Description

Field of the invention

The present patent is mainly aimed at improving the current urban waste collection systems through the application of technical improvements to an eco-friendly compactor machine with a Reverse Vending incentive system.

Prior art

We are all aware of how waste materials, and plastics in particular, represent a very significant pollution problem globally due to their dispersion into the surrounding environment, yet only those who work in the sector realize how the age-old garbage issue also translates into a logistical problem for all companies that deal with the collection of waste, its transport or any other subsequent step for the pre-selection, recovery and finally recycling of these materials. In order to simplify the collection of waste materials, especially in urban centers, it is necessary to encourage the use of eco-friendly compactors with Reverse Vending systems in our cities, yet their diffusion is not yet sufficient. This lack is attributable to some problems that afflict the eco-friendly compacting models on the market, although they have reached satisfactory levels of development: reduced capacity of the machinery in terms of collected material; machinery with low-tech systems that do not guarantee the quality of the selected material and require constant and expensive interventions by the technical staff; machinery provided with high-tech systems that recognize the different materials inserted but which provide an irrepressible series of steps suitable for the identification of the waste, which are essential even when the complete identification of the material introduced has already occurred correctly from the first moments following the introduction, as in the case of patent US2012173014A1 reverse vending ; high-tech systems but with reduced capacity; high-tech systems with significant storage capacity but which require very high costs in terms of personnel and installation area. Nothing on the market seems to have been claimed to remedy the aforementioned problems, problems and solutions that are the subject of the following patent application. The subject eco-friendly compactor boasts an acceptance system capable of achieving high quality and speedy performance in recognizing the material, also by virtue of the possibility that the system itself, in automated mode, does not carry out steps of the material recognition cycle when the waste has already been correctly identified at the time of introduction; another feature designed to improve the acceptance step concerns the components of the acceptance system itself, which allow the machinery to manage materials of shapes and sizes irreconcilable with the previous acceptance systems. It will be seen more fully in the paragraph dedicated to the description of the invention that the machinery guarantees a storage capacity of materials that are unthinkable today, by virtue of an automated ejection and storage system capable of reducing the overall dimensions and consequent interventions of the personnel. Further innovations and improvements allow the subject machinery to brilliantly overcome the drawbacks described herein.

Description of the invention

According to the present invention, an eco-friendly compactor with a space-saving reverse vending system is produced which effectively solves the above problems. In order to insert the material and thus start the acceptance step first and then the compacting and pressing step, the user is obliged to register in the database of the waste disposal platform manager using his/her health card or loyalty card. The user side of the eco compactor comes into operation with the introduction of the health card or the loyalty card of the registered user in order to identify him/her. Once the identification step has been completed, the user is enabled to carry out the insertion by inserting the material in the appropriate compartment, once the operation is completed, the user can request the printing of a coupon or alternatively the saving of the insertion in the reserved area of the special app. The “user side” display of the machinery can be activated and consulted by the user even for the sole purpose of checking the status of his/her credits obtained through previous insertions. Said credits can be calculated in currency, cryptocurrency or points. The eco-friendly compactor further comprises at least an internal acceptance system suitable to recognize and select the materials introduced into the machinery by the user. The platform manager, however, can decide to opt for the outsourcing of the acceptance system by providing the eco- friendly compactor with at least an external barcode reader, placed on the user side; the installation of this technology allows the user to manually and easily carry out the manual recognition and acceptance step, thus reducing the processing times necessary for the recognition of the material through the internal acceptance system and increasing the accuracy in the selection. The user who reads the barcode manually enjoys a higher percentage of these credits than the user who uses the internal and automatic acceptance system. As stated above, if the user has not voluntarily proceeded to manually read the barcode or when said code cannot be found, the machine must be provided with at least an internal acceptance system suitable for the automated selection of the material; the system comes into operation as a consequence of the insertion. The insertion sets in motion a low-voltage direct-current motor suitable to drive a belt system consisting of at least a pair of external belts suitable for the transport of those materials which, due to their angular or disharmonic shape, are not susceptible to be rotated by means of three special rollers and at least a pair of internal belts suitable to operate synergistically with said special rollers should be material introduced be conical, cylindrical or rounded shape. The material introduced is transported by the belt system towards a pressing chamber. The sliding of the material by means of the belts, in addition to being suitable for transporting the material towards the said pressing chamber, is also aimed at a first step of recognition of any material, recognition possible even if the material inserted by the user does not have a barcode or other identifying element, as shown below. To ensure the identification and selection of the materials introduced into the eco-friendly compactor from the first moments following the introduction, the internal acceptance system must be provided with at least a sensor, the data collected by the sensor will then be processed by a software based on recognition systems that use artificial intelligence. The internal acceptance system provides for an optional second step aimed at deepening the analysis and selection of the material if the result obtained by the software at the end of the first recognition step is not sufficient for identification. This second step differs in its performance methods depending on whether the material introduced into the machine is conical, cylindrical, rounded rather than angular or disharmonious. In the first case, the second acceptance step is characterized by the use of at least a pair of internal belts suitable to transport the material with a conical, cylindrical or rounded shape in a special recognition area, where three rollers are provided, one central and two lateral suitable to allow the rotation of conical, cylindrical or rounded materials of any size; when the material reaches said recognition area, the pair of internal belts is placed under the two lateral rollers and lower than the middle of the central roller, this new configuration of the pair of internal belts is suitable to allow the correct positioning of the conical, cylindrical, rounded material on the three rollers. The three rollers, driven by at least a low-voltage direct-current motor, begin to rotate, forcing the material to rotate on itself; this rotation allows the barcode to be read by at least a special reader and allows at least a video camera, interfaced with said specific software, to exploit the rotary action to identify the shape of the material. The lowering of the internal pair of belts, aimed at the correct positioning of the conical, cylindrical or rounded material on the rollers, is possible by virtue of a pair of brackets provided with a grooved bearing and connected together. The brackets are activated by means of a solenoid which with a reduced effort of at least 0.5 N allows the belts to be lowered and raised and allows the movement thereof. The height adjustment of the internal pair of belts ensures that the tension of the belts is always kept constant, also by virtue of the particular shape of the brackets. In the second case, that is, when the eco-friendly compactor receives material with an angular or disharmonic shape, the material introduced is transported through the pair of external belts as said materials, due to their square shape, are not susceptible of being rotated by said three rollers. The recognition of the material takes place through the reading of the barcode by means of said special at least a reader as well as through the detection of data by said special video camera; it is therefore clear that in this second mode of handling and recognition of the introduced material, the rotary movement of the three rollers is not used. The eco-friendly compactor includes additional sensors placed inside the acceptance system which, together with the video camera, are suitable to distinguish the products suitable for recycling or to deepen the selection by differentiating the materials by color, quality or type. The subdivision of the material acceptance process into two distinct steps, one of which is optional, allows the time needed to identify the material to be reduced: the machinery is programmed in such a way as to exclude the second recognition step, which is more complex and costly in terms of time, when the material has been successfully identified at the end of the first step. After acceptance, the material is subjected to at least a fully automated compacting and pressing cycle, this system is positioned downstream of the aforementioned acceptance system. The compacting and pressing system provides for the compacting of the material by means of at least a toothed roller, the moderately pressed material is then pushed into at least a horizontal pressing chamber by means of at least an auger. Such chamber collects the material until it is completely filled, when the critical mass is reached, at least a horizontal pressing system is started, suitable for further compacting said material; the exact quantity of material introduced into the pressing chamber is determined by at least a PLC which checks the number of pieces inside the chamber by means of further sensors. The toothed roller and the auger are connected to the same starter motor. At this point, the compacting and pressing system provides for the activation of at least an electromechanical jack suitable to direct the material forwards, in the direction of at least a slidable pressing chamber in its closed configuration. The slidable pressing chamber when closed allows the material to be compressed between the thrust plate of the electromechanical j ack and the plate of the slidable pressing chamber; once the pressing operation has been completed, the chamber is arranged in its open configuration. The opening starts the automatic installation of at least a container- bag suitable to contain the material following the ejection thereof from the slidable pressing chamber, said container-bag is arranged under the pressing chamber. To allow the ejection of the material, the electromechanical jack releases the thrust and the compacted material falls due to the force of gravity alone inside the container-bag, which is automatically released from the central body of the eco-friendly compactor. Once the operation is completed, the slidable pressing chamber is arranged again in its closed configuration to allow the eco-friendly compactor to restart the cycle of previously suspended insertions. The temporary suspension is signaled by the acceptance system by means of a blinking warning red light placed on the user side of the machinery, a display will indicate the remaining waiting time. The eco-friendly compactor with Reverse Vending incentive system can include at least a conveyor belt suitable to move the container-bag following its release from the central body of the eco-friendly compactor in such a way as to free the seat that will house the new bag suitable for collection; the first bag, now saturated, advances through the conveyor belt until it finds a new location, automatically, inside the landfill; the first bag, now saturated, advances through the conveyor belt until it is automatically positioned inside the landfill. This system of automated ejection and repositioning of the material inside the landfill allows the dimensions of the machinery to be drastically reduced, as it no longer needs to be provided with special storage areas, and also reduces the need for emptying and maintenance. Finally, the equipment that makes the subject system and therefore the machinery keep up with the times is the system for recording the value and insertion flows, i.e. the exchange data, are recorded on a redundant cloud server subjected to security policies to protect the information contained therein; the redundant cloud server allows the platform provider to verify the correct operation of the eco-friendly compactor from a remote position, so as to solve computer problems remotely and in such a way as to manage configuration backups ensuring faster recovery operations. The redundant cloud server allows the platform manager, through an app installed on at least an electronic device, to observe and monitor - in real time - the insertions carried out at the individual eco- friendly compactors; furthermore - by installing said app on at least an electronic device - the user who carried out said insertion in any of the compactors connected to the platform can check the status of the credits thereof and use a discount system at participating businesses; said app allows to transfer credits to other users.

Description of the figures

The invention will hereinafter be described in at least a preferred embodiment thereof by way of non-limiting example with the aid of the accompanying figures, in which: - FIGURE 1 shows the subject eco-friendly compactor 100, with the relative user side 15 and compacting and pressing system 60.

- FIGURE 2 shows the recognition area 30 suitable to deepen the analysis of the material of conical, cylindrical, rounded shape 10b if the result obtained by the software at the end of the first recognition step is not sufficient for the recognition of the material; the figure shows that the pair of internal belts 1 is located below the two lateral rollers 35c and lower than the middle of the central roller 35b, this new configuration of said pair of internal belts 1 is suitable to allow the correct positioning of the conical, cylindrical, rounded material 10b on the three rollers 35. The three rollers 35 are driven by a low- voltage direct-current motor 36 and rotate, forcing the conical, cylindrical, rounded material 10 to rotate in turn on itself. This rotation allows the reading of the barcode by means of two special barcode readers 40 offset from each other and with a front orientation, both being facing towards said material 10b represented in the figure, also allowing a video camera 45 to detect and process the received data through a special software. The figure also shows a pair of brackets 50 provided with a grooved bearing connected to each other and the solenoid 55 through which the brackets 50 are actuated.

- FIGURE 3 shows the operation of the belt system 20 following the activation of the pair of brackets 50.

- Figure 3b shows from a different angle the recognition area 30 already illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 and in particular it more clearly represents the presence of a pair of internal belts 1 in the act of transporting said material of a conical, cylindrical, rounded shape 10b and a pair of external belts 2.

- FIGURE 4 illustrates how the compacting and pressing system 60 provides for the activation of an electromechanical jack 75 suitable to direct the material forwards, in the direction of a slidable pressing chamber 80 in its closed configuration 80b. The slidable pressing chamber when closed allows the material to be compressed between the thrust plate of the electromechanical jack and the plate of the slidable pressing chamber.

- Figure 5 shows that, once the pressing operation has been completed, the chamber is arranged in its open configuration 80c. The opening starts the automatic installation of at least a container-bag 95 suitable to contain the material ejected from the slidable pressing chamber 80, the first container-bag 95 when saturated advances through the conveyor belt 105 shown until it automatically finds a new location inside the landfill.

Detailed description of the invention

The present invention will now be described purely by way of non-limiting or binding example with the aid of the figures, which illustrate some embodiments relative to the present inventive concept.

In order for the eco-friendly compactor 100 to start up and thus start the acceptance, pressing and storage cycle 60, a waste material must be provided by the user. The insertable materials are many, in our specific case it is a PET bottle 10b. In order to insert the material and thus start the acceptance step, the user is obliged to register in the database of the waste disposal platform manager using his/her health card. The user side 15 of the eco-friendly compactor 100 shown in Figure 1 comes into operation with the introduction of the health card of the registered user for the purpose of his/her identification. Once the identification step has been completed, the user is enabled to carry out the insertion by inserting the material 10b in the appropriate compartment, once the operation is completed, the user requests the saving of the insertion in the reserved area of the special app. The eco-friendly compactor 100 comprises the aforementioned internal acceptance system suitable to recognize and select the material introduced into the machinery by the user. The system comes into operation as a consequence of the transfer, the latter in fact sets in motion a low-voltage direct-current motor 36 suitable to drive the belt system 20 shown in Figure 2, which, as is clear from Figure 3b, consists of a pair of internal belts 1 suitable to transport the material with a conical, cylindrical or rounded shape 10b and a pair of external belts 2 suitable to transport the material with a square or disharmonic shape. Figure 2 shows how the introduced material 10b is transported by said pair of internal belts 1 towards a pressing chamber 60, the sliding of said material 10b by means of said pair of internal belts 1 as well as being suitable to transport said material 10b towards the pressing chamber 60 is also aimed at a first step of recognition of the material 10b, recognition possible even if the material 10b inserted by the user is devoid of a barcode or other identifying element. This is possible because in order to guarantee the identification and selection of the materials introduced into the eco-friendly compactor 100 right from the first moments following the insertion, the internal acceptance system is provided with two sensors suitable to analyze the material. The data collected by the said two sensors will then be processed by software based on recognition systems that use artificial intelligence. After this first recognition step, it is shown how the material 10b is subjected to a second recognition step suitable to deepen the analysis and selection of said material 10b if the result obtained by the software at the outcome of the first recognition step is not sufficient for the identification of said material 10b. In this second step illustrated in Figure 3b, said pair of internal belts 1 transports the material 10b to a suitable recognition area 30, where three rollers 35 are provided, one central 35b and two lateral ones 35c, suitable to allow the rotation of said material 10b as follows: when said material 10b reaches the recognition area 30 shown in Figures 2, 3 and 3b, said pair of internal belts 1 is positioned under the two lateral rollers 35c and lower than the middle of the central roller 35b, this new configuration of said pair of internal belts 1 is suitable to allow the correct positioning of the material 10b on the three rollers 35, exploiting the entire length of said pair of belts 1. The three rollers 35, driven by a low-voltage direct-current motor 36, begin to rotate, forcing the material 10b to rotate in turn on itself; this rotation allows a more in-depth recognition of said material 10b, which takes place through a multiplicity of devices provided in said recognition area 30 illustrated in Figure 2: two special barcode readers 40 positioned in such a way as to be offset from each other and with front orientation, both being turned towards said material 10b as well as a video camera 45, interfaced with an electronic device suitable to exploit the rotary action to identify the shape of the material 10b. The lowering of said pair of internal belts shown in Figure 2 is aimed at the correct positioning of the material 10b on the rollers 35. The descent is possible by virtue of a pair of brackets 50 provided with a grooved bearing and connected to each other. The brackets 50 are activated by means of a solenoid 55 which with a reduced effort of at least 0.5 N allows said pair of internal belts 1 to be lowered and raised and allows the movement thereof as shown in Figures 2 and 3. The height adjustment of said pair of internal belts 1 ensures that the tension of the belts is always kept constant, also by virtue of the particular shape of the pair of brackets 50. After acceptance, the material is subjected to a fully automated compacting and pressing cycle 60, this system is positioned downstream of the aforementioned acceptance system. The compacting and pressing system 60 provides for the compacting of the material 10 by means of a first toothed roller, the moderately pressed material 10 is then pushed into a horizontal pressing chamber 65 by means of an auger. Said horizontal pressing chamber 65 collects the material until it is completely filled, when the critical mass is reached, a horizontal pressing system 70 is started, suitable for further compacting the material; the exact quantity of material introduced into the horizontal pressing chamber 65 is determined by at least a PLC which checks the number of pieces contained inside the chamber by means of a special sensor. The toothed roller and the auger are connected to the same starter motor. Observing Figure 4, it can be understood that the compacting and pressing system 60 at this point provides for the activation of an electromechanical j ack 75 suitable to direct said material forwards, in the direction of a slidable pressing chamber 80 in its closed configuration 80b. The slidable pressing chamber when closed 80b allows the material to be compressed between the thrust plate 85 of the electromechanical jack 75 and the plate 90 of the slidable pressing chamber 80; once the pressing operation has been completed, the slidable pressing chamber 80 is arranged in its open configuration 80c. The opening starts the automatic installation of at least a container-bag 95 suitable to contain the material ejected from the slidable pressing chamber 80, said container-bag 95 is arranged under the pressing chamber. To allow the ejection of the material, the electromechanical jack 75 releases the thrust and the compacted material falls due to the force of gravity alone inside the container-bag 95, which is automatically released from the central body of the eco-friendly compactor 100. Once the operation is completed, the slidable pressing chamber 80 is arranged again in its closed configuration 80b to allow the eco-friendly compactor 100 to restart the cycle of previously suspended insertions. The temporary suspension is signaled by means of a blinking warning red light placed on the user side 15 of the eco-friendly compactor 100, a display will indicate the remaining waiting time. The eco-friendly compactor 100 with Reverse Vending incentive system further comprises a conveyor belt 105 suitable to remove the container-bag 95 following its release from the central body of the eco-friendly compactor 100 in such a way as to free the seat that will house the new bag suitable for collection; the first bag 95, now saturated, advances through the conveyor belt 105 until it finds a new location, automatically, inside the landfill. This system of automated ejection and repositioning of the material allows the dimensions of the machinery to be drastically reduced, as it no longer needs to be provided with special storage areas, and also reduces the need for emptying and maintenance. Finally, the equipment that makes the subject system and therefore the machinery keep up with the times is the system for recording the value and insertion flows, i.e. the exchange data, are recorded on a redundant cloud server subjected to security policies to protect the information contained therein; the redundant cloud server allows the platform provider to verify the correct operation of the eco-friendly compactor from a remote position, so as to solve computer problems remotely and in such a way as to manage configuration backups ensuring faster recovery operations. The redundant cloud server allows the platform manager, through an app installed on an electronic device, to observe and monitor - in real time - the insertions carried out at the individual eco-friendly compactors 100; furthermore - by installing said app on at least an electronic device - the user who carried out said insertion in any of the compactors connected to the platform can check the status of the credits thereof and use a discount system at participating businesses; said app allows to transfer credits to other users.