Crushing apparatus

Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – Combined or convertible

Patent

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Details

241187, 2411891, 241289, B02C 1300, B02C 2102

Patent

active

055582842

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to crushing apparatus, of the type that is suitable for crushing metal cans, plastic bottles, and the like.
It is becoming increasingly common that householders are prepared to separate out certain items of garbage which are suitable for recycling. Each householder has a special receptacle, separate from the other garbage, in which the recyclable items are placed. It is part of the recycling truck operative's task to place the recyclable items in a separate compartment on the recycling truck.


DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART IN RELATION TO THE INVENTION

One of the problems with such items as cans, bottles, and containers is that an un-crushed heap of the items occupies a large volume of space without much weight. It is desirable that the items be crushed prior to being placed in the truck. A recycling truck has capacity enough to carry the weight of the garbage: the limitation generally is one of volume. The compaction of garbage of course is a well-known measure, and most trucks include compacting means whereby Ordinary garbage is placed straight into the compactor. Conventionally, each individual item of garbage is carried at its un-compacted volume only for a short distance.
The same principle of reducing the volume of the item as soon as the item is placed on the truck applies equally to the recyclable items. However, the crushing process required is somewhat different from the process for ordinary garbage. In ordinary compaction, the individual items are fed into a large hopper, and the items are crushed together by a heavy ram. This has the effect of locking many of the items together. As many as fifty percent of the items can be inseparable after compaction in a ram-type compactor.
One of the key aspects that goes towards making recycling an economical proposition is that each individual recyclable item must be readily separable from all the other recyclable items. Therefore, it is required of the manner in which the items are crushed that the manner of crushing does not cause the items to become locked together in a way that would make it subsequently difficult to separate the items. By contrast, where the garbage is simply to be placed in a landfill, it does not matter that items cannot be separated.
It is not too much to say that whether recycling of household containers can proceed as an economical industrial activity depends on whether the items can be crushed without being compacted, ie without being locked together, on the recycling truck.
The invention is aimed at providing an apparatus which is effective to crush metal cans and plastic bottles without compacting them together, and which is small enough to fit conveniently on a recycling truck, and which can be powered by power sources available on the recycling truck.
Another factor which affects the acceptability of recycling as an industrial process is whether the items are individually safe and easy to handle. If the crushing apparatus results in the metal items being torn, the cost of taking precautions against the resulting protruding sharp edges can be too much. The invention is aimed at providing an apparatus which does not tear the metal items as it crushes them.
The householder collects the plastic and metal containers for recycling into the special container (termed the "blue box" in many jurisdictions) provided for recyclable items. Upon collection, the recycling truck operative tosses the contents of the blue box into a hopper of the crushing apparatus. The invention is aimed at providing an apparatus which can receive and process all the items tossed in from the blue box, including the occasional un-crushable item that has got into the box by mistake.
As mentioned, it is a fact that the ram-type of compactor, if such were used on recyclable items, would tend to make the individual recyclable items lock together. The invention is based on a rotary crusher mechanism, which has been found to be much less prone than the ram-type to causing the items to lock together. The following

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