Abstract:
A bottle crushing system for breaking apart bottles into fragments includes an enclosure having an upper component containing region and a lower glass receptacle region separated from one another by a support panel. A crushing assembly includes a drive and a rotating crusher element operably connected thereto. The drive is disposed above the support panel, within the upper component containing region and the rotating crusher element is disposed below the support panel within the lower glass receptacle region. A chute assembly has an entrance opening in the enclosure for introducing bottles to the crushing system and traverses through an opening in the support panel. The chute system has a discharge at the crusher element that is positioned immediately above the rotational path of the crusher element. The chute system includes a pair of baffle element sets. An upper baffle element set is disposed immediately inside of the entrance opening and includes first and second flexible membranes having slits formed therein so as to define at least six flexible panels in the membrane. The sits are offset from one another. A lower baffle element set is disposed intermediate the entrance opening and the discharge and has slits formed therein so as to define at least six flexible panels in the membrane.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention pertains to the crushing and compaction of glass bottles for disposal. More particularly, the present invention pertains to the on-site crushing of glass for volume reduction, compaction and subsequent disposal and/or recycling. 
   In many food service establishments, for example, restaurants and lounges, the storage of empty glass containers such as soft drink bottles, beer bottles, wine bottles and the like, poses problems due to limited storage space and accidental breaking which can result in hazardous conditions. Moreover, regardless of how they are disposed of, bottles require storage space prior to being carted away to a disposal or recycling facility. That is, the bottles must be stored until transportation for recycling or disposal can be arranged. 
   As a result, valuable floor space is often wasted on storing empty bottles in crates or other containers until the bottles can be delivered to or picked up by a disposal or recycling facility. The use of storage space can become an acute problem in bars and restaurants where large numbers of empty glass bottles can result from even one evening&#39;s operation. 
   Even at establishments that do not recycle (that is where bottles are disposed of as trash) storage is a concern because of the time and effort required in handling and transporting the bottles. In a bar, for example, trash bins located behind the bar tend to fill quickly since each empty bottle takes up a considerable volume in the bin. As a result, bottle or trash bins must be manually carried (and generally frequently) to a dumpster that may be located outside of the building. In addition, the bottle bins (behind the bar) can take up valuable space and can interfere with the efficient movement of the bartender or waiter. 
   In an effort to address this problem, devices are known that pulverize glass bottles and contain the pulverized glass. Such devices use a pulverizing blade located within a somewhat isolated chamber to reduce the glass volume by breaking the bottles into small pieces of glass. However, such devices produce glass shards and/or glass dust, and often cannot adequately contain the pulverized glass. It has been found that in such known system, glass shards and “dust” tend to escape into the surrounding areas and the glass that is pulverized often is not in sufficiently small fragments to permit readily handling the glass material. 
   Accordingly, there is a need for a bottle crushing system. Desirably, such a system is self-contained within a relatively small package or unit. More desirably, such a system crushes the glass within an isolated chamber such that glass shards are retained within the chamber. Most desirably, such a system eliminates regions, such as in brushes or the like, in which contamination can collect resulting in bacterial growth. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   A bottle crushing system is configured for breaking apart bottles into fragments. An enclosure has an upper component containing region and a lower glass receptacle region. The upper and lower regions are separated from one another by a support panel. 
   A crushing assembly includes a drive and a rotating crusher element. The drive is disposed above the support panel, within the upper component containing region and the rotating crusher element is disposed below the support panel within the lower glass receptacle region. The crusher element rotates to define a rotational path. 
   A chute assembly has an entrance opening in the enclosure top for introducing bottles to the crushing system. The chute traverses through an opening in the support panel and has a discharge at the crusher element. The discharge is positioned immediately above the rotational path of the crusher element. The chute system includes a pair of baffle element sets. An upper baffle element set is disposed immediately inside of the entrance opening and includes first and second flexible membranes having slits formed therein so as to define at least six, and preferably eight flexible panels in the membrane. A lower baffle element set also includes first and second flexible membranes having slits formed therein so as to define at least six, and preferably eight flexible panels in the membrane. The membranes of each set are angularly offset from one another. The upper and lower baffle element sets are spaced from one another along the chute assembly. 
   A funneling chamber is disposed below and mounted to the support panel. The funneling chamber has a generally circular, inwardly tapering wall extending downwardly, away from the support panel, and defines a crushed glass discharge opening. Glass bottles are introduced into the chute assembly and are urged through the upper and lower baffle element sets into the crushing assembly. The bottles are crushed by the rotating crusher element and are directed by the funneling chamber into a receptacle positioned in the receptacle region. The crusher element is sized so that the distance between the ends of the element and the funnel wall is less than about ½ inch an so that the distance between the end of the chute and the element is about 30/1000 inch (30 mils). 
   Preferably, the funneling chamber wall is formed at an angle of about 45 degrees to the vertical. To further enhance the retention of the crushed glass within the receptacle region, a flexible sealing membrane is positioned around the outside of the funneling chamber. 
   The flexible panels in the upper and lower baffle element sets are formed by four equally radially spaced slits (to form the eight panels, each). In a present embodiment, the membranes of each set have different thicknesses from one another. The panels of each set are angularly offset from one another. 
   The lower baffle element set can be configured between plates each plate having a sleeve extending from a side thereof opposite of the membranes. In this manner, the sleeves can have differing diameters so that the chute assembly portions fit together in only one orientation. 
   Alternately, the system can be configured having the chute entrance opening is in a side of the enclosure and the chute assembly is formed at an angle to the vertical. In this embodiment, the upper baffle element set is formed oriented parallel to the side of the enclosure and the lower baffle element set is formed generally perpendicular to (i.e., across) the chute assembly. The side entrance configuration can include a spring biased gate. 
   These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The benefits and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a front view of one embodiment of a bottle crushing system in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the system being shown with a portion of the side wall removed; 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of the system shown with a part of the top wall removed; 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of a baffle element set of the system; 
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the baffle element set of  FIG. 3  illustrated with the plate and sleeve support assembly; and 
       FIG. 5  is a front view of an alternate embodiment of the bottle crusher system. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described a presently preferred embodiment with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiment, size or shape illustrated. 
   It should be further understood that the title of this section of this specification, namely, “Detailed Description Of The Invention”, relates to a requirement of the United States Patent Office, and does not imply, nor should be inferred to limit the subject matter disclosed herein. 
   Referring now to the figures and in particular to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a bottle crushing system  10  embodying the principles of the present invention. The crushing system  10  is provided as a compact, self-contained unit within a closed housing or enclosure  12  having, generally, a body  14  and a top  16 . In a present embodiment, the top  16  is affixed to the enclosure body  14  by a fastener  18 , such as a bolt to prevent arbitrarily removing the top  16 , while permitting ready access for system maintenance. A separating or support panel  20  is disposed within the enclosure  12  to separate the enclosure into an upper mechanical equipment containing region  22  and a lower crushed glass receptacle region  24 . The fastener  18  is configured such that it can be loosened (from inside of the cabinet receptacle region  24 ) with the fastener  18  remaining in place, so that the top  16  can be removed. 
   An access door  26  is positioned on the body  14  for access to the receptacle region  24 . The access door  26  is preferably hingedly mounted to the body  14  and a safety switch  28  is positioned in the body  24  to isolate power to the system  10  when the door  26  is opened. The safety switch  28  thus requires that the door  26  is closed in order to operate the crusher system  10 . 
   The enclosure top  16  includes a circular opening  30  for inserting bottles. As will be described in more detail below, the opening  30  defines the top of a chute assembly, illustrated generally at  32  (formed from a plurality of elements), that includes a novel baffle system  34  having plural diaphragms or membranes  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  extending across the chute assembly  32  at various, predetermined locations. The opening  30  is sized to accommodate bottles such as beer bottles, soda pop bottles, wine bottles and the like. 
   The front view of the system  10  shown in  FIG. 1  best illustrates the enclosure  12 , separating panel  20  and mechanical components, including a crushing assembly  44 . The crushing assembly  44  includes a drive  46 , such as the illustrated electric motor drive, that drives a crushing element  48 . In a present embodiment, the crushing element  48  is a rotating bar. The crushing assembly  44  further includes a cowl  50  that forms or defines a funneling chamber  52  located on a bottom or lower surface  54  of the support panel  20 . The cowl  50  that defines the funneling chamber  52  is a funnel-shaped element that narrows, relatively steeply, to form a restricted bottom opening  56 . The funnel shape facilitates crushing of the glass and, it is believed, maintains the glass in intimate contact with the rotating bar  48  to crush the glass into sufficiently small pieces such that the glass does not pose a significant personnel risk. The bar  48  is positioned immediately below the chute opening  58 , within the funneling chamber  52  to contact the glass it exits the chute assembly  32 . 
   In a present embodiment, a drive shaft  60  is operably mounted to the crushing element  48  and the drive (motor)  46  is operably mounted to the shaft  60  by a belt drive  62 . A drive pulley  64  is mounted to the motor  46  and a driven pulley  66  is mounted to the shaft  60  for driving the shaft  60  and bar  48 . A pair of bearings  68  maintains the shaft  60  radially and longitudinally fixed. Preferably, the motor  46  is mounted so that tension in the belt  70  can be adjusted, such as by an arrangement (not shown) having bolts and a mounting plate with notched openings to permit moving the motor  46  toward and away from the shaft pulley  66 . 
   Referring to FIGS.  1  and  3 – 4 , the chute assembly  32  includes a series of sleeves  72  and plates  74  in which two circular sleeves  72   a,b  and plates  74   a,b  are mated to one another (at the plates  74 ) with multiple flexible elements  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  (rubber baffle elements) fixed between the plates  74   a,b . In this manner, the baffle elements  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  are fixed between the plates  74   a,b  with circular sleeves  72   a,b  on either side. The sleeves  72   a,b  are configured having differing diameters d 72a , d 72b  so that the sleeves  72   a,b  will fit together and fit within the crushing system  10  in only one configuration and orientation. 
   In a present chute assembly  32 , two sets of baffle (flexible) elements  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  are present to isolate the glass receptacle region  24  (and thus the crushing region within the funneling chamber  52 ) from the environs. An upper set of baffle elements  36 ,  38  is formed from two flexible elements, an upper, thinner element or membrane  36  (about 1/16 inch thick) and a lower, thicker element or membrane  38  (about 3/16 inch thick). The lower set of baffle elements  40 ,  42  is also formed from a pair of membranes: an upper, thinner element or membrane  40  (about 3/32 inch thick) and a lower, thicker element or membrane  42  (about 3/16 inch thick). Although the chute  32  has a constant inside diameter (about 6 inches), the outside diameter of an upper chute portion  32   a  is smaller than an outside diameter of a lower chute portion  32   b  to facilitate system  10  maintenance. It should also be noted that the element sets  36 / 38  and  40 / 42  are located along the chute  32  so as to readily permit inserting bottles into the chute  32  while maintaining isolation to prevent the escape of glass fragments. In a present system, the upper elements  36 / 38  are located just under the top  16  and the lower elements  40 / 42  are located about 3 inches to about 5 inches from the upper elements  36 / 38 . 
   The elements  36 – 42  each have four slits  76 ,  77  formed therein to define eight pie-shaped panels  78 ,  79 , which provide a self-closing aperture (when the panels  78 ,  79  are separated or urged open) through which bottles are inserted. The panels  78 ,  79  flex open to accept bottles and are sufficiently resilient to close following passage of the bottles. The membrane  36 – 42  material is also sufficiently rigid that it returns to its original shape or orientation. In a present crushing system  10 , the membranes (elements)  36 – 42  are formed from Buna-N, however, it is anticipated that other suitable materials, such as common rubber can also be used. Preferably, the membrane material is of a non-degrading, fungus resistant material. 
   It will be appreciated that the slits  76  define panels  78  in the upper membranes  36  and  40 ; likewise, slits  77  defines panels  79  in the lower membranes  38  and  42 . The slits  76  and  77  of each set are offset from one another so that the panels  78  and  79  of each set are offset from one another. In  FIG. 3  the slits  76  and panels  78  in the upper membrane  36  are shown in solid lines whereas the slits  77  and panels  79  of the lower membrane  38  are shown in phantom lines to provide a perspective of the arrangement. Viewed another way, the panels  78  in membrane  36  overlie the slits  77  in membrane  38 . This same arrangement is present in the lower membranes  40  and  42 . In this manner, the slits  76  of each of the upper membranes  36 ,  40  are offset from the slits  77  of the respective lower membranes  38 ,  42  by and angle δ of about 22.5 degrees. It has been found that the thicker lower membranes  38 ,  42 , in conjunction with the offset slits  76 ,  77  results in substantially no glass shards or glass “dust” escaping from the receptacle region  24  and funneling chamber  52 . 
   Optionally, an elastic element  80  can be affixed to the membranes  36 – 42 , around the periphery of the panels  78 ,  79  (just inside of the far ends of the slits  76 ,  77 ), to assist return of the panels  78 ,  79  to the closed position. 
   In order to facilitate maintaining isolation of the receptacle region  24  and funneling chamber  52  from the environs, each set of baffle elements  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  independently seals about a bottle (if a bottle is inserted into the element) or about itself (if no bottle is present in the element). It has been found that the sets of elements  36 ,  38  and  40 ,  42  provide adequate isolation to prevent the escape of glass shards and/or dust. 
   Also to enhance isolation of the receptacle region  24  and funneling chamber  52  from the environs (and from the upper mechanical component region  22 ), the cowl  50  forming the funneling region  52  has a rubber boot or skirt  82  positioned around the outside thereof. In addition to preventing egress of glass fragments (shards and “dust”), the rubber boot  82  also serves as a sound attenuator to reduce the noise produced by the operating crushing system  10 . The boot  82  can also extend beyond the end of the cowl  50  so as to better direct the crushed glass into the glass receptacle R. 
   The system  10  includes a power (on-off) switch  84 , preferably a light-indicating switch located on the housing  12 . One or more cooling fans  86  are located in the housing  12  (in the mechanical component containing region  22 ) to prevent the motor  46  and bearings  68  from overheating during operation. 
   The glass is crushed to a desired size that is determined by the speed at which the crushing element  48  rotates, the diameter and configuration of the funnel chamber  52  and by the gap G between the bar  48  and the end discharge end  58  of the chute assembly  32 . To this end, the closer the tolerance (e.g., the smaller the gap T) between the tips of the bar  48  and the interior surface of the funnel chamber  52 , the smaller the size of the glass fragments. Likewise, the faster the rotational speed of the element  48 , the smaller the size of the glass fragments. And, the smaller the gap G between the discharge end  58  of the chute  32  and the bar  48 , the smaller the fragments. In a present system, the distance T between the ends of the bar  48  and the inner wall of the funnel chamber  52  is about no more than ½ inch. Also in a present system, the funnel  52  has an upper opening  90  diameter d 90  of about 17 inches, a lower discharge opening  56  diameter d 56  of about 9 inches, and is formed with the side walls having angle α of about 45° (and having a length of just over 5 inches). The gap G between the discharge end  58  of the chute assembly  32  and the bar  48  is about 0.030 inches (about 30 mils). To maintain the smallest practicable distance between the ends of the bar  48  and the wall of the funnel  52 , the bar has a length of no less than about 16 inches. 
   To permit ready maintenance of the bar  48  and the funnel  52 , the funnel is held in place by a flange-like collar portion having four corner blocks  84  that essentially form a flange that fits over the funnel. The blocks  84  (forming the flange) are held in place by fasteners  85  that are accessible from the receptacle region  24 . In this manner, the fasteners  85  can be removed and the funnel  52  readily removed (from below) for access to the bar  48 . 
   An alternate embodiment of the crushing system  110  is illustrated in  FIG. 5 . In this embodiment, the entrance opening  130  is located on a side  131  of the housing  112 , rather than the top  116  of the unit  110 . The funnel  152  and receptacle  124  regions are similar to those of the embodiment  10  of  FIGS. 1–4 . However, to accommodate the side bottle entrance  130 , the chute assembly  132  is formed at an angle β to the vertical. In this embodiment of the system  110  one set of baffle elements (a lower set  140 ,  142 ) is oriented perpendicular to the longitudinal axis a 132  of the chute  132  and an upper baffle element set  136 ,  138  is disposed at the entrance  130  to the chute  132  on the side  131  of the enclosure  112  at an angle γ to the chute axis a 132 . In addition, one or more biased or spring-actuated barriers  143  (e.g., doors) can be positioned (in addition to the baffle element sets  136 – 142 ) within the chute assembly  132  to further enhance crushing assembly  144  isolation. In such a side entrance system  110 , the top  116  of the enclosure  112  can then be used for storage, additional counter-top space or the like. 
   The enclosures  12 ,  112  are sized to accommodate a five gallon garbage pail R, but can be configured in a wide variety of sizes and configurations. It will, however, be appreciated that practical considerations govern, and that the weight of the glass in the pail R will limit the quantity of bottles that can be crushed. Otherwise, the weight of the pail R and glass will be too great for easy (manual) handling. 
   All patents referred to herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, whether or not specifically do so within the text of this disclosure. 
   In the present disclosure, the words “a” or “an” are to be taken to include both the singular and the plural. Conversely, any reference to plural items shall, where appropriate, include the singular. 
   From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.