EP0043770A1 - Expelling machine, especially for household refuse - Google Patents

Abstract

This machine, intended especially for expelling liquid from heterogeneous products such as household refuse, comprises a hopper (1) for feeding products from which liquid is to be expelled, two alternate-action rammers (4) mounted in the hopper above a passage (2) in which a square driver (3) is mounted which is intended to push the product from which liquid is to be expelled into a pressure chamber (9) of square cross-section, the walls of which are provided with means (11, 12) for discharging the fluid products resulting from the expelling operation, a key (20) of circular cross-section being displaceable within the said pressure chamber so as to ensure expelling of liquid from the products introduced by the driver (3), the diameter of the key (20) defining with the cross-section of the chamber (9) a pressing space for the product in the form of a thin layer. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to the spinning of moisture-laden products in order to obtain, on the one hand, residues sufficiently dry to constitute a fuel having an acceptable calorific value, and on the other hand, fluid substances which can be used according to their nature, agriculture as soil improvers or as raw materials from which chemicals can be extracted.

For several years, the energy crisis has forced manufacturers to seek products capable of supplying calories while being less costly than traditional energies.

We have already thought of using household waste as fuel, which constitutes a large daily mass produced in large and small urban centers.

However, household waste has a high content of water and other non-combustible products so that their combustion only produces too little energy.

We therefore had the idea of wringing out household waste in order to make it suitable for combustion.

We already know for example from DE-A. 2753920, the FR-A. 2.411.815 (both in the name of Sté Hydromer) and the DE-C. 853102 in the name of J. Bibby & Sons, devices for wringing products with a high fluid content which include a chamber into which the product to be treated is introduced and subjected to high pressure and a compression member intended to penetrate into the precompressed product being in the pressure chamber with a view to expressing the fluids therefrom, the flow of which is ensured by passages formed between the pressure chamber and a fluid collector.

The invention aims to create a spinning machine which combines a moderate cost price with improved performance compared to known devices.

It has been found in fact that the chamber and piston machines, for example built according to the aforementioned principle of the Hydromer patents, were not of sufficient efficiency given their cost. high, the low yield being the fact that the products were not treated in a thin layer.

If on the other hand the DE-C. 853102 recommends such a treatment well, it uses the principle of rolling, which can only be used in the case of garbage already screened and therefore rid of hard bodies of large volumes.

It therefore relates to a machine for wringing products with a high content of fluid materials comprising means for supplying product to be wrung intended to bring said product to means for pressing said product and comprising a chamber and defining an interval of pressing the product in the form of a thin layer and means for evacuating the fluid products resulting from the spinning as well as the product wrung, characterized in that said pressure chamber is of square section, the punch has a complementary square section of that of said chamber while a corner has a circular section whose diameter is such that it defines with the square section of the chamber the thickness of said thin layer of the product.

Other characteristics of the invention will appear during the description which follows.

• - la figure 1 est une vue schématique en élévation et en coupe d'un premier mode de réalisation de la machine d'essorage suivant l'invention ;
• - La figure 2 est une vue schématique en coupe transversale de la chambre de pression de la machine de la figure 1 montrant le mouvement des objets non compressible sous l'action du coin.
• - La figure 3 est une vue schématique partielle de la machine de la figure 1, montrant la disposition des fouloirs ;
• - La figure 4 est une vue en perspective éclatée de la chambre de pression et du coin de la machine de la figure 1 ;
• - La figure 5 est une vue partielle en perspective de la plaque collectrice représentée à la figure 4.
• La figure 6 est une vue partielle en perspective montrant le porte-lames destiné à arraser les matières obstruant les gicleurs de la chambre de pression.
• - La figure 7 est une coupe à plus grande échelle suivant un plan perpendiculaire à la paroi d'un élément latéral de la chambre de pression montrant d'action des lames de la figure 6.
• - La figure 8 est une vue schématique partielle de la machine de la figure 1 destinée à représenter le rapport entre les longueurs de produit avant et après compression de celui-ci par le poinçon de la machine
• - La figure 9 est une vue schématique en perspective d'un autre mode de réalisation de la machine suivant l'invention ;
• - La figure 10 est un diagramme montrant la cinématique des rouleaux de la machine de la figure 9 ;
• - La figure 11 est une vue analogue à celle de la figure 7 montrant l'action des lames de nettoyage des gicleurs des rouleaux de la machine de la figure 9 ; et
• - La figure 12 est une vue schématique d'une variante de la machine de la figure 9.

In the accompanying drawings, given only by way of examples:

• - Figure 1 is a schematic elevational view in section of a first embodiment of the wringing machine according to the invention;
• - Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the pressure chamber of the machine of Figure 1 showing the movement of non-compressible objects under the action of the wedge.
• - Figure 3 is a partial schematic view of the machine of Figure 1, showing the arrangement of glanders;
• - Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the pressure chamber and the corner of the machine of Figure 1;
• - Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the header plate shown in Figure 4.
• Figure 6 is a partial perspective view showing the blade holder for leveling the material obstructing the nozzles of the pressure chamber.
• FIG. 7 is a section on a larger scale along a plane perpendicular to the wall of a lateral element of the pressure chamber showing the action of the blades of FIG. 6.
• - Figure 8 is a partial schematic view of the machine of Figure 1 intended to represent the relationship between the lengths of product before and after compression thereof by the punch of the machine
• - Figure 9 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of the machine according to the invention;
• - Figure 10 is a diagram showing the kinematics of the rollers of the machine of Figure 9;
• - Figure 11 is a view similar to that of Figure 7 showing the action of the blades for cleaning the nozzles of the rollers of the machine of Figure 9; and
• - Figure 12 is a schematic view of a variant of the machine of Figure 9.

The machine shown in Figures 1 to 7 is intended to ensure the spinning of heterogeneous products, containing in their mass non-compressible objects. This is particularly the case for household waste which contains a quantity of hard bodies such as bottles, fragments of glass or plastic and others.

For heterogeneous products of the aforementioned type it is necessary that the machine has an inlet passage, as large as possible.

To this end, the machine according to the invention comprises a hopper 1 which opens into a passage 2 whose bottom is Y-shaped and in which is slidably mounted a punch 3 of square section.

In the hopper 1 are mounted two pluggers 4 inclined at 45 ° and driven so as to act alternately on the mass of product to be compressed.

The arrangement of the pluggers 4 appears clearly in FIG. 3 in which it can be seen that the active face of each plugger is parallel to the direction of movement of the punch 3.

The alternating action of the pluggers 4 on the mass of product ensures good compaction of the product and prevents the formation of arches which are detrimental to the proper functioning of the machine.

On its active face the punch 3 is provided with a cutting blade 5 intended to cooperate with a counter blade 6 mounted in an orifice 7 of an inlet wall 8 of a pressure chamber 9 in which the punch 3 is intended to push a volume of product to be wrung defined by the product of the length L of the passage 2 by the section of the square punch 3, (fig. 8).

The pressure chamber 9 is constituted by the assembly of four lateral elements 10 (fig. 4) held together by a frame 10a of parallelepidedic shape. The elements 10 have an external surface in the form of a quarter cylinder and a flat internal surface so that they together define a pressure chamber of square section.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, each lateral element 10 is pierced with a multitude of orifices 11 for discharging the fluid substances resulting from the spinning. The orifices 11 which are calibrated according to the nature of the product to be wrung are arranged in rows and open into axial channels 12 formed in the thickness of each lateral element.

It can be seen in FIG. 6 that these channels 12 form a crown for discharging the products resulting from the spinning. These channels lead to a plate 13 which constitutes the bottom wall of the pressure chamber, opposite the square punch 3. This plate 13, called the shock plate, is provided with collecting means 14, grooves 15 and grooves in communication with a mud chamber 16 which will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

The shock plate 13 is mounted in a rectangular recess 17 of an element 18 of the frame of the machine so that it can be removed and replaced by simple sliding, which considerably facilitates maintenance of the machine.

The frame element 18 which also constitutes a wall of the mud chamber 16 is traversed by passages 19 connecting the impact plate 13 with the mud chamber.

The latter is crossed by a wedge 20 of cylindrical shape which is slidably mounted in orifices 21 and 22 formed respectively in the wall 18 of the mud chamber and in its opposite wall 23.

The ratio between the section of the corner 20 and that of the pressure chamber 9 is chosen so that when the wedge is inserted into the product contained in the chamber 9, the product is pushed back against the punch 3 and against the side walls of the chamber 9 to form a thin layer of product as shown in Figure 2, the incompressible blocks in the treated product being pushed into the corners of the square section chamber and also playing the role of auxiliary elements the product by reducing the thickness of the compressible material housed in the corners of the chamber.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the corner 20 which is constituted by a fairly long cylindrical rod, is mounted in the wall 23 of the mud chamber 16 by means of a bearing 24 intended to minimize buckling of said corner.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that the assembly constituted by the lateral elements 10 defining the pressure chamber 9 forms a slide mounted movable in translation in a passage 25 perpendicular to the direction of movement of the punch 3, a shutter 25a of the feed passage 2 being associated with the drawer 25c.

In the frame element 18 is mounted an ejector 26 of the wringed product contained in the drawer thus formed.

This ejector will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

In the mud chamber 16 is mounted a device 27 for signaling the presence of the wedge 20. This signaling device is advantageously produced in the form of an electric switch intended to interrupt the operation of the machine as soon as a mobile part of said switch which normally is held in place by the corner 20, is released due to the rupture thereof.

We will now describe the shock plate 13, a portion of which is shown in FIG. 5.

i In this figure we have in fact shown a quarter of the plate 13 which, as already indicated above, has axia grooves the 15 formed in a circular orifice 28 of said plate intended to give passage to the corner 20. These grooves open into a conical opening 29 of the orifice 21 and are thus placed in communication with the mud chamber 16.

The plate 13 further comprises four series of grooves 30 which open into a collecting recess 14 of generally triangular shape in which also terminate the ends of the channels 12 of the lateral elements 10. The grooves 15 and the grooves 30 are produced in the plate by machining. primers which are then loaded with solder capable of withstanding wear under the conditions of use of the machine, which allows easy and inexpensive maintenance.

Each collector recess 14 communicates through an axial orifice 31 with a passage 19 of the wall 18. It can be seen that the major part of the product subjected to wringing in the pressure chamber 9 is in the immediate vicinity of a means of evacuation of the fluid products which are extracted from the mass of the product.

All the drainage means which have just been described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 are thus placed in communication with the mud chamber 16 which comprises means for discharging the fluid products not shown.

The ejector 26 which is shown in perspective in FIG. 6 has an end 32 of square shape corresponding to the section of the pressure chamber 9 and it is provided on its four sides with blades 33 intended to remove the waste which obstruct the orifices 11 of the side elements 10 of the chamber. The action of the blades 33 is shown in FIG. 7 in which it can be seen that the orifices 11 are advantageously provided with sockets 34 made of a more resistant material than that of the elements 10 and which constitute sprinklers.

The ejector 26 comprises rods 35 made of material intended to guide the ejector.

• Le produit hétérogène, des ordures ménagères par exemple, est déversé dans la trémie 1 et dirigé vers le passage 2 par l'action conjuguée et alternée des fouloirs 4.

The machine which has just been described operates as follows:

• The heterogeneous product, household waste for example, is poured into the hopper 1 and directed towards the passage 2 by the combined and alternating action of the stuffers 4.

During this time, the square punch 3 occupies the rest position shown in FIG. 1.

Then the punch 3 moves in the passage 2 and pushes in front of it towards the pressure chamber 9 an amount of product which has an initial length L (Figure 8).

It will be noted that the square section of the pressure chamber 9 is particularly advantageous for the treatment of heterogeneous materials because, with an area of equal section, it is the square which allows the passage of bodies having the largest dimensions.

Then, the square punch 3 arriving at the right of the entry of the pressure chamber 9, its blade 5 passes in front of the fixed counterblade 6 and ensures the shearing of the excess product entrained by the punch so as not to compress in the chamber that a quantity of product whose initial volume is equal to the product of the length L of the passage 2 by the section of the punch.

The product pushed and sectioned by the punch 3 is enclosed in the pressure chamber 9 and has a fairly long length 1 (fig. 8) which has the consequence that only the product which is then directly in contact with the shock plate 13 provided with its drainage means is wrung. The length 1 of the volume enclosed in the pressure chamber 9 is a direct function of the length L of the passage 2 and of the nature of the compressed material. It is advantageously between 0.3 L and 0.4 L.

As a first approximation, it can be considered as equal to the product of the length L by the ratio of the density of the entrained material to that obtained at the end of compression.

Thus, by way of example for household waste which has an input density, after having been subjected to the pluggers 4, equal to approximately 0.5 and a density at the end of compression of approximately 1.3 under a pressure of 500 bars, length 1 is given by the relation

In order to spin the product contained in the chamber 9 of the machine described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8, after the aforementioned precompression phase, a wedge 20 is pressed into the precompressed mass.

The wedge 20 penetrates relatively slowly into the product and laminates it along the walls of the chamber 9 so that the fluid materials extracted from the product during rolling flow through the orifices 11 and the conduits 12, towards the collectors 14 of the shock plate 13 and then towards the mud chamber 16, the action of the wedge 20 transforms the volume of product located in the chamber 9 into a sort of bowl with a square external section and a circular internal section. The wedge 20 therefore acts in the manner of a wire drawing olive used for the manufacture of the tubes, except for the fact that the wedge of the machine according to the invention is of round section while the chamber is of square section, it allows more or less important hard objects to be lodged either in front of the corner 20 or in the corners of the chamber 9, which makes it possible to laminate the loose products under a small thickness shown in a in FIG. 2.

Experience has shown that a thickness of 2 to 3 cm is suitable.

The diameter J of the wedge 20 which is a function of the value h on the side of the chamber 9 is given by the relation J = h - 2a.

Fluid materials also flow through the grooves 15 which surround the corner 20 and through the grooves 30 formed in the portion of the impact plate 13 which is in contact with the product contained in the chamber. When the spin is complete the wedge 20 is removed from the chamber 9 and the assembly contained in the frame 10a is moved with the shutter 25 to the ejection station.

The ejector 26 is then pushed into the chamber 9 and drives out the wrung product while its blades 33 cut the products which obstruct the orifices 11 provided with their jets 34 (fig. 7). As regards the grooves 30 formed in the plate 13, they are cleaned at each translation of the chamber with a view to the evacuation of the wringed product which it contains.

At the end of a determined period of operation of the machine, the various grooves and grooves of the shock plate 13 subjected to the erosion of the wiping product exhibit wear which requires either a replacement of the plate or a reloading in solder.

In order to allow the plate 13 to be removed, it suffices to back the corner of a stroke complementary to its normal withdrawal stroke. This additional recoil stroke is shown in c in Figure 4.

The machine shown diagrammatically in FIG. 9 is intended for wringing out homogeneous products such as wood bark, branches, wood residues, sugar cane and the like.

It mainly comprises two rollers 40 and 41 mounted for rotation in jaws 42, 43 which are themselves suspended in an oscillating manner on axes 44, 45 mounted in a frame 46.

The rollers 40 and 41 are driven in rotation by means of respective reduction gears 47, 48 by a stepping motor not shown, while the jaws 42, 43 are actuated by jacks 49, 50 ensuring the bringing together and the distancing the rollers 40, 41 alternately with the periods of stop and rotation of these rollers.

The product to be wrung is brought to the machine by a hopper, not shown, placed above the rollers while the wrung product falls directly below the latter.

The rollers 40 and 41 are provided with a large number of orifices 51 for discharging the fluid products resulting from the wringing.

The orifices 51 which are advantageously provided with nozzles 52 (fig. 11) all open into a central channel 53 provided in the axis of the roller. Each scraper is associated with a scraper blade 54 intended to cut the products which obstruct the orifices 11 as shown in FIG. 11.

The machine shown in FIG. 12 constitutes a variant of the machine in FIG. 9.

It differs from this in that it comprises only a single roller 55 driven in intermittent rotation and a wiper cylinder 56 driven by a reciprocating rectilinear movement alternating with the periods of rotation and immobility of the roller 55. This comprises radial orifices 57 which open into a central channel 58 for evacuating the wiping product.

Finally, the machine comprises a hopper 59 for supplying the product to be wrung and a scraper blade 60 is associated with the roller 55.

the operation of the machine shown in figure 9 is the following.

First of all the rollers 40 and 41 are separated by the action of the jacks 49 and 50 on the jaws 42 and 43 and they are driven in rotation around their respective axes in opposite directions to one another as indicated in the left-hand part of FIG. 10. During this phase, the product in the hopper is admitted into the gap between the rollers 40 and 41.

The rollers are then stopped and the jacks 49, 50 ensure their approximation which compresses the material trapped between them in the form of a thin layer.

The relative position of the rollers 40 and 41 is then shown in the right part of FIG. 10.

The above operations are then repeated periodically.

It will be noted that the fact of having two rollers rotating in opposite directions makes it possible to treat a continuous sheet of product to be wrung.

The distance between the two rollers is small.

The juice resulting from the spin is discharged through the orifices 51 and the central channel 53 while the dry product falls below the rollers continuously.

The operation of the machine shown in Figure 12 is as follows.

The jack 56 is moved away from the roller 55 which is rotated. The product in the hopper 59 is entrained in the interval between the jack 56 and the roller 55. The roller is then stopped and the jack 56 is brought closer to the roller, thus ensuring the wringing of the product taken between it and the roller .

An adjustment of the speed of rotation of the roller and of the pressure of the jack makes it possible to obtain a product wrung out in a suitable manner. This product leaves the press in the form of a continuous sheet 3 to 6 cm thick depending on the product to be wrung. As in the case of the machine in FIG. 9, the juices are discharged through the interior of the roller.

Thanks to the treatment of the products to be wrung in thin layers, the wringing machines according to the invention make it possible to extract a quantity of juice equal to one and a half to two times the quantity juice extracted when the product is treated in a thick layer, which makes it possible to obtain wrung products having a significantly increased calorific value compared to the wrung products obtained using conventional techniques.

Although the machine shown in Figures 8 has been described as applied to heterogeneous products such as household waste, it is understandable that its construction also allows it to process homogeneous products of the most diverse natures.

In order to adapt the machine to the nature of the product, it suffices to replace the impact plate 13 and the side elements 10 of the pressure chamber with corresponding parts having means of discharge of section adapted to the product.

In the case of roller machines, this adaptation is made by changing the nozzles.

Claims (11)

1. - Machine for wringing heterogeneous products with a high content of fluids, comprising means for supplying the product to be wrung intended to bring said product to means for pressing said product, and means for discharging said fluid products resulting from wringing as well as from the wrung product, said pressing means defining a pressing interval for the product in the form of a thin layer, and being constituted by a pressure chamber supplied with product to be wrung by a punch displaceable in a passage of determined length and a product pressing corner located in the pressure chamber, characterized in that said pressure chamber (9) is of square section, the punch (3) has a square section complementary to that of said chamber while that a corner (20) has a circular section whose diameter is such that it defines with the square section of the chamber (9) the thickness (a) of said thin layer of the product. 2. - Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that said passage (2) for the punch (3) has a V-shaped section and communicates with a hopper (1) for supplying product to be wrung, two plugs (4) with alternating section being arranged in the hopper (1), the direction of movement of the active faces of said plugs (4) being parallel to the sides of said passage (2). 3. - Machine according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said pressure chamber (9) consists of four lateral elements (10) whose internal faces are planar and are pierced with orifices (11) d evacuation of the fluid product which opens into axial channels (12) formed in the thickness of the lateral elements (10) these having external surfaces in the form of a portion of cylinder and being assembled in a mount (10a), said chamber being completed by a shock plate (13) provided with means (14, 15, 30, 31) for evacuating the fluid product resulting from the wiping and traversed by said corner (20) of circular section. 4. - Machine according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said shock plate (13) is mounted amo visible by sliding in an element (18) of the frame of the machine, said evacuation means which it comprises being constituted by axial grooves (15) provided in the passage (28) for the corner (20) of circular section, by collecting means (14) to which the ends of the axial conduits (12) of the lateral elements (10) of the pressure chamber terminate and by grooves (30) ending in said collecting means, formed in the wall of the shock plate (13) between said passage (28) and said collecting means. 5. - Machine according to claim 4, characterized in that said collecting means (14) communicate by axial passages (31) with conduits (19) connecting with a mud chamber (16) and in that said axial grooves (15) open into a frustoconical enclosure surrounding said corner (20) and ending in said mud chamber (16). 6. - Machine according to one of claims 4 and 5, characterized in that said grooves (15) and said grooves (14) of the impact plate (13) are produced by welding loading. 7. - Machine according to one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a station for ejecting the wringed product comprising a square section ejector adapted to the section of the pressure chamber and means for transferring the assembly contained in said frame in front of said ejector, characterized in that said ejector is provided on each of its lateral faces with a blade (33) intended to level off the products obstructing said discharge orifices (11) of said lateral elements (10). 8. - Machine according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said square punch (3) comprises at its end a cutting blade (5) intended to cooperate with a fixed counter blade (6) disposed at the entry of the pressure chamber (9) to cut off the excess product to be wrung at the entrance to said chamber. 9. - Machine for wringing out homogeneous products comprising means for supplying the wringing product intended to bring said product to means for pressing said product and means for discharging the fluid products resulting from wringing as well as wringed product, said pressing means defining an inter valle of pressing the product in the form of a thin layer, characterized in that said pressing means comprise two rollers (40, 41) rotatably mounted on oscillating jaws (42, 43), said rollers being driven in rotation by means for driving in step-by-step rotation while the jaws (42, 43) are actuated by jacks (49, 50) for bringing the said rollers in and out alternately with the periods of stop and rotation rollers (40, 41), the smallest distance between said rollers determining the thickness of said thin layer. 10. - Machine according to claim 9, characterized in that said means for evacuating the fluid product resulting from the wiping comprise radial orifices (51) formed in the surface of each roller (40, 41) and opening into a channel -axial (53) thereof. 11. - Machine for wringing out homogeneous products comprising means for supplying the wringing product intended to bring said product to means for pressing said product and means for discharging the fluid products resulting from wringing as well as wringed product, said pressing means defining a pressing interval for the product in the form of a thin layer and being constituted by a roller driven in intermittent rotation, and a wiper member, characterized in that the member d wringing consists of a wringing cylinder (56) driven by a reciprocating rectilinear movement, alternating with the periods of rotation and immobility of said roller (55), said means for evacuating the fluid products resulting from the spin comprising radial orifices (57) formed in said roller (55) and opening into an axial channel (58) formed therein.

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