WO2004108381A1

WO2004108381A1 - Machine for compression of plastic waste

Info

Publication number: WO2004108381A1
Application number: PCT/DK2003/000374
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bjarne Larsen
Original assignee: Lk Maskiner
Priority date: 2003-06-07
Filing date: 2003-06-07
Publication date: 2004-12-16
Also published as: AU2003234884A1

Abstract

In a machine - for the compression of plastic waste such as Flamingo and other foamed plastics - which consists of a house (1), in which is mounted a rotatable worm (2) with a shaft (3), and which at one end has a transport section (a) for the conveyance of material and at the other end a compression section (b) the shaft (3) - closest to the compression section (b) - is mounted with at least one arm (11), which radiates from the shaft (3) so that it/they can be moved by the shaft (3) in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the shaft (3), and which has a length which is approximately equal to the height (h) of the worm (2) above the shaft (3). The arm/arms (11) are embodied with a number of mutually freely movable rollers (12), which in combination occupy approximately the whole length of the arms (11), and which preferably are of the same outer diameter (d) and whose front side - facing the compression section (b) - is positioned a distance (c ) in front of the end (2’) of the worm (2) and therefore rests against the material which is to be compressed when the shaft (3) rotates. The arm/arms (11) can compress the material more than the known machines without the material losing its recycling value. The costs of transportation are therefore correspondingly lower.

Description

MACHINE FOR COMPRESSION OF PLASTIC WASTE.

Machine for compression of plastics waste, such as Flamingo, and other foamed plastics materials.

The present invention relates to a machine of the kind described in the introductory part of claim 1.

A material such as Flamingo has a specific gravity of 13 kg/m³ which makes it expensive to transport, and it therefore needs to be compressed.

It is a drawback in the known machines that the material to be compressed can be compressed to a specific gravity of only 200 kg/m³, as it would otherwise reach excessively high temperatures due to friction. When a material such as Flamingo is heated to over 50°C it melts and becomes hard as glass and therefore loses its recycling value. Furthermore it will give off poisonous vapours.

It is a purpose of the present invention to describe a machine which can compress the material more - up to 300 kg/m³ - without melting the material. This can be achieved by designing the machine as described in the characterising part of claim 1. A further advantage is that the machine has a lower energy consumption than the known machines.

Claim 2 describes a special embodiment of an arm for a machine according to the invention, and

claim 3 describes a preferred embodiment of the rollers on an arm for a machine according to the invention.

The invention is explained below in detail with reference to the drawing, in which

fig. 1 is a partial section shown in perspective of a machine according to the invention for compression of plastics waste.

fig. 2 is a perspective view of the machine seen from the top.

fig. 3 is a larger-scale perspective view of the end of a shaft with a worm and an arm with rollers mounted on the shaft and the worm in a machine according to the invention,

fig. 4 is a top view, partly sectional, of the end of a shaft with a worm and with an arm with rollers mounted for a machine according to the invention, and

fig. 5 shows a section after the line l-l in fig. 4.

As shown in the drawing a machine for the compression of plastics waste consists of a house 1 , which can be of a square cross section, in which can be mounted a rotatable worm 2 with a shaft 3, which at the input end is embedded in a bearing 4. The worm can have a diameter which is equal to its pitch. At the bearing 4 the shaft 3 is carried out through the house 1 to be connected to a driving arrangement. At one end the machine has a transport section a for transportation of material with a charging opening 5, and at the other end a compression section b with a discharge opening 6, which at the top is delimited by a plate member 7, which is swingably hinged to the top side of the house 1 by a hinge 8. The plate member 7 is loaded in the downward direction by the two springs 9 and 10 , of which the spring 10 can be preset so that the plate member 7 exerts a definite desired counter- pressure on the material which is to be compressed.

As shown one end of the shaft 3, the one closest to the compression section b, is mounted with an arm 11 , which radiates from the shaft 3 so that it can be moved by the shaft 3 in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the shaft. The arm 11 has a length which is approximately equal to the height h of the worm 2 above the shaft 3. The arm 11 is embodied with a number of mutually movable rollers 12, which approximately cover the whole length of the arm 11. The rollers 12 are pivotally mounted on a round pin 13.

The rollers 12 all have the same outer diameter d, and the pin 13 is mounted in such a way on the shaft 3, and the rollers 12 have such a diameter d that the front side of the rollers facing the compression section b, are positioned a distance c in front of the end 2' of the worm 2, and are thus resting against the material, which is to be compressed, when the shaft 3 rotates.

As shown the round pin 13, on which the rollers 12 are mounted, can at its top be embodied with an externally cylinder-shaped collar 14, which has a larger diameter than that of the pin 13, so that the under side of the collar 14 between the collar and the pin 13 will be provided with a breast 15 which, as shown, can rest against the topmost roller 12.

The collar 14 and the top portion of the pin 13 is internally embodied with a hexagon 16 which can accommodate a key tool. The pin 13 is embodied at the bottom with a thread 17 which can be screwed into a mating threaded hole 17' in the shaft 3.

As shown in fig. 5 the collar 14 on the pin 13 is at the top carried a distance down into and fixed in the transverse position in a cylindrical cavity 18 in a fitting 19 welded on to the end 2' of the last section of the worm 2, which has a cut-out 20, so that it - as shown - ends a distance from the arm 11.

As shown in fig. 5 the rollers 12 can be embodied as ball bearings 21, whose inner races are held at an mutual distance by circular distance disks 23. The ball bearings are attention-free, and they are equipped with dust plates or with rubber packings.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. Machine for compression of plastics waste such as Flamingo and other foamed plastics, and which consists of a house (1), in which a worm (2) is rotatably mounted on a shaft (3), which at the inlet end is embedded in a bearing (4) and which goes through the house (1 ) to be coupled to a driving arrangement, and which machine at one end has a transporting section (a) for the transport of material with an charging opening (5) and at the other end a compression section (b) with an outlet (6), which at the top is delimited by a plate member (7) which is swingably hinged to the top side of the house (1 ) by a horizontal hinge (8) and which is loaded in the downward direction by two springs (9) and (10), of which one (1) can be preset so that the discharge opening (6) is given a definite, desired cross-section and the plate member (7) thereby exerts a definite, desired counter-pressure on the material which is to be compressed, c h a r a c t e r i s e d by the fact that at the end of the shaft (3) closest to the compression section (b) has attached at least one arm (11) which radiates from the shaft (3), so that it/they can be moved by the shaft (3) in a plane at right angles to the letter's longitudinal direction, and which has a length which is approximately equal to the height (h) of the worm (2) above the shaft (3), which arm/arms (11) are embodied with a number of mutually freely movable rollers (12) which in combination cover approximately the whole length of the arm/arms (11 ) and preferably have the same outer diameter (d), and whose front side - facing the compression section (b) - has a position a distance (c) in front of the end (2') of the worm (2) and thus rests against material which is to be compressed, when the shaft (3) rotates.

2. Machine according to claim 1 , c h a r a c t e r i s e d by the fact that the arm (11) is embodied as a round pin (13) onto which the rollers (12) are attached, and which at the top has an outer cylinder-shaped collar (14), which has a larger diameter than the pin (13), thereby forming a breast (15) between the collar and the pin (13) so that the said breast can rest against the top roller (12), that the collar (14) and the top portion of the pin (13) internally are embodied with a hexagon (16) to accommodate a key, that the pin (13) at the bottom is embodied with a thread (17), which can be screwed into a diametrically positioned threaded hole (17') in the shaft (3), and that the collar (14), when the pin (13) is mounted, is carried a distance down into a cylinder-shaped hole (18) into a fitting (19) which is welded on to the top side of the end (2') of the last worm section (2), which has a cut-out (20) so that it ends a distance from the arm (11 ).

3. Machine according to claim 1 , characterised by the fact that the rollers (12) are embodied as ball bearings (21) with dust plates or rubber packings, whose inner races (22) are held at a mutual distance by ring- shaped distance discs (23).