Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
22~1
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
.
This inven-tion relates to apparatus for collecting and stor-
ing used metallic containers and, more particularly, machines for
collecting, crushing and storing used aluminum beverage cans in
, 5 I recycling, and for dispensing tokens in exchange for containers
i collected. This application is related to U.S. Patent A~Li-
~ 3~ ~ ~ l3 ~
~a*~o~ Serial No. ~f~Q6f~4 filod De4emb~r 2I, 1979 entitled
"Apparatus for Collec-tion of Metallic Containers and Method
I Therefor" by Bruce H. DeWoolfson, the same inventor herein.
¦ With the increasing emphasis in recent years on energy con-
servation, the recycling of metallic containers such as beverage
cans has become an important factor in the conservation effort.
More specifically, the recycling of aluminum cans has proven to
1' be remarkably efficient in energy saving. Yet only a fraction of
¦I the total annual production of aluminum beverage cans is
recovered after use, with the remainder being discarded. This
tremendous waste, to date, has been largely due to the lack of an
efficient and economically feasible unit recovery system.
Several machines have been developed in the prior art for encour- 'I
~1 aging the recovery and recycling of metallic containers. For
example, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,857,334 and 3,907,087 disclose appa-
ratus for crushing metallic containers and discharging refund
coins or tokens in exchange therefor. U.S. Patent No. Re. 27,643
describes a process and apparatus for collection of metal con-
tainers in which tokens are automatically dispensed for the con-
; tainers collected. In general, the prior ar-t machines induct any
type of inserted container, and then utilize some type of sensing
means for differentiatlng between those containers for which a
token is to be dispensed and those containers for which no
~'
:1 ~72224
payment is to be made. For example, ~ .S. Patent No.
3,857,334 includes control means for issuing a token only when
cans of a given size, weight and design are crushed in the
machine. Myers, U.S. Patent No. Re. 27,643 discloses a mechanism
;;which utilizes a plurality of bar magnets for separating cans
formed of magnetic material from non-magnetic cans.
Several of the prior art apparatus are designed to take
advantage of the force of gravity in feeding the metallic con-
ltainers into the apparatus. This type of feeding mechanism has
'an inherent drawback in that the containers must be sufficientlyclose to their original shape to roll down an inclined surface.
As a result, a large majority of containers which have been
totally or partially crushed by the user, cannot be fed into such
machines efficiently. In addition, the sensing or differ-
; entiating mechanisms of the prior art machines do not appear tobe adaptable to operation on partially or fully crushed con-
tainers of different sizes.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to
provide an improved container collection apparatus which is capa-
ble of readily accepting containers in their originally manufac-
tured shape, or containers which have been deformed by consumers.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a con-
tainer collection machine with a sensing mechanism which can
'readily detect the presence of aluminum con-tainers of varying
sizes, and can do so prior to accepting the inserted container
into the interior of the machine.
Another object of the invention is to provide an irnproved
,container collection apparatus with a mechanism for detecting the
;presence of aluminum containers which have been deformed from
their originally manufactured shape.
.
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I I ;1Z224
It is an additional object of this invention to provide an
improved method of collecting and storing empty aluminum con-
tainers and issuing a token therefor.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in part in the description which follows and in part
will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by prac-
tice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the inven-
tion may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentali-
I ties and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended
llclaims.
! SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
, To achieve the foregoing objects and in accordance with the
purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described
~herein, the apparatus of this invention comprises preselection
means for exposing a crushed or non-crushed container offered by
a customer to an electromagnetic field for identifying whether
the container is substantially aluminum, the preselection means
including a container access area configured to accommodate both
' crushed and non-crushed containers for exposure to the field
20 li means for accepting only a container identified by the preselec- ¦
tion means as being substantially aluminum, independent of the
configuration of the container; coin-dispensirlg means responsive
to the preselection means for dispensing coins in return for con-
`tainers having a substantially aluminum cornposition; means
`cooperating with the accepting means for crushing the containers,
and means Eor storing crushed containers received from the crush-
ing means.
Preferably, the preselection means includes an oscillator
and a search coil, the container being disposed adjacent the
i 172224
search coil by the means for receiving, and the oscillator
supplying an electric current to the coil. It is also preferred '~
that the preselection means include a detector coupled to the
coil and the oscillator for sensing the variation in the electri-
cal signal received from the coil.
The accepting means preferably includes conveying means for
Ireceiving the containers and depositing the containers by gravity
,!into the crushing means. The conveying means preferably includes
la rotating belt having a plurality of yenerally perpendicular
I shelves formed thereon, each of the shelves for receiving and
supporting a container.
Preferably also, the apparatus includes an exterior housing
having an access port therein, one of the shelves being posi-
Itioned adjacent the port for allowing manual insertion of a con-
tainer into the housing onto the one shelf. The apparatus mayalso include a door covering the access port and means preventing
operation of the apparatus when the door is open.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
.i .
I~ The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and
,constitute a part of the specification, illustrate one embodiment
of the invention, and, together with the description, serve ~o
i, explain the principles of the invention. I
Of the drawings: ¦
~I Fig. 1 is perspective view of the exterior of the apparatus;
25 " Fig. 2 is cutaway front view of the interior portion of the
apparatus;
Fig. 3 is a right side cutaway view of the interior of the
., , i
apparatus taken generally along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;
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~ 17222~
Fig. 4 is a block function diagram of the sensing components i
of the apparatus;
Fig. 5 is a block functional diagram of the electrical com-
ponents of the apparatus; and
I Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken generally
along tne line 6-6 in Fig. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Reference will now be made in detail to the present pre-
l~ferred embodiment, an example of which is illustrated in the
accompanying drawings. Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it maybe seen that the container collection apparatus provides a rapid
and efficient means for collecting containers for recycling. The
apparatus for collection of containers generally includes a rec-
l'tangular cabinet housing 10 having a front wall 12 which is
Ihinged to allow access to the interior of the housing 10 for
,maintenance of the operating components and for removal of thecontainers collected in the apparatus.
In accordance with the invention, the apparatus includes
Ipreselection means for exposing a crushed or non-crushed con-
l~tainer offered by a customer to an electromagnetic field for
identifying whether the container is substantially aluminum with-
out direct physical contact with the container, the preselection
means including a container access area configured to accommodate
lboth crushed and non-crushed containers for exposure to the
field. As embodied herein, the preselection means includes an
access port 14 in the front wall 12 of the housing 10. A door 15
covers the access port 14, and the door 15 may be provided with
an electronic locking mechanism (not shown) which prevents opera-
tion of the apparatus when the door 15 is unlocked. The door ]5
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L ~722~
may also include means for automatically opening the door upon
unlocking, such as a sprlng. In accordance with the invention,
the apparatus also includes means for accepting only a container
identified by the preselection means as being substantially alu-
~minum, independent of the configuration of the container.
Preferably, the accepting means also includes conveyingmeans for lifting the containers and thereafter depositing the
containers by gravity into a crushing means. The conveying means
~ preferably includes a rotating belt having a plurality of gen-
''erally perpendicular shelves formed thereon, each of the shelves
'for receiving and supporting a container. As here embodied, the
conveying means includes a belt 16 formed of a flexible material
such as rubber. The belt has a plurality of shelves 18 formed
l'thereon at spaced in~ervals, each shelf for receiving and sup-
~porting a container. The shelves 18 are preferably formed of
hard rubber or some other suitable non-conductive material. The
belt 16 is mounted within the housing to allow individual
alignment of the shelves with the access port 14. During opera-
jtion, the belt 16 rotates at evenly spaced intervals, equal to
~ the distance between two adjacent shelves 18. In the illustrated
embodiment, the belt 16 is mounted for rotation in a generally
jlright triangular configuration as shown in Fig. 6. The belt iscontrolled by a chain drive utilizing a chain 20 and three pinion
gears, 22, 24 and 26. A suitable electric motor 28 is opera-
tively connected through another chain 30 to provide power for
the advancement of chain 20. As the belt rotates, containers are
carried by the shelves upwardly from the access port 14, and -then
horizontally along the second leg of the triangular mounted belt.
The containers then drop from the belt into a crushing means,
described hereinafter.
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~ ~7222~
In accordance with the invention, preselection means are
provided for exposing the container to an electromagnetic field
for identifying a specific predetermined metallic composition of
the container without direct physical contact with the container.
Preferably the preselection means includes an oscillator and a
search coil, the container being disposed adjacent the search
coil by the means for receivins, and the oscillator supplying an
electric current to the coil. As here embodied and as best shown
l',in Fig. 4, the preselection means includes an oscillator 32 and a
~ search coil 33, the oscillator 32 supplying an electric current
to the coil 33. The coil 33 is mounted in the apparatus so that
a container inserted into the access port 14 onto one of the
shelves 18 will be initially disposed adjacent the search coil
33. As shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the coil may be mounted on the
1!
, rear of the door 15 covering the access port 14. However, other
configurations and designs may be used.
The preselection means also includes a phase detector 34
coupled to the coil 33 and the oscillator 32 for sensing the
variation in the electric signal received from the coi] 33. The
n electrical signal from the coil 33 will reflect a variation
resulting from the interaction of the electromagnetic field and
the container. The phase detector compares the signal from the
oscillator 32 with the signal from the search coil 33, and gener-
ates an output based upon the variation in those signals. The
output frorn the phase detec-tor 34 is fed to an active filter 35
which removes extraneous noise from the elec~rical signal. The
signal is then fed to a level detector 36 which detects the sig-
nal level received from the phase detector 34 through the active
filter 35. An ind:icator 37 which is shown as a two level
~. ~72~24
indicator, senses the level of signal in the level detector to
determine whether it satisfies one of two conditions. If the
container has the desired composition, the indicator will show
one condition, and if the container is unacceptable, the other
condition.
If desired, a drift compensator 38 may also be utilized to
stabilize the circuit.
In the illustrated embodiment, the preselection mechanism is
I actuated by a current from the apparatus power supply (not
llshown). When an acceptable container is determined to be pres-
ent, the current through the sensing circuit is cut off and the
conveying and dispensing means are actuated.
If a container having a composition other than desired is
linserted into the access port 14, and the sensing means are actu-
j ated, the identification circuitry will indicate that an
undesired container is present, and the apparatus will not oper-
ate further to accept the container. Thus, only containers of a
predetermined metallic composition will be received and crushed
' by the apparatus.
'I When the operation of the preselection means identifies the
composition of the container as a desired one, the rotating belt
16 is rotated upward to bring the next available shelf into
alignment with the access port 14.
'¦ In accordance with the invention, the apparatus also
includes coin dispensing means responsive to the preselection
means for dispensing coins in return for containers having a sub- ¦
stantially aluminum composition. As here embodied, the dispens-
ing means includes an interchangeable coin magazine 60 having a
plurality of coin tubes 62 mounted vertically about the
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circumference of the magazine 60. As shown in Fig. 3, a coin
chute 64 is provided to channel individual coins or tokens to be
dispensed to a slot 66 on the front facing surface 12 of the
housing lO. The dispensing means is electrically connected to
the sensing means by appropriate circuitry as generally shown in
Fig. 5, and is responsive thereto. Thus, a coin is dispensed
only in response to receipt of a container of a predetermined
metallic composition such as aluminum. If desired, a counter
l,(not shown) may be employed to calculate the refund due for mul-
Itiple containers received. A coin magazine having coin sleeves
for different sized coins may be used with the counter to allow a
single refund of correct change in return for receipt of several
,containers. With this embodiment, a push-button 91 may be used
,to signal when the refund is to be paid.
The use of the interchangeable circular coin magazine allows
for rapid servicing of the machine since a full coin magazine may
be quickly interchanged with the empty or partially filled maga-
zine in the machine.
, The coin dispensing means of the apparatus may also include
I suitable sensors (not shown) to indicate when the coin magazine
is emptied and to actuate a signal light on the front of the
apparatus.
In accordance with the invention, the apparatus also
includes means cooperating with the accepting means for crushing
the containers. As here embodied, the crushing means includes a
series of rotating crushing wheels 68 arranged within the housing
so as to receive the individual containers by gravity. A suit-
able driving mechanism 70 is operatively connected to the crush-
ing wheels 68 for rotation thereof. The driving mechanism 70
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includes a chain 71 and a series of gears 73 for controlling the
crushing wheels 68. In operation, a container present on a shelf
18 is lifted by the belt 16 and deposited by gravity into the
path of the crushing wheels 68. As shown in Fig. 6, the crushing j
wheels 68 are mounted in progressivel~ closer relation, the
lowermost wheels being intermeshed -to provide staged compression
of the container.
The apparatus also includes storage means for receiving
crushed containers from the crushing means and for storing the
l¦crushed containers. As here ernbodied, the storage means com-
prises a hopper 72 positioned in the lower portion of the housing
lO. As illustrated, the hopper is mounted on casters 74 and
includes suitable handles 76 for facilitating removal of the
jhopper from the apparatus. The hopper is accessible by opening
the hinged front wall 12 of the housing 10. Alternatively, a
separate disposal door 90 may be provided in the housing 10 for
,'removing the hopper 72.
i An additional signal light may be provided on the front of
Ithe housing 10 indicating when a received container does not have
j,the predetermined metallic composition desired. This signal
light is connected to the sensing means by appropriate circuity
(not shown) and is responsive to the sensing means.
The sequence of operation of the apparatus of the present
'invention is initiated when an operator lifts the door 15 on the
front of the housing 10, and inserts a container onto the shelf
; 18 opposite the access port 14. The operator -then closes -the
~door 15 and pushes manual pushbutton 80 on the front wall 12 of
-the housing 10. Preferably, appropriate electrical circuitry and
sensors (Fig. 5) are provided to verify at this point in the
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~ 1~222~-1
operation of the apparatus that the door 15 is closed. This same
circuitry may be utilized to activate an optional signal light 81
on the front wall 12 of the apparatus to indicate that the door
15 is not fully closed. Activation of the manual push-button
also energizes a solenoid (not shown) which operates a mechanism
for bolting the door 15 securely.
I When the door 15 is securely bolted, an appropriate electri-
'I cal switch (Fig. 5) is closed causing the sensing mechanism to be
llenergized. The sensing mechanism then activates causing the con-
lltainer to be exposed to an electromagnetic field from the search
coil 33 to determine if the composition of the container is a
desired material. If the container is determined to have an
undesirable composition the current to the sensing circuit cuts
,,off, a signal light 83 is activated on the front wall 12 of the
japparatus to indicate that the container is not of the desired
composition, and the door 15 is automatically opened. The above
sequence of operation will also take place if the manual push-
button 80 is activated with no container present on the shelf.
Optionally, appropriate sensing devices may be used in place of
lthe manual push-button 80 to indicate the presence of a container
on the shelf 18. In this configuration, the electromagnetic
sensing means is energized automatically upon closing of the
safety door 15.
l If the indicator 37 shows that the composition of the con-
tainer is of the desired type, the motor 28 is started to rotate
the belt 16 a sufficient distance to bring the next available
shelf 18 into alignment with the access port 14. Simul-taneollsly,
a motor 84 is energized causing the driving mechanism 70 to
rotate the crushing wheels 68. Thus, a container which has been
i 17222~
lifted by the belt 18 and carried to a position adjacent pinion
26 will fall by gravity into the path of the crushing wheels 68.
The coin dispensing mechanism is also activate~ in response
to an indication from the preselection means of the presence of a
~ desired container. As the belt 16 rotates to lift the inserted
container out of the path of the access port 14, the coin dis-
penser ejects a coin through the coin chute 64 to the slot 66.
The coin dispenser may also be provided with circuitry to acti-
lvate a signal light (not shown) on the front of the apparatus for
,indicating that the apparatus is full, or that no further coinsare available for dispensing.
After ejection of the coin and operation of the crushing
wheels for a predetermined period of time sufficient to compress
~the container, the crushed container falls by gravity into the
hopper 72, and the cycle of the apparatus is complete. The auto-
ma-tic lock on the safety dooer 15 is then electrically released
" and the machine is ready to receive another container.
The apparatus is designed to operate on standard power sup-
ply and is preferably contained within an upright housing which
,is visually comparable in size to a soft drink dispensing
machine.
The block functional diagram in Fig. 5 depicts one embodi-
ment of a circuit for use ln the apparatus of this invention.
The sequence is initiated by the star block 92 which corresponds
to activation of the push-button 80. A door open-closed sensor
94 then checks the status of the door 15. If the door is open, a
door-open light 96 is activated. If the door is closed, the door
lock 98 is energized and a door locked sensor 100 initiates the
current flow to the detector circuit (block 102). If the
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detector indicator 10~ indicates that a container has the
predetermined composition desired, the timer 114, crusher 116,
token dispenser 118 and conveyer 120 are all activated. When the
timer 114 deactivates, the door 15 is automatically unlocked
(122) and the start sequence is reset.
If an undesired composition is detected by the detector
lndicator 104, a bad can light is then activated as shown at
block 124.
~1 It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
llother electrical circuitry could be used without departing from
the scope and spirit of the invention.
I The apparatus may be provided with separate access ports to
accommodate different sized containers or containers or different
I composition. In addition, the structure of the apparatus may be
modified to allow reception of containers of different composi-
tions, with a different token response for each container. In
~addition, modifications to crush and store the different con-
tainers in segregated storage locations could be made by those
skilled in the art.
In addition to the apparatus described in detail above, the
invention also comprises a method of collecting and storing empty
aluminum containers and issuing payment for containers collected.
I'he method of the present invention comprises the steps of expos-
lling a crushed or non-crushed container offered by a customer -to
an electromagnetic field for identifying whether the container is
substantially aluminum without establishing direct electrical
contact with the container, accepting only a container identified
by exposure to the field as being substantially aluminurn, inde- ~
pendent of the configuration of the container, dispensing payment
~ ~222~
for containers accepted, crushing the containers, and depositing
the crushed containers in a receptacle for storage. The method
may be accomplished through the use of the apparatus described
above, or through any other suitable apparatus which utilizes the
disclosed steps.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
other modifications and variations could be made in the structure
, or method of the invention without depar-ting from the scope and
spirit of the invention.
.,
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