JPH0592428A - Volume decreasing machine for foamed plastic - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Structure] A crushing means for finely crushing the foamed plastic, and a screw conveyor 16 for kneading, compressing and melting the finely crushed foamed plastic. The tip of the screw conveyor 16 is crushed. A pool portion (21) that can reheat an object is provided in series. Heaters 26, 27 and shredding means C are provided around the portions for various places, and shredder means C is provided at the tip of the discharge side. The shredder means C cuts the plastic which is completely melted and reduced in volume in the reservoir 21. [Effect] Since the crushed material can be reheated in the pool portion 21, a complete molten material can be obtained. Furthermore, the entire structure is compactly configured in one frame, and can be easily installed and used in a supermarket or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a foamed plastic volume reducing machine.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, foamed plastics such as Styrofoam are lightweight, elastic, heat-insulating, water-resistant and inexpensive, and are therefore used as cushioning materials or packaging materials for various types of equipment.
It is widely and widely used in various fields as a packaging material and as a container or tray for food such as vegetables and seafood. However, this type of styrofoam after use is bulky, inconvenient to handle, and does not rot, so it is not suitable for abandonment as waste or landfill treatment. As a result, the incineration process caused a high combustion temperature, causing damage to the combustion furnace itself.

As a method for treating foam plastic waste that overcomes such problems, a treatment method has been developed in which the foam plastic itself is crushed and then melted to reduce the volume. As one of them, Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 60-6205 is disclosed. It has a coarse crushing device and a fine crushing device installed in the front and rear of the lower half of the machine body, and supplies the roughly crushed foam material to a storage tank located above the machine body by a blower that can be sucked and fed. After being temporarily stored, the crushed product is delivered to the volume reducing unit where it is melted by frictional heat by a spiral conveyor extending horizontally from below the storage tank.

However, the above devices still have some problems to be solved. For example, since the object to be recycled is mainly expanded polystyrene having a high expansion ratio, it is necessary to provide a hopper for temporarily storing the crushed foam, which results in a large overall shape. Inevitably, a supermarket that will be the end user of Styrofoam products,
In addition to being not completely satisfactory for use in shops and restaurants, the type of foam to be treated or the size of the crushed particles is due to the fact that the melting part is mainly composed of frictional heat. Depending on the case, unmelted lumps may be released.

JP-A-3-39512 is further disclosed as a method for treating foamed plastics in which the above problems are improved. This is because a crushing shaft having a cutter blade and a rotating shaft having a screw blade are rotatably provided below the hopper, and a tapered compression cylinder is arranged so as to surround the screw blade, and the compression cylinder is supplied from the inside of the compression cylinder. It is a device that melts the crushed foam in a heating cylinder and further cuts it into chips by a rotary cutter through an extruder.

However, in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-39512, the expanded polystyrene is used as a cushioning material or packing material for various devices, or a packaging material, that is, in the case of processing expanded polystyrene such as a large lump. Is an effective processing device, but it is difficult to be crushed in the case of thin containers such as food containers and trays used for vegetables and seafood lined up on shelves in supermarkets, etc.
Since there is a limit to the length of the heating cylinder for heating the crushed foam, it is difficult to give a sufficient amount of heat to the crushed body while moving there, and as a result, unmelted matter is generated. The unmelted material causes clogging of the extruded plate,
There is a problem that it is necessary to interrupt the work to remove the clogging.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art as described above. The purpose of the present invention is to make the entire device compact and to make the crushed body completely compact. It is to provide a volume reduction machine for foamed plastics that can be easily installed and used in the end users of foamed plastic products, such as supermarkets, shops or restaurants, by making it meltable. ..

[0008]

The technical method taken by the present invention to achieve the above object and solve the problems is to provide a foamed plastic charging hopper, a crushing means in the charging hopper, and the charging hopper. Volume reducing machine for a foamed plastic having a heating body arranged around a required portion of a screw conveyor for heating the crushed foamed plastic from the above, and a shredding means located at the tip of the discharge side of the conveying means. In the above-mentioned, the conveying means has a collecting portion at a transfer end portion of the screw conveyor, and a rotating stirring member for stirring the transported object is mounted in the collecting portion.

Further, in the present invention, the rotary stirring member is
There is also disclosed a foamed plastic volume reducing machine, which is a member that extends in the axial direction of the extension of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor and that is a projecting member. With this configuration, it is possible to effectively stir the transported object in the reservoir. Furthermore, the present invention also discloses a foamed plastic volume reducing machine in which a heating body is also provided around the required portion of the reservoir of the carrier. With this configuration, melting in the reservoir can be performed more effectively.

[0010]

[Operation] With the above-described structure, the foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention is processed as follows. That is, the foamed plastic put into the hopper is finely crushed by a crushing means, and then sent to a screw conveyor, and the crushed foam is usually all melted by a heating element arranged around the screw conveyor, Defoamed. Even when unmelted ones are discharged from the screw conveyor due to the quantitative circumstances of the pulverized body, further stirring is performed in the pool portion arranged at the transfer end portion of the screw conveyor,
The foamed pulverized body is completely melted by being heated. After that, it is shredded into small pieces by the shredding means at the tip of the discharge side of the screw conveyor and discharged outside the machine.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show a foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention, in which a charging hopper 3 into which foamed plastic such as Styrofoam is charged is provided in an upper portion of a rectangular frame 2 having casters 1, 1. A crushing means A is arranged in the charging hopper 3.

The input hopper 3 has a hopper lower part 4 whose lower part is inclined like a funnel, and the hopper lower part 4
Is provided with the crushing means A. The crushing means A is
A rotary shaft 6 vertically erected in the central opening 5 of the hopper lower part 4, a plurality of stages of cutting blades 7, 7, ... Extending perpendicularly to the rotary shaft 6, and the cutting blades 7, 7 , And a fixed blade body 9 having a passage opening 8 for rotating cutting blade bodies 7, 7 ,. Each cutting blade 7,7,
The length of ... decreases from the upstream side to the downstream side, and the rotation locus of its tip has an inverted trapezoidal shape.

The rotating shaft 6 forming a part of the above-mentioned crushing means A is a bearing at the central opening 5 of the lower part 4 of the hopper.
The first bearing portion 11 is passed through via 10 and the lower end of the rotary shaft 6 is rotatably supported on the frame bottom portion 2a by the second bearing portion 12 via a bearing (not shown) (FIG. 2). .. Further, a predetermined number of cutting blade bodies 7, 7, ... Extending perpendicularly to the rotary shaft 6 are provided at a portion of the rotary shaft 6 above the first bearing portion 11 so as not to interfere with each other. Are welded at intervals.

A sprocket 13 is mounted below the bearing 11 of the rotary shaft 6, and a sprocket 14 having the same surface as that of the sprocket 13 is mounted on the motor shaft of an electric motor M1 fixedly mounted on the frame side 2b. The rotary shaft 6 is rotationally driven by the driving force from the electric motor M1 via the sprockets 13 and 14. Reference numeral 15 in the drawing denotes a chain for connecting and rotating the sprocket 13 and the sprocket 14.

The fixed blade body 9 which constitutes a part of the above-mentioned crushing means A is a plate fixed to the weight-like wall surface of the lower part 4 of the hopper by an appropriate means such as welding or riveting in the axial direction. It is composed of a body. The lateral width of the plate-shaped body has such a width that the edge portion on the hopper axial center side is located within the rotational locus of the cutting blades 7, 7, ... It is appropriately determined experimentally according to the type and size of the foamed plastic to be used. Then, the cutting blades 7, 7, ...
The passage openings 8, 8, ... Are formed so that 7 ,. Further, as shown in the figure, the one in which the upper portion has a width larger than that of the lower portion is more effective from the viewpoint of crushing, but the width may be the same throughout the length.

In addition, although not shown in particular, each passage opening 8,
An adjusting blade is vertically movably fixed to the lower fixed blade 9 so that the gap between the passage opening 8 and the cutting blade 7 passing therethrough can be adjusted. You can also An opening 17 is provided on the peripheral surface side of the lower portion 4 of the hopper to feed the crushed foamed plastic into a screw conveyor 16 described later. The opening 17 has a substantially rectangular shape and is formed at a position above the bearing 11.

Further, on the peripheral surface side of the hopper lower portion 4, a foreign matter takeout lid 18 can be provided between the bearing portion 11 and the opening 17 so as to be openable and closable. A screw conveyor 16 having a screw opening portion 19 which is coincident with the opening portion 17 is attached to a position outside the hopper lower portion 4 and having the opening portion 17.

Inside the screw conveyor 16, the hopper 3
A screw 20 as an unloading means B for unloading the crushed foamed plastics from the above is inserted, and a reservoir 21 is provided at the transfer end of the screw conveyor 16 (FIGS. 4 and 5). The reservoir portion 21 has the same diameter as the inner diameter of the casing of the screw conveyor 16 and is attached to the tip of the casing by an appropriate means such as screwing, and the adapter 24 is attached to the tip of the adapter 24 by screwing or the like. It is a space constituted by a cap 25 mounted by means, and a rotary stirring member 22 for stirring the transported object is arranged in the space. In this embodiment, the rotary stirring member 22 is a member that extends in the axial direction of the extension portion 23 of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor 16 and is integrally projectingly provided. Further, the tip of the extension portion 23 is processed into a tapered conical shape, the cap 25 has a concave conical shape that matches the conical portion, the cap 25 of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor 16. The extension 23 is bearing.

Further, heaters 26 and 27 as heating bodies are arranged around the downstream side of the screw conveyor 16 and around the reservoir 21, respectively, and the molten resin is removed from the machine on the wall of the adapter 24. A passage portion 31 for delivering is formed. At one end of the screw 20 in the screw conveyor 16, a sprocket 28 is attached via a bearing,
A sprocket 29 having the same surface as that of the sprocket 28 is attached to the motor shaft of an electric motor M2 fixedly mounted on the frame bottom portion 2a, and the screw 20 is attached to the sprocket 2
It is rotationally driven by the driving force from the electric motor M2 via 8, 29.

Reference numeral 30 in the drawing denotes a chain for connecting and rotating the sprocket 28 and the sprocket 29.
In the vicinity of the discharge-side tip of the conveying means B, that is, the delivery end of the passage portion 31 formed in the adapter wall portion of the reservoir portion 21,
Shredding means C is provided. In this embodiment, the shredding means C is the same as the extrusion board 32 having a plurality of pores 35 fixed to the position of the passage portion 31 provided downward on the adapter 24 by means such as welding or screwing. The rotary blade 33 is mounted on the downstream side of the extruder 32 and is rotationally driven via a transmission system (not shown).

The foamed plastic volume reducer of the present invention constructed as described above drives the electric motors M1, M2, etc. after moving to a place requiring treatment. As described above, this device is compactly constructed as a whole, and since the casters 1, 1 are attached to the bottom, it can be easily moved to any place. Then, foamed plastic, for example, foamed polystyrene having a small thickness such as a tray is put into the insertion hopper 3. At this time, the electric motor M
The rotary shaft 6 is rotated clockwise by the driving of No. 1 and the cutting blades 7, 7, ... Standing upright on the rotary shaft 6 are also rotated clockwise at the same time. .. and the fixed blade body 9 are finely crushed within 4. In particular, in the case of the present invention, even if the object to be cut is a styrofoam thin piece like a tray of a food container, it is caught in the gap between the cutting blade and the fixed blade. Definitely crushed.

Further, when the adjusting blade is provided in the passage opening 8 portion of the fixed blade body 7, it becomes possible to change and adjust the gap between the rotating cutting blade body and the fixed blade body. It is possible to obtain the crushing conditions according to the shape. Styrofoam is crushed into small pieces while the hopper lower part 4
Is accumulated on the bottom of the hopper and is fed into the screw 20 through the screw opening 19 provided on the screw conveyor 16 from the opening 17 provided on the peripheral surface of the hopper lower portion 4. At this time, the screw 20 is rotated by the drive of the electric motor M2, and the finely crushed styrofoam is further crushed by the screw 20 and sequentially conveyed rightward in FIG. 1 while generating frictional heat.

The styrofoam in the crushed state, which is sequentially conveyed to the right, is conveyed from the screw conveyor 16 while being conveyed in the screw conveyor 16 heated by the heater 26 provided on the downstream side of the screw conveyor 16. When heat is transferred and heated from the heater 23, the resin itself melts and is defoamed due to the viscosity of the resin itself, and the volume of the resin is reduced.

The object to be completely melted is then sent to the pool portion 21, and the rotational force of the rotary stirring member 22 causes the molten resin passage 31 provided at the bottom of the adapter 24 to pass through the pores 35 of the extrusion board 32. It is continuously extruded through and is cut into pellets by the rotary blade 33. In the present apparatus which is configured as a whole as a whole, the length of the screw conveyor 16 must be limited, and thus the length of the heater 26 mounted around the screw conveyor 16 must be limited. I don't get it. As a result, depending on the amount or type of the object to be treated or the operating environment around the equipment, while the crushed foam passes through the screw conveyor, heat transfer therefrom and a sufficient amount of heat from the heater 23 may be received. This may not be possible, and a situation may occur in which it is sent to the reservoir 21 in a semi-molten state.

Even in such a case, the apparatus according to the present invention can sufficiently function as a volume reducer. That is, the compressed and semi-molten styrol sent to the front reservoir 21 by the rotational force of the screw 29 is
Friction heat is generated by the rotation of the rotary stirring member 22 at the tip of the screw 20 in the reservoir 21, and the friction heat is further heated by the heater 27 arranged around the reservoir 21 to stay in the reservoir 21. During the process, it becomes completely molten styrene.

Thereafter, the molten styrene is extruded by the rotational force of the rotary stirring member 22 from the molten resin passage 31 provided in the lower portion of the adapter 24, and is further continuously extruded from the pores of the extruder 32. become. At this time, since the rotary blade 33 is rotating at the front position of the extruder 32 by the driving of an electric motor (not shown), the extruded molten styrene is cut into pellets.

The above description is for one embodiment of the present invention, and there are many other modifications. For example, the rotary stirring member 22 in the reservoir has been described as a member that extends in the axial direction of the extension portion 23 of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor and integrally projects, but this rotary stirring member is fed in the space inside the reservoir. Any material can be used as long as it generates frictional heat by stirring and mixing the coming semi-molten object.
The shape and the driving means can have many variations. As an example, a wing piece separately created in the extension part 23 of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor is fixed by welding or the like, a shaft body that can rotate independently of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor is rotatably supported by an appropriate bearing, and independently. The one that is rotationally driven by the drive source is used.

Further, the heating body provided around the reservoir is not always essential, and therefore, the heating body may be detachably mounted around the reservoir. The discharging direction of the molten resin body from the accumulation portion to the outside of the machine is not limited to the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the screw conveyor as in the embodiment, and may be the same direction as the feeding direction of the screw conveyor. In this case, the cap 25 is provided with a fine hole 35 in addition to the bearing portion.

Further, the cutting means provided in the vicinity of the extrusion board 32 is not limited to the one shown in the figure as long as it can cut the discharged volume-reducing resin body into pellets, and any cutting means can be used. Further, the cutting means itself is not essential, and in that case, the molten styrene can be obtained as a linear or lump continuous one by receiving the molten styrene with a pallet or the like.

Since the Styrofoam to be put into the input hopper 3 is a used Styrofoam containing vegetables, seafood and others, there is a possibility that the Styrofoam with foreign matter may be put in. And the finely crushed Styrofoam itself is very light in weight, so that only foreign matter remains below. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the foreign matter from being fed into the screw conveyor 16 through the opening 18 by opening the foreign matter extraction lid 18 and removing the accumulated foreign matter.

[0031]

The foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention is
With the above configuration, a foamed plastic having a small thickness can also be crushed and treated, and by providing a pool portion that can reheat the pulverized product at the tip of the discharge side of the screw conveyor that sends the pulverized product, Complete melting can be achieved. Moreover, because the whole is configured in one machine frame, it can be made highly mobile and compact, and it can be freely moved to the desired place, so it is the end user of the foamed plastic products, such as supermarkets, shops and restaurants. It can be easily installed and used in, for example.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view of a foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway left side view of the foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway right side view of the foamed plastic volume reducing machine of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VV of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Input hopper 16 Screw conveyor 21 Reservoir 22 Rotating stirring member 26, 27 Heater as a heater A Grinding means B Conveying means C Shredding means

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A foamed plastic charging hopper, a crushing means in the charging hopper, a conveying means having a screw conveyor for discharging the crushed foamed plastic from the charging hopper, and heating the crushed foamed plastic in the conveying means. In a foamed plastic volume reducer having a heating element arranged around a required portion of a screw conveyor for cutting, a shredding means located at the discharge side tip of the conveying means, the conveying means is a screw conveyor. A foamed plastic volume reducing machine characterized in that it has a reservoir at a transfer end, and a rotary stirring member for stirring a transported object is mounted in the reservoir. 2. The volume reduction of the foamed plastic according to claim 1, wherein the rotary stirring member is a member that extends in an axial direction of the rotary shaft of the screw conveyor and projects in the axial direction. Machine. 3. The foamed plastic volume reducing machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a heating body is also arranged around a required portion of the reservoir of the carrier.