FR3048627A1 - ASSEMBLY FOR THE EXTRACTION OF WASTE OUT OF A MACHINE FOR MILLING AND DECONTAMINATING THESE WASTE AND PERMITTING THE DISPOSAL OF THESE WASTE - Google Patents

Abstract

This assembly includes a grinding machine and decontamination of such waste, which includes a vessel (4) for receiving the crushed waste. According to the invention, said assembly also comprises: at least one flexible pouch (12) made of a multi-perforated material, having an opening on one side (12a) and a closed bottom on the opposite side (12b), and - a support structure (13) of this flexible bag (12), intended to be completely received in the tank (4) and sized to extend over all or a large portion of the length of this tank (4); this structure (13) comprises an upper part equipped, at different locations around its periphery, with hooking means for the pocket (12), so that, when said pocket (12) is placed on it, to maintain this pocket (12). ) in a largely open state.

Description

The present invention relates to an assembly for the extraction of waste out of a grinding machine and decontamination of this waste, and for the disposal of this waste. It also relates to a process for obtaining pockets that includes this set.

It is required by law to crush infectious waste, particularly medical waste, so that it is neither recognizable nor reusable, and especially that it can be intimately decontaminated. For this purpose, it is known to use a machine for grinding and decontaminating such waste, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 attached, Figure 1 being a view of this machine 1 side, in longitudinal section, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a grinding assembly and a lower receiving tank for crushed waste, which comprises the machine 1.

The machine 1 shown essentially comprises a receptacle 2 for loading the waste, said assembly 3 for grinding this waste and said lower tank 4 for receiving, decontaminating and discharging the crushed waste. The receptacle 2 is accessible from the upper part of the machine 1, by sliding a closing hatch 5 of this receptacle (this sliding is to the left of Figure 1, in this figure, the hatch is shown in the position of closing). The hatch 5 is equipped with a system 6 for pressing waste into the receptacle 2. The grinding assembly 3 comprises a grinder 7 with series of counter-rotating knives. The tank 4 has a generally cylindrical shape and is closed at one end by an access door 8 located on a lower lateral side of the machine 1, this door 8 for extracting the crushed waste. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the tank 4 has lower perforations 9 allowing the flow, in a lower gutter 10, of the water resulting from the decontamination vapor. A portion of the upper part of the frame 11 of this machine 1 is partially torn off in this FIG. 2 so as to make the grinder 7 clearly visible.

This machine 1 is described in particular in the French patent application No. 14 51172, in the name of the applicant; a machine of the same type, also with a generally cylindrical bowl, is described in the patent application publication No. FR 2 793 143.

The other elements visible in these figures 1 and 2 are known in themselves and do not form part of the invention; they will not be particularly described. At the end of the treatment process operated by the machine 1, the waste present in the tank 4 is ground to a particle size of between 0.5 and 3 cm, and is wet and hot because of their decontamination with steam.

As a result, the extraction and disposal of waste poses a serious safety problem for the operators responsible for collecting and discharging this waste, because of the temperature of the waste and the tank 4, made of metallic material. This operation also poses a problem of difficulty for these operators to perform this task, because the inside of the tank 4 is not very easily accessible, and a problem of fouling of the surroundings of the machine because of the dripping water present on the waste.

In addition, it appears that the waste, or certain types of waste, have a tendency to stick to certain parts of the tank 4, in particular those coated with Teflon® (PTFE), which poses a serious problem of progressive fouling of the tank. tank.

To overcome this drawback, it has been envisaged to provide a waste container, placed in the tank. Such a tank facilitates the extraction of waste out of the tank but does not completely remedy the global problem of disposal of this waste, since the seizure, transport and emptying of the tray are relatively difficult operations. This difficulty results from the weight of the waste present in the tank at the end of each treatment cycle, and the temperature and humidity of this waste. In addition, this tray does not solve the problem of gluing waste, and has, as well as the tank, a progressive tendency to fouling due to the sticking of waste to its wall.

It could be envisaged to equip the tank of such a machine with a worm pushing waste to the outside of the tank. It appears, however, that certain wastes, especially Petri dishes, have their constituent material brought to a point close to their softening point during decontamination, and therefore have a certain tendency to produce very compact and sticky waste piles, which can lead to a jamming of the rotation of such an endless screw in the tank, and thus to damage this screw or the transmission animating it.

The present invention aims to solve all of these problems in a simple and effective manner. The assembly concerned comprises, in a manner known per se, a machine for grinding and decontaminating such waste, including a vessel for receiving crushed waste.

According to the invention, said assembly also comprises: at least one flexible pouch made of a multi-perforated material, having an opening on one side and a closed bottom on the opposite side, and a supporting structure of this flexible pouch, intended to be received entirely in the tank and dimensioned to extend over all or a large portion of the length of this tank; this structure comprises an upper portion equipped, at different locations around its periphery, hooking means of the pocket, so, when said pocket is placed on it, to maintain this pocket in a widely open state.

In practice, the bag is placed on said upper part so as to be maintained in this widely open state, then said structure, thus equipped with the bag, is placed in the tank of the machine, and a waste treatment cycle is set implemented. During this cycle, the crushed waste falls into the pocket, thus kept widely open; at the end of this cycle, the multi-perforated structure of the material constituting the pocket allows a good escape of the decontamination vapor and a good draining of the residual water; once this drainage is complete, the bag is detached from said upper part and is removed from the structure and is used to transport the waste to a collection bin.

The pouch is preferably of a low heat-conducting material, especially a textile material such as a knit of cotton yarn. It can be seized without risk of burning at the end of the cycle of the machine, to be detached from said structure, and be seized to remove the amount of waste it contains outside the receiving structure. In addition, the pouch, when it is a knit cotton yarn, has the advantage of being biodegradable.

The pocket could be in a non-stretchable material; preferably, however, the bag is made of an extensible material, in particular elastically extensible.

This extensibility makes it possible to fasten the pouch with a certain tensioning of the material constituting this pouch; the recall of this material resulting from this tensioning makes it possible to ensure reliable attachment of the pocket to said structure.

It may be conceivable that the pocket is reusable; preferably, however, the pocket is disposable, being made of a material of reduced price, in particular made of a knit cotton yarn. After being detached from said structure, the upper edges of the pocket are joined together and are connected to each other by a link, or other similar means of meeting, and then these edges are grasped to lift the pocket to extract it from said structure and to transport waste to a collection bin.

A method for producing a series of such low cost pouches comprises the steps of using a sheath material, operating stepwise transverse seams to this sheath so as to join the opposite walls of the sheath, and cutting sections of this sheath along one side of each seam, to obtain the pockets.

The material in the form of a sheath may in particular be a knitted cotton yarn material used to package salted cakes during drying, in particular hams.

Preferably, the machine comprises a support system of said structure, including means forming slides that allow sliding mounting of this structure vis-à-vis the tank, in the manner of a drawer.

Said structure, and the pocket that it receives, can thus be engaged in the tank, or extracted from this tank, by sliding in the manner of a drawer, so easily.

Said upper part of the structure could be fixed relative to this structure; preferably, however, this upper part is removable relative to the rest of said structure so as to be interchangeable.

This interchangeability makes it possible to adapt said upper part to different types of bag materials, depending on the type of waste to be treated or according to the specific requirements of a user of the machine.

The aforementioned hooking means may be of any suitable type, and in particular in the form of points on which the material of the pocket is able to be hung. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, said upper part of the structure forms a frame, and each attachment means of the bag is formed by an individual hooking tab by a V-shaped cutout arranged in said frame and folded at its base so as to protrude outwardly of the frame, beyond the wall of this frame. The attachment is achieved by engaging one or more portions of the material constituting the pocket on the projecting point formed by said attachment tab.

To prevent this hooking tab may be offensive, or it may tear the material of the pocket, the free end of the bracket is preferably rounded. The invention will be better understood, and other features and advantages thereof will become apparent with reference to the appended schematic drawing showing, by way of non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment of the assembly concerned.

In this drawing, Figure 3 is a view of this set in perspective, while it is mounted in the tank that forms the frame of the machine according to Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a view of said set alone, exploded perspective; Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a fastening lug arranged on an upper part of a structure that comprises said assembly; Figure 6 is a view of said assembly similar to Figure 4, in the assembled state and with implementation of a pocket that also includes this assembly; Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of said assembly placed inside the tank that forms the frame of the machine, said pocket containing crushed waste; and Figure 8 is a view of said assembly and the machine frame similar to Figure 3, with the bag removed from said structure.

FIG. 3 thus represents an assembly formed by: - a machine 1 as visible in FIGS. 1 and 2 (only the frame 11 of this machine is represented in this figure), - a series of flexible bags 12 (only one is shown ), a structure 13 for supporting one of these flexible bags 12, and - a system 14 for supporting the structure 13.

Each pocket 12 is made of a multi-perforated material, such as a knit cotton yarn. It has an opening on one side 12a and a closed bottom on the opposite side 12b.

The series of pockets 12 is obtained by using a material in the form of a sheath, elastically extensible, of the type used to package salted cakes during drying, operating step by step transverse seams to this sheath so as to bring together the opposite walls of the sheath, and cutting sections of this sheath along one side of each seam, to obtain the pockets 12.

With a material of this type, once the cutting is done, the edge of the material delimiting the opening of a pocket 12 with a tendency to bend, or to curl, on the outside of the pocket 12, it appears in Figure 3.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, the structure 13 has dimensions such that it is able to be completely received in the tank 4 and to extend over the whole of the cylindrical portion of this tank.

It appears more particularly in Figure 4 that this structure 13 comprises a lower portion 15, forming a compartment, and an upper portion 16, forming a frame.

The lower part 15 is arranged by means of a sheet forming, in one piece, the two longitudinal walls of this part 15 and the bottom of this part, this bottom being rounded so as to match the rounding of the lower part of the tank 4. At its ends, the portion 15 is closed by two transverse walls, attached to the ends of the aforementioned sheet. Said longitudinal walls, said bottom and said transverse walls define between them the aforesaid compartment.

The longitudinal and transverse walls of the portion 15 are largely perforated and said bottom is multi-perforated. The large openings that have these longitudinal and transverse walls promote the evaporation of the decontamination vapor which is impregnated waste produced by the machine 1, and the multi-perforated bottom allows the flow through it of the water resulting from this steam, this water flowing through the bottom of the tank 4 and then into the lower gutter 10.

The frame 16a formed by the upper portion 16 has a length and width greater, respectively, than the length and width that the opening 20, visible in Figure 7, by which the compartment 21 for containing the mill 7 communicates with the tank 4. It is connected to two side wings 16b for mounting on the lower portion 15, by means of screws.

The frame 16a comprises, distributed around its perimeter, ten tabs 16c of attachment of a pocket 12. One of these tabs 16c is more particularly visible in Figure 5; as it appears, the tab 16c is individualized by a cut made in the wall of the frame 16a, the cut having an inner V-shaped bottom rounded portion and having externally, in the example shown, a U-shape.

The tab 16c thus formed is folded at its base towards the outside of the frame 16a (the material constituting this frame, as is the whole of the structure 13 is metallic), so as to protrude towards the outside of the frame. 16a frame, beyond the wall of this frame. The free end of the tab 16c, thus rounded, is not likely to be offensive or tear the material of the pocket 12, while ensuring effective attachment of this pocket 12 to the frame 16a.

Referring to Figure 6, it appears that the bag 12 is engaged on the frame 16a by hooking its opening edge to the different tabs 16c, this hooking achieving a substantial stretch of the opening edge relative to the normal form of this edge shown in Figure 3. This stretch, as well as the aforementioned tendency of the material of the pocket 12 to wind on the outside of the opening of the pocket, promotes the retention of the pocket 12 on the frame 16a.

The bottom of the pocket 12 is not stretched at this stage, as can be seen in FIG. 6; It will be as the pocket will fill crushed waste 100, as shown in Figure 7.

The support system 14 of the structure 13 comprises, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a base structure 25 and two rods 26 connecting this base structure to the said lower part 15 of the structure 13.

This system 14 allows a movement of the structure 13 between the outward position of the tank 4 shown in Figure 3 and the position retracted into the tank 4 shown in Figure 7, sliding in the manner of a drawer.

The base structure 25 is formed of an end flange 27 intended to take place in the bottom of the tank 4, a strapping 28 intended to take place near the opening of the tank 4, against the all of the wall of this vessel, and two longitudinal members 29 connecting the flange and the strapping. Each spar 29 internally forms a rail in which slides the corresponding rod 26.

The base structure 25 is intended to fit into the tank 4, and allows the system 14 to be mounted on the machine 1, with a wide distribution of the forces that the structure 13 transmits when it is in the extended position and that it is filled with waste 100.

Each rod 26 is, in turn, connected to the upper edge of said lower portion 15, at two points of this edge distant from each other, for a solid attachment.

In practice, the structure 13 is brought into the visible position shown in Figure 3 and the pocket 12 is placed on the frame 16a so as to be maintained in the widely open state shown in Figure 6; the structure 13, thus equipped with the bag 12, is then fed into the tank 4, and a waste treatment cycle is implemented. During this cycle, the crushed waste 100 falls into the pocket 12, as can be seen in FIG. 7; at the end of this cycle, the multi-perforated structure of the material constituting the pocket 12 allows a good escape of the decontamination vapor and a good draining of the residual water; once this drainage is complete, the pocket 12 is detached from the frame 16a and its upper edges are joined by means of a link to form a bag. These joined upper edges can then be grasped so as to remove the bag 12 from the lower part compartment 15 of the structure 13, and this bag is used to transport the waste to a collection bin.

As is apparent from the foregoing, the invention provides an assembly having the decisive advantages of solving the serious safety problem posed, on existing machines, the extraction and disposal of waste 100 out of the tank 4, as well as the problem of the difficulty, for the operators, in performing this extraction task, because the inside of the tank 4 is not very easily accessible, and also the problem of soiling of the surroundings of the machine because of the dripping of the water present on the waste. The assembly according to the invention also makes it possible to solve the problem of progressive fouling of the tank 4 after a certain number of operating cycles of the machine 1. The bag, when it is made of a cotton yarn knit also has the advantage of being biodegradable. The invention has been described above with reference to a preferred embodiment. It goes without saying that it is not limited to this embodiment but that it extends to all the embodiments defined by the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. Assembly allowing the extraction of waste (100) out of a machine (1) grinding and decontamination of this waste, and allowing the disposal of this waste, comprising a machine (1) grinding and decontamination of such waste, which includes a vessel (4) for receiving waste (100) crushed; characterized in that said assembly further comprises: at least one flexible pouch (12) of multi-perforated material, having an opening on one side (12a) and a closed bottom on the opposite side (12b), and - a structure (13) support of this flexible bag (12), intended to be received entirely in the tank (4) and sized to extend over all or a large portion of the length of the tank (4); this structure (13) comprises an upper part (16) equipped, at different locations around its circumference, with hooking means (16c) of the pocket (12), so, when said pocket is placed on it, to maintain this pocket in a largely open state. 2. The assembly of claim 1, characterized in that the pocket (12) is of a low heat-conducting material, in particular a textile material such as a knit cotton yarn. 3. An assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the pocket (12) is an extensible material, in particular elastically extensible. 4. Assembly according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the machine (1) comprises a system (14) for supporting said structure (13), including means (29, 26) forming slides that allow a sliding installation of this structure (13) vis-à-vis the tank (4), in the manner of a drawer. 5. An assembly according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said upper portion (16) of the structure (13) is removable relative to the rest of said structure (13), so as to be interchangeable. 6. An assembly according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that said upper portion (16) of the structure (13) forms a frame (16a), and in that each attachment means of the pocket (12). that comprises this upper portion (16) is formed by a hooking tab (16c) individualized by a V-shaped cutout arranged in said frame (16a) and folded at its base so as to project outwardly frame (16a), beyond the wall of this frame (16a). 7. The assembly of claim 6, characterized in that the free end of the latching lug (16c) is rounded. 8. Process for obtaining pockets (12) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: - use a material in the form of a sheath, - operate step by step seams transverse to this sheath so as to join the opposite walls of the sheath, and - cut sections of this sheath along one side of each seam, to obtain the pockets (12). 9. The method of claim 8, characterized in that the sheath material is a knitted cotton yarn material used to pack cured meats the time of drying, especially hams.