WO2005002995A1

WO2005002995A1 - Container for organic refuse

Info

Publication number: WO2005002995A1
Application number: PCT/IB2004/002174
Authority: WO
Inventors: Loris Bressan
Original assignee: Ambientalia S.R.L.
Priority date: 2003-07-01
Filing date: 2004-06-30
Publication date: 2005-01-13
Also published as: ITBO20030405A1

Abstract

A container (10; 50) for refuse (R) comprising a bottom receptacle (10a; 50a), designed to contain the, refuse (R), closed by a lid (10b; 50b). The container (10; 50) comprises a device (11) for sanitation of the refuse (R) itself; the device (11) is designed to spread' on the refuse (R) substances for accelerating the process of sanitation.

Description

CONTAINER FOR ORGANIC REFUSE

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a container for refuse of an improved type. BACKGROUND ART As is known, there has been an increasingly widespread adoption throughout the world of systems of differentiated collection of refuse. In fact, an important part of the refuse is represented by organic refuse which rots rapidly, especially in hot countries, and emits bad odours that must be neutralized in some way. Furthermore, organic refuse must be recovered as much as possible to be transformed and thus obtain an end product, called "compost", which is reusable for restoring organic substance to land, and hence reduce disposal of refuse in rubbish dumps or incineration plants. Composting is a process of biological oxidation in a number of steps of natural organic compounds and is implemented usually in controlled environmen s. Since the organic material has a fair content of microorganisms, it undergoes various transformations to arrive at full biological stability of the product. Furthermore, to neutralize the bad odours that issue from the refuse, containers have been proposed provided with at least one activated-carbon filter, through which the gases released from the refuse are filtered. However, systems of this kind cannot prevent the bad odours from being spread in the environment during opening of the lid for the disposal of new refuse. These systems of collection have yielded appreciable results in containers set out in the open because even a fairly gentle breeze enables the grill to function as a chimney and in this way it is possible to extract the air and the nauseous fumes that are released within the container, filtering them, as has been said, via activated-carbon filters. However, in the field of refuse collection within buildings (firm canteens, restaurants, private dwellings, etc.), the problem of bad odours is particularly felt. Furthermore, in all the types of containers for refuse collection proposed so far no preliminary treatment has been provided prior to the refuse being sent to composting plants and/or rubbish dumps . DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Consequently, the purpose of the present invention is to provide containers for refuse, in particular organic refuse, in which a pre-treatment of sanitation thereof is carried out prior to its being sent to the plants . The innovative system forming the subject of the present invention is indicated for any type of containers and/or rubbish bins of any size, located outside or else inside a building (for example, the kitchens of restaurants, domestic kitchens or within the furniture of the kitchen, greengrocer's, butcher's, fishmonger's, etc.). According to the present invention there is provided, then, a refuse container according to the characteristics specified in Claim 1. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be described with reference to the annexed drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiment thereof and in which: Figure 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the refuse container according to the invention; - Figure 2 shows a kit that can be mounted on any refuse container for transforming said container into a container according to the invention; Figure 3 illustrates a side view of a second embodiment of the refuse container according to the invention; and Figure 4 shows a front view of the second embodiment illustrated in Figure 3. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In Figure 1 the reference number 10 designates as a whole a refuse container forming the subject of the present invention. The container 10 comprises, in a traditional manner, a bottom receptacle 10a designed to contain the refuse R, and a lid 10b hinged via a hinge H to the bottom receptacle 10a itself. The container 10 is equipped with a device 11 for sanitation of the refuse R contained therein, which will be described hereinafter in greater detail. In fact, the device 11 comprises a guard 12 within which there is first provided at least one tank 13 containing enzymes in liquid solution and/or deodorant substances . Said liquid substances are pumped by a pump 14 that sucks in from the tank 13 by means of a suction pipe 15. The pump 14 is supplied by a battery 16a electrically connected thereto. Advantageously, but not necessarily, the battery 16a can be charged with the electric current produced by a series of photovoltaic modules 16b set on the guard 12. The device 11 moreover has an electronic control unit 17 by means of which the operations performed by the pump 14 are controlled. Furthermore, by means of a control and display unit 18 fixed to the outer surface of the guard 12 a user can enter the operations that must be performed by the device 11 (see hereinafter) . As illustrated once again in Figure 1, from the pump 14 there branches off a pipe 19 for supplying a nozzle 20 for distribution of the liquid products (enzymes in liquid solution and possibly deodorant substances) contained in the tank 13. When the nozzle 20 is in action the jet is aimed at the underlying mass of refuse R. The container 10 can be integrated with a number of filters, advantageously activated-carbon ones. For example, a filter 21 can be set on a wall of the bottom receptacle 10a. Otherwise, as an alternative or in addition to the filter 21, a filter 22 can be set on the lid 10b so that the foul-smelling air passing through it, via the well-known "chimney effect", will be purified prior to being evacuated into the external environment. To activate the nozzle 20 a switch (or a sensor) 23 is used, which is also connected electrically with the electronic control unit 17, set on the edge Bl of the bottom receptacle 10a. More in particular, the switch (or sensor) 23 is activated by a spring latch (or contact) 24 set on the edge B2 of the lid 10b. In use, when the lid 10b is re-closed after disposal of refuse R, the spring latch (or contact) 24 comes to rest on the switch (or sensor) 23 so as to generate a signal, which is sent to the control unit 17. Consequently, the control unit 17 in turn activates the pump 14, which, drawing in from the tank 13 sends the enzymes in aqueous solution (with the possible addition of deodorant substances) to the nozzle 20, which sprays the solution on the mass of refuse R. The device 11 is equipped, moreover, with a fan 25 controlled once again by the electronic control unit 17. The fan 25 is designed to send air into a pipe 26 provided with holes 27. The pipe 26 is covered by the mass of the refuse R. The fan 25 can also send air directly into the container 10. The periodic actuation of the fan 25 causes a certain amount of air to be blown in underneath the mass of organic refuse R and/or at the sides and/or on the organic refuse R. Since the reaction of sanitation is basically an aerobic reaction, the introduction of air under pressure through the fan 25 and/or the pipe 26 (via the holes 27) facilitates said reaction and pushes the evil-smelling gases outside, said gases passing through the filters 21 and/or 22, so moreover causing the humidity from being removed from the refuse, thus reducing the weight thereof. By means of the control and display unit 18 it is possible to program a periodic injection of air according to the external temperature to keep the refuse R at a constant temperature. Figure 2 illustrates a kit 100 comprising practically all the elements described in relation to the second embodiment of Figure 2. In actual fact, the kit 100 lacks only the switch (or sensor) 23 and the spring latch (or contact) 24, but these can be provided separately. Said kit 100 can be built and supplied separately from any refuse container and can be mounted easily on any refuse container (not illustrated) . It may be said incidentally that, to facilitate understanding of the drawings, there are not represented the elements that have the function of fixing the kit 100 to the refuse container. By means of the kit 100 it is possible, therefore, to transform a normal container into a refuse container equipped with a device 11 for the sanitation of the refuse itself according to what is proposed by the present invention. For this reason, the kit 100 enables recovery and improvement of containers for refuse that otherwise should be replaced completely. The re-use of normal containers by means of installation thereon of a kit 100 enables considerable savings to be achieved. In the second embodiment of Figures 3 and 4, the elements that are identical to those of the first embodiment of Figure 1 have been numbered in the same way. This second embodiment differs basically from the first in that the pump 14 and the tank 13 of the first embodiment have been replaced by a pressurized cylinder 28 full of liquid containing the enzymes and possibly deodorant products. The pressurized cylinder 28 is designed to nebulize the liquid substances (enzymes and/or deodorants) contained therein. Furthermore, instead of having a generic refuse container 10 as described in relation to Figure 1, the device 11 has been applied, in this case, to a bin 50 for the collection of domestic refuse. In a known way the bin 50 comprises a bottom receptacle 50a for collection of refuse and a lid 50b, hinged by means of a hinge 50c to the bottom receptacle 50a. The user can perform the rotation of the lid 50b with respect to the bottom receptacle 50a by pressing a pedal 51 with his foot, so operating a mechanism (of a type that is known and not illustrated) for raising the lid. The device 21, in addition to containing the customary elements already seen in relation to the first embodiment of Figure 1, comprises an electric motor 14a, controlled by the electronic control unit 17, which sets a shaft 52 in rotation (in either direction, according to the command issued by the control unit 17) . Fitted on the shaft 52 is a gearwheel 53 , which meshes with a toothed portion 54 of a rocker 55 pivoted on a hinge 56 fixed to the guard 12. The rocker 55 moreover comprises a rod 57, set on the side opposite to the toothed portion 54 with respect to the hinge 56. The rod 57 rests on a push-button 58 for control of spraying of the pressurized cylinder 28. In use, when the lid 50b is re-closed after a new disposal of refuse R in the bottom receptacle 50a the spring latch (or contact) 24 activates the switch (or sensor) 23 which, via the control unit 17, sets in motion the electric motor 14a. The electric motor 14a causes the shaft 52 to turn and, via the mechanism comprising the gearwheel 53 and the rocker 55, the push-button 58 is pressed, which induces the pressurized cylinder 28 to send a jet of enzymes onto the mass of refuse R. Also in this case the enzymes trigger off the desired reaction of sanitation. The advantages of the present refuse container are the following: - elimination of the odours produced by putrefaction of the refuse by over 80%; reduction of the frequency of collection from 2-3 times a week to once every 10 days in summer and once every 15 days in winter; reduction of the times for sanitation in the composting plant in so far as the process of sanitation already starts in the container itself; and reduction of approximately 10% of the mass of refuse to be sent to the composting plant; this has, as corollary, the fact that firms involved in refuse treatment can handle smaller amounts thereof.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A container (10; 50) for refuse (R) comprising a bottom receptacle (10a; 50a) , designed to contain the refuse (R) , closed by a lid (10b; 50b) , said container (10; 50) being characterized in that it comprises a device (11) for sanitation of the refuse (R) itself, and said device (11) being designed to spread on the refuse (R) substances for accelerating the process of sanitation.

2. The container (10) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the acceleration of the process of sanitation of the refuse (R) by means of the device (11) takes place automatically after each disposal of refuse (R) in the container (10) itself.

3. The container (10; 50) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said device (11) is designed to spread on the refuse (R) enzymes designed to perform a first operation of chemico-physical transformation on the refuse (R) itself.

4. The container (10; 50) according to Claim 3, characterized in that, in addition to the enzymes, the device (11) is designed to spread on the refuse (R) at least one deodorant substance.

5. The container (10; 50) according to either Claim 3 or Claim 4, characterized in that said device (11) comprises a pump (14) that draws in the enzymatic substances from a tank (13) and sends them, via a pipe (19) , to at least one nozzle (20) designed to spread the enzymatic substances on the mass of refuse (R) .

6. The container (10; 50) according to Claim 5, characterized in that said device (11) , instead of the pump (14) and the tank (13) , comprises a pressurized cylinder (28) designed to nebulize the liquid substances (enzymes and/or deodorants) contained therein.

7. The container (10; 50) according to Claim 5 or Claim 6, characterized in that it envisages means (23, 24) of activation of said device (11), said means (23, 24) being supported in part by an edge (Bl) of said bottom receptacle (10a) , and in part by an edge (B2) of said lid (10b) .

8. The container (10; 50) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further envisages a fan (25) designed to introduce air into said container (10; 50) and in that it is provided with at least one filter (20, 21) for filtering the exhausted air at output.

9. The container (10; 50) according to Claim 8, characterized in that said at least one filter

(20, 21) is an activated-carbon filter.

10. The container (10; 50) according to either Claim 8 or Claim 9, characterized in that the ventilation air is blown in by the fan (25) underneath the mass of the refuse (R) .

11. A kit (100) comprising at least one device (11) of the type claimed in Claims 5 and 6 and fixing means designed to fix said device (11) to any container for refuse.