WO2010015850A1

WO2010015850A1 - Baling apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2010015850A1
Application number: PCT/GB2009/050971
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Grufydd Arthur Haffield
Original assignee: Environmental Rubber Technology Ltd
Priority date: 2008-08-04
Filing date: 2009-08-03
Publication date: 2010-02-11
Also published as: GB0814209D0; GB2462417B; GB2462417A

Abstract

The apparatus for baling compressible material (such as tyres or the like) comprises a baling chamber (1) having a first pressure ram (3) for compacting the compressible material within the chamber; a hopper (2) mounted above said chamber to permit a plurality of said articles to be loaded downwardly to said chamber, the hopper having first and second doors (10, 11), each door having a respective pivotable mounting. The first door (11) has a part-cylindrical inner face, such that the cross-section thereof has an arcuate edge; and the second door has a straight free edge arranged to sweep the arcuate edge when the second door (10) is pivoted about the respective pivotable mounting. The apparatus further includes a second pressure ram for driving the first door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to compact the compressible material into the baling chamber; and a third pressure ram (12) for driving the second door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to further compact the material into the baling chamber.

Description

Baling Apparatus

The present invention concerns apparatus suitable for baling of compressible material such as post-consumer (scrap or discarded) tyres, and a method of using such apparatus.

Traditionally, post-consumer tyres have been accumulated either in piles, or in static containers; they are then collected as a batch to be taken for disposal or processing. More recently, it has been proposed to collect such tyres for baling in a collection enclosure, and then bale the tyres to reduce their volume, prior to transporting the tyres in the form of bales. An example of such a proposal is disclosed in US Patent 6098531.

It has also been proposed to mount a tyre baling machine on a trailer, in which the tyres are baled on the machine, with compression, so that the bales are tighter than loosely filled bales. An example of such a proposal is disclosed in US Patent 5590594.

I have now devised baling apparatus, which permits even tighter bales to be achieved than those achieved using the apparatus described in US Patent 5590594. Baling apparatus according to the invention is primarily envisaged for baling of post- consumer tyres, but may be used for baling other compressible material.

According to the invention, therefore, there is provided baling apparatus suitable for baling compressible material (such as post-consumer tyres or the like), the apparatus comprising: a) a baling chamber having first pressure means for compacting compressible material within the chamber; b) hopper means mounted above said chamber to permit the compressible material to be loaded downwardly to the chamber, the hopper having first and second doors, each having a respective pivotable mounting, the first door having a part-cylindrical inner face, such that the cross- section thereof has an arcuate edge; and the second door having a substantially straight free edge arranged to sweep the arcuate edge when the second door is pivoted about the respective pivotable mounting thereof; c) second pressure means for driving the first door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to compact the compressible material into the baling chamber; and d) third pressure means for driving the second door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to further compact the compressible material into the baling chamber.

The use of the first pressure means in the baling chamber and the second and third pressure means for driving the doors of the hopper enables the resulting bale to be compacted more tightly than when a single pressure applicator is used. This means that the resulting more compact bale is potentially more useful than conventional bales in the construction industry.

The hopper means in the apparatus according to the invention preferably comprises a frame having longitudinally extending, generally upstanding, panels, in which the first and second doors extend between the longitudinally extending panels to provide lid means for the hopper. Alternatively, the upstanding panels of the frame may be transverse and the doors may be longitudinally extending panels. The frame is to be mounted above the chamber. It is particularly preferred that the first and second doors are mounted to the frame to permit opening and closing of the horizontal space defined by the frame. Typically such doors are pivotably mounted to opposed panels of the frame.

In some embodiments of the invention, the first and second doors may be arranged to be secured in position at one or more acute angles relative to the horizontal. The arcuate edge of the first door is preferably smooth so as to permit engagement with a complementary face of the other door.

It is preferred that the second and third pressure means, such as respective hydraulic rams, are such that each of the doors may be pivoted relative to an edge of the respective panel. Such pressure means helps to provide downward compression to material being baled in the baling chamber. In some embodiments of the invention, the baling chamber has a longitudinally extending floor and first and second fixed opposed sidewalls upstanding relative to the floor; a retainer member having a face which is upstanding relative to the floor and which spans transversely between the opposed sidewalls; at least one closure panel which is longitudinally spaced from the retainer member and extends transversely between the opposed sidewalls, the closure panel being movable between a closed position, in which the closure panel inhibits discharge of contents of the baling chamber, and an open position in which the discharge is permitted.

It is preferred that each of the opposed sidewalls in the latter embodiment has an inner face (that is, the face within the baling chamber) which is substantially smooth over at least the majority of the surface area thereof. Such inner faces are preferably substantially parallel to one another and may furthermore be substantially flat. In some embodiments, such inner faces may include one or more upwardly extending grooves for receiving bale strapping and/or one or more longitudinally extending grooves for receiving such strapping.

In other embodiments, the baling chamber may be disposed substantially vertically, or at any suitable angle to the vertical.

In some embodiments of the invention, the sidewalls may be of unitary plate of steel or the like; in other embodiments they may be of a series of longitudinally extending posts (such as girders or the like) which are secured together (for example by a cradle or the like) leaving longitudinally extending gaps between adjacent posts. Such gaps may provide channels for receiving strapping or the like. Other internal faces of the baling chamber may be of similar construction.

It is also preferred that the upper face of the floor (that is, the face within the baling chamber) is substantially smooth; the upper face of the floor is furthermore preferably substantially flat.

In some embodiments of the invention, the floor may be of unitary steel plate; in other embodiments it may be of a series of longitudinally extending posts (such as girders or the like) which are secured together (for example by a cradle or the like) leaving longitudinally extending gaps between adjacent posts. Such gaps may provide channels for receiving strapping or the like. When such a cradle is used, it may be one which secures at least the sidewalls and the floor together.

It is further preferred that the abovementioned face of the retainer member is substantially smooth over at least the majority of the surface area thereof, and that the inner face of the at least one closure panel is substantially smooth over at least the majority of the surface area thereof. There may be more than one such closure panel, for example, side or edge pivotable closure flaps or the like.

The face of the retainer member generally forms an upstream or forward end wall of the baling chamber, and the inner face of the closure panel (which preferably can be arranged substantially parallel to the face of the retainer member) may form a downstream or rearward end wall of the baling chamber.

It is particularly preferred that the retainer member is movable from an upstream position (in which a first spacing is defined between the face of the retainer member and the inner face of the closure panel when the latter is in its substantially parallel orientation) to a downstream position (in which a second, smaller spacing is defined between the face of the retainer member and the inner face of the closure panel). It is particularly preferred that the retainer member is movable under the influence of the first pressure means so as to form a smaller space in the chamber, between the face of the retainer member and the closure panel, in which smaller space the contents of the baling chamber will be compacted or compressed, thereby permitting the contents to be baled.

In a preferred embodiment, the closure panel is typically pivotally mounted, for example, to upper edges of the sidewalls, and raisable by fourth pressure means such as a hydraulic ram or the like, such that a lower or free edge of the closure panel is spaced from the floor of the chamber; this arrangement permits discharge of the contents through the space between the free or lower edge of the closure panel and the rear end of the floor. Means is preferably provided to lock the closure panel in place when the fourth pressure means is actuated. The first pressure means preferably comprises at least one hydraulic ram, arranged to ensure an even pressure on contents of the chamber. The first pressure means is preferably arranged to compress contents of the chamber in a substantially horizontal orientation.

It is preferred to provide remote actuation means for the apparatus according to the invention, in order to permit remote actuation of one or more of the first pressure means, the second pressure means, the third pressure means and the fourth pressure means. When a closure panel is used, it may also be desirable to provide manual means such as one or more levers to permit opening of the closure panel, either instead of the fourth pressure means, or as a manual alternative thereto.

It is preferred that the baling chamber includes a zone provided downstream of the hopper (and upstream of the closure panel when present), into which zone compressed material in the baling chamber can be pushed by the first pressure means; such a zone thereby permits strapping to be applied around the bale more readily before the resulting bale is discharged via the opening created by movement of the closure panel. . When such a zone is used, panels thereof may be secured in place by means of a cradle such as that indicated above

Such strapping is typically of conventional steel bands, cable or the like, although it is possible to use ropes, or plastics material, for example, of Tenax (which is a UV resistant polyester), polypropylene or the like. It has previously been difficult to employ strapping of such plastics materials for tyre baling or the like.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is a rearward or downstream zone of the baling chamber not directly beneath the hopper means, such that material to be baled enters the baling chamber via the hopper means, and is pushed and compressed rearwardly towards the rearward or downstream zone. It is particularly preferred that this rearward or downstream zone is provided with means for supplying strapping around the resulting compressed material to form a bale.

The apparatus according to the invention is preferably provided with a plurality of pairs of legs, whereby the chamber can be supported above a ground surface, in order to permit the apparatus to be loaded on a flat bed truck or the like. Such legs are preferably selectively extendable, so that they can be raised/lowered to take account of irregularities in ground surfaces. The apparatus according to the invention may further be provided on a wheeled or tracked chassis, typically provided with a cab for a driver. The apparatus according to the invention may be mountable/demountable from such a chassis; when demountable, the apparatus according to the invention may be provided with legs (for example, as described in the preceding paragraph).

The present invention further comprises a method of baling compressible material, such as post-consumer tyres or the like, which method comprises providing baling apparatus according to the invention, feeding compressible material to the chamber via the hopper and intermittently operating the first, second and third pressure means so as to compact the compressible material in the chamber.

Preferably the second pressure means is operated so as to provide downward compression from the first door, and then the third pressure means is operated to cause the second door to pivot so that the free edge sweeps the arcuate edge of the first door, thereby providing further downward compression from the second door. In this method according to the invention, the compacted compressible material is preferably held together by strapping before the resulting bale is discharged.

It is particularly preferred that the compressible material employed in the method according to the invention is a supply of post-consumer tyres, which tyres may be of random sizes and fed randomly to the hopper. This compares to prior art tyre baling apparatus, where it is frequently necessary to employ tyres of the same or similar sizes and to load the baling apparatus carefully.

By means of the present invention, it is possible to achieve a bale comprising tyres in substantially random orientations; typically I have achieved tyre bales with up to about 300 randomly loaded car or light van tyres. A bale consisting of such randomly oriented tyres is believed to be novel per se. The baling apparatus according to the invention may further be used for the baling of significantly larger tyres than has hitherto been possible, such as tractor, truck or lorry tyres.

Preferred embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic illustration of a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows the embodiment of Figure 1 when mounted to a wheeled vehicle; Figure 3 is a transverse section of an exemplary hopper for use in the apparatus according to the invention, with both loading doors open in raised positions; Figure 4 is a transverse section of the embodiment of Figure 3, with the left loading door lowered and the right loading door in a raised position; and. Figure 5 is a transverse section of the embodiment of Figure 3, with both loading doors lowered in lowered (closed) positions.

Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown apparatus according to the invention which includes a baling chamber 1 of substantially rectangular section. Mounted to the upper edges of baling chamber 1 is a hopper 2; at one end (the front or upstream end) of the baling chamber 1 is a ram head 3 provided with compression cylinders 4.

Towards the other end of baling chamber 1 is a strapping chamber 5 of which the inner longitudinally extending side walls are integral continuations of the inner longitudinally extending side walls of the baling chamber 1 ; similarly, the floor is an integral continuation of the floor of the baling chamber.. Strapping chamber 5 has a strapping unit 6 mounted to the roof thereof.

At the rear end of the strapping chamber 5 is a discharge door 7 which is pivotally mounted to an upper edge 8 of the strapping chamber 5. A complementary pair of rams 9 (only one is visible in the drawing) is mounted to respective outside walls of the strapping chamber, to permit selective raising or lowering of the discharge door 7.

The hopper 2 has pivotally mounted to one side wall a flat loading door 10; to the other side wall is a loading door 11 which is part flat and part arcuate, as will be described and illustrated with reference to Figures 3 to 5.

Each of the loading doors 10 and 11 is provided with hydraulic rams 12 for raising and lowering thereof.

Towards the front of the apparatus is a hydraulic control station 13, for control of rams 9 and 12. The whole apparatus is mounted on legs 14.

Figure 2 shows an alternative arrangement (like parts being denoted by like reference numerals) which is mounted on a chassis having wheels 15. Control station 13 is generally just behind a cab (not shown). Reference will now be made to Figures 3 to 5, which show the hopper 2 of Figures 1 and 2, with the loading doors 10 and 11 successively both in raised (open) positions (Figure 3), one lowered on one side and the other raised (Figure 4), and both lowered (Figure 5).

Referring to Figure 3, the hopper 2 has a first loading door 10 (the right hand door in the embodiment shown) mounted to a top edge 24 having a pivot axis 25; the loading door 10 is openable/closable under the influence of a hydraulic ram 12. The hopper 2 further has a second loading door 1 1 (the left hand door in the embodiment shown) mounted to an opposed top edge 21 having a pivot axis 22; the loading door 1 1 is openable/closable under the influence of a further hydraulic ram 12.

As illustrated, loading door 10 is substantially flat and the free edge 26 is substantially straight such that as door 10 is pivoted from the raised or open position of Figures 3 and 4 to the closed position of Figure 5, the edge 26 describes an arcuate path 27. It is preferred that door 10 spans half the width of hopper 2.

Loading door 1 1 is in two parts, namely a first part 31 extending from pivot axis 22 which is substantially flat, and a second part, integral with the first part, which has an inner face 32 of concave curvature. The curvature of face 32 is arranged to match arcuate path 27, so that door 10 can be selectively raised or lowered when door 11 is in lowered position (Figures 4 and 5) with the free edge 26 sweeping a path contiguous to the inner face 32. It is preferred that the first part 31 of door 11 spans half the width of hopper 2 such that when both loading doors 10 and 1 1 are in the lowered position (Figure 5) the hopper is effectively closed.

Claims

1 Baling apparatus suitable for baling compressible material, the apparatus comprising: a) a baling chamber having first pressure means for compacting said compressible material within the chamber; b) hopper means mounted above said chamber to permit said compressible material to be loaded downwardly to said chamber, said hopper having first and second doors, each said door having a respective pivotable mounting, the first door having a part-cylindrical inner face, such that the cross-section thereof has an arcuate edge; and the second door having a substantially straight free edge arranged to sweep the arcuate edge when the second door is pivoted about the respective pivotable mounting thereof; c) second pressure means for driving said first door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to compact said articles into said chamber; and d) third pressure means for driving said second door about the respective pivotable mounting thereof, so as to further compact said articles into said chamber.

2 Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the hopper means comprises a frame having longitudinally extending, upstanding, panels, and transverse panels extending between the longitudinally extending panels, such that the transverse panels support said first and second doors.

3 Apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the first and second doors are mounted to the frame, preferably pivotably, to permit opening and closing of a horizontal space defined by the frame.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the doors are pivotably mounted to opposed panels of the frame.

5 Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first and second doors are arranged to be secured in position at one or more acute angles relative to the horizontal.

6 Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the arcuate edge of the first door is smooth so as to permit engagement with a complementary face of the second door.

7. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the baling chamber has a longitudinally extending floor and first and second fixed opposed sidewalls upstanding relative to the floor; a retainer member having a face which is upstanding relative to the floor and which spans transversely between the opposed sidewalls; at least one closure panel which is longitudinally spaced from the retainer member and extends transversely between the opposed sidewalls, the closure panel being movable between a closed position, in which the closure panel inhibits discharge of contents of the baling chamber, and an open position in which the discharge is permitted.

8 Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein each of the opposed sidewalls has an inner face within the baling chamber which is substantially smooth over at least the majority of the surface area thereof.

9 Apparatus according to claim 8, wherein said inner faces are substantially parallel to one another.

10 Apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the upper face of the floor within the baling chamber is substantially smooth and/or substantially flat.

1 1. Apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 10, wherein said face of said retainer member is substantially smooth over at least the majority of the surface area thereof, and is movable under the influence of the first pressure means so as to form a smaller space in the chamber, between the face of the retainer member and the closure panel.

12 Apparatus according to any of claims 7 to 1 1 , wherein the closure panel is pivotally mounted to upper edges of the sidewalls, and raisable such that a free edge of the closure panel is spaced from the floor of the chamber.

13. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 12, wherein the baling chamber includes a zone provided downstream of the hopper and upstream of the closure panel into which compressed material in the baling chamber can be pushed.

14. Apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 13, in which the baling chamber includes a strapping zone.

15. A method of baling compressible material, which method comprises providing baling apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 14, feeding said compressible material to the chamber via the hopper, and intermittently operating the first pressure means so as to compact the compressible material in the chamber and the second and third pressure means so as to compact the compressible material into the chamber.