Process and apparatus for sorting waste materials

(42) Date of commencement of the patent: 15. 7.1996 (45) Date of issue: 25. 2.1997 (56) Documentation:

DE 3221677A

US 4946046A (73)

Patentee:

BINDER + CO. AG

A-8200 GLEISDORF, STYRIA (AT).

(54) METHOD UN WASTE SORTING DEVICE (57) Method of sorting waste of various materials, in which the pieces to be sorted are separated and examined on a moving conveyor with respect to the material and optionally also on the color and are removed from the conveyor at the individual materials and, where appropriate, their colors associated locations, in order to enable as separate as possible a separation of the waste, is planned that the pieces to be sorted are fixed in their position on the conveying path between the feeding point and the ejection point.

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The invention relates to a method for sorting waste according to the preamble of claim 1.

In the known methods of this kind, the separated pieces are deposited on a substantially straight conveying path and, in the region of this conveying path, examined for the material used and optionally also for the color and removed from the conveying path at these corresponding discharge points.

This results, especially in the sorting of disposable packaging, often in two dimensions round body, such as bottles, cans, od. Like. Contain, the problem that the position of the individual pieces during transport often changes. Ultimately, it may come after giving up the pieces to a jump of the same. This can lead to erroneous ejection of the corresponding pieces, whereby the quality of the sorting suffers very considerably.

However, a largely sorted separation of the waste according to the various materials is of decisive importance, in particular in the recycling of plastics for the quality of the new product.

Furthermore, US Pat. No. 4,946,046 has disclosed a device of the type mentioned in the introduction, in which depressions are provided in a convex conveying path in which the parts to be conveyed can be received. However, this has the disadvantage that only objects can be kept, whose shape substantially corresponds to those of the wells. A secure holding differently shaped objects and objects of very different sizes, however, is not possible. In addition, the production of such a known device requires a very considerable effort.

The aim of the invention is to avoid the mentioned disadvantages and to propose a method of the type mentioned, which allows a very sorted separation of the waste by materials and possibly also colors.

According to the invention this is achieved in a method of the type mentioned by the characterizing features of claim 1.

The proposed measures ensure that the individual pieces are kept stable in their position to the moving conveyor path during the path between the feed point and the respective discharge point with respect to the moving conveyor. This ensures that a piece that is made of a particular material, safely dropped at the designated location.

Another object of the invention is to propose a device for carrying out the method according to the invention.

In a device according to the preamble of claim 2, therefore, the characterizing features of claim 2 are proposed according to the invention.

By these measures, there is the advantage of a structurally very simple solution, which ensures the centrifugal force for the fixation of the individual pieces by the formation of the conveyor as a disc.

Due to the features of claim 3, there is the advantage of a particularly secure fixation of the position of the individual pieces with respect to the disc.

Due to the features of claim 4, there is the advantage of a very simple embodiment of the discharge devices. The conically upwardly widening edge of the disc facilitates the ejection of the individual pieces.

Due to the features of claim 5, there is the advantage that the blowing out of the individual pieces is substantially facilitated by the high proportion of perforations in the edge region of the disc.

Due to the features of claim 6, there is the advantage that the individual pieces are directed to the edge.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. Showing:

1 shows schematically a first embodiment of a device according to the invention,

2 shows schematically details of the disc,

3 and 4 schematically another embodiment of a device according to the invention in Seitenan view and plan view and

Fig. 5 shows schematically various embodiments of the edge region of the disc.

The device according to the invention according to FIG. 1 has a conveying path formed by a drivable disc 2, to which an application chute 1 for the purpose of separating pieces 7 to be sorted is assigned, such as bottles, cans and the like. made of different materials.

The disc 2 has a substantially planar or dome-shaped upwardly curved central region 3, which in the illustrated embodiment of a down to conical

AT 402 165 Β widening area 4 is surrounded, which in turn is surrounded by an upwardly to conically widening edge 5. This results in a circumferential groove, which is provided for receiving the pieces to be sorted 7.

The chute 1 has a relatively small inclination and is tangential to the channel formed by the region 4 and the edge 5 of the disc 2, so that the individual pieces 7 slide from the chute 1 in this groove.

The individual pieces 7 are pressed due to the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the disc 2 to the inside of the edge 5 and therefore do not change their position to the disc 2.

In the direction of rotation of the disc 2 of the task chute 1 is followed by a sensor device 6. This sensor device is equipped with sensors that usually detect the reflectivity of the individual pieces 7 for infrared light and from these measurements, the respective material from which the passing piece 7 is made detected.

Furthermore, if sorting by color is desired in the various materials, especially plastics, color sensors for transparent pieces 7 operating in the sensor device 6 are also provided by visible-light color sensors for substantially opaque pieces 7 and transparent-light color sensors 7 his.

This sensor device 6 controls discharge devices 8, which are arranged downstream of the sensor device 6 in the direction of rotation of the disk 2, wherein the discharge devices 8 are formed by exhaust nozzles. These exhaust nozzles are arranged below the disc 2 and directed obliquely outwards. In this case, the conical region 4 surrounding the central region 3 is provided with a large number of apertures, or is formed from a wire mesh 9, expanded metal 10 or rods 11 arranged at closely spaced intervals. As a result, correspondingly large surface portions are permeable to air.

Depending on the detected by the sensor assembly 6 material of the piece in question 7 and possibly also its color within the same material one of the discharge devices 8 is activated as soon as the piece in question 7 has reached its area, wherein the activation by the sensor device 6 in dependence the speed of the disc 2 is controlled. In this case, a relatively large number of discharge devices 8 can be arranged distributed over the circumference of the disc 2, and this also depends on the size of the pieces 7 to be sorted out. The discharge devices 8 are in the embodiment of FIG. 1 Assigned to collecting container 12, whereas in the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 the chutes 8 chutes 14 are assigned, leading to not shown conveyors.

In the area of ​​the discharge devices 8 2 collecting container 12 are arranged in addition to the disc, which record sorted by material and color pieces 7 sorted.

In the embodiment according to FIGS. 3 and 4, two disks 2, 2 'are provided. In this case, in the region of a transfer chute 13, a discharge device (not shown in FIG. 3) is arranged which throws all the pieces 7 onto the transfer chute which are not assigned to any of the discharge devices arranged in the region of the disk 2. These pieces 7 are then dropped by the discharge devices in the region of the disc 2 'and corresponding collecting containers 12 fed.

4, the discharge devices 8 are indicated by arrows.

FIG. 5 a shows various embodiments of the edge region of the pane 2 or 2 '. Thus, the edge 5 can rise directly from the flat area 3 of the disc 2, 2 '.

According to FIG. 5b, an edge 5 which widens upwards protrudes from a region 4 which widens conically downwards, wherein the entire disk 2, 2 'can be cone-shaped.

According to FIG. 5c, the central region of the disk 2, 2 'is designed to be curved in the shape of a dome upwards, followed by a region 4 which widens conically downwards. This is surrounded by the conically upwardly widening edge 5. In this case, this area 4 has a greater inclination to the horizontal, as the dome-shaped area. 3

The embodiment of FIG. 5d differs from that of FIG. 5c only in that the region 4 has a lower inclination than in the region 3.