Dispensing – With cutter and/or punch – To form dispensing opening in container
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-01
2001-05-29
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Dispensing
With cutter and/or punch
To form dispensing opening in container
C222S001000, C222S081000, C222S087000, C414S412000, C414S415000, C141S330000, C100S09800R, C100S902000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237808
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for emptying drums filled with solids and to an apparatus for emptying drums filled with solids.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
To fully exploit the holding capacity of drums, drums are nowadays often filled with solids with the aid of a so-called “drum compactor”, i.e. the solids are highly compressed as they are introduced into the drums and are stored in compacted form in the drum. The compaction gives rise to a compact mass of solids in which in some cases the individual parts and particles adhere firmly to one another. A drum packed in this way and filled with a firmly cohering mass of solids can often no longer be emptied simply with the aid of gravity by turning the drum over with the lid end downwards after removal of the drum lid. Highly viscous materials, which of course behave in a similar way to firmly cohering solids, are also often virtually impossible to remove from their drums. Simply turning the drums over and repeatedly jerking the inverted drum upwards are often unsuccessful both in the case of drums containing highly viscous materials and those containing compacted solids. Attempts to empty the drum with the aid of an auger are likewise often unsuccessful. Burning the drums with their contents in the case of waste drums is generally not justifiable from an ecological point of view and is moreover uneconomical since the drums may damage the lining of the incineration furnaces. The downtimes for repairing an incineration plant and the costs of repair themselves make it uneconomical to incinerate the drums, especially in the case of incineration furnaces for special waste.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for emptying drums filled with solids in a simple and effective manner.
In the method according to the invention, a drum which has been freed from its lid is separated from its drum base and the solids which it contains, which may also include highly viscous materials, are forced out of the drum with the aid of a pressing body which penetrates into the drum. The advantage of this method resides in the fact that the drum can always be emptied, irrespective of the composition and consistency (compaction) of the solids. Loose solids fall more or less spontaneously out of the drum when they are pushed out of the drum by a pressing body, while highly compacted solids are driven out of the drum in the form of a plug by the pressing body.
It is advantageous if the drum base is cut off the drum by means of a cutting ring on which the drum is placed approximately vertical on its drum base. This ensures that the cutting forces which occur are distributed uniformly over the approximately circular cutting line defined by the cutting ring.
A particular advantage is obtained if a cutting force acting on the longitudinal axis of the drum is applied since this ensures that only forces parallel to the drum wall act on the drum. The cutting ring then acts like a punching tool.
If the pressing body penetrates into the drum at the lid end, the lid having previously been removed, the separation of the drum base from the drum and the emptying of the drum can be performed in a single working step. Another advantage of this procedure is that the cutting force is transmitted to the cutting ring via the solids inside the drum and via the drum base, and deformation of the drum can therefore be largely avoided.
An apparatus according to the invention makes it possible to use a cutting ring to separate a drum base from the drum, giving access to solids in the drum at the lid end and at the base end. This enables the solids to be forced out of the drum, with the aid of a pressing body provided in the apparatus and of a stop. Arranging the cutting ring, the stop and the pressing body on a longitudinal axis which corresponds to the longitudinal axis of the drum to be positioned enables the drum to be left in the same position in the apparatus for all the working steps. While the solids are forced out of the drum, the drum is supported by a drum wall edge on the stop. This ensures that the only forces acting on the drum wall as the solids are forced out are axial and this is particularly advantageous.
It is advantageous if the pressing body is arranged in such a way relative to the cutting ring and the stop that it penetrates into the drum at the lid end and the drum is emptied at the bottom. This allows the separated drum base to be forced out of the drum and disposed of together with the solids without the risk that the drum base will tilt in the drum.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the cutting ring is dimensioned in such a way that it cuts within the drum wall. This makes it easier to position the drum on the cutting ring since the projecting drum wall generally surrounds the drum base in the form of a bead. It is also advantageous if the cutter of the cutting ring is designed with teeth, ideally with triangular teeth, since this means that the cutting force initially acts only pointwise at the tips of the teeth, facilitating penetration of the cutter into the drum base.
It is particularly advantageous to configure the stop in such a way that the drum wall edge rests over its entire circumference on the stop since this ensures uniform distribution of the forces acting on the drum wall over the entire drum wall. A grid or a plate or something similar having an aperture concentric with the cutting ring can be used as the stop, for example. The radius of this aperture preferably corresponds to at least an external radius of the pressing body since this allows the drum to be emptied without obstruction. Moreover, it allows the pressing body to be moved through such an aperture in the stop without problems.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment, the cutting ring is arranged in a fixed manner and the pressing body can be displaced along the longitudinal axis in the direction of the cutting ring in the form of a ram. Such an embodiment allows the drum base to be cut off and the solids to be forced out of the drum in a single working step.
In such an embodiment, it is advantageous if the cutting ring is fixed in a holding device which simultaneously forms the stop.
In addition to the cutting ring secured in or on the holding device, it is advantageous to provide an additional stop, which is arranged between the drum to be positioned and the holding device and can be displaced along the longitudinal axis. Such a stop has an aperture with a radius that is greater than the external radius at the cutting ring and can be displaced between a holding position and a stop position. In the holding position, the stop is positioned ahead of the cutting ring in the direction of the drum while, in the stop position, the cutter of the cutting ring is positioned ahead of the stop in the direction of the drum. This allows the stop to be used both for positioning the drum on the cutting ring and, after emptying, to be used again to release the drum from the cutting ring.
If the stop can be displaced beyond the holding position in the direction of the pressing body, it can be used to help compress the drum wall against a stop plate. In this arrangement, the stop plate is situated on the pressing-body side, opposite the stop, and at least one times the drum height from the latter. To stabilize the drum wall during compression, it is particularly advantageous to leave the pressing body within the drum wall until the pressing operation is complete.
A positioning device which positions the drum in the apparatus and preferably also removes the emptied drum from the apparatus allows the emptying of drums to be automated.
If the apparatus is positioned above a container, the solids can be collected in the container. Positioning the apparatus above a container in this way is recommended, for example, for emptying waste drums, the apparatus being arranged, for example, over a pit or a waste bunker.
If the entire apparatus is arranged in such
Heinrich Willi
Straub Peter C.
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Jacyna J. Casimer
Von Roll Umwelttechnik AG
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