JP3659478B2 - Waste plastic multi-row alignment apparatus and method, and waste plastic sorting apparatus using the waste plastic multi-row alignment apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a waste plastic sorting apparatus for separating plastic bottles in waste plastics, which are resource waste, and hard plastics, such as toys having a shape close to the plastic bottles, according to material and color, etc. The present invention relates to an apparatus for aligning discarded plastics.
[0002]
[Prior art]
It is known that the near-infrared absorption spectrum of plastic is unique depending on the material. In Europe, which is an environmentally advanced country, the development of an automatic sorting device for discarded plastic bottles using such a measuring means for specifying the material by the near-infrared light absorption spectrum has been made early and has been commercialized (Japanese Patent Laid-Open 9-220532). Also in Japan, technical development related to such technology has been active for several years, and several technologies have been published (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 8-1101 and 9-89768, (Kaihei 9-220532).
[0003]
Such a measurement speed of the plastic material by the near-infrared light absorption spectrum is 0.01 per point by a spectroscopic system based on a combination of a near-infrared spectroscopic element and a one-dimensional solid-state image sensor usable in the near-infrared region. Something less than a second has been developed. In addition, the measurement speed of plastic color is being performed in a very short time. Accordingly, the processing capacity of the automatic sorting system for waste plastic bottles and the like is determined by the speed at which the waste plastic bottles and the like that are miscellaneously input are aligned.
[0004]
However, waste plastic bottles and the like are often compressed and flattened and are light, and it is extremely difficult to align the waste plastic bottles and the like.
[0005]
The present applicant has proposed a waste plastic sorting device in which waste plastic bottles and the like are quickly aligned in a line, these materials are detected by a sensor, and these are sorted by material (Japanese Patent Application No. 11-353519). Issue gazette).
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this waste plastic sorting apparatus, the waste plastic bottles can be quickly aligned in a line, but as long as the waste plastic bottles are aligned in a line, the processing capability of the sorting apparatus cannot be dramatically improved. In other words, in order to increase the processing amount with a single sorting device, it is indispensable to arrange a large number of waste plastic bottles in parallel.
[0007]
Accordingly, the present invention provides a waste plastic multiple row alignment apparatus and method capable of arranging a large number of rows of waste plastic bottles arranged in the longitudinal direction thereof, and a waste plastic using the waste plastic multiple row alignment apparatus. An object is to provide a sorting device.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention will be described below. In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor has conducted extensive research on how waste plastics can be arranged in parallel, such as two rows, four rows, and the like. As a result, the present inventor provided an attitude control conveyor for controlling the attitude of the thrown-out plastics above the transport conveyor, operated the linear member constituting the attitude control conveyor in its axial direction, and the linear member It is found that if the waste plastic put on the top is dropped onto the transport conveyor from both sides of the linear member, a large number of rows of waste plastics arranged in the longitudinal direction can be juxtaposed on the transport conveyor. did.
[0009]
That is, the invention according to claim 1 is a transport conveyor for transporting waste plastic, and disposed disposed above the transport conveyor, at a distance greater than the height of the waste plastic on the transport conveyor, and thrown in An attitude control conveyor that controls the attitude of the plastic to drop onto the conveyor, and the attitude control conveyor includes at least one linear member that extends in the conveying direction of the conveyor. member is operated in the axial direction, waste plastics, a number column alignment device of waste plastics, characterized in that it is introduced from the top of the linear member, to solve the problems described above.
[0010]
According to the invention, randomly thrown on the attitude control conveyor the waste plastic bottles is raised rests on the linear member to be operated from both sides of the rotating, the linear member is parallel to the linear member Fall on the conveyor. Therefore, a large number of rows of waste plastic bottles arranged in the longitudinal direction on the conveyor can be arranged in parallel. Here, as the linear member, a linear member having a longer length in the vertical direction than the lateral width of a wire, a chain, a belt, or the like can be used. Various conveyors such as a belt conveyor, a mesh conveyor, a chain conveyor, a roller conveyor, and a vibration conveyor can be used as the conveyor.
[0011]
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the attitude control conveyor has a fixing member arranged substantially in parallel with the linear member at a predetermined interval.
[0012]
According to the present invention, waste plastic bottles or the like that are randomly placed on the attitude control conveyor are placed over the fixed member and the linear member. Since the linear member operates in the axial direction, the waste plastic bottle or the like rotates with the fixed member as a fulcrum, becomes parallel to the gap between the linear member and the fixed member, and falls from the gap onto the conveyor. .
[0013]
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the posture control conveyor has a plurality of the linear members arranged substantially in parallel with predetermined intervals, and the adjacent linear members are operated at different speeds. Here, the different speed includes, for example, a case where adjacent linear members are operated in opposite directions.
[0014]
According to the invention, when randomly loaded onto attitude control conveyor the waste plastic bottles raises rests astride between the pair of linear members adjacent, since adjacent linear members are running at different speeds, waste A plastic bottle or the like rotates using both linear members as fulcrums, becomes parallel to the gap between the linear members, and falls onto the transport conveyor from the gap.
[0015]
Furthermore, the present invention is characterized in that the transport conveyor is provided with a valley in the width direction so as to align the waste plastic.
[0016]
According to the present invention, since the waste plastic fits into the vertical groove formed by the valleys and extending in the transport direction, the rows of waste plastic can be aligned and transported.
[0017]
Further, the present invention is a waste plastic multi-row alignment method for controlling the posture of the thrown-in waste plastic and dropping it onto a transport conveyor, and transporting the waste plastic with the transport conveyor , above the transport conveyor, At least one linear member is provided at an interval equal to or higher than the height of the waste plastic on the conveyor, and the waste plastic placed on the linear member is moved by moving the linear member in its axial direction. is dropped onto the conveyor from both sides of the linear member, can also be configured as multiple columns aligned method of waste plastic characterized by transporting multiple columns aligned waste plastic by the conveyor.
[0018]
In the present invention , a fixing member is provided on both sides of the linear member substantially in parallel with a predetermined interval, and the linear member is operated in the axial direction so as to straddle the linear member and the fixing member. The waste plastic that has been thrown in is rotated by the operation of the linear member and dropped from both sides of the linear member onto the transport conveyor. Can do.
[0019]
Further, the present invention includes a conveyor for conveying the waste plastic, above the conveyor, provided at a height above the interval of waste plastic on the conveyor, the inserted waste plastic, the orientation Control means for controlling and dropping onto the transport conveyor, detection means for detecting waste plastic on the transport conveyor, sorting means for sorting waste plastic, and the sorting means based on information detected by the detection means The attitude control conveyor has at least one linear member extending in the conveying direction of the conveyor, the linear member operates in the axial direction, and the waste plastic is also configured as a sorting device for waste plastics, characterized in that it is introduced from the top of the linear member child Can.
[0020]
According to this invention, the detection means detects the color, material, etc. of the discarded plastic. Then, based on the detected information, the control means operates the sorting means, and the sorting means sorts the waste plastic into normal and foreign substances. Since the waste plastics are arranged in a large number of rows, the sorting device can sort the multiple rows at the same time, and the processing capacity is dramatically improved. Here, the detection means can be a color identification sensor for identifying the color of the waste plastic, or a material identification sensor such as a near-infrared spectroscopic sensor for identifying the material, and the sorting means is on the downstream side of the transport conveyor. An air nozzle and an air opening / closing valve provided in the can be used.
[0021]
Further, the present invention provides the waste plastic sorting device, wherein the attitude control conveyor further includes a fixing member disposed substantially in parallel at a predetermined interval on both sides of the linear member. Can be configured.
[0022]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows a waste plastic sorting device 2 incorporating a waste plastic multi-row aligning device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The sorting device 2 sorts waste plastic bottles in waste plastic, which is resource waste, and hard plastics such as toys having a shape close to that into materials and colors. The sorting device 2 includes a multi-row aligning device 1 for aligning the waste plastics 6 in a multi-row, a detection means 4 for detecting the waste plastics 6 aligned on the conveyor 3, a sorting means 5 for sorting the waste plastics 6, The control means is configured to operate the sorting means 5 based on the information detected by the detection means 4.
[0023]
The multi-row aligning apparatus 1 for aligning the waste plastics 6 in a multi-row has a transport conveyor 3 for transporting the waste plastics 6 and a space higher than the height of the waste plastic on the transport conveyor 3 above the transport conveyor 3. The disposed waste plastic 6 is configured by an attitude control conveyor 16 that controls the attitude of the discarded plastic 6 and drops onto the transfer conveyor 3.
[0024]
The conveyance conveyor 3 is a kind of a general continuous conveyance machine that horizontally conveys the waste plastic 6. For the conveyance conveyor 3, for example, a belt conveyor, a mesh conveyor, a chain conveyor, a roller conveyor, a vibration conveyor, or the like is used. The conveyor 3 is also determined by the type of detection means for detecting waste plastic. For example, when the detection means 4 is a reflection type sensor, a belt conveyor that circulates an endless annular belt between the belt wheels is used, and when it is a transmission type optical sensor, the belt is configured so that the waste plastic can be illuminated from below the conveyance surface. A mesh conveyor that circulates an endless annular mesh between vehicles is used.
[0025]
The conveyor 3 is provided with a valley in the width direction. FIG. 3 shows a sectional view in the width direction of the transport surface of the transport conveyor. The valley is formed, for example, by adhering a crosspiece 9 extending in the conveying direction to the upper surface of the belt 8 of the conveying conveyor 3 by bonding means such as welding. The crosspieces 9 (mountain portions) are formed in a triangular cross-section that has an acute convexity upward. The distance (valley portion) between the crosspieces 9 and 9 is determined according to the length of the waste plastic 6 in the short side direction. In this embodiment, the crosspieces 6 are provided at three locations on the upper surface of the transport conveyor, the upper surface of the transport conveyor 3 is divided into four equal parts, and four rows of waste plastics 6 are formed on the transport conveyor. The central rail 9 has a higher protruding height than the adjacent rails 9. The formation of the peaks and valleys is not limited to adhering the crosspieces 9 to the upper surface of the belt 8, and for example, a fixed guide that is fixed to the conveyor can be provided with a slight gap from the upper surface of the belt. However, in this case, consideration must be given so that the waste plastic 6 does not cause traffic jams due to the fixed guide.
[0026]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the attitude control conveyor 16 controls the attitude of the waste plastic 6 so that the longitudinal direction of the waste plastic 6 coincides with the conveyance direction of the conveyance conveyor. The attitude control conveyor 16 has an endless wire 15 as a linear member that is arranged 100 to 120 mm away from the conveyor 3 and extends in the conveyance direction of the conveyor 3. The wire 15 is bridged between the pulleys 10 and 10 so as to be substantially parallel to the upper surface of the conveyor 3 and circulates between the pulleys 10 and 10. By driving the pulley 10 to rotate, the wire 15 operates in the axial direction thereof. The forward portion of the wire 15 in the transport direction is exposed, and the return portion passes under the transport conveyor 3. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the wire 15 at the return portion (outside) of the pulleys 10 and 10 is arranged under the fixed guide 11 to be described later so that it is hidden, and the wire 15 at the forward portion (inside) is conveyed by the conveyor. 3 is exposed. Note that the linear member is not limited to the wire 15, and a chain, a belt, or the like can also be used.
[0027]
The fixed guides 11 as fixed members fixed to the attitude control conveyor 16 are disposed substantially parallel to the wires 15 at a predetermined interval on both sides of the forward portion of the wires 15. The interval between the fixed guide 11 and the wire 15 is set to a total length of 250 to 350 mm or less in the longitudinal direction of the plastic bottle 6 to be charged. The fixed guide 11 is inclined so as to be positioned downward in the transport direction of the transport conveyor 3. In addition, the portion of the fixed guide 11 into which the waste plastic 6 is put is set at substantially the same height as the wire 15.
[0028]
A plurality of detection means 4 for detecting the waste plastics 6 arranged on the transport conveyor 3 are provided above the transport conveyor 3 in accordance with the number of rows of the waste plastics 6. For the detection means 4, a color identification sensor is used when the waste plastic 6 is sorted by color, and a material identification sensor such as a near infrared spectroscopic sensor is used when the waste plastic is sorted by material. As a specific color identification sensor, for example, a known sensor described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-1276761, Japanese Patent Application No. 6-249912, or the like can be used. Moreover, as a material identification sensor, the well-known sensor described in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 6-308022 can be used, for example. A passage sensor 12 that measures the passage of waste plastic is provided on the upstream side of the color identification sensor or the material identification sensor. Based on the detection value of the passage sensor 12, the timing for operating the sorting means 5 described later is determined. Note that a reflective sensor or a transmissive sensor may be used as the color identification sensor and the material identification sensor.
[0029]
A plurality of sorting means 5 for sorting the waste plastics 6 is provided at the transfer position from the transport conveyor 3 to the discharge conveyor 13 according to the number of rows of the waste plastics 6. The sorting means 5 includes, for example, an air nozzle and an air on / off valve (not shown). The on-off valve is opened and closed by a controller as control means. FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of the control system. Each sensor detects the color or material of the waste plastic, and the controller operates the on-off valve based on the detected information. When the on-off valve is opened, an air jet is ejected from the air nozzle, and the waste plastic 6 is blown away. Thereby, the waste plastic 6 is sorted into normal products and foreign materials, for example, plastic bottles and other products. Note that the sorting means 5 is not limited to the air nozzle and the air opening / closing valve, and may be one that mechanically sorts by a lever or the like, for example.
[0030]
There are cases where steel cans and aluminum cans are mixed in the waste plastic 6 and it is necessary to sort them. In this case, a metal sensor (not shown) for detecting metal may be added above the conveyor 3 and the sorting means 5 may be operated based on information detected by the metal sensor.
[0031]
The waste plastic 6 thrown into the hopper is drawn out by the throwing conveyor 14 and is thrown into the multi-row aligning device 1 from the throwing conveyor 14. At this time, the waste plastic 6 has no directionality, and the waste plastic 6 straddles the wire 15 and the fixed guide 11. When the wire 15 operates in the axial direction, the waste plastic 6 rotates in the direction in which the wire 15 operates with the fixed guide 11 as a fulcrum, and is parallel to the wire 15 and the fixed guide 11. It falls on the conveyor 3 through the gap between them. Here, since the waste plastic 6 falls from both sides of the wire 15, a row in which the waste plastics 6 are arranged in the longitudinal direction is arranged on the conveyor 3. In this embodiment, since two wires are provided, four rows of waste plastics 6 are juxtaposed. In addition, since the conveyor 3 has peaks and valleys in the width direction, the discarded plastics 6 that have fallen are conveyed in a state where they are aligned for each row.
[0032]
The waste plastic 6 to be conveyed is subjected to a passage timing by a passage sensor 12 provided for each row, and a material or a color is detected by the detection means 4. These pieces of information are processed by the controller, and the controller opens and closes the opening / closing valve of the sorting means 5. For example, in the case of a plastic bottle intended for the waste plastic 6, the air jet is not operated, and the plastic bottle is transferred to the discharge conveyor 13 by its inertial force. On the other hand, when the plastic bottle is other than the PET bottle, the air jet is operated to remove the plastic bottle downward.
[0033]
5 and 6 show a sorting device 17 incorporating a multi-row aligning device 19 in the second embodiment of the present invention. The multi-row aligning device 19 of this embodiment is different in how the wires 18 of the attitude control conveyor 20 are stretched, and the attitude control conveyor 16 of the first embodiment rotates the wires 15 sideways, whereas this embodiment The attitude control conveyor 20 rotates the wire 18 vertically. Since other configurations are the same as those of the sorting apparatus of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted with the same reference numerals. The wire 18 is bridged between a pair of pulleys 21, and both the forward wire 18 and the return wire 18 are provided above the transport conveyor 3, and these planar positions overlap. The forward wire 18 positioned above is exposed, and the return wire 18 is covered with a wire cover 27. Thus, by rotating the wire 18 vertically, the wire 18 can be smoothly circulated even if the wire 18 hangs down by its own weight. Of course, a chain may be wound instead of the wire 18.
[0034]
7 and 8 show a sorting device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The multi-row aligning device 22 of this embodiment is different in how the wires 25 of the attitude control conveyor 24 are stretched, and the attitude control conveyor 16 of the first embodiment circulates the wire 18 by a pulley, whereas The attitude control conveyor 24 circulates in the belt wheel 3 a with the wire 25 hung on the belt wheel 3 a of the conveyor 3. Since other configurations are the same as those of the sorting apparatus of the first embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted with the same reference numerals. In the sorting apparatus of this embodiment, a pulley 26 is provided to position the wire 18 above the transport conveyor 3, and the wire 25 is inclined so as to be positioned downward in the transport direction. In addition to the same operation and effect as the sorting device of the first embodiment, the sorting device 23 can simplify the configuration of the device because the power for circulating the wire 25 is unnecessary, and the wire 25 Even if it hangs down, it can circulate smoothly, and a wire cover that covers the return wire 25 becomes unnecessary.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the attitude control conveyor has a linear member extending in the conveying direction of the conveyor, and the linear member is operated in the axial direction. Therefore, the attitude control conveyor is randomly placed on the attitude control conveyor. It has been discarded plastic bottles or the like, the linear member and the fixing member on the running, or raise rests on a plurality of linear members, but since the linear member is running, rotating, parallel to the linear member And falls onto the conveyor from both sides of the linear member. Therefore, a large number of rows of waste plastic bottles arranged in the longitudinal direction on the conveyor can be arranged in parallel.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a sorting device incorporating a multi-row aligning device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the multi-row aligning device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction of a belt of a conveyor belt incorporated in the sorting device.
FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the sorting device.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a sorting device incorporating a multi-row aligning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a multi-row aligning device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a sorting device incorporating a multi-row aligning device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a multi-row alignment apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1, 19, 22 Multi-row alignment device 3 Conveyor 4 Detection means 5 Sorting means 6 Waste plastic 11 Fixed guide (fixed member)
15, 18, 25 Wire (Linear member)
16, 20, 24 Attitude control conveyor 2, 17, 23 Sorting device

Claims (8)

A transport conveyor that transports waste plastic, and is provided above the transport conveyor, and is provided at an interval greater than the height of the waste plastic on the transport conveyor. and a posture control conveyor makes fall on the conveyor, the posture control conveyor has at least one linear member extending in the conveying direction of the conveyor, the linear member is operated in the axial direction The waste plastic multi-row aligning apparatus is characterized in that the waste plastic is fed from above the linear member .   2. The waste plastic multi-row alignment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the posture control conveyor has fixing members arranged substantially parallel to each other on both sides of the linear member. The posture control conveyor has a plurality of the linear member which is arranged substantially parallel to and spaced a predetermined distance, the linear member adjacent the claim 1, characterized in that running at different speeds Waste plastic multi-row alignment device. 4. The waste plastic multi-row aligning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport conveyor is provided with a valley in the width direction so as to align the waste plastic. A method of arranging multiple rows of discarded plastics, wherein the discarded plastics are controlled on the attitude and dropped onto the conveyor, and the discarded plastics are conveyed by the conveyor, and disposed on the conveyor above the conveyor. At least one linear member is provided at an interval equal to or greater than the height of the plastic, the linear member is operated in the axial direction thereof, and the waste plastic placed on the linear member is disposed on both sides of the linear member. It said conveyor on to fall, a number column alignment process of waste plastic characterized by conveying the aligned waste plastic into multiple rows in the conveyor from. Waste plastic that is provided across the linear member and the fixing member by providing a fixing member substantially parallel to the both sides of the linear member, operating the linear member in the axial direction thereof The method according to claim 5, wherein the plastic member is rotated by the operation of the linear member and dropped onto the conveyor from both sides of the linear member. A transport conveyor for transporting the waste plastic, and a space above the transport conveyor at a height equal to or greater than the height of the waste plastic on the transport conveyor. A posture control conveyor for dropping onto the conveyor, a detecting means for detecting waste plastic on the transport conveyor, a sorting means for sorting waste plastic, and a control means for operating the sorting means based on information detected by the detecting means; The attitude control conveyor has at least one linear member extending in a conveying direction of the conveyor, the linear member operates in an axial direction thereof, and waste plastic is disposed from an upper portion of the linear member. Waste plastic sorting device characterized by being introduced. 8. The waste plastic sorting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the attitude control conveyor has fixing members disposed substantially in parallel with a predetermined interval on both sides of the linear member.

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