EP2617560B1

EP2617560B1 - Autonomous container with solid waste compacting system and method for operating the same

Info

Publication number: EP2617560B1
Application number: EP11776534.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: João Manuel FIGUEIREDO COSTA DA SILVA RIBEIRO
Original assignee: Solarpack Trading BV
Current assignee: Solarpack Trading BV
Priority date: 2010-09-16
Filing date: 2011-09-09
Publication date: 2020-02-12
Anticipated expiration: 2031-09-09
Also published as: PT105293A; PT2617560T; EP2617560A1; WO2012035475A1; ES2773745T3; MA34612B1

Description

1. Introduction

The present equipment is designed with the purpose of solving several problems arising from daily need towards urban solid waste collection, either of undifferentiated or recycled nature.
A great deposition capacity, safety, polyvalence, and mobility, together with low acquisition and exploitation costs, turn this equipment into the ideal solution for several applications such as: urbanizations, villages and small interior towns, beaches, camping sites, holiday resorts, street markets, concerts or summer festivals, football stadiums, central discharge sites for large city sweeping, ecopoints for locations with large waste volumes.
The present equipment is intended to be conveyed in vehicles equipped with loading arms according to DIN 14505 and 30722, commonly known as "polibennes", DIN 30720 commonly known as "multibennes" or similar thereto.

2. Presentation

Recently, a propensity towards increasing the storage capacity within collection points has been registered within the scope of urban solid waste collection, due to the fact that population density has increased within urban zone, but also due to a necessity towards collection circuit rationalization.
The protection of stored waste material is also fundamental, avoiding the action of "garbage removing individuals" and animals, which disperse the waste material thus hindering its collection.
The equipment herein disclosed, besides comprising these two characteristics, allows compacting deposited waste, in as much as it incorporates an electro-hydraulic compression mechanism (5). Up to such point, there is nothing new, the waste compactor already exists for a long time, but it has the inconvenience of requiring an electrical connection to the mains network, which limits its use in public road, not only due to the requirement for an electrical connection point, but also due to the danger inherent to its presence.
This equipment is above all innovative in its power autonomy, which has so far always been the greatest obstacle to the use of compactors in public road.
The main action herein undertaken was to reassess and resize power requirements, thus adapting the hydraulic group and compression mechanism (5) to work at low voltage, and allowing it to be supplied by solar panels. The document US 2007/101875 A1 discloses a trash compactor with solar panels energy supply. The present mechanism is autonomous, waiving from an electrical connection to the mains network and operating at low voltage. This way, autonomy, mobility, high collection and safety rates are achieved.
In order to increase its polyvalence and adaptability, the present equipment can have a connection to the mains network, a diesel or gasoline generator, and adjustable solar panels.

Brief description of the Drawings

For an easier understanding of the invention, drawings are herein attached, which represent preferred embodiments of the disclosure which, however, do not intend to limit the scope of the present disclosure, the invention being defined by the subject-matter of claims 1 and 4.

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of an autonomous container with solid waste compaction system according to the present invention. The following elements are disclosed in figure 1, see also accompanying reference number for the element "compression mechanism":
- - solar panels;
- - dashboard protection door;
- - hoisting means;
- - hydraulic group;
- 5 - compression mechanism;
- - openings for waste material disposal;
- - volume of compressed matter;
- - double-effect cylinders for door opening and closing;
- - rear door;
- - drum.
Figure 2 represents a partially cross-sectional perspective view, wherein the inner compaction mechanism is to be observed within the drum with the respective pneumatic cylinder, as well as the storage volume of compressed waste.
Figure 3 represents the diagram of the control electro-hydraulic circuit of compaction cylinder, as well as of the opening and closing of the container door, wherein one may observe that the compaction cylinder control and the door opening and closing cylinder control are carried out by two electrovalves which are controlled by the programmable automate. The reference numbers refer to the following elements:
- 11 - flow control valve for rear door seed control;
- 12 - pressure switch controllers;
- 13 - electrovalve for compacting directional control;
- 14 - electrovalve for rear door control;
- 15 - electrical motor;
- 16 - pump;
- - pressure regulators within the compaction cylinder circuit;
- - valve for unidirectional control.
Figure 4 represents a perspective view of an autonomous container comprising solid waste compaction system. The following elements are disclosed in figure 4, see also accompanying reference number for the element "compression mechanism":
- - solar panels;
- - dashboard protection door;
- - hoisting means rear door;
- - Hydraulic group;
- 5 - compression mechanism;
- - volume of compressed matter;

3. Characteristic

The base equipment consists of a container comprising the following main elements:

Drum (s)
Compression mechanism (5)
Solar panels
Accumulators
Accumulator charge regulator
Electro-hydraulic group
Power and control electrical switchboard panel (protected by an anti-vandalism door)
Protection door for the switchboard panel.

The equipment was designed for public road assembly, being exempt from access restrictions towards its use. The arrangement of control elements shall be as high as to allow their operation exclusively by adults, although their use by children is not problematic.
Its operation is extremely simple, its control being carried out automatically, preferably by a programmable automate. A set of instructions transmitted by light signs (LEDs) has been designed in order to simplify first-time use, namely:

Information
- Green sign - Operational equipment;
- Yellow sign - Equipment in operation;
- Red sign - Equipment out of service (for example, upon accumulator discharge or waste material overload).
Operation
- Upon green light, press the black button to open the drum.
- Raise the drum and deposit the waste material bag;
- Close of the drum.

In its preferred embodiment, the container has a 5.5 m length, a 2.5 m width and a 2.2 m height, and each drum has a 0.470 m diameter, a 0.730 m length and consequently a capacity of about 130 liters.
The volume of compressed matter storage has a variable capacity of 12-30 m³.

4. Operation

The equipment is arranged on public road, for instance, a garden, or parking site, wherein it may receive sun light for the longest time possible, and since it is of constant charge, it is then previously charged.
Users shall then proceed with waste material depositing, thus following the above-mentioned procedure, until the waste material accumulated within the container causes an increase on compaction pressure up to 3/4 of its utmost limit, the same being detected by a pressure detector. At this point a SMS is automatically sent to the central control system (via modem-based communication system), reporting that the equipment has reached 3/4 of its utmost capacity thus being necessary to proceed with its removal. Upon continuous use, the equipment will eventually reach its utmost operational pressure, which will cause both the deposition drum to stop, upon actuation of the red sign indicating the state of the equipment, and a further SMS to be sent to the central control system informing that the equipment is full.
In the case of the compacting cycle taking longer than expected, the equipment actuates the red sign and a SMS is sent to the central control system reporting that the equipment is faulty.
Should the battery charge be lower to a preset level, a SMS is sent reporting low charge.
Once full, the equipment is collected and taken to unload at an appropriate site for such purpose. The hydraulic opening of the rear door allows an easy discharge in landfill or recess tank sites.
Despite the system being particularly simple such that a failure probability is extremely reduced, an option for internal connection of a parallel supplying system is provided for operation with the equipment.
The panels used shall be of higher quality and resistance, including stone projection resistance. Either way, the panels are arranged such that they are hardly visible and are protected against vandalism or theft.
This equipment can be designed for simple or bi-flux housing, for such being provided with two independent compression mechanisms and two independent containers for use, for example, in paper/cardboard compaction, on the one side, and packaging on the other side.

Claims

Container with a solid waste compaction system comprising hoisting means for hoisting the container by means of a loading arm of a waste collector vehicle or equivalent hoisting device, said container comprising the following elements:
- One or several drums provided with a lid which is opened for residue deposition;

- a compression mechanism (5) with a hydraulic compression cylinder in each drum;

- a door opening and closing cylinders for container evacuation;

- one or several solar panels serving the purpose of supplying the compression mechanism (5), which supplies electrical power accumulators, the energy supplied by the solar panels being sufficient to act upon the compression mechanism (5), drum, and door opening and closing cylinders for container evacuation, thus assuring the container's energetic autonomy;

- a pressure detector and a communication system, wherein the communication system is configured to send a message to a central control system, when the pressure detector registers ¾ of the utmost pressure in the compression system; and wherein the pressure detector is configured to stop automatically the equipment and/or send a message to a central control system, when said pressure detector reaches said utmost pressure;
said container being provided with a set of light signs configured to supply information on the state of the equipment:
- green sign: operational equipment;

- yellow sign: equipment in operation;

- red sign: equipment out of service,
said container being configured for implementing the following operation steps:
- upon green light, pressing a black button to open the drum;

- depositing the waste material bag;

- closing of the drum;

- compacting,
the container also comprising
- a temporizer configured to stop the equipment, thus actuating the red light and sending a SMS to the central control system reporting that the equipment is faulty when the compacting cycle takes longer than anticipated;

- a battery charge controller configured to actuate the red light and send a SMS to the central control system reporting low charge when the charge within the batteries is lower than a preset limit thus hindering the compactor operation;

- a charge regulator for the accumulators and a power and control electrical switchboard panel,
wherein door opening and closing cylinder control and compaction cylinder control are carried out, respectively, by means of two electro-valves (13, 14) which act upon double-effect cylinders, which operate respectively for the actuation of the door and the compaction cylinders, the valves being controlled by an automatic control system, preferably a programmable automate.
Container according to claim 1, wherein said container is provided with an electrical connection to the mains network allowing either the container to be supplied with electrical power or the accumulators to be charged.
Container according to claim 1, wherein said container is provided with a diesel or gasoline generator, which allows either the said container to be supplied with electrical power or the accumulators to be charged.
Method for the operation of automatic control system of the container described in the claims 1 to 3.
Method according to claim 4, wherein the battery charge controller actuates the red light and sends a SMS to the central control system reporting low charge when the charge within the batteries is lower than a preset limit thus hindering the compactor operation.