Device for collecting refuse

Abstract

A device for collecting waste is described, comprising a frame (1) movable on a floor (7), a spiked roller (2) rotatably mounted in the frame (1) and forming a roller for the frame (1) that rolls on the floor (6), and a scraper device (3) positioned in front of a collection container (4) that engages between the spikes (6) of the spiked roller (2). To ensure good waste collection, it is proposed that the scraper device (3) has a shaft (8) mounted on the downward-rotating side of the spiked roller (2) in the region of its upper quadrant, parallel to the spiked roller (2), and driven in the same direction as the spiked roller (2). The shaft (8) has radial scraper fingers (9) that engage between the spikes (6), and that the shaft (8) with the scraper fingers (9) can be driven at an angular velocity at least five times that of the spiked roller (2).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a device for collecting waste with a frame movable on a floor, with a spiked roller rotatably mounted in the frame, which forms a running roller for the frame that rolls on the floor, and with a scraping device positioned in front of a collection container that engages between the spikes of the spiked roller.

[0002] Conventional devices for collecting loose solids and litter from a roadway are equipped with at least one rotating brush positioned in front of a suction nozzle, which sweeps the debris into the suction area of ​​the nozzle. However, these known devices are not suitable for collecting litter outside of a paved roadway area because the rotating brushes are only partially able to pick up litter on uneven, especially vegetated, ground and convey it to the suction nozzle.

[0003] For collecting fallen fruit, it is known (DE 20 2005 003 498 U1, DE 20 2009 013 966 U1) to provide a spiked roller on a shaft connecting lateral running wheels in a chassis and to assign to this spiked roller a scraping device in the form of a scraping comb, the tines of which run tangentially to the roller body of the spiked roller and form a sliding ramp ending above a collection container for the fallen fruit stripped from the spikes of the spiked roller.However, such devices for collecting fallen fruit are unsuitable for collecting various types of waste because, on the one hand, the spikes of the spiked roller must have a ground clearance to impale the fallen fruit, so as not to damage the fruit unnecessarily, and on the other hand, there is a risk that collected pieces of waste, especially plastic film, will get stuck between the tines of the scraper comb and, over time, obstruct the passage of the spikes of the spiked roller through the gap between the tines of the scraper comb, with the result that the spiked roller can no longer rotate or its spikes become bent and even break.

[0004] To enable the collection of waste and leaves from grassy areas or uncompacted soil, it is also known (GB 2224766 A) to design the spiked roller intended for picking up the collected material as a running wheel for the frame in which the spiked roller is mounted. While this improves the impalement of the collected material, this measure does not address the disadvantages of removing the collected material from the spikes of the spiked roller using a comb whose fingers grip tangentially between the spikes of the roller.

[0005] Finally, it is known (US 4974406 A) to provide, in addition to the spiked roller designed as a guide roller for a frame, a scraper brush driven in the same direction as the spiked roller and parallel to it, which is driven by the spiked roller at a higher rotational speed. However, since this scraper brush is located on the upward-rotating side of the spiked roller, the comparatively flexible bristles of such rotary brushes do not slide from the base of the spikes to their tips, but rather from the tip of the spikes to the base, which makes such devices only conditionally suitable for collecting and depositing waste in a collection container.

[0006] The invention is therefore based on the objective of designing a device for collecting waste in such a way that different types of waste can be safely collected from unpaved, possibly vegetated ground and fed into a collection container.

[0007] Starting from a device of the type described above, the invention solves the problem by providing a scraper device with a shaft mounted on the downward rotating side of the spiked roller in the area of ​​its upper quadrant in the frame, parallel to the spiked roller, and driven in the same direction as the spiked roller, with radial scraper fingers engaging between the spikes, and by providing a shaft with scraper fingers that can be driven with an angular velocity corresponding to at least five times the angular velocity of the spiked roller.

[0008] Since the spiked roller forms a rolling wheel along the ground, it is easily ensured that the spikes, which partially penetrate the ground in soft conditions, reliably capture the litter lying on the ground, provided this litter can be picked up by appropriately designed spikes, which is generally the case. The litter picked up by the spikes is lifted from the ground by the rolling spiked roller and conveyed in a circular path to the scraper mechanism. The scraper mechanism, with its radially extending scraper fingers extending from a shaft, removes the litter picked up by the spikes of the spiked roller. Due to the synchronous rotation, the litter is moved radially outwards not only along the spikes of the scraper roller but also along the scraper fingers of the scraper mechanism, thus effectively preventing the risk of litter accumulating permanently between the scraper fingers.Furthermore, on the discharge side of the spiked roller, the spikes of the roller act as a scraper in relation to the scraper mechanism, carrying any remaining debris radially outwards along the scraper fingers and thus providing additional cleaning of the scraper mechanism. The scraping effect is improved by increasing the angular velocity of the scraper mechanism relative to the angular velocity of the spiked roller. Therefore, when the shaft with the scraper fingers is driven at an angular velocity at least five times that of the spiked roller, reliable removal of the impaled debris from the spikes of the spiked roller can be ensured.

[0009] To create simple design conditions on the one hand and achieve good wiping action on the other, the wiper fingers can be arranged in axial rows. However, to avoid impact loads, the wiper fingers could also be arranged in helical rows.

[0010] To ensure a compact design and an advantageous conveying path for the collected waste, the shaft of the scraper device is preferably mounted on the downward rotating side of the spiked roller in the area of ​​its upper quadrant in the frame, so that the collection container for the waste thrown off by the scraper fingers can be provided directly in front of the spiked roller in the direction of travel.

[0011] If a scraper comb is attached to the downward-rotating side of the spiked roller in the area of ​​its lower quadrant, additional cleaning of the spikes can be ensured. In such a case, it is recommended that the scraper comb be formed from an upper wall section of the collection container, which not only allows for a space-saving arrangement but also ensures the immediate collection of the scraped-off waste residue in the container.

[0012] Collecting harder types of waste, such as plastic containers or beverage cans, requires appropriately designed spikes. To meet these requirements, the spikes of the spiked roller can be equipped with a circumferential cutting edge at their free end.

[0013] The invention is illustrated in the drawing as an example. It shows Fig. 1 shows a simplified diagram of a device according to the invention for collecting waste, and Fig. 2 shows a schematic longitudinal section of this device.

[0014] A device according to the invention for collecting waste comprises a frame 1, a spiked roller 2, a scraper 3, and a collection container 4. The spiked roller 2, arranged on a roller shaft 5 rotatably mounted in the frame 1, forms a running roller which rolls on a base 7 with its radially projecting spikes 6. Parallel to the roller shaft 5, a shaft 8 of the scraper 3 is rotatably mounted on the frame 1 and carries radially projecting scraper fingers 9 arranged in a circumferential row. The shaft 8 is driven in the same direction by the roller shaft 5 via a transmission 10 at an angular velocity at least five times that of the spiked roller 2. A toothed belt drive can advantageously be used as the transmission 10, but this is not mandatory.

[0015] The scraper device 3 is located on the front side of the spiked roller 2 with respect to a predetermined direction of travel 11, specifically in the upper quadrant on the downward-rotating side of the spiked roller 2. This means that the scraper fingers 9, which engage between the spikes 6, in the area above a plane defined by the roller shaft 5 and the shaft 8 of the scraper device 3, scrape the waste, which is impaled on the ground 7 and conveyed upwards along a path to the scraper device 3, radially outwards along the spikes 6 from the spiked roller 2 and throw it into the downstream collection container 4.Below this plane defined by the waves 5 and 8, the spikes 6 of the spiked roller 2 act as scrapers for the scraper fingers 9 of the scraper device 3, so that it can be ensured with comparatively simple means that no accumulations of waste that impair the function of the device can form in the area of ​​the spiked roller 2 and the scraper device 3.

[0016] The collection container 4 has a wall 12 facing the spiked roller 2, with an upper wall section that forms a scraper comb 13 which interacts with the spikes 6 of the spiked roller 2. This scraper comb provides additional cleaning of any remaining residual waste from the spikes 6 of the spiked roller 2.

[0017] To ensure that even waste with higher penetration resistance can be reliably picked up by the spikes 6 of the spiked roller 2, the spikes 6 must be designed to be correspondingly rigid. For this purpose, it is recommended that the spikes 6 have a rectangular cross-section and be provided at their free end with a cutting edge 14 extending circumferentially around the spiked roller 2. Due to the rectangular cross-section, the spikes 6 can be formed in a structurally simple manner by plates with parallel edge slots.

Claims

1. Device for collecting waste with a frame (1) movable on a floor (7), with a spiked roller (2) rotatably mounted in the frame (1), which forms a running roller for the frame (1) that rolls on the floor (6), and with a scraper device (3) engaged between the spikes (6) of the spiked roller (2) and positioned in front of a collection container (4), characterized by the fact that the scraper device (3) has a shaft (8) mounted on the downward rotating side of the spiked roller (2) in the area of ​​its upper quadrant in the frame (1), parallel to the spiked roller (2), and driven in the same direction as the spiked roller (2), with radial scraper fingers (9) engaging between the spikes (6), and the shaft (8) with the scraper fingers (9) can be driven with an angular velocity corresponding to at least five times the angular velocity of the spiked roller (2).

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized by the fact thatthe wiper fingers (9) are arranged in axial rows.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that A scraper comb (13) is assigned to the spiked roller (2) on the downward rotating side in the area of ​​the lower quadrant.

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized by the fact that the scraper comb (13) forms an upper wall section of the collection container (4).

5. Device according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by the fact that the spikes (6) of the spiked roller (2) are formed at their free end with a cutting edge (14) extending in the circumferential direction of the spiked roller (2).

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