| 1. | A machine for rotocompressing materials, comprising a chamber (23) defined by motorized rollers (3) and to which the materials to be rotocompressed gain access, means being provided to produce skewing of the rollers (3) and hence an axial thrust on the rotocompressed material, characterised in that said means for skewing the rollers (3) in order to produce discharge of the chamber (23) are provided by supporting at least part of said rollers (3) at one of their ends by a ring (2) rotatable about a shaft (92) eccentric to the axis of said ring. |
| 2. | A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said eccentric shaft lies on the outside of the ring 2 or coincides with the axis of one of said rollers (3). |
| 3. | A machine as claimed in the preceding claims, wherein the skewing means comprise a control pin (93) caused to rotate along a circular trajectory and engaging a profiled aperture (94) provided in a peripheral appendix (95) of said rotatable ring (2), said appendix (95) being spaced from said eccentric shaft (92). |
| 4. | A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, wherein to operate the rollers (3) there is provided a gear linkage comprising an internally and externally toothed ring gear (170), the rollers (3) receiving their movement from the external toothing of said ring gear (170), each roller being associated with a wheel (202) rotatable with that roller and rolling within a circular guide (201) presented by said ring gear (170). |
| 5. | A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein the control pin (93) is rotated by an actuator (100) preferably of pressurized fluid type. |
| 6. | A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, wherein the rollers (3) are operated by the ring gear (170) at one end of said rollers by means of a gear (172) which engages the external toothing of said ring gear, and by means of a universal joint (173). |
| 7. | A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, comprising support means (131) for a roll (132) of material (134), preferably netting, for wrapping the bale of rotocompressed material, and controlled advancement and cutting means (135,136,142,144,145) for supplying said chamber (23) with a predetermined length of wrapping material (134). |
| 8. | A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, wherein a controlled door (22) is provided for closing the chamber (23). |
| 9. | A machine as claimed in claim 8, wherein the door (22) is controlled by an actuator (300) of pressurized fluid type. |
| 10. | A machine as claimed in claims 5 and 9, wherein a latch (114) is provided for locking the door (22) in its closed position, said latch being controlled by the same actuator (100) which controls the skewing of the rollers (3). |
| 11. | A machine as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the actuator (100) which controls the skewing of the rollers (3) acts when the current absorbed by the first drive motor (85) equals or exceeds a reference value. |
| 12. | A machine as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, wherein a belt transmission is provided between a first motor (85) and the operating linkage for the rollers (3), in said transmission there being provided a tensioning device (400) associated with a sensor for measuring, via the position of said tensioning device, the required rotocompression of the material. |
| 13. | A machine as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, wherein, between the operating linkage for the rollers (3) and a motor means (for example the power takeoff of a tractor) which drives said linkage, there is provided a gearwheel pair (300,303), a first gearwheel (303) of said pair being supported rotatable about the other gearwheel (300) of said pair in such a manner that such a rotation, consequent on the reaction torque, determines the intervention of the actuator (100) which controls the skewing of the rollers (3). |
| 14. | A machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein the gearwheel pair (300, 303) is mounted in a casing (301) rotatable about the first gearwheel (300), together with the other gearwheel (303), said casing (301) being operationally connected to a member (310) which controls the intervention of the actuator (100). |
| 15. | A machine as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, wherein the eccentric shaft (92) comprises a ball joint to enable the plane of the roller support ring (2) to be inclined. |
BACKGROUND ART In modern society, a considerable number of objects have to be stored or transported for various purposes involved in their use or their disposal.
Such objects can also be bulky, be of heterogeneous shapes and materials, and be required to be compacted together into assemblies which enable them to be easily and economically transported or stored.
This difference in shapes and materials generally makes it difficult to combine them into a compacted assembly by simple compression. In this respect, these materials, which can be of any type, could include plastic materials, paper, tree leaves and branches, metal cans, etc. The differing shapes of the objects and their differing materials result in elastic reactions and random geometrical interference between the objects undergoing compression such that they are unable to properly fill the spaces arising from their differing shapes. In other words, the problem of merely squeezing the objects together is that such considerable force has to be exerted to arrange them that large cavities can arise within the mass of compacted objects. If this compressive action were to be exerted repeatedly in a large number of different directions, the objects could move relative to each other to occupy these cavities while at the same time nullifying their elastic reactions. Hence as a result of such repeated compressive action in a large number of directions an extremely compact
body could be formed with minimum internal cavities and with its constituent compacted objects being contorted and mutually coupled. The object of the present invention is therefore to define a machine which enables objects of any material and shape to be compacted by a multiplicity of compressive forces exerted in innumerable directions.
WO 00/32385 describes a machine comprising means for partially compressing the objects to be compacted and feeding them to a conceptually cylindrical chamber of horizontal axis bound by a plurality of circumferentially disposed motorized rollers having their longitudinal axes parallel, to enable a body under progressive formation to be continuously rolled within said chamber and the body to be progressively compressed by said rollers when the expanding diameter of said body interferes with them, said radial interference creating progressive forces which activate mechanisms for skewing said rollers so that, once skewed, they exert an axial thrust on said body such as to expel it from the chamber in the form of a cylindrical compacted bale.
According to this known publication, skewing is achieved by rotating through a certain angle about the longitudinal axis of the chamber a ring which surrounds the chamber exit and supports one end of said rollers.
The other end of the rollers is driven by a gear linkage comprising an internally and externally toothed ring gear supported externally at three points by annular slide blocks.
The known machine is of particularly complex construction as means must be provided to retain the ring until the body has reached its final bale form, moreover the support for the internally and externally toothed driving ring gear has a short life being subjected to considerable wear, and is unable
to provide the essential correct support for said ring gear, which is subjected to considerable forces. In addition, the aforesaid known solution is not suitable for continuous production.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a machine of the type illustrated in the introduction to the accompanying claim 1 which is not only simpler than the known machine, but is also more reliable, especially with time, and offers specific embodiments suitable for batch or continuous production.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION This and further objects which will be more apparent from the ensuing detailed description are attained by a machine in accordance with the technical teachings of the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will be more apparent from the ensuing detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof provided by way of non-limiting example and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an overall schematic perspective view of the machine of the invention with certain parts omitted or differently located for simplicity of representation; Figure 2 is a schematic side view of the machine taken on the formed bale exit side, with the exit door omitted; Figure 3 is a partial side view showing the bale exit part of the machine with some parts omitted, but visible in Figure 3B; Figure 3A is a perspective view of the bale exit part with the door open; Figure 3B is a perspective view of the bale exit part with the door closed ; Figure 4 is a partly interrupted section on the line A-A of Figure 3, but with
some parts shown in full view; Figures 5,5A show the operating part for skewing the rollers and for releasing the exit door; Figure 6 is a (vertical) longitudinal section through the roller operating side; Figure 7 is a schematic side view of the upper part of the machine provided for wrapping the bale of material with netting, fabric or the like ; Figures 8 and 8A are respectively a longitudinal section on the line C-C of Figure 8A and a view in the direction B-B of Figure 8 showing a variant which enables the machine to provide continuous production instead of the discontinuous production, i. e. bale by bale, provided by the machine of the preceding Figures from 1 to 7.
BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The machine indicated overall by M in Figures from 1 to 7 achieves interwoven compacting of loose materials and objects by gradually feeding them into a geometrically cylindrical chamber 23 of horizontal axis 49, the walls of which consist of motorized peripheral rollers 3.
In this manner a bale is formed as a rotating cylindrical body of progressively increasing diameter. This body is made up of all the objects or all the materials fed in, these being compressed and interwoven by the continuous rolling of the body within said chamber, determined by the walls in the form of motorized rollers with which it is provided. When this rotating body, growing within the chamber 23, reaches the maximum diameter allowed by the driving power of a motor 85 provided in the machine and by the degree of compactness acquired by said body, it becomes necessary to expel it in the form of a cylindrical bale. To achieve
this, the cylindrical chamber 23 has an openable end to enable said compacted body which has acquired said cylindrical bale shape to escape.
Said end is openable by being shaped as a door 22 (see Figures 3A and 3B in particular). Both the ends of said cylindrical chamber 23 comprise low cones 87 and 88 freely rotatable idly on usual pins 90 with rolling- contact bearings. The axial thrust for the expulsion of the bale is obtained by skewing the rollers 3 which form the active wall of the chamber. By means of this skewing, the rollers 3 pass from a longitudinal arrangement to an oblique or skewed arrangement. As a consequence, their rotation creates on the cylindrical bale, against which they press, not only tangential thrusts which continue to make it rotate about its longitudinal axis, but also axial thrust components. The result of this is that the now compacted bale is made to leave the"roller chamber"23. The said formation, movement and expulsion of the bale derive from technical features which will become apparent on reading the following description.
According to the invention a device is provided to"skew"the rollers which define the cylindrical part of the chamber 23 in which the bale is formed, as though they were the bars of a cylindrical containing cage. The motorized rollers 3 have one end supported, in the manner described hereinafter, by a fixed rear wall 91 of the machine structure 102 (supporting the low rotatable cone 87 on the rear of the door 22 for contacting the bale) and their other end supported by a circular ring 2 (on the same side as the door 22), which at a suitable point of its outer perimeter (i. e. eccentric to the axis of the ring 2) is rotatably supported by a spherical shaft 92 (Figures 3,3A and 4) supported by the machine structure 102 and, in an angularly offset position, by a control pin 93
positioned in an aperture 94 present in an outer appendix 95 of said ring 2.
During the machine operation, the motorized rollers 3 are subjected to oblique thrusts along the tangent at their point of contact with the bale rotating on them. These thrusts are discharged onto the supports at the two ends of the rollers 3. The supports at one end are rigid (as fully described hereinafter) with the rear wall 91 of the machine structure, and consequently said tangential thrusts create no problem ; the supports at the other end of the rollers are rigid with the circular ring 2 but these thrusts are absorbed by the spherical shaft 92 and by the control pin 93.
The control pin 93 can assume the two positions shown in Figure 3 and indicated by 93F and 93Z.
When in position 93F, which corresponds to the cylindrical bale formation position, all the rollers are parallel to the longitudinal axis 49 of the forming chamber 23, whereas when in position 93Z these axes are inclined (i. e. skew) to an extent which is greater the greater their distance from the hinging point 92 of the ring 2 which supports that end of them situated at the chamber exit. Passage from one to the other of the two positions 93Z and 93F involves rotation of the ring 2. Consequently when in the position 93F an axial thrust is exerted on the bale which can hence leave the machine, as described hereinafter.
The device which moves the control pin 93 into the positions 93F and 93Z is shown in Figure 5 and partially in Figure 4. The device comprises an actuator 100, for example operated by pressurized fluid, which can be double acting or single acting with a return spring. It is hinged at 101 to the machine structure 102, its piston rod 103 being hinged to an arm 104 rigid with a shaft 105 rotatably supported within the machine structure 102.
With this shaft, at its opposite end beyond a wall of the structure 102, there is rigid another arm 107 angularly offset from the first and to which the control pin 93 is connected.
The actuator 100 enables the said arms to be moved into two end-of-travel positions in which the control pin 93. is located in the positions 93F and 93Z respectively.
On the rotatable shaft 105 there is also provided a cam 108 cooperating with one arm 109 of a right angled lever 110 hinged at 110A to the machine structure 102, the other arm 111, loaded by a spring 112, being connected via a rigid rod 113 (see Figure 5A) to a coupling lever 114. The coupling lever 114 is intended to engage a protuberance 115 rigid with the supporting structure 22A of the door 22 to retain it locked in its closed position. The structure 22A is hinged at 120 on a vertical shaft carried by the machine structure 102.
It should be noted that, in contrast to that shown in Figure 5A for reasons of representational simplicity, the right angled lever 110 lies in reality in a plane perpendicular to that of the coupling lever 114.
The cam 108 is shaped and disposed such as to release the coupling lever 114 from the door protuberance 115 when the control pin 93 passes from position 93F to position 93Z (see Figure 3) and to engage it during the reverse passage.
The structure 22A of the door 22 is hinged at 120 on a vertical shaft carried by the machine structure (see Figure 3).
As can be seen from Figure 3 the chamber 23 bounded by the rollers 3 presents a roller-free region in the form of a port 121 for access of the bodies to be converted into a bale. At this port 121 the motorized wheel of
a crawler track 123 is present. The crawler track extends vertically within the machine throughout the entire height of the mouth C through which the bodies to be converted into a bale are loaded. The idle roller 125 about which the crawler track 123 reverses is supported such that the crawler track can yield elastically to enable large bodies to pass. One method is shown in Figure 7. The roller 125 is rotatably supported between the arms of two parallel joined levers 126 hinged at 127 to the machine structure.
At the other end of the levers there act guided compression springs 128 which in practice bear on the machine structure. The roller 125 can hence rock about the point 127 against springs to enable the crawler track to undergo a certain yielding so that large bodies can be loaded.
As already stated, the crawler track 123 (see Figure 3) cooperates with the suitably roughened motorized metal cylinder 130 positioned in proximity to the port 121 for material access to the chamber 23, on the side opposite the crawler track.
According to one aspect of the invention, the formed bale is wrapped before its expulsion from the forming chamber 23 by a piece of netting or the like. For this purpose (see Figure 7) the machine structure 102 is provided upperly with spaced-apart parallel seats 131 in which the axial pivots 132 of a reel 133 formed from the netting 134 are supported. Below the reel, means are provided to handle and withdraw the netting and means for separating the required length of netting from the rest. The handling and withdrawal means comprise a motorized cylinder 135 supported by the machine structure, an idle roller 136 supported between a pair of connecting rods 137 suspended from said structure, an actuator 138 (for example electromagnetic or pressurized fluid) hinged to said
structure and provided with a piston rod 139 which by means of a fork 140 acts on the axial pivots of the idle roller 136. When the actuator 138 is activated the idle roller 136 is pressed against the motorized roller 135 to move the netting interposed therebetween. The means for separating the required length of netting comprise an actuator (for example electromagnetic or pressurized fluid) hinged to the machine structure and acting via its piston rod 143 on one arm of a right angled lever 144 pivoted to the machine structure and presenting an adjustable blade 145 at the end of the other arm. To cut the netting the blade 145 is made to cooperate with and penetrate through an adjustable guide rigid with an inner wall 147 forming part of the machine structure 102. Conventional static guide means for the netting are provided, indicated by 150 and 151.
The cut length of netting passes about the reversing roller 125 for the crawler track 123 and passes into the bale forming chamber 23 through the port 121 (Figure 3).
The operation of the rollers 3 represents another important aspect of the present invention and will now be described with particular reference to Figures 1 and 6. By means of a belt transmission 160 the electric motor 85 operates a pulley 161 supported by the machine structure 102 via bearings 162. A pinion 164 is rigid with the shaft 163 of the pulley 161.
The pinion engages three equidistant gearwheels, only one of which is visible in the sectional view of Figure 6 and is indicated by 165. The three gearwheels 165 form one piece with output gears 166 and are supported by bearings 167 mounted on pins 168 fixed to the machine structure 102.
The output gears 166 engage the internal toothing 169 of a ring gear 170 also provided with external toothing 171. The external toothing 171 is
engaged by gears 172 torsionally rigid with the rollers 3 via conventional universal joints 173. More specifically, the gears 172 are torsionally rigid with a pin 174 supported by the rear wall 91 of the machine structure via bearings 175 and, on the inside of the relative rollers 3, by bearings 176 carried by the rollers 3. The inner end of the pins 174 terminates as a fork, indicated by 177, which receives a transverse pin 178 rigid with a sleeve 179. The sleeve is rigid with a pin 180, which is perpendicular to the pin 178 and is carried in a cradle 181 rigid with the roller 3.
The other end (not driven) of the rollers 3 (see Figure 4) is supported by the ring 2 via pins 190 fixed to it. The rollers 3 can incline relative to these pins by virtue of positionable bearings with barrel rollers 191 mounted in the interior of the rollers 3, specifically between these rollers and said pins.
An inventive aspect consists of the fact that the centering (or the centered guiding) of the internally and externally toothed ring gear 170 is essentially achieved by the actual support and drive means for the rollers 3. In this respect, as can be seen from Figure 6, the ring gear 170 presents a peripheral flange 200 in which an endless groove 201 is provided. This groove acts as a track for sliders or rather wheels 202 rigidly fixed by screws 203 and sockets 204 to the drive pins 174, with which they therefore rotate.
Before describing the method of operation, it should be noted that: a) the ball joint 92 to which the ring 2 supporting the rollers 3 on the exit side is connected preferably coincides with the axis of the first of the rollers 3 (indicated by 3A in Figure 3) instead of being spaced therefrom, even if by a small amount, as shown in the drawings. This is represented by the support indicated by 200 in Figure 3, its purpose being to avoid loss
of treated material to the outside of the chamber 23; b) conventional tensioning means can be provided in the free portion of the transmission belts 160 ; for example (see Figure 1) in the form of a roller 400 carried by a lever 401 and urged elastically against a portion of the belts 160. The belt undergoes increases in traction and the lever rotates. When the bale has been finally formed the forces on the belt are a maximum and constant and result in maximum excursion of the lever.
This constant maximum excursion can be used (as an alternative to current absorption mentioned hereinafter) to determine the intervention of a proximity sensor which, when activated, starts the operations involved in wrapping the bale with a length of netting, opening the door, skewing the rollers and expelling the bale.
Having said this, the operation is the following : the material intended to form the bale is loaded into the machine mouth C.
The crawler track 123 and its cooperating cylinder 130 (partly) compress it and transfer it to the port 121 of the forming chamber 23, the rotating rollers 3 of which, with their axes disposed at this stage parallel to the axis 49 of the chamber 23, progressively shape and compress within said chamber a body formed from the loaded material.
The diameter of this body increases as material is fed in and increasingly interferes with the rollers 3. This creates progressively increasing forces which result in increasing current absorption by the electric motor. The current is measured by conventional means which compare it with an experimentally determined (and adjustable) threshold value When this threshold value is attained or exceeded and remains constant for a reasonable time, the required material bale has been formed in the
chamber 23. By means of a control circuit, not shown but easily conceived by the expert of the art on the basis of the present description, the following then takes place in appropriate timed succession: 1) a predetermined length of netting is advanced by the cooperation (controlled by the actuator 138) between the idle roller 136 and the motorized cylinder 135, this length, determined by the time for which the idle roller 136 and the motorized cylinder 135 remain in contact, then being separated; the time count starts on contact between the two and terminates on their separation after the counted time reaches a predetermined adjustable value ; on separation between the two the actuator 142 is activated and hence cuts the length of netting; 2) the cut length is wrapped about the material bale formed in the chamber 23 by the rotation of the rollers 3 which continues; 3) the actuator 100 is activated (Figure 5) to initially release the coupling lever 114 (Figure 5A) from the door protuberance 115 and cause the door 22 to open by the action of a double-acting pneumatic actuator (indicated by 300 in Figures 3A, 3B and 4); the actuator 100 then shifts the control pin 93 from the position 93F to the position 93Z (Figure 3) to cause the roller support ring 2 to rotate about the pivot 92 in the direction of the arrow F, with skewing of the rollers 3 and the creation of an axial thrust on the bale which is hence discharged.
For completeness of information the following should be noted: The crawler track cylinder 123 derives its movement from a gearwheel which engages the external toothing of the ring 2. The cylinder 123 transfers this movement to the cylinder 130 via a chain transmission. The cylinder 130 then transmits movement to the netting feed cylinder 135 via
a cross belt transmission.
The tensioning device 400 for the belt 160 of the motor 85 can be advantageously formed as shown in Figure 4 of the initially cited WO 00/32385.
As shown in Figures 8 and 8A, the concept on which the machine of the invention is based can be used for continuous instead of discontinuous production, i. e. instead of one bale at a time as in the aforegoing part of this description.
In Figures 8 and 8A, those parts in common with the preceding figures use the same reference numerals.
In the machine of the version of Figures 8 and 8A, the door 22 and the members connected thereto and those relative to its locking and movement are eliminated. The motor 85 and the belt transmission 160 with its pulleys 161 are also eliminated.
The shaft 163 is extended and carries a pinion 300. A casing 301 rotatable on bearings 302 is mounted on the shaft 163. A gear 303 engages the pinion and is supported on bearings 304 in the casing 301.
The gear shaft 305 is connected by a universal joint 306 and a telescopic torsional connection shaft 307 to a motor means such as an electric motor or to the power take-off of a tractor. A second universal joint is indicated by 304.
The casing 301 is connected by a lateral connecting rod 308 to the output rod 309 of a means 310 which can for example be a double acting pump, a slide valve or the like. The means 310 is hydraulically connected by conduits 311 to the chambers of the actuator 100 of Figure 5 which, as stated, skews the rollers 3.
When the machine chamber 23 is filled with material, a resistant torque arises causing the casing 301 to rotate about the geometrical axis of the shaft 163, in the direction of the arrow R; this causes pressurized fluid to be fed by the means 310 to the actuator 100 which finally, by skewing the rollers 3, causes the bale to leave the chamber 23 while further material continues to be fed to it.
With the progressive exit of the bale the resistant torque decreases and the casing 301 rotates in the opposite direction to the arrow R to decrease and then annul the extent of skew of the rollers 3. The exiting bale is separated by known cutting means, while the chamber in the meantime continues to receive material and the described procedure is repeated.
It should be noted (see Figure 4) that between the front wall 102A of the machine structure 102 and the ring 2 there is a space, indicated by G in said figure, which enables the ring 2 to rotate (arrow F) about the ball joint 92, pulled by the rollers 3 which are axially rigid at their ends with the ring 3 and respectively with the rear wall 91 of the machine structure, even (see Figure 6) during the skewing of the rollers 3.
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