| CLAIMS
1. A machine (1) comprising the following elements and used to reduce the size of liquid product containers (12A, 12B, 12C) made of plastics or aluminium:
- a vacuum pump (2) operated by a motor (3); - said motor (3) is operated by 24V DC, and considering that the machine constituting the subject matter of present invention will operate on the mains electric power, a time-relay (5) incorporated into the body (7) to convert the voltage of the motor and to serve as a power source and timer;
- a cushion (8) made from soft material (a polymer) connected to the pump (2) and fixed on the body (7) in a stationary position, which enables easy application of vacuum to the containers (12A, 12B, 12C) having varied diameters of mouth;
- circuit breaker (5) mounted on the body (7) which is in contact with the holding cushion (8), and will cause the motor (3) to start when a liquid product container (12A, 12B, 12C) presses on said cushion (8); and - a discharge hose (10) used to discard the various types of liquids that might remain in the containers (12A, 12B, 12C) used;
- and which is characterized by automatic starting of vacuum application process when the open-ended part (mouth) of a liquid product container (12A, 12B 1 12C) is manually pressed on said cushion (8), and - by automatic stopping of the vacuum pump (2) when said liquid product container (12A, 12B, 12C) is reduced to minimum size.
2. The distinguishing characteristic of this method used to reduce the size of liquid product containers made of plastics or aluminium is that it causes the containers (12A, 12B, 12C) made of plastics or aluminium and containing liquid products (water, beverages etc.) to occupy less space before they are disposed of into garbage containers and/or discarded as a waste, that it also causes the sorting of said containers (12A, 12B, 12C) according to the type of materials they are made of, thereby enabling the use and arrangement of waste storage facilities in the most profitable manner, and that the above operations are realized by means of a machine (1) incorporating a vacuum pump (2), as described in Claim 1. |
A METHOD AND MACHINE DESIGNED TO REDUCE THE SIZE OF CONTAINERS
MADE OF PLASTICS OR ALUMINUM
Field of Application of the Invention
The present invention relates to a machine operating on the principle of vacuum technique, and designed to reduce the size of water and beverage containers made of plastics or aluminium. Said invention particularly relates to the vacuum removal of the air inside the containers used for packing liquids (water, beverages etc.) so as to reduce the size of containers and thereby providing an advantage with regard to the storage area and space.
Description of Related Art In addition to the pumps of various kinds and types used for transferring exclusively the fluids by applying vacuum, the systems employed to pack liquids are also known to exist. In handling such products, either only a transfer of the liquid product is realized, or the vacuum technique is employed to pack the liquid products.
Purpose and Summary of the Invention The present invention is designed with an aim to cause the containers used for packing liquids (beverages, water etc.) to occupy less space and to enable their sorting before they are disposed of, especially in facilities where they are used in great quantities (restaurants, cafe's, buffets etc.), whereby to enable the use and arrangement of waste storage facilities in the most profitable manner. The most fundamental feature of present invention lies in the fact that, in addition to the small, medium and large size water and for beverage bottles made of plastics, it also accomplishes to reduce the size of beverage containers made of aluminium, by application of vacuum.
The machine is designed for mounting on the wall so as to enable its practical use. To achieve this purpose, a storage tank must be placed under the machine to collect the containers to be disposed of after they are sorted to have the same characteristics. Furthermore, since the machine will remove the air inside the container by application of vacuum, there will a change in the shape of the container, and a reduction in its volume will also occur. An additional tank may also be employed for disposing of any waste liquid that might remain inside the container during said size reducing process. The present invention is designed particularly to ensure the collective disposal of the containers made of plastics or aluminium and sorted as to have the same characteristics so that the reduction occurring in their economic values when they are mixed with garbage
would be prevented. Thanks to the present invention, the problems encountered in separating the wastes discarded into the garbage containers in mixtures of liquid wastes, metals and plastics have been reduced to minimum, and as a result of sorting the water and/or beverage containers according to their types (containers made of metal, plastics etc.), their recovery in an easy and highly satisfactory manner has been ensured. This would highly facilitate the application of legislation concerning the regulation and supervision of the wastes of such containers.
The container size reducing machine constituting the subject matter of present invention consists of: - a vacuum pump (2) operated by a motor (3);
- the motor (3) is operated by 24V DC, and considering that the machine constituting the subject matter of present invention will operate on the mains electric power, a time-relay (5) is incorporated into the body (7) of the machine to convert the voltage of the motor and to serve as a power source and timer; - A cushion (4) made from soft material (a polymer), connected to the pump (2) and fixed on the body (7) in a stationary position, which enables easy application of vacuum to the containers having varied diameters of mouth;
A circuit breaker (5) mounted on the body (7), which is in contact with said holding cushion (4) and will cause the motor to start when a liquid product container presses on said cushion (4); and
A discharge hose (10) used to discard the various types of liquids that might remain in the liquid product containers used.
The method of application of present invention mainly involves the following stages:
- Automatic starting of vacuum application process when the open-ended part (mouth) of a liquid product container is manually caused to press on the cushion;
- Automatic stopping of the pump when the liquid product container reaches the minimum size;
- Disposing of the shrinked liquid product container into the waste tank provided underneath the machine.
It should be well recognized that a waste tank selected (it may be a garbage pail) depending on the place where the machine (1) is installed must be provided. It should be considered essential that only the containers made of a single type of material is to be collected in that waste tank.
Description of Drawings
The present invention may be better understood by considering the following descriptions as a reference and by examining the drawings accompanying said descriptions and showing the practical aspects of the invention. The drawings particularly show: Figure 1 , is a sectional view of the machine in the mounted form which shows all of its internal components and parts.
Figure 2 ; shows the types (12A, 12B, 12C) of liquid product containers that can be used with the machine.
Figure 3 ; shows the application of vacuum to the types of containers that can be used with the machine.
Figure 4 ; shows the application of vacuum to another type of liquid product container that can be used with the machine.
Figure 5 ; shows the final form of the liquid product container with its size reduced at the end of the vacuum application process.
Detailed Description of the Invention
Figure 1 is a section taken on the internal parts of the machine (1), which provides a general view of the inside of the machine.
In the example hereby given, the machine (1) is shown as mounted on the wall by means of a hook (11). A chassis (6) is provided at the rear of the machine (1), which enables the mounting of the machine (1) on the wall and thus also fixing its internal parts.
On the chassis (6), the components of the vacuum pump (2), a transformer and the body (7) are mounted.
The power source and time-relay (5) reduces the potential of the mains electric power to the voltage suitable for operating of the motor (3), and stops the motor (3) automatically after a defined period of time.
The motor (3) is directly connected to the vacuum pump (2), and is used to start the operation of said pump (2) and then to stop it.
The body (7) is connected to the chassis (6) using the method of fitting, thereby ensuring the protection of its internal parts.
On the body (7), the circuit breaker (4) and the cushion (8) are mounted.
The circuit breaker (4) is switched on when a liquid product container (12A, 12B, 12C) presses on the cushion (8), causing the motor (3) to start.
Due to its flexible structure, the cushion (8), integrated on the body (7) exerts pressure on the circuit breaker (4) causing it to switch on and thus to start the vacuum process. The vacuum hose (9) connected with a hole provided in the centre of the cushion (8) is also connected to the components of the vacuum pump (2) provided on the other side of the system. Another discharge hose (10) connected to the outlet of the vacuum pump (2) components enables the discharge of any amounts of liquid that might remain inside the liquid product containers (12A, 12B, 12C). It should be recognized that the drawings provided herein only show a description of the application of present invention, and that certain changes in the form and arrangement of the system may be made without causing any diversion in the fundamental concepts related to the invention. The reference numbers given together with the attached claims are provided in order to cause said claims to be understood more easily by using the descriptions and drawings as a reference, and they in no way involve any limitation as regards the scope of protection described in the claims.
Reference Numbers
1- Container size reducing machine
2- Components of vacuum pump 3- Motor
4- Circuit breaker
5- Power source and time-relay
6- Chassis
7- Body 8- Cushion
9- Vacuum hose
10- Discharge hose
11- Hanging hook
12A- Liquid product container 12B- Liquid product container
12C- Liquid product container