Apparatus and method for temporarily compressing loose, multiply bent, pieces of scrap sheet metal into compacted wafers

A method for reducing the bulk volume of large quantities of loose, irregularly shaped, multiply bent, thin, sheet metal pieces, comprising the steps of:

• collecting together a batch of said pieces and forcibly compressing said batch against an anvil plate by a reciprocating ram moving the pieces towards and against the anvil plate to flatten the pieces and to compact the pieces into a layer;
• repeating the step of collecting batches of loose pieces and successively compressing them towards the anvil plate against preceding layers to form a series of overlapped compressed layers, each formed of a number of pieces compacted together;
• bending portions of the peripheral edges of the layers into interlocking relationship with portions of successive layers for temporarily connecting adjacent layers together, along the peripheral edges thereof, into a unitary compressed wafer, so that the wafer is formed of separate compressed layers connected together along the peripheral edges thereof and are connected together at adjacent contacting surface portions between their peripheral edges;
• and repeating the foregoing cycle to form successive wafers, the overall volume of which is substantially less than the volume occupied by the loose, pre-assembled pieces;
• whereby the wafers may be transported as units and the layers forming each of said wafers and the pieces forming the layers may be separated into the loose pieces when desired.

An apparatus for temporarily reducing the bulk volume of a large quantity of separate, loose, thin, multiply bent, irregularly shaped pieces of scrap sheet metal, for transporting the pieces, and later separating them, comprising:

• a load chamber into which batches of a quantity of said loose pieces may be placed, with the load chamber opening into a compression chamber having peripheral walls and a discharge opening closed by an anvil plate remotely located relative to the load chamber;
• a reciprocating ram normally arranged within the load chamber at a starting position remote from the opening between the load chamber and compression chamber, with the ram being reciprocally movable through the load chamber and into and out of the compression chamber towards and away from the anvil plate for compressing successive batches into overlapped layers, which are temporarily interconnected to form unitary wafers.
• said ram being closely fitted within the walls defining the compression chamber but having its peripheral edge spaced a short distance from said walls to provide a gap between at least portions of the peripheral edge of the ram and the walls when the ram is reciprocated within the compression chamber, so that peripheral edge portions of the layers may enter the gap and intertwine to connect adjacent layers;
• whereby successive batches of loose pieces positioned within the load chamber are moved through the compression chamber towards the anvil plate for compressing each batch into a layer, with successive batches forming successive overlapped layers until a pre-determined number of layers form a complete compressed, temporary unitary wafer, with at least some of the portions defining the peripheral edges of the layers being fitted within said gap between the ram peripheral edge and the walls defining the compression chamber and being bent into interlocking relationship with similar portions of adjacent layers for temporarily mechanically interlocking and, thereby binding, the overlapped layers to each other in the wafer formation and, portions of contacting surfaces of adjacent layers temporarily bind together;
• and whereby the completed wafer may be removed from the apparatus for transportation as a unit to a remote location where the wafers may be disassembled into their separate, loose pieces for recycling the scrap metal.

A method for reducing the bulk volume of large quantities of pieces of loose, irregularly shaped, multiply bent, thin, sheet metal pieces, comprising the steps of:

• collecting together a batch of said pieces and forcibly compressing said batch against an anvil plate by a reciprocating ram moving the pieces towards the anvil plate to flatten the pieces and to compact the pieces into a layer;
• repeating the step of collecting batches of loose pieces and successively compressing them towards the anvil plate against preceding layers to form a series of overlapped compressed layers, each formed of a number of pieces compacted together;
• compressing adjacent faces of adjacent layers together into interlocking relationships for binding the layers together face-to-face into a temporary, compressed wafer, so that the wafer is formed of a number of separate compressed layers that are temporarily bound together along portions of the peripheral edges thereof as well as at portions of their adjacent contacting surfaces;
• and repeating the foregoing cycle to form a successive group of such wafers, the overall volume of which is substantially less than the volume occupied by the loose, pre-assembled pieces;
• transporting assembled wafers to a pre-determined location remote from the location where they are formed and then dissembling the layers, and the pieces forming the layers for melting separated pieces in a furnace.

A method for transporting large quantities or irregularly shaped, multiply bent, thin, scrap sheet metal pieces for recycling the metal, comprising:

• collecting a batch of said pieces and forcibly compressing the pieces together to substantially flatten each piece and to form a loose, but compacted together, layer of interconnected compressed pieces;
• repeating the step of collecting and compressing a pre-determined number of successive batches to form successive layers, with the compression of each successive batch being performed against and in contact with its preceding compressed layer so as to loosely bind each of the layers to their respective adjacent layers to form a temporary wafer comprised of loosely interconnected layers each formed of interconnected, compacted and generally flattened pieces;
• transporting said wafer to a pre-determined location for melting the pieces for recycling the metal;
• disassembling the temporary wafers by separating the layers from each other and by separating the pieces contained in each layer at said location by applying a force to the wafer at said location sufficient to overcome the connections between, and to substantially disconnect the layers and their respective pieces from, each other.