BACKGROUND OF THE'PRESENT INVENTION For the purpose of purifying exhaust gases of an inner combustion engine for a motor vehicle or the like, a catalyst converter is interposed in a middle portion of an exhaust system. The catalyst converter has a structure such that a metal substrate carrying a metal catalyst is joined to a metal cylindrical inner case to be internally supported therein, and generally a platinum group catalyst, which is a noble metal, is used as the metal catalyst.

Since such a platinum group catalyst is rare and expensive, it is desired to be recovered and recycled. A conventional metal catalyst recovery system of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Tokkaihei 06- 205993.

In the conventional metal catalyst recovery system, catalytic converters are crushed into pieces by an impact type pulverizer to recover metal catalyst from discarded catalytic converters.

This conventional recovery system, however, encounters such a problem that a metal catalyst and the crushed pieces of catalyst converter parts, such as a metal substrate carrying the metal catalyst, an inner and outer case of a catalyst converter, and the like, are in a state that they are mixed up and not separated from each other even after their crush. Accordingly, in order to separate the metal catalyst from the crushed pieces of the catalyst converter parts, the conventional metal catalyst recovery system needs a radial blower

and a cyclone separator arranged on the downstream side of the impact type pulverizer. This results in that the conventional system becomes large and requires high cost and long work hours.

The present invention is made in view of the above described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a metal catalyst recovery system which can be made more compact than the above conventional metal catalyst recovery system, allow reduction of recovery cost and recovery work hours, and is capable of more efficiently recovering powder including a metal catalyst from a catalyst converter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A metal catalyst recovery system according to the present invention includes: a destructive separator having a container into which materials to be destroyed and including at least a catalyst substrate carrying a metal catalyst of a catalyst converter for a motor vehicle fed, an impact blade which rotates inside the container, destroy the catalyst substrate by impact to make the catalyst substrate have a size to fall by its own weight, and separate powder including the metal catalyst from the catalyst substrate, a floating means for floating the powder separated from the catalyst substrate by the impact blades upward inside the container; and a powder collector which sucks in and recovers from a first suction port the powder being floated inside the container by the floating means.

In the metal catalyst recovery system according to the present invention, the impact blades imposes impact on the catalyst substrate so that the catalyst substrate are collided with an inner wall of the container. When plural the catalyst substrates are in the container, they are collided with the inner wall of the container and/or with each other. Specially, the impact blade and the inner wall of the container destroy the catalyst substrate by impact to make the catalyst substrate have a size to fall by its own weight, and separates the

powder including the metal catalyst from the catalyst substrate. Thus separated powder is floated higher inside the container by the floating means and sucked in via the first suction port to be recovered by the powder collector.

Therefore, the powder including the metal catalyst is floated higher inside the container by the floating means to be recovered, so that the recovered powder is not mixed with destroyed pieces of the materials of the catalyst converter, whereas they are mixed in a conventional art. As a result, it is not necessary to have plural separators or a strong suction machine, so that the powder including the metal catalyst can be recovered with a high recovery rate by an installation of small size without requiring high cost and long work hour.

Preferably, the materials to be destroyed further includes an impact member to destroy the catalyst substrate.

Therefore, the impact blade hits the catalyst substrate carrying the metal catalyst and the impact member, they are collided with the inner wall of the container and with each other. This results in that the impact member promotes destruction of the catalyst substrate and separation of the powder including the metal catalyst from the catalyst substrate.

Preferably, the impact materials is an inner case for supporting the catalyst substrate of the catalyst converter therein.

Therefore, the catalyst substrate and the inner case of the catalyst converter does not need to be separated from each other when they are fed into the container, which reduces recovery work hours. Moreover, they are destroyed and separated from each other by the impact blade, then destroyed pieces of the inner case function as the impact member to destroy and cut the catalyst substrate into small pieces, which promotes destruction of the

catalyst substrate and separation of the powder including the metal catalyst from the catalyst substrate.

Preferably, the impact blade is arranged on a bottom portion inside the container, and the first suction port of the powder collector is provided on a position higher than the impact blade inside the container.

Therefore, when the materials are destroyed by impact by the impact blades, the destroyed pieces of the materials fall by their own weight to the bottom portion inside the container, and the powder including the metal catalyst which is more finely broken floats upward higher inside the container, so that the powder including the metal catalyst can be efficiently recovered.

Preferably, the first suction port is provided with a filter member capable of sucking in the powder including the metal catalyst from at least two different directions.

Therefore, since the filter member capable of sucking in the powder including the metal catalyst from at least two different directions is attached on the first suction port, the destroyed pieces of the materials are prevented from being sucked into the first suction port 1. Further, the filter member is capable of sucking in from at least two different directions, so that, even when a destroyed piece is stuck on one direction of the filter member, the powder including the metal catalyst can be sucked in from the other direction of the filter member.

Preferably, the container has an impact projection inside thereof, and the impact projection being collided with the catalyst substrate and the impact member.

Therefore, the impact projection which is integrated with the impact blades or are separated from the impact blades collide with the materials, so that the

materials can be destroyed in a short period of time.

Preferably, the container is mounted in a slanted state.

Therefore, the container is mounted in a slanted state so that the catalyst substrate, the impact member, and the like if any, which are fed into the container, are easily mixed in the container. This results in that the catalyst substrate, the impact member, and the like moves towards the lowest portion of the container where the impact blade travels to be easily destroyed by the impact blade. On the other hand, the powder including the metal catalyst floats upward higher inside the container while the catalyst substrate, the impact member, and the like are efficiently destroyed by impact.

Preferably, the impact blade blow out airflow from a lower portion of tip of the impact blade to thereby float the powder including the metal catalyst inside the container.

Therefore, the powder including the metal catalyst inside the container floats by the airflow blown from the impact blades, so that the powder including the metal catalyst can be floated higher upward inside the container. Further, it is not necessary to have a large suction machine such as a strong radial blower as required in a conventional art, and the powder including the metal catalyst can be sucked in by a small powder collector. Further, the powder including the metal catalyst can be prevented from adhering to the inner wall of the container, which contributes to the increase in recovery efficiency of the powder including the metal catalyst.

Preferably, after the impact blade destroys the catalyst substrate by impact to make the catalyst substrate have a size to fall by its own weight, a rotation speed of the impact blade is decreased to thereby facilitate separation of the powder including the metal catalyst from the catalyst substrate.

Therefore, the rotation speed of the impact blades is decreased after the impact destruction of the processing materials, so that the destroyed pieces of the catalyst substrate after the impact destruction all move down to the bottom portion inside the container, whereas the powder of the metal catalyst is floated further higher inside the container by the floating means.

As a result, the separation of the powder including the metal catalyst can be facilitated. Further, by decreasing the rotation speed of the impact blades, scraps generated from the processing materials fall down to the bottom portion of the container, so that more reliable separation becomes possible.

Preferably, the container is provided on a lower portion thereof with a discharge port for taking out destroyed pieces of the catalyst substrate and the impact member after the impact destruction by the impact blade, and wherein the powder collector is connected with the discharge port through a second suction port.

Therefore, even a small quantity of the powder including the metal catalyst, which floats when destroyed pieces of the materials are taken out from the container after the impact destruction, can be recovered through the second suction port of the powder collector provided on the discharge port for taking out the destroyed pieces of the materials after the impact destruction on the lower portion of the container.

Preferably, the container has an air release port communicable between an outside and an inside of the container.

Therefore, there is formed an airflow which flows in from the air release port, moves inside the container from downside to upside, and flows out to the first suction port of the powder collector, so that the air inside the container smoothly flows in and out, and thus the powder including the metal catalyst floating inside the container can be sucked in from the first suction port to be efficiently recovered.

Preferably, the first suction port is formed on an upper center portion of the container, and wherein the container is formed in a cylinder shape and provided with an air blowing port on an upper side portion of the container, the air blowing port blowing out air downward along an inner wall of the container to thereby generate a vortex flow inside the container.

Therefore, a vortex flow of air can be generated in the container, which makes dust and destroyed pieces of the materials having a heavier weight as compared to the powder of the metal catalyst easily gather near the inner wall inside the container due to the centrifugal force of the vortex flow of air, so that only the powder including the metal catalyst can be quite efficiently recovered from the first suction port on the upper center portion of the container. Further, the dust and the destroyed pieces gathered near the inner wall of the container are continuously affected by the vortex flow, so that a small quantity of the powder of the metal catalyst included therein is almost completely separated and floated inside the container, and thus almost all the powder including the metal catalyst included in the processing materials can be recovered.

Preferably, the metal catalyst recovery system further comprising: a sieving machine which has a sieving container into which destroyed pieces of the materials by the impact blade are fed and separates the powder including the metal catalyst from the destroyed pieces by sieving the powder downward from the sieving container by shaking the sieving container.

Therefore, the sieving machine separates the powder including the metal catalyst remaining in the destroyed pieces of the materials, which are thrown into the sieving container, for example, via the conveyor from the container after the impact destruction, by sieving the powder including the metal catalyst downward from the sieving container by shaking the sieving container. Accordingly, the powder including the metal catalyst remaining

on the destroyed pieces of the materials after the impact destruction can be further recovered, and the metal catalyst of the materials can be almost completely recovered.

Preferably, the powder collector sucks in to recover the powder including the metal catalyst floating inside the sieving container during the shaking by the sieving machine.

Therefore, the powder collector recovers the powder including the metal catalyst floating inside the sieving container during the shaking by the sieving machine, so that even a small quantity of the powder including the metal catalyst can be recovered, which contributes to the increase in recovery efficiency of the powder including the metal catalyst.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is an overall view of a metal catalyst recovery system according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inside of a destructive separator according to the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view taken along a line S3-S3 in FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an attached state of a filter member which is used in the destructive separator of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a enlarged and exploded perspective view of the filter member in FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of impact blades of the destructive separator in FIG. 2; FIG. 7A is a view describing a sieving operation of a sieving machine of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment, the view showing a state that a sieving container 4c is not out of the vertical; FIG. 7B is a view describing a sieving operation of a sieving machine of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment, the view showing a state that the sieving container 4c is slanted as compared to the case in FIG. 7A; FIG. 8 is an overall view of a metal catalyst recovery system according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of the inside of a destructive separator according to the second embodiment; FIG. 10 is an enlarged and exploded perspective view of a filter member used in the destructive separator in FIG. 9; FIG. 11 is an enlarged and assembled perspective view of the filter member used in the destructive separator in FIG. 9; FIG. 12 is a view describing a state of airflows with a vortex inside the destructive separator in FIG. 9; FIG. 13 is a view describing a recovery effect of metal catalyst of the destructive separator in FIG. 9;

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional side view of a modification example of the destructive separator in FIG. 9; FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional side view of another modification example of the destructive separator in FIG. 9; and FIG. 16 is a view showing a modification example in which a connection relationship of suction ducts of the metal catalyst recovery system in FIG. 1 is changed.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING-OUT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a metal catalyst recovery system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

[Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, a metal catalyst recovery system according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 7B of the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the inside of a destructive separator of the metal catalyst recovery system in FIG.

1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view taken along a line S3-S3 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state of the destructive separator to which a filter member is attached, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the filter member of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of impact blades of the destructive separator, and FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B are views describing operations of a sieving machine of the metal catalyst recovery system in FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the metal catalyst recovery system of the first embodiment includes a destructive separator 1 which destroys materials 6 to be destroyed of a metal catalytic converter for a motor vehicle, such as an automobile, and separates powder 30 including a metal catalyst from destroyed pieces of a catalyst substrate 7a and others constituting the materials 6; a powder collector 2 which sucks in to recover the powder 30 separated from the catalyst substrate and the like by the destructive separator 1; a conveyor 3 which conveys the destroyed pieces obtained from the destructive separator 1; and a sieving machine 4 which recovers the powder 30 remaining on the destroyed pieces conveyed by the conveyor 3.

A metal catalytic converter comprises the catalyst substrate 7a carrying the metal catalyst, an inner case 7c inner case 7c, showing its cross-section, supporting the catalyst substrate 7a therein, and an outer case 7b of the metal catalyst converter in which the catalyst substrate 7a and the inner case 7c are arranged. The metal catalyst is made of a noble metal, such as platinum. As the catalyst substrate 7a, a metal substrate is used in this catalytic converter and has a corrugated metal sheet and a flat metal sheet sandwiching the corrugated metal sheet each coated with the metal catalyst and formed in a cylindrical shape to be supported in the inner case 7c.

The materials 6 comprises parts of a discarded metal catalytic converter, including at least both of the catalyst substrate 7a carrying the metal catalyst and an impact member to destroy the catalyst substrate 7a. As the impact member, the outer case 7b and the inner case 7c are used in this system in FIG. 1.

The destructive separator 1, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, has a container la which is formed in a cylinder shape and mounted on a base table 5 so that a center line of the container 1 a is in a slanted state, out of the vertical. On a top surface of the container la, there are formed a throw-in port lb, from which the materials 6 to be destroyed is fed to the inside of the container la,

opened in a half circle shape, and a lid Ic which can open and close in a direction of the arrow P.

Further, The lid 1 c is provided with an air release port 11 communicating between the inside and outside of the container la. An inner wall I d of the container la is made of abrasion resistant steel, and on an upper portion thereof, there is formed a first suction port le connected to a suction duct 2a of the powder collector 2, which is described later. The first suction port 1 e is arranged at a position opposite to the air release port 11 in a radius direction of the container la to generate airflows inside the container la and suck in the powder 30 efficiently.

A filter member 20, which is described later, is arranged inside the container la and attached on the first suction port le. The filter member 20 is, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, has an outer peripheral portion 22 formed in a shape along the inner wall ld of the container la, upper, lower and front suction portions 24 to 26 each having plural suction holes 23.

The outer peripheral portion 22 is formed at its center with an opening portion 21, which corresponds to the first suction port le, and fixed at its both sides to the inner wall ld by bolts, not shown, at four positions. The upper and lower suction portions 24 and 25 are formed integrally with the outer peripheral portion 22 respectively at its upper and lower side by welding. On the other hand, the front suction portion 26 is detachably attached to the outer peripheral portion 22 by bolts, not shown, at six positions, which provides excellent maintainability of the filter member 20, such as for cleaning the inside thereof.

The sum of opening dimensions of the respective suction holes 23 of the suction portions 24 to 26 is set to be at least larger than an opening dimension of the opening portion 21, so that suction performance to suck in powder 30 inside the container la does not decrease.

An opening portion 1 f, as shown in FIG. 3, is formed on the lower portion of the inner wall ld, and this opening portion If is connected with a discharge port 12 through a lid 1 g which can open and close in a direction of the arrow Q. The discharge port 12 is for taking out the after-mentioned destroyed pieces of materials 6, from which the powder 30 including the metal catalyst is removed, after the impact destruction in the container la of the destructive separator 1,-and has a hood F which is fixed so as to cover the opening portion If. The hood F is provided with a second suction port 13 connected between the inside of the hood F and the suction duct 2a to the powder collector 2 as shown in FIG. 1.

Furthermore, on the inner wall ld of the container la, there are eight provided prang projections lh, made of abrasion resistant steel, projected from the inner wall ld toward the center of the container la with an equal interval in a circumferential direction of the container la so as to prang and still more destroy the destroying materials 6 thrown by impact blades In and impact projections lp, which are described later.

An blade rotor li that can be driven to rotate in the circumferential direction of the container 1 a, the direction of the arrows C in FIG. 2, is provided on a bottom portion of the container la. The blade rotor li is, as shown in FIG. 6, includes a pressing plate lk fixed to a cover li thereon, a blade holding plate 11 fixed to the pressing plate lk and holding the impact blades In, and a rotation axis lm fixed to the blade holding plate 11 to rotate the impact- blades In.

The cover Ij is formed in a cylinder shape and arranged at the center position of the blade rotor li, and whose lower peripheral end is fixed to the pressing plate lk by a weld X.

The pressing plate lk is formed in a disc shape and fixed to an upper side

portion of the blade holding plate 11 by bolts B 1.

On both ends of the blade holding plate 11, the two impact blades In, which are detachably fixed by bolts B2 as shown in FIG. 2, are provided. Each of these impact blades In has a slanted surface lo formed on its tip side and the impact projection lp formed on its base end side to project upward from an upper surface of the impact blade In.

Incidentally, the above-described pressing plate lk, the impact blades In, the impact projections lp are made of abrasion resistant steel similarly to the inner wall 1 d.

The blade holding plate 11 is fixed by bolts B3, in a state that it has a small gap with a bottom surface plate Iq of the container la, to the rotation axis 1 in penetrating the bottom portion of the container la.

An airflow path lr is formed in the shaft center position of the rotation axis 1m. An upper side of this airflow path lr is branched into two directions to be communicated with inner side openings of communicating passageways Is formed inside the blade holding plate 11. A lower side of the airflow path Ir is connected with an adapter lw to which an air supply tube Iv is connected.

The communicating passageways Is are connected at their outer side openings with inner side openings of communicating pipes It fixed to bottom portions of the impact blades In. The communicating pipes It are connected at their outer side openings with the inside of the container 1 a.

Here, the container la, the impact blades In, the impact projections lp, and the prang projections lh function as floating means of the present invention for generating airflow AF to float the powder 30 including the metal catalysts further upward inside the container la.

The communicating passageways ls, the communicating pipes lt, and the airflow path lr also function as floating means of the present invention.

Further, the rotation axis lm is provided at its lower portion with a driven roller lu, which is wound around by a belt lx winding around a drive roller lz fixed to an output shaft of a motor ly. The rotation axis lm is covered and supported rotatably by an externally fitting member 10 fixed to the base table 5.

The powder collector 2 is for sucking in and collecting the powder 30 floating inside the container la of the destructive separator 1 during and after destruction by the destructive separator 1 through the suction duct 2a, and has a filter 2b that can pass through the powder 30 and remove the destroyed pieces and a storage container 2c that collects the powder 30 passing through the filter 2b.

The conveyor 3 is for conveying the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 destroyed by impact in the destructive separator 1 to the sieving machine 4.

The sieving machine 4 is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, for sieving the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 conveyed by the conveyor 3 to recover the powder 30 remaining on the destroyed pieces of the materials 6, although its remaining amount is very small, as much as possible.

The sieving machine 4 comprises a base table 4a set on a not-shown floor, a sieving container 4c supported by the base table 4a to be swingable in a direction of the arrow R around a pivotal shaft 4b as its swing axis, and a storage container 4r that collects the powder 30 falling from the sieving container 4c.

The sieving container 4c has a lever member 4d projecting outward from a

lower side portion of the sieving container 4c. The lever member 4d is driven upwardly and downwardly according to extension and contraction of an actuating rod 4e of a driving device 4f, as an actuator such as an electric motor, a solenoid, or the like.

Namely, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the driving device 4f moves the lever member 4d upward and downwardly by extending and contracting the actuating rod 4e in a vertical direction, in order to apply an swinging movement to the sieving container 4c in a direction of the arrow R around pivotal shaft 4b, so that the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 in the sieving container 4c are swung to fall the powder 30 from them.

In the sieving container 4c, two rooms 4i and 4j are formed by upper and lower filters 4g and 4h, and the upper filter 4g is formed to have a mesh gap wider than that of the lower filter 4h.

On a portion between the upper and lower filters 4g and 4h of an inner wall 4k of the sieving container 4c, there is provided a suction port 41 connected to the suction duct 2a communicating with the powder collector 2, and a filter 4m is provided on this suction port 41.

On a bottom portion of the sieving container 4c, there is formed a reduced diameter portion 4p with an opening which has a filter 4x having a mesh gap smaller than those of the filters 4g and 4h, and the storage container 4r is provided under the opening of the reduced diameter portion 4p to receive the powder 30 passing through the filters 4g, 4h, and 4x.

Hereinafter, the operation and advantages of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment will be described using the drawings.

When the metal catalyst recovery system according to this embodiment is

used, first, a predetermined amount, 10 kg for example, of materials 6, which is constituted by metal catalyst and catalyst substrates 7a such as metal substrates carrying the metal catalyst, an outer cases 7b of catalyst converters, and the inner cases 7c as the impact member, are thrown into the container la through the throw-in port lb of the destructive separator 1, and then the lid lc is closed.

Next, the destructive separator 1 and the powder collector 2 are actuated. At this time, on the destructive separator 1, the drive roller lz fixed to the output shaft of the motor ly side rotates and then its rotational force is transmitted to the driven roller lu through the belt lx, thereby rotating the driven roller li by a predetermined rotation speed which is, for example, approximately 1500 rpm.

Then, the impact blades In of the blade rotor 14 destroy and scatter the materials 6 to collide with the inner wall I d and/or the prang projections Ih and with each other so that they are destroyed into pieces by impact. At this time, the impact projections lp of the impact blades In and the prang projections Ih attached to the inner wall Id of the container la also collide with the materials 6 and efficiently destroy the materials 6 by impact force to promote destruction of the materials and separation of powder 30 from the destroyed pieces of the materials 6.

In this destruction, destroyed pieces of the inner cases 7c and the outer cases 7b function as the impact members to cut the metal substrates 7a into small pieces and accelerate their destruction. The inner cases 7c is superior to the outer cases 7b for cutting the metal substrates 7a.

Further, the slanted surfaces lo of the impact blades In prevent the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 from being caught between the impact blades In and the inner wall 1 d. Furthermore,, since the container la is mounted in the slanted state, the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 moves

downward according to the gravitation to be efficiently hit and destroyed by the impact blades In while being mixed by the impact blades In, the impact proj ections 1 p, and the prang proj ections 1 h.

Accordingly, the catalyst substrates 7a are cut into pieces with separating the powder 30 from the catalyst substrates 7a of the materials 6 to float inside the container la.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, air having a predetermined pressure is supplied from the air supply tube 1 v into the container la. More specifically, the air passes from the air supply tube lv through the adapter lw and the airflow path lr and branches into two directions at the upper side of the airflow path lr, and is blown through the communicating passageways Is, the communicating pipes It, and the bottom portions of the impact blades In toward the inner wall 1 d of the container 1 a, thereby generating airflows AF flowing upward along the inner wall 1 d of the container la.

With this efficient destruction, the airflows AF float the powder 30 upward inside the container la so that it can be easily separated from the destroyed pieces of the materials 6, as they move downwardly due to its weight and can not pass the filter 20, and sucked in to be collected by the power collector 2 through the filter 20 and suction duct 2a.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3, after the powder collector 2 sucks in the powder 30 from the first suction port le through the suction duct 2a, the powder 30 is stored in the storage container 2c through the filter 2b. At this time, at an upper area inside the container la, an airflow B flowing from the air release port 11 into the first suction port 1 e is generated, which allows efficient recovery of the powder 30 floating inside the container la.

Further, as described above, the filter member 20 is provided on the first suction port 1 e to suck in the powder 30 from three directions of the suction

portions 24 to 26, so that it is possible to suck in the powder 30 even when a destroyed pieces of the materials 6 such as peeled pieces of the inner cases 7c, the outer cases 7b, or the like are sucked in and stuck on any one of the suction portions 24 to 26.

Next, when the rotation speed of the impact blades In is reduced to approximately 300 rpm after a predetermined time passes, all of the destroyed pieces of the catalyst substrates 7a of the materials 6 which are destroyed by impact move to the bottom portion inside the container la to facilitate the separation of the powder 30 from the catalyst substrates 7a of the materials 6 and the powder 30, so that the powder 30 keeps floating further upward inside the container la to be efficiently recovered by the powder collector 2.

Next, after the rotation speed of the impact blades In is reduced and then a given length of time passes, the lid 1 g of the container 1 a is opened in a state that the rotation of the impact blades In is stopped, and the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 after the impact destruction are taken out from the discharge port 12 onto the conveyor 3. At this time, a small quantity of the powder 30 floating inside the hood F can be recovered through the second suction port 13 of the discharge port 12 and the suction duct 2a to the powder collector 2.

Next, the conveyor 3 and the sieving machine 4 are activated. At this time, the conveyor 3 throws the destroyed pieces of the catalyst substrates 7a of the materials 6 into the sieving container 4c of the sieving machine 4, and then the sieving machine 4 swings in a direction of the arrow R to shake the destroyed pieces of the materials 6, thereby separating to store the powder 30 remaining on the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 through the filters 4g, 4h, and 4x into the container 4r located under the sieving machine 4.

Further, the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 are sorted in the rooms 4i

and 4j by the filters 4g and 4h according to their size, and further sieved by the filter 4x, in order to prevent the destroyed pieces of the catalyst substrates 7a or the like from being stored in the storage container 4a.

Further, the powder 30 floating inside the sieving machine 4 is recovered from the suction port 41 through the suction duct 2a to the powder collector 2, so that even a small amount of the powder 30 can be recovered.

Therefore, in the metal catalyst recovery system according to the first embodiment, the container la, the impact blades ln, the impact projections lp, and the prang projections lh, which function as floating means of the present invention, generate the airflows AF to float the powder 30 including the metal catalyst further upward inside the container la, thereby achieving an advantage that the powder 30 can be easily recovered in a short period of time.

Further, the powder 30 can be efficiently recovered in a short period of time by reducing the rotation speed of the impact blades ln after the impact destruction to facilitate the separation of the powder 30 from the destroyed pieces of the materials 6, and also by generating at the upper area inside the container la the airflow B flowing from the air release port 11 into the first suction port 1 e.

Furthermore, most of the powder 30 included on the materials 6 before the impact destruction can be recovered by providing the second suction port 13 of the powder collector 2 on the discharge port 12 for taking out the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 from the container la after the impact destruction, and by sieving the destroyed pieces of the materials 6 by the sieving machine 4.

[Embodiment 2] Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 8 is an overall view of a metal catalyst recovery system according to the second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of the inside of a destructive separator of the metal catalyst recovery system in FIG. 8, FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of a filter member of the destructive separator in FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is an assembled perspective view of the filter member in FIG. 10, FIG. 12 is a view describing airflows inside the destructive separator, and FIG. 13 is a view describing a state of recovering powder in the destructive separator.

Incidentally, the metal catalyst recovery system according to the second embodiment is substantially the same as that of the above-described first embodiment except that the sieving machine described in the first embodiment is omitted and that the structure of the destructive separator is partly changed, so that only differences will be described in details. The same components will be designated the same reference numerals, and those descriptions are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, the metal catalyst recovery system according to this embodiment includes a destructive separator 1 and a powder collector 2.

As shown in FIG. 9, the destructive separator 1 according to this embodiment has, instead of the first suction port le at the inner wall ld which is described in the first embodiment, a first suction port 19 provided on the upper center portion of the container la, and a suction duct 20a and a filter member 41 are attached thereto. Further, the air release port on the lid 1 c is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, the filter member 41 is formed entirely in a cylinder shape, and a back surface portion 41 a in a disc shape and a main body portion 41b in a cylinder shape having a bottom are formed integrally by welding. The thus formed filter member 41 is fixed to the upper center

portion of the container la by bolts, not shown at four mounting holes 41c provided on the back surface portion 41 a.

Further, an opening portion 43 having the same opening dimension as that of the first suction port 19 is formed on the back surface portion 41 a.

Further, plural suction holes 42 are formed on an outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 41b, and the sum of opening dimensions of the suction holes 42 is larger than the opening dimension of the first suction port 19, so that suction performance to suck in the powder 30 including metal catalyst does not decrease.

As shown in FIG. 9, an air blowing port 44 is formed on the inner wall 1 d to open in an elongated hole shape, and is connected to a connection pipe 45 which is slanted downward and provided along a circumferential direction of the inner wall ld to generate a vortex flow in the container la.

Incidentally, the connection pipe 45 is connected to a blower, not shown, and the air blowing port 44 is provided with a filter and a flap, which are not shown, for preventing a reverse flow from the inside of the container la toward connection pipe 45.

Hereinafter, the operation and advantages of the metal catalyst recovery system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

When the destructive separator 1 is actuated in the metal catalyst recovery system according to the second embodiment, the impact blades rotate, and air supplied from the air supply tube lv, as shown in FIG. 12, blows out from it upwardly along the inner wall ld of the container la, thereby generating airflows AF flowing upward in the container 1 a.

Further, by the air outputted from the air blowing port 44, a vortex flow Y flowing downward along the inner wall 1 d is generated in the container 1 a.

Under such a condition, when materials 6 are destroyed by impact, a forced vortex is generated inside the container la with rotational force of the impact blades ln being added, as shown in FIG. 13, by a mixed flow of the powder 30 and relatively larger solid particles, such as dust, destroyed pieces, and the like.

Then, the dust and the destroyed pieces, both having a heavier weight as compared to the powder 30, easily gather near a lower central portion of the inside of the inner wall ld due to the centrifugal force of the forced vortex and the gravitation, so that only the powder 30 floats at a central portion, higher than the dust and the destroyed pieces, of the inside portion of the inner wall ld and can be quite efficiently collected from the first suction port 19 through the suction holes 42 of the filter member 41.

Incidentally, if the destructive separator 1 is structured to have a rotator for generating a vortex flow inside the container la, irregular movement of fine particles in the fluid adjacent to the inner wall ld is limited, so that the destroyed pieces gathered near the inner wall ld are not affected so much by the vortex flow, and thus the powder 30 remaining inside the destroyed pieces does not separate therefrom.

However, in the second embodiment, since the vortex flow Y is generated by blowing out air form the air blowing port 44 on the inner wall ld, the destroyed pieces gathered near the inner wall ld are continuously affected by the vortex flow Y similarly to the Rankine vortex, so that the powder 30 remaining on the destroyed pieces separates therefrom and floats inside the container la. Further, the vortex flow Y and the airflows AF generate a turbulence, which facilitates mixing of the materials 6 being destroyed by impact in the container 1 a.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, the powder 30 does not remain in the

destroyed pieces of the materials 6 after the impact destruction, so that substantially all the powder 30, carried on the catalyst substrates before the impact destruction, can be recovered, and thus the sieving machine can be omitted.

Incidentally, since other operations of the destructive separator 1 and the powder collector 2 are the same as those in the first embodiment, those descriptions are omitted here.

Further, a rotational direction of the vortex flow Y which is described in this embodiment can be appropriately set by taking a rotational direction of the impact blades In into consideration.

The respective embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the specific structure of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. The present invention includes any change of design in the range not departing from the gist of the invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the air blowing port 44 (and the connection pipe 45) may be provided at two positions on the inner wall Id, and air blowing rates of these may be varied with time and/or may be different to each other.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 15, the connection pipe 45 may be an air release port 50. The air release port 50 has a filter and a flap for preventing a reverse flow from the inside of the container la to the air. At this time, outside air is supplied from a side through the air release port 50 into the container, thereby forming a gradual free vortex, which is similar to a typhoon or a tidal vortex caused by an ocean current, along the inner wall 1 d.

Further, the shape of the impact blades In and the number of mounted impact blades In may be appropriately set.

Further, in the destructive separator 1, in the powder collector 2, and in the sieving machine 4, various kinds of filters may be provided on the positions where the powder 30 including the metal catalyst passes through.

Furthermore, it is possible to select whether to attach the impact projections lp and the prang projections lh or not and the number of their attached projections according to the type of catalyst such as a catalyst for automobiles made of chrome based stainless steel, a catalyst for chemical plants made of nickel based stainless steel, a ceramics catalyst, and the like.

Further, in the metal catalyst recovery system in FIG. 1, the hood F of the destructive separator 1 and the powder collector 2 are connected by a branch suction duct and the suction duct 2a which connects the sieving machine 4 and the powder collector 2, but, as shown in FIG. 16, this branch suction duct is not necessarily required.

The materials may be only a catalyst substrate carrying a metal catalyst or a catalyst substrate carrying a metal catalyst and an inner case of a catalytic converter.

Besides, the impact member may be a member that is apart from parts of a catalytic converter.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY A metal catalyst recovery system according to the present invention is useful for recovering powder including a metal catalyst from a discarded catalytic converter for an exhaust system of a vehicle.