SHREDDING ARRANGEMENT WITH INFEED ROLLER

Abstract

A shredding arrangement for shredding material to be shredded, such as household waste, industrial waste, plastics, wood, paper and/or biomass, comprising a shredding device, which is arranged on a machine frame, and a supply device having at least one infeed roller drivable to rotate using an associated drive device for supplying the material to be shredded to the shredding device. The shredding arrangement is distinguished in that the infeed roller is configured to accommodate the associated drive device, and the drive device has an electric motor, gearing, and a flexible coupling.

Claims

1-14. (canceled)

15. A shredding arrangement for shredding material to be shredded, such as household waste, industrial waste, plastics, wood, paper and/or biomass, comprising a shredding device, which is arranged on a machine frame, and a supply device having at least one infeed roller drivable to rotate using an associated drive device for supplying the material to be shredded to the shredding device, wherein the infeed roller is configured to accommodate the associated drive device, and the drive device has an electric motor, a gearing, and a flexible coupling.

16. The shredding arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the infeed roller comprises a roller base member of hollow-cylindrical type accommodating the drive device.

17. The shredding arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the flexible coupling takes the form of an axially pluggable coupling and is joined on the input side to a driven side of the gearing.

18. The shredding arrangement according to claim 16, wherein the flexible coupling has a first ring element or disk element on the output side which is fastened to an inside of the roller base member, wherein the flexible coupling has a second ring element or disk element on the input side, and wherein first and second ring element or disk element are in operative connection for force and torque transmission using at least one flexible coupling element.

19. The shredding arrangement according to claim 18, wherein the gearing extends in sections axially through the first and second ring elements of the flexible coupling.

20. The shredding arrangement according to claim 16, wherein a bearing support device extending axially into the roller base member is arranged in each case in the region of longitudinal end portions of the roller base member, on which support device the roller base member is supported on its inside via a respective bearing device such as a plain bearing device.

21. The shredding arrangement according to claim 20, wherein the bearing support devices are fastened non-rotatably to the machine frame or non-rotatably to a rocker of the supply device which is arranged movably about a swivel axis relative to the machine frame for adaptation of an infeed or supply gap to the material to be shredded.

22. The shredding arrangement according to claim 20, wherein at least one of the bearing support devices takes the form of a bearing ring which carries the associated bearing device, in particular a bearing bush such as a plain bearing bush to support the roller base member relative to the bearing support device.

23. The shredding arrangement according to claim 20, wherein one of the bearing support devices is set up and configured to carry an assembly comprising the electric motor, the gearing, and a gear-side ring element or disk element of the flexible coupling.

24. The shredding arrangement according to claim 16, wherein a fan device is provided to dissipate waste heat of the drive device, in particular of the electric motor and/or of the gearing.

25. The shredding arrangement according to claim 24, wherein an air inlet is arranged at one end face of the roller base member and an air outlet is arranged at the other end face of the roller base member and the fan device is configured and arranged to generate a predetermined air throughput, in particular as a function of an actual value of the motor power, through the roller base member in the axial direction.

26. The shredding arrangement according to claim 21, wherein side plates running parallel to the supply direction are fastened to the machine frame in the region of the rocker, wherein the rocker is arranged swivelably in the transverse direction between these side plates in such a way that, when the rocker is in an operational position, the axis of rotation (E) of the infeed roller lies below an upper edge of the side plates.

27. The shredding arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the electric motor is powered by a frequency converter to provide an AC supply voltage with predetermined amplitude and frequency for establishing a predetermined speed of rotation and/or rotational acceleration of the infeed roller.

28. The shredding arrangement according to claim 15, wherein the shredding device comprises a shredding rotor driven by a further drive device, which shredding rotor has at least one shredding tool, in particular a plurality of shredding tools, at its circumference, wherein the shredding arrangement has a control device which controls the drive device of the shredding rotor and the drive device of the infeed roller for mutually coordinated supply and shredding of the material to be shredded.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The invention is explained hereinafter with reference to the accompanying figures through the description of an embodiment together with modifications, wherein:

[0031] FIG. 1 is a perspective partial view of a shredding arrangement configured according to the invention;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a side view of the shredding arrangement according to the invention of FIG. 1, omitting components to show the infeed mechanism;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional representation in longitudinal section of an infeed roller of the shredding arrangement of FIG. 1;

[0034] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the infeed roller shown in FIG. 3 of the shredding arrangement of FIG. 1, but reflected in the vertical direction; and

[0035] FIG. 5 is a further isometric view of the infeed roller shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the shredding arrangement of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] A respective shredding arrangement configured according to the invention may be specifically adapted to material to be shredded. A shredding arrangement according to the invention is described below which may be configured and set up to shred elongate objects of varying diameter such as tree trunks. FIG. 1 shows a detail representation of such a shredding arrangement 1 in side view, wherein components have been removed in part for the sake of clarity. The shredding arrangement 1 shown comprises a shredding device 2 with a shredding rotor 20, the rotor shaft of which, in the representation of FIG. 1, lies perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The shredding rotor 20 here comprises a plurality of shredding tools 22 arranged at the circumference thereof, of which the representation of FIG. 1 shows just one individual tool. To supply the material to be shredded, the shredding arrangement 1 comprises a supply device 3, with a supply belt device 30, which is driven via a belt drive 31. The supply belt device 30 transfers the material to be shredded in supply direction Z, here perpendicular to the axis of the shredding rotor, to an infeed roller arrangement with a plurality of lower infeed rollers 32a,b,c, which have a common drive motor 33 and an upper infeed roller 100, which is bearing-mounted on an infeed rocker 40, which itself has a swivel axis S which here runs parallel to the axis of the shredding rotor 20 and furthermore parallel to the axis of rotation E of the upper infeed roller.

[0037] The infeed rocker 40 has a rocker housing 41 which, in the transverse direction, i.e. perpendicular to supply direction Z and parallel to the rotor shaft, is of such a dimension that it lies within the side plates 24, spaced in the transverse direction, of the shredding device, such that the rocker, loaded under its own weight in the drawing in FIG. 1, moves downward into the shredding chamber of the shredding device 2 defined by the side plates 24a,b until it rests against the supplied material to be shredded.

[0038] The lower infeed rollers 32a,b,c may accordingly form with the infeed roller 100 of the rocker 100 an infeed gap adapted automatically to the thickness of the material to be shredded. Since the drive of the infeed roller 100 bearing-mounted on the rocker housing 41 of the infeed rocker 40 is arranged in a manner still to be described within the roller body, the depicted design according to the invention of the shredding arrangement 1 allows operating situations in which the axis of rotation E of the upper infeed roller 100 lies below the upper edge 25a,b of the side plates 24a,b of the shredding device 2. This design is in particular clear from FIG. 2, in which an operational situation is shown in which the infeed rocker 40 dips into the shredding chamber delimited laterally by the side plates 24a,b, wherein it is possible for the axis of rotation E of the upper infeed roller 100 to move below the upper edge 25a,b of the side plates 24a,b of the machine frame.

[0039] As is clear in particular from FIGS. 1 and 2, the arrangement explained in greater detail below of the drive device of the upper infeed roller 100 within a roller base member means that no drive units are joined laterally to the upper infeed roller, which would otherwise make it necessary to provide a vertical slot or a vertical recess in the side plate portions 24a,b of the machine frame 23 to allow the infeed rocker 40 to dip sufficiently into the shredding chamber.

[0040] During operation of the shredding arrangement 1 according to the invention, the tree trunks are transported by the supply belt device 30 into the region of the infeed rollers 33a,b,c and 100, firstly by the first lower supply roller 33c in the supply direction toward the shredding rotor 20, then grasped by the lower infeed roller 33b and the upper infeed roller 100 bearing-mounted in the rocker 40 and transported further toward the shredding rotor 20. The infeed rocker 40 is in this case freely swivelable about the axis of rotation S thereof, such that the rocker rests with its weight on the material to be shredded and thus adjusts itself automatically to a varying trunk diameter, such that the tree trunk may be supplied irrespective of its diameter in a defined manner to the shredding rotor in supply direction Z.

[0041] FIG. 3 shows a possible embodiment of the infeed roller 100 of the shredding arrangement 1 according to the invention of FIGS. 1 and 2 in longitudinal section along the axis of rotation E of the infeed roller. The infeed roller 100 may have a roller base member 101 which is here rotationally symmetrical, and on which there are arranged a circumferentially extending plurality of engaging strips 120, mounted on the external circumferential surface thereof and each comprising a plurality of radially extending spaced projections in the manner of teeth. Depending on the embodiment, the engaging strips 120 may be applied in materially bonded or form-fitting manner to the external circumferential surface of the roller base member 101. In another embodiment, provision may also be made for the teeth to be arranged directly on the external circumferential surface of the roller base member, for example by screwing or integral forming on the roller base member.

[0042] At the end-face end portions 113, 114 of the roller base member 101, the infeed roller 100 in each case has a bearing support device in the form of a respective bearing ring 105a,b, which bearing support device carries a respective bearing 106a,b for support of the roller base member 101. Depending on the embodiment, the bearings 106a,b may take the form of radial plain bearings, while at least one of the bearing devices may moreover comprise a thrust bearing for providing a predetermined axial play between the bearing rings and the roller base member.

[0043] As is apparent from FIG. 3, in the described embodiment, the illustrated left-hand bearing ring 105a projects only slightly into the interior of the roller base member 101, while the right-hand bearing ring 105b may extend into the roller base member 101 over at least half of the axial extent thereof and be configured to carry an assembly comprising an electric motor 110, a gearing 118 joined thereto and an input element in the form of an adapter ring 119 of a coupling device 117. Since the stated assembly is screwed to the second bearing ring via a circumferential connecting flange in the area of the gearing, the bearing ring 105b on the right-hand side in the figure may simultaneously be configured as a torque bracket. To this end, the bearing ring 105 has a radial flange 130 at its axial end face facing the gearing 118, to which radial flange said assembly is fixed via fastening bolts 131, which are screwed into an associated thread on the outer housing of the gearing 118. The radial flange 130 may be connected via a sleeve-type central portion 119 with the end-face portion, in particular by way of welding, to configure the bearing ring 105b on the right-hand side in FIG. 1.

[0044] In the described embodiment, the gearing 118 may comprise a planetary gear train, in which the sun gear is driven by the motor shaft of the electric motor 110 and in which an internal gear flange 140 constitutes the gear output. In this respect, the internal gear may be connected via the internal gear flange 140 with an adapter ring 109 as input part of the coupling device 117 using bolts 141. The coupling device 117 may moreover have one further ring element 108, which may be fastened as a driver ring in torque-transmitting manner, in particular in materially bonded or form-fitting manner, to the inside of the roller base member 101 and thus constitute the output side of the coupling device 117.

[0045] For torque-transmitting coupling of adapter ring 109 and driver ring 108 of the coupling device 117, a plurality of circumferentially spaced flexible, here for example cylindrical, coupling elements, in particular comprising an elastomer material, extending toward the axis E of the infeed roller 100 may be provided, which are fastened to one of the two rings 108, 109 and in each case extend through a respectively associated axially extending opening on the other ring. As is clear in particular from FIG. 4, provision may be made in the described embodiment for the elastomer coupling elements 122 to be fastened to the adapter ring 109 using a bolt joint, wherein, in the assembled state of the coupling, the coupling elements 122 extending in the axial direction project into associated feedthroughs on the driver ring 108 for torque-transmitting operative connection between the two ring elements 108, 109 of the coupling device 117. In the described embodiment, a plurality of such coupling elements 122 may be mounted in circumferentially spaced manner on the adapter ring 109, these extending, in the installation position, in each case into an associated feedthrough of the driver ring 108. In this respect, the gearing 117 may extend at least in places both through the driver ring 108 and through the adapter ring 109, which provides a compact construction of the drive device of the upper infeed roller of the shredding arrangement configured according to the invention or simplifies integration of the entire drive device within the roller base member.

[0046] The two end face portions 113, 114 of the infeed roller 100 are in each case closed by an associated cylinder lid 115a,b, these being screwed together with the respective bearing ring 105a,b. These cylinder lids 115a,b may have a fan opening for providing intended air cooling of the drive device, wherein one of the two cylinder lids 115a,b has an air inlet 111 and the other one of the cylinder lids has an air outlet 112 for providing an axial air current in the interior of the roller base member 101 of the infeed roller 100. Provision may be made for not only the driver ring 108 and the adapter ring but also the bearing rings 105a,b to comprise air passages 121, such that an air current generated outside the infeed roller 100 may be guided from the air inlet 111 to the air outlet 112. Through respective positioning, size and shape of the air inlet, the air outlet and the air passages, the air stream may be guided in targeted manner to components to be cooled of the drive device, for example to the gearing 180 and the electric motor 110 for at least partial absorption of the respective waste heat of the components of the drive device.

[0047] Supply and removal of the cooling medium is indicated for another embodiment in FIG. 2, which shows the respective air supply hose 42a and the air removal hose 42b.

[0048] Air supply or air removal is here not passed through the cylinder lids 115a,b in a direction perpendicular to axis E, but rather roughly perpendicular thereto, to prevent a component arrangement in the lateral direction.

[0049] To mount the infeed roller 100, the gearing 118 may be connected at the internal gear flange 140 thereof with the adapter ring 109 and the coupling elements 122 fastened thereto using the fastening bolts 141, see FIGS. 3-5. Furthermore, the slip ring 105b may be connected with the end-face portion, comprising the bearing device 106b in particular in the form of plain bearing elements with the central portion 119 and the radial flange 130 and then the radial flange can be screwed to the gear train 118 using the bolts 131. Once the motor flange has been flange-mounted onto the gear train, this structural unit may be inserted axially as a whole into the roller base member 101, such that the coupling elements 122 engage, after circumferential orientation relative to the driver ring 108, into a respectively associated feedthrough of the driver ring to provide an operative connection between the electric motor 110 and the roller base member 101. The bearing ring 105b may then be fastened to the rocker housing 41, such that the roller member 101 is rotatably bearing-mounted relative to the rocker housing 41. The described design of the upper infeed roller of the shredding arrangement according to the invention enables simple mounting in that firstly the entire drive device excluding the driver ring 108 may be assembled outside the roller base member, wherein the infeed roller may then be finished by simple axial insertion of this assembly into the roller base member, which simplifies both the accessibility of individual components of the drive device of the upper infeed roller and also in principle the installation and/or maintenance thereof.

[0050] In the described embodiment, fastening of the individual drive component is achieved substantially by bolt screws, however any other means of connection may also be used, preferably in the form of detachable connections to simplify installation and maintenance, in particular the replacement of defective components.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0051] 1 Shredding arrangement [0052] 2 Shredding device [0053] 3 Supply device [0054] 20 Shredding rotor [0055] 22 Shredding tool [0056] 23 Machine frame [0057] 24a,b Side plate [0058] 25a,b Upper edge [0059] 30 Supply belt device [0060] 31 Belt drive [0061] 32a,b,c Lower infeed roller [0062] 33 Drive motor of lower infeed roller [0063] 40 Infeed rocker, rocker [0064] 41 Rocker housing [0065] 42a Air supply ports [0066] 42b Air removal ports [0067] 100 Infeed roller [0068] 101 Roller base member [0069] 102 Inside [0070] 105a,b Bearing support device, bearing ring [0071] 106a,b Bearing device [0072] 107 Drive device [0073] 108 First ring element or disk element, driver ring [0074] 109 Second ring element or disk element, adapter ring [0075] 110 Electric motor [0076] 111 Air inlet [0077] 112 Air outlet [0078] 113 End-face end portion [0079] 114 End face, end portion [0080] 115 Cylinder lid [0081] 117 Coupling device, coupling [0082] 118 Gearing [0083] 119 Central portion [0084] 120 Engaging strip [0085] 121 Air passage [0086] 122 Coupling element [0087] 130 Radial flange [0088] 131 Fastening bolts [0089] 140 Internal gear flange [0090] 141 Fastening bolts [0091] E Axis of rotation of upper infeed roller [0092] S Swivel axis [0093] Z Supply device