WO1998017393A1

WO1998017393A1 - Pulping apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1998017393A1
Application number: PCT/AU1997/000709
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Robert Wood
Original assignee: Jeffrey Robert Wood
Priority date: 1996-10-22
Filing date: 1997-10-22
Publication date: 1998-04-30
Also published as: AUPO314396A0

Abstract

Pulping apparatus (10) includes a chamber (12) having an inlet (14) for material to be pulped and an outlet (O) for pulped material; and lacerating means (28) that is adapted in use for lacerating material fed to the chamber via the inlet to produce the pulped material.

Description

PULPING APPARATUS Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a pulping apparatus for pulping all manner of feed stock, including paper, debris, waste, biological debris such as bark, sticks, twigs, leaves, and other material suitable for pulping.

Background Art

Pulping is characteristically achieved by suspending material to be pulped in a solution which breaks down the fibrous structure of the material. Sometimes this breakdown is accelerated through the use of heat, chemical assistance, and stirring of pulp tank contents.

Summary of the Invention The present invention in a first aspect provides pulping apparatus including: a chamber having an inlet for material to be pulped and an outlet for pulped material; and lacerating means that is adapted in use for lacerating material fed to the chamber via the inlet to produce the pulped material.

By employing a lacerating means, material can be pulped continuously, passing from the inlet via the lacerating means and thence through the outlet. All manner of hard and soft material can thus be advantageously treated. Preferably the apparatus further includes liquid release means for releasing liquid to the material. Typically, the liquid release means releases liquid to the material prior to the material being lacerated in the lacerating means. Thus, a finished pulp product can be rapidly produced in the one apparatus.

Preferably the liquid release means is positioned peripherally within the chamber and to distribute liquid outwardly to material as it passes via the liquid release means. The liquid can be released in the form of a spray, and typically aqueous-based solutions are used, or simply water can be used as the liquid. The lacerating means can be positioned to direct pulp material to the outlet immediately after laceration. Further, the lacerating means can be a blade formation that is actuated to spin by a motor means, typically at high revolution. The blade can be formed from a toughened metal for long life use and for use with harder materials to be pulped.

In use, the inlet is typically positioned, relative to ground, higher than the outlet so that material fed into the apparatus via the inlet falls towards the laceration means and thence to the outlet under the influence of gravity. In this regard, the lacerating means is typically positioned towards the base of the chamber.

A valve mechanism can be arranged at the outlet to regulate the flow of pulp material leaving the apparatus. Also, the chamber can be in the form of a barrel that is circular in cross-section, with the inlet being arranged at one end of the barrel and the outlet at the other, opposing end of the barrel. Furthermore, the apparatus is such that it can be fabricated for mounting on a trolley to be highly portable .

In a second aspect the present invention provides a method of pulping material comprising the step of lacerating the material with a lacerating means. Preferably this method comprises the further step of releasing liquid to the material to be lacerated, either before laceration or at laceration.

The invention also extends to pulped material produced by the apparatus of the first aspect or the method of the second aspect of the invention, and to any products made from such pulped material (eg. building products, turf, road fill, paper etc) .

Brief Description of the Drawings Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, preferred forms of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective schematic view of one type of pulping apparatus according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the barrel and blade mechanism of the apparatus of Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows an exploded perspective view in partial cross-section of one type of blade mounting arrangement according to the invention;

Figure 4 shows a schematic perspective view of a second type of pulping apparatus according to the present invention; and

Figure 5 shows an exploded perspective view of the apparatus of Figure 4 detailing many of the components of the apparatus . Modes for Carrying out the Invention

Referring to Figure 1, pulping apparatus is shown in the form of portable pulping unit 10. The unit includes a chamber in the form of barrel 12 having an inlet chute 14 through which material to be pulped can be fed to the unit. The chute 14 forms an integral part of lid 15 which in turn is fastened to the upper end of the barrel via a tightening band 16.

At the opposing end of the barrel, a number of legs 18 are arranged, and these enable the barrel to be mounted onto and fastened to trolley 20. The trolley has a pair of wheels 22 and handles 24 which enable it to be easily wheeled about.

Also mounted to the trolley is a motor 26 (eg. a petrol driven motor) which brings about the rotating drive of blade unit 28 (as described below) . The speed of the motor can be regulated by throttle 30, and hence the rotating speed of the blade unit 28 can be controlled.

Pulp material leaves the barrel 12 from an opening 0

(shown in Figure 5) formed in the lower end thereof and the flow out through the opening can be regulated by plate valve

32, the moving in and out of which regulates the flow of pulp .

Liquid (typically water or an aqueous-based solution) is introduced into the barrel and is sprayed towards material dropping from inlet chute 14, via spray ring 34 (shown in phantom in Figure 2) . The spray ring is in communication with a liquid source via hose line 36. Typically, the spray ring has a plurality of holes extending around its perimeter and directed inwardly towards the centre of the barrel. These holes can be adapted for forming either a mist, spray jets or streams, or combinations of these.

Referring to Figure 3, the blade unit 28 includes a pair of laterally extending and opposing fins 40, each of which has a sharpened leading edge 42. The fins extend from a circular housing 44, the interior of which has a downwardly extending internally splined tube 46. This tube fits over, to become attached to, upwardly extending splined drive shaft 48.

Fastened to the base of the barrel 12 via plate 50 and screws 51, is sealing sleeve 52, which nests between the inside of housing 44 and the outside of tube 46 when the blade unit is fitted on the drive shaft. The sleeve prevents drive shaft lubricant leakage into the interior of the barrel during spinning of the blade unit. The drive shaft extends from plate 54 which is mounted to drive pulley 56. The drive shaft extends through and is supported for rotation within bearing 58, in turn supported in bearing housing 60, which can be attached to the underside of the barrel or to some other fixed point. The drive pulley is rotated via drive belt 62 (eg. a V-belt) , which in turn is driven by the motor 26. Thus, by rotating the drive pulley, the drive shaft 48 is rotated, and in turn the blade unit is rotated.

Typically, the blade unit is rotated at high rotational speeds so that any material fed into the pulping unit is immediately fragmented and lacerated upon engagement with the rotating fins 40. Such material has previously passed through the spray or jets emanating from spray ring 34 and thus, is covered or soaked with liquid. The resulting product drops down through the blade unit and thence out of the barrel outlet as a moistened pulp.

Rather than employing a spray ring, spray jets can be incorporated into the blade unit so that material is moistened, wettened or saturated immediately prior to being contacted by the fins 40. Of course other forms of liquid distribution are available, including spray jets facing down from the underside of the lid 15, spray jets pointing upwardly from the base of the barrel, individual jets extending from the side of the barrel etc.

A blade unit including one or a plurality of fins can be employed, and multiple tiered blade units (eg. with overlying fins) , and also multiple separate blade units can also be employed in the pulping unit.

The pulping unit can be used for pulping paper, garden and bush refuse including bark, leaves, twigs, sticks and other biological debris, for pulping plastics etc.

Various liquid solutions can be sprayed into the pulping unit, including water, aqueous and non-aqueous based adhesives, binders and glues, solvents, etc depending on the application. For example, some of the pulp products produced in the unit can be used directly in the formation of other materials such as building materials, construction materials, storage materials etc. In addition, when materials such as paper, foams, fertilisers and grass seeds are fed to the pulping unit, an artificial turf can be produced which can then be sprayed, layed, poured on surfaces (or stored for later use) .

Pulped product can be used in forming pots, landscapes, roads, sheeting, flooring, paper etc. It has been found that pulped biological debris produced in the unit can be used in forming building wall sheets of dramatically improved strength. Figure 4 shows an alternative and more preferred pulping unit to that shown in Figures 1 to 3. Like reference numerals have been used to denote similar or like parts . Figure 5 shows an exploded view of the unit of Figure 4. The parts of Figure 5 are listed in the List of Components at the end of this description.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to a number of preferred embodiments, it should be appreciated that the invention can be embodied in many other forms .

LIST OF COMPONENTS

1. Motor

2. Chassis 3. Engine mounting plate

4. Vibration washer

5. Front double V-belt pulley

6. Grub screw

7. Wheel 8. Blade

9. Bush

10. Seal sleeve

11. Drive shaft

12. Bearing 13. Bearing housing

14. Drive pulley

15. V-belt

16. Pump

17. Pump mounting plate 18. Friction wheel

19. C-clip

20. Output hose

21. Joiner

22. Straight connect 23. Input hose

24. Input hose connector 25. Vacuum hose

26. Sprinkler

27. Hose clamp

28. T-connector 29. Straight connector

30. Snap-on connector

31. Male connector

32. Screw hose clamp

33. Flexible hose 34. Male snap-on

35. Screw hose clamp

36. Lid clamp

37. Lid

38. Flat fitting hose clamp 39. Drum (eg. of plastic such as PVC)

40. Rubber seal

41. Slurry control

42. Screw hose clamp

43. Flat washer 44. Split pin

Claims

CLAIMS :

1. Pulping apparatus including: a chamber having an inlet for material to be pulped and an outlet for pulped material; and - lacerating means that is adapted in use for lacerating material fed to the chamber via the inlet to produce the pulped material.

2. Pulping apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further including liquid release means for releasing liquid to the material.

3. Pulping apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the liquid release means releases liquid to the material prior to the material being lacerated in the lacerating means .

4. Pulping apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the liquid release means is positioned peripherally within the chamber and to distribute liquid outwardly to material as it passes via the liquid release means.

5. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the liquid release means releases the liquid in the form of a spray or a jet.

6. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the lacerating means is positioned to direct the pulp material to the outlet immediately after laceration.

7. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the lacerating means is a blade formation that is actuated to spin by a motor means.

8. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein, in use, the inlet is positioned, relative to ground, higher than the outlet so that material fed into the apparatus via the inlet falls towards the laceration means and thence to the outlet under the influence of gravity.

9. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a valve mechanism is arranged at the outlet to regulate the flow of pulp material leaving the apparatus .

10. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the chamber is a barrel that is circular in cross-section, with the inlet being arranged at one end of the barrel and the outlet being arranged at the opposite end of the barrel.

11. Pulping apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims that is mounted on a trolley and is portable.

12. Pulping apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

13. A method of pulping material comprising the step of lacerating the material with a lacerating means.

14. A method as claimed in claim 13 comprising the further step of releasing liquid to the material to be lacerated, either before laceration or at laceration.

15. A method as claimed in claim 13 or claim 14 wherein the pulping is conducted using apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12.

16. A method of pulping material substantially as herein described.

17. Pulped material produced by the apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 12 or the method of any one of claims 13 to 16.

18. Any product formed from pulped material as claimed in claim 17.