Claims:WE CLAIM:
1. A conveyor system (10) for segregation of solid waste comprising:
a hopper (20) configured to allow an input of a waste bag;
a conveyor (30) coupled to the hopper (20), wherein the conveyor (30) comprises:
a plurality of cutters (not shown in FIG. 1) configured to cut the waste bag;
an actuator (not shown in FIG. 1) configured to drift out the waste bag and drop down the waste from the waste bag;
a plurality of slots (40); and
a plurality of magnets (70) coupled to the plurality of slots (40) and configured to attract and segregate one or more metal particles from the waste.
2. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of slots (40) comprises a plurality of pushers (50) configured to regulate a flow of the waste.
3. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the plurality of pushers (50) comprises a plurality of cylindrical pushers.
4. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the actuator is coupled to a servo motor and configured to control the sweep of the waste.
5. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnets (70) is coupled beneath the plurality of slots (40).
6. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnets (10) comprises a plurality of circular permanent magnets.
7. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a chain drive (60) configured drive the conveyor (30).
8. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a pocket coupled to the conveyor (30) and configured to collect one or more segregated metal particles.
9. The conveyor system (10) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a scraper configured to scrape the one or more segregated metal particles from the plurality of slots (40) and drop the one or more segregated metal particles into the pocket.
10. A method (100) comprising:
dropping a waste bag into a hopper (110);
cutting the waste bag using a plurality of cutters (120);
drifting out the waste bag and dropping down the waste from the waste bag using an actuator (130);
allowing the waste to flow on a conveyor (140);
segregating one or more metal particles from the waste by attracting the one or more metal particles using a plurality of magnets (150).
, Description:BACKGROUND
[0001] Embodiments of a present disclosure relate to solid waste management and more particularly to a conveyor system for segregation of solid waste and a method for operating the same.
[0002] The urban development and population growth also increases the waste emissions. The waste is collected in garbage bags for further processing of the waste. The composition of garbage is very complex because the garbage bag includes construction waste, plastic waste and organic kitchen waste. In order to process and recover such waste, the waste should be sorted first. The sorting involves segregation of the bulk construction waste, a plurality of plastic bags, the ferromagnetic substance, and then the organic materials. Various manual and automatic systems have been utilized for the segregation of solid waste into biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste.
[0003] Conventional system involves manual sorting on a conveyor by men standing on either sides of the conveyor to remove various materials from the waste. However, such process includes a lot of error due to human discretion and are less efficient. Also, manual sorting of waste produces the harmful effects on the men in terms of diseases due to being exposed to waste for long durations on a regular basis.
[0004] In some waste processing units, labours have tendency to overload the feeding part of the equipment in order to process the waste quickly. However, such situation leads to speedy breakdown of machinery.
[0005] In current systems, solid waste consists of waste which is generally disposed-off in closed polythene covers or cloth bags. Manual segregation tends to dispose such polythene covers or cloth bags as invalid and is generally dumped in the landfills. However, such manual process leads to lesser recovery of the larger plastics, and lesser removal of rejects which again might cause contaminations of a succeeding system.
[0006] In another system, magnetic separators are used to sort the magnetic waste from the solid waste. However, the magnetic separators involve large investment and floor space. Also, for larger amount of feed, the magnetic separator sometimes tends to operate and involve power consumption as well.
[0007] Hence, there is a need for an improved conveyor system for segregation of solid waste to address the aforementioned issues.
BREIF DESCRIPTION
[0008] In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, a conveyor system for segregation of solid waste is provided. The conveyor system includes a hopper configured to allow an input of a waste bag. The conveyor system also includes a conveyor coupled to the hopper. The conveyor includes a plurality of cutters configured to cut the waste bag. The conveyor also includes an actuator configured to drift out the waste bag and drop down the waste from the waste bag. The conveyor further includes a plurality of slots. The conveyor further includes a plurality of magnets coupled to the plurality of slots and configured to attract and segregate one or more metal particles from the waste.
[0009] In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method for operating a conveyor system is provided. The method includes dropping a waste bag into a hopper. The method also includes cutting the waste bag using a plurality of cutters. The method further includes drifting out the waste bag and dropping down the waste from the waste bag using an actuator. The method further includes allowing the waste to flow on a conveyor. The method further includes segregating one or more metal particles from the waste by attracting the one or more metal particles using a plurality of magnets.
[0010] To further clarify the advantages and features of the present disclosure, a more particular description of the disclosure will follow by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended figures. It is to be appreciated that these figures depict only typical embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope. The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the appended figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The disclosure will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying figures in which:
[0011] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a conveyor system for segregation of solid waste in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0012] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart representing the steps involved in a method for operating the conveyor system of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0013] Further, those skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and may not have necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the figures by conventional symbols, and the figures may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present disclosure so as not to obscure the figures with details that will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the description herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0014] For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the figures and specific language will be used to describe them. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the disclosure as would normally occur to those skilled in the art are to be construed as being within the scope of the present disclosure.
[0015] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such a process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components preceded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices, sub-systems, elements, structures, components, additional devices, additional sub-systems, additional elements, additional structures or additional components. Appearances of the phrase "in an embodiment", "in another embodiment" and similar language throughout this specification may, but not necessarily do, all refer to the same embodiment.
[0016] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are only illustrative and not intended to be limiting.
[0017] In the following specification and the claims, reference will be made to a number of terms, which shall be defined to have the following meanings. The singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
[0018] Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to a conveyor system for segregation of solid waste. The conveyor system includes a hopper configured to allow an input of a waste bag. The conveyor system also includes a conveyor coupled to the hopper. The conveyor includes a plurality of cutters configured to cut the waste bag. The conveyor also includes an actuator configured to drift out the waste bag and drop down the waste from the waste bag. The conveyor further includes a plurality of slots. The conveyor further includes a plurality of magnets coupled to the plurality of slots and configured to attract and segregate one or more metal particles from the waste.
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a conveyor system (10) for segregation of solid waste in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The conveyor system (10) includes a hopper (20) configured to allow an input of a waste bag. In one embodiment, the waste bag may include a plastic bag, a cloth bag, or a jute bag. In a specific embodiment, the waste may include Non-recyclable plastic waste and rejects. The conveyor system (10) further includes a conveyor (30) coupled to the hopper (20). The conveyor (30) includes a plurality of cutters (not shown in FIG. 1) which is configured to cut the waste bag. In some embodiments, the plurality of cutters may also be configured to shred the waste into a plurality of small particles. The conveyor (30) also includes an actuator (not shown in FIG. 1) which is configured to drift out the waste bag and drop down the waste from the waste bag. In a specific embodiment, the actuator may be coupled to a servo motor (not shown in FIG. 1) and configured to control the sweep of the waste. The sweep works in a linear fashion and allows drop down of the waste.
[0020] The conveyor (30) further includes a plurality of slots (40). In one embodiment, the plurality of slots (40) may include a plurality of pushers (50) which is configured to regulate a flow of the waste on the conveyor (30) in an opposite direction to the hopper (20). In such embodiment, the plurality of pushers (50) may include a plurality of cylindrical pushers. In a specific embodiment, the conveyor system (10) may include a chain drive (60) which is configured to drive the conveyor (30). In such embodiment, the conveyor (30) may include a slot conveyor which may be driven by the chain drive (60) and a plurality of sprockets. In a specific embodiment, the conveyor (30) may be composed of a mild steel material. In some embodiments, the plurality of pushers (50) may be composed of an EN-8 material.
[0021] Furthermore, the conveyor (30) includes a plurality of magnets (70) coupled to the plurality of slots (40). In some embodiments, the plurality of magnets (70) may be coupled beneath the plurality of slots (40). In such embodiment, the plurality of magnets (70) may include a plurality of circular permanent magnets. The plurality magnets (70) are configured to segregate one or more metal particles from the waste by attracting the one or more metal particles present in the waste moving in the conveyor (30).
[0022] In one embodiment, the conveyor system (10) further may include a pocket (not shown in FIG. 1) coupled to the conveyor (30). The pocket is configured to collect one or more segregated metal particles using a swiping mechanism of the actuator. In such embodiment, the pocket is coupled to the conveyor (30) near the hopper (20). In some embodiments, the pocket may include a removable pocket which may be removed for a cleaning purpose. In another embodiment, the pocket may include a tilted pocket configured to remove the one or more metal segregated metal particles. Further, a metal separated waste is moved forward on the conveyor (30) and may be collected on a bin.
[0023] FIG. 2 illustrates a flow chart representing the steps involved in a method (100) for operating the conveyor system of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method (100) includes dropping a waste bag into a hopper in step 110. The method (100) also includes cutting the waste bag using a plurality of cutters in step 120. In one embodiment, the method (100) may include shredding the waste into a plurality of small particles using the plurality of cutters. The method (100) further includes drifting out the waste bag and dropping down the waste from the waste bag using an actuator in step 130. In some embodiments, drifting out the waste bag and dropping down the waste from the waste bag using an actuator may include drifting out the waste bag and dropping down the waste from the waste bag by controlling the sweep of the waste using a servomotor coupled with the actuator.
[0024] The method (100) further includes allowing the waste to flow on a conveyor in step 140. In a specific embodiment, the method (100) may include regulating a flow of the waste on the conveyor in an opposite direction to the hopper using a plurality of pushers. The method (100) further includes segregating one or more metal particles from the waste by attracting the one or more metal particles using a plurality of magnets in step 150. In one embodiment, the method (100) may include collecting one or more segregated metal particles in a pocket coupled to the conveyor using a swiping mechanism of the actuator.
[0025] Various embodiments of the conveyor system for segregation of solid waste described above enable pre-sorting of waste before segregating the waste further into biodegradable waste and non-biodegradable waste. The conveyor system removes metals, rejects and non-recyclable plastics from solid waste by using sweeping mechanism.
[0026] Furthermore, the conveyor system is compact, portable and needs no installation. The conveyor system utilizes less power and ensures removal of metals and batteries which may cause clogging or contamination of the succeeding systems.
[0027] In addition, the conveyor system may allow the limitless input for segregation process as the system includes a conveyor which segregate the waste and move forward the remaining waste into the succeeding systems.
[0028] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the disclosure and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.
[0029] While specific language has been used to describe the disclosure, any limitations arising on account of the same are not intended. As would be apparent to a person skilled in the art, various working modifications may be made to the method in order to implement the inventive concept as taught herein.
[0030] The figures and the foregoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, order of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown; nor do all of the acts need to be necessarily performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples.