Present apparatus for division and separation of glass products is often large plants intended for stationary installation. US 5 350 121 shows an installation exhibiting several steps such as crushing, separation, collection of gases and washing of the materials.

It is intended for recycling several different glass products such as TV tubes and fluorescent tubes. Due to these different steps in the process, this type of installation is expensive to produce, of complicated design and stationary.

US 5 333 797 shows an installation for recycling glass products and comprises means of separating and crushing in several steps plus washing and means of collecting the hazardous gases and mercury. Also these installations are relatively large and expensive as regards manufacturing costs.

US 5 636 800 shows an installation with two interfacing belts intended for crushing light bulbs, which are pressed together between the belts, whereby the glass is crushed and the materials separated. This method can lead to shards of glass and pieces of filament being pressed into the lamp fitting.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mobile use that will fit inside a container and can simply and efficiently crush and separate recyclable materials such as metal-framed window elements and light bulbs. These materials comprise, besides glass from the light bulbs and window panes, materials set into the glass such as filament holders in light bulbs and mounting materials such as lamp fittings or metal frames around window units in which some of the glass is fastened.

This object is achieved by means of an apparatus exhibiting the unique features and characteristics specified in the attached claims.

The invention provides a crushing and separating apparatus comprising a belt conveyor where light bulbs containing mercury can be manually sorted out, after which other lamps are transported into the apparatus to a first part where the light bulbs are crushed and the tension that has been supplied to the lamp fittings in manufacture, which are often manufactured of stainless steel and die-cast which means that a relatively powerful force is required to press them together, is reduced for compressing at another part at the same time as the glass is further crushed, vibrated loose from the lamp fitting and finely ground to obtain as pure an end product as possible. During compression, the lamp fitting is compressed so much that the wires holding the filament are cut off. Connected after the apparatus is a grader of common type with a conveyor belt where magnetic materials such as filaments and filament holders are sorted out by magnets, aluminium and stainless steel

material by to the conveyor belt overcharged coils, glass by sifting and other materials such as lead and brass to a receptacle in conjunction with the end of the conveyor belt. The apparatus will be relatively small in size with few components and therefore relatively inexpensive as regards manufacturing cost and the entire apparatus is intended to fit inside a container of normal size for transporting on a truck between recycling stations and processing on site the light bulbs that have been left for recycling without unnecessary transport. The apparatus can also be used to crush and separate glass and metal in metal- framed glass panes.

The invention is described more fully in the following with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate examples of selected embodiments for processing light bulbs, where fig. 1 shows an overview of the apparatus fig. 2 shows a detailed view of the first processing part and fig. 3 shows a detailed view of the second processing part fig. 4 shows an overview of the apparatus with input and sorting arranged in a container.

Figures 1 and 4 show a view from the side of an apparatus designated 1 which comprises a conveyor belt arranged to an intake 2. At this conveyor belt is arranged a manual sorting out of mercury lamps. This sorting out can in another embodiment comprise an automatic sorting with fluoroscope for the detection of mercury lamps. The remaining lamps pass to the intake on the conveyor belt. The intake comprises a funnel-shaped part that terminates in a first processing part where the bulbs are crushed. The processing part 3 shown in figure 2 comprises an upper 4 and lower 5 plate facing each other and angled in relation to each other giving a part where the bulbs enter 6 that has a larger space between the plates 4,5 than the part where the crushed lamps exit 7.

The whole processing part 3 is inclined to the horizontal. This incline means that the bulbs successively slide along the processing part's 3 lower plate 5 in towards the part 7 with the smaller space between both plates 4,5 where the material slides out. Since the distance between the two plates 4,5 is successively reduced, the material sliding in is processed several times. The incline to the horizontal that makes the bulbs slide is adjustable with an arm 8. The gradient of the incline determines the speed at which the material slides through the first processing part 3. If a consignment contains a large amount of household light bulbs, the incline can be relatively steep as the fittings on these bulbs are relatively soft. But if a consignment of bulbs contains a large amount of light bulbs with fittings of die-cast stainless steel, the incline can be reduced, which gives a longer processing time in the first processing part 3. The advantage this has is explained in the following.

One side of the upper plate 4 is pivot mounted in two eccentrically journalled wheels 9,10 with different amplitudes. The amplitudes are adjustable in order to enable adjustment of the distance between the plates 4,5 depending on the material being processed. The eccentric 9 with the greater amplitude is arranged on the front part of plate 4, part 6 with the larger space between the plates 4,5. The other eccentric 10 with the smaller amplitude is arranged on the rear part of plate 4, part 7 with the smaller space between the plates 4,5. Both eccentrics 9,10 are driven by a mechanism such as an electric motor 11 via chains 12,13 or V-belt, which means that the upper plate 4 executes a pivot movement towards the lower plate 5. This movement means that the light bulbs are crushed between the plates 4,5 after which the material successively falls down towards the narrowing part 7.

The lower plate 5 rests on springs 14 that allow the plate 5 to move back if any excessively hard materials should reach between the two plates 4,5.

The two plates 4,5 in the first processing part 3 exhibit on their facing sides continuous ridges 15 extending in the direction of the flow of material. These ridges 15 can be made directly on the plates or as strips welded or in some other way permanently arranged on the plates. The ridges 15 have primarily a triangular cross section with its base joined to the facing sides of the plates 4,5. The ridges 15 are furthermore offset laterally on the respective plates 4,5 in relation to each other, which means the ridges 15 on one plate fits in the space formed between two opposing ridges 15 on the opposite plate. It should be understood that the design of these ridges can vary.

The ridges 15 are used partly to provide a better grip of the light bulb glass, crush the glass and reduce the tension that is in the bulb fitting through the application of one or more folds or notches in the material. Application of the fold or notch is comparable with the impact of a peen hammer. In bulbs of the type used in car headlamps, the fitting is often made of die-cast stainless steel. This means that the fitting will be relatively stiff and require a relatively large force to compress it. If, on the other hand, one or more folds or notches are applied to the fitting, the tension will be reduced and it will consequently require less force during compression. If the inclination to the horizontal of processing part 3 is reduced, the processing time will be longer and more folds will be applied to the fitting, whereby the compression will require less force.

The first processing part 3 is hinge mounted to allow a change in angle of the first processing part 3 in relation to the second processing part 17. In another embodiment, the two processing parts 3,17 are permanently arranged to each other. When the bulbs are crushed, the material will flow from the first processing part 3 to the second processing part 17.

The second processing part 17 shown in figure 3 comprises an upper 18 and a lower 19 plate facing each other, of which at least one is spring mounted and of which at

least one is vibrating. Also these plates 18, 19 are mounted at a relative angle and form an intake part 20 with a large space between the plates 18,19 and an outlet part 22 with a smaller space between the plates 18,19, and the entire processing part 17 is inclined to the horizontal. The incline is adjustable via a second arm 21 and allows the material to successively slide towards the outlet part 22 and be processed into smaller pieces. The vibration, the frequency of which is adjustable, is achieved by the plate 18 being arranged to an eccentrically mounted wheel 23 that is driven by a motor 24 via a chain 25 or V-belt. The method with which the vibration is achieved is comparable with a vibration compactor that is common on the market that is applied to vibrate against a surface.

The light bulbs crushed by the first processing part 3 slide in between the plates 18,19, whereby the glass is vibrated loose from the metal parts and is finely ground at the same time as the metal parts are successively compressed into thinner components. The combination of vibration and compression means that none of the glass is left on the metal components that are included in the bulbs. Compression also means that the filaments and filament holders, which often are made of tungsten, are cut off against the edge of the fitting when it is compressed and can be sorted. The relative distance between the two plates 18, 19 can be adjusted with respect to the grade of the glass powder and the degree of compression of the bulb fittings that is required.

The present invention is not limited to the above description and as illustrated in the drawings but can be changed and modified in a number of different ways within the framework of the idea of invention specified in the following claims.