US3861601A

US3861601A - Apparatus for the comminution of domestic refuse

Info

Publication number: US3861601A
Application number: US430881A
Authority: US
Inventors: Joseph Richard Kaelin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-01-26
Filing date: 1974-01-04
Publication date: 1975-01-21
Anticipated expiration: 1992-01-21

Abstract

The apparatus comprises a closable container in which there is arranged a pin mill with pins extending parallel to the axis of revolution. The throughput of material takes place from the periphery towards the center, and the pin mill embodies a disintegration compartment which narrows from the inlet side to the outlet side.

Description

Kaelin APPARATUS FOR THE COMMINUTION OF DOMESTIC REFUSE Inventor: Joseph Richard Kaelin, Villa Seeburg, Buochs, Switzerland Filed: Jan. 4, 1974 Appl. No.: 430,881

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 219,331, Jan. 20, 1972, abandoned.

Foreign Application Priority Data [56] References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,431,444 10/1922 Coursey 241/152 A 2,084,227 6/1937 Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Attorney, Agent, or Firm-McG1ew and Tuttle The apparatus comprises a closahlecontainer in which there is arranged a pin mill'with pins extending paral- 1111 3,861,601 Jan. 21,1975

4 ABSTRACT Jan. 26, 1971 Switzerland 1162/71 lg] to [heRaxis of revolution The throughput of ma[c rialtakes place from the periphery towards the center, US. Cl

24 /31, /58, 24 and the pin mill embodies a disintegration compart- 241/152 241/188 A ment which narrows from the inlet side to the outlet Int. C1. B026 11/06, B02C 18/40 id Field of Search 241/57, 58, 84, 89', 89.2,

241/152 A, 167, 186.4, 188 A, 31' 3 5 Flgures 8 9 I an 0 i 1 '4 X0 M 1 1 31 s 7 #1 l 37 13a 5 35 N 7 20 73 15 N, i 35 2 1 1 1 r I: o "1- 1 H I 1* '1 1a 81 f 1 1 1 3 o ll Y 4 I 5, 219. l 1 7 1 22 1 1 I 77 1 v 2Ut1\ 33// |14 1 w 2%. ,0; 23 24 n 102 @1 1 27 -=-J.'-- 1a,; J1 1. A 1 I J' 1 I) l 2s Swanson 241/188 A PATENTEH JANZ I I975 SHEET 10F 4 Fig. 1

PATENTEBJANN I975 SHEET 30F 4 Fig. 3

APPARATUS FOR THE COMMINUTION F DOMESTIC REFUSE This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 219,331, filed Jan. 20, 1972, and now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new and improved apparatus for the comminution of domestic refuse and is of the type incorporating a closable container in which there is arranged a pin disc mill, generally referred to herein as a pin mill, with pins extending parallel to the axis of revolution.

Mills and disintegrators have been employed for the comminution of refuse. As a general rule, these mills are constructed as hammerand pin mills. A drawback of these types of mill constructions resides in the fact that the granulation size of the pulverized material cannot be controlled and attained by the operation of the machine.

The mill-disintegrator, for instance of the Dorr- Oliver type construction, comminutes the material by shredding and grinding, the ground material being removed through a perforated floor. The grain size can be controlled through selection of the size of the perforations. Materials which have not been disintegrated in this manner and thereafter removed through the perforations must be manually retrievedfrom the disintegration compartment.

Both types of comminution techniques are subject to disturbance when working with long synthetic fiber fabrics. Further, acomminution of such materials, even if at all possible, eanbe earriedout to only a limited extent. Maintenance of the equipment requires a relatively large crew.

SUMMARY or THE INVENTION According, from what has been explained above, it will be recognized that the'prior art is still in need of an improved construction of apparatus for the comminution of domestic refuse which is not associated with the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the stateof-the-art constructions. Therefore, a primary objective of this invention is to provide an improved apparatus for the comminution of domestic refuse which is not associated with the aforementioned drawbacks and limitations of the prior-art constructions and effectively and reliably fulfills the existing need in the art.

Still a further significant object of the present invention relates to a new and improved construction of apparatus for the comminution of domestic refuse which is relatively simple in construction, economical to manufacture, extremely reliable in operation, not readily subject to breakdown, and requires a minimum of maintenance and servicing.

Yet a further significant object-of the present invention relates to a novel construction of refuse comminution equipment capable of comminuting the most varied types and grades of refuse in a reliable, efficient and BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above, will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a pin disintegrator constituting one of the main components of the inventive refuse comminution equipment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view, partly in section, taken along the line IIII of FIG. I, of the pin disintegrator depicted therein;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view through a fabric cutting tower'constituting a second major component of the inventive refuse comminution equipment;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cutting tower depicted in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing details of the material removal mechanism of the pin disintegrator is extended position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Describing now the drawings, the exemplary embodiment of domestic refuse comminution equipment as illustrated therein and serving for the comminution of domestic refuse, such as paper, textile and'plastic materials, kitchengarbage and the like, essentially consists of two main components: a fabric-cutting tower T, detailed in FIGS. 3 and 4, and a pin disintegrator D detailed'inFIGS.'-l and 2. The pin disintegratorD will be seen to comprise a closable substantially cylindrical container 2 defining a disintegration compartment in which the material to be disintegrated is moved from the peripheral region of container 2 towards its center. The granulation size of the processed refuse materialis controlled in the equipment by a baffle plate ring as will be explained more fully later. The material which can not be comminuted, such as stones, glass and metallic parts, is automatically removed from the disintegrator container 2 onto a'suitable conveyor mechanism, schematically shown in phantom lines in FIG. I, where it is delivered to a suitable not particularly depicted bulk goods collecting location.

The floor I of the substantially cylindrical shaped container 2, and which conically tapers towards the central region, is supported on the ground by a suitable steel support construction 3. Aremovable cover member 4 is mounted centrally and in sealing relationship upon the top end of the cylindrical container 2. As it is possible that an explosion can occur inside the apparatus, such as one caused, for example, by containers with a combustible content, explosion flaps '31 are provided on cover member 4, with each explosion flap comprising a metallic plate attached'to cover member 4 by means of hinges. These explosion flaps are opened by the over pressure occurring'in the event of an explosion, so that the interior of the apparatus is vented to atmosphere and the excess pressure inside the apparatus is thus reduced without doing any harm. Within the container 2 there is arranged a rotatable rim member 5, which can be supported at the cover 4 by a bearing 6 which is free at its central region. A central tube 7 is conducted through the cover member'4 and is provided with a member 8, known as a kingpin, and which serves to connect the stationary lines for feeding of electric power, air and pressurized oil, with rotating parts. These connections, which are located inside the member 8, are well known to those skilled in the art and consequently have not have been shown in FIG. 1. The drive mechanism 9 of any suitable type for the rotatable rim 5 is shown mounted upon the cover member 4. For instance, this drive 9 may be a reversible hydraulic drive unit which is controlled as a function of the output of the equipment, and enables reversing the rotational direction of the rim member 5. Through the reversible hydraulic drive 9, the speed of rotation of ring member 5 is variable infinitely from to 40 rpm.

Now the material to be processed is introduced through the agency of an infinitely drive smell-proof and pressure proof charging device, here shown as a charging impeller 10, into the pin disintegrator proper. Three groups of offset arranged pendulum beater beams are distributed uniformly about the periphery of the pin mill generally reference at M and within the container 2 and disposed in tangential direction with regard to the rotating rim 5.

Each group of pendulum or beater beams comprises four beams having a rectangular cross section, with each beam being connected to cover member 4 by means of a pivot pin so arranged that the beams 11 are swingable in the direction of movement of ring 5. The material to be comminuted. passing through charging device 10, falls upon the inclined part of ring 5. Beams ll serve to distribute the material uniformly over the inclined part of ring and partly to destroy the material impinging upon the beams. Due to the inclination of the ring 5 and the resistance offered to the material by the heavy beams 11, the material is moved toward the periphery of the container. The beams are set in motion by the material on the ring 5. As best seen by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, four adjustable guide blades 12 and four pin members 13, which are substantially rhombusshaped in cross-section and provided with suitable tearing elements 130, are attached to the rotatable rim 5. The guide blades or vanes 12 can be turned about respective vertical axes to adjust the distance between the vanes and the walls of the container. This adjustment is effected manually before the apparatus is put into operation, after which the vanes are clamped in their position, as by means of bolts. As an alternative the vanes may be pressed against the container wall by springs to obtain a constant contact between the vanes and the wall. Three disintegrator grater claws 14 peripherally distributed in the pin mill M can be moved about respective pivots 16 by means of suitable doubleacting hydraulic drives, such as the hydraulic cylinderpiston drive 15 and can be pressed against a perforated disintegrator cylinder 17. Pivots 16 are secured to central tube 7 by any suitable means well known to those skilled in the art.'These pivotal grater claws 14 move with the rotating rim 5.

The pressurized oil for operating the hydraulic cylinder drive means 15 is delivered for instance by line 8a through member 8 and a conduit inside central tube 7. This conduit is connected to hydraulic cylinder-piston means 15 by a flexible high pressure tubing or hose. The piston means 15 is continually operated at a rate of 40 strokes per minute, with the movement of means being controlled by known hydraulic means exterior to the apparatus. A material removal rake 18 is rigidly connected with the rotary rim 5. The cover member 4 together with the rotatable rim 5, the central tube 7 and the feeding mechanism 10 form a unit. For repair and service, this entire unit can be lifted from the container by the hydraulic piston-cylinder actuators 36, with the unit being guided, during such lifting, by means of three guide rods 37.

The disintegrated material calibrated by the disintegration cylinder 17 is removed onto a suitable transport mechanism through the ageny of a pocket whccl impeller 19 driven by means of a hydaulic drive, so that the speed of impeller 19 is variable infinitely. The equipment is also provided with pin members 20 and 2] mounted at the bottom or floor l of the container 2. and which have suitable comminuting teeth 20a and 21a. These

pin members

20 and 21 are driven by infinitely controllable

hydrostatic drives

22 and 23 fixedly mounted at the floor l of cylindrical container 2.

Drives

22 and 23 reverse the direction of rotation of

pin members

20 and 21 when the maximum torque is obtained, and this reversing of the direction of rotation prevents a blocking of the pin members. Pin members 21 are arranged in pairs and are driven in pairs. with the pin members of each pair rotating in respective opposite directions.

Drives

22 and 23 comprise hydraulic motor and gear means, with the pump for supplying the hydraulic fluid under pressure, such as oil. being located in the apparatus.

Disintegrating baffles 102 are also fixedly connected with the container floor l, as shown. These baffles 102 are provided with material comminuting teeth I03 and also cooperating with the pins 13. The hooks 103 cooperate with similar hooks on the undersides of pins 13 and vanes 12 to assist the grinding of the material to be comminuted. As seen in FIG. 2, the rings of

pins

13, 20 and 21 are arranged in the radial direction behind one another. Further, the ring of pins, i.e. the pins 21, located closest to the container center may be advantageously arranged in pairs (FIG. 2) and driven in opposite rotational sense.

A suitable material removal mechanism 25, details of which have been illustrated in both FIGS. 1 and 5, contains the disintegration cylinder 17, the material removal impeller 19, a support bearing 28 and a collecting trough 29. The entire material removal mechanism 25 is pressed by means of two hydraulic drives 26 against the container floor 1 which floor together with the container 2 forms a structural unit. The guide mechanism 27 for this material removal mechanism 25 is constituted by a steel construction having roller guides 30.

Disintegration cylinder 17 comprises bars having a rectangular cross section. At their upper ends, the bars are secured to a frame made from a tubular profile and, at their lower ends, the bars are secured to a flange. The size of the material to be ground is determined by the spacing between adjacent bars. The disintegrating cylinder 17 can easily be replaced in order to vary the size of the material to be ground. The ground material is pressed through the passages between the bars and the grater claws l4, and then moved by removal rake 18 to impeller 19 which moves the material to a conveyor belt.

The material which is still too big to pass between the bars of disintegration cylinder 17 is collected in the area of the graterclaws 14, that is, at the entrance into disintegration cylinder 17. The rotating grater claws 14 are continuously moving the material which is thereby further comminuted.

In case a certain amount of material which cannot be comminuted further, for example, metallic parts, stones, glass is present, the apparatus tends to be blocked. The material can then be removed by stopping impeller and thus stopping the infeed of new material. Disintegrating cylinder 17 is lowered by means of the hydraulic cylinder-piston actuators 26, while rim member Sis still rotating. The material is fed to disintegration cylinder 17 by means of rake 18. The rim member 5 is stopped, and disintegration cylinder 17 is tilted, by means of the hydraulically operated rotating drive mechanism 24, and the material falls upon a separate conveyor belt and is removed. The disintegration cylinder 17 is rocked back and raised by means of drives 26. Then rim member 5 as well as impeller 10 are put back in operation.

The interior of the apparatus is vented by a suction pump which is located outisde the apparatus and which is connected to a tube or pipe 35 through the member 8.

By virtue of the venting, the pressure inside the apparatus is below atmospheric, so that no air can leak out from the inside of the apparatus and the apparatus is therefore smellproof. Preheated and moistened air can be blown into the apparatus by nozzles 34 connected to tube 33. The air blown into the apparatus is conditioned with respect to moisture and temperature outside the apparatus in a conventional conditioning equipment. As schematically illustrated at 104 in FIG. 1, the air blown into the apparatus is regulated so that the underpressure inside the apparatus is always maintained, and may be about 10 centimeters watercolumn.

Infrared heaters 38 are secured to rim member 5 and serve to generate a heat shock in case rim member 5 is blocked. This blocking is caused, in most cases, by synthetic textile fabrics sticking to the ring member. The

synthetic fibers are melted due to the heat shock. The tensile strength of the fabric thus is reduced so that the driving force for turning rim member 5 is sufficient to tear apart the fabrics. I

As already mentioned earlier, it might be possible that explosive substances can enter the apparatus. To prevent an explosion, the atmosphere inside the apparatus is monitored by a device which can detect explosive gases. Upon detection of such gases, the apparatus is brought to a standstill except for the air infeed and the suction devices. An acoustical or optical alarm signal can be generated. After the explosive gases are removed by the air infeed and the suction devices, the apparatus is put back in operation.

It was already indicated above that a further essential component of the refuse comminu tion equipment is constituted by the fabric cutting tower T of FIGS. 3 and 4 which is an integrated accessory device for the pin disintegrator D. This fabric cutting tower T embodies one or a number of superimposed knife grates 41 having spoke-like arranged cutting knives 41a. As particularly well indicated in these FIGS. 3 and 4, a peripherally driven knife beam 42 moves above each grate 41 and in every position thereof the knives 41a and knife beam 42 enclose an acute cutting angle. This knife beam 42 is supported in a bearing 44 which is free at its central region, and the peripheral rotational speed of the knife beam 42 can be infinitely varied by a suitable drive e.g. hydrostatic drive 43. The centrally free bearing 44 as well as a drive gear rim 45 associated therewith is protected by a labyrinth seal 46. These components 41-46, which are practically located in one cutting plane, form a complete unit for themselves and such unit can be assembled together in optional manner according to the building-block or modular principle by means of intermediate tubes 47. The intermediate tubes 47 can be accommodated to the most favorable cutting effect which is desired by changing the height.

The fabric cutting tower T is a separate unit and has its own drive mechanism. This tower conveniently is arranged separately from the pin mill, and the material which has passed through the fabric cutting tower is transported to the pin mill by conventional transportation means, such as, for example, a conveyor belt.

The function of the heretofore described fabric cutting tower is as follows: the refuse is brought through the agency of a non-illustrated conveying mechanismn to an infeed funnel 48 of the cutting tower T. By means of non-illustrated magnets, iron or other magnetic components are removed from the refuse in a known manner. Compact refuse falls then directly through the fabric cutting tower T onto a further conveying mechanism which conveys the refuse to the interior of the container 2 of the pin disintegrator D. On the other hand, fabric components such as stockings, ropcs,. cords and the like are entrapped at the first cutting grate 41 and are cut-up by the knife beam 42. Following the cutting action these cut-up portions fall onto the second cutting plane and are further cut. This cutting procedure repeats, depending upon the number of cutting planes which are provided at the cutting tower. The fabric cutting tower T could also be mounted onto the charging funnel 105. i

The above-mentionedfurther transport mechanism now conducts the material to be processed out of the fabric cutting tower T into the charging funnel of the pin disintegrator D. Any iron or other magnetic components which are still present may be again separated by magnets or equivalent structure located be tween the fabric cutting tower and the pin mill. A horizontal conveyor belt, with an electromagnet, is arranged above the conveyor belt transporting the material to be comminuted to the pin mill. The iron or othe'rwise magnetic components are removed by the electromagnetic belt and delivered to a further conveyor belt which transports the iron components to the iron collecting location. The charging impeller 10 which, as mentioned, can be controlled with respect to its speed of rotation, conveys the material located in the'charging funnel 105 into the pin mill M of the pin disintegrator D. The pendulum or beater beams 11 stacked in radial direction and tangentially suspended with respect to the direction of revolution of the pin rim 5, comminute the refuse and conduct such to the circular path of travel of the blades 12 having teeth 103a cooperating with teeth 103 of baffles 102 on the peripheral portion of the container floor 1. The blades 12 which are connected with the rotatable rim 5 press the refuse towards the center of the container 2 of the pin mill, that is, against the separately driven pins 20.

The rotating pins 20 shred or tear up therefuse and such is conducted through the openings between the pins 20 and the baffles 32 into the following disintegrator or grating ring arrangement. The rhombus-shaped pins 13 equipped with the shredding teeth 13a and revolving together with the rotary rim 5 further comminute the material and owing to the position of the pins 13 the material is further conveyed towards the center of the pin mill and arrives at the working region of the pins 21 which are arranged in pairs towards one another or away from one another. As mentioned above, these pins 21 are equipped with suitable shredding teeth 21a and are separately driven by the hydrostatic infinite drive 23. The disintegrating baffles 102 are fixedly connected with the container floor 1 between the pairs of pin members 21. Owing to the rotational movement of the pairs of pins 21, the material is comminuted and upon reaching the desired granulation size, such is conveyed into the innermost disintegration ring arrangement. Owing to the inclination of the floor 1 and the rotational movement of the pins 13, the material tends to slide toward the central region, and therefore, intimate contact with the pairs of pins 21 is established. At the innermost disintegration ring, the disintegration claws 14 which are movable about the pivot 16 rotate together with the rotary rim 5. On the one hand, the material is disintegrated at the container floor which is equipped with the shredding baffles, and, on the other hand, the material is pressed against the disintegrator cylinder 17 following lifting of the disintegration claws 14. This effect is intensified by the positioning of the beaters 14 similar to a sheet metal guide.

The disintegration cylinder 17 is equipped at its entire periphery with disintegration bars 17a having fixed throughpassage openings and is exchangeable. In this way it is possible to maintain constant the granulation size in the desired form. The material falling through the disintegration cylinder 17 is collected at the collecting funnel 29. The material discharge rake 18 rotating with the rotatable rim brings the material over a dis charge opening and this material is then removed out of the equipment by means of the impeller 19 which can be infinitely driven as concerns its rotational speed, and this material is then placed upon a suitable transport mechanism for removal. The material which has not been completely comminuted collects in front of the disintegration cylinder 17. By lowering the material removal unit 25, and upon rotating the rotatable rim 5, such material falls into the disintegration cylinder 17. When the equipment has been emptied in this manner, then the central material-removal mechanism 25 is tilted by means of the hydraulic tilting mechanism 24. This material then falls upon a transport unit and is delivered to the bulk material collecting location. This emptying operation is completely automated and can be controlled from a remote control installation.

All of the drives of the disintegration mill may be advantageously hydrostatic type drives provided with load-dependent rotational speed control means. The rotatable rim 5 can be rotated in both directions by the drive 9. 1f the normal direction of the rotatable rim is blocked for any reason, then this rotatable rim is rotated in the opposite direction automatically for a predetermined adjustable time. A similar control is provided for the

rotating pins

20 and 21. The power requirement of the rotating rim may advantageously serve as a control parameter for regulation of the rotational speed of the material infeed sluice impeller 10. By means of this control the equipment runs automatically and the capacity thereof can be utilized to the maximum.

The material to be comminuted wanders from the peripheral region of the container of the pin mill M towards the central region. Consequently. the degree of filling of the equipment can be maintained approximately constant in each section. The displaced material possesses a very good disintegration or grating effect and assumes a smaller volume as the comminution action increases, which is brought about by the continued reduction in size of the disintegration compartment from the inlet or periphery to the outlet or center ofthe equipment. The cost of maintaining and servicing the disinteg'rator mill is relatively inexpensive and easy, owing to the described construction. The disintegration compartment can be rendered completely accessible at any time by raising the detachable cover member and by displacing the central material removal mechanism 25. Finally, it is mentioned the container 2 may be provided therein with suitable heating elements.

While there is shown and described present preferred embodiments of the invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

Accordingly, what is claimed is:

1. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said con tainer; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration comparment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet.

2. The equipment as defined in claim 1, further in cluding an exchangeable disintegration cylinder provided at the discharge side and equipped with circumferentially spaced disintegration bars forming baffles.

3. The equipment as defined in claim 1, further including a substantially centrally disposed material removal mechanism at the discharge side of the pin mill, and means for raising and lowering said centrally disposed material removal mechanism. and wherein when said centrally disposed material removal mechanism is lowered the pin mill can be emptied.

4. The equipment as defined in claim 3, wherein said means for raising and lowering said centrally disposable material removal mechanism comprises a hydraulic drive.

5. The equipment as defined in claim 3, further including means for tilting said centrally disposed material removal mechanism.

6. The equipment as defined in claim 5, further including a separate transport mechanism onto which is emptied the material located in said centrally disposed material removal mechanism.

7. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration compartment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet; said container including a cylindrical jacket having, at its bottom end, a floor portion conically converging downwardly toward the central region of said container; said closure means comprising a cover member; and a rim member rotatably supported on said cover member above said pin mill and rotatable with said pin mill.

8. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including impact beam means suspended from the cover member and arranged in offset relationship in tangential direction with respect to the direction of revolving movement of the rotatable rim member.

9. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including a ring of annularly spaced guide blades mounted on said rotatable rim to extend downwardly therefrom; and a ring of baffles secured to said container floor beneath said ring of guide blades; said guide blades having teeth thereon cooperating with teeth on said baffles.

10. The equipment as defined in claim 7, wherein the cylindrical jacket of said container forms, together with the container floor, a structural unit.

11. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including infeed means for a gas as well as withdrawal means for sucking out said gas from the interior of said container.

12. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including a smell-proof material feed and pressure sluice for continuously charging the refuse provided for said cover member, said sluice incorporating a sluice impeller arranged therein.

13. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including a hydrostatic power-dependent means for said rotatable rim member, said drive means being reversible for the purpose of changing the direction of rotation of said rotatable rim member.

14. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including means for raising and lowering said cover member together with said rotatable rim member.

15. The equipment as defined in claim 14, further including hydraulic pressure cylinder means coupled with said cover member and serving for selectively raising and lowering said cover member.

16. The equipment as defined in claim 7, said pin mill further including at least two rings of angularly spaced pin members; the pin members of at least one ring being secured to said container floor, and the pin mmebers of at least one other ring being secured to said rotatable rim member; said rings of pin membersv being disposed in alternation one behind the other in the radial direction of said container.

17. The equipment as defined in claim 16, wherein said pin members of at least one of the pin member rings are substantially rhombus-shaped in elevation.

18. The equipment as defined in claim 16, wherein said pin members are equipped with tearing elements.

19. The equipment as defined in claim 16, wherein the ring of pin members disposed closest to the center of the container comprises pairs of rotatable pins driven in opposite direction with respect to one another.

20. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including explosion caps provided for said cover member of the container.

21. The equipment as defined in claim 20, further including a suction pipe; and explosion monitoring means arranged at the suction pipe.

22. The equipment as defined in claim 7, further including heating elements arranged within said container.

23. The equipment as defined claim 22, wherein said heating elements are in the form of infra-red heaters.

24. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a-material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration compartment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet; a rim member in said container rotatably mounted on said closure means above said pin mill and rotatable with the latter; disintegrator claws pivoted on said rim member for swinging in a radial direction; and a perforated disintegrator cylinder at the center of said container; said disintegrator claws being cooperable with said .disintegrator cylinder for disintegration of the material being passed through said equipment.

25. The equipment as defined in claim 24, further includingdouble-acting hydraulic drive means for displacing said disintegrator claws.

26. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially'parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration compartment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet; and cutting means connected to said material inlet to out long materials, such as fabrics, cords and the like, in advance of their entering said material inlet.

27. The equipment as defined in claim 26, wherein said cutting means embodies a rotatable knife beam and a knife grate which is free at its center, said knife centrally free.

30. The equipment as defined in claim 26, said cutting means further including a knife beam and means for driving said knife beam at its periphery 31. The equipment as defined in claim 30, wherein said drive means for the knife beam is variable for regulating the rotational speed of said knife beam and comprises a load-dependent hydraulic drive.

Claims

1. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration comparment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet.

2. The equipment as defined in claim 1, further including an exchangeable disintegration cylinder provided at the discharge side and equipped with circumferentially spaced disintegration bars forming baffles.

3. The equipment as defined in claim 1, further including a substantially centrally disposed material removal mechanism at the discharge side of the pin mill, and means for raising and lowering said centrally disposed material removal mechanism, and wherein when said centrally disposed material removal mechanism is lowered the pin mill can be emptied.

16. The equipment as defined in claim 7, said pin mill further including at least two rings of angularly spaced pin members; the pin members of at least one ring being secured to said container floor, and the pin mmebers of at least one other ring being secured to said rotatable rim member; said rings of pin members being disposed in alternation one behind the other in the radial direction of said container.

24. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration compartment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet; a rim member in said container rotatably mounted on said closure means above said pin mill and rotatable with the latter; disintegrator claws pivoted on said rim member for swinging in a radial direction; and a perforated disintegrator cylinder at the center of said container; said disintegrator claws being cooperable with said disintegrator cylinder for disintegration of the material being passed through said equipment.

25. The equipment as defined in claim 24, further including double-acting hydraulic drive means for displacing said disintegrator claws.

26. Equipment for the comminution of domestic refuse comprising, in combination, a container having an open top; removable closure means closing said container; the interior of said container defining a disintegration compartment for the material; a pin mill in said container rotatably supported by said closure means and including pin members disposed substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of said pin mill; a material inlet in said closure means adjacent the external periphery of said pin mill; a material discharge in said container adjacent the central portion of said container; and means operable to displace the material throughput from the external periphery of said pin mill toward the central portion of said container; said disintegration compartment decreasing in diameter from a region adjacent the periphery of said pin mill to said discharge outlet; and cutting means connected to said material inlet to cut long materials, such as fabrics, cords and the like, in advance of their entering said material inlet.

27. The equipment as defined in claim 26, wherein said cutting means embodies a rotatable knife beam and a knife grate which is free at its center, said knife grate having a rectangular grid of individual knifes which form an acute angle with said knife beam in its position of said knife beam.

28. The equipment as defined in claim 26, wherein said cutting means comprises individual cutting units which can be assembled together on a building-block principle.

29. The equipment as defined in claim 26, said cutting means further including a knife beam and means for mounting said knife beam so as to be substantially centrally free.

30. The equipment as defined in claim 26, said cutting means further including a knife beam and means for driving said knife beam at its periphery.

31. The equipment as defined in claim 30, wherein said drive means for the knife beam is variable for regulating the rotational speed of said knife beam and comprises a load-dependent hydraulic drive.