GRANULATOR MILL

Abstract

Granulator mill (1) comprising a frame (10), a cutter housing (20) with a granule chamber (22) comprising at least one non-rotatable blade (24) inside the granule chamber (22), and further comprising a rotatable rotor (30) arranged inside the granule chamber (22). The rotor (30) comprises blades (32, 34) which are arranged for cooperation with the non-rotatable blade (24) for granulating waste material to granules. A normal (n) to a first opening (26a) of the granule chamber (22) is pointing substantially vertically upwards in the normal position of use of said granulator mill (1), and characterising is that the cutter housing (20) is pivotably arranged at the frame (10) by means of a first pivot means (28), for pivoting the cutter housing (20) between the normal position of use and a cleaning position. In the cleaning position, the normal (n) of the first opening (26a) of the granule chamber (22) points towards a surface plane of the substrate.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A granulator mill comprising: a frame, preferably arranged to stand directly on a substrate or indirectly on the substrate via a number of wheels, in the normal position of use of said granulator mill, a cutter housing arranged at the frame and having a granule chamber, the granule chamber comprises at least one non-rotatable blade inside the granule chamber, a rotatable rotor arranged inside the granule chamber, the rotor comprising a plurality of blades arranged at a periphery of the rotor, which blades are arranged for cooperation with the at least one non-rotatable blade for granulating waste material to granules, wherein a normal to a first opening of the granule chamber is pointing substantially vertically upwards in the normal position of use of said granulator mill, wherein that the cutter housing is pivotably arranged at the frame by means of a first pivot means, for pivoting the cutter housing including the granule chamber and the rotor between the normal position of use and a cleaning position, wherein in the cleaning position, the normal of the first opening of the granule chamber points towards a surface plane of the substrate.

12. Granulator mill according to claim 11, wherein the cutter housing comprises an upper part and a lower part, wherein the upper part comprises the granule chamber and the rotor and the lower part is detachably arranged at the upper part.

13. Granulator mill according to claim 12, wherein the first pivot means is arranged at the upper part of the cutter housing.

14. Granulator mill according to claim 12, wherein the upper part of the cutter housing comprises two gables on respective side of the granule chamber, which gables extends from the upper part in direction towards the rotor and pass the rotor, wherein the gables comprising first through holes for the rotor, and wherein the first pivot means is two pivot means each arranged at respective gable at a distance from the respective first through holes.

15. Granulator mill according to claim 12, wherein the non-rotatable blade is detachably arranged inside the granule chamber by screwing from outside the upper part of the cutter housing by means of screws, wherein the upper part of the cutter housing comprises second through holes arranged for the screws and the non-rotatable blade comprises threads arranged for engagement with the screws.

16. Granulator mill according to claim 15, wherein the lower part of the cutter housing comprises third through holes arranged for access to the screws, such as the non-rotatable blade inside the granule chamber may be dismounted without dismounting the lower part from the upper part of the cutter housing.

17. Granulator mill according to claim 15, wherein the cutter housing comprises a second pivot means arranged at a distance from the first pivot means, wherein the second pivot means is pivotally attached to the frame via a dampening means/spring device.

18. Granulator mill according to claim 15, wherein the granulator mill comprises a motor attached to the frame which motor is arranged for driving the rotor, and the rotor is detachably arranged relative the motor by means of a clutch, which clutch is displaceably arranged relative the rotor such as the displacement of the clutch releases the rotor from the motor.

19. Granulator mill according to claim 15, wherein an infeed hopper is arranged upstream the cutter housing, for feeding waste material into the first opening of the granule chamber, the infeed hopper being pivotably arranged at the frame by means of a third pivot means such as being pivotable between a closed position and an open position relative to the first opening of the granule chamber.

20. Granulator mill according to claim 15, wherein an outfeed hopper is arranged downstream the cutter housing for receiving granules from the granule chamber, the outfeed hopper being detachably arranged relative to the cutter housing.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0020] The invention is now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0021] FIG. 1a is a perspective view of a granulator mill according to the invention in a using mode.

[0022] FIG. 1b is a side view of the granulator mill according to the invention in the using mode.

[0023] FIG. 1c is a vertical cross-section through the granulator mill in the using mode.

[0024] FIG. 2a is a perspective view of the granulator mill according to the invention in a first cleaning/service mode.

[0025] FIG. 2b is a perspective view of the granulator mill according to the invention in a second cleaning/service mode.

[0026] FIG. 2c is a vertical cross-section through of the granulator mill in the second cleaning/service mode.

[0027] FIG. 3a is a detailed vertical cross-section through a cutter housing of the granulator mill.

[0028] FIG. 3b is a perspective view of the cutter housing.

[0029] FIG. 3c is a perspective view of an underside the cutter housing.

[0030] FIG. 4a is a perspective view of the granulator mill (without an infeed hopper and an outfeed hopper) when coupled to a motor via a clutch.

[0031] FIG. 4b is a perspective view of the granulator mill (without an infeed hopper and an outfeed hopper) when decoupled from the motor via the clutch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] Briefly described, a granulator mill, designed for enhanced cleaning results of the cutter housing and enhanced safety for the user during cleaning, is disclosed.

[0033] In the description below, various directions will be given with reference to a granulator mill arranged in a using position and a cleaning position. In any position, the granulator mill normally stands on a substrate, as a floor, a shelf or the like, and directions given below such as upper, lower, upwards, downwards etc. is made by reference to the normal use of the granulator mill.

[0034] FIG. 1a-b are different views of a granulator mill 1 according to the invention in a using mode and FIG. 1c is a cross-section of FIG. 1b. The granulator mill 1 comprises a frame 10 onto which a cutter housing 20 is arranged. The frame 10 is arranged to support the cutter housing 20 as well as a motor 60 and electrical connections and controls 70 etc. The frame 10 of a preferred embodiment is arranged with a set of four wheels 12, each wheel arranged on a respective leg 14 of the frame 10, for enabling a free positioning of the granulator mill 1 at a plant. Further, the frame 10 comprises a handle 16, and by the wheels 12 and the handle 16, the granulator mill 1 is easy to relocate to any position, for taking care of plastic waste material at different places in a plant. An infeed hopper 40 is pivotally arranged to the frame 10 upstream the cutter housing 20, that is on the upper side of the cutter housing 20 as seen in FIG. 1a-c. The plastic waste material is fed into the infeed hopper 40 and falls from the infeed hopper 40 by gravity to the cutter housing 20. The cutter housing 20 comprises a granule chamber 22 which comprise an open top or first opening 26a for receiving the waste material. The waste material slides down in the granule chamber 22 towards a rotatable rotor 30, which comprises first and second blades 32, 34 for granulating the plastic waste material to granules. The granule chamber 22, the rotor 30 and the first opening 26a is visible in FIG. 1c and will be described further below. Downstream the cutter housing 20, that is below the cutter housing 20 as seen in FIG. 1a-c, is an outfeed hopper 50 detachably arranged to the cutter housing 20. The outfeed hopper 50 is arranged to receive granules from the granule chamber 22, and normally an outfeed system (not visible) is coupled to the outfeed hopper 50 for further transportation of the granules away from the granulator mill 1.

[0035] FIG. 2a is a perspective view of the granulator mill 1 according to the invention in a first cleaning or service mode. To access the cutter housing 20, the infeed hopper 40 is openable between a closed position (using mode—FIG. 1a-c) and an open position (first cleaning mode—FIG. 3a). Thus, the infeed hopper 40 is pivotally arranged to the frame 10 by means of third pivot means 42, preferably as a hinge-like connection between the infeed hopper 40 and hopper brackets 18 of the frame 10. The infeed hopper 40 preferably comprises at least one lock 44 (preferably two) for locking the infeed hopper 40 to the frame 10 as a protection, which prevents contact with moving parts of the granulator mill 1. The infeed hopper 40 further has the function of pressing the cutter housing 20 towards the frame 10 in the using mode. In the cleaning mode of the granulator mill 1, also the outfeed hopper 50 is disconnected from the cutter housing 20, to allow a proper cleaning of the interior of the granulator mill 1. The outfeed hopper 50 may also comprise at least one lock (not visible) for locking of the outfeed hopper 50 to the cutter housing 20.

[0036] FIG. 2b is a perspective view of the granulator mill 1 and FIG. 2c is a vertical cross-section through the granulator mill 1, in a second cleaning or service mode. To access the cutter housing 20, the infeed hopper 40 is opened as descried above to the first cleaning mode. Thereafter, the rotor 30 is decoupled from the motor 60 via a clutch 36 and the cutter housing 20 is tilted relative to the frame 10 to the second cleaning mode, by that the cutter housing 20 is pivotably arranged at the frame 10 by means of a first pivot means 28. By that, the complete cutter housing 20 including the granule chamber 22 and the rotor 30 is pivoted wherein, in the second cleaning mode, a normal (n) of the first opening 26a of the granule chamber 22 points towards a surface plane of the substrate on where the granulator mill 1 stands, instead as in the using mode, where the normal (n) to the first opening 26a of the granule chamber 22 points substantially vertically upwards, in the normal position of use (using mode) of said granulator mill 1, see also FIG. 3a. The first pivot means 28 preferably is a hinge-like connection between the cutter housing 20 and hopper brackets 18 of the frame 10.

[0037] FIG. 3a-c are detailed section and views of the cutter housing 20 and of the underside of the cutter housing 20. The cutter housing 20 comprises an upper part 20a and a lower part 20b, where the upper part 20a comprises the granule chamber 22 with the first opening 26a and its normal n and the rotatable rotor 30. Further, the upper part 20a of the cutter housing 20 comprises two gables 120a, 120b on respective side of the granule chamber 22, which gables 120a, 120b extends from the upper part 20a in direction towards the rotor 30 and pass the rotor 30. Each gable 120a, 120b comprises a respective first through hole 121a, 121b (not visible in the figure) allowing the rotor 30 to rotate freely relative the gables 120a, 120b, while the rotor 30 is driven by the motor 60. The motor 60 is arranged on the frame 10 outside the cutter housing 20 and its gables 120a, 120b, see FIG. 1a-b. The gables 120a, 120b comprises the first pivot means 28, for pivoting the complete cutter housing 20 relative the frame 10. The pivot means 28 are actually two pivot means 28, each arranged at respective gable 120a, 120b at a distance from the respective first through holes 121a, 121b, and preferably at substantially the same vertical level as the rotor 30/first through holes 121a, 121b. This to enable a good balancing of the pivoting movement of the cutter housing 20 relative to the frame 10. According to a preferred embodiment, the cutter housing 20 also comprises second pivot means 29, which is arranged at a distance from the first pivot means 28. The second pivot means 29 is pivotally attached to the frame 10 via a dampening means/spring device 14, such as the pivoting of the cutter housing 20 from the using mode to the second cleaning mode is facilitated. And opposite, while pivoting the cutter housing 20 from the second cleaning mode to the using mode, the pivoting is safely braked by the dampening means 14, to avoid a dangerous and fast back-pivoting of the cutter housing 20.

[0038] The granule chamber 22 of the cutter housing 20 comprises at least one non-rotatable blade 24, which is detachably arranged inside the granule chamber 22, by screw attachment to the walls of the granule chamber 22. The fastening of the non-rotatable blade 24 to the walls is made by screwing from outside the upper part 20a of the cutter housing 20 by means of first screws 23, why the lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 comprises second through holes 25 arranged for access of the screws 23. In turn, the non-rotatable blade 24 comprises threads arranged for engagement with the screws 23 such as the non-rotatable blade 24 may be fixedly arranged to the walls of the granule chamber 22, and the upper part 20a of the cutter housing 20 comprises second through holes 21 arranged for the screws 23. The granulator mill 1 further comprises the rotatable rotor 30, which is rotatably arranged inside the granule chamber 22, in a second opening 26b at the bottom of the granule chamber 22. The rotor 30 comprises the plurality of knives or blades 32, 34 which are arranged for cooperation with the non-rotatable blade 24 for granulating plastic waste material into granules in the granule chamber 22. The blades 32, 34 of the rotatable rotor 30 are according to a preferred embodiment a plurality of first blades 32, which protrudes a rather short first distance from the periphery of the rotor 30 and at least one longer second blade 34 (hook blade), which protrudes a longer second distance from the periphery of the rotor 30. The second distance of the second blade 34 is greater than the first distance of the first blades 32, such as a plastic waste material falling down into the granule chamber 22 via the first opening 26a is pre-cut by the long second blade/blades 34 to enable a further transport by gravity down to the plurality of lower first blades 32, which granulates the waste material to final granules with substantially equal size. The walls of the granule chamber 22 further comprises at least one recess 26c, corresponding with the longer second blade 34, such as the second blade 34 during the rotation may pass the wall of the granule chamber 22/the non-rotatable blade 24.

[0039] The lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 is detachably arranged to the upper part 20a, for example by second screws 27, such as the lower part 20b firstly is arranged as a cover of the underside of the cutter housing 20, and thereby covering the first and second blades 32, 34 as well as the underside of the rotatable rotor 30, and secondly is arranged as a guiding funnel for the granules between the cutter housing 22 and the outfeed hopper 50. An alternative to the second screws 27 is to detachably arrange the lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 to the upper part 20b by for example guiding grooves on the inside of the gables 120a, 120b (facing the lower part/cover) and corresponding protruding lips on the outer sides of the lower part 20b together with a lock. By such an arrangement, a tool-less detachment of the lower part 20b from the upper part 20a is achieved. The lower part 20b may according to this arrangement be attached between the gables 120a, 120b by a sliding movement, where the protruding lips of the lower part 20b is slided into the guiding grooves of the gables 120a, 120b from the side to a final position. Then, the lower part 20b is locked in the final position by for example a spring-loaded pin with a handle, arranged on the lower part 20b, which pin is introduced into a corresponding hole or recess on the upper part 20a of the cutter housing 20. Since the infeed hopper 40 presses the cutter housing 20 towards the frame 10 in the using mode, as mentioned above, the lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 is pressed between the upper part 20a and the infeed hopper 40, and thereby is secured to the upper part 20a in the using mode. Thereby, a relatively simple lock like a spring-loaded pin together with the lip/groove engagement, is enough to hold the lower part 20b to the upper part 20a, since this function only is in use when tilting the cutter housing 20 between the using mode and the cleaning mode.

[0040] As mentioned above, the rotatable rotor 30 with its first and second blades 32, 34 is rotatable arranged in the second opening 26b at the bottom of the granule chamber 22, wherein the plastic waste when granulated by the blades 24, 32, 34 passes the second opening 26b and falls down towards the outfeed hopper 50 while being guided by the funnel-like lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20. The lower part 20b preferably has a shape which corresponds to the rotor 30 and first and second blades 32, 34, which means that first regions 220b of the lower part 20b (the cover), arranged near the lower first blades 32, nearly abuts the first blades 32, and second regions 320b arranged near the longer second blades 34 surrounds the second blades 34. By that, the second regions 320b of the lower part 20b protrudes from the first regions 220b like semicircular covers with walls and a bottom. The semicircular covers/the second regions 320b have semicircular insides (following the tangent of the protruding and rotating second blades 34) but may have outer shapes which are not totally semicircular. For example, may the outside of the second regions 320b comprise protruding supports for cooperation with the frame 10, for providing a stop or support between the frame 10 and the cutter housing 20 in the using position. The lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 further comprises the second through holes 25, which are arranged for access to the screws 23 and preferably are arranged at the first regions 220b of the lower part 20b. By that, the non-rotatable blade 24 may be dismounted without dismounting the lower part 20b from the upper part 20a of the cutter housing 20, to facilitate a possibility to change the non-rotatable blade/blades 24, as described above.

[0041] FIG. 4a-b are perspective views of the granulator mill 1 without the infeed hopper 40 and the outfeed hopper 50 visible, where in FIG. 4a, the granulator mill 1 is in its using mode and in FIG. 4b in its first service mode. As mentioned above, the rotatable rotor 30 is driven by a motor 60, which is arranged at the frame 10. The rotor 30 is detachable from the motor 60 by means of the clutch 36 operated by a handle 37. The clutch 36 or parts of the clutch is displaceably arranged relative the rotor 30 such as the displacement of the clutch/parts of the clutch 36 by the handle 37, releases the rotor 30 from the motor 60. After that, the complete cutter housing 20 may be pivoted around the first pivot means 28 as explained above. When the rotor 30 is decoupled from the motor 60, it is very easy to rotate the rotor 30 while cleaning the granule chamber 22, the blades 24, 32, 34, the lower part 20b of the cutter housing 20 etc.

[0042] Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.”