A manufacturing system and a method for manufacturing products

Abstract

A manufacturing system for manufacturing products comprises a shredder system (101) configured to receive one or more materials and to shred the one or more materials into pieces, a reactor (102) comprising a tank (103) configured to receive the pieces, a heater (104) and a mixer (105) configured to heat and mix the pieces simultaneously in the tank, and an outlet conveyor (106) configured to remove a resulting mixture from the tank The manufacturing system further comprises a mold (107) configured to determine a shape of the products, a dosing system (108) configured to receive the mixture from the outlet conveyor of the reactor and to dose portions of the mixture to the mold, and a press (109) configured to press a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture the products by compression molding.

Description

[0001] A manufacturing system and a method for manufacturing products

[0002] Field of the disclosure

[0003] The disclosure relates to a manufacturing system and a method for manufacturing products from one or more materials such as for example municipal waste, one or more fractions separated from municipal waste, construction waste, demolition waste, industrial side-streams, textile waste, ash waste, plastic waste such as e.g. packaging plastics, film plastics, agriculture plastic waste, mixed plastic waste, paperboard waste, insulation material waste, and / or fiberglass waste.

[0004] Background

[0005] To reduce a consumption of virginal materials, there is a need to manufacture products from waste and / or recycled materials. For example, publication US20060208376 describes a system for making drainage elements from chopped waste plastic. The system comprises a screw conveyor having a screw and a twinplate agglomerator having plates so that one of the plates is closely adjacent to and rotatable with respect to the other plate. The screw conveyor compacts the chopped waste plastic and delivers the chopped waste plastic to the twin-plate agglomerator. The chopped waste plastic is agglomerated between the plates, and mechanical energy imparted by the plates heats the plastic material to about the melting point of the plastic material. Hot noodles of the plastic material extrude from an outlet of the plates. The noodles are conveyed to a chute of a compactor funnel which has an outlet disposed closely above an output conveyor belt.

[0006] In many cases, starting materials used in a manufacturing process may have challenging mechanical properties. For example, the starting materials can be fluffy so that their bulk density is very low and thus challenging to be handled by conveyors, storage systems, and / or other means of a manufacturing system. As a corollary, a process path from the starting materials to desired products may comprise many process phases such as: first shredding, debagging, compacting, cooling, second shredding, first storing in e.g. siloes, mixing in presence of heat, third shredding, second storing, heating and extruding, cutting or otherwise dosing into suitable portions, and compression molding to produce the desired products. Due to the high number of process steps, a manufacturing system for running the manufacturing process is typically complicated comprising many processing elements, and thereby the manufacturing system is expensive and requires a considerable space and a significant amount of energy.

[0007] Summary

[0008] The following presents a simplified summary to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. The summary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention nor to delineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merely presents some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments.

[0009] In accordance with the invention, there is provided a new manufacturing system for manufacturing products from one or more materials such as for example municipal waste, one or more fractions separated from municipal waste, construction waste, demolition waste, industrial side-streams, textile waste, ash waste, plastic waste such as e.g. packaging plastics, film plastics, agriculture plastic waste, mixed plastic waste, paperboard waste, insulation material waste, carbon fiber waste, used car tires, wood paper, cardboard based fibers and / or fiberglass waste. The system is suitable for hard-to-recycle materials like mixed plastics and low-density film plastics.

[0010] A manufacturing system according to the invention comprises:

[0011] - a shredder system configured to receive the one or more materials and to shred the one or more materials into pieces,

[0012] - a reactor comprising a tank configured to receive the pieces, a heater and a mixer configured to heat and mix the pieces and possible additives simultaneously in the tank, and an outlet conveyor configured to remove a resulting mixture from the tank, a mold configured to determine a shape of the products, a dosing system configured to receive the mixture from the outlet conveyor of the reactor and to dose one or more portions of the mixture to the mold, and

[0013] - a press configured to press a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture each of the products by compression molding.

[0014] As the reactor is configured to carry out the heating and mixing and outputting the mixture in a form suitable for the dosing system, the number of processing elements can be smaller compared to a case in which there are separate processing elements for heating, mixing, and processing the mixture into a form suitable for further processing. Thanks to the smaller number of processing elements and thereby a smaller need for space, the capital expenses “capex” of a manufacturing system according to the invention can be reduced. Furthermore, due to the smaller number of processing elements, the operating expenses “opex” can also be reduced because of smaller energy consumption, a smaller amount of wearing parts, and thereby a smaller need for operating personnel. The tank of the reactor comprises advantageously a heat insulation to store heat inside the tank and to make it more usable for a next material batch arriving at the tank, thus reducing electricity consumption.

[0015] In accordance with the invention, there is also provided a new method for manufacturing products. A method according to the invention comprises:

[0016] - shredding one or more materials into pieces,

[0017] - transferring the pieces into a tank,

[0018] - heating and mixing the pieces and possible additives simultaneously inside the tank to obtain a mixture comprising the one or more materials,

[0019] - dosing one or more portions of the mixture from the tank to a mold determining a shape of the product, and pressing a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture each of the products by compression molding.

[0020] Exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments are described in accompanied dependent claims.

[0021] Various exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments both as to constructions and to methods of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific exemplifying and nonlimiting embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0022] The verbs “to comprise” and “to include” are used in this document as open limitations that neither exclude nor require the existence of unrecited features.

[0023] The features recited in dependent claims are mutually freely combinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.

[0024] Furthermore, it is to be understood that the use of “a” or “an”, i.e. a singular form, throughout this document does not exclude a plurality.

[0025] Brief description of figures

[0026] Exemplifying and non-limiting embodiments and their advantages are explained in greater detail below in the sense of examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: figure 1 illustrates a manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and nonlimiting embodiment for manufacturing products, and figure 2 shows a flowchart of a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment for manufacturing products.

[0027] Description of exemplifying embodiments

[0028] The specific examples provided in the description given below should not be construed as limiting the scope and / or the applicability of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given below are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated. Figure 1 illustrates a manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and nonlimiting embodiment for manufacturing products from one or more materials such as for example municipal waste, one or more fractions separated from municipal waste, construction waste, demolition waste, industrial side-streams, textile waste, ash waste, plastic waste, paperboard waste, insulation material waste, and / or fiberglass waste. In figure 1 , an exemplifying product is denoted with a reference 124. The manufacturing system comprises a shredder system 101 configured to receive the one or more materials and to shred the one or more materials into pieces. In this exemplifying manufacturing system, the shredder system 101 comprises a first shredder 110 configured to shred the materials into pieces having a first size and a second shredder 111 configured to shred the pieces outputted by the first shredder 110 into pieces smaller than the pieces outputted by the first shredder 110. The first shredder 110 can be configured to shred the materials into pieces for example from 30 mm to 50 mm, and the second shredder 111 can be configured to shred the pieces outputted by the first shredder 110 into pieces for example from 5 mm to 20 mm. Depending on the one or more materials to be processed, it is also possible that the shredder system comprises only one shredder, or one shredder and a hammer mill or a granulator.

[0029] The manufacturing system comprises a reactor 102 having a tank 103 configured to receive the pieces. The reactor 102 further comprises a heater 104 and a mixer 105 configured to heat and mix the pieces simultaneously in the tank 103. In this exemplifying case, the mixer 105 comprises rotating agitators and a driver system configured to drive the rotating agitators. The rotational speed of the agitators is advantageously low, e.g. at most 600 revolutions per minute. It is to be however noted that the invention is not limited to any specific type of mixers. The tank 103 of the reactor 102 comprises advantageously a heat insulation 123 to reduce heat flow through walls of the tank 103 and thereby to store heat inside the tank and to make it more usable for a next material batch arriving at the tank, thus reducing electricity consumption The purpose of the mixing is to keep the materials moving, make the mixture homogenous, to prevent the materials from sticking to walls of the reactor, and to distribute heat evenly within the mixture. In many cases, a rotation speed of the mixer 105 is advantageously so low that breaking and / or grinding of particles is avoided so that fiber materials in the mixture can keep a long fiber form and thus long fibers will give additional properties for the resulting material. The temperature of the reactor 102 can be for example between 50-350° Celsius to reach the melting or glazing point of at least part of the materials so that the part of the materials gets above its / their melting or glazing point such that the mixture becomes moldable. It is, however, not necessary that all the materials get above its / their melting or glazing point. Instead, the mixture may contain unmelted particles, even metal nuggets, etc. The reactor 102 comprises an outlet conveyor 106 configured to remove the mixture from the tank 103. In this exemplifying manufacturing system, the outlet conveyor 106 a screw conveyor 117 configured to output the mixture from the reactor 102 as an elongated profile. The outlet conveyor 106 can be a screw extruder that is provided with a nozzle 118 configured to give a predetermined cross-sectional shape to the elongated profile.

[0030] Compared to many prior art mixing devices such as agglomerators, etc., which heat material through friction, the above-described reactor has three advantages: 1 ) the electricity consumption is much lower as the heat can be preserved, 2) a heat recovery system can be utilized, to use e.g. steam or gas instead of electrical power, or can also use energy from cooling stage, e.g. cooling of the mold, through a heat exchanger, and 3) fibers stay in their longer form due to lower rotation speed in mixing, which is then advantageous to material properties where long fibers give stiffness and load bearing properties. Also, the combination of the heating, mixing and extrusion in only one process phase creates the advantage that the material needs to be heated only once thus reducing the electricity consumption. Compared to a separate extrusion machinery, the reactor outlet screw can be very simple without own heating elements, instead of high capex cost of a separate extrusion machinery. Furthermore, a separate extrusion machinery has a limited capacity with low density materials such as film plastics, whereas the reactor does not have such limitation and feeding of the reactor can be arranged more freely and thus the reactor has higher capacity with low density materials, whereas extruder feeding is usually limited by an extruder screw size.

[0031] The manufacturing system comprises a mold 107 configured to determine a shape of the products. Furthermore, the manufacturing system comprises a dosing system 108 configured to receive the mixture from the outlet conveyor 106 of the reactor 102 and to dose one or more portions of the mixture to the mold 107. In this exemplifying manufacturing system, the dosing system 108 comprises a cutter 119 configured to cut portions having a predetermined size from the elongated profile outputted by the outlet conveyor 106 of the reactor 102, and a feeder 120 configured to feed the cut portions to the mold 107. In figure 1 , the feeder 120 comprises a feeding conveyor but it is also possible that the feeder comprises some other suitable arrangement for feeding the cut portions to the mold 107. Furthermore, the dosing system 108 may comprise a heater 122 configured to supply heat to the material to keep the material sufficiently hot and moldable when the material is cut and forwarded to the mold 107.

[0032] In a manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the dosing system 108 comprises a robot 126. The robot 126 can be configured, for example, to arrange portions cut from the elongated profile to form a predetermined pattern on the feeding conveyor configured to transfer the portions to the 107 mold or, alternatively, to arrange the predetermined pattern directly on the mold 107.

[0033] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises a measurement system 121 configured to measure a physical property of one or more of the portions cut from the elongated profile which constitute material of the product 124. The measurement system 121 may comprise for example a scale configured to weigh the portions cut from the elongated profile. It is also possible that the measurement system 121 comprises e.g. a laser meter for measuring one or more dimensions of the portions cut from the elongated profile. In the exemplifying case where the dosing system 108 comprises the robot 126, the measurement system 121 can be integrated with the robot so that the robot is configured to weigh each piece of material being handled by the robot.

[0034] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises a measurement system 126 configured to measure a physical property of the product 124 made by the compression molding. The measurement system 126 may comprise for example a scale configured to weigh the product 124. It is also possible that the measurement system 126 comprises e.g. a laser meter for measuring one or more dimensions of the product 124.

[0035] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises a controller 125 configured to control the cutter 119 to change a size, e.g. the length, of the portions to be cut from the elongated profile in accordance with an output signal of the measurement system 121 or in accordance with an output signal of the measurement system 126.

[0036] For example, weighing of the portions cut from the elongated profile allows to adjust the system in real time to cope with variations in the raw material which may vary all the time especially when dealing with mixed plastic waste streams and / or other hard-to-recycle waste materials. Weighing for this purpose can be done e.g. in the following ways: 1 ) for individual material pieces cut with cutter 119, either on the feeding conveyor or, if the dosing system includes the robot 126, the pieces can be weighed by the robot provided with weighing means, or 2) the weighing can be done for a set of pieces that the robot 126 gathers on the feeding conveyor, or 3) the weighing can be done by the measurement system 126 for the products after the compression molding.

[0037] The manufacturing system comprises a press 109 configured to press a core member and a cavity member of the mold 107 towards each other to manufacture each product by compression molding.

[0038] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises a storage system 112 configured to store the pieces of the materials outputted from the shredder system 101 . The storage system 112 may comprise for example one or more siloes. The exemplifying storage system 112 illustrated in figure 1 comprises two siloes 113 and 114. It is also possible that a storage system is based on storing material in big bags and the storage system comprises means for filling the big bags from the shredder system 101 and means for emptying the big bags to the tank 103 of the reactor 102.

[0039] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises an additive dispenser 116 configured to add one or more additives to material being transferred to the reactor 112. The additives may comprise for example one or more pigments to control the color of the mixture formed in the reactor 102. The additive dispenser 116 may comprise for example scales and / or other dosing elements for dosing a desired amount of each additive, e.g. a desired weight or volume. It is also possible that one or more additives are dosed to the tank 103 of the reactor 102, and / or one or more additives are dosed to the mold 107 prior to the compression molding.

[0040] The implementation of the controller 125 can be based on one or more analogue circuits, one or more digital processing circuits, or a combination thereof. Each digital processing circuit can be a programmable processor circuit provided with appropriate software, a dedicated hardware processor such as for example an application specific integrated circuit “ASIC”, or a configurable hardware processor such as for example a field programmable gate array “FPGA”. Furthermore, the controller 125 may comprise one or more memory circuits each of which can be for example a Random-Access Memory “RAM” circuit.

[0041] A manufacturing system according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises a weighing device 115 configured to weight material batches comprising the pieces and being fed to the reactor 102.

[0042] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of a method according to an exemplifying and nonlimiting embodiment for manufacturing products from one or more materials such as for example municipal waste, one or more fractions separated from municipal waste, construction waste, demolition waste, industrial side-streams, textile waste, ash waste, plastic waste, paperboard waste, insulation material waste, and / or fiberglass waste. The method comprises the following actions:

[0043] - action 201 : shredding the one or more materials into pieces,

[0044] - action 202: transferring the pieces into a tank, action 203: heating and mixing the pieces simultaneously inside the tank to obtain a mixture comprising the one or more materials, - action 204: dosing one or more portions of the mixture from the tank to a mold determining a shape of the product, and

[0045] - action 205: pressing a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture each of the products by compression molding.

[0046] In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the shredding 201 comprises a first shredding phase where the one or more materials are shredded into pieces having a first size and a second shredding phase where the pieces outputted from the first shredding phase are shredded into pieces having a second size smaller than the first size. The first size can be e.g. from 30 mm to 50 mm, and the second size can be e.g. from 5 mm to 20 mm.

[0047] In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the pieces of the one or more materials are stored in a storage system prior to conveying the pieces to the tank where the pieces will be mixed and heated. The storage system may comprise for example one or more siloes, or the storage system can be based on storing the pieces in big bags.

[0048] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises weighting material batches comprising the pieces of the one or more materials and to be fed to the tank where the pieces will be mixed and heated.

[0049] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises adding one or more additives to the mixture. The one or more additives can be added prior to conveying the pieces to the tank where the pieces will be mixed and heated, or the one or more additives can be supplied to the tank, or the one or more additives can be dosed to the mold prior to the pressing the core member and the cavity member of the mold towards each other.

[0050] In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the mixture is removed from the tank with a screw conveyor outputting the mixture as an elongated profile. In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the screw conveyor comprises a nozzle giving to the elongated profile a predetermined cross- sectional shape.

[0051] In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the dosing 204 comprises cutting, from the elongated profile, portions and feeding the portions to the mold.

[0052] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises arranging, with a robot, portions cut from the elongated profile to form a predetermined pattern on a feeding conveyor that transfers the portions to the mold or, alternatively, arranging the predetermined pattern directly on the mold.

[0053] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises measuring a physical property of one or more of the portions cut from the elongated profile which constitute material of the product. The measuring the physical property may comprise for example weighing the portions cut from the elongated profile. In an exemplifying case where a robot is used, the robot can be configured to weigh each piece of material being handled by the robot.

[0054] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises measuring a physical property of the product made by the compression molding. The measuring the physical property may comprise for example weighing the product.

[0055] A method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment comprises changing a size, e.g. the length, of the portions to be cut from the elongated profile in accordance with the measured physical property.

[0056] In a method according to an exemplifying and non-limiting embodiment, the dosing 204 comprises supplying heat to the mixture to keep the mixture sufficiently hot and moldable.

[0057] The specific examples provided in the description given above should not be construed as limiting the applicability and / or the interpretation of the appended claims. Lists and groups of examples provided in the description given above are not exhaustive unless otherwise explicitly stated.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A manufacturing system for manufacturing products (124), the manufacturing system comprising a shredder system (101 ) configured to receive one or more materials and to shred the one or more materials into pieces, characterized in that the manufacturing system comprises a reactor (102) comprising a tank (103) configured to receive the pieces, a heater (104) and a mixer (105) configured to heat and mix the pieces simultaneously in the tank, and an outlet conveyor (106) configured to remove a resulting mixture from the tank, wherein the system further comprises a mold (107) configured to determine a shape of the products (124), a dosing system (108) configured to receive the mixture from the outlet conveyor of the reactor and to dose one or more portions of the mixture to the mold, and a press (109) configured to press a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture each of the products by compression molding.

2. A manufacturing system according to claim 1 , wherein the shredder system (101 ) comprises a first shredder (110) configured to shred the one or more materials into pieces having a first size and a second shredder (111 ) configured to shred the pieces outputted by the first shredder into pieces smaller than the pieces outputted by the first shredder.

3. A manufacturing system according to claim 2, wherein the first shredder (110) is configured to shred the one or more materials into pieces from 30 mm to 50 mm, and the second shredder (111 ) is configured to shred the pieces outputted by the first shredder into pieces from 5 mm to 20 mm.

4. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -3, wherein the manufacturing system comprises a storage system (112) configured to store the pieces of the one or more materials outputted from the shredder system.

5. A manufacturing system according to claim 4, wherein the storage system comprises one or more siloes (113, 114).

6. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -5, wherein the manufacturing system comprises a weighing device (115) configured to weighmaterial batches comprising the pieces of the one or more materials and to be fed to the reactor.

7. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -6, wherein the manufacturing system comprises an additive dispenser (116) configured to add one or more additives to the mixture.

8. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -7, wherein the outlet conveyor (106) of the reactor comprises a screw conveyor (117) configured to output the mixture from the reactor as an elongated profile.

9. A manufacturing system according to claim 8, wherein the outlet conveyor (106) of the reactor comprises a nozzle (118) configured to give to the elongated profile a predetermined cross-sectional shape.

10. A manufacturing system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the dosing system (108) comprises a cutter (119) configured to cut the portions of the mixture from the elongated profile, and a feeder (120) configured to feed the portions to the mold.

11. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -10, wherein the dosing system (108) comprises a robot (126) configured to arrange the portions of the mixture to form a predetermined pattern of the portions on the mold or on a feeding conveyor configured to transfer the portions to the mold.

12. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -11 , wherein the manufacturing system comprises a measurement system (121 , 126) configured to measure a physical property of at least one of the following: i) the product (124) produced by the compression molding, ii) one or more of the portions of the mixture which constitute material of the product.

13. A manufacturing system according to claim 12, wherein the manufacturing system comprises a controller (125) configured to control the cutter (119) to change a size of the portions to be cut from the elongated profile in accordance with an output signal of the measurement system (121 , 126).

14. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -13, wherein the dosing system (108) comprises a heater (122) configured to supply heat to the mixture.

15. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -14, wherein the tank (103) of the reactor comprises a heat insulation (123) to reduce heat flow through walls of the tank.

16. A manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 -15, wherein the mixer (105) comprises at least one rotating agitator and a driver system configured to drive the rotating agitator at a rotational speed at most 600 revolutions per minute.

17. A method for manufacturing products with a manufacturing system according any one of claims 1-16, the method comprising:- shredding (201 ) one or more materials into pieces, and- transferring (202) the pieces into the tank of the reactor of the manufacturing system, characterized in that the method comprises:- heating and mixing (203) the pieces simultaneously inside the tank to obtain a mixture comprising the one or more materials,- dosing (204) one or more portions of the mixture from the tank to a mold determining a shape of the product, and- pressing (205) a core member and a cavity member of the mold towards each other to manufacture each of the products by compression molding.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the one or more materials comprise one or more of following: municipal waste, one or more fractions separated from municipal waste, construction waste, demolition waste, industrial side-streams, textile waste, ash waste, plastic waste, paperboard waste, insulation material waste, and fiberglass waste.

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