CA2036513A1

CA2036513A1 - Mobile composting container

Info

Publication number: CA2036513A1
Application number: CA 2036513
Authority: CA
Inventors: Lothar Dolle; Friedel Vollmer; Karl Strobach
Original assignee: Mannesmann AG
Current assignee: Vodafone GmbH
Priority date: 1990-02-19
Filing date: 1991-02-18
Publication date: 1991-08-20
Also published as: DE4005535C1; EP0444333A3; ATE94858T1; EP0444333A2; ES2044420T3; DK0444333T3; EP0444333B1; DE59002850D1

Abstract

Mobile compost bin Abstract The present invention relates to a mobile compost bin (1) in a closed container form (cube shape) comprising connections (2a, 2b) for supplying and carrying off air, a double bottom (3) formed from a lower bottom plate (4) and a perforated plate (5) arranged at a distance above it, a sewer pipe from the hollow space of the double bottom (3) and at least one loading hatch (6) in the top of the compost bin (1) as well as at least one unload-ing hatch (7) in a side wall of this bin (1). To improve a com-post bin of this kind so that the usual disadvantages are to a large extent avoided, it is proposed that the hatches (6, 7) be respectively suspended in swivel joints (16a, b, c or 28a, b) from a clamping frame (10, 24), that the clamping frames (10, 24) be supported on the outer jacket of the compost bin (1) via swivel joints (15a, b, c or 27a, b), that the swivel joints (16a, b, c or 28a, b) be respectively arranged along the longitudinal axis of the hatches (6 or 7) and symmetrically to their transverse axis, and that clamping devices (20, 30) be provided with which the clamping frames (10, 24) can be respectively clamped to produce a sealing pressure force between the hatches (6, 7) and the support surfaces of the hatches (6, 7).

Description

The present invention relates to a mobile compost bin in a closed container form.
In modern waste management planning, such compost bins fulfill an important function with respect to the necessity of utiliziny fermentable organic waste. The con-tainer-shaped (cube-shaped) construction of these compost bins, permitting easy hand-ling of the compost material, is of particular advantage since these bins can be stacked not only if required for the period of the decomposition process and thus take up little space, but can also be moved and emptied by means of various lifting and trans-port systems (e.g. dump truck, crane runway, bridge crane, con-tainer crane, etc.).
Compost bins of a compost construction, which outwardly have a rectangular container shape are known from WLB ~ (1989), page 53. These compost bins are loaded through a loading hatch in the top of the container, the hatch being fastened on one side with hinges, and are urlloaded through a swing-out unloading hatch on a narrow side of the container.
The connectiny pieces for supplying and carrying off the air required for rapid composting are also arranged in the area of the unloading natch. The bottom of the compost bin is designed as a double bottom, the upper part of which is a continuous bottom plate (perforated plate) with circular air holes. This perforated plate is tightly connected to the container. The hollow space below the perforated plate communicates with one of the air con-necting pieces for supplying or carrying off the air.
When air is circulated from top to bottom, condensation h ` ~ 20337-394 water, and possibly also seepage water, collects on the lower bot-tom plate in the hollow space below the perforated plate. This condensation water gets into -the pipe of the air hole and must be removed, necessitating appropriate manual intervention. A further disadvantage of the known compost bins lies therein that the hatches for loading and unloading the compost bin are occasionally not hermetically sealed during the composting phase despite being provided with a lock and therefore cause interruptions in the circulation of air and perhaps also annoying odours.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to improve a compost bin such that these disadvan-tages are to a large extent avoided.
The invention provides a mobile compost bin in a closed container form comprising connections for supplying and carrying off air, a dou~le bottom formed from a lower bottom plate and a perforated plate arranged at a distance above it, a drain pipe from the hollow space of the double bottom and at least one loading hatch in the top of the compost bin as well as at least one unloading hatch in a side wall of this bin, wherein - each hatch is suspended in swivel joints from a respective clamping frame, - the clamping frames are each supported on the outer jacket of the compost bin via swivel joints, - said swivel joints are respectively arranged along the longitudinal axis of the respective hatch and symmetrically to the transverse axis thereof, and - clamping devices are provided with which the clamping J j ~ G~ 20337-394 frames can be respectively clamped to produce a sealing pressure force between the hatches and the support surfaces for the hatches on the bin.
The present invention will be described in greater de-tail herebelow on the basis of the compost bin illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 wherein:
Figure 1 is a side view of a compost bin, Figure 2 is a cross-section through the compost bin, Figure 3 is a top view of the compost bin, Figure 4 is a view from the unloading end of the compost bin, and Figure 5 is a partial section in the area of the unload-ing hatch.
The mobile co-~post bin illustrated in Figure 1 is con-structed of torsion-resistant section steel/steel plate and is provided all around with a 40 mm thick insulation with galvanized sheet steel jacket for thermal and low temperature insulation.
Rollers are attached to the bottom 3 so that it can be transported as a roll-off container, for example by means of a winch truck.
The rollers can of course be dispensed with for crane transport with a spreader.
As can be seen in Figures 2 and 4, the bottom 3 is designed as a double bottom, i.e. a continuous bottom plate 4 is provided at the bottom and a perforated plate 5 is arranged at a distance above it. A hollow space, tnrough which the air required for rapid composting can be supplied or carried off, is formed between the bo~tom plate 4 and the perforated plate 5. This ,~, P ~, ,, 1,, ~ i t ~ 20337 394 hollow space is therefore in communication with the connection piece 2a for supplying or removing air. A second air connection piece 2b is arranged at the same level as the connection piece 2a (Figure 4) and communicates with the upper part of the container interior via an air shaft with a preferably removable inspection cover 33.
The compost bin 1 is loaded through a loading hatch 6 (Figures 2, 3) and is unloaded through a swing-out unloading hatch 7 (Figure 1).
As is illustrated in Figure 2, the perforated plate 5 comprises a plurality of inverted u-proEiles 8 which are arranged close beside one another and are loosely supported on cross girders 9. These cross girders 9 are permanently welded at a distance from the lower bottom plate 4 by means of supports. The inverted U-profiles 8 have numerous air holes, not illustrated, in their centre webs that lie on top for aera-tion of the organic material to be composted, are supported by their side flanges on the cross girders 9 and the longitudinal axes of these U-profiles extend in the direction of the unloading hatch 7.
A number of advantages are achieved by means of this arrangement. On -the one hand, air can flow to the full extent throuyh the air holes of -the centre webs, i.e. there are no points at which the air holes are blocked by the support of a cross girder 9. Therefore, more effective and more uniform composting is possible with the U-profiles 8 placed on end. On the other hand, the loose support of the U-profiles 8 allows the hollow space in the double bottom 3 to be uncovered quickly without any . 3 connections having to be loosened for this purpose. Cleaning this area of the compost bin 1 is thus simplified ~uite considerably and it is also possible to replace the U-profiles without diffi-culty. Moreover, the orientation of the longitudinal axis of the U-profiles 8 makes it easy for the compost ~o slide out smoothly when emptying the compost bin 1.
Unlike the state of the art, the loading hatch 6 (Figure 3), which extends over almost the entire top surface of the con-tainer 1 and can, of course, also be divided into several individ-ual hatches, and not fastened directly to the outside of the compost bin 1 via hinges. Rather, it is suspended from a flat clamping frame 10 which, in the embodiment illustrated, is formed by the cross of a centre girder lla and a longitudinal girder 13, a cross girder ï2a or 12b extending parallel to the centre girder 13 being welded to tne respective ends of this longitudinal girder. The longitudinal girder 13 lies approximately parallel above the longitudinal axis of the loading hatch 6 and ends at a distance from the narrow end of the loading hatch 6 that is somewhat less than a quarter of the length of the loading hatch.
The loading hatch 6 is suspended in the end areas of the longitudinal girder 13 from the clamping frame 10 by means of swivel joints 16a, b. The free ends of the two cross girders 12a, b and the one end of the centre girder lla, which lie on the same side, are fastened by means of swivel joints 15a, b, c to a side wall at on the top of the compost bin 1. The loading hatch 6 can therefore be swivelled with the aid of the clamping frame 10 about the axis of rotation of these joints 15a, b, c and thereby be ~13~ t3 20337-394 opened. To facilitate opening of the hatch and guarantee -that the open position of the loading hatch 6 during loading is secure, the centre girder lla is provided with an extension llb which projects beyond the side wall of the compost bin l and which at its free end engages via a swivel joint 18 a lifting apparatus 22. In the exemplary embodiment (Figure 2), this lifting apparatus 22 is designed as a worm gear in the manner of a turnbuckle and is fastened by means of a ~urther swivel joint 23 at the bottom out-side of the container l. When the spindle is rotated, the effec-tive length of this lifting apparatus 22 between the joints 18 and23 is shortened or lengthened depending on the direction of rota-tion so that a correspondiny swivelling movement of the two-armed lever lla, llb about the axis of the swivel joint 15b is effected.
If the spindle is stopped, then the loading hatch 6 suspended from the clamping frame lO thus remains in a specific position.
The spindle can be rotated, for example, simply by hand with the aid of a ratchet or also by means of an electric drive or the like. However, a hydraulic or pneumatic piston/cylinder unit can also be provided as the lifting apparatus 22. The swivelling range of the loading hatch 6 is restricted to less tnan 90 (pref-erably about 75) so that a restoring moment (as a result of the effect of gravity) for star-ting the closing movement without difficulty is always present.
When the loading hatch 6 is closed, a tight seal is ensur ed by the clamping frame lO. To this end, the free end of the centre girder lla opposite the swivel joint 15b has a forked holding fixture 17 for a clamping chuck (Figure 3). The clamping ~ 20337-394 chuck of a clamping device 20 can be swivelled into this holding fixture 17, which clamping device can in principle be designed in a manner corresponding to the lifting apparatus 22, for example as a ratchet-operated or motor-operated worm gear or also as a hy-draulic or pneumatic piston/cylinder unit and is again supported in a swivel joint 21 at the bottom outside of the container 1.
When unstressed, the clamping device 20 is secured against falling over to the outside by means of a fixing bracket 19. If the clamping device 20 is stressed, i.e. its effective length between the clamping chuck engaged is the holding fixture 17 and the s~ivel joint 21 is shortened, the pressure force of the loading hatch 6 acting against the corresponding support surface on the top of the container 1 is relatively uniform. This is achieved in that the clamping frame 10 applies the pressure force into the loading hatch 6 via t'ne swivel joints 16a, b, and through their symmetrical arrangement with respect to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the loading hatch 6, an approximately uniform pressure force acts on all edges of the loading hatch 6, as distinguished from the known compost containers.
Despite the large dimensions of the loading hatch 6, the closing forces do not cause undesired deformations and twists as a result of the centralised application of these forces via the joints 16a, b, so that a hermetic seal can be achieved. An elas-tic seal (e.g. of rubber) that runs all around between the loading hatch 6 and the sealing surface on the container top advantageous-ly aids the sealing effect. It is an advantage if the sealing profile is a hollow section that can be screwed onto the loading 20337-39~

hatch 6 or the container top. The arrangement according to the invention of the hinges 15a, b, c for the loading hatc'h 6 in the clamping frame lO prevents the seal from rolling o~f or being squee~ed unevenly during the closing process.
In order to be able also to tightly close the unloading hatc'h 7 (which extends approximately over t'he entire narrow end of the container l) a-construction is provided in accordance with the invention that to a large extent corresponds to that for the load-ing hatch 6 (Figure 4). The unloading hatch 7 is suspended from a clamping frame 24 via two swivel joints 28a, b. Due to the smaller dimensions of the unloading hatch 7, the clamping frame 24 merely comprises two vertical longitudinal girders 25a, b and two short hori~ontal cross girders 26a, b welded thereto. The swivel joints 28a, b are arranged along the horizontal centre line of the unloadiny hatch 7 and are positioned symmetrically to the vertical centre line. The spacing of the two joints 2~a, b from one another is approximately the same as their respective distance from the nearest side edge of the container 1. The longitudinal girders 25a, b extend upwards above the limiting surface of the unloading hatch 7 and end in swivel joints 27a, b fastened in the top area of the container l. Thus unloading hatch 7 can thus be swivelled via the clamping frame 24 and the swivel joints 27a, b.
This design is used for the simple unloading operation of the compost bin l in that the compost material is dumped fol-lowing rapid composting by appropriately tipping the container l.
Through the effect of gravity, the unloading hatch 7 swings open without difficulty. In principle, it is also possible to arrange ~ 5~ 20337-394 the swivelling axis of the unloading hatch 7 on the side. How-ever, this would be less advantageous since the unloading hatch 7 might hit the ground and complete opening would be prevented if the height of the lower edge at the unloading end of the container 1 from the ground were low.
It is important that the pressure forces for closing the unloading hatch 7 are also applied centrally to the unloading hatch 7 via the clamping frame 24 and the symmetrically arranged swivel joints 28a, b so that an approximately uniform pressure force results in the sealing surfaces. The closing forces them-selves are again produced by a clamping device 30 which is function corresponds completely to the clamping device 20. The forked holding fixture 29 of the clamping chuck (Figure 5) is welded to the lower cross girder 26b. In order to be able to swing the clamping chuck of the clamping device 30 laterally into the holding fixture 29, the axis of rotation of the swivel joint 31 of the clamping device 30 fastened to the bo-ttom of the contai-ner 1 is not arranged horizontally, as is the clamping device 20, but vertically. In the exemplary embodiment in Figure 5 the clamping device 30 is illustrated as a ratchet-operated worm gear.
An elastic seal 32, that runs all around and is held by a profile rail that is screwed on, can also be seen in this illustration.
Figure 5 also shows that seepage water and condensation water accumulating Oll the lower bottom plate 4 in the compost bin 1 can run off in a drainage channel 14 at the side of ~he unload-ing hatch 7. The channel 14 is connected via a line to a drain connection piece 35 (Figure 4). A further drainage line 34 is ~ . 3 20337-394 connected to the drain connection piece 35 via a 3-way valve.
The line 34 draws off with the air connection piece 2b the condensation water that may have formed in the air shaft with the inspection cover 33 from the siphon-like lower part of this air shaft. Such condensation water forms regularly if the air in the compost bin is circulated from bottom to top. With this operating method, drainage of the channel 14 is blocked by the 3-way valve (not illustrated) in order to avoid reducing the circulation of air between the two air connection pieces 2a, b.
If the air circulation is reversed, drainage from the siphon with the air connection piece 2b is blocked and drainage of the channel 14 is open. In this case, condensation wa-ter can only form in the double bot-tom 3 from where it, together with any seepage water that has possibly accumulated, is drawn off. The relatively high flanged edge behind the channeL 14 to the unloading hatch 7 prevents this water from getting into the air connection piece 2a.
The exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 shows a version of a container that is particularly suitable for transport l~y truck. It is therefore provided with a round steel/
holding clip (Figure 1) on the end opposite the unloading flap 7 as well as a stabilizer integrated in the runners below the bottom of the container 1. The clamping device 20, 30 and the lifting apparatus 22 are designed as hand-operated, reversing spin del ratchets. Versions that can operate automatically are of course of greater advantage for the operation of a container crane.
The container-shaped compost bin 1 designed in accord-~J~ 3 20337-394 ance with the present invention not only permi-ts loading and un-loading to be carried out without difficulty, but also en sures an orderly composting process since the loading and unloading hatches 6, 7 can be hermetically sealed. The features of the apparatus provided for this purpose are extremely simple, inexpensive and reliable in their operation.

Claims

1. A mobile compost bin in a closed container form compris-ing connections for supplying and carrying off air, a double bottom formed from a lower bottom plate and a perforated plate arranged at a distance above it, a drain pipe from the hollow space of the double bottom and at least one loading hatch in the top of the compost bin as well as at least one unloading hatch in a side wall of this bin, wherein - each hatch is suspended in swivel joints from a respective clamping frame, - the clamping frames are each supported on the outer jacket of the compost bin via swivel joints, - said swivel joints are respectively arranged along the longitudinal axis of the respective hatch and symmetrically to the transverse axis thereof, and - clamping devices are provided with which the clamping frames can be respectively clamped to produce a sealing pressure force between the hatches and the support surfaces for the hatches on the bin.

2. A compost bin according to claim 1, wherein a single large loading hatches is provided with two swivel joints respec-tively arranged a quarter or somewhat less than a quarter of the length of the loading hatch from the adjacent narrow end thereof.

3. A compost bin according to claim 1, wherein a single unloading hatch is provided arranged at a narrow end of the com-post bin and provided with two swivel joints in the area of the horizontal centre line of the unloading hatch, the distance of the swivel joints from one another being approximately a third of the width of -the unloading hatch, and the swivel joints of the unload-ing hatch clamping frame being fastened at the top of the compost bin.

4. A compost bin according to the claim 1, 2 and 3, wherein the clamping devices engage the respective clamping frames at a point opposite the swivel joints thereof.

5. A compost bin according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the clamping devices for the loading hatch are designed as turnbuckle worm gears which can be operated manually via a ratchet, an electric drive or the like, the clamping devices are supported in swivel joints at the bottom of the compost bin and can be swivelled with a clamping chuck into a forked holding fixture.

6. A compost bin according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the clamping devices are designed as hydraulic or pneumatic piston/cylinder units.

7. A compost bin according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the clamping frame of the loading hatch has at least one short lever arm projecting beyond the side wall of the compost bin at the side of the swivel joints, and the lever arm engages via a swivel joint a lifting apparatus which is fastened via a further swivel joint to the outside side wall of the compost bin.

8. A compost bin according to claim 7, wherein the lifting apparatus is designed as a worm gear operated manual ly via a ratchet or motor-operated or as a hydraulic or pneumatic piston/cylinder unit.

9. A compost bin according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein continuous elastic profile seals, in particular rubber seals, are provided on the edges of the hatches or on the supporting surfaces for the hatches on the bin, these seals being held in hollow sections detachable.