Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Disk feeder for feeding used objects
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for feeding
objects, such as
used beverage containers (in the following referred to as "UCBs"), to a
recording
and/or sorting unit, which apparatus can comprise receiving means and a
feeding con-
veyor, which objects are supplied on the receiving means and forwarded one by
one
with a predetennined orientation to the feeding conveyor.
Background of the Invention
Breweries, bottleries and manufacturers of mineral water, soft drinks and the
like fre-
quently use non refillable bottles made of plastic, glass or metal cans that
are part of a
deposit / return system, e.g. the PET-cycle system in Germany (PET is short
for poly-
ethylene terephthalate and PET is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the
polyester fam-
ily). Each UBC represents a deposit fee that has an effect on manufacturers,
distribu-
tors and consumers motivating the consumers to return the UCBs in the shops,
where
the returned UCBs either are counted and registered in RVM's (Reverse Vending
Ma-
chines), or manually accepted by the cashier whereby the consumer gets the
deposit
fee back. In either case the UCBs are transported to central counting centres,
where the
UCBs are counted and registered once again and sorted into the different
material frac-
tions e.g. PET, glass, aluminium and steel. Based upon the counting and
registration at
the counting centre, the distributors are invoiced for the deposit fee, which
amount is
collected by the shops. After counting and registration the UCBs can be
processed in
e.g. compactors, shredders etc. and the residual products are sent to
recycling. Used
beverage containers may also be referred to as "empties".
A system for processing of packages, such as recyclable UCBs, is known from WO
2006/125436 Al. In this system, UCBs are recorded, counted and sorted in a
counting
and sorting machine. Large numbers of UCBs can be handled per time unit. Due
to the
high capacity of this system, it may be referred to as a high speed counting
and sorting
machine. In this system the UCBs are supplied in a receiving container and
picked up
and advanced on conveyors by means of carriers on said conveyors, said
carriers
thereby applying a force to the packages. The packages are subsequently fed
singly to
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a recording unit at a high speed. Some of the returned UCBs are possibly glass
bottles,
and if the share of glass bottles in the returned packages is too large, the
feeding unit is
unable to provide a sufficient number of packages to the recording unit to
utilize the
maximum capacity of this known system due to the fragility of the glass
bottles.
A feeding system for bottles is known from DE 32 02 991. In this system,
upright bot-
tles are transferred from laterally adjacent rows on a feed conveyor into a
single row of
bottles on a downstream conveyor. The bottles align in a single row due to
passing a
number of conveyors with increasing speed. No external forces are applied to
the bot-
tles; they move across the conveyors solely due to gravity. However, the
system ap-
plies to upright bottles identical in shape and would be unsuitable for e.g.
bottles of
different shapes in a horizontal position.
For feeding bottles or cans to the recording unit in a reverse vending system,
the bot-
tles must be fed singly and orientated correctly. If the high capacity system
described
in WO 2006/125436 Al is not suitable for this, the alternative is to arrange
that UCBs
are supplied to a receiving table and orientated manually and placed on a
conveyor.
This is not considered a cost-effective solution just as this solution is
limited in capac-
ity both in the amount of recyclable UCBs which can be handled at the time and
the
speed at which the UCBs can be processed. Moreover, a manual solution for
feeding
the UCBs to the recording and sorting units involves a labour intensive and
monotone
working operation.
An automated feeding system based on one or more rotating disks was disclosed
in
PCT/DK2009/050084 which was published after the priority date of the present
inven-
tion. In PCT/DK2009/050084 it was disclosed that conveyor belt could be
provided to
forward objects between the disks to increase the load capacity of the feeding
appara-
tus. However, as such conveyor belts can be quite costly it is an object of
the present
invention to provide a high capacity automated feeding system which is still
simple in
functionality but more cost-effective in production and in use.
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Object of the Invention
It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated feeding
system which
has a high capacity and has a high speed.
It is further the object of the pending application to achieve an effective
receiving sys-
tem and method for receiving large quantities of bottles and/or cans and to
deliver the
received bottles and/or cans in line at a belt for transport of bottles and/or
cans into a
counting and sorting unit.
Description of the Invention
This is achieved by an apparatus for feeding objects, such as used beverage
containers,
to a recording and/or sorting unit, comprising receiving means and at least
one feeding
conveyor, wherein the objects are supplied on the receiving means and
forwarded one
by one with a predetermined orientation to the at least one feeding conveyor,
where
the receiving means comprises at least one receiving surface comprising, a
peripheral
barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one
receiving
surface wherein the peripheral barrier at least in one section forms an arc, a
conveyor
system for moving the objects along the are, and the at least one feeding
conveyor at
the receiving surface.
By using the above mentioned apparatus is it possible to feed objects such as
UCBs to
a recording and/or sorting unit in a fast and reliable manner. One of the
advantages is
that the apparatus can be dimensioned in such a way that it can take a large
number of
UCBs and forward them to a recording and/or sorting unit at a very high speed.
An example of a receiving surface is a table, meaning that the conveyor system
could
be arranged in such a way as to form a table.
In an embodiment of the present invention the conveyor system comprises a
curved
conveyor. The UCBs are normally equipped with machine readable code such as a
barcode this code could either be written directly on the UCBs or on a sticker
or label
on the UCBs. This code could get worn; this is especially the case when the
UCBs are
moved from one moving surface to another moving surface and especially if the
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moving direction of one surface is different from moving direction of the
next. By use
of a curved conveyor it is possible to secure that when the UCBs moves from
one
conveyor to another the difference between moving direction is minimised thus
preventing the wear of the code. If the code gets worn it could lead to the
point where
a machine is unable to read the code. This is undesirable because it would
lead to
manual sorting and/or recording of the UCBs which slows the process
considerably.
Preferably the curved conveyor substantially follows the arc forined by the
peripheral
barrier in the at least one section that forms an are. One of the advantages
of this is
that it also minimises the wear of the machine readable code. It is further
advantageously if the are is a circular arc.
In an embodiment the predetermined orientation is substantially in the
longitudinal
direction of the objects. If the containers are UCBs then this means that the
UCBs are
oriented with either bottom or top first.
The circular are of the curvature could be between 30 and 270 , preferably
150 to
210 . This gives the UCBs a sufficiently large centrifugal force and aligns
the UCBs
along the peripheral barrier so that the feeding conveyor is supplied with
containers
from the receiving surface in a continuously and swift manner.
If the receiving surface has a second section that is straight it could be
advantageous if
that second section has a peripheral barrier. Thus the barrier secures that
the objects
such as UCBs are held within the receiving surface. The conveyor system could
move
the objects straight along the second section. Another advantage is that the
receiving
table can contain a larger number of UCBs.
Preferably the peripheral barrier comprises a peripheral conveyor; such a
conveyor can
be used to aid in forwarding the containers to the feeding conveyor.
In an embodiment the conveyor system comprises a roller conveyor and/or a belt
conveyor and/or a wire mesh conveyor. By using different kinds of conveyor
types it is
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possible to secure that the most advantageously conveyor system is made in
relation to
the properties of the containers.
The peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said
at least one
5 receiving surface could leave the periphery open where the substantially
tangential
feeding conveyor is arranged at the side of the rotating disk or beside a
conveyor belt
moving between rotating disks. Such an opening can be used to let the
containers
through to the feeding conveyor.
At least part of the feeding conveyor could be inclined in relation to the
receiving
surface, among other things this enables the use of the gravitation force to
help
moving the containers.
Preferably the peripheral barrier in the section that forms an arc comprises a
first part
substantially perpendicular to the receiving surface. The barrier could be
inclined as a
way to secure that the containers stay on the receiving surface. If it is
inclined with a
small angle between the barrier and the surface the containers have difficulty
in
moving along the arc of the barrier on the other hand if the angle is large
then the
containers could accidentally leave the surface. Therefore a substantially
perpendicular
barrier could be used to secure that the containers do not accidentally leave
the
receiving surface nor that it hinders the containers in following the
conveyors.
The peripheral barrier could in the section that forms an are comprise a
second part
inclined in relation to the first part. The second part can be used as an
extra security
against containers accidentally leaving the receiving surface. If the barrier
has a first
part that is perpendicular to the receiving surface and on top of that a part
that has an
inclination, preferably inwards over the receiving surface then it secures
that the
containers do not accidentally leave the apparatus. This is especially
advantageously
when several UCBs are placed on the receiving surface, as they hit each other
and the
barrier. Resulting in that they at least to some extent get thrown up in the
air.
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In an embodiment the feeding conveyor is provided substantially tangential
relative to
the arc. In this embodiment one can use the centrifugal force to forward the
objects
such as UCBs to the feeding conveyor.
The invention could also be a part of a sorting unit. The sorting unit would
then
comprise an apparatus for feeding objects as described above.
The invention could also be described as a method of feeding objects, such as
used
beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, by supplying the
objects on
receiving means and forwarding the objects one by one with a predetermined
orientation to at least one feeding conveyor, characterised in that once
supplied on the
receiving means, the objects are moved in an are by a conveyor system and
thereby
aligned along a barrier circumscribing at least a portion of the arc so that
the objects
are aligned and forwarded to a feeding conveyor. Advantageously the method
comprises a feeding conveyor which is arranged beside the rotating disc or
beside a
conveyor belt connecting the rotating disks. Instead of placing the feeding
conveyor
belt beside the disk, the feeding conveyor belt is placed parallel to the
sorting board,
which sorting board can be inclined to let objects be forced by gravity to
move from
the board to the feeding conveyor.
Using this method one can feed containers to a recording and/or sorting unit
in a
reliable, efficient and fast manner.
This can be achieved by an apparatus as described in the preamble to the claim
I if
further modified by three or more rotating disks wherein peripheries of
adjacent rotat-
ing disks are at least partly overlapping, and at least one feeding conveyor
provided
tangential relative to at least one rotating disk, and a peripheral barrier
essentially cir-
cumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving table.
By using three or more disks the total area of the receiving table is
increased without
using expensive conveyor belts. Practical experience has also proven that
rotating
disks are more reliable and less service dependent than conveyor belts with
mechanics
that can be susceptible to pieces of broken glass.
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At least one feeding conveyor is provided tangential relative to at least one
rotating
disk and the objects are fed to the feeding conveyor through an opening in the
periph-
eral barrier. A rotating disk that feeds object to a feeding conveyor may in
the follow-
ing be termed "feeding disk" or "delivery rotating disk" or just "delivery
disk". Thus,
an apparatus according to the invention comprises one or more of those feeding
disks
from where objects are fed to a feeding conveyor, preferably primarily by
means of the
rotation of the feeding disk.
Another embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for feeding
objects, such
as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, wherein the
objects are
supplied on receiving means and forwarded one by one with a predetermined
orienta-
tion on at least one feeding conveyor,
the receiving means comprises at least one receiving table comprising at least
one ro-
tating disk with at least one feeding conveyor provided tangential relative to
at least
one rotating disk, and with a peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at
least a
portion of said receiving table(s).
In this embodiment the receiving table may comprise e.g. two rotating disks in
a com-
bination with conveyor means transporting the UCBs between the disks. In this
con-
veyor based approach conveyor means may be arranged to transport objects from
one
disk to the other, said conveyor means preferably comprising a forward
conveyor belt
forwarding the objects towards a delivery rotating disk and a return conveyor
belt re-
turning objects not delivered to a feeding conveyor to the second rotating
disk. He-
reby, a large capacity of the apparatus may be provided.
To further increase the capacity of the conveyor based feeding apparatus,
additional
rotating disks may be provided. Thus, further embodiments of the invention
comprise
more than two rotating disks, such as at least three, four, five or at least
six rotating
disks, preferably comprising conveyor belts forwarding the objects between the
disks.
Feeding conveyors may be located tangentially to one or more of the rotating
disks.
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Accordingly, by the invention there is also provided a method of feeding
recyclable
UCBs, to a recording and/or sorting unit, by supplying the objects on
receiving means
and forwarding the objects one by one with a predetermined orientation on at
least one
feeding conveyor. Once supplied on the receiving means, the objects are
rotated on
one or more rotating disks and thereby aligned along a barrier circumscribing
at least a
portion of said at least one delivery disk so that the objects are aligned and
forwarded
on a feeding conveyor, which preferably is tangentially arranged relative to a
rotating
disk.
A receiving table is not limited to one, two or three rotating disks. Further
embodi-
ments of the invention may comprise at least four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten,
eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen,
nineteen, twen-
ty, twenty-five, thirty, forty, or at least fifty rotating disks.
For a feeding principle without conveying means between the disks to function
prop-
erly, the disks must be placed with a controlled distance depending on the
size of the
objects to achieve effective movement of the objects. Thus, two disks are
overlapping
each other if the distance between the centres of the disks is less than the
sum of the
radii of the two disks. How much two disks overlap each other may vary between
dif-
ferent embodiments and/or different disks. Thus, if two disks are considered
then in
various embodiments of the invention a first rotating disk may be overlapping
a sec-
ond rotating disk by maximum 10% of the diameter of the second disk, such as
maxi-
mum 20% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 30% of the
diameter
of the second disk, such as maximum 40% of the diameter of the second disk,
such as
maximum 50% of the diameter of the second disk.
In one embodiment of the invention the centres of at least a part of the
rotating disks
are arranged substantially in line with each other. Further, the rotating
disks may be
arranged such that one point on the periphery of each disk is arranged in a
straight line.
If a plurality of the disks are arranged substantially on a line a tangential
feeding con-
veyor may be provided substantially parallel along with the rotating disks.
Thus, the
feeding conveyor is fed from a feeding disk and objects fed to the conveyor
will move
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in a direction on the conveyor which is substantially parallel with the line
of disks, see
for example fig. 1 or 2.
The rotating disks are preferably rotating in the same plane, such as rotating
in the
horizontal plane. Further, the disks preferably rotate in the same direction
of rotation.
However, for the disks to overlap the horizontal planes of rotation of the
disks may be
vertically displaced relative to each other.
The disk feeding principle is most efficient if the conveying direction of the
tangential
feeding conveyor is substantially equal to the tangential direction of
rotation of the
feeding disk at the tangential position of the feeding disk where said feeding
conveyor
is located, see e.g. fig 1.
The area of the receiving table may be expanded by increasing the number of
rotating
disks and the rotating disks can be arranged in any geometric form, e.g. in
one em-
bodiment of the invention three rotating disks are arranged substantially in a
triangle
with a rotating disk located in each corner of said triangle. Further, at
least four of the
rotating disks may be arranged substantially in a rectangle with a rotating
disk located
in each corner of said rectangle. Further, rotating disks may be arranged in a
circle,
e.g. with a central rotating disk surrounded by other rotating disks.
In one embodiment of the invention the diameter of the rotating disks are
substantially
alike. However, the diameter of at least one of the rotating disk may be
larger than the
diameters of the other rotating disks. E.g, the diameter of a feeding disk may
be larger
than the diameter of the other rotating disks.
In one embodiment of the invention the rotating disks are substantially plane.
How-
ever, preferably one or more disks, such as a feeding disk, are provided with
a conical
inner portion for guiding objects on the disks towards the periphery thereof.
The coni-
cal portion may cover maximum 10% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 25%
of the area of the disk, such as maximum 50% of the area of the disk, such as
maxi-
mum 75% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 90% of the area of the disk,
such
as 100% of the area of the disk. Thus, in one embodiment of the invention one
or more
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of the rotating disks is a cone. Preferably each feeding disk is provided with
a conical
inner portion. Rotating disks that are not feeding disks are preferably
substantially
plane.
5 In another embodiment of the invention a pole is provided in the centre of
one or more
of the rotating disks. Said pole is preferably provided to prevent objects
from being
located in the centre of a rotating disk where no centrifugal forces can guide
said ob-
ject towards the periphery of the rotating disk.
10 In the feeding apparatus solely based on rotating disks there may be areas
in the re-
ceiving table that are not covered by a rotating disk. There areas are termed
"dead ar-
eas" because there is no movement associated with these areas, i.e. objects
may be
caught in a dead area. This may be solved by shaping the peripheral barrier as
the
outer periphery of the collection of rotating disks. However, this complicates
the de-
sign and manufacturing of the barrier. Instead a receiving table may be
provided with
some sort of filler material in the dead areas that guide the objects away
from the dead
areas, i.e. prevents objects from being caught in the dead areas.
By the invention, there is provided a simple and efficient feeding system for
use in a
deposit / return system for UCBs, such as bottles or cans. The apparatus
according to
the invention allows for a gentle handling for the UCBs, which makes the
feeding sys-
tem according to the invention suitable for both glass, plastic or metal
packages and
any mixture thereof.
Besides the versatility of the feeding apparatus according to the invention,
it is found
that the apparatus can be designed to provide high throughput capacity. The
actual
capacity can be optimized by selecting a proper combination of diameter and
speed of
rotating disk(s), and/or speed of conveyors connecting the rotary disks.
Another advantage by an apparatus according to the invention is that a feeding
system
which is compact in size may be provided. For instance, the apparatus
according to the
invention does not necessarily have to be aligned with the conveying direction
of the
recording and sorting units. Thus, a more flexible solution is provided with
the appara-
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tus according to the invention which has a smaller footprint on the floor. By
choosing
an appropriate diameter of the delivery disk relative to the size of the UCBs
to be
processed thereon and the amount, an efficient and reliable feeding system is
provided.
In the preferred embodiment, the feeding conveyor(s) is inclined relative to
the sub-
stantially horizontal receiving table. Preferably, the barrier circumscribing
the receiv-
ing table leaves the periphery open where a tangential feeding conveyor is
arranged.
Hereby, the UCBs are lifted upward as they are taken over by a feeding
conveyor and
forwarded thereon. This means that should a container be transferred to the
feeding
conveyor in an unfavourable orientation, this container will most likely fall
off the
feeding conveyor and return to the receiving table and reprocessed.
In the preferred embodiment means for adjusting the conveying speed of the
feeding
conveyor(s) and/or the rotation of the disk(s) is comprised. Furthermore, the
cross-
section of the feeding conveyor(s) is preferably substantially V-shaped,
thereby help-
ing to maintain the objects in the predetermined orientation.
The chosen diameter of the feeding disks is dependent of the type of objects
to be sor-
ted. It has been shown that optimal operation of the present feeding apparatus
is pro-
vided when the diameter of the disk is preferably 2 to 4 times larger than the
length of
the longest objects to be fed. For example for feeding bottles and cans the
rotating disk
may be between 0.9 and 1 in in diameter. And for feeding standard batteries in
sizes
up to D-cell batteries the diameter of the rotating disk can e.g. be between
12 and 25
cm in diameter.
UCBs in the receiving table will substantially be lying down due to the
rotational
forces of the rotating disk(s) and/or by the forces exerted by forward and
return con-
veyor belts, i.e. the longitudinal axis of the UCBs will typically be
substantially paral-
lel with the horizontal plane of the receiving table. This is true for most
UCBs, how-
ever some beverage containers may be designed or changed in a way that the
state of
equilibrium / point of balance is not with a horizontal longitudinal axis,
i.e. said UCBs
may be tilted with respect to horizontal. This may be the case if the
bottleneck of a
bottle is heavy compared to the rest of the bottle. A tilted UCBs may be at
least par-
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tially overlapping another UBC on the feeding conveyor. Overlapping UCBs in a
scanning unit may result in faulty registration, because overlapping UCBs may
be reg-
istered as one UBC. Thus, a fiu-ther object of the invention is to ensure that
UCBs are
fed one by one. This is achieved by a further embodiment of the invention
comprising
means for detecting objects that are not lying horizontal.
Tilted bottles are inclined compared to horizontal and they may also be
inclined com-
pared to the longitudinal axis of a feeding conveyor. Thus, a further
embodiment of
the invention comprises means for detecting objects inclined compared to the
longitu-
dinal axis of a feeding conveyor(s). This is preferably provided by means of
at least
one photocell arrangement located at a feeding conveyor, said photocell
arrangement
detecting objects inclined compared to the feeding conveyor. Preferably the
photocell
arrangement is located below the line of motion of objects at the feeding
conveyor.
When an inclined object is detected it means that there is a risk of two or
more over-
lapping objects. The distance between objects being conveyed on a first
conveyor can
be increased by transferring the objects to a subsequent second conveyor with
a higher
conveying speed than the first conveyor. A feeding conveyor in this invention
will
typically be succeeded by another conveyor before entering a scanning and
sorting
unit, said another conveyor typically having similar or higher conveying speed
com-
pared to the feeding conveyor. If the conveying speed of a feeding conveyor is
re-
duced, the distance between objects on a succeeding conveyor will be
increased. Thus,
in a further embodiment of the invention the speed of at least one feeding
conveyor is
reduced temporarily when an object inclined compared to the longitudinal axis
of the
feeding conveyor is detected. Furthermore, the rotation of at least one
rotating disk
may be reduced temporarily when an object inclined compared to the
longitudinal axis
of the feeding conveyor is detected. Temporarily may be a period of time. I.e.
when an
object, which is inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of a feeding
conveyor, is
detected, the conveying speed of the feeding conveyor is preferably
immediately re-
duced for a predetermined period of time, such as approximately 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, 8 or
9 seconds or at least 5 or 10 seconds.
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It may be found advantageous to provide supply means including a supply
conveyor
for supplying at least one batch of objects in storage containers and means
for dis-
charging a batch of objects from a container onto the receiving table. Hereby,
a com-
pact automatic supply of batches of UCBs may be provided.
The apparatus according to the invention may be used for feeding objects of
any type,
however preferably objects that are substantially rotary-symmetrical around at
least
one axis, such as rotary-symmetrical around a long axis. Thus, the apparatus
according
to the invention may be used in connection with recording and/or sorting of
many ty-
pes of objects, preferably used and/or recyclable objects. Thus, the herein
described
feeding principles can for example be applied to batteries or other
environmentally
critical recycled products. The pending application can be modified for all
kinds of
recycled articles. In the future, most containers for household or for
personal use such
as milk containers will be recycled.
Description of the Drawing
Fig 1 shows a schematic top and perspective view, respectively, of an em-
bodiment of the invention based on three rotating disks in line;
fig. 2 a)-d) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of an
embodiment
of the invention based an four rotating disks in line;
fig. 3 a)-d) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of an
embodiment
of the invention based on three rotating disks in a triangle; and
fig. 4 a)-d) are schematic illustrations of an example of an arrangement for
detecting
tilted bottles.
Fig. 5 a)-b) are schematic perspective and top views, respectively, of a first
embodiment of the invention based in the use of a conveyor system.
Fig 6 a)-b) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of a second
embodiment of the invention based on the use of a conveyor system.
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Detailed Description of the Invention
With reference to figures 1 a)-b), one embodiment of an apparatus according to
the
invention is shown. This embodiment is based on a receiving table with three
rotating
disks 21, 22, 23. The diameters of the disks 21, 22, 23 are substantially
alike and the
centres of the disks are arranged substantially in line and the surfaces of
the disks are
substantially plane. The preferred direction of rotation of the disks 21, 22,
23 is indi-
cated by means of arrows, i.e. clockwise for all disks. Around the disks 21,
22, 23 a
barrier 6 is provided. A feeding conveyor 2 is arranged tangential to the
feeding disk
21 so that objects gathered along the barrier 6 due to the rotation of the
feeding disk
are substantially pointing towards conveyor 2 as the objects are transferred
from the
feeding disk 21 to the feeding conveyor 2 in a continuous movement. Objects on
the
rotating disks 21, 22, 23 will experience a centrifugal force exerted by the
rotation of
the disk which will guide the object towards the periphery of each disk.
However, the
disks 21, 22, 23 may also have a surface generating friction in relation to
the objects so
the object more efficiently are moved towards the feeding conveyor 2.
The embodiment illustrated in figs. I c)-d) differs from 1 a)-b) in that the
diameter of
the feeding disk 21' is slightly larger than the other disks 22, 23. This may
provide a
more efficient transport of objects from the feeding disk 21' to the feeding
conveyor 2.
The feeding disk 21' is furthermore partly conical and is overlapping the
adjacent flat
disk 22 which is overlapping the next disk 23. Due to the variation in
diameter be-
tween the disks the centres of the disks 21, 22, 23 are not arranged in line
because cen-
tre of the feeding disk 21' is displaced from the centre line of the other
disks 22, 23.
However, the peripheries of the disks 21, 22, 23 are aligned along a line
parallel with
and opposite the conveying axis of the feeding conveyor 2.
Figs. 2 a)-d) correspond to figs. 1 a)-d), however based on four rotating
disks 21, 22,
23, 24 with a conical feeding disk 21' of slightly larger diameter in figs. 2
c)-d).
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Figs. 3 a)-d) show a triangular shaped disk based embodiment of the invention.
It is
thus seen that, compared to a conveyor based disk feeder, the solution based
entirely
on rotating disks is more flexible in choosing the shape and size of the
receiving table.
5 The dead areas 30 in the receiving table not covered by a rotating disk are
indicated in
fig. la and fig. 13a, however these dead areas 30 are present in many
embodiments of
the disk feeder because they will naturally present when two disks overlap
each other.
The dead areas 30 may be avoided if the barrier 6 follows the combined outer
periph-
ery of the rotating disk 21, 23, 23 (not shown in the drawings). To avoid that
objects
10 end up in dead areas 30 they may be filled to e.g. make up a slanted wall
against the
barrier 6 (not shown in the drawings).
The UCBs 1, such as glass and/or plastic bottles and/or metal cans, are
supplied onto
the receiving table 3 from a bag or the like which is emptied out onto the
receiving
15 table 3. The disks 21-24 and the conveyor belts 2 run in a direction as
indicated by the
arrows in fig. 1-3. Hereby, the objects I are stirred and the outermost are
moved to-
wards the barrier 6 and in the direction towards the outlet where the feeding
conveyor
2 is arranged at the delivery disk 21. The disks 21-24 may be provided with a
conic
inner portion for facilitating the movement of the objects towards the
periphery of the
disks 21-24. At least a portion of the UCBs 1 are hereby pressed towards the
barrier 6
which their longitudinal axis in a generally tangential direction relative to
the disk 21-
24. When the UCBs in this position are moved to the outlet, the feeding
conveyor 2
takes over the movement and moves the UCBs along a linear path to further
process-
ing. The UCBs which are not transferred at this time are simply returned to
"another
round" on the receiving table 3. Accordingly, these UCBs are returned on the
return
conveyor belt 2 to the second disk and/or directly to the forward conveyor
belt 2 for a
new alignment on the delivery disk 21.
The rotating frequency of a disk is preferably approximately 1 Hz, such as
between 0.8
and 1.2 Hz, such as between 0.5 and 1.5 Hz, such as at least 0.1 Hz, such as
at least
0.5 Hz, such as at least 1 Hz, such as at least 1.5 Hz, such as at least 2 Hz,
such as at
least 3 Hz, such as at least 5 Hz.
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The capacity of the apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the
invention is
at least 50 UCBs per minute, such as at least 100 UCBs per minute, such as at
least
150 UCBs per minute, such as at least 200 UCBs per minute, such as at least
300
UCBs per minute, such as at least 400 UCBs per minute, such as at least 500
UCBs
per minute, such as between 150 and 300 UCBs per minute. The footprint of the
appa-
ratus may be less than I m', such as less than 1.5 in2, such as less than 2
m2, such as
less than 2.5 m2, such as less than 3 m2, such as less than 4 m2, such as less
than 5 m2.
By the invention, it is realised that other variants of a feeding apparatus
may be pro-
vided without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the
accompany-
ing claims.
Figures 4 a)-d) is a schematic illustration of an example of a means for
detecting in-
clined objects which is tilted bottles 1' in this case. Fig. 4a, 4c and 4d are
longitudinal
cross-sections of a feeding conveyor 2. In this example the feeding conveyor 2
com-
prises two parallel conveying belts forming a "V" towards each other, i.e. the
trans-
verse cross-section of the feeding conveyor is substantially V-shaped and thus
bottles
will be conveyed with their longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the
groove of
this "V". There is preferably a gap between the sides in the "V", i.e. there
is preferably
a gap in the longitudinal direction of the bottom of the feeding conveyor 2.
This is
illustrated as 18 on fig. 4c which is a top view of a feeding conveyor 2. Fig.
4d illus-
trates how normal bottles 1 are moving on a feeding conveyor 2. The
longitudinal axes
of the bottles 1 are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the
feeding con-
veyor 2 and the line of motion of the bottles 1. Fig. 4c illustrates how
bottles 1' with a
heavy bottleneck are located on a feeding conveyor 2. Due to the heavy
bottleneck the
bottles 1' will be tilted, i.e. the longitudinal axis of the bottles 1 ` are
inclined com-
pared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor 2 and the line of
motion.
Thereby the bottleneck of a bottle 1 ' may penetrate the gap I S in the bottom
of the
feeding conveyor 2. A photocell arrangement 16, 16' is located in a groove 17
below
the line of motion of the bottles 1, 1'. The photocell arrangement could be a
light emit-
ter 16 and a receiver 16'. The normal bottle I will not interfere with the
photocell ar-
rangement 16, 16'. However, the bottleneck of an inclined bottle 1' will
interfere with
the photocell arrangement 16, 16'. Thereby an example of a how to detect an
inclined
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object is provided. The feeding conveyor 2 may further be provided with one or
more
holes 17' in the groove to get rid of small loose parts from the objects, such
as caps
from e.g. bottles. Thus, the holes 17' are large enough to let small parts
like beer caps
fall through the feeding conveyor whereas the holes 17' are too small to
disturb the
conveying passage of objects like UCBs 1, 1'.
Common to most of the different embodiments, the disks 21, 22, 23, 24 and the
con-
veyor belts 2 run in a direction as indicated by the arrows in the figures.
Hereby, the
objects 1 are stirred and the outermost are moved towards the barrier 6 and in
the di-
rection towards the outlet where the feeding conveyor 2 is arranged at the
delivery disk
21. The disks 21, 22, 23, 24 may be provided with a conic inner portion for
facilitating
the movement of the objects towards the periphery of the disks. At least a
portion of
the UCBs 1 are hereby pressed towards the barrier 6 which their longitudinal
axis in a
generally tangential direction relative to the disk 21, 21'. When the UCBs in
this posi-
tion are moved to the outlet, the feeding conveyor 2 takes over the movement
and
moves the UCBs along a substantial linear path to further processing. The UCBs
which are not transferred at this time are simply returned to "another round"
on the
receiving table 3. Accordingly, in some embodiments these UCBs may be returned
on
the return conveyor belt 2 to the second disk 22 and/or directly to the disk
22 for a new
alignment on the delivery disk 21. An in other embodiment the UCBs may be
trans-
ferred between the rotating disks 22, 23, 24 before eventually over time
ending up on
for a new alignment on the delivery disk 21, 21'. Thus, most of the herein
disclosed
embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention are self-depleting,
i.e. all
objects will eventually be guided onto a feeding conveyor, preferably for
subsequent
further processing.
The invention is described above with reference to a plurality of embodiments.
How-
ever, it is realised by the invention that variants may be provided without
departing
from the scope of the invention as it is defined in the accompanying claims.
Fig. 5 a) and b) shows an embodiment of the apparatus 101. The apparatus 101
has a
receiving surface or a table 110 that comprises a first 104 and a second 106
straight
conveyor, a first 103 and a second 105 curved conveyor and a divider 107. The
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conveyors are substantially in line and the surface of the conveyors is
substantially
plane- The conveyors have a surface generating friction in relation to the
objects
securing that the objects are moved when the conveyors are moved.
The divider 107 has an elevated centreline and an inclined surface. The
surface of the
divider 107 should have a relatively low friction in relation to the objects
so they do
not get stuck on it. The divider 107 separates the conveyors such that UCBs on
the
table 110 never gets in contact with two conveyors that moves in different
directions
this secures that the objects does not get trapped on the table 110.
Arrows shows the moving direction of the conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106. They
are
aligned so that an object placed on one conveyor is forwarded to next
conveyor. This
means that when containers are placed on the receiving surface 110 they follow
the
arrows around in a closed loop, until they are feed to the feeding conveyor
102. For
example when an UBC is placed on the first straight 104 it is forwarded to the
second
curved conveyor 105. An aspect of the present invention is that the speed of
the
conveyors is the same and that there is no large difference in the direction
of
movement when going from one conveyor to the next, this secures that there are
minimum wear on the containers.
When addressing the speed of the first 103 and the second 105 curved conveyors
it is
acknowledged that the speed of a curved conveyor is not the same everywhere on
the
conveyor surface. By the speed; there is meant the speed in the centreline of
the curved
conveyor unless it is obvious from the context that another speed is meant.
The receiving surface has a peripheral barrier 109 the height of this barrier
depends on
the size of the objects; the larger the objects the higher the barrier 109
needs to be. The
barrier 109 secures that objects does not accidentally leave the receiving
surface 110.
The feeding conveyor 102 is inclined in relation to the receiving surface 110.
The
feeding conveyor 102 has a feeding barrier 111. This secures that an object
such as a
UBC falling off the first part of the feeding conveyor 102 will land on the
receiving
surface 110. The UBC will then so to speak start over again.
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As an additional feature the invention could have legs 108 or similar means
for
securing the desired height. As loading of containers will happen on the
receiving
surface 110 the invention should have the height that facilitates that
operation.
When a object such as a UBC is placed on the receiving surface 110 it will
gain speed
due the movement of the conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106. If the UBC is on the
first 103
or the second 105 curved conveyor it will due to the centrifugal force move
toward the
peripheral barrier 109. At some point the UBC will get in contact with the
peripheral
barrier 109 and the UBC will align itself in the longitudinal direction with
either top or
bottom first. The UBC will the follow the barrier 109 until it reaches the
loading area
112 here the UBC will be feed either top or bottom first to the feeding
conveyor 102.
The correct position of the UCBs on the feeding conveyor 102 dependents on the
properties of the feeding conveyor 102. In the present embodiment the correct
positioning is the longitudinal direction of the UBC parallel to the direction
of
movement, (this can be see on fig 20) with either top or bottom first.
Normally one wishes to unload a large amount of UCBs at the same time on the
receiving surface 110. This unloading could happen anywhere on the surface
110. The
UCBs would then in principle do the same as described above but now they will
also
hit each other and they can also be positioned in two rows meaning that a
first UBC is
in contact with the peripheral barrier 109 and on the other side of the first
UBC there
could be a second UBC that gets pressed against the first. The loading area
112 is
arranges so that only one UBC can be forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102 and
positioned correct on it. In other words a UBC that is in contact with the
peripheral
barrier 109 at the second curved conveyor 105 and hence at the loading are 112
can be
positioned on the feeding conveyor 102. If UCBs are forwarded to the feeding
conveyor 102 but positioned incorrectly they will fall back to the receiving
surface
110.
The speed of the feeding conveyor 102 is preferably larger than the speed of
the
conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106 on the receiving surface 110 this secures that
the UCBs
are moved quickly away from other UCBs that might hit them and hinders the
correct
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positioning on the feeding conveyor 102 further is secures a distance between
two
UCBs. This distance is defined by the difference between the speed of the out
feed
conveyor and the second curved conveyor 105 which could have same speed as the
other conveyors forming of the receiving surface 103, 104, 106.
5
The invention shown in f g 6 has four separate conveyors, as an alternative it
could be
made of only one curved conveyor that would loop the entire receiving surface;
it
could also be made of 2 conveyors or any other number of conveyors.
10 A further embodiment of an apparatus for feeding objects is shown in fig. 6
a) and b).
Here the invention is shown where a primary 121 and a secondary 122 straight
conveyors moves the objects such as UCBs and deliver them one by one to the
feeding
conveyor 102. As the primary 121 and the secondary 122 straight conveyors are
parallel, the receiving surface 110 is smaller than the joint surfaces of the
primary 121
15 and the secondary 122 straight conveyors. The arrow on the conveyors 121
and 122
shows the movement of the conveyors. The conveyors have a relative large
friction in
relation to the objects.
The embodiment has a peripheral conveyor system 124 that has a peripheral
conveyor
20 belt 125, which forms part of the peripheral barrier 109. The peripheral
conveyor belt
125 is substantially perpendicular to the receiving surface 110. It secures
that the
objects are feed to the feeding conveyor 102. The peripheral conveyor belt 125
has a
concave form, which a person skilled in the art would know how to construct.
An
arrow (see fig 22 a)) shows the moving direction of the peripheral conveyor
belt 125-
The peripheral conveyor belt 125 has a friction in relation to the objects
which
preferably is larger than the friction between secondary straight conveyor 122
and the
objects. This secures that when an object gets in contact with the peripheral
conveyor
belt 125 it will follow the movement of that conveyor and not get stuck on the
secondary straight conveyor 122.
If an object such as a UBC is placed on the primary straight conveyor 121 it
will
follow the movement of that until the UBC reaches the peripheral barrier 109.
Here
the UBC will follow the peripheral barrier 109 and get in contact with the
secondary
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straight conveyor 122. Depending on the speed of the UBC and the friction
between
the straight conveyors 121, 122 the UBC will be either in contact with the
straight
section of the peripheral barrier 109 or at some distance from it when on the
secondary
straight conveyor 122. The UBC will then follow the secondary straight
conveyor 122
until it reaches the peripheral conveyor belt 125 which will forward the UBC
on to the
feeding conveyor 102. If the UBC is not positioned correct in the longitudinal
direction the UBC will either, not get on the feeding conveyor 102 or fall off
the
feeding conveyor 102 shortly after it is placed on it. Either way the UBC will
be or get
back on the receiving surface 110. I-lere the feeding barrier 111 secures that
the UCBs
do not fall off to the wrong side risking that it will not get counted and/or
sorted.
Usually one wishes to unload a larger amount of UCBs on to the receiving
surface 110
at the same time. The invention will then forward the UCBs one by one on the
feeding
conveyor 102. Having a multitude of UCBs will in principle not change the
function
of the embodiment. The UCBs will hit each other and to some extend obstruct
the
alignment of the UCBs. The feeding conveyor 102 in this embodiment is
constructed
so that it can only forward one UBC at a time and only if the UBC is
positioned in the
predetermined manner. I-lere only the UBC that are close to the peripheral
conveyor
belt 125 will be forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102. Further it is
desirable that the
speed of the feeding conveyor 102 is greater than the speed of the peripheral
conveyor
belt 125 as this secures a small distance between the UBC on the feeding
conveyor
102. The UCBs that are not forwarded on the feeding conveyor 102 are passed on
to
the primary straight conveyor 121 and gets another round and will eventually
be
forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102.
For both the embodiment on fig 5 and on fig 6 the length of the straight
conveyors
104, 106 or 121, 122 could be adjusted so that the embodiment is suitable for
any
predetermined volume of objects. Further; in fig 5 and 6 the feeding conveyor
102 is
shown as being tangentially to the peripheral barrier 109. The feeding
conveyor 102
could also be angled in relation to the tangent of the peripheral barrier 109;
this angle
could for example be between 0 and 10 or 0 and 90 .
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It is noted that any of the features described for any embodiment, are also
applicable to
the embodiments on fig 5 and 6.
