Recovery device

Abstract

The present invention provides a collection device capable of collecting solid objects scattered on waterfronts and other similar locations, and more specifically, a collection device capable of efficiently collecting synthetic resin waste on beaches. [Solution] A recovery device 1 capable of recovering solid objects scattered on the water's edge, etc., comprising: a receiving base 10 having an opening 11, which can be advanced forward along the ground or water surface with the opening 11 facing forward, thereby allowing solid objects to be fed into the device through the opening 11; a posture stabilizer 20 attached to the receiving base 10 to stabilize the posture of the advancing receiving base 10; and an introduction assist plate 30 attached to the receiving base 10 near the opening 11 and which can be extended forward to guide solid objects into the opening 11.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a recovery device capable of recovering scattered solids.

Background Art

[0002] A beach cleaner is known as a recovery device for recovering solids such as bottles and cans scattered on the coast. The beach cleaner is self-propelled or towed, scrapes up the sand on the coast, and separates the sand by rotating or vibrating sieving means to recover garbage such as bottles and cans buried in the sand (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] Conventionally, as the garbage to be recovered, empty cans, empty bottles, or woods such as driftwood are common, and they generally have a relatively large weight and are often deeply buried in the sand on the coast.

[0004] Due to the regular cleaning of the coast, such heavy garbage has become less visible. On the other hand, recently, with the increasing use of synthetic resin containers, there has been a tendency for synthetic resin garbage, such as PET bottles, to increase on the coast. In particular, these synthetic resin garbage are often not the garbage left by users using the coast, but are often those that have drifted in as floating garbage. Moreover, due to their low specific gravity, they are difficult to be buried in the sand and are easy to be conspicuous.

[0005] Furthermore, the floating synthetic resin garbage is easily deteriorated by being exposed to ultraviolet rays while floating in seawater, and often becomes small pieces and floats. Small pieces of synthetic resin with a size of several millimeters have also accumulated on the sandy beach.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

[0007] In light of the current situation, the inventors conducted research to develop a collection device that can effectively collect synthetic resin waste, rather than conventional beach cleaners that target waste such as empty cans, and thus arrived at the present invention.

[0008] In other words, the present invention aims to provide a collection device that can efficiently collect synthetic resin waste, and further aims to provide a collection device that can collect not only synthetic resin waste but also various solid materials when used outside of coastal areas. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention provides a recovery device capable of recovering solid matter scattered on a body of water or the like, and is characterized by comprising: a receiving base having an opening, which can be advanced forward along the ground or water surface with the opening facing forward, thereby allowing solid matter to be fed into the device through the opening; a posture stabilizer attached to the receiving base to stabilize the posture of the receiving base as it advances; and an introduction assist plate attached to the receiving base near the opening and which extends forward to guide solid matter into the opening.

[0010] Furthermore, the recovery device of the present invention also has the following features. (1) The containment base is constructed by attaching a mesh sheet to a box-shaped base frame, and the sand that is taken into the containment base along with solid matter can be discharged to the outside of the containment base through the mesh sheet. (2) The base frame has a frame-shaped left frame, a frame-shaped right frame, and a plurality of support frames installed on the left frame and the right frame. The left frame and the right frame are gradually widened vertically from the opening side to the rear of the base frame, thereby increasing the efficiency of accommodating bulky solids while suppressing the falling of the accommodating solids from the accommodating base. (3) The posture stabilizers have a flat, smooth surface with a length greater than the front-to-back length of the housing base, and are attached to the left frame and the right frame, respectively. (4) The introduction support plate has a flat upper surface and a wing-shaped curved lower surface, and the advancing housing base creates a downward pushing force on the front tip edge of the introduction support plate relative to the direction of travel. (5) The containment base is equipped with a conveyor for transporting solid objects that have reached the opening to the rear. (6) The posture stabilizer is a float and is capable of floating on water. (7) The housing base is equipped with a self-propelled mechanism. (8) The vehicle must have a means of acquiring location information via GPS. (9) The system has imaging means for generating image data of the direction of movement of the moving housing base. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The present invention provides a collection device comprising a storage base, a posture stabilizer, and an introduction assist plate. The storage base has an opening, and by moving forward along the ground or water surface with the opening facing forward, solid objects can be fed into the interior through the opening. The posture stabilizer is attached to the storage base to stabilize the posture of the storage base as it moves. The introduction assist plate is attached near the opening of the storage base and extends forward to guide solid objects into the opening, thereby enabling the collection of solid objects such as synthetic resin waste, including PET bottles, scattered on beaches and the like. In particular, it can efficiently collect not only solid objects with a predetermined shape, such as PET bottles, but also synthetic resin waste that has deteriorated into small fragments.

[0012] In particular, synthetic resin waste such as PET bottles and small fragments of synthetic resin waste are very lightweight, and vigorous movements such as those used for sifting can actually cause them to scatter. However, by simply moving the receiving base equipped with a posture stabilizer and an introduction assist plate forward, these wastes can be inserted into the receiving base and collected reliably without causing unnecessary scattering. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] This is an explanatory diagram of the recovery device (in the state without a mesh sheet) of the present embodiment. [Figure 2] This is an explanatory diagram of the recovery device of the present embodiment. [Figure 3] This is an explanatory diagram of the usage state of the recovery device of the present embodiment. [Figure 4] This is an explanatory diagram of the conveyor device used by being mounted on the recovery device of the present embodiment. [Figure 5] This is an explanatory diagram of the recovery device in a state where the conveyor device is mounted. [Figure 6] This is an explanatory diagram of the recovery device provided with a self-propelled device. [Figure 7] This is an explanatory diagram of the recovery device when the attitude stabilizer is a float.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] The recovery device of the present invention is a recovery device capable of recovering solid substances scattered on the waterside or the like. One form thereof is a beach cleaner capable of recovering synthetic resin garbage on the coast. In the following description of the embodiment, the recovery device used as a beach cleaner will be described. However, the recovery device of the present invention is not limited to being used as a beach cleaner for coastal cleaning, and can also be used for cleaning lakes, rivers, or lake shores and river banks. Furthermore, the recovery device of the present invention can be used not only for garbage collection but also for collection of solid substances such as seeds that fall on sandy land such as palm coconuts and cacao beans. That is, the solid substances in the present invention include not only synthetic resin garbage on the coast but also solids such as appropriate fallen objects that fall in a scattered state.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1 as the basic structure, the recovery device 1 of the present embodiment includes a housing base 10, an attitude stabilizer 20, and an introduction auxiliary plate 30.

[0016] The housing base 10 has an opening 11, and by moving forward along the ground or water surface with the opening 11 facing forward, garbage can be fed into the interior from the opening 11. The housing base 10 may be provided with self-propelling means and be capable of self-propelling as described later. Here, however, it is made capable of moving forward by being towed by an appropriate traveling device (not shown) such as a buggy or by being towed manually.

[0017] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the housing base 10 is configured by attaching a mesh sheet M to a base frame B in the shape of a box as shown in FIG. 1, and the coastal sand taken into the interior of the housing base 10 can be discharged from the mesh sheet M to the outside of the housing base 10.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 1, the base frame B is composed of a frame-shaped left frame 12, a frame-shaped right frame 13, and a plurality of erected frames 14 erected between the left frame 12 and the right frame 13. The left frame 12, the right frame 13, and the erected frames 14 are each made of aluminum to reduce weight. Since the garbage to be accommodated is also lightweight, one person can carry the recycling device 1 of the present invention.

[0019] The left frame 12 and the right frame 13 are in the shape of a horizontally overturned trapezoid. As shown in FIG. 1, the front end side is the front end frames 12a, 13a, and the rear end side is the rear end frames 12b, 13b that are longer than the front end frames 12a, 13a. The lower ends of the front end frames 12a, 13a and the rear end frames 12b, 13b are connected by bottom frames 12c, 13c, and the upper ends of the front end frames 12a, 13a and the rear end frames 12b, 13b are connected by hypotenuse frames 12d, 13d to form a frame shape.

[0020] In this embodiment, the erection frame 14 installed between the left frame 12 and the right frame 13 is configured such that a first erection frame 14a is provided near the front end frames 12a and 13a of the bottom frames 12c and 13c, a second erection frame 14b and a third erection frame 14c are provided side by side in the central part of the bottom frames 12c and 13c, and a fourth erection frame 14d is provided near the rear end frames 12b and 13b of the bottom frames 12c and 13c. The reason for providing the second erection frame 14b and the third erection frame 14c side by side in the central part of the bottom frames 12c and 13c is to increase structural strength, and in order to obtain strength without using separate wide members, the same material as the first erection frame 14a and the fourth erection frame 14d is used in a double layer.

[0021] Of the erection frames 14 installed between the left frame 12 and the right frame 13, a fifth erection frame 14e is provided at a position approximately midway in the height direction of the rear end frames 12b and 13b, and a sixth erection frame 14f is provided at the upper end of the rear end frames 12b and 13b.

[0022] Furthermore, among the erection frames 14 installed between the left frame 12 and the right frame 13, a seventh erection frame 14g is provided at the position of the upper end of the front end frames 12a and 13a. The portion formed by the left frame 12, the right frame 13, the first erection frame 14a, and the seventh erection frame 14g forms the opening 11 of the housing base 10.

[0023] The lower surfaces of the base frames 12c and 13c near the rear end frames 12b and 13b are provided with gap-forming bodies 15 that bulge downwards. These gap-forming bodies 15 create a gap between the surface of the coast and the lower surface of the collection device 1 when the collection device 1 moves along the coast, making it easier to discharge the sand separated from the collected waste from the lower surface of the collection device 1.

[0024] In this embodiment, the mesh sheet M attached to the base frame B of the housing base 10 has a two-layer structure consisting of a 5mm x 5mm mesh sheet and a 2mm x 2mm mesh sheet stacked on top of each other. The 5mm x 5mm mesh sheet is the inner layer, and the 2mm x 2mm mesh sheet is the outer layer. The mesh sheets used are not limited to these mesh sizes, and any suitable mesh sheet may be used.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the mesh sheet M is attached to the left frame 12 and the right frame 13 as outer frames, and is further attached between the left frame 12 and the right frame 13 from the first erection frame 14a to the sixth erection frame 14f, forming a bag shape. The mesh sheet M may also be attached between the sixth erection frame 14f and the seventh erection frame 14g, but in order to simplify the work of removing the waste contained in the storage base 10, in this embodiment, the mesh sheet M is not provided between the sixth erection frame 14f and the seventh erection frame 14g, leaving a wide opening.

[0026] The mesh sheet M is attached to the base frame B using appropriate fasteners.

[0027] In this embodiment, mesh sheets M are also attached to the left frame 12 and the right frame 13. However, mesh sheets M may not be attached to the left frame 12 and the right frame 13, and appropriate shielding plates may be attached instead.

[0028] A posture stabilizer 20 is attached to the left frame 12 and the right frame 13, respectively. In this embodiment, as shown in Figure 1, the posture stabilizer 20 is a ski-shaped plate with a flat, smooth bottom surface.

[0029] The smooth surface has a length greater than the front-to-back length of the storage base 10. By attaching such posture stabilizers 20 to the left frame 12 and the right frame 13, the storage base 10 is prevented from sinking into the sand on the beach when the recovery device 1 moves along the coast. In addition, the posture of the storage base 10 is stabilized, making it easier to separate the sand while recovering the waste.

[0030] In this embodiment, the posture stabilizer 20 is detachably attached to the bottom frames 12c and 13c of the left frame 12 and the right frame 13. Furthermore, the front edge of the posture stabilizer 20 is curved upward to prevent it from getting stuck in the sand on the beach.

[0031] As shown in Figure 1, the introduction support plate 30 attached to the opening 11 of the housing base 10 is a plate with a flat surface 31 on its upper side and a wing-shaped curved surface 32 on its lower side, and is attached to the housing base 10 so as to protrude forward from the housing base 10.

[0032] The introduction support plate 30 can extend forward of the containment base 10, so that when the collection device 1 moves along the coast, it can guide the debris along with the sand into the opening 11 of the containment base 10, and in particular small pieces of debris can be effectively sent into the containment base 10.

[0033] In particular, by making the lower surface of the introduction support plate 30 a wing-shaped curved surface 32, the advancing housing base 10 can create an action that pushes the front tip edge 33 of the introduction support plate 30 downward with respect to the direction of travel.

[0034] Furthermore, the lower surface of the guide assist plate 30 is not limited to an wing-shaped curved surface 32. It is sufficient if the path on the lower side of the guide assist plate 30 is longer than the path on the upper side of the guide assist plate 30, thereby creating a downward pushing force on the front tip edge 33 of the guide assist plate 30 relative to the direction of travel. For example, instead of a curved surface, multiple flat surfaces may be combined to create a configuration where the path on the lower side of the guide assist plate 30 is longer than the path on the upper side of the guide assist plate 30.

[0035] Furthermore, when attaching the guide support plate 30 to the housing base 10, the orientation of the guide support plate 30 can be adjusted by attaching it via an appropriate angle adjustment mechanism. In particular, it is desirable that the guide support plate 30 be in a forward-tilted state with an angle of approximately 7° from the horizontal. A geared motor can be used as the angle adjustment mechanism, and in particular, angle adjustment can be performed by utilizing self-locking properties by setting the reduction ratio to 1:100 or higher.

[0036] By towing the recovery device 1 configured in this way along the coast, the introduction support plate sends the waste along with the sand to the containment base 10, where the waste can be efficiently collected while separating it from the sand. The separated sand can be discharged outside the containment base 10 by the mesh sheet M, and since it is possible to minimize the increase in weight due to the sand, the recovery device 1 can be made without requiring a large towing force.

[0037] In the left frame 12 and right frame 13 that constitute the storage base 10, the slanted frames 12d and 13d are shaped upwards, and the base frame B is gradually widened vertically from the opening 11 side to the rear, thereby improving the storage efficiency of bulky waste such as paper cups and plastic bottles, as shown in Figure 3. Furthermore, it prevents the waste stored in the storage base 10 from falling out of the storage base 10.

[0038] In Figure 3, a scraping roller 40 is provided between the containment base 10 and the introduction auxiliary plate 30 to facilitate the scraping of bulky waste into the containment base 10.

[0039] Alternatively, as shown in Figure 4, for example, a transfer conveyor mechanism 50 may be provided behind the scraping roller 40 to transfer the sand and debris that have reached the opening 11 to the rear. For example, as shown in Figure 5, the transfer conveyor mechanism 50 may be provided inside the storage base 10 to make it easier to scrape up bulky debris into the storage base 10.

[0040] Thus, when a transfer conveyor mechanism 50 is provided, the weight of the recovery device 1 increases, so as shown in Figure 6, instead of the posture stabilizer 20, crawler tracks 60 may be provided on both sides of the storage base 10 as a means of self-propulsion.

[0041] In particular, if the collection device 1 is to be self-propelled, it may be equipped with a means for acquiring location information by GPS, and may be made capable of autonomous driving based on this location information. Alternatively, it may be equipped with imaging means such as a camera that generates image data of the direction of travel of the moving collection base 10, so that it can detect the waste to be collected and collect the waste.

[0042] Furthermore, instead of the crawler tracks 60, the vehicle may be made to float on water by attaching floats 21 instead of the attitude stabilizers 20, as shown in Figure 7, and may be capable of collecting floating debris on the sea. In addition to the sea, it may also be made to float on the surface of lakes, ponds, or rivers to collect debris.

[0043] Thus, while the recovery device 1 of the present invention is generally used as a waste recovery device, it can also be used to recover solid objects that are not waste, such as seeds and fruits of palm trees and cocoa beans, and other objects scattered on the ground or water surface. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1. Recovery device B Base Frame M Mesh Sheet 10 Containment base 11 Aperture 12 Left side frame 12a Front frame 12b Rear end frame 12c base frame 12d hypotenuse frame 13 Right frame 13a Front frame 13b Rear end frame 13c base frame 13d hypotenuse frame 14 Erection Frame 14a First erection frame 14b Second erection frame 14c Third erection frame 14d Fourth erection frame 14e Fifth erection frame 14th floor, 6th erection frame 14g 7th erection frame 15 Gap-forming body 20 Posture stabilizer 30 Introduction support plate 31 Flat surface 32 Wing-shaped curved surface 33 Front tip edge

Claims

1. In a collection device capable of collecting solid objects scattered on waterfronts, etc., A receiving base having an opening, which can be moved forward along the ground or water surface with the opening facing forward, thereby allowing solid objects to be sent into the interior through the opening, A posture stabilizer, which is attached to the housing base to stabilize the posture of the housing base as it moves, An introduction assist plate is attached to the receiving base near the opening and is mounted so as to extend forward to guide the solid object into the opening. A recovery device equipped with the following.

2. The aforementioned housing base is constructed by attaching a mesh sheet to a box-shaped base frame. The sand, which has been taken into the containment base along with the solid matter, can be discharged from the mesh sheet to the outside of the containment base. The recovery device according to claim 1.

3. The base frame comprises a frame-shaped left frame, a frame-shaped right frame, and a plurality of erection frames installed on the left frame and the right frame. The left and right frames are designed to gradually widen vertically from the opening side to the rear of the base frame, thereby increasing the efficiency of accommodating bulky solid materials while suppressing the falling out of the accommodating base. The recovery device according to claim 2.

4. The posture stabilizer has a flat, smooth surface with a length dimension greater than the front-to-back length dimension of the housing base, and is attached to the left frame and the right frame, respectively. The recovery device according to claim 3.

5. The aforementioned introduction assist plate has a flat upper surface and a wing-shaped curved lower surface, and the advancing housing base generates a downward pushing force on the front tip edge of the introduction assist plate relative to the direction of travel. A recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The storage base is equipped with a transfer conveyor for transporting the solid material that has reached the opening to the rear. A recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

7. The recovery device according to claim 4, wherein the posture stabilizing device is a float capable of floating on water.

8. The recovery device according to claim 5, wherein the storage base is provided with a self-propelled means.

9. The recovery device according to claim 8, which has means for acquiring location information by GPS.

10. The recovery device according to claim 8, further comprising imaging means for generating image data of the direction of movement of the moving containment substrate.

Images