Pre-shredder

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pre-shredder machine comprising an upper mechanism (1) having an upper shaft (3) with at least one upper sprocket (5) and a lower mechanism (2) having a lower shaft (4) with at least one lower sprocket (6), wherein the pre-shredder comprises at least one linear actuator (7), and at least one of the mechanisms (1, 2) is joined to the chassis of the pre-shredder via a hinged attachment (8) and joined to the linear actuator (7) via a floating joint (9) and movable such that the distance between the shafts (3, 4) is variable.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pre-shredder that breaks down material before it is fed into a shredder, making the shredded material more uniform and smaller. A feature of the present invention lies in the fact that the distance between the shafts of the pre-shredder is variable and can therefore be selected to obtain a particular size of shredded material. [Background technology]

[0002] The material shredding process places high demands on equipment capacity due to the large amount of transformation required to transform metal products from their end-of-life stage into shredded scrap for recycling. The machines that carry out this process are called shredders.

[0003] Document ES-2488040 B1 describes a shredder known in the art, which has the particularity of being mobile so that the shredder plant does not have to be located at the same place where the materials are processed. This mobile shredder has a particular application in industries such as the collection of end-of-life vehicles, where shredding is essential and at the same time can be shared by other facilities, since it is mobile.

[0004] The power required for a shredder plant or mobile shredder can be reduced by installing a pre-shredder which processes the material fed to the shredder in advance, more or less limiting the size and type of material that reaches the shredder feed.

[0005] This also means that the machinery in the two processes requires less maintenance and can be maintained in a more predictive manner, resulting in less wear and tear, and also improves safety as the risk of explosion in the shredder is reduced as various elements that would cause an explosion in the high-speed process in the shredder can be processed at a slower speed in the pre-shredder.

[0006] The defining characteristic of a pre-shredder is the clearance between the crushing shaft and the disks. Depending on the clearance, different types of pre-shredders can be selected to perform different material treatments in order to minimize the aforementioned risks.

[0007] There are two main types of pre-shredders currently available.

[0008] On the other hand, there are those in which the clearance between the different shafts and the disks is very narrow or practically non-existent - in this case the material processing is carried out in a scissor manner (the process can be compared to a scissor cutting process).

[0009] On the other hand, in others the clearance between the different teeth and the shaft is large and the material processing is carried out by shredding or tearing the material. In the latter there is a high risk that small and dangerous elements can pass through unprocessed.

[0010] For each of these characteristics, if pressed packages are supplied to the first type, i.e. the scissor cut type, such packages are practically impossible to process in this type of machine, or the time that must be devoted to processing such pressed packages becomes so long that it becomes uneconomical. With regard to the method of processing the material, this type of preshredder prioritizes the shearing effect of the material. In such machines, the material is passed through a blade, the function of which is to cut the material, which is not always achieved.

[0011] For the second type of machine, the shredding effect of the material is prioritized, and the production volume is prioritized over the processing size. However, the number of small objects that pass unprocessed is higher than in the former case, which increases the risk of explosion in the subsequent shredding process. For safe processing, this type of shredder for shredding requires an additional visual inspection of the material entering the shredder.

[0012] In this way, a pre-shredder is selected according to the type of material to be processed and the size of the processing. This means that if there is a change in the material to be processed or the processing content, a new pre-shredder with the necessary requirements must be acquired, which leads to an increase in the introduction cost.

[0013] The present invention solves this problem, which is unsolved in the current state of the art, by providing a preshredder with the ability to vary the clearance depending on the material being processed. Summary of the Invention

[0014] The present disclosure relates to a preshredder, the construction and design of which provides greater capacity for both material processing and production while at the same time improving the safety of the processing of hazardous elements.

[0015] To solve these current problems, the preshredder of the present invention includes a system for adjusting the distance between the material processing shafts, allowing it to go from a more open configuration to a more closed configuration, or vice versa, depending on the type of material being processed, or its origin, or the final size of the processed product.

[0016] Likewise, in order to quickly obtain the desired opening configuration, the preshredder is equipped with a control system that allows the adjustment of the opening based on a set of predefined parameters, allowing different working configurations of the machine to be obtained, resulting in an improved capacity for material processing, or a higher production volume, or improved safety for slow processing of hazardous elements, etc.

[0017] In this way, the machine can work in a closed configuration, obtaining a greater material throughput, which requires less energy in its subsequent processing in the shredder, and inhibiting the transfer of potentially explosive materials to the subsequent high-speed shredding stage of the shredder. In this configuration, if the material arrives in the form of packages, it is possible to change to a slightly more open configuration that can also process this type of material, always maintaining a high level of safety when processing highly explosive materials in the high-speed shredding process.

[0018] Another advantage of the system of the present invention is that the opening can be adjusted depending on the motor demands. In this way, a less powerful motor can be installed and material can be processed with alternating degrees of opening.

[0019] Therefore, in the preshredder of the present invention, all material processing configurations can be performed in one device, improving the versatility and universality of operation.

[0020] In order to achieve the above objectives and to avoid the drawbacks, the present invention describes a preshredder comprising an upper mechanism having an upper shaft with at least one upper sprocket and a lower mechanism having a lower shaft with at least one lower sprocket.

[0021] The preshredder has at least one linear actuator, and at least one mechanism is attached to a chassis of the preshredder via an articulated attachment and to the linear actuator via a floating joint, the other end of the linear actuator being attached to the chassis, such that the distance between the shafts can be varied.

[0022] This allows the linkage to be the upper mechanism, the lower mechanism, or both at the same time. In the latter case, the pre-shredder can incorporate a second linear actuator attached to the other mechanism in the same manner as the first linear actuator already described. However, the pre-shredder can incorporate one linear actuator with each of its two ends attached to one of the mechanisms, and with respect to the machine, the linear actuators may be unattached or attached through an intermediate region to provide greater stability.

[0023] To complete the description of the present invention, and to make its features more readily comprehensible, there is included a set of drawings in which, according to preferred exemplary embodiments thereof, the following figures are represented by way of illustration and not by way of limitation: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] Side view of the preshredder in the closed position, i.e. with the upper mechanism close to the lower mechanism [Diagram 2] Front view of the pre-shredder in Fig. 1 [Diagram 3] Cross-section of the preshredder of Figure 2 showing the shredding sprockets [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a side view of the preshredder in the open position, i.e. with the upper mechanism separated from the lower mechanism. [Diagram 5] Front view of the pre-shredder in Figure 4 [Figure 6] A cross-sectional view of the preshredder of FIG. 5 showing the shredding sprockets [Figure 7] FIG. 1 shows a schematic embodiment of an upper and lower shaft having a series of sprockets. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] The preshredder of the present invention comprises an upper mechanism (1) and a lower mechanism (2), each having an upper shaft (3) and a lower shaft (4), and each having an upper sprocket (5) and a lower sprocket (6) assembled thereto for crushing.

[0026] At least one of the two mechanisms (1, 2) is articulated so that its position relative to the other can be changed. To change the position of one mechanism (1, 2) relative to the other, the preshredder includes a linear actuator (7). This linear actuator (7) can be a pneumatic cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or any other actuator known in the art.

[0027] In a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, the upper mechanism (1) is articulated.

[0028] To this end, the upper mechanism (1) has an articulated attachment (8) which is joined to the chassis of the preshredder and to a floating joint (9) which is connected to one end of a linear actuator (7), the other end of which is attached to the chassis of the preshredder.

[0029] Control of the position of the linear actuator (7) is achieved by a transducer.

[0030] In this configuration, when the linear actuator (7) is actuated, it moves the upper mechanism (1) relative to the lower mechanism (2) via the floating joint (9) and rotates about the articulated attachment (8), which results in a change in the clearance between the upper shaft (3) and the lower shaft (4) and therefore a change in the opening as the upper sprocket (5) is further away from the lower sprocket (6), as depicted in Figures 4 to 6.

[0031] The upper shaft (3) is called the low-speed shaft because it rotates slower than the lower shaft (4). The speed difference between the shafts (3, 4) is configured to tear any material passing between them. The low-speed shaft rotates at a speed of 2 to 3 rpm, while the high-speed shaft rotates at a speed of 10 to 12 rpm.

[0032] In this way, the position of the linear actuator (7) can change the configuration of the preshredder depending on the separation between the shafts (3, 4) to be in an open position, a closed position, or at an intermediate point, as required by the process or material in a given situation.

[0033] In addition, there is an option to adjust the opening of the machine depending on the power consumed by the process. This means that the pre-shredder is in the closed position as long as the motor load does not exceed a certain value, and when the motor exceeds this certain value, the opening is changed proportionally so that the motor is used more effectively. In any case, this option is imperative, since the pre-shredder must work in the closed position if, for example, the input material contains a lot of explosive elements.

[0034] In the second embodiment, the lower mechanism (2) is an articulated mechanism. The preshredder configuration is the same as shown in Figure 1, except that the linear actuator (7) is rotated to position the floating joint (9) in the lower mechanism (2), and the upper mechanism (1) remains attached to the preshredder chassis and the other end of the linear actuator (7).

[0035] In a third embodiment, both the upper mechanism (1) and the lower mechanism (2) are articulated. This double articulation can be achieved by using two linear actuators (7), one on each shaft, or by using one linear actuator (7) connected to each end of each mechanism (1, 2). In the latter case, the linear actuators (7) can be connected to the chassis of the preshredder via an intermediate region.

[0036] Since other embodiments can be easily understood by looking at the drawings, only the first embodiment is illustrated in the drawings.

[0037] On the other hand, to make better use of the preshredder, each shaft (3, 4) can incorporate sprockets (5, 6) of different diameters, as shown in the drawings and shown diagrammatically in more detail in FIG. 7. This allows the material to be torn in two directions: on the one hand, by the interaction of the sprockets (5, 6) of the two shafts (3, 4) when they face each other; on the other hand, by shear forces due to the movement between the two sprockets (5, 6) that are not facing each other and are in lateral contact. This configuration has a combination of sprockets (5, 6) of different diameters interposed between the two shafts (3, 4) of the preshredder.

[0038] Finally, it should be considered that the present invention should not be limited by the embodiments described herein. Other configurations can be made by one skilled in the art based on the present specification. The scope of the present invention is therefore defined by the following claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1 Upper mechanism 2 Lower mechanism 3 Upper Shaft 4 Lower Shaft 5 Upper sprocket 6 Lower Sprocket 7 Linear Actuators 8 Articulated Attachment 9 Floating joint

Claims

1. an upper mechanism (1) having an upper shaft (3) with at least one upper sprocket (5); a lower mechanism (2) having a lower shaft (4) with at least one lower sprocket (6); At least one linear actuator (7), At least one of the mechanisms (1, 2) is movable and is connected to the chassis of the preshredder via an articulated attachment (8) and to said linear actuator (7) via a floating joint (9); The distance between the shafts (3, 4) is variable, further comprising a control system; the control system is configured to adjust the distance between the shafts (3, 4) based on a set of predefined parameters; The control system is configured to adjust the distance between the shafts (3, 4) based on the power consumed in the process.

2. 2. A preshredder according to claim 1, wherein the upper mechanism (1) is articulated.

3. 2. A preshredder according to claim 1, wherein the lower mechanism (2) is articulated.

4. 2. The preshredder of claim 1, wherein both the upper mechanism (1) and the lower mechanism (2) are articulated.

5. Two linear actuators (7), 5. A preshredder according to claim 4, wherein each linear actuator (7) is linked to the upper mechanism (1) or the lower mechanism (2).

6. 5. A preshredder according to claim 4, wherein the linear actuator (7) is linked by both ends to the mechanism (1, 2).

7. 6. A pre-shredder according to claim 5, wherein the linear actuator (7) is mounted on the chassis of the pre-shredder.

Images