Electricity: measuring and testing – Magnetic – Combined
Patent
1994-10-04
1997-03-11
Snow, Walter E.
Electricity: measuring and testing
Magnetic
Combined
G01N 2772, B65F 302, G01R 3300
Patent
active
056105169
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
DESCRIPTION
The invention is directed to a process and a device for checking for the presence of metal in refuse contained in a refuse container.
At present, domestic refuse and commercial refuse, respectively, is still often deposited in a single receptacle without sorting and is disposed of in dumps or landfills or burned in waste incineration plants. A particular problem is posed by metallic waste because of its material composition, in particular its content of heavy metals, and because of paint and solvent residues and other chemicals, for example, which are found especially in metal cans or spray cans. From landfills, the heavy metals and chemicals find their way into groundwater or surface water and contaminate this water. Waste incineration plants can produce toxic waste gases from the metal waste. These gases cannot be completely filtered out before being released into the atmosphere, even by expensive cleaning processes. In view of this, it is desirable for ecological reasons to collect and dispose of at least metallic waste separately from other types of refuse. Also because of the scarcity of raw materials, it is important to collect different types of refuse separately and recycle them, particularly glass, paper, organic waste capable of composting, and scrap metal. However, such materials can only be recycled profitably if the refuse is homogeneous and does not require sorting before recycling. This is particularly true for organic refuse which must be free of heavy metals before being added to a compost for agricultural uses. On the other hand, production of compost represents the most important means of relieving progressively dwindling landfill capacities.
The simplest way to ensure homogeneous refuse consists in a thoroughly sorted collection of individual types of refuse on the part of the producers of the refuse, i.e., the households and commercial operations themselves. Environmental awareness on the part of the population has indeed increased sharply in recent years. However, refuse is often not sorted with sufficient thoroughness due to laziness or carelessness. Metal contained in refuse containers for special waste not intended to hold metallic materials is particularly disturbing for the reasons stated above.
The object of the present invention is to provide the possibility to check refuse for contained metal already at the pick-up site.
This object is met according to the invention by a process of the type mentioned above in that the refuse container is scanned by at least one metal detector at the pick-up site before being emptied and in that an electric and/or acoustic and/or optical signal is generated when metal is detected. In so doing, the metal detector, of which there is at least one, can produce a pulsed or continuous eddy current field or it can irradiate the refuse container with electromagnetic waves. Accordingly, the process according to the invention can reliably determine whether or not metallic material has been thrown into the refuse bins of a household or commercial establishment. In a first step for accustoming the population to collecting metal refuse separately, stickers containing a reminder for environmental awareness could be affixed to refuse bins in which metal has been detected in order to encourage the refuse producer to separate different types of refuse more thoroughly. In a follow-up to this first phase, it would be possible to refuse to continue emptying refuse bins in which metal is detected. When refuse is picked up by a vehicle provided with at least one lifting device for refuse containers, detection of metal by the detector can trigger a locking of the lifting device so as to prevent the waste disposal personnel from unintentionally emptying a refuse bin containing metal. A further possibility for motivating the population to collect different types of refuse in separate containers consists in charging a sharply higher fee when metal waste is detected in the refuse bins. For this purpose, a readable code identifying the refuse producer can be
REFERENCES:
patent: 4742339 (1988-05-01), Baziuk
patent: 5444966 (1995-08-01), Strosser
Snow Walter E.
Striker Michael J.
LandOfFree
Process of and device for checking presence of metal in refuse c does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Process of and device for checking presence of metal in refuse c, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Process of and device for checking presence of metal in refuse c will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-446086