Field of the invention

[0001] The present invention provides a method to process waste paper and the apparatuses thereof.

Background

[0002] Recycling used products is an important aspect to achieve global sustainability, where waste paper reprocessing is one of the fields with mature technologies. Waste paper is normally recycled by collecting waste paper, reprocessing the waste paper into waste paper pulp, and then producing other paper products by using the waste paper pulp as raw materials.

[0003] However, waste paper pulp is difficult to store and transport due to its physical properties. Furthermore, waste water is generated during the production of waste paper pulp. In addition, the reprocessing methods in the art cannot efficiently and entirely remove all the undesired materials (e.g., metal, plastic, glass, etc.) in the waste paper/pulp during the processes. It is also noted that in the art the recycling processes of waste paper are mostly with batches, which are not efficient enough.

[0004] Therefore, there is a need for a waste paper processing method and apparatuses for efficiently processing waste paper in to a raw paper material, which should be easy to store, transport and reuse with high quality (i.e. , almost no other waste materials). The processing method should be environmental friendly as well.

Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a method to process waste paper and the apparatuses thereof.

[0006] More specifically, the method and apparatuses in the present invention provide a cleaner and more efficient process to produce raw paper materials from wasted paper, which are easy to store, transport and reuse with high purity of paper materials (i.e., almost no other waste materials) than the processes in the art. [0007] According to the prevention invention, a method of processing waste paper comprises: separating ferrous metal from input waste paper via a magnetic separator; shredding the input waste paper into primary paper pieces with a length and width of about 40 millimetres or smaller via a primary shredder; feeding the primary paper pieces to two bunkers to divide the primary paper fibres into at least two parts; feeding each part of the primary paper pieces into a secondary shredder; shredding the primary paper pieces into final paper fibres by a secondary shredder, preferably, the final paper fibres being with a length of about 10 or 8 millimetres or smaller in a fluff form; separating the final paper fibres via a cyclone separator.

[0008] The final paper fibres may be discharged from the secondary shredder to a cyclone separator via a pneumatic conveyor.

[0009] The final paper fibres output from the cyclone separator may be baled, and/or remaining materials at the bottom of the cyclone separator may be collected and fed into the secondary shredder.

[0010] The waste paper may be dewired before being fed to the magnetic separator.

[0011] The secondary shredder may comprise multiple groups of T shaped blades, preferably, with 22 groups in total, preferably, each group being with 6 T shaped blades.

[0012] Conveying systems between the steps may be fully closed/sealed.

[0013] Each of the bunkers may be further configured to provide steady and even amount of primary paper pieces into the secondary shredder, and/or a feeding speed and amount to the secondary shredder may be adjustable.

[0014] The primary paper pieces may be fed into the secondary shredder in a blanket form.

[0015] A waste paper processing system is configured to perform the above method.

Brief description of the drawings

[0016] The present invention will be discussed in more detail below, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

[0017] Fig. 1 shows a first waste paper processing method. [0018] Fig. 2 shows the apparatuses in the first waste paper processing method.

[0019] Fig. 3 shows a second waste paper processing method.

[0020] Fig. 4 shows the apparatuses in the second waste paper processing method.

[0021] Fig. 5 shows an example of a shredder.

[0022] Fig. 6 shows an internal structure of an example shredder.

Description of embodiments

[0023] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to the specific embodiments and should be construed as including all modifications, changes, equivalent devices and methods, and/or alternative embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0024] The terms “have,” “may have,” “include,” and “may include” as used herein indicate the presence of corresponding features (for example, elements such as numerical values, functions, operations, or parts), and do not preclude the presence of additional features.

[0025] The terms “A or B,” “at least one of A or/and B,” or “one or more of A or/and B” as used herein include all possible combinations of items enumerated with them. For example, “A or B,” “at least one of A and B,” or “at least one of A or B” means (1 ) including at least one A, (2) including at least one B, or (3) including both at least one A and at least one B.

[0026] The terms such as “first” and “second” as used herein may modify various elements regardless of an order and/or importance of the corresponding elements, and do not limit the corresponding elements. These terms may be used for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another element. For example, a first printing form and a second printing form may indicate different printing forms regardless of the order or importance. For example, a first element may be referred to as a second element without departing from the scope the present invention, and similarly, a second element may be referred to as a first element.

[0027] It will be understood that, when an element (for example, a first element) is “(operatively or communicatively) coupled with/to” or “connected to” another element (for example, a second element), the element may be directly coupled with/to another element, and there may be an intervening element (for example, a third element) between the element and another element. To the contrary, it will be understood that, when an element (for example, a first element) is “directly coupled with/to” or “directly connected to” another element (for example, a second element), there is no intervening element (for example, a third element) between the element and another element.

[0028] The expression “configured to (or set to)” as used herein may be used interchangeably with “suitable for,” “having the capacity to,” “designed to,” “ adapted to,” “made to,” or “capable of” according to a context. The term “configured to (set to)” does not necessarily mean “specifically designed to” in a hardware level. Instead, the expression “apparatus configured to...” may mean that the apparatus is “capable of...” along with other devices or parts in a certain context.

[0029] The terms used in describing the various embodiments of the present disclosure are for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. All of the terms used herein including technical or scientific terms have the same meanings as those generally understood by an ordinary skilled person in the related art unless they are defined otherwise. The terms defined in a generally used dictionary should be interpreted as having the same or similar meanings as the contextual meanings of the relevant technology and should not be interpreted as having ideal or exaggerated meanings unless they are clearly defined herein. According to circumstances, even the terms defined in this disclosure should not be interpreted as excluding the embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0030] The method and apparatus in the present invention provide a cleaner and more efficient process for waste paper treatment, where a raw paper material is produced, which is easy to store, transport and reuse with high purity of paper materials (i.e. , almost no other waste materials) than the process in the art.

[0031] Fig. 1 shows a first waste paper processing method, wherein some of the steps and apparatuses are optional, e.g., dewiring 101 , magnetic separating 104, eddy current separating 107, near infrared technology (NIR) separating 105, and baling 110. For example, if the input of the waste paper is very clean/pure, then there is no need for magnetic separating 104 and eddy current separating 107 to remove undesired metals and the NIR separating 105 to remove other impurities. The process in fig. 1 is discussed in detail below.

[0032] In general, in the first waste paper processing method, waste paper is shredded in three stages and results in finer fibres in each stage, with final paper fibres are with a length of 5 to 10 millimetres, 5 to 8 millimetres or even smaller. The width of the final paper fibres may be very small, for example, less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres. Preferably, the width may be in a range of 0.02 to 0.1 or 0.02 to 0.05 millimetres. The different width may be according to different configurations of process, e.g., the processing time of each step, the physical configuration of the shredders, etc. The ratio between the length and the width may be in a range of 20 to 200, 50 to 100, 60 to 80, or around 70. The thickness of the final paper fibres may be determined according to the thickness of waste paper, or less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres (e.g., according to different configuration of the process as the width). The final fibres are easy to be stored, transported and reused in the above configuration. The above configuration for the final paper fibres can be implemented for all the mentioned final paper fibres in this document.

[0033] The step by step shredding process can ensure that the end products are with more or less the same physical properties, e.g., the length and width. At the same time, this process also reduces the complexity and increases the lifetime of the shredders. Furthermore, the overall productivity/capacity is improved significantly due to the continuous process and the staged shredding. The end products (the final paper fibres) are easy to be stored, packed, transported and reused without extra waste water produced.

[0034] The inputting step 101 feeds the processing line with raw waste paper materials. The raw waste paper materials are collected waste paper which may be packed in large packages with wires (e.g., metal wires or plastic wires). The waste paper packages may be placed (e.g., manually or with forklifts) on one or more conveyor belts (or any other conveying means, e.g., chain belt conveyor) to be dewired by at least one dewiring machine. A dewiring machine may comprise one or more blades to cut the wires open (e.g., via vertical and/or horizontal movements of the blades) such that the packed waste paper becomes loose (e.g., ready to be transmitted for the later trommel screening). The loose wires may be collected in step 101 , or wait to be collected in any of the later steps, e.g. , step 102, 104, 105 and/or 107.

[0035] The dewired and loose waste paper is then conveyed to a trommel screening machine in step 102. The conveying may be through a belt conveyor or any other types of conveying system known in the art, e.g., a chain belt conveyor. The trommel screening machine may comprise at least one cylinder shaped container with at least one aperture screen. The dewired and loose waste paper is input to the cylinder shaped container, which moves and filters undesired materials away based on the aperture size of the aperture screen. The aperture size may be adjusted or fixed, e.g., with a diameter of 10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 millimetres, preferably 30 millimetres. The movements of the trommel screening machine (e.g., the cylinder shaped container) may be shaking movements, e.g., comprising at least one of reciprocating liner movements along the cylinder axis direction, reciprocating turning movements of the cylinder shaped contained around the cylinder axis direction, and a continuous turning movements of the cylinder shaped contained around the cylinder axis direction. Through the moments, undesired materials (e.g., sands, stones, glass, plastics and other impurities) smaller than the aperture size are filtered out and may be collected via a separate conveyor belt as waste. The materials that are not filtered out are output to a conveying system for the later steps. The conveying system may be a belt conveyor or any other conveying system known in the art, e.g., a chain belt conveyor.

[0036] The trommel screen machine may be installed in a tilt manner, e.g., the cylinder shaped container is tilt such that the input end is higher than the output end. With this tilt instalment, the materials in the cylinder shaped container move from the input end to the output end by gravity (and/or shaking movements of the cylinder shaped container). In this way, the screening process can be done continuously without extra internal conveying mechanism within the trommel screening machine.

[0037] Steps 101 and 102 may also be combined, e.g., the trommel screening machine may comprise dewiring blades inside the cylinder shaped container such that the blades can cut the wires open when the trommel screening machine moves/shakes.

[0038] The output waste paper materials from the trommel screening machine is input to a primary shredder in step 103, e.g., via a conveyor belt or other conveying means. The primary shredder is to cut the waste paper into relatively large pieces/fibres according to the configurations, e.g., with a length of 45 to 300 millimetres or even smaller, or with a length of about 50 millimetres or smaller. The width may be smaller than or the same as the length according to different configurations. The primary shredder may comprise at least two groups of blades and each group fixed on a rotating shaft. Each group of blades may further comprise multiple subgroups, each subgroups are placed next to each other on the longitudinal direction of the shaft and within each subgroup the blades (e.g., 3 to 12 blades, e.g., 6 blades) may be placed evenly or unevenly around the circumference direction of the shaft. The at least two rotating shafts may rotate in the opposite direction and the two groups of blades are placed by crossing each other, e.g., such that when the shafts rotating in opposition directions, the blades turn and drag the waste paper in-between of the at least two groups of blades, and then the waste paper is pressed and cut by the at least two groups of blades into paper pieces/fibres, i.e., primary paper fibres (interchangeably used with primary paper pieces in this document). Then, the output primary paper fibres are conveyed to the later steps for further processing by a conveyor belt or other conveying means known in the art.

[0039] The turning speed of the shafts of the primary shredder may be slower (e.g., with the highest turning speed of 30 rounds per minute) than the later shredders, which is due to that a larger cutting force maybe needed in the first shredder because of the larger size of the input waste paper.

[0040] The primary shredders may have an alternative structure. For example, the primary shredder may comprise one shaft with blades fixed around and along it, e.g., as shown in fig. 5 and 6 (explained later). When the shaft turns, paper can be shredded by the turning blades.

[0041] The primary paper fibres are then fed for magnetic separating in step 104 to separate out ferrous metals (e.g., 0.1 to 25 kilograms, or even lighter metals) via a magnetic separator. The magnetic separator may comprise at least one electronic magnet to attract ferrous metals from the primary paper fibres. The magnetic separator may be installed above and/or around the conveying system from the primary shredder to the NIR separator such that the ferrous metals are picked out during the conveying. The magnetic separator may comprise an upside down conveying belt under the electronic magnet such that the ferrous metals will be attracted under the upside down belt where the electronic magnet locates above (on the other side of the belt) and then the ferrous metals move with the upside down belts. When the ferrous metals move (with the upside down belt) far enough from the electronic magnet, they will drop off from the upside down belt (e.g., falling into a ferrous metal collecting container) when the attracting forces from the electronic magnet are smaller than the gravity.

[0042] The NIR separating in step 105 (via a NIR separator) is to further pick impurities out which have not been picked out yet in previous steps. The NIR separator uses optical sensors to recognize impurities and remove such impurities from the primary paper fibres. For example, the NIR separator may comprise at least one moving conveyor belt (e.g., with a constant speed) with the primary paper fibres on it. When the belt moves, at least one optical sensor may be fixed next to the conveyor belt (e.g., not moving with the belt but fixed outside the belt) can reorganize the impurities (via optical sensing and reorganization) and the impurities can then be picked out of the belt before entering to the next step. For example, the impurities may be blown off the belt by high speed air/gas flow and the output end of the NIR separator. On and off of the air/gas flow may be controlled according to the recognition results of the optical sensors. Alternatively, the impurities may also be knocked off the belt by a knocking part which may be controlled according to the recognition results of the optical sensors.

[0043] In step 106 the primary paper fibres are fed for secondary shredding via a secondary shredder. The secondary shredder may have a similar mechanism as the primary shredder but with blades that are placed closer to each other such that the output secondary paper fibres are shorter than the primary paper fibres. For example, the secondary paper fibres may have a length of about 60 millimetres or smaller. The width may be smaller than or the same as the length according to different configurations. Alternatively, the secondary paper fibres may have a length of about 10 or 8 millimetres or smaller.

[0044] Then primary paper fibres from one primary shredder may be processed by multiple secondary shredders in order to avoid bottle necks in the production line. For example, the primary paper fibres output from the NIR separator may be evenly or unevenly divided by two or more conveyor belts, each reaching a different secondary shredder.

[0045] The secondary paper fibres may then be conveyed for eddy current separating in step 107 via conveying means, e.g., conveyor belts or any other means known in the art.

[0046] The eddy current separator in step 107 may use a magnetic field to separate non-ferrous metals (i.e. , electrical conducting materials). For example, the eddy current separator may enable a strong magnetic field to provide forces to conducting materials such as copper and aluminium when the conducting materials pass through the magnetic field. In such a way, the non-conducting materials and the conducting materials (e.g., the paper fibres) can be separated. For example, the eddy current separator may comprise a conveying belt with the secondary paper fibres on it. The belt may run in a high speed. The magnetic field generating magnet (e.g., an electronic magnet) may be fixed at the output end of the belt (e.g., a coil around the end of the belt). The moving conducting materials (e.g., non-ferrous metals on the belt) will receive forces from the changing magnetic field (when approaching the end) and can be separated from the non-conducting materials (e.g., the secondary paper fibres). The nonconducting materials and the conducting materials may be collected via different parabolas when they get off (e.g., fall off) from the running belt.

[0047] After the non-ferrous metals are separated by the eddy current separator in step 107, the secondary paper fibres may be conveyed for tertiary shredding in step 108, via conveying means, e.g., conveyor belts and preferably with a screw conveyor (e.g., fully sealed/closed conveyor or open conveyor). It is preferred to have a fully sealed/closed conveyor since the secondary paper fibres may contain dusts which can pollute the air if conveyed in an open system. Since the secondary shredder may have a higher capacity than the processing capability of the tertiary shredder, multiple tertiary shredders may be used to process the output secondary paper fibres from one secondary shredder, in order to avoid any bottleneck in the continuous processing line.

[0048] The tertiary shredder in step 108 may have a similar mechanism as the primary and the secondary shredders but procedures finer final paper fibres. For example, the final paper fibres may with a length of 5 to 8 or 10 millimetres, or even smaller. The width of the final paper fibres may be very small, for example, less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres. Preferably, the width may be in a range of 0.02 to 0.1 or 0.02 to 0.05 millimetres. The different width may be according to different configurations of process, e.g., the processing time of each step, the physical configuration of the shredders, etc. The ratio between the length and the width may be in a range of 20 to 200, 50 to 100, 60 to 80, or around 70. The thickness of the final paper fibres may be determined according to the thickness of waste paper, or less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres (e.g., according to different configuration of the process as the width). The final fibres are easy to be stored, transported and reused in the above configuration. The above configuration for the final paper fibres can be implemented for all the mentioned final paper fibres in this document.

[0049] As an example, the tertiary shredder may comprise one shaft with one or more blades fixed evenly around and along the shaft, such that when the shaft rotates in high speed, the blades will cut the input secondary paper fibres into finer final paper fibres.

[0050] The output final paper fibres from step 108 are then conveyed to one or more cyclone separator in step 109. The conveying means may be via belts, screw or any other known means. It is preferred that the conveying means is with a pneumatic conveyor via air flow through a pipe in order to separate heavy and light materials in the cyclone separator. [0051] The cyclone separator in step 109 may use a high speed rotating air flow within a cylindrical or conical container to separate different materials via rotational effects and gravity. For example, the desired final paper fibres are light and will flow with the air flow in the cyclone separator and reach an output port, but the undesired materials (e.g., heavy paper fibres that are not cut fine enough, or any other heavy materials) may fall on the bottom of the cyclone separator. The undesired materials may be collected and fed to the tertiary shredder to be cut again. The desired materials may reach the output port, where a filtering system may be used to separate the air and the desired fibres, for example, one or more baghouses to filter out the final paper fibres and the air. The output final paper fibres may then be conveyed (e.g., via screw conveyor or other means) to the baler machines to be baled in step 110.

[0052] The method in Fig. 1 may include a dust removing system for each of the step (e.g., with the input and output of each step). For example, the air in each step may contain dusts and/or chemicals from the waste paper. Such dusty air maybe collected (e.g., via vacuuming means in each step, which are either operating openly or fully closed) and conveyed via pipes to a filtering system, e.g., baghouse filters. Then the dusts may be collected via air pulses at the filtering systems.

[0053] Fig. 2 provides a process line with apparatuses based on the first waste paper processing method.

[0054] It is shown in Fig. 2 that inputting and dewiring machine 101 is used to dewiring packed initial/raw waste paper (e.g., bales), which may comprise forklifts and a separate dewiring machine. After dewring, the loose waste paper may be conveyed to the trommel screen machine 202 via a chain belt conveyor or other conveying means. The trommel screen machine 202 may filter out undesired materials that small than the aperture size, e.g., with a diameter of 30 millimetres. The filtered out materials may be glass, sands, stones, and other undesired materials, which may be conveyed to a waste collector 212, e.g., via a belt conveyor. The desired materials (e.g., loose waste paper) may then be conveyed from the trommel screen machine 202 to the primary shredder 203, e.g., via a belt conveyor. The primary shredder 203 cuts the loose waste paper into primary paper fibres with a certain length, e.g., 45 to 300 millimetres. Then the primary paper fibres are conveyed to one or more (e.g., two as shown in fig. 2) NIR separators 205a and 205b, e.g., via one or more belt conveyors. A magnetic separator 204 may be fixed on top of the belt conveyors which selects and separates ferrous metals out of the primary fibres. The undesired ferrous metals may be conveyed to a waste collector 212 (same as or different from the one for the undesired materials from the trommel screen machine 202). The NIR separator further picks out the remaining impurities which are recognized by one or more optical sensors, e.g., plastics, remaining metals, etc. The undried impurities may also be conveyed to a waste collector 212. The waste collector 212 may be different for different steps or the same for some or all steps. Then the primary paper fibres are conveyed to a second shredder 206, e.g., via a belt conveyor. The second shredder 206 cut the primary paper fibres into smaller fibres (i.e. , the secondary paper fibres), e.g., with a length of about 60 millimetres or smaller. The secondary paper fibres then conveyed (e.g., via a belt conveyor or a screw conveyor) to an eddy current separator 207 to separate out the undesired non-ferrous metals (i.e., electrical conducting materials). The nonferrous metals may be conveyed to a waste collector 212. Then desired secondary paper fibres from the eddy current separator 207 may be first conveyed (e.g., via a belt conveyor or a screw conveyor) to one or more dividing bunker 211. The dividing bunker 211 divides the secondary paper fibres and feed them into one or multiple tertiary shredders (e.g., three 208a, 208b and 208c as shown in fig. 2), which is because the capacity of a tertiary shredder may be lower than a secondary shredder. Such a multiple tertiary shredder arrangement may avoid any bottleneck in the continuous production line as shown in fig. 2. Each tertiary shredder (208a, 208b or 208c) cuts the secondary paper fibres even finer as final paper fibres, e.g., with a length of 5 to 8 millimetres or even smaller in a fluff form. Then the final paper fibres are conveyed (e.g., via a pneumatic conveyor) to cyclone separators (209a, 209b and 209c), e.g., each tertiary shredder may output to one or more cyclone separator, or multiple tertiary shredders may output to one cyclone separator. The cyclone separators (209a, 209b and 209c) filter out the undesired materials in the final paper fibres, e.g., paper fibres that are not fine enough. The undesired materials may be fed to the tertiary shredder again to be cut finer, or may be conveyed to a waste collector 212. The other desired final paper fibres from the cyclone separators are filtered out and collected, e.g., by baghouse filters, and then conveyed to one or more balers 210 to be packed/baled.

[0055] Fig. 3 shows a second waste paper processing method, which is a simplified method when compared to the method in fig. 1 . The reason is that in some countries, waste paper is well separated from other waste such that some of the steps in fig. 1 is not necessary anymore, e.g., the trommel screening, the NIR separating and the eddy current separating. Furthermore, only two levels of shredding are employed in fig. 3.

[0056] The input and dewiring step 301 is the same as the input and dewiring step 101 , after which loose waste paper (e.g., used cardboard) is conveyed to the later steps, e.g., via a belt conveyor or other similar means.

[0057] The magnetic separating step 302 is similar to step 104. The difference may be that the in step 302, the loose waste paper is conveyed when ferrous metals are separated with a magnetic separator (e.g., electronic magnet), but in step 104, the primary paper fibres are conveyed when ferrous metals are separated. The advantage in fig. 3 is that ferrous metals are separated prior the shredding to avoid potential damages to the shredders (e.g., the primary and the secondary shredders).

[0058] The loose paper is then fed to the primary shredder in step 303 to produce the primary paper fibres/pieces. For example, the primary paper fibres/pieces may have a width and length of 50 millimetres, or 40 millimetres or even smaller. The width may be smaller than or the same as the length according to different configurations.

[0059] The primary paper fibres are then conveyed (e.g., via a belt conveyor) to bunkers to be divided in step 304. This step may be omitted. The secondary shredder may have a lower capacity than the primary shredder, thus, in order to avoid any bottlenecks in the continuous processing line, the primary paper fibres may be divided (in step 304) and fed into multiple secondary shredders through the bunkers.

[0060] The primary paper fibres are conveyed (e.g., via a belt conveyor with an adjustable feeding speed) to the secondary shredders for a secondary shredding in step 305, where the primary paper fibres may be cut into finer fibres (the final paper fibres), e.g., with a length of 5 to 8 or 10 millimetres or smaller in a fluff form. The width of the final paper fibres may be very small, for example, less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres. Preferably, the width may be in a range of 0.02 to 0.1 or 0.02 to 0.05 millimetres. The different width may be according to different configurations of process, e.g., the processing time of each step, the physical configuration of the shredders, etc. The ratio between the length and the width may be in a range of 20 to 200, 50 to 100, 60 to 80, or around 70. The thickness of the final paper fibres may be determined according to the thickness of waste paper, or less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres (e.g., according to different configuration of the process as the width). The final fibres are easy to be stored, transported and reused in the above configuration. The above configuration for the final paper fibres can be implemented for all the mentioned final paper fibres in this document.

[0061] After shredding, a pneumatic conveyor is used to convey the final paper fibres as in steps 108 to 109 in fig. 1 , such that the final paper fibres can be discharged from the secondary shredder quickly. The shredding is more efficient since the paper fibres can be distributed more evenly and quicker to reach the blades in the shredder due to the discharging force from the pneumatic conveyor.

[0062] The pneumatic conveyor conveys the final paper fibres to the cyclone separators for separating undesired materials, which are the same as in steps 108 and 109.

[0063] The final baling step 307 is the same as in step 110.

[0064] Fig. 4 shows shows the apparatuses in the second waste paper processing method in fig. 3.

[0065] The initial waste paper are fed into the inputting and dewiring machine 401 , e.g., with forklifts. The dewiring machine 401 cuts the wires open (e.g., metal or plastic wires) as the same machine 201 . Then the loose paper is conveyed (e.g., via belt conveyor) to the magnetic separator 402, which works in the same way as the magnetic separator 104 where ferrous metals are separated out. Then the loose paper is fed into the primary shredder 403 to be cut into primary paper fibres, e.g., with a width and length of about 50 millimetres, 40 millimetres or smaller. The primary paper fibres are then conveyed (e.g., via belt conveyor) and divided by dividing bunkers 404 to different secondary shredders (e.g., 405a and 405b) due to the capacity mismatch between the primary shredder and the secondary shredders. The secondary shredders further cut the primary paper fibres finer into final paper fibres, e.g., with a length of about 5-8 millimetres or smaller in a fluff form. The final paper fibres are then conveyed by a pneumatic conveyor (e.g., the arrow from 405a to 406a in fig. 4) to the cyclone separator 406a to separate the desired fibres and undesired materials. The undesired materials may be heavier and/or have a larger size than the desired fibres, which may be collected at the bottom of the cyclone separators 406a and 406b. The undesired materials may then be fed into the secondary shredders 405a and 405b to be cut finer again. The desired final paper fibres are filtered out by the cyclone separator 406a and 406b (e.g., via baghouse filters) and conveyed (e.g., with a conveyor belt or screw conveyor) to the balers 407a and 407b to be baled.

[0066] Fig. 5 shows an example of a shredder 500, which may be any of the primary shredders, secondary shredders and the tertiary shredder in the methods in fig. 1 , 2, 3, and 4. Preferably, the shredder 500 shown in fig. 5 may be the shredder to produce the final paper fibres (e.g., the tertiary shredders 208a to 208c in the first method and the secondary shredder 405a and 405b in the second method), for example with a length of of 5 to 8 or 10 millimetres or smaller in a fluff form. The width of the final paper fibres may be very small, for example, less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres. Preferably, the width may be in a range of 0.02 to 0.1 or 0.02 to 0.05 millimetres. The different width may be according to different configurations of process, e.g., the processing time of each step, the physical configuration of the shredders, etc. The ratio between the length and the width may be in a range of 20 to 200, 50 to 100, 60 to 80, or around 70. The thickness of the final paper fibres may be determined according to the thickness of waste paper, or less than 1 millimetres, less than 0.5 millimetres, less than 0.1 millimetres, less than 0.05, less than 0.03 millimetres, 0.02 millimetres, 0.01 millimetres, or 0.001 millimetres (e.g., according to different configuration of the process as the width). The final fibres are easy to be stored, transported and reused in the above configuration. The above configuration for the final paper fibres can be implemented for all the mentioned final paper fibres in this document.

[0067] The shredder 500 may comprise an input conveying system 501 to feed materials to be shredded (e.g., loose paper, primary or secondary paper fibres) in the container 502. The conveying system 501 shown in fig. 1 is a belt conveyor which can provide steady and continuous input for the shredder 500 where the paper materials are fed in with a blanket form. The conveying speed and amount may be adjusted via the speed of the belt and height of the adjustable bar 506 above the belt. The adjustable bar flattens the paper materials in a blanket manner before being fed to the container 502. The conveying system 501 may be fully closed (to reduce air pollution) or may be open as shown in fig. 5.

[0068] The shredder 500 may comprise a rotor 503 which drives the shaft 505 of the shredder 500, e.g., via a belt. The rotor 503 may be an open rotor as shown in fig. 5, or may be a rotor inside the container 502. The advantage of the open motor is to provide more shredding spaces/surfaces inside the container 502. The shredder 500 may further comprise a container 502 where the shaft and blades are located and the input materials are fed. The input materials are then shredded inside the container 502. Such a closed design is safer to operate and reduces pollution to the air. At the same time, the processing is still continuous which has higher capacity.

[0069] The shredded materials (e.g., the final paper fibres) may be discharged from the bottom of the shredder 500 (not shown in fig. 5). The discharging may be achieved via a pneumatic conveying system (e.g., the pneumatic conveyor as between the tertiary shredder and the cyclone separator in the first method and between the second shredder and the cyclone separator in the second method). The pneumatic conveying system can discharge the shredded materials quickly, and can also provide a sucking force inside the container 502 such that the input materials get into the container 502 quicker, get attached to the blades quicker and are distributed more evenly in the container 502 when shredded. Therefore, the input materials can be quicker, more efficient and more evenly shredded.

[0070] The discharged shredded materials from shredder 500 may be conveyed to a cyclone separator as in the first method and the second method. [0071] The shredder 500 may be fixed on an operating platform 504 for easy operating and easy discharging from the bottom.

[0072] Fig. 6 shows the internal structure of the shredder 500 inside the container 502. The input materials are fed in from the input port 603 (e.g., a flat opening to receive the input materials in a blanket form or may be in other shapes). The shaft 602 is the same as the shaft 505 where the belt and motor 503 are not shown in fig. 6. Groups of blades 601 (or called hammers) are fixed on the shaft 602. For example, as shown in fig. 6, there are multiple groups of blades 601 , where blades in each group (e.g., 6 blades in each group as shown in fig. 6, other numbers are possible as well, e.g., 3 to 12) are fixed on the shaft evenly around the circumferential direction. Groups (of blades) are then fixed next to each other on the longitudinal direction of the shaft 602, for example, in total of 5 to 30, 10- 30, 15-25, 20-25, or preferably 22 groups . The blades 601 are in a T shape, e.g., the part further from the shaft 602 is wider than the part closer to the shaft 602. In such a way, the cutting surface is increased and the input material can be shredded quicker. The blades in each group may also be fixed on a round plate (e.g., a metal disc). In this way, the mounting and repairing of the blades is cheaper and quicker. Then the round plates are placed next to each other on the longitudinal direction of the shaft. The shredder 500 may also have frames 604 around the blades 601 such that the materials inside the container 502 are pushed and feared by forces between the blades and the frames 604. The frames 604 may be placed in all or some internal surfaces of the container 502. The shredded materials are discharged from the bottom of the shredder which is not shown in fig. 6, and the discharging may be achieved by a pneumatic conveying system as discussed for figs. 1 to 5.

[0073] According to the present invention, any or all of the conveying means may be open or fully closed, e.g., the belt conveyors, the chain belt conveyors, the pneumatic conveyors, the bunkers, etc. With fully closed conveying means, air pollution can be minimized, especially when they are coupled with the dust removing system. The operation is also much safer when there are no or little dusts and/or papers fibres in the operation environment, e.g., less risk in explosion. [0074] The processing methods and the apparatuses of the present invention are configured to produce fluffy and fine paper fibres that are easy to be stored and transported. No waste water is generated during the processing. The air pollution during the processes can also be minimized by the dust removing system. In addition, the present invention can efficiently remove all the undesired materials (e.g., metal, plastic, glass, etc.). The present invention also enables full continuous processes that have a much higher capacity than the traditional waste paper treatment processes. Especially, the using of the pneumatic conveying system can significantly increase the efficiency of the shredding and discharging.

[0075] During the waste paper processing in the present invention, dusts (or particles) may be generated, e.g., during the shredding, separating and/or conveying. Dusts may pollute the working environment and be harmful to the health of the people working there, and they may also have explosion/fire risks. Therefore, in some or all the steps of the present invention, e.g., any in figs. 1 and/or 3, in some or all the machines (i.e. , apparatuses) of the present invention, e.g., any in figs. 2, 4, 5 and 6, in some or all the in-between conveyors/conveying systems between the machines of the present invention, dusts may need to be kept in the production line and prevented from entering the working environment (e.g., escaping from the production line and getting into open working space outside the production line). For example, some or all the processing steps may be proceeded in closed spaces, e.g., within the shredders, separators, any other machines and the conveying systems in between machines may be sealed to prevent dust from escaping, for example, the dusts generated by each machine/conveying system may be trapped within that machine/conveying system, e.g., in a sealed space of that machine.

[0076] The sealed space of a machine may be the inside compartment of the machine in the present invention, e.g., the inputting and dewiring machine, the trommel screen machine, the primary shredder, the magnetic separator, the NIR separator, the secondary shredder, the Eddy current separator, the dividing bunker, the tertiary shredder, the cyclone separator, the baler, and/or the waste collector in any of figs. 1 and 3, and/or the conveying systems in between the machines of the present invention. [0077] Another issue for dusts is that, even if they are trapped in the machines/conveying systems, they may still have a risk for fire or explosion, especially when flames or sparks are triggered on the dusts, e.g., due to leakage of electricity, friction on some metal material left in the machines (for example in the shredders), or any other reasons.

[0078] Therefore, within some or all the steps of the present invention, e.g., any in figs. 1 and/or 3, within some or all the machines of the present invention, e.g., any in figs. 2, 4, 5 and 6, within some or all the in-between conveyors/conveying system between the machines of the present invention, at least one fire preventing system may be provided. The fire preventing system may be subject to detect flames, detect sparks, and/or eliminate the flames and/or sparks, e.g., before the flames/sparks result in more severe fires or even explosion.

[0079] Any machine, processing step, or conveying system/step in the present invention may comprise a fire preventing system. A fire preventing system may comprise at least one of a flame detector, a heat detector, a spark detector, an explosion detector, a water mist system, a fire suppression system, a valve. For example, the detectors may be installed inside a machine/conveying system. If at least one of flames, sparks, high temperature (over a predetermined threshold), and explosion is detected, the water mist system, the fire suppression system and the valve may be triggered.

[0080] The flame detector is to detect flames (which can be both visible and invisible flames). The flame detector may use infra-red sensing technology, which may detect flames from all fuel types including invisible flames from hydrogen. The flame detector may detect the flames via dust, steam and/or smoke.

[0081] The spark detector is to detect glowing dust or other sparks.

[0082] The heat detector may detect a temperature higher than a predetermined threshold.

[0083] The spark detector, the heat detector and the flame detector may be integrated in one detecting device or sensing device.

[0084] The water mist system is to eliminate fire and/or explosion risks. For example, it may be triggered to spray water mist (e.g., with high pressure) when at least of the flame detector, the spark detector and the heat detector detects flame, spark and/or high temperature. The water mist may be sprayed at the detected location of the flame, spark, and/or high temperature.

[0085] The fire suppression system is to eliminate fire and/or explosion risks as well, e.g., via a high pressure or low pressure system. For example, in a high pressure system, the fire suppression system may be triggered to fill at least one of non-flammable gases into a seal space, e.g., nitrogen, helium, etc. Such that the densities of the oxygen, the fuel, and/or the dusts may be decreased quickly in order to prevent fire or explosion. As another example, with a low pressure system, the fire suppression system may be triggered to vacuum a sealed space quickly, such that the glowing dusts may be pumped away from the sealed space to a fireproof container, and/or the oxygen is vacuumed from the sealed space to prevent fire.

[0086] A valve may be triggered to separate one, some or all the adjacent steps, machines and conveying stems if any of the detectors detect flames, sparks, explosion and/or high temperatures. The valve may comprise multiple sub-valves for each of the processing step, and/or each of the connections between the machines and the conveying systems (e.g., production connections for input and output paper materials/fibres). For example, once the flame detector in the second shredder detects a flame, the sub-valves in the second shredder may be triggered to separate all the adjacent steps and/or machines in the whole production line, or only sperate the input and output channels of the second shredder, the triggered action of which may be the same for other machines.

[0087] As another example, if explosion is detected in the conveyor between the secondary shredder and the cyclone separator in fig. 4, the sub-valves may be triggered to separate the output of the secondary shredder and the input of the cyclone separator, likewise for all other convoying stems in the present invention.

[0088] As other example, an additional valve may be used in any of the shredders in the present invention (i.e. , the second shredder is used as an example in the below example but the below features may be on all the shredders). For example, there may be an air inlet on top of the secondary shredder, e.g., as input of paper fibres and/or providing air flow to drive the fibers move within the secondary shredder. A valve may be connected to the air inlet such that if flames, sparks, or explosion is detected, the valve will be immediately closed to prevent additional air getting in the shredder and further preventing the flames/sparks/explosion going to another machine/conveyor/working environment via the air inlet. Such an air inlet and valve can be comprised in any of the machines/conveyors.

[0089] The whole processing methods of the present invention, e.g., in figs. 1 and 3, and the whole production line of the present invention, e.g., in figs. 2 and 4, may operate in a sealed condition, i.e. , all the steps, all the machines, conveyors, or any other input/output component/containers (e.g., for fibres and/or non-cut waste paper) are sealed without direct air exchange with the working environment where the processing/production line is placed, or at least filtered before the air exchange.

[0090] The whole processing of the present invention, e.g., in figs. 1 and 3, and the whole production line of the present invention, e.g., in figs. 2 and 4, may operate in a sealed condition under an inside air pressure lower than a predetermined threshold, i.e., all the steps, all the machines, and conveyors may be operated with a low inside air pressure such that the oxygen may not be enough or less likely to cause any flames, sparks, high temperature or explosion.

[0091] If the whole processing/production line operates in a sealed condition, each or some of the machines and conveyors may be operated independently in the seal condition, e.g., via a turning wheel system. For example, the turning wheel system may comprise multiple turning wheels, each turning wheel may separate two adjacent machines or conveyors, and may control the input/output. Each turning wheel may always separate the two adjacent machines or conveyors, and via turning the wheel, product form an earlier machine/conveyor can be transported to the next machine/conveyor without direct air exchange between the earlier and next machine/conveyor. The turning wheel may operate similarly as a turning wheel door. For example, a turning wheel may be used in between of the secondary shredder and the output conveyor, i.e., it may offload the secondary shredder and input the fibres into the conveyor connecting the cyclone separator or directly input to the cyclone separator without a conveyor, which is similar in other machines/conveyors in the present invention, i.e., between any machines and/or conveyors in fig. 2 and fig. 4.

[0092] A load detector may be included in each or some of the turning wheels, for example, whenever the load detector detects that the load from a previous/earlier machine/conveyor is over a predetermined threshold, it may trigger the turning wheel to turn, i.e. , to offload the previous/earlier machine/conveyors and input the paper material/fibres to the next machine/conveyors.

[0093] The present invention provides a method to process waste paper and the apparatuses thereof.

[0094] More specifically, the method and apparatuses in the present invention provide a cleaner and more efficient process to produce raw paper materials from wasted paper, which are easy to store, transport and reuse with high purity of paper materials (i.e., almost no other waste materials) than the processes in the art. The present invention can also improve the safety of the working environment and production line by preventing fires or explosions.

[0095] According to the prevention invention, a method of processing waste paper comprises: separating ferrous metal from input waste paper via a magnetic separator; shredding the input waste paper into primary paper pieces with a length and width of about 40 millimetres or smaller via a primary shredder; feeding the primary paper pieces to two bunkers to divide the primary paper fibres into at least two parts; feeding each part of the primary paper pieces into a secondary shredder; shredding the primary paper pieces into final paper fibres by a secondary shredder, preferably, the final paper fibres being with a length of about 10 or 8 millimetres or smaller in a fluff form; separating the final paper fibres via a cyclone separator.

[0096] The final paper fibres may be discharged from the secondary shredder to a cyclone separator via a pneumatic conveyor.

[0097] The final paper fibres output from the cyclone separator may be baled, and/or remaining materials at the bottom of the cyclone separator may be collected and fed into the secondary shredder.

[0098] The waste paper may be dewired before being fed to the magnetic separator.

[0099] The secondary shredder may comprise multiple groups of T shaped blades, preferably, with 22 groups in total, preferably, each group being with 6 T shaped blades.

[00100] Conveying systems between the steps may be fully closed/sealed. [00101] Each of the bunkers may be further configured to provide steady and even amount of primary paper pieces into the secondary shredder, and/or a feeding speed and amount to the secondary shredder may be adjustable.

[00102] The primary paper pieces may be fed into the secondary shredder in a blanket form.

[00103] A waste paper processing system is configured to perform the method.