Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20100126914A1/en
Timestamp: 2018-03-22 01:07:53
Document Index: 146421840

Matched Legal Cases: ['§119', '§120', '§119', 'Application No. 60', '§119', 'Application No. 60']

US20100126914A1 - Plastic Separation Module - Google Patents
Plastic Separation Module Download PDF
US20100126914A1
US20100126914A1 US12619269 US61926909A US2010126914A1 US 20100126914 A1 US20100126914 A1 US 20100126914A1 US 12619269 US12619269 US 12619269 US 61926909 A US61926909 A US 61926909A US 2010126914 A1 US2010126914 A1 US 2010126914A1
US12619269
This non-provisional patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/586,309, entitled “Dissimilar Materials Sorting Process, System and Apparata,” filed on Oct. 24, 2006, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/777,868, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sporting,” filed on Mar. 1, 2006, and 60/729,966, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sorting Dissimilar Materials,” filed on Oct. 24, 2005, as well as priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to: (a) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/255,850, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sorting Metal,” filed on Oct. 21, 2005, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/621,125, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sorting Metal Pieces,” filed on Oct. 21, 2004; and (b) U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/584,196, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sorting Contaminated Glass,” filed on Oct. 20, 2006, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/728,581, entitled “Method and Apparatus for Sorting Contaminated Glass,” filed on Oct. 20, 2005. Each of the foregoing priority and related applications is hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.
Alternatively, as indicated at step 140, if the majority fraction is plastics, then materials having a dielectric constant above a predetermined threshold are separated out and diverted for further processing, as shown at step 145. These materials include different forms of wood, rubber, foam and so on. In one embodiment, the threshold for a high dielectric constant may be on the order of 3.4. It will be appreciated that, at this point, the remaining materials are only those which have are non-magnetic, suitably dense, and having a dielectric constant below a specified threshold (or, for analog sensors, a specified range), plus a very small amount of other waste. The vast majority of this concentrate typically comprises recyclable polymers, i.e., plastics, having a relatively high value in the recycling market such as polystyrene and ABS, plus other less dense plastics.
As noted previously, in some embodiments the textured surface of the friction separator conveyor belt 410 can include a pattern of circular protrusions or bumps 415 that provide friction. The protrusions can be on the order of about 1 mm high and ½ mm in diameter. The space between adjacent protrusions can be on the order of about ¼ mm. The rollback separator conveyor belt 410 can be fabricated of any suitably durable material which provides friction sufficient to grip the flat mixed pieces, and for example may be made of a variety of synthetic rubber materials. The angle and speed of the assist friction conveyor belt 255 are adjustable so that the separation of materials can be fine-tuned to reduce errors in the subsequent modules including the dielectric sensor sortation module (i.e., round materials with low surface areas, such as rocks, if not consistently deflected by compressed air jets, and wet materials, such as foam, may give false dielectric readings). Similarly, the conveyor belt 410 can also be replaced with various belt materials and texture surface patterns so that the friction coefficient of the belt can be adjusted. More objects will tend to be passed through the rollback separator 220 if the angle of the belt is low, the speed is slow and the friction coefficient of the belt is high. Conversely, a high angle, fast speed and smoother belt will pass fewer pieces but may cause of loss of some of the desirable materials. If desired, an air knife 250 can also be added near the top of the belt 410 to assist in initiating the rolling off of the undesired materials. It will be appreciated that the rollback separator module is typically supported on a frame and legs similar to those shown for the magnetic separator 215. These elements are not shown in this instance for the sake of clarity.
In order to accurately detect the pieces of the selected material mixed in with other materials, the detectors must be placed in close proximity to determine the material of the piece being inspected. This can be done by distributing the mixed pieces on a surface in a manner that the pieces are not stacked on top of each other and ensuring that there is some space between the pieces. The batch of mixed materials can be moved under one or more detectors or alternatively the pieces can' be moved over the detector(s). The detection is based upon the size and material of the wood and rubber.
Another means for avoiding cross talk is by using sensors having different operating frequencies. Cross talk typically occurs only between sensors operating at the same frequency. With reference to FIG. 6C, by placing sensors operating at different frequencies next to each other in the one dimensional array there is greater separation of same frequency sensors, while at the same time permitting the sensors to be spaced more closely, if desired for a particular implementation. If two different frequency sensors are used, an f1 detector 640 having a first frequency can be placed next to an f2 detector 645 having a second frequency. These detectors 640 and 645 can be arranged in an alternating pattern, either in straight or staggered rows. Further, if sensors of third, fourth, etc., frequencies are used, additional separation can be provided.
It is also possible to further sort the materials which were diverted because they had a higher dielectric constant than was desired in the low pass sorting module 225, as briefly described in connection with FIG. 2C. With reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, these additional sorting steps may be better appreciated. In such an arrangement, the high dielectric materials that were separated by the lowpass dielectric sorting module 225 can be transported by a conveyor belt 540 to a shaker feeder 810 that is similar to the shaker feeder 260. The lower volume of high dielectric materials are fed by a conveyor belt which, in at least some arrangements, is permitted to travel at a slower speed than the original feed belt 310 and are the sorted by an bandwidth sensor module 240. In at least some implementations, the bandwidth sensor module uses inductive sensors, the characteristics of which are discussed in greater detail hereinafter. The high dielectric materials pass by a high frequency inductive proximity sensors array 810 that separate metal pieces from the non-metal pieces. When the metal pieces are detected, a signal is sent to an array of air jets 193 deflect the metal pieces into a segregated area 195 by the use of software which maps and tracks the location of the items on the belt.
1. A plastic separation module, comprising:
a specific gravity separation module comprising a tank, the specific gravity separation module separating materials introduced into the tank according to a predetermined specific gravity;
a first mechanism that removes floating materials from a surface of the specific gravity separation module; and
a second mechanism that removes sunken materials from a bottom of the specific gravity separation module.
2. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the first mechanism comprises at least one paddle wheel.
3. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the first mechanism comprises a conveyor having paddles thereon.
4. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the first mechanism comprises a water jet.
5. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the second mechanism comprises a drag chain.
6. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the second mechanism comprises a submerged conveyor.
7. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the second mechanism comprises a screw drive.
8. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the specific gravity separation module comprises a float/sink tank.
9. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the specific gravity separation module comprises a heavy media system.
10. The plastic separation module of claim 1, wherein the specific gravity separation module comprises a sand float system.
11. The plastic separation module of claim 1, further comprising at least another specific gravity separation module, the specific gravity separation modules containing media of a different specific gravity.
US12619269 2005-10-24 2009-11-16 Plastic Separation Module Abandoned US20100126914A1 (en)
US20100126914A1 true true US20100126914A1 (en) 2010-05-27
US20130274914A1 (en) * 2011-01-28 2013-10-17 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Method and device for sorting plastic, and method for manufacturing recyclable plastic
GB1246844A (en) * 1968-11-12 1971-09-22 Sphere Invest Ltd A new or improved method of and apparatus for sorting ores
US8965565B2 (en) * 2011-01-28 2015-02-24 Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Method and device for sorting plastic, and method for manufacturing recyclable plastic