WO2006097952A1

WO2006097952A1 - Household appliance for organic waste disposal

Info

Publication number: WO2006097952A1
Application number: PCT/IT2006/000064
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gianpiero Contursi; Sandro Contursi
Original assignee: Gianpiero Contursi; Sandro Contursi
Priority date: 2005-03-15
Filing date: 2006-02-07
Publication date: 2006-09-21
Also published as: ITSA20050009A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a household appliance for organic waste disposal. This household appliance, having the same dimensions of a washing machine, transforms organic waste (input) into inert material (output) in the shape of a round or square brick. The inert brick can be stored in a household environment for several days and then it can be reused as fertilizer in agriculture or put inside public rubbish bins. This innovative disposal system is composed of three processes: 1. a mechanical process in order to crush, to mix, to press, to filter and to eject; 2. a thermic process in order to bring the mixture to the boil; 3. an electronic process in order to check the functionality of the mechanical and thermic processes. In particular, this appliance is obtained by assembling the following essential mechanical parts: a crushing device that employs rotating blades, a mixer, a piston, a separator, a filter, a tank, a hydraulic pump.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Household appliance for organic waste disposal

TECHNICAL FIELD

5 The present invention relates to a household appliance for organic waste disposal (FIG. 1 and FlG. 2). This household appliance, having the same dimensions of a washing machine, transforms organic waste (input) into inert material (output) in the shape of a round or square brick. The inert brick can be stored in a household environment for several days and then it can be reused as fertilizer in εgriculture or put inside public rubbish bins.

J ₀ BACKGROUND ART

Today, there are many treatments and machineries that render waste inert: from thermodestruction processes (incineration, pyrolysis), to treatments that render waste harmless (reduction of chromates), to composting systems, to a wide range of processes that allow a total or partial recovery of waste.

15 The novelty of the present invention concerns a household appliance that transforms organic waste into inert bricks from a bacteriological point of view. Therefore, these bricks can be stored in a household environment for several days and then they can be reused as fertilizer or put inside public rubbish bins. This innovative household appliance is a technologically complex system, but it is very

20 simple to use and it provides many ecological, health and social benefits. In fact:

1. it allows disposal of organic matters that cause problems because of their bad smell and their percolation;

2. it allows to obtain inert bricks that don't stink and don't produce percolation;

3. it means a significant reduction of the annual amount of waste;

25 4. it represents a good alternative to landfilLdispαsal— and— to— thermθdestratcttσrr processes;

5. it is an incentive to collect waste separately;

6. it means a greater ease of technological development compared to big disposal plants; on 7. it allows a direct or indirect reuse of inert waste as fertilizer. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION This innovative disposal system is composed of three processes:

1. a mechanical process in order to crush, to mix, to press, to filter and to eject;

2. a thermic process in order to bring the mixture to the boil; 3. an electronic process in order to check the functionality of the mechanical and thermic processes.

The processes that take place inside the household appliance and the devices that cause them are described in sequential order. Organic waste, loaded through the sliding door of the upper panel (FIG. 2), is crushed by rotating blades. This first mechanical process takes place thanks to two rollers (FlG. 3), operated by an electrical motor (FIG. 4), having radial and longitudinal blades. Crushing increases the specific surface area of materials that compose waste.

Mixing is the second process. Mixing takes place thanks to a screw conveyor (FlG. 5) that transports crushed waste and mixes it with water. The screw conveyor is composed of an horizontal tube in which a helix turns thanks to an electrical motor.

At the same time the thermic process takes place. Electrical resistances, inserted into a housing block (FIG. 6), bring temperature of the mixture, composed of crushed waste and water, to a suitable boiling point. This boiling process is indispensable in order to stop bacterial putrefaction, to prevent percolation and to avoid bad smells arising.

Pressing is the third process. Pressing takes place thanks to a piston that runs inside a circular perforated plate (FIG.7). This plate is used for dividing the crushed and mixed waste in two fractions, having different characteristics. In fact, in accordance with the diameter of the holes through which waste passes, it's possible to obtain: 1. a coarse fraction: reject of sieve;

2. a fine fraction that has to be pressed and compacted in order to remove water and to prevent future processes of digestion of the mixture. In fact, this fine fraction is pressed by the piston and compacted in a die, taking the form of a brick. The last process concerns the ejection of the brick and the reject of sieve. The brick is ejected through the sliding_d^ρχj)ilili£-frQnt_^panel-^ InsteadTTHF^" reject of sieve is filtered first, then accumulated in a small well and, at the end, it is pumped outside (FIG. 8) into a proper collecting basin.

The case \FIG. 2) of the household appliance is composed of six panels: a front panel, a posterior panel, an upper panel, a bottom panel, a right panel and a left panel. The front panel is composed of: a door for cleaning/changing of filter at the bottom, a sliding door through which bricks are ejected in the middle and the electrical instrumentation at the top.

The electrical instrumentation (FIG. 9), which is used for checking the mechanical and thermic processes, is composed of: 1) a button that is used to regulate crushing; 2) a button thai is used to regulate boiling temperature; 3) a button that is used to open/close the ejector door; 4) a button that is used to open/close the loading door; 5) a button that is used to regulate the screw conveyor; 6) a button that is used to regulate pressing; 7) a button that is used to regulate pumping of the reject of sieve. The posterior pane] is composed of: a door, that allows water to pass through a proper tube, at the top and a door that allows waste unloading through a proper pump at the bottom.

The upper panel is composed of a sliding door through which organic waste is loaded.

Four reinforced feet are fixed to the bottom panel in order to guarantee a greater stability of the household appliance. It may be that some mechanical and electrical detail will be changed, without departing from the domain of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in, illustrate preferred embodiments of the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 — is a south-east axonometric view showing the structure of the household appliance for organic waste disposal.

FIG. 2 - is an axonometric view showing the case of the household appliance.

The case is composed of six panels which are lmm thick. Four holes have to be made in the edges of each panel in order to allow the fastening of the panels to the frame in the shape of a box with screws.

A little opening for the filter has to be made on the front panel. So, the filter can be extracted from the front panel in order to allow its cleaning.

There are four holes on the bottom panel in order to allow the fastening of the feet. Two holes have to be made in the posterior panel: the ficsjLat_the-toi3-must-allew-wateiH:o- flow through the pipe, while the hole at the bottom must allow the pump to discharge water.

FIG. 3 - is a plan view showing the crushing rollers.

The two crushing rollers are different: the anterior roller has 25 radial blades, while the posterior roller has 24 radial blades; both of them have 34 longitudinal blades. The two crushing rollers have to be dephased of 5,3° in order to avoid interferences among the blades.

The tooth of the radial blades has a triangular base of 2mm and it is 4mm high.

The groove of the radial blades has a base of 3mm and it is 4mm depth.

The tooth of the longitudinal blades has a triangular base of 2mm and it is 4mm high.

The groove of the longitudinal blades has a base of 4mm and it is 4mm depth. FiG. 4 - is a north-west axdnometric view showing the crushing + healing block.

FIG. 5 - is a front view of the screw conveyor.

The screw conveyor has to placed on the lower side of the carter. Its pitch is 52mm.

The blades of the screw conveyor are 2mm thick. The first and the last blades have to be placed lower to avoid material accumulation and lack of thrust.

FIG. 6 - a right view of the right housing block for resistances and a left view of the right housing block for resistances.

The resistances have to be inserted into the 5 holes of the housing block; the 5 resistances must have the following dimensions: 15x260mm. FIG. 7 - is an axonometric view showing the circular perforated plate.

The circular perforated plate is 2mm thick. Its two brackets have flexible steel tongues in order to allow extraction of the plate from the tank when the piston goes back up. When the piston goes down, the two tongues must be wholly inserted into the groove in order to non hinder piston stroke. FIG. 8 - is a left view showing the outlet block.

The outlet block, having a thickness of lmm, is fastened to the tank (which is 3mm thick) together with the inlet block.

FIG. 9 - is an axonometric view of the electrical instrumentation placed on the front panel.

The electrical instrumentation is composed of the following buttons: crushing blades, heating resistors, door opening, screw conveyor, piston pressing, water unloading.

Claims

1) A household appliance having the same dimensions of a washing machine that, thanks to mechanical, thermic and electronic processes, transforms organic waste into inert material, in the shape of a round or square brick;

5 2) a household appliance as claimed in claim 1 , is divided into three processes: a) a mechanical process in order to crush, to mix, to filter and to eject; b) a thermic process in order to bring the mixture to the boil; c) an electronic process in order to check the functionality of the mechanical and thermic processes;

3) a material in the shape of brick that, in accordance with one of the previous claims or with I O a combination of the previous claims, is inert from a bacteriological point of view and that can be stored in a household environment for several days and then reused as fertilizer or put inside public rubbish bins;

4) a household appliance that, in accordance with one of the previous claims or with a combination of the previous claims, is obtained by assembling the folloλving essential j 5 mechanical parts: a crushing device that employs rotating blades, a mixer, a piston, a separator, a filter, a tank, a hydraulic pump;

5) an inert material in the shape of brick that, in accordance with one of the previous claims or with a combination of the previous claims, is the outcome of the combination of different mechanical, thermic and electronic processes to which organic waste is subjected inside the 0 household appliance;

6) a household appliance that, in accordance with one of the previous claims or with a combination of the previous claims, can be realized in order to dispose non only organic waste produced by one family, but also that is generated by residents of a multi family building.