Asphalt plant

Abstract

To provide an asphalt plant capable of suppressing heat loss from heated waste materials while allowing discharge of defective materials having a predetermined particle diameter or less and oversized materials to outside of the plant by a simple constitution.SOLUTION: Discharge destination switching means 36 for heated waste materials is disposed below a trommel 17 and inside a cold hopper 12 of a self-weight dropping and feeding asphalt plant 1 so as to enable either a waste material storage bin 23, which has a feeding port 24 and is disposed below the trommel 17, or an external discharge path 31 to be selected as a discharge destination of the heated waste materials, which have a predetermined particle diameter or less and pass through a mesh part 18 of the trommel 17. When the external discharge path 31 is selected as the discharge destination, the discharge destination switching means 36 becomes an inclined state to guide the heated waste materials to the external discharge path 31 disposed below an inclined direction, while closing the feeding port 24.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an asphalt plant for producing asphalt mixtures, which are road paving materials. [Background technology]

[0002] In asphalt plants, in order to reuse waste asphalt pavement (hereafter referred to as "waste") dug up during road construction work etc., the waste is crushed and classified into a specified particle size (for example, 13 mm) or less, fed into a waste dryer, and exposed to hot air from a burner to heat it to a specified target temperature (about 160°C) and regenerated. The heated waste is then used as an ingredient for asphalt mixtures.

[0003] At this time, due to some factors such as malfunction of the crusher or adhesion or agglomeration of waste materials, oversized heated waste materials exceeding the specified particle size may be generated. If such oversized heated waste materials are used as material for asphalt mixture, it can cause problems such as depressions and cracks (potholes) in the road pavement.

[0004] As a countermeasure to these problems, the applicant has proposed a waste dryer configured as shown in Patent Document 1, in which a trommel for screening heated waste is connected to the rear end of the kiln body of the waste dryer, and heated waste of a certain particle size or less that passes through the mesh of the trommel is supplied to equipment within the plant (for example, a waste storage bin for storing heated waste) as a material for asphalt mixture, while oversized heated waste that does not pass through the mesh is discharged outside the plant.

[0005] On the other hand, in order to solve problems such as location, it is desired to reduce the space required for asphalt plants, and the applicant has proposed an asphalt plant in which the discharge end of a waste material dryer mounted on a frame is connected to the top of a waste material storage bin in the shape of a vertical cylinder, and the heated waste material discharged from the waste material dryer is directly dropped into the waste material storage bin by gravity, as shown in Patent Document 2. This configuration makes it unnecessary to use a conveying device as much as possible, and simplifies the equipment, and equipment incorporating the waste material dryer with a trommel of Patent Document 1 into such a gravity-drop-type asphalt plant has become mainstream in recent years. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 7-10009 [Patent Document 2] JP 2015-227598 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] However, in the process of thermally regenerating waste materials using a waste material dryer, heated waste materials (defective materials) that do not meet the required quality may be produced due to various reasons such as insufficient heating, and it is desirable to discharge such defective materials that are not suitable as materials for asphalt mixtures outside the plant (discharge from the system). However, in the gravity-drop-in asphalt plant of the above configuration, even if the defective materials are smaller than a specified particle size, they will pass through the mesh part and fall directly into the waste material storage bin. In this case, for example, it is possible to take measures to discharge all of the heated waste materials in the waste material storage bin containing the defective materials, but this would be a waste of energy required to heat the waste materials, and is not economically preferable.

[0008] Therefore, as a measure to avoid the complete discharge of the heated waste material, for example, an asphalt plant 101 according to the conventional technology shown in Fig. 6 is adopted. In the conventional technology shown in Fig. 6, the discharge end of a waste material dryer 103 with a trommel 102 is connected to a waste material storage bin 104, and the asphalt plant 101 is a gravity-drop type asphalt plant 101. The asphalt plant 101 is provided with a first external discharge path 105 for discharging oversized heated waste material outside the plant, and a second external discharge path 106 for discharging defective waste material outside the plant. The first external discharge path 105 is connected to the end 102a of the trommel inside the waste material storage bin 104 and extends outside the waste material storage bin 104. The second external discharge path 106 is connected to the side of the waste material storage bin 104, and a large damper 107, which is a discharge destination switching means, is provided near the upper opening of the second external discharge path 106. The damper 107 is configured to be rotatable about a central axis 108. An exhaust flue 109 is connected to the top of the waste material storage bin 104.

[0009] In the asphalt plant 101, during the operation of the waste dryer 103, the oversized heated waste is sent to the end 102a without passing through the mesh part 102b of the trommel regardless of the rotation position of the damper 107, and is sequentially discharged from the first external discharge path 105 to the waste storage bin 104 and further to the outside of the plant. On the other hand, the heated waste that passes through the mesh part 102b and has a particle size of less than a predetermined size is sequentially dropped by its own weight into the waste storage bin 104 just below.

[0010] On the other hand, when defective material is generated, the damper 107 is rotated and tilted to a position where it overlaps with the gravity-fell path of the heated waste material in a planar view, so that even defective material of a predetermined particle size or less that passes through the mesh section 102b is blocked from falling due to gravity and is not allowed to fall into the waste material storage bin 104, but is instead guided to the second external discharge path 106 and discharged outside the plant.

[0011] However, the asphalt plant 101 is configured to have two separate external discharge pipes 105, 106, which tends to make the device somewhat large and complicated.

[0012] In addition, in the asphalt plant 101, the upper half of the waste storage bin 104, which is formed in a vertically elongated, approximately cylindrical shape, is connected to the discharge side end of the waste dryer 103, and the exhaust gas from the waste dryer 103 is discharged from the exhaust flue 109 provided at the top of the waste storage bin 104. In other words, since the waste storage bin 104 itself was configured to double as an exhaust chamber, the opening area of ​​the waste storage bin 104 was approximately equal to the cross-sectional area of ​​its main body, and was accordingly large. As a result, the hot air from the heated waste inside the waste storage bin 104 gradually flowed out of the plant, causing the temperature to drop, and there was room for improvement in suppressing such heat loss.

[0013] In order to prevent the hot air from escaping, it is possible to provide a damper 107 of a size capable of blocking the entire opening (the horizontal section of the waste storage bin 104 below the trommel 102), but this would place an excessive load on the shaft 108, and would interfere with the first external discharge passage 105 connected to the end 102a of the trommel inside the waste storage bin 104, making it difficult to adopt in practice. Therefore, although the damper 107 of the prior art is large in size in proportion to the area of ​​the opening, even when it is rotated to an inclined position, a considerable gap remains at the back side of the opening in the discharge direction, and it is not possible to prevent the hot air from escaping from the heated waste material being stored.

[0014] In view of the above, an objective of the present invention is to provide an asphalt plant that can suppress heat loss from heated waste materials while enabling defective materials and oversized materials having a particle size below a certain level to be discharged outside the plant with a simple configuration. [Means for solving the problem]

[0015] In order to solve the above problems, the asphalt plant according to claim 1 of the present invention is an asphalt plant in which a hot hopper is provided at one end of a kiln body of a waste material dryer tilted and rotatably supported on a frame, and a cold hopper connected to an exhaust flue is provided at the other end, and a waste material supplying means and a burner are provided on the hot hopper side of the waste material dryer, while a trommel is connected to the end of the kiln body on the cold hopper side, and heated waste material of a particle size that does not pass through the mesh part of the trommel can be discharged outside the plant via an external discharge path arranged below the end of the trommel. This is a poultry plant, in which a means for switching the discharge destination of heated waste material is interposed below the trommel and inside the cold hopper, and the discharge destination of heated waste material having a predetermined particle size or less that passes through the mesh section can be selected from either a waste storage bin with an inlet located below the trommel or the external discharge path, and when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the discharge destination switching means takes an inclined state to guide the heated waste material to the external discharge path located below the inclined direction, while blocking the inlet.

[0016] In addition, in the asphalt plant described in claim 2, the discharge destination switching means is a damper that can be rotated around its central axis, and when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the damper takes an inclined state to block the inlet, while when the waste storage bin is selected as the discharge destination, the damper takes an upright state to open the inlet. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an asphalt plant that can suppress heat loss from heated waste material while enabling defective materials having a particle size below a predetermined value and oversized materials to be discharged outside the plant with a simple configuration. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram of an asphalt plant according to the present invention. [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main portion of the asphalt plant of FIG. [Diagram 3] (a) is a diagram showing the case where the heated waste material with a particle size of 13 mm or less is discharged to an external discharge path, and (b) is a diagram showing the case where the heated waste material with a particle size of 13 mm or less is discharged to a waste material storage bin. [Figure 4] 1 is a flowchart showing a method for operating an asphalt plant according to the present invention. [Diagram 5] 1A is a diagram showing a first modified example of an asphalt plant according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing a second modified example of an asphalt plant according to the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an asphalt plant according to the prior art. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] In the asphalt plant according to the present invention, a waste material dryer for heating waste material is supported at an angle so as to be freely rotatable on an elevated platform having multiple floors. A hot hopper, which is a partition body, is provided on one end of the cylindrical kiln body of the waste material dryer, and a cold hopper, which is a partition body connected to an exhaust flue, is provided on the other end. The hot hopper covers one end (front end) of the kiln body on the higher side, while the cold hopper covers the other end (rear end) of the kiln body on the lower side.

[0020] The hot hopper side of the waste dryer is provided with a waste feed chute as a waste feed means and a burner for supplying hot air, while a trommel having a mesh of a specified shape and size for screening heated waste is connected to the rear end of the kiln body on the cold hopper side. Furthermore, an external discharge path for heated waste is provided below the end of the trommel and below the cold hopper, so that heated waste that does not pass through the mesh and has an oversized particle size of, for example, a particle size of more than 13 mm, can be discharged out of the plant via the end of the trommel and then the external discharge path.

[0021] In the asphalt plant having the above-mentioned configuration, a discharge destination switching means for the heated waste is interposed below the trommel and inside the cold hopper. Specifically, the discharge destination switching means is a movable shielding plate that blocks the heated waste on the gravity drop input path from the mesh part to the inlet of the waste storage bin, forcibly changing the discharge destination. The discharge destination switching means can select the discharge destination of the heated waste having a predetermined particle size (13 mm) or less that passes through the mesh part from either the waste storage bin, the inlet of which is located below (directly below) the mesh part of the trommel, or the external discharge path located to the side of the waste storage bin. In addition, when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the discharge destination switching means is configured to take an inclined state to block the gravity drop input of the heated waste having a predetermined particle size or less and guide the heated waste to the external discharge path located below in the inclined direction, while being arranged in contact with or close to the inlet.

[0022] In the asphalt plant according to the present invention, the cold hopper is provided with both the trommel end where the oversized heated waste material is discharged and the mesh section where the heated waste material with a size equal to or smaller than the predetermined size passes through. In other words, the cold hopper is provided with a gravity-drop feed path for all sizes of heated waste material. This equipment configuration is very compact, and by simply performing the minimum necessary discharge destination switching operation on the gravity-drop feed path, in the event of a malfunction such as the generation of defective material, the heated waste material with a size equal to or smaller than the predetermined size can be prevented from falling into the waste storage bin and can be made to merge with the destination of the heated waste material with a size larger than the predetermined size.

[0023] In addition, the waste material storage bin is structured to be separate from the cold hopper, which has an exhaust chamber function. By adopting such a separate structure, in the asphalt plant according to the present invention, the top of the waste material storage bin is open only to the extent of the input port, and the opening area is kept smaller than in the past.

[0024] By suppressing the opening area, the required size of the discharge destination switching means (a shielding plate for blocking the path of the heated waste material falling under its own weight) can be reduced, and the layout flexibility is improved. As a result, the discharge destination switching means can be placed in a suitable position on the actual machine (below the mesh part, on the path of the heated waste material that falls under its own weight and has a particle size of less than a certain size). This not only makes it possible to restrict the falling of the heated waste material into the opening (feed port) with the minimum required discharge destination switching operation, but also makes it possible to block almost the entire opening with the discharge destination switching means (shielding plate) located above the opening, thereby suppressing the outflow of hot air from the heated waste material during storage.

[0025] In other words, the inclined discharge destination switching means (shielding plate) is positioned above the inlet of the waste storage bin and is configured to block the inlet.With the surrounding area of ​​the discharge destination switching means being covered in an almost airtight manner by the cold hopper (partition), when heated waste is stored inside the waste storage bin, the discharge destination switching means functions like an insulation lid, preventing the escape of hot air from the heated waste during storage (temperature drop during storage).

[0026] Therefore, in the asphalt plant according to the present invention, the external discharge paths for all sizes of heated waste can be consolidated, simplifying and saving space in the equipment, and suppressing heat loss from the heated waste during storage. In addition, when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the heated waste slides down the guide surface (the surface facing the trommel in the inclined state) of the discharge destination switching means and is guided to the external discharge path, so that the weight of the heated waste can be used to drop and the need for a conveying device can be reduced to the minimum, which is also advantageous in simplifying and saving space in the equipment.

[0027] Preferably, the discharge destination switching means is a damper (shielding plate) that can rotate around the central axis, and when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the damper closes the inlet by taking an inclined state with a gradient equal to or greater than the angle of repose of the heated waste material, while when the waste material storage bin is selected as the discharge destination, the damper opens the inlet by taking an approximately vertical upright state. This makes it possible to change the discharge destination of the heated waste material with the minimum necessary rotational movement, which is further advantageous in simplifying the equipment. Furthermore, the required size of the damper is relatively small by suppressing the opening area of ​​the inlet, and a power reduction effect is expected compared to the large damper 107 of the conventional technology in FIG. 6.

[0028] More preferably, the diameter of the inlet is smaller than the inside diameter of the lower part of the cold hopper, which makes it possible to take advantage of the advantage of having a separate structure for the waste material storage bin and the cold hopper, that is, to suppress the outflow of hot air by narrowing the opening area corresponding to the connection between the two pieces of equipment.

[0029] More preferably, the waste material storage bin is disposed directly below the trommel, and the inlet of the waste material storage bin and the trommel are arranged so as to overlap in plan view. This allows heated waste materials with a particle size of less than a certain size to be directly dropped into the waste material storage bin by gravity, which is more advantageous in simplifying the equipment and saving space. In addition, it is possible to prevent the heated waste materials, which are sticky, from adhering to various equipment.

[0030] More preferably, the axial center of the damper is located immediately below the end of the trommel, so that when the damper is in the upright state, it is possible to prevent properly heated and recycled heated waste material having a particle size of less than a predetermined size (heated waste material that passes through the mesh portion and is not defective) from erroneously flowing into the discharge path outside the system with a simple and space-saving structure.

[0031] More preferably, the axial center of the damper is located at the center of the damper in the guide surface direction. This reduces the torque during rotation and the power of the damper. In the conventional technology shown in FIG. 6, the axial center 108 is located at one end of the damper 107 in the longitudinal direction (guide surface direction), and the damper 107 itself is large, so the torque during rotation is large and requires a corresponding amount of power, and there are many layout restrictions on the placement position (it is difficult to adopt a layout other than the side of the waste material storage bin 104). In the present invention, the layout flexibility is improved by making the damper smaller, so that the axial center of the damper can be placed in such a suitable position on the actual machine. EXAMPLES

[0032] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an asphalt plant 1 according to the present invention. The asphalt plant 1 is a manufacturing facility for asphalt mixture, which is a road paving material, and is provided with a vertical waste material conveying device 4 on the side of the ground floor 2f of an elevated platform 3 erected with multiple floors 2a-2f, for lifting the waste material toward the top floor 2a. The waste material is crushed and classified to an appropriate particle size of 13 mm or less in this embodiment by various devices such as a crusher and a vibrating screen, not shown.

[0033] A waste dryer 5 is mounted on the elevated stand 3, which heats and regenerates the waste lifted by the waste vertical transport device 4. Specifically, a base 6 is disposed slightly inclined on the top floor 2a of the elevated stand 3, and a roughly cylindrical kiln body 8 is placed on support rollers 7 on the base 6, so that the kiln body 8 is supported at an incline so as to be freely rotatable, and the waste can be sent out to the lower side in the inclined direction.

[0034] A hot hopper 10, which is a partition body covering the front end 9 of the kiln body, is connected to the front end 9 of the kiln body on the higher side of the inclined kiln body 8, while a cold hopper 12, which is a partition body covering the rear end 11 of the kiln body, is connected to the rear end 11 of the kiln body on the lower side of the kiln body 8.

[0035] The cold hopper 12 has a tapered wall D facing the rear end 11 of the kiln body. This makes it easier for workers to access the internal equipment, such as the movable mechanisms of the dampers described below, during maintenance, and is also expected to prevent hot air from escaping from the plant (preventing the temperature drop of heated waste materials). The upper part of the cold hopper 12, including the tapered wall D, mainly functions as an exhaust chamber to guide exhaust gas from the waste dryer 5 out of the plant.

[0036] Further, a lower expanded diameter section P is formed on the ground side of the reduced diameter section D of the cold hopper 12. The lower expanded diameter section P is formed on the cold hopper 12 below the lowest point of the rear end 11 of the kiln body. In this embodiment, the maximum diameter of the lower expanded diameter section P is approximately equal to the maximum diameter of the upper side of the cold hopper 12. The inside of the lower expanded diameter section P of the cold hopper 12 mainly serves as a drop input path for heated waste material that has been heated and regenerated in the waste material dryer 5.

[0037] The shape of the cold hopper 12 is not limited to that shown in the drawings, and may be a vertically long box or cylinder with approximately the same diameter in each part omitting the reduced diameter part D. Even in these cases, the upper part of the cold hopper 12 of the asphalt plant 1 according to the present invention corresponds to the exhaust chamber, and the lower part corresponds to the drop path for the heated waste material.

[0038] The waste material dryer 5 is integrally formed with the hot hopper 10, and is provided with a waste material input chute (waste material supply means) 13 and a burner 14 for supplying hot air on the hot hopper 10 side. As a result, the waste material lifted by the waste material vertical conveyor device 4 is supplied into the kiln body 8 of the waste material dryer 5 via the waste material input chute 13, and is exposed to the hot air from the burner 14, where it is heated to a target temperature of about 160°C and regenerated.

[0039] The burner 14 is constructed by incorporating a blower fan 16 for supplying air for combustion into a burner body 15. The type of the burner 14 is not particularly limited, and may be an industrial furnace burner capable of burning fossil fuels such as heavy oil and city gas, biomass such as wood fuel, and various other fuels (including gas, liquid, and solid).

[0040] The rear end 11 of the kiln body of the waste dryer 5 is equipped with a trommel 17 for screening heated waste. The trommel 17 has a mesh part 18 of a predetermined shape (a rectangular grid in this embodiment) and a size corresponding to the appropriate grain size (in this embodiment, the length of one side and the diagonal length do not exceed 13 mm).

[0041] As a result, among the heated waste materials that have been heated and recycled in the waste material dryer 5, recycled material R1, which is heated waste material with a particle size of 13 mm or less (proper particle size), passes through the mesh section 18 and is dropped into the material supply equipment described below, while oversized material R2, which is heated waste material with a particle size exceeding 13 mm (above the proper particle size range), does not pass through the mesh section 18 but rolls to the lower side and is discharged from the trommel end section 19. In other words, the heated waste material is sieved into recycled material R1 and oversized material R2 according to its particle size.

[0042] The rear end 11 of the kiln body penetrates into the cold hopper 12 from the wall surface (the wall surface facing the tapered surface of the reduced diameter section D) together with the trommel 17, and a seal member 20 is provided at the penetration point to improve airtightness. In addition, the uppermost part of the cold hopper 12 is connected to an exhaust flue 21, and an exhaust fan 22 is provided on the exhaust flue 21 side. As a result, when the exhaust fan 22, which is a negative pressure generating source, is operated, the exhaust gas from the waste material dryer 5 that fills the inside of the reduced diameter section D of the cold hopper 12 is sucked in and led to the exhaust flue 21 and then to a chimney (not shown) at the end of the exhaust flue 21, and is exhausted outside the plant. In other words, the upper part of the cold hopper 12 including the reduced diameter section D functions as an exhaust chamber that leads the exhaust gas from the waste material dryer 5 out of the plant.

[0043] On the other hand, a waste material storage bin 23 is disposed below the lower expanded diameter portion P of the cold hopper 12, and its (waste material storage bin 23) feed opening 24 is located therein. The waste material storage bin 23 is a storage container that temporarily stores recycled material R1 of an appropriate grain size in an insulated state, and in this embodiment, it is incorporated into the asphalt plant 1 by penetrating each of the floors 2a to 2c of the elevated platform 3. The waste material storage bin 23 is disposed directly below the mesh portion 18 of the trommel 17 (at a position where the feed opening 24 overlaps with the mesh portion 18 in a plan view).

[0044] With this arrangement, of the heated waste material that has been heated and recycled in the waste material dryer 5, recycled material R1 of appropriate particle size that passes through the mesh section 18 passes through the inside of the lower expanded diameter section P of the cold hopper 12 and falls into the waste material storage bin 23 directly below the mesh section 18.

[0045] At this time, since the feed opening 24 is smaller in diameter than the inner diameter of the maximum diameter part of the cold hopper 12 (lower expanded diameter part P) and the inner diameter of the waste storage bin 23 body, the upper opening area of ​​the waste storage bin 23 is suppressed compared to the prior art, but even so, when the exhaust fan 22 is operated with the feed opening 24 open, the air (hot air) inside the waste storage bin 23 can flow out through the feed opening 24 into the lower expanded diameter part P of the cold hopper 12. The hot air that flows out and rises can be sucked and exhausted from the upper part of the cold hopper 12 (part equivalent to the exhaust chamber) together with the exhaust gas from the waste dryer 5 that fills the vicinity of the inside of the reduced diameter part D.

[0046] Such outflow of hot air causes a drop in the temperature of the recycled material R1 during storage, and if the recycled material R1 with a lowered temperature is used to produce an asphalt mixture, it may become undesirable in terms of quality. However, in the present invention, the arrangement of the discharge destination switching mechanism for heated waste material, which will be described later, is used to suppress such outflow of hot air.

[0047] In this embodiment, the waste material storage bin 23 is a cylindrical body with a tapered shape at the bottom, but any desired shape can be adopted. In this embodiment, in order to improve the heat retention performance of the recycled material R1, a heat insulating material (not shown) is applied only to the waste material storage bin 23. In this case, since the waste material storage bin 23 is structured separately from the cold hopper 12, even if the cold hopper 12 does not have to be provided with a heat insulating material, heat radiation from the heated waste material is unlikely to occur, and the heat retention performance is relatively good. This makes it possible to suppress heat loss with a simple configuration and reduce the cost of the heat insulating material. However, the location where the heat insulating material is applied is not limited to this embodiment, and the application itself may be omitted.

[0048] A waste material measuring tank 25 is provided immediately below the waste material storage bin 23, and a mixer 26 is provided immediately below the waste material measuring tank 25. This allows the recycled material R1 stored in the waste material storage bin 23 to be discharged in turn to the waste material measuring tank 25 and then to the mixer 26, where it can be dropped by its own weight. The waste material storage bin 23, the waste material measuring tank 25, and the mixer 26 each have an opening and closing gate (not shown).

[0049] A new material dryer 27 for heating and drying new aggregate is provided separately on the ground floor 2f on the side of the elevated platform 3, and a dust-collecting bag filter 28 is disposed above the new material dryer 27. The new aggregate (new material) that has been heated and dried in the new material dryer 27 is lifted by a new material vertical conveyor 29 toward the top floor 2a of the elevated platform 3.

[0050] A vibrating sieve 30 for sieving the heated new aggregate by particle size is provided near the waste storage bin 23 on the elevated platform 3, and an aggregate storage bin (not shown) for storing the heated new aggregate sieved by the vibrating sieve 30 by particle size in a warm state, and an aggregate measuring tank (not shown) for measuring the heated new aggregate stored in the aggregate storage bin are installed in a hierarchical manner in order, and the mixer 26 is arranged directly below the aggregate measuring tank, so that the heated new aggregate can be added by gravity, just like the recycled material R1. In addition, storage and supply equipment (not shown) for various materials for the asphalt mixture, such as stone powder, new asphalt, and recycled additives, is provided and connected separately to the mixer 26. This makes it possible to mix and adjust the recycled material R1, new aggregate, and various other materials supplied to the mixer 26 to produce the desired asphalt mixture (recycled asphalt mixture).

[0051] On the other hand, in case such heated waste material unsuitable for use as a material for recycled asphalt mixture is generated, an external discharge path 31 is connected to the lower part of the lower enlarged diameter section P of the cold hopper 12 (on the side of the inlet 24 and at the rear in the discharge direction) in order to discharge the heated waste material outside the plant. A typical example of heated waste material unsuitable for use as a material for recycled asphalt mixture is oversized material R2, and even if the waste material is crushed and classified to an appropriate grain size in advance, a certain amount of oversized material may be generated due to some factors. The asphalt plant 1 according to this embodiment employs a configuration that allows such oversized material R2 to be discharged outside the plant without falling into the waste material storage bin 23.

[0052] Specifically, the chute opening 32 of the external discharge path 31 faces the trommel end 19 (located directly below the trommel end 19) so as to be substantially flush with the inlet 24 of the waste material storage bin 23. The external discharge path 31 is formed by connecting an inclined chute 33 extending to the side of the elevated platform 3 with a vertical drop chute 34 disposed vertically along the side of the elevated platform 3, and is provided with an external discharge gate 35 at the bottom end of the vertical drop chute 34. The inclined chute 33 has a gradient steeper than the angle of repose of at least the various heated waste materials including the oversized material R2.

[0053] With the above-mentioned configuration, when the oversized material R2 is discharged from the trommel terminal end 19 without passing through the mesh portion 18 (and therefore without falling into the inlet 24 of the waste material storage bin 23 directly below), it passes through the inside of the lower expanded diameter portion P of the cold hopper 12 and first falls into the chute opening 32 directly below the trommel terminal end 19. Furthermore, the oversized material R2 passes through the inclined chute 33 and vertical drop chute 34 of the external discharge path 31 in this order, and is guided to fall into the external discharge gate 35.

[0054] The external discharge gate 35 into which the oversized material R2 falls is normally closed, but when a certain amount of the oversized material R2 accumulates inside the external discharge path 31, the external discharge gate 35 is opened at a required timing. As a result, the oversized material R2 is finally discharged outside the plant.

[0055] However, the heated waste material that is not suitable as a raw material for asphalt mixture is not limited to the oversized material R2. For example, heated waste material R3 (hereinafter referred to as "defective material R3") that does not meet the required quality for some reason such as insufficient heating may be generated during the operation of the waste material dryer 5, even if it falls within the appropriate particle size of 13 mm or less.

[0056] Such defective material R3 falls through the openings in the lattice of the mesh section 18, and if no measures are taken, it will follow a path that passes through the inside of the lower expanded diameter section P of the cold hopper 12 and falls into the waste material storage bin 23 directly below.

[0057] In this embodiment, therefore, a damper 36 is employed as a discharge destination switching means (movable shielding plate) for the defective material R3, and the damper 36 is provided over substantially the entire interior area of ​​the lower expanded diameter portion P of the cold hopper 12, and is configured to be rotatable about an axial center portion 37 below the trommel 17. The damper 36 is connected to a control portion 38 so as to be able to communicate with the control portion 38 by wire or wirelessly, and its rotation operation is controlled by a rotation controller 39 provided in the control portion 38.

[0058] As a result, if defective material R3 is generated during the operation of the waste material dryer 5, the damper 36 is rotated to a predetermined position to prevent the defective material from falling into the lower expansion section P, and the defective material R3 is guided to the chute opening 32 to the side of the inlet 24, making it possible to forcibly switch the discharge destination from the waste material storage bin 23 located on the initial (default) input path to the external discharge path 31.

[0059] In addition, when recycled materials R1 having a predetermined quality are produced, the waste material storage bin 23 is selected as the discharge destination by rotating (releasing) the damper 36 to a predetermined initial position that does not prevent the dropping of the materials. In other words, the damper 36 allows the discharge destination of each heated waste material R1, R3 having a particle size of 13 mm or less to be selected from either the waste material storage bin 23 or the external discharge path 31.

[0060] When the external discharge path 31 is selected as the discharge destination, the defective material R3 meets with the oversized material R2 on the way to be guided down to the chute opening 32, and follows the same discharge path. At this time, the inside of the lower enlarged diameter section P of the cold hopper 12 is a gravity drop input path common to the heated waste materials R1 to R3 of each particle size, and is connected to the gravity drop input destination, the external discharge path 31, and the waste material storage bin 23, so that the inside of the lower enlarged diameter section P is an extremely suitable location for installing the damper 36 of the discharge destination switching means, and this arrangement realizes simplification (compactness) of the equipment.

[0061] That is, recycled material R1 with a particle size of 13 mm or less is normally dropped from the trommel 17 into the waste material storage bin, but if defective material R3 occurs, a simple operation compared to the conventional technology (simply rotate the damper 36 at the upper part of the inlet 24 to a minimum) prevents the material from falling into the waste material storage bin 23 and allows it to be discharged outside the system together with the oversized material R2. This structural advantage is made possible by separating the cold hopper 12 from the waste material storage bin 23, narrowing the opening area of ​​the inlet 24, and arranging a damper 36 smaller than the conventional one (with a size corresponding to the narrowing diameter of the inlet 24) inside the lower expanded diameter portion P above the inlet 24.

[0062] In addition, the inlet 24 is positioned so as not to be on the path of the oversized material R2 falling due to its own weight, thereby preventing the oversized material R2 from falling and mixing into the waste material storage bin 23. This eliminates the need to directly connect the external discharge path 31 (FIG. 6, 105) to the trommel end portion 19 (FIG. 6, 102a) as in the prior art, which also simplifies the equipment in this respect.

[0063] Although the details of the control unit 38 are not shown in the drawings, the damper 36 is driven by a driving means (not shown) such as an air cylinder, and the driving means and a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller, not shown) are communicatively connected, and the PLC is further communicatively connected to an operating PC terminal (a computer consisting of a processor such as a CPU or GPU, a memory such as a RAM, and a storage medium such as a hard disk drive or SSD, not shown). Hereinafter, the control unit 38 is a general term for the PLC and the PC terminal.

[0064] The control unit 38 is also connected to the plant control panel 40 so that it can communicate with it, and at least a signal related to the operating state (operation / stop) of the waste dryer 5 is sent from the plant control panel 40 to the control unit 38. Furthermore, the exhaust gas temperature detected by a temperature sensor (temperature detection means) T provided in the exhaust flue 21 downstream of the waste dryer 5 is sent appropriately from the plant control panel 40 to the control unit 38. The plant control panel 40 has pre-registered values ​​of predetermined temperatures such as the target temperature of the heated waste and the required temperature inside the kiln body 8 required to heat the heated waste to the target temperature. Parameters such as the operating state and temperature of the waste dryer 5 are used appropriately for plant operation control, which will be described later.

[0065] 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part in FIG. 1, and the kiln body 8 of the parallel heating type waste material dryer 5 has a liner (not shown) around the front half F where the burner 14 flame is formed, and has a plurality of scraping blades 41 in the rear half B. As a result, the waste material supplied into the kiln body 8 through the input chute 13 is scraped up in a veil shape by the scraping blades 41 while being exposed to the hot air of the burner 14 and heated and regenerated, and is sent to the rear end 11 of the kiln body and sieved by particle size by the trommel 17. Of the sieved heated waste material, the oversized material R2 is discharged from the trommel end 19 regardless of the rotation position and state of the damper 36, and is sequentially dropped by gravity into the external discharge path 31.

[0066] The axial center portion 37 of the damper 36 is located near an imaginary axis L that hangs down from the lower end of the trommel terminal portion 19. The axial center portion 37 is located approximately in the center of the damper 36 in the longitudinal direction.

[0067] The damper 36 is in an inclined state at one rotation position. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3(a), the damper 36 in the inclined state has a gradient in the inclination direction (longitudinal direction) that is steeper than the angle of repose of at least the heated waste materials R1 to R3, and blocks the defective material R3 having a particle size of 13 mm or less on the gravity drop input path, and slides it down on the guide surface α of the damper 36 (the surface represented by the thick line that faces the trommel 17 in the inclined state) and guides it to the chute opening 32.

[0068] At this time, the inclined damper 36 is located above the inlet 24 of the waste storage bin 23 and closes the inlet 24. When the recycled material R1 is stored inside the waste storage bin 23, the damper 36 acts as a heat-retaining lid and can suppress the outflow of hot air H from the recycled material R1 (temperature drop during storage). Furthermore, the inlet 24 is smaller in diameter than at least the inner diameter of the lower enlarged diameter part P of the cold hopper 12 (the opening area corresponding to the connection part is narrowed), thereby enhancing the effect of suppressing the outflow of hot air H from the recycled material R1 during storage. This makes it possible to suppress the air (hot air H) in the waste storage bin 23 from being sucked into the cold hopper 12 connected to the inlet 24 even when the exhaust fan 22 is operating. Note that the guide surface α is omitted in each figure other than Figures 3(a) and (b).

[0069] When the damper 36 is in the inclined state shown in Fig. 3(a), one end of the damper 36 on the lower side in the inclination direction is in contact with or close to the upper edge β of the inlet 24 (the region indicated by the thick line, which is the connection between the waste material storage bin 23 and the cold hopper 12), and the other end of the damper 36 on the higher side is in contact with or close to the inner wall surface γ of the cold hopper 12 (the surface indicated by the thick line on one side of the cold hopper 12). Here, close to means that one end of the damper 36 and the upper edge β, and the other end of the damper 36 and the inner wall surface γ are separated by a gap of, for example, about 500 mm or less, preferably about 300 mm or less, and more preferably about 100 mm or less. In each of the figures other than Figs. 3(a) and (b), the upper edge β and the inner wall surface γ are omitted.

[0070] It is considered that the smaller the gap between each of these components, the greater the effect of suppressing the outflow of the hot air H, but even if some gaps are provided, the outflow of the hot air H can be suppressed to a considerable extent. Therefore, without being limited to these numerical values, a gap that can suppress the outflow of the hot air H may be allowed depending on the suction capacity of the exhaust fan 22, etc. It is considered that by providing some gaps at both ends of the damper 36, problems such as the damper 36 becoming stuck due to the old asphalt content of the heated waste material can be suppressed.

[0071] On the other hand, the damper 36 is in an upright state at another rotation position. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3(b), when the damper 36 is in an upright state, the guide surface α of the damper 36 is in a vertical upright state (approximately overlapping with the imaginary axis L) and the insertion port 24 is fully opened.

[0072] In the asphalt plant 1 configured as described above, when a recycled asphalt mixture containing a specified proportion of recycled material R1 is manufactured, in order to pre-heat, regenerate, and store a corresponding amount of recycled material R1 before the recycled asphalt mixture is mixed and adjusted (before a shipping request is made), the waste material that has been crushed and classified in advance is lifted by the waste material vertical conveying device 4 and supplied to the waste material dryer 5 mounted on the top floor 2a of the elevated platform 3.

[0073] The steps of the operation method will be described below with reference to the flow chart of Fig. 4. In the figure, S1 to S10 represent steps of each procedure.

[0074] First, the burner 14 is ignited by operating both the burner body 15 and the blower fan 16 of the waste material dryer 5 (S1), and the heated waste material is sent out by rotating the kiln body 8 (S2). Note that, in the waste material dryer 5 immediately after the start of heating, the inside of the kiln body 8 has not yet risen in temperature sufficiently, and the waste material R3 is likely to be generated due to insufficient heating.

[0075] In response, the control unit 38 rotates the damper 36 to an inclined position, selects the external discharge path 31 as the discharge destination for heated waste material (defective material R3) with a particle size of 13 mm or less, and blocks the feed inlet 24 (S3). During start-up operation until the internal temperature of the kiln body 8 of the waste material dryer 5 reaches a required temperature sufficient to heat the waste material to the target temperature (for example, approximately 160°C) (S4: NO), all heated waste materials R2 and R3 of all particle sizes discharged from the waste material dryer 5 are discharged outside the system.

[0076] Specifically, as shown in Fig. 3(a) during start-up operation of the waste dryer 5, the oversized material R2 falls from the trommel end 19 into the external discharge path 31 under its own weight, while the defective material R3 (undercooked) falling toward the input port 24 is blocked by the inclined damper 36, and the defective material R3 (undercooked) slides down the guide surface α of the damper 36 and is guided to the external discharge path 31, where the heated waste materials R2 and R3 to be discharged outside the plant are joined together. In this embodiment, the internal temperature of the kiln body 8 is calculated based on the exhaust gas temperature detected by the temperature sensor T.

[0077] Next, when the inside of the kiln body 8 of the waste dryer 5 reaches the required temperature and transitions to steady-state operation (S4: YES), the control unit 38 rotates the damper 36 to an upright position, selects the waste storage bin 23 as the discharge destination for heated waste (recycled material R1) with a particle size of 13 mm or less, and opens the feed opening 24 (S5).While the burner 14 is operating (S6: NO), oversized material R2 is discharged outside the system, while recycled material R1 that has been heated to about 160°C is fed into the waste storage bin 23.

[0078] Specifically, during normal operation of the waste dryer 5, as shown in FIG. 3(b), even if the waste is heated and regenerated at about 160°C, the oversized material R2 falls under its own weight from the trommel end 19 into the external discharge path 31, while only the recycled material R1 that has been heated and regenerated at about 160°C and has an appropriate grain size falls under its own weight into the inlet 24 of the waste storage bin 23. At this time, the damper 36 is in an upright position, so that the recycled material R1 falls under its own weight into the inlet 24 without being blocked. In addition, the damper 36 in the upright position blocks the side of the external discharge path 31 of the path through which the recycled material R1 falls under its own weight, preventing the recycled material R1, which is suitable for asphalt mixture materials, from being mistakenly discharged outside the system. This allows the recycled material R1 to be produced with a good yield.

[0079] Next, if the operation of the burner 14 is to be terminated (S6: YES), the burner 14 is extinguished and the supply of waste material from the waste material vertical transport device 4 and the waste material input chute 13 is stopped in advance (S7). At this time, a certain amount of waste material remains inside the kiln body 8, but since the burner 14 has been extinguished, there may be defective waste material R3 with various properties such as grain size that vary.

[0080] Therefore, after the burner 14 is extinguished, in order to prevent such defective material R3 from falling and mixing in, the control unit 38 again rotates the damper 36 to an inclined position, selects the external discharge path 31 as the discharge destination for heated waste material (defective material R3) with a particle size of 13 mm or less, and blocks the inlet 24 (S8).During the shutdown operation (S9: YES) until all heated waste material (residual material) R2, R3 of all particle sizes remaining inside the kiln body 8 is gone, the kiln body 8 continues to rotate (discharge of waste material) to discharge all particle sizes of residual material R2, R3 discharged from the waste material dryer 5 outside the system.

[0081] Specifically, during the start-up operation of the waste dryer 5, as shown in Figure 3(a), of the remaining materials inside the kiln body 8, oversized material R2 falls under its own weight from the trommel end 19 into the external discharge path 31, and defective material R3 falling toward the feed opening 24 is blocked by an inclined damper 36, and the defective material R3 slides down the guide surface α of the damper 36 and is guided into the external discharge path 31, and the heated waste materials R2 and R3 to be discharged externally are joined together and discharged outside the plant.

[0082] In this way, defective materials R3 that may occur during each operation of the waste material dryer 5 due to low temperature or insufficient heating (during start-up operation) and defective materials R3 that remain inside the kiln body 8 after the burner 14 is extinguished (during shut-down operation) are forcibly discharged from the system even though they are below the appropriate particle size of 13 mm. Therefore, only recycled materials R1 that meet the specified quality can be selectively stored in the waste material storage bin 23, and it is expected that the quality of the recycled asphalt mixture made by mixing these materials will be improved.

[0083] In addition, even when newly heated recycled material R1 is added to the waste storage bin 23 while recycled material R1 remains inside the waste storage bin 23, any defective material R3 that is generated can be pinpointed and discharged from the system. This is expected to improve the quality of the recycled asphalt mixture, and it is not necessary to discharge all of the recycled material R1 that has already been added from the waste storage bin 23 when defective material R3 is generated, which is economically preferable as it avoids energy loss.

[0084] Then, when all the residual materials R2 and R3 inside the kiln body 8 of the waste material dryer 5 are discharged (S9: NO), the rotation drive of the kiln body 8 is stopped to stop the discharge of the waste material (S10). This ends the thermal regeneration process of the waste material by the waste material dryer 5.

[0085] A series of steps of the thermal regeneration process can be executed as a "thermal regeneration operation mode" by sequence control or feedback control based on the detection result of the temperature sensor T. For example, during execution of the "thermal regeneration operation mode", the control unit 38 may move to an arbitrary next step after a predetermined time has elapsed (timer up) in each step. Also, in S4, the control unit 38 may move to the next step S5 of rotating the damper 38 based on the exhaust temperature detected by the temperature sensor T.

[0086] Even during the thermal regeneration process of the waste material by the waste material dryer 5 (corresponding to S5 during the material heating operation), the temperature inside the kiln body 8 may suddenly drop. In this case, as in FIG. 3(a), the control unit 38, for example, rotates the damper 36 by interrupt processing to make it tilted, selects the external discharge path 31 as the discharge destination of the defective material R3, and closes the input port 24 to discharge the heated waste material R2, R3 of all particle sizes including the defective material R3 out of the system. In this embodiment, the temperature of the heated waste material after the heat treatment is monitored by the exhaust gas temperature detected by the temperature sensor T, and transitions to the "defective material removal mode" as an interrupt processing on the condition that the exhaust gas temperature falls below a predetermined value (the temperature inside the kiln body 8 is equal to or lower than the required temperature). However, whether or not to transition to the "defective material removal mode" may be determined by an operator or by mechanical means. In addition, even if the temperature inside the kiln body 8 has risen to the required temperature, it is possible that for some reason defective material R3 that does not meet the specified quality will be generated. In this case, too, it is advisable to execute the "defective material removal mode" as described above.

[0087] After the material heating operation of the waste dryer 5 is completed, the control unit 38 keeps the damper 36 in an inclined state unless additional heated waste R1 is added to the waste storage bin 23 (selecting the external discharge path 31 as the discharge destination for heated waste R1 and R3 with a particle size of 13 mm or less, and keeping the inlet 24 in a closed state). This operation method can be executed as a "warm mode". Even when the burner 14 is turned off, the exhaust fan 22 is operated and the blower fan 16 is operated independently as necessary to keep the air inside the kiln body 8 clean, so that the ventilation operation of the waste dryer 5 can be performed. Even in this case, the hot air H can be prevented from flowing out of the waste storage bin 23 during the execution of the "warm mode".

[0088] In this way, in the asphalt plant 1 of the present invention, the mixing of defective material R3 is suppressed to improve the quality of the recycled material R1, and the recycled material R1 inside the waste material storage bin 23 is effectively kept warm in preparation for shipment.

[0089] Then, when there is a request to ship the recycled asphalt mixture, the recycled material R1 stored in the waste storage bin 23 is dropped under its own weight into the waste measuring tank 25 directly below according to the mixing ratio of the recycled material R1 in the recycled asphalt mixture being produced, and after the specified amount is measured, it is dropped under its own weight into the mixer 26 directly below.

[0090] In addition, heated new aggregate of each particle size that has been separately heated and dried in a new material dryer 27 is dispensed from the aggregate storage bin, weighed in an aggregate weighing tank, and then dropped under its own weight into the mixer 26 directly below. The recycled material R1 and heated new aggregate are then mixed and adjusted while adding a specified amount of new asphalt, stone powder, recycled additives, etc. to produce the desired recycled asphalt mixture. The produced recycled asphalt mixture is dispensed, for example, to a shipping transport vehicle (not shown) that has entered below the mixer 26, in preparation for the production of the next batch of asphalt mixture.

[0091] The oversized material R2 and the defective material R3 are discharged from the discharge gate 35 and can be appropriately reused by being classified, crushed, heated and recycled again.

[0092] The asphalt plant 1 according to the present invention described above is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[0093] For example, as shown in a first modified example in Fig. 5(a), a guide portion 42 may be provided below the trommel terminal end portion 19. The guide portion 42 is configured to prevent the oversized material R2 discharged from the trommel terminal end portion 19 from contacting the damper 36. Specifically, the guide plate 42 is a bent plate material, and includes a vertical guide portion 43 that is approximately parallel to the damper 36 in the standing state, and an inclined guide portion 44 that is approximately parallel to the damper 36 in the inclined state. The vertical guide portion 43 is located on the discharge direction side of the damper 36 in the standing state, and the inclined guide portion 44 is located above the damper 36 in the inclined state.

[0094] As a result, the opportunity for the guide surface of the damper 36 to come into contact with the heated waste material is limited to specific cases, such as when defective material R3 is generated, and the old asphalt components of the heated waste material are prevented from adhering to the damper 36, thereby reducing the burden of cleaning work during maintenance, etc.

[0095] 5(b), the discharge destination switching means may be a slide gate 45 that can slide diagonally. In one sliding position, the slide gate 45 closes the inlet 24 of the waste material storage bin 23 and selects the external discharge path 31 as the discharge destination for defective materials R3 having a particle size of 13 mm or less, while in the other sliding position, the slide gate 45 opens the inlet 24 and selects the waste material storage bin 23 as the discharge destination for recycled materials R1 having a particle size of 13 mm or less.

[0096] In addition, the predetermined particle size that is the reference value for the appropriate particle size of the recycled material R1 is not limited to a particle size of 13 mm. Therefore, various sizes and shapes of the mesh portion 18 may be adopted. For example, the size of the mesh portion 18 may be changed from a size that allows recycled material R1 with a particle size of 13 mm or less to pass through to a size that allows heated waste material with a suitable particle size, such as a particle size of 20 mm or less, to pass through. In addition, the shape of the mesh portion 18 is not limited to a square shape.

[0097] In addition, the descriptions in each figure do not in any way limit the gradient (degree of gradient) of the inclined damper 36, the inclined chute 33, the inclined guide plate 45, etc., but it is preferable to determine the gradient in accordance with the angle of repose of the heated waste material so that it is at least steeper than the angle of repose.

[0098] In addition, the target temperature during the thermal regeneration of the waste material is not limited to 160°C. In this embodiment, the exhaust gas temperature is used to monitor the temperature of the heated waste material, but the plant equipment such as the rear end portion 11 of the kiln body, the inside of the cold hopper 12, and the waste material storage bin 23 may be provided with a temperature detection means such as a temperature sensor to directly measure the temperature of the heated waste material. In particular, the temperature of the heated waste material thermally regenerated by the waste material dryer 5 may be directly measured and monitored, and when the temperature falls below a predetermined value, the system may switch to the "defective material removal mode". In addition, various types of temperature detection means such as contact type and non-contact type may be adopted, and the detected temperature value may be an estimated value or a predicted value in addition to a direct measurement value.

[0099] The modified examples of the above disclosure and the configurations appearing in the above embodiments may be combined as appropriate to the extent that no contradiction occurs. [Industrial Applicability]

[0100] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely applied in asphalt plants that produce asphalt mixtures for road paving (particularly recycled asphalt mixtures obtained by mixing heated waste materials). [Explanation of symbols]

[0101] 1... Plant body 3... Elevated platform 5...Waste dryer 8...Kiln body 8...Exhaust flue 10...Hot hopper 12…Cold hopper 14…Burner 17... Trommel 21... Exhaust flue 23...Waste storage bin 24...Feeding port 31...External discharge path 36...Damper (discharge destination switching means) R1…Heated waste material (recycled material) R2…Heated waste material (oversized material) R3…Heated waste (defective material)

Claims

1. A hot hopper is provided at one end of the kiln body of a waste material dryer tilted and rotatably supported on a stand, and a cold hopper connected to an exhaust flue is provided at the other end. The hot hopper side of the waste material dryer is equipped with a waste material supplying means and a burner, while a trommel is connected to the end of the kiln body on the cold hopper side. The heated waste material, which does not pass through the mesh part of the trommel, can be discharged outside the plant via an external discharge path located below the end of the trommel. and a means for switching the discharge destination of heated waste material is interposed throughout the cold hopper, so that the discharge destination of heated waste material having a predetermined particle size or less that passes through the mesh section can be selected from either a waste storage bin having an inlet located below the trommel or the external discharge path, and when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the discharge destination switching means takes an inclined state to guide the heated waste material to the external discharge path located below the inclined direction, while blocking the inlet.

2. The asphalt plant described in claim 1, characterized in that the discharge destination switching means is a damper that can be rotated around its central axis, and when the external discharge path is selected as the discharge destination, the damper takes an inclined state to block the inlet, while when the waste storage bin is selected as the discharge destination, the damper takes an upright state to open the inlet.

Images