Loading patent…
AssigneeThe Placzek Family Trust
InventorTerrance M. Placzek
Estimating the term…
This invention relates to an improved method and apparatus to effect the separation of component fractions from paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials. This method and apparatus accepts materials of widely varying characteristics such as paper, plastics, glass, metal, food wastes and other materials to be inserted en masse into a rotating vessel equipped with lifting paddles and directional flighting. In this way the intimate contact of materials with moisture and heat is accomplished, thus effecting the repulping of paper materials. The repulped materials, as a result of directional tumbling, are dispersed throughout the vessel. Because of the repulping of the pulpable materials, size reduction of the randomly large and odd-shaped pulpable material is accomplished. By virtue of the size reduction of the large and odd-shaped pulpable materials, the non-pulpable components are freed of the particle shapes and surfaces that affect separation. The repulping of the pulpable materials increases the bulk density of those materials, further enhancing their separation from the additional components. The recovered pulped product is suitable for recycling into the paper industry; for combustion as a high quality fuel or for use as a feedstock for conversion into chemicals. The recovered non-pulpable materials such as plastics, glass, metals, aluminum and other materials are suitable for recycling into their producer industries; as feedstock raw materials for additional manufacturing of products; or any or all of these materials can be disposed of in a sanitary landfill as is the commonly accepted practice.
An apparatus for preparing paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials for the separation of component fractions, comprising an elongate pressure vessel of generally cylindrical configuration mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, means for selectively driving said vessel in either rotative direction about such longitudinal axis, said vessel having an inlet end and an outlet end, with the longitudinal axis of said vessel being at a slight angle of incline due to said inlet end being at a slightly higher elevation than said outlet end, means for feeding paper-containing and/or plastic-containing waste materials mixed with impurities into said inlet end of said vessel, means for agitating the paper-containing and/or plastic-containing waste materials within the vessel by non-obstructive, non-directional paddles in one portion of said vessel, and helically configured directional flighting in another portion of said vessel, said non-directional paddles and said helically configured directional flighting being mounted at spaced configured directional flighting being mounted at spaced locations along the interior of said vessel, said non-directional paddles extending radially inwardly, toward the longitudinal axis of said vessel, said helically configured directional flighting, during rotation of said vessel in a first rotative direction, intercepting such waste materials, and tending to move same forward, in the direction of said outlet end, whereas during rotation of said vessel in the second rotative direction, the waste material is moved backward by said helically configured means, away from said outlet end of said vessel and toward said inlet end, the backward movement of the waste material by said helically configured means during rotation of the vessel in the second rotative direction, contemporaneous with forward movement of the waste material under the influence of gravity as a consequence of the angle of incline of the rotating vessel resulting, in concert with the agitation provided by said non-directional paddles, in a highly advantageous, very thorough mixing of the waste material, leading to an effective separation of pulped material from non-pulpable material.
An apparatus for preparing paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials for the separation of component fractions, comprising a pressure vessel of generally cylindrical configuration mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis, means for selectively driving said vessel in either rotative direction about such longitudinal axis, said vessel having an inlet end and an outlet end, means for feeding paper-containing and/or plastic-containing waste materials mixed with impurities into said inlet end of said vessel, a plurality of non-obstructive agitators mounted at spaced locations along the interior of said vessel, with some of said agitators being non-directional paddles, and others being directional flighting, such that during rotation of said vessel in a first rotative direction, said agitators will intercept said materials, and accomplish a filling of the vessel, said vessel, when caused to rotate in the opposite rotative direction, accomplishing a thorough mixing and a repulping of the pulpable materials after a suitable period of mixing, said directional flighting, when said vessel is caused to rotate again in the first rotative direction, causing the materials to be discharged from said outlet end of said vessel, for separation into distinct components.
A method for preparing paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials for the separation of component fractions, utilizing an elongate pressure vessel of generally cylindrical configuration mounted to be driven in rotation about its longitudinal axis, such vessel having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, with a first section of the interior of the vessel containing an array of fixed lifting paddles, and a second section of the interior of the vessel containing a helically configured member, such method comprising the steps of
A novel method for preparing paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials for the separation of component fractions, utilizing an elongate pressure vessel of generally cylindrical configuration mounted to be driven in rotation about its longitudinal axis, such vessel having an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other end, with a first section of the interior of the vessel containing an array of fixed lifting paddles, and a second section of the interior of the vessel containing a helically configured member disposed at a location adjacent the outlet,
A novel method for preparing paper-containing and plastic-containing waste materials for the separation of component fractions, utilizing an elongate pressure vessel of generally cylindrical configuration mounted to be driven in rotation with its longitudinal axis at a slight angle to the horizontal, such vessel having an inlet at one end that is slightly higher than the outlet at the opposite end, with a first section of the interior of the vessel containing an array of fixed lifting paddles, and a second section of the interior of the vessel containing a helically configured member disposed at a location adjacent the outlet,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.