at least partially within the opening to the compacting chamber. In this embodiment, the bale forming apparatus may include a discharge chute adjacent the opening to the compacting chamber. The discharge chute includes a support surface for supporting the ejected bale and an upwardly extending side wall extending up an edge portion of the support surface. In this way, the bale ejected can be placed between the side wall that extends upwards and the contact surface of the door. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the door of the bale-forming apparatus of loose materials can be controllably opened to a final position in general, aligned with the compaction piston plate to define an opening from the chamber of compaction having a size corresponding to the position of the compaction piston platen and through which the compacted bales, of various sizes, including the large bales, can be expelled. Furthermore, according to a further embodiment of the present invention, the door can be controllably closed against a bale of obstruction in such a way that the bale of obstruction is securely retained within the opening to the compacting chamber during the compaction of the bale which continues to prevent the bale from sliding from the opening.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an apparatus for forming bales of loose materials according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a fragmentary perspective view of the bale forming apparatus of Figure 1, taken along line 2-2 and illustrating the extended and retracted positions of both the compaction piston assembly and the assembly of discharge piston; Figure 3 shows a block diagram illustrating the compaction piston controller and the driving means of a mode of the bale apparatus of the present invention; Figure 4 shows a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the bale-forming apparatus according to Figure 1 illustrating the alignment of the open door with the compaction piston stage; Figure 5 shows a fragmentary perspective view of the bale forming apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention during ejection of a compacted bale through the opening to the compaction chamber defined by the open door, which is aligned with the compaction piston plate; Figure 6 also shows a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the bale-forming apparatus according to Figure 1 in operation in an obstruction bale mode in which an obstruction bale is retained within the opening to the defined compaction chamber through the open door during the compaction of a bale that follows; Figure 7 shows a further fragmentary cross-sectional view of the bale forming apparatus of Figure 1 illustrating the leading edge portion of the door in a final position, which is rearward of the compaction piston platen during ejection of a compacted bale, which, in turn, pushes the additional downstream bale of the bale forming apparatus; and finally, Figure 8 shows a block diagram illustrating the relationship of the door closing means and the door assembly of an embodiment of the bale forming apparatus of the present invention.

The best way to put the invention into practice Next, the present invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show the preferred modifications of the invention. The invention can, however, be exemplified in several other ways and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Referring now to Figure 1, an apparatus 10 is illustrated for forming bales of loose materials, such as waste materials, according to the present invention. The bale forming apparatus 10 includes a reservoir or hopper 12 within which loose materials are deposited, such as recyclable waste materials including cans, plastics and paper. The hopper 12 is generally mounted to an upper portion of the housing 14 of the apparatus 10 to form bales and is in communication with a load passage 16 defined within the housing 14 such that the loading passage 16 receives the loose materials which are deposited within the hopper 1 2. As shown in more detail in Figure 2, the loading passage 16 of one embodiment extends longitudinally through the housing 14 and defines a longitudinal axis 16a therethrough. Typically, the loading passage 16 has a parallelepiped shape and, more typically, has a rectangular solid shape. A compaction piston assembly 18 can be disposed at least partially within the loading passage 16. The compaction piston assembly 18 generally includes a compaction piston plate 20, which is adapted for movement, such as longitudinal movement, through the loading passage 16 between a retracted position and an extended position. For illustrative purposes, the platen 20 of the compacting piston in the extended position is shown in solid lines in Figure 2 and the platen 20 of the compacting piston in the retracted position is shown in dotted lines. The plate 20 of the compacting piston is typically driven in hydraulic form. Thus, assembly 18. of the compacting piston also generally includes a longitudinally extending hydraulic cylinder 22 and a hydraulic pressure source (not shown) for operating the platen 20 of the compacting piston. As soon as the platen 20 of the compacting piston moves longitudinally towards the front from the retracted position to the extended position, the loose materials, which are received within the loading passage 16, are pushed into the compaction chamber 24. Also as illustrated in Figure 2, the compaction chamber 24 is defined within the housing 14 and is in communication with an exit end 26 of the loading passage 16. The longitudinal forward movement of the platen 20 of the compacting piston not only pushes the loose materials into the compacting chamber 24, but also compacts the loose materials in a bale 54. Typically, the assembly 18 of the compacting piston alternates between the loading passage 16 in such a way that additional loose materials are received within the loading passage 16 while the assembly 18 of the compacting piston is in the retracted position. The additional materials can then be added to the bale 54 during the next longitudinal forward movement of the compaction piston plate 20. The bale forming apparatus 10 of the present invention generally includes a discharge means, such as the discharge piston assembly 28 which is disposed at least partially within the compaction chamber 24. The discharge piston assembly 28 includes a platen 30 of the discharge piston which is adapted to move through the compaction chamber 24 between a retracted position and an extended position. For example, the platen 30 of the discharge piston is shown in the retracted position in Figure 2 and in a partially extended position in Figures 5 and 7. In particular, the assembly 28 of the discharge piston is generally moved in a direction indicated by the arrow 32 which is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 16a of the loading passage 16. By moving the platen 30 of the discharge piston through the compaction chamber 24 from the retracted position to the extended position, the compacted bale 54 can be ejected as described hereinafter. Although not illustrated, the assembly 28 of the discharge piston is preferably driven hydraulically and can therefore also include a hydraulic cylinder and an associated hydraulic pressure source.

The compaction chamber 24 is generally defined by a floor 34, a roof 36 and an end wall 38, each of which are typically fixed in position. In addition, the front surface of the platen 20 of the compacting piston in the extended position generally defines a wall of the compaction chamber 24, opposite the fixed end wall 38. Additionally, a first side wall of the compaction chamber 24 is formed by the front surface of the platen 30 of the discharge piston of the discharge piston assembly 28 in the retracted position. Bale forming apparatus 10 of the present invention can operate in either a separation mode or an obstruction bale mode. In the separation mode, a second side wall of the compaction chamber 24 opposite the front surface of the platen 30 of the discharge piston is formed by a movable door 40. The door 40 is closed during the compaction operations and is adapted to open after compaction of a bale 54 to allow the compacted bale 54 to be expelled through the opening, whereby it is exposed in the compaction chamber 24. The door 40 can then be closed before compaction of the bale 54 that follows. Alternatively, in the bale mode, a previously compacted bale 54 is retained within the opening of the compaction chamber 24 defined by the open gate 40 during compaction of a bale 54 that follows. Consequently, the second side wall of the compaction chamber 24, opposite the front surface of the plate 30, of the discharge piston is formed, at least partially, by a rear portion of the obstruction bale filling the opening defined by the open door 40. As illustrated in the form of the block diagram in Figure 3, the bale apparatus 10 of the present invention preferably includes a compaction piston controller 42, such as a programmable logic controller, for controlling the movement of assembly 18 of the compacting piston. Preferably, the movement of the mounting 18 of the compacting piston stops once the bale 54 is formed. Various methods can be employed to determine when the bale 54 has been formed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, for a hydraulically driven compaction piston assembly 18, a predetermined maximum hydraulic pressure can be selected. The platen 20 of the compacting piston can then be pushed longitudinally forwardly into the loading passage 16 until the hydraulic pressure required to move the platen 20 of the compacting piston equals the predetermined maximum hydraulic pressure. Once the predetermined maximum hydraulic pressure is reached, the longitudinal advance of the mounting 18 of the compacting piston can be stopped. Accordingly, the controller 42 of the compacting piston of the embodiment preferably includes a pressure sensor 44 for determining the hydraulic pressure required to move the platen 20 of the compaction piston forward. The compaction piston controller 42 also preferably includes a compaction piston position detector 46 mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the platen 20 of the compaction piston to generate position indicative signals, such as the longitudinal position, of the platen 20 of the compacting piston relative to the housing 14. According to the modality described above, once the predetermined maximum hydraulic pressure is reached and the longitudinal advance of the platen 20 of the compacting piston is stopped, the controller 42 of the compacting piston can determine the longitudinal position of the plate 20 of the compacting piston. The compactor piston controller 42 can then compare the longitudinal position of the compaction piston plate 20 to a predetermined longitudinal position or to a predetermined range of longitudinal positions., generally selected to define the nominal width of the bale 54 compacted. For example, a predetermined range of longitudinal positions is illustrated by the pair of dotted lines 48 in Figure 2. If the platen 20 of the compacting piston is beyond longitudinally or forwardly in the predetermined longitudinal position 48, the assembly 18 of the piston of compacting is preferably retracted longitudinally to the retracted position in such a way that additional loose materials can be received within the loading passage 16. The plate 20 of the compacting piston can then be advanced longitudinally through the loading passage 16 again to compact the additional loose materials into compacted bales 54. However, if the longitudinal position of the platen 20 of the compacting piston is equal to, or longitudinally backward from the predetermined longitudinal position, the alternating longitudinal movement of the platen 20 of the compacting piston stops, such as in the extended position. shown in Figure 4. The bale apparatus 10 of the present invention also includes a movable door assembly 50. The door assembly 50 includes the door 40 having a leading edge portion 52. The door 40 is movably mounted to the housing 14 and is adapted to open so that it defines the opening from the compaction chamber 24 through which the compacted bale 54 is at least partially ejected, such as by the assembly 28. of the discharge piston. For example, ejection of the bale 54 through the opening for the compaction chamber 24 defined by the open door 40 is shown in Figure 5. In one embodiment, the door assembly 50 includes a drive means 56. to move the door 40 from an initial position to a final position. Typically, the drive means 56 moves the door 40 to the final position, once the mounting 18 of the compacting piston has been stopped. In particular, the drive means 56 moves the front edge portion 52 of the door 40 to the final position which is generally in alignment with the platen 20 of the compaction piston. By moving the position 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 to a final position, which is generally in alignment with the platen 20 of the compacting piston, the opening of the compaction chamber 24 which is thereby exposed has a The size corresponds to the position of the platen 20 of the compacting piston and, in particular, has a width at least as large as the maximum width of the bale 54 compacted, including the bale 54 of large size. The door 40 can be mounted to move in a variety of movements relative to the housing 14 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the door 40 may be mounted to pivot to expose the opening of the compaction chamber 24 through which the compacted bales 54 are ejected. For illustrative purposes, however, a door 40 mounted for longitudinal movement is illustrated and will be described in detail later. In this embodiment, the actuating means 56 moves the door 40 longitudinally, such as in a continuous longitudinal movement, from the initial position to the final position in which the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 is in an alignment in general longitudinal with the plate 20 of the compaction piston. More particularly, the leading edge portion of the door 40 of this embodiment is generally aligned with the platen 20 of the compacting piston when the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 is at least as longitudinally rearward as the platen 20. of the compaction piston as described in the following. In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 4 and 5, the drive means 56 includes means for moving the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 longitudinally to a final position., which is aligned longitudinally with the plate 20 of the compacting piston and, in particular, which is aligned longitudinally with the front surface of the plate 20 of the compacting piston. In another embodiment illustrated in Figure 7, the drive means 56 includes means for moving the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 longitudinally to an end position which is longitudinally rearward of the platen 20 of the compacting piston and, in particular, which is longitudinally rearward of the front surface of the plate 20 of the compacting piston. The drive means 56 may include a door position detector 58. For example, the door position detector 58 may be an optical detector, or a linear position transducer, such as the linear position transducer distributed by Celesco Transducer Products. Inc. The door position detector 58 is generally mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the door 40, such as along the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 as schematically illustrated in Figures 3-5. The door position detector 58 generates signals indicative of the position, such as the longitudinal position, of the door 40 relative to the housing 14. The means 56 for actuating this mode may also include a controller 60 for positioning the door. door that responds to the signals generated by the door position detector 58. The door positioning controller 60 determines the position of the door 40 relative to the housing 14. The drive means 56 may additionally include a hydraulic actuator 62, which responds to the door positioning controller 60, to move the door. gate 40 longitudinally from the initial position to the final position. Typically, the door 40 moves longitudinally backward from the initial position to the final position, but in some cases, the door 40 can be moved longitudinally forward to the end position. In this embodiment, the hydraulic actuator 62 includes a hydraulic cylinder 64 and a hydraulic pressure source (not shown). However, other means may be employed to move the door 40 from the initial position to the final position without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The door positioning controller 60 preferably responds to the compaction piston controller 42 in such a way that the position of the door 40 can be determined relative to the position of the compaction piston plate 20, for example, once that the assembly 18 of the compacting piston is stopped. Preferably, the longitudinal position of the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 is determined relative to the longitudinal position of the front surface of the platen 20 of the compacting piston once the mounting 18 of the compacting piston is stopped. In this way, the door 40 can be moved exactly longitudinally to a final position, which is generally aligned with the platen 20 of the compaction piston. Therefore, regardless of the driving mode, the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 can be moved to a final position, which is generally aligned with the platen 20 of the compacting piston, such that the legs 54 compacted of various sizes and widths can be easily ejected. In particular, the legs 54 of large size, that is, bales 54 having a width greater than the predetermined width of the compaction chamber 24, can be ejected without damaging the apparatus 10 to form bales and without requiring an actuator to suspend in Temporary form the operations in order to eliminate the portions of the bales 54 compacted before their expulsion. As described above, the bale forming apparatus 10 of the present invention is also adapted to operate in an obstruction bale mode in which an obstruction bale 66 is securely retained within the opening to the compaction chamber 24 defined by gate 40 open during subsequent compaction operations as shown in Figure 6. In this mode, the door assembly 50 includes a means 68 for closing the door to partially close the door 40 so that the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 is urged against at least the obstruction bale 66 partially ejected. Therefore, the rear portion of at least the bale 66 of partially ejected obstruction is retained within the opening to the compaction chamber 24 during compaction of the bale 66 of obstruction that follows. Controllably closing the door 40 against the bale 66 of obstruction, however, the frictional forces that secure the bale 66 of obstruction within the opening are increased, to avoid undesirable sliding of the bale 66 of obstruction during the operations of subsequent compaction. According to this embodiment, the door closing means 68 includes a speed detector 70 to repeatedly determine the speed with which the door 40 is being closed. The door closing means 68 may also include a door positioning controller 72, such as a programmable logic controller, which responds to the speed detector 70 to prevent further closing of the door 40 once the detector 70 determines that the speed at which the door 40 is being closed is less than a predetermined speed. The door positioning controller 60 of the door closing means 68 and the driving means 56 can be the same controller or separate controllers that can be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. In any case, the ejecting bale 66 ejected can be held securely by the means 68 of closing the door at least partially within the opening to the compaction chamber 24 once the closing speed of the door 40 is reached. falls below a predetermined speed.

In one embodiment, the speed detector 70 includes a door position detector 58, mounted in the predetermined positional relationship to the door 40 such as along the front edge portion 52 of the door as shown schematically in the FIGS. Figures 4 and 5, to generate signals indicative of the position of the door 40. As described above, together with the door positioning controller 60, the door position detectors 54 of the door closing means 68 and drive means 56 may be the same detector or may be separate detectors without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The speed detector 70 may also include a synchronizer 76 to determine the respective times at which the signals indicative of the position of the door 40 are generated by the door position detector 58. On the basis of the ratio of change in the position of the door 40, as determined by the door position detector 58 and the associated synchronizer, the speed with which the door 40 is closed by the controller can be easily determined. 72 for positioning the door. As illustrated in Figures 4-7, the portion 52 of the leading edge of the door 40 of this embodiment preferably includes an outwardly extending projection portion. The outwardly extending projection portion has a contact surface 78 for contacting and securely retaining the obstruction bale 66, expelled at least partially within the opening to the compaction chamber 24. For example, the projection portion may extend outwardly from the housing approximately 0.3048 m (one foot). Thus, the frictional forces securing the bale 66 of obstruction within the opening are further increased by the elongated surface area of the contact surface 78 of this modality of the front edge portion 52 of the door 40. As shown in FIG. further illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, bale apparatus 1 0 may include a discharge chute 80. The discharge chute 80 is adjacent to and downstream of the opening to the compaction chamber 24. The discharge chute 80 generally includes a support surface 82 for supporting the ejected bale 66 and a side wall 84 extending upwardly from an edge portion of the support surface 82. Typically, the side wall 84 extending upwardly is generally coplanar with the end wall 38 of the housing 14 defining a portion of the compaction chamber 24. In this way, the discharge means of the embodiment, such as the assembly 28 of the discharge piston, preferably ejects the compacted bale 54 / bale 66 at least partially through the opening, such that a back portion of pail 54 compacted / bale 66 of obstruction remains inside and fills the opening defined by open door 40. As illustrated in Figures 5-7, at least the partially ejected bale 54 / bale 66 is placed between the side wall 84 extending upwardly and the contact surface 78 of the projection portion extending toward outside the door 40 in such a way that by partially closing the door 40 on the obstruction bale 66, the obstruction bale 66 is held securely within the opening. As is known to those skilled in the art, a portion of bundling or wrapping (not illustrated) can be provided to a predetermined position downstream of the apparatus 10 to form bales to securely bind the compacted bale 54 / bale 66 obstruction, which prevents excessive lengthening of the bale. For example, the bale 66 of obstruction illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 has been taped to prevent its subsequent elongation. In addition to the speed detector 70, the door closing means 68 may include a hydraulic actuator 86 for partially closing the door 40. Typically, the same hydraulic actuator 86 is employed by both the door closing means 68 and the drive means 56, however separate hydraulic actuators may be employed without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. As described above together with the drive means 56, the hydraulic actuator 86 generally includes a hydraulic cylinder 64 and a respective pressure source (not shown). In this embodiment, the door closing means 68 further includes a pressure sensor 88 to repeatedly provide signals indicative of the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator 86 to partially close the door 40. The door positioning controller 72 of this The mode also preferably responds to the signals provided by the pressure detector 88. In this way, the closing of the door 40 can also be stopped once the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator 86 to partially close the door 40 exceeds a predetermined pressure, even if the speed with which the door 40 is being closed does not falls below the predetermined speed value. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the partial closing of the door 40 stops once the closing speed of the door 40 is below a predetermined speed or once the hydraulic pressure is required to further close the door 40 exceeds a predetermined pressure value. In any case, the additional closure of the door 40 is stopped and the bale 66 of obstruction is securely retained at least partially within the opening to the compaction chamber 24 during the subsequent compaction operations.

Therefore, according to this embodiment of the present invention, compact bales 54 / bales 66 of various sizes and widths can be easily secured, including small size bales and bales having a relatively high moisture content, for example , as obstruction packs 66, within the opening defined for compaction chamber 24, with at least door 40 partially open. In particular, the controlled partial closing of the door 40 against the bale 66 of obstruction increases the relative frictional forces that secure the bale 66 of obstruction within the opening and prevent the desired movement of the bale 66 of obstruction during the compaction of a bale Whats Next.

Industrial use The invention can be used within the working structure of the described modifications, so that these can be used with additional modalities with respect to the apparatus and the method in the sense of the scope of the invention described.

Claims (23)

1. CLAIMS 1 . An apparatus for forming bales of loose materials, comprising: a housing defining an extended cargo passage and a compacting chamber in communication with the cargo passage, wherein the cargo passage is adapted to receive the loose materials; and a compacting piston assembly disposed at least partially within the loading passage and adapted to move therebetween between a retracted position and an extended position, the compacting piston assembly having a compaction piston platen for pushing the loose materials which are received within the loading passage in the compacting chamber, and for compacting the loose materials within the compacting chamber in a bale as soon as the compacting piston assembly moves forward from the retracted position to the extended position, characterized by a compaction piston controller for controlling the mounting movement of the compaction piston in such a way that bales of various sizes are formed; and a movable door assembly with a door movably mounted to the housing, the door having a leading edge portion; and an actuating means for moving the door from an initial position to a final position, wherein the leading edge portion of the door is generally in alignment with the compaction piston platen, thereby defining an opening from the chamber of compaction having a size corresponding to the position of the compaction piston platen and through which compacted bales of various widths are ejected.
2. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving means comprises means for moving the front edge portion of the door to a final position which is aligned with the compaction piston stage.
3. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the driving means comprises means for moving the leading edge portion of the door to a final position which is rearward of the compaction piston platen.
4. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuating means comprises: a door position detector, mounted in a predetermined positional relationship to the door, for generating indications indicating the position of the door; a door positioning controller, which responds to the signals generated by the door positioning detector, to determine the position of the door; and a hydraulic actuator, responsive to the door positioning controller, for moving the door from the initial position to the final position in general in alignment with the compaction piston platen.
5. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that the compaction piston controller comprises a position sensor of the compaction piston, mounted in a predetermined positional relation to the compaction piston stage to generate signals indicating the position of the platen of the compaction piston, and wherein the door positioning controller responds to the compaction piston controller to determine the position of the door relative to the position of the compaction piston platen.
6. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that a discharge piston assembly comprises a discharge piston plate for moving through the compacting chamber from a retracted position to an extended position, once the door is moved to the final position in such a way that the compacted bale is ejected through the opening from the compacting chamber, wherein the discharge piston stage forms a portion of the compacting chamber in the retracted position.
7. 7. The apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by the discharge means for at least partially expelling the compacted bale through a defined opening in the compacting chamber; and a movable door assembly comprising: a door having a leading edge portion, the door which is slidably mounted to the housing and adapted to open, thereby defining the opening of the compacting chamber through which the bale compacted is at least partially ejected by the discharge dump; and a means of closing the door to partially close the door such that the leading edge portion of the door is pushed against at least the bale partially ejected so that the bale is at least partially retained within the opening to the compacting chamber during the compacting of a bale that follows, the closing means of the door comprising: a speed detector for repeatedly determining the speed with which the door is being closed; and a door positioning controller, in response to the speed detector to stop further closing of the door once the speed detector determines that the speed with which the door is being closed is less than a predetermined speed of the door. such that the bale ejected is thereby held securely at least partially within the opening to the compaction chamber.
8. 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the means for closing the door further comprises: a hydraulic actuator for partially closing the door; and a pressure sensor for repeatedly providing signals indicative of the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator to partially close the door, wherein the door positioning controller responds to the signals provided by the pressure sensor such that the closure The additional door is stopped once the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator to partially close the door exceeds a predetermined pressure such that the ejected bale is secured securely at least partially within the opening to the compacting chamber .
9. 9. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the speed detector comprises: a door position detector, mounted in a predetermined positional relation to the door, to generate signals indicative of the position of the door; and a synchronizer for determining the respective times in which the signals indicative of the position of the door are generated by the door position detector in such a way that the speed with which the door is being closed can be determined.
10. 10. The apparatus according to claim 7, characterized in that the front edge portion of the door comprises an outwardly extending projection portion having a contact surface for securely contacting and holding the bale expelled at least partially inside. from the opening to the compaction chamber. eleven .
11. The apparatus according to claim 10, characterized by a discharge chute adjacent to the opening of the compacting chamber, the discharge chute comprising the following: a support surface for supporting the bale ejected; and a side wall extending upward, extending upwardly from an edge portion of the support surface such that the ejected bale is positioned between the side wall extending upwardly and the contact surface of the door.
12. 12. The apparatus according to claim 1 and / or 7, characterized by a door slidably mounted to the housing of the bale forming apparatus, the door having a leading edge portion.; and a drive means for moving the door from an initial position to a final position once the bale has been formed and the movement of the compacting piston assembly has been stopped, wherein the driving means moves the leading edge portion. of the door, longitudinally to the final position, which is at least as far back as the compaction piston platen for thereby defining an opening from the compaction chamber having a width at least as large as the width of the compaction chamber. the compacted bale and through which the compacted bale is expelled.
13. 13. The apparatus according to claim 12, characterized in that the compacting chamber of the bale forming apparatus has a predetermined first width and wherein the driving means of the movable door assembly is adapted to move the door longitudinally to a final position for for this reason define an opening having a second predetermined width, greater than the first predetermined width, in such a way that a compacted bale having a width greater than the width of the compacting chamber can be ejected.
14. 14. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 1 2, characterized in that the driving means comprises means for moving the front edge portion of the door longitudinally to a final position which is longitudinally aligned with the compaction piston plate.
15. 15. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 12, characterized in that the driving means comprises means for moving the front edge portion of the door longitudinally to a final position which is longitudinally rearward of the compaction piston plate.
16. 16. The method of forming bales of loose materials with a bale forming apparatus having a controllably placed door, characterized by the following steps: a) receiving the loose materials in a defined loading passage within the apparatus to form bales; b) moving a platen of the compacting piston within the loading passage between a retracted position and an extended position, the step of moving the compaction piston platen comprises the steps of pushing the loose materials, which are received within the passage of loading in an adjacent compaction chamber, and compacting the loose materials within the compacting chamber in a bale as soon as the compaction piston stage moves from the retracted position to the extended position; c) stopping the movement of the compaction piston plate once the bale has been formed; d) moving a portion of the leading edge of the door from an initial position to a final position, wherein the final position is generally aligned with the compaction piston plate to thereby define an opening from the compaction chamber, which has a size corresponding to the platen position of the compaction piston; and e) ejecting the compacted bale through the opening from the compaction chamber defined by the door.
17. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the step of moving the front edge portion of the door comprises the step of moving the front edge portion of the door to a final position which is aligned with the platen of the compaction piston.
18. 18. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the step of moving the front edge portion of the door comprises the step of moving the front edge portion of the door to a final position which is rearward of the piston platen of compaction.
19. 19. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the step of moving the front edge portion of the door comprises: a) determining the position of the door; b) determine the position of the compaction piston plate; and c) hydraulically moving the door such that the final position of the door is generally aligned with the compaction piston platen.
20. 20. The method according to claim 16, characterized in that the ejection step comprises the step of moving the discharge piston platen through the compacting chamber from a retracted position to an extended position in such a way that a compacted bundle is expelled through the opening from the compaction chamber. twenty-one .
21. The method according to claim 16, to securely hold a bale compacted at least partially within the opening from the compacting chamber of the bale forming apparatus, characterized by the following steps: a) eject the compacted bale so less partially through the opening from the compaction chamber; b) retaining the bale ejected at least partially into the opening during compaction of the bale that follows, wherein the retaining step comprises the step of partially closing the opening with the door such that the front edge portion of the bale the door is pushed against at least partially the bale ejected, and wherein the step of partially closing the opening comprises the following partial steps: bt) repeatedly determining the speed with which the door is being closed; and b2) stopping further closing of the door once the speed with which the door is being closed is less than a predetermined speed such that at least the partially ejected bale is held thereby securely so less partially within the opening to the compaction chamber.
22. 22. The method in accordance with the claim 21, characterized in that the step of partially closing the opening comprises: a) moving the door hydraulically with a hydraulic actuator; b) repeatedly measuring the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic actuator to move the door; and c) stopping further closing of the door once the hydraulic pressure required to move the door exceeds a predetermined pressure such that the ejected bale is thereby held securely at least partially within the opening to the chamber of compaction.
23. 23. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that the step of repeatedly determining the speed comprises: a) repeatedly measuring the position of the door; and b) determining the respective times at which the position of the door is measured in such a way that the speed with which the door is being closed can be determined. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One method of the apparatus for forming bales of loose materials, such as waste material, includes a controllably movable door assembly. In one embodiment, the door is adapted to open from an initial position to a final position in such a way that the compacted bale can be expelled from the compaction chamber through the opening defined by the open door. In this embodiment, the leading edge portion of the door moves to a final position in general in alignment with the compaction piston platen, such that bales of various sizes, including large bales, can be easily ejected. from the apparatus to form bales. For example, the front edge portion of the door can be moved in alignment with, or backward of, the compaction piston platen. In another embodiment, the bale forming apparatus operates in an obstruction bale mode and includes a door which is pushed against at least partially the expelled bale to securely hold the bale of obstruction within the opening defined to the chamber. of compaction during the compaction of a bale that follows. In particular, the door is partially closed until the speed with which the door is being closed is less than a predetermined speed. Once the speed at which the door is heating below the predetermined speed, the additional closing of the door stops and the blocking bale is held securely within the opening due to the increased frictional forces provided by the partially closed door.