WO2011084078A1 - Process and machine for the selective separation, treatment and bagging of recyclable and unsorted urban, household or industrial solid waste - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention refers to a machine and to a process which comprises two stages: A first semi-automatic stage, wherein the waste is sorted by type and a second stage wherein the waste is ground, pressed and containerized into bags (07) hanging in a drum (14). The drum (14) moves and leads the bags (07) aligning them into the positions of the several stages of the process. The bags (07) will be filled with the respective waste sorted by type. The machine uses the processes of grinding through a system of cutters (05) and compacting through a pressing system (04).

Description

 DESCRIPTION

PROCESS AND MACHINE FOR SELECTIVE SEPARATION, TREATMENT AND CONTENTORIZATION OF RECYCLABLE AND INDIFFERENTIATED URBAN DOMESTIC OR INDUSTRIAL SOLID WASTE

SCOPE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a mechanical process for the treatment of municipal solid waste (recyclable and undifferentiated), which includes the separation, crushing, pressing and conditioning stages of waste, and the machine for carrying out the process of dimensions and suitable for industrial or domestic use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

 Portugal, as well as the other European countries, has become essentially urban.

Each inhabitant of the city produces about four hundred and fifty kilograms of garbage per year, and the total volume produced is enough to cover two thousand two hundred and fifty football fields with one meter of garbage (Source: INR).

This state of affairs led society to approach the problem with a higher level of consciousness, seeking solutions.

The reuse of garbage was one of them. Urban waste is now defined as Urban Solid Waste (MSW) and its differentiation, recovery and reuse a priority.

The R.S.U. (municipal solid waste) may come from domestic sources or may come from the service sector or from commercial or industrial establishments when these industries are integrated into urban areas.

The current unit of measure used for the R.S.U. It is the volume.

This is because most of the waste is made up of packages of variable shapes that obviously contain air.

However, volumes are an impractical form of R.S.U management.

Some consequences of operating with volumes are clearly visible both in the large proportions of public containers and in the discomfort and occupancy of spaces intended for them, and which ultimately reflect a state of the art that is likely to develop further.

Apart from its volume, the separation of waste is also an obstacle to its rational management.

Due to these limitations and technical constraints, it is now observed that only part of the waste is reused, and that the separation by type of waste is inefficiently done by people upstream, lacking a second downstream separation with considerable means.

Supermarket plastic bags, carboys, bottles, blisters and all the different polymers on the market quickly and inefficiently fill the ordinary household waste bin or current common container, resulting in a lack of convenience. and space for the housekeeper, trader or industrialist, and logistical and technical effort for municipal waste collection services.

On the other hand, there are no conditions for people to be assisted in sorting waste types because they do not all occupy the same space and volume, and attempts at "compartmentalized" dustbin models, by not addressing this problem, have the inconvenience of not being practical or comfortable or aesthetically pleasing.

Thus, given the growing world population and the improvement of living conditions, with the consequent effects on the environment, it is time, in the high density urban agglomerations, to tackle the problem of separating the R.S.U. effectively separating and compacting them to improve environmental conditions right from the start: in the kitchen, in the home, in the restaurant, in the industry.

It is a fact that the need to combine reduction and compacting mechanisms compatible with the usual dimensions of an equivalent (washing machine or dishwasher) or industrial (compact and capable) processing and containerization), has hampered capable solutions.

Thus, to date there have not been properly explored solutions to rationalize the management of the R.S.U.

The current ones necessarily require investments in increasingly large facilities and means because they are always directed to the use of volume as a unit of measure.

The proposed machine, on the other hand, allows us to find less expensive, more effective alternatives, better suited to human dimensions, and which instead of volume, use weight as a unit of measure.

In addition to row sorting and the type of treatment appropriate to each specific row of waste, the machine allows for a marked reduction in space requirements by replacing or complementing any existing containerization, with obvious qualitative and quantitative gains.

Armed with a processor and software program, the machine also provides password protection and various levels of security and access depending on the user's status.

This processor also has a network port and a remote access port thereby enabling access to data logging by the collecting agents. It becomes easier to streamline differentiated collections when you have remote access to data on quantity and quality of processed waste.

The processor also allows the user to manually and visually interact with the machine via a graphics platform and a high contrast touch panel.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention obviates the problems of the prior art by combining the efficiency of waste processing with adequate space, comfort and quality of the final product.

In order to safeguard the effectiveness and to achieve the proposed objectives, it was necessary to implement, in particular, the separation, treatment and containerization phases of the R.S.U. in order to enable its recovery by recovering as much raw material as possible with the lowest possible degree of contamination.

In order to facilitate and promote these processes, the object of the present invention was to develop a machine having simple technical solutions and systems that would allow the reliability, longevity and automation of its performance along with the possibility of being manufactured in a domestic or industrial dimension.

For this, the machine provides mechanisms that allow its automation to make it easy to operate, giving safety in use, in order to obtain a final product. increase household and industrial comfort and well-being, reduce and facilitate the task of waste sorting, and radically reduce the number of trips to the public container or the number of containers themselves.

The present invention further facilitates, through a careful and accurate set of operations, the municipal logistics involved in the transportation of waste, as well as its storage, separation, and disposal at treatment plants.

Processing comprises the phase of separation of waste to be treated by type (user-made operation).

Separate waste is placed in the loading area protected by safety cap.

Shredding, dismantling and crushing waste according to type and according to machine programming are performed by a set of cutters in the shredding chamber.

Selective and automatic packaging of waste takes place in separate containers or bags according to the selected type and machine programming.

The pressing and compaction of each residue is carried out in layers, specifically and at different pressures, through a piston acting without a compression chamber. Bags made of suitable material serve as a compression chamber.

The bags are suspended and fitted into a motorized drum located at the bottom of the machine which, when rotating, positions the bag below the grinding chamber according to the type of waste selected.

Likewise after grinding, the drum rotates, leading and positioning the bag in alignment with the pressing group.

If so, the machine will repeat this process until the bag is full.

Whenever a bag is full the machine will send this information to the user who can choose to extract it or not.

If you choose to extract it, the position occupied by that bag and attributed to a particular waste will be available for the same or any other waste.

If you choose to continue loading the machine with the same type of waste and the bag becomes full, the machine will automatically select another bag and so on until no more bags are available.

Whenever the machine is supplied with one or more new bags, it is up to the user to decide on the type of waste they wish to assign. Each bag is transported to the extraction zone at the lower front of the machine once more by the drum.

Preferably the machine uses biodegradable bags identified according to protocol codes, placed on the drum and secured by a device consisting of a bag holder and a base to which this holder is fitted or fitted.

The support of the bag consists of a circular part whose rounded profile fits the concave profile of the base.

Alternatively, there are other device options for securing or attaching the bags to the respective drum holders to suit their intended use.

The drum has six bases to which the six supports are applied, one for each bag, so this is the instantaneous operational number of containers.

Since filled bags can be replaced with empty bags, and any and all of them can be attributed the desired type of waste, the machine's operability is unlimited in time and content and hence its universality.

All data from these processes and features are controlled and recorded by a processor placed on the machine itself that has connections or ports for access. remote interface and an interface that allows for manual and visual user interaction.

This interaction is accomplished through a set of buttons or a graphics platform and a high contrast touch panel.

THE . The machine is connected to electricity, optionally to the sewage system and the water system for cleaning and disinfection.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In addition to this brief description and for the purpose of assisting a better understanding of the features of the invention, the present description is accompanied by a set of drawings in which, by way of illustration and not limitation, a preferred embodiment has been represented in which:

FIG 1 - Main elevation view of the industrial model of the machine;

FIG 2 - Schematic sectional view of the machine of FIG 1;

FIG 3 - Section view of the machine of FIG 1;

FIG 4 - Schematic top elevational view of the machine of FIG 1; and

FIG 5 - Section view through the CC line of FIG. 4 of the machine. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the machine has a body, preferably prismatic, with a support structure (01).

At the front of said body can be seen the Touch Screen (12) with respective virtual commands; The touchscreen is integral with the processor body that contains the machine programming.

Also shown in Figure 2 are the electrical cabinet (03) and the compaction motorization (04).

After sorting by waste type and loading it into the hopper (02), the machine is automatically programmed to select the appropriate treatment.

The machine uses programs specially developed for the comfort, information and safety of the user, a condition which is mandatory for the start of any processing.

Contact with the touchscreen and posture sensors require hands and body to be kept in safe areas whenever any phase involving safety is to be initiated.

Hopper loading main cover (10) for automatic processing (02) must be closed for machine operation. It is further represented: Technical port (11) for direct loading without processing or with semi-automatic processing (manual choice).

Also, in order for the machine to operate, this cover must be closed; the door (13) for bag packing.

Opening this door prevents any treatment or processing action.

Figure 3 shows the milling group (05) and its motorization (09), the drum motorization (08), the compaction motorization (04) (press) and the drum (14) and its shaft.

Figures 4 and 5 show the waste collection bag or container (07), the central frame (06) for the support of the groups and motors, and the milling group (05) with a cross-sectional view of the tree shafts. milling cutters.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Waste processing involves the following phases: A) Work Preparation

It will be preferable to have the residue groups previously separated by type (operation done manually).

If this is not done it is possible to load the machine alternately and successively with different residues since which are accompanied by the appropriate specific selections.

Undifferentiated use of the machine is also possible.

In this case the processing will not take the separation into account.

Referring to FIG. 1, which represents the machine constituting the preferred embodiment, the user selects the type of waste to be treated with the respective command on the touch screen (12).

Then, always on the touch screen (12), choose the command suggested by the machine programming for the selected waste type or choose a different selection than the pre-programmed one, ie a manual selection, always within the rational and possible options ( higher or lower compaction pressure or degree of crushing, etc.).

Then lift the lid of the machine (10) to deposit in the hopper (02) the type of waste that you want to treat only one type at a time - paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, packaging, pet's, blister's, aluminum, etc. ).

The user must then close the cover (10) and then start the machine by selecting the touch screen control (12). B) The Crunch

Referring now to FIG. 2, the waste deposited on the hopper (02) is crushed and ground in the grinding chamber by a milling group (05).

The cutters (05) are mounted on three parallel shafts (fig.5), engaged with a gear motor (09) of appropriate dimensions and with a power drive.

These hard-toothed cutters (05) of suitable material break all fibers, sheets of plastic, paper or thin metal.

This whole process is driven by a gearmotor (09), as mentioned, equipped with a sensor and inverter that reverses the rotation whenever it detects excess load.

After a few seconds of inversion the cutters (05) resume their rotation in the initial direction.

In addition to the maximum permitted torque, the milling attempt causes the machine to be stopped to protect the integrity of the groups.

If incorrectly untreatable material is introduced, the machine will stop at the end of the inverted cycles so that it can be removed with as little arrest as possible.

All shredded material passing between the cutters falls by gravity into the lower vertical bag (07). C) Compression

Referring to FIG. 3, the shredded material falls by gravity into the bag (07) and will then be moved to the further volume shrink treatment section if this was the operation selected at the beginning.

During the compaction operation (04), the bag rotates from the position in which it received the shredded material to a position at 180 ° to be placed under the pressing group (04) attached to the central frame (06) which supports the pressing forces. .

This press has the particularity of utilizing a small space, compatible with the size of the machine, using the bags themselves as compaction chambers.

The press is electric and gear-driven on a shaft with a threaded shaft specifically calculated for the desired operating speeds.

This shaft ends in a piston whose diameter is proportional to that of the bags (07) in order to compact the debris into the bag itself (07) which thus replaces the compaction chamber.

After compaction the plunger returns to its retracted position (04) allowing the movement of the drum (14) and the bags (07) it carries.

After this compaction operation, the bag (7) returns to the initial position to receive more load, or to wait with the rest for the beginning of the new cycle. When the press shaft is in the highest position the compacting plunger is above the bag inlet for clearance to allow the drum and bags to rotate without touching the plunger.

D) Storage

As shown in FIG. 4, at the bottom of the machine is space for six bags (07) for storage of the R.S.U. separated and treated by type. Nothing however prevents them from being used for the storage of any other kind of waste.

If this is the case and the waste does not require treatment, the loading shall be done by the technical port.

If this type of waste is not part of the list of recoverable waste, the program will consider it as undifferentiated waste and without economic value by giving it a bag.

The bags (07) of FIG. 3 are suspended from a rotating platform, the drum (14) supported by bearings (FIG. 3) driven by motor (08) and belt, positioned by initial selection by means of the touchscreen control. (12) already mentioned.

In this way each bag (07) is upright of the selected waste to be treated before the milling (05) and compaction (04) operations begin. The waste is fragmented by the cutters (05) and discharged by gravity to the bag (07) immediately below.

When milling (05) finishes, the drum (14) rotates, stopping when this same bag is under the compression piston FIG 2 (04)

Whenever a bag is full the programming warns of the need to extract it.

The machine has a door on its front side FIG 1 (13) for access to the location of the bags (07) with the compacted and separated waste by type, whose opening is controlled by the programming.

For the extraction of the bags, after selecting this programming operation, the interior of the machine can be accessed by opening the door (13) (FIG 1) which gives access to the drum (14) to extract the bags (07). full and exchange them for empty bags.

When one or more bags (07) reach the maximum storage volume by the action of a sensor, this data will be transmitted to the processor which in turn will display this information on the touchscreen.

Continuing to load the machine, it will select a new empty bag and so on until it has no more empty bags or only bags with usable space but previously allocated to different types of waste. When all bags are full the schedule will require replacing at least one bag to re-operate.

A specific command can start an automatic machine maintenance and cleaning process.

All these processes and functions are registered by the processor and can be accessed on the machine itself or remotely.

This will rationalize the collection operations.

The need for preventive safety interventions, the determination of curative interventions due to possible abnormal functioning and the need for cleaning and maintenance of the machine itself are thus safeguarded.

The Machine Overview

As already mentioned, the machine that runs the process just described has two manufacturing options; One industrial (FIG. 1 to 5) and one domestic, not shown, and corresponding to the appearance of a similar appliance, that is, the size of an ordinary washing machine or dishwasher.

The user operations in this process are thus reduced to:

- Separate waste by type; - Open the door (10) for the introduction of the machine's MSW and introduce into the hopper (02) the waste separated by compatible types or rows;

- Close the door (10);

- Select on the touch screen (12) the type of waste to be treated;

- If desired, a manual operation can be selected as long as it does not conflict with any previous or existing automatic processing;

- Activate the process by pressing the corresponding touch screen control (12).

The following automatically:

1) The initial shredding (05) of the waste;

2) The gravity deposition thereof in the corresponding bag (07) which is already vertically aligned of the milling group (05) by selecting (12) the type of waste to be treated and consequent rotation of the drum (14);

3) The compaction (04) thereof, in the next phase, with the degree of compression programmed and specific to each type of waste; and 4) Your deposit, storage, extraction and subsequent final collection.

Claims

Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste, characterized by the following steps: - selection of the type of waste to be treated (12) - choice of treatment type (12), and - placing the waste in the hopper (02) protected by the safety door (10), after which the automatically executed Transport phases (14) are processed; Crushing (05); Compaction (04); Containerization (07). Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable or undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection and treatment choice is carried out by the user on his own controls arranged on the upper surface of the body. of the machine. Method for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to Claim 2, characterized in that the controls are performed by means of buttons or a touch screen (12). Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to Claim 1, characterized in that the waste is crushed and broken down according to its type and according to the options. machine programming operations are carried out by a milling group (05) acting within a chamber developed for this purpose. Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to claim 4, characterized in that the pressing and compacting of each waste is carried out in layers, specifically and individually. different pressures by the press (04) acting without a compression chamber. Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to claims 4 and 5, characterized in that the compaction is carried out in bags (07) which serve as a compaction chamber. to the press plunger, these bags replacing said chamber. Process for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste according to the preceding claims, characterized in that the selective, automatic and universal waste containerization is carried out in separate bags (07). and assigned to the waste type for which they are intended only from the waste type selection phase to be treated as recited in Claim 1. Machine for selective separation, selective treatment and selective containerization of municipal, recyclable and undifferentiated municipal solid waste for carrying out the process according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises generally: Airtight, soundproof and anticorrosive enclosure supported by a metal frame (01), with door hopper (10) for loading recyclable waste and technical port (11) for other waste, both with safety devices; - Front door (13) in the lower half of the machine with safety device and hermetic lock for access to the drum (14) and the bag holder (07); - Hopper (02); Milling group consisting of milling spindles (05), milling chamber and respective motor (09); - Press group (04) consisting of piston, threaded shaft and geared motor, and without the need for compression chamber; Drum (14) of the belt carrier (07) and its belt-driven motor (08); Six or five bag holders and their waste storage and container bags; - External electricity connections; - Optional connections to water and sewage; Electric (03) or electronic controls and sensor systems; - Processor (12) (hardware) and Program (software) for process control and selection, data collection and communicability;  - USB port; and - Network port. Machine according to claim 8, characterized in that the bag conveyor drum (14) performs the following programmed functions: - The movement of the respective bag (07) to the vertical of the hopper (02) and the milling chamber; - The movement and alignment of the respective bag (07) to the vertical of the piston and pressing group (04); - The movement of the bags (07) for their extraction by the lower front door (13); and - The movement of the drum (14) and the bag holders for packing the machine into bags (07) through the lower front door (13). Machine according to Claim 8, characterized in that the data logging performed by the process or feature-related software program is accessible directly on the machine or remotely via network port or remote access port.