US2987989A - Scrap sheet metal balers - Google Patents

Description

June 13, 1961 J. L. FREEMAN SCRAP SHEET METAL BALERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1959 BY z ' ATmMEY June 13, 1961 J L. FREEMAN 2,987,989

SCRAP SHEET METAL BALERS Filed March 26, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Zfm "H 'm i INVENTOR.

Patented June 13, 1961 2,987,989 SCRAP SHEET METAL BALERS Jack L. Freeman, Box 488, Montrose, Colo. Filed Mar. 26, 1959, Ser. No. 802,055 2 Claims. (Cl. 100218) This invention relates to a plant for reclaiming scrap sheet metal of the type commonly known among the trade as tin. It is economically difiicult to reclaim scrap sheet metal or tin due to the variety of sizes and shapes of the scrap metal and to the relative lightness of the metal in proportion to the bulk of the scrap.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an economical mechanism which will quickly and easily, and with a of investment, convert truck loads of tin into compact, compressed, self-sustaining bales for economical handling and delivery to a steel mill.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character in which all of the expensive, hydraulic and mechanically operated presses are completely eliminated and in which gravity is employed to obtain the baling pressure required.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and efficiency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

In the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof. Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the improved sheet metal reclaiming plant;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section through a baling cylinder employed in the improved plant;

FIG. 3 is a cross section through the baling cylinder taken on the line 3-3, FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a similar cross section taken on the line 44, FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a perspective View illustrating a type of bale hook employed in the improved reclaiming plant.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, detail perspective view illustrating the extremity of a door strap as employed in the invention; and

FIG. 7 is a similar fragmentary, detail perspective view illustrating a means for locking the strap extremity of FIG. 6 in place.

Briefly, the invention comprises elevated truck ramp 10 upon which sheet metal salvage strucks may be driven to dump the metal scrap or tin into a flared hopper-like top 12 of a vertical, cylindrical baling cylinder 11. A relatively heavy crusher weight 13 is allowed to drop by gravity into the cylinder 11 to crush and press the scrap into a compact, self-sustaining circular bale, such as indicated at 14 which is horizontally withdrawn from the bottom of the cylinder.

In actual practice, the scrap is pounded downwardly and compressed upon a bale hook 15, such as shown in FIG. 2, which is positioned in the bottom of the cylinder 11 before the scrap is dumped therein. The bale 14 of compacted metal is withdrawn from the cylinder through an 180 door opening in the side and at the bottom of the cylinder which can be closed by means of two swinging doors 16 hingedly mounted upon suitable hinges 17 positioned at opposite sides of the cylinder.

The weight 13 is lifted and dropped through the medium of a conventional power crane apparatus 18 arranged to operate a hoist cable 20, a crane boom 19, and a dragline cable 21. The latter cable is provided with a ring 22 which can be dropped over a hooked extremity 23 on the bale hook 15 for withdrawing the compressed bale 14 from the cylinder 11.

It can be readily seen that the scrap metal or in dumped from the trucks on the ramp 10 can be pounded down into the cylinder 11 by repeatedly hoisting and dropping the crusher weight 13 similar to the manner of a pile driver and that when the accumulated amount of compressed metal substantially equals the height of the doors 16, the latter can be swung open and the resulting bale can be quickly and easily pulled from the cylinder by means of the dragline cable 21.

The crusher weight 13 preferably comprises a heavy steel plate bucket-like cylinder filled with solidified concrete and provided on its exterior with vertical, spaced, guide members 24 preferably consisting of lengths of railroad welded to the cylinder. The guide members 24 are preferably beveled at their lower extremities to facilitate entrance into the cylinder 11. The weight is provided with suitable cross beams 25 carrying a cable pulley 26 beneath which the hoist cable 20 is trained. The cylinder 11 is preferably supported upon a concrete footing 27 and is formed from relatively heavy steel plate riveted or welded together and may be of lighter gauge metal adjacent its top than adjacent its bottom for the more extreme internal pressure occurs adjacent the bottom of the cylinder.

A vertical, relatively heavy reinforcing angle iron 28 is welded to each side of the baling cylinder below the ramp 10 and the cylinder is cut away for one half its circumference adjacent the bottom thereof between the angle irons 28 to form the door opening for the doors 16. Each of the doors 16 comprises substantially one fourth the circumference of the cylinder 11 so that when closed, they will complete the circumference of the cylinder. The hinges 17 are welded to the angle irons 28 and the doors may be maintained closed in any suitable manner. As illustrated, the doors are maintained closed by means of arcuate top and bottom straps 29 having T-shaped extremities 30, as shown in FIG. 7, which are passed through openings 34 in the vertical angle irons 28 and are secured in place therein by pivoted locking levers 31 which can be swung into place behind the T-shaped extremities 30 of the straps after the latter are in place in the angle irons 28, as shown in FIG. 6.

The bale hook 15 may be formed in any desired man ner, preferably, it consists of a relatively heavy, Y-shaped iron bar with sharpened points 32 welded to and extending upwardly from its inner extremities and with the cable hook 23 hinged to its stem extremity. The lower edges of the doors 16 are suitably notched as shown in FIG. 1 so that the cable hook 23 will protrude from the bale for ready attachment of the dragline cable 21.

It can be seen that the crane apparatus 18 with its cable 29 and 21 form a unitary combination with the crusher weight 13 and the cylinder 11 to continuously form and deliver compressed bales of scrap sheet metal and that the pressure used to compact the bales 14 is natural gravity thereby eliminating all of the exceedingly expensive hydraulic presses and the like generally used for this purpose.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may :be varied within the scope of the appended claims, without depanting from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Means for baling scrap metal comprising: a vertically positioned baling cylinder having an open top; a crushing weight to a size to fit freely within said cylinder; a crane apparatus connected with said Weight and arranged to elevate said weight above and in axial align- 7 2,987,989 r 3 4 ment with said cylinder and then drop said weight by References Cited in the file of this patent gravity into said cylinder to crush and pack scrap metal therein; one side of the bottom of said cylinder having UNITED STATES PATENTS a discharge opening therein; hingedlyrmounted doors 10,956 Beach May 23, 1854 closing said opening, said doors being arc'uately shaped to 5 36,751 Briggs Oct. 21, 1862 conform tothe curvature of the wall of said cylinder; 7, 47 M66011 Sept. 11, 1866 means for locking said doors in alignment with. said 94,257 Trablle A g. 1869 cylinder; a bale hook positioned in the bottom of said 277,101 Babcock May 8, 1883 cylinder upon which said scrap metal is compacted; and 293,699 Anketeu 1884 a dragline cable adapted to be connected with said bale 10 647'490 Heath 1900 hook for Withdrawing the compacted metal through said 7O8095 Thprmon et Sapt' 1902 discharge p g Gl'lifin Dec-16,

737,427 Lemberg Aug. 25, 1903 a 2. Means for baling scrap metal as described in claim 1 833 753 Smmd at al Oct 23 1906 in which the crane apparatus is employed for furnishing 15 905926 Rispel Dec 1908 drawing Said dmglinfl 2,6751718 v Finm TIIIIIIIIk r. 20, 1954

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