JP2008012500A - Volume reduction method for polystyrene foam products - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a volume reduction method of a foamed polystyrene product which can be easily implemented in each store where space saving is required while reducing the volume reduction rate of the foamed polystyrene product more than before.
SOLUTION: After a polystyrene foam product is cut into a predetermined size, a plurality of styrene pieces obtained by cutting are crushed, a large number of crushed pieces obtained by pulverization are accommodated in a bag, and the inside of the bag is filled. A vacuum was drawn through the opening.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for reducing the volume of a foamed polystyrene product, for example, to reduce the volume of the foamed polystyrene product used as a cushioning packaging material as much as possible, and to facilitate its transportation or recycling.

  Examples of the polystyrene foam include those mainly used for buffer packaging materials for agricultural and fishery containers and equipment, polystyrene paper often used for food trays, and extrusion boards mainly used for heat insulating building materials. Among these polystyrene foams, especially the polystyrene foam products mainly used for agricultural and marine products containers and equipment buffer packaging materials, 98% of its volume is air, and only 2% of plastic as raw material is very lightweight. Nevertheless, because of its large volume, it is not easy to collect or transport the used product when it is collected and recycled.

  In order to solve this problem, there has been proposed a crushing apparatus that can reduce the volume of a collected used polystyrene foam container or the like and facilitate recycling (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  In this crushing device, a crushing tank is provided in a case, and a chain having a predetermined length is connected to a rotating shaft rotatably attached to the crushing tank. When reducing the volume of used expanded polystyrene products, the chain is rotated by a motor via a rotating shaft to crush the used expanded polystyrene product that has been put into the crushing tank, and the crushed expanded polystyrene pieces are moved below the crushing tank. It is dropped and stored in a storage bag.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-76791 (page 3, FIG. 2)

  In the case of the pulverizer described in Patent Document 1, since the bulky expanded polystyrene is crushed to a predetermined size or less, the volume can be reduced to some extent, and the volume reduction rate decreases as the size after crushing is smaller. However, there is a limit (for example, about 1/3) in the reduction of the volume reduction rate only by crushing, and it was desired to achieve further volume reduction.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and can be easily implemented at each store where space saving is required, while reducing the volume reduction rate of the expanded polystyrene product more than before. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for reducing the volume of a foamable polystyrene product.

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is a volume reduction method of a foamed polystyrene product for reducing the volume of the foamed polystyrene product, wherein the foamed polystyrene product has a predetermined size. A step of cutting, a step of pulverizing a plurality of styrene pieces obtained by cutting, a large number of crushed pieces obtained by pulverization are accommodated in a bag, and the inside of the bag is evacuated through an opening. And a step of performing.

  In the invention according to claim 2, in the pulverization step, a predetermined pressure is applied to the styrene pieces to separate a large number of foam particles constituting the styrene pieces into individual foam particles. It is characterized by expelling air from the inside.

  The invention described in claim 3 is characterized in that the predetermined pressure is set to 0.04 to 0.1 MPa.

  Furthermore, the invention according to claim 4 is a pulverizer for styrene pieces obtained by cutting a foamed polystyrene product into a predetermined size, a cylindrical casing, and a tray detachably attached to a lower portion of the casing. A lid for opening and closing the upper opening of the housing, a pressing plate attached to the lid via a lifting shaft, a disc-shaped cutter plate rotatably attached to the housing, It has the crushing blade attached to the cutter plate, and the drive means for rotating the said cutter plate, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the crushing blade is formed with a large number of quadrangular pyramid-shaped protrusions continuously.

  The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the height of the protrusion is 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less.

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the number of the protrusions is 80 to 90 / cm ² .

  According to the present invention, after the foamed polystyrene product is cut into a plurality of polystyrene pieces, the polystyrene pieces are pulverized, and the crushed pieces are accommodated in a bag and vacuum-evacuated. Volume reduction rate can be achieved.

  Further, by using a hot-wire cutter that is easy to operate for cutting the expanded polystyrene product, and by crushing the polystyrene pieces using a compact crusher, it can be easily carried out in each store that requires space saving.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a volume reduction method for a foamed polystyrene product according to the present invention. In this volume reduction method of a polystyrene product, first, as shown in FIG. 1 (a), the foamed polystyrene product S is pulverized as shown in FIG. 1 (b) or FIG. 1 (c) using a hot wire cutter 2. Cut until a predetermined size can be accommodated in the machine 4.

  The hot wire cutter 2 includes a wire holder 6 bent in a substantially U shape, a wire 8 stretched at both ends of the wire holder 6, a grip 10 attached to one end of the wire holder 6, and one end on the grip 10. And a power cord 12 having a plug (not shown) attached to the other end thereof. The hot wire cutter 2 is configured such that when a plug is inserted into an outlet (not shown) and the grip 10 is gripped, the wire 8 is energized, and when the hand is released from the grip 10, the energization of the wire 8 is turned off.

  The foamed polystyrene product S shown in FIG. 1 (a) is a shock-absorbing packaging material for the device. When the foamed polystyrene product S is cut, when the grip 10 of the hot wire cutter 2 is gripped as described above, the wire 8 is energized. Therefore, when the temperature of the wire 8 rises to a temperature exceeding the melting temperature of the expanded polystyrene product S, the expanded polystyrene product S can be cut. Therefore, what is necessary is just to press the wire 8 against the foamed polystyrene product S and cut the foamed polystyrene product S into polystyrene pieces S1 having a predetermined size (for example, 20 to 30 cm cubic).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, a plurality of polystyrene pieces S1 obtained by cutting the expanded polystyrene product S are put into the pulverizer 4 from above, and as shown in FIG. By rotating the attached rotary handle, the styrene pieces S1 are crushed and dropped, and a large number of crushed pieces are stored in a plastic bag 16 stored in a tray at the bottom of the pulverizer 4. The detailed configuration of the pulverizer 4 will be described later.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1 (d), the tray containing the plastic bag 16 is removed from the crusher 4, and the opening of the plastic bag 16 is sealed as shown in FIG. 1 (e). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1 (f), the suction hose 22 of the vacuum cleaner 20 is connected to the vacuuming exhaust hole 18 provided in the plastic bag 16, and a plastic bag containing a large number of crushed polystyrene pieces is accommodated. The inside of the plastic bag 16 is evacuated to reduce the volume.

  FIG. 2 shows the pulverizer 4 described above, and is for opening and closing a cylindrical casing 24, a tray 26 detachably attached to the lower portion of the casing 24, and an upper opening of the casing 24. And a lid 28. A circular opening 30 is formed at the center of the lid 24, and an elevating shaft attaching member 32 is attached to the upper portion thereof, and an elevating shaft having a male screw that engages with a female screw formed on the elevating shaft attaching member 32. 34 is attached to the raising / lowering shaft attachment member 32 so that raising / lowering is possible.

  A rotary handle 36 for rotating the lift shaft 34 to move the lift shaft 34 up and down is attached to the upper end portion of the lift shaft 34, and a circular pressing plate 38 is attached to the lower end portion of the lift shaft 34. . The pressing plate 38 is for pressing the plurality of styrene pieces S1 put into the housing 24 from above, and a plurality of protrusions 40 for holding the styrol pieces S1 are formed on the lower surface of the pressing plate 38. Yes.

  The lid 28 is attached to the housing 24 via a hinge 42 so as to be opened and closed. The lid 28 is opened and closed by operating an opening / closing member 44 provided on the opposite side of the hinge 42.

  A cutter plate attachment member 46 is attached to the lower part of the casing 24. A central shaft 48 is erected at the center of the cutter plate attachment member 46, and a disc-shaped cutter plate 50 is rotatably attached to the central shaft 48. It has been.

  The cutter plate 50 is for pulverizing the styrene pieces S1 placed in the casing 24. A large number of pulverization blades 52 are formed on the upper surface of the cutter plate 50, and a large number of openings (for dropping the crushed pieces S2) ( (Not shown) is formed. A boss 54 into which the central shaft 48 is inserted is provided at the center of the cutter plate 50, and a toothed pulley 56 is attached to the lower part of the boss 54. Further, a drive motor 58 is disposed on the lower outer surface of the housing 24, and the toothed belt 62 is wound around the toothed pulley 60 attached to the drive shaft of the drive motor 58 and the above-described toothed pulley 56. Thus, the rotational force of the drive motor 58 is transmitted to the cutter plate 50 via the toothed belt 62.

  The toothed pulleys 56 and 60 and the toothed belt 62 are employed as power transmission means for transmitting the rotational force of the drive motor 58 to the cutter plate 50, but other power transmission means such as a sprocket and a chain. Can also be adopted.

  As described above, the tray 26 is detachably attached to the lower portion of the casing 24. When the polystyrene piece S1 is crushed, the crushed piece S2 that has been crushed and dropped is accommodated inside the tray 26. A plastic bag 16 is stored.

  When pulverizing the expanded polystyrene product S using the pulverizer 4 having the above-described configuration, as shown in FIG. 1B, the lid member 28 is opened by operating the opening / closing member 44, and the expanded polystyrene product S has a predetermined size. After the styrene piece S1 cut into two pieces is put into the housing 24, the lid body 28 is closed and the lid body 28 is locked by the opening / closing member 44. Thereafter, when the drive motor 58 is energized, the rotational force of the drive motor 58 is transmitted to the cutter plate 50 via the toothed belt 62, and the cutter plate 50 rotates. When the rotary handle 36 is rotated in this state, the pressing plate 38 is lowered together with the elevating shaft 34, and the styrene piece S1 accommodated in the housing 24 is pressed against the cutter plate 50, so that the styrene piece is rotated by the rotating crushing blade 52. S1 is finely pulverized, and the crushed piece S2 falls and is accommodated in the plastic bag 16 accommodated in the tray 26.

  When the pulverization of the styrene pieces S1 accommodated in the housing 24 is completed, the drive motor 58 is turned off, and the rotary handle 36 is rotated in the direction opposite to that during pulverization to bring the pressing plate 38 to a predetermined height. Raise. Thereafter, when the lid 28 is unlocked by the opening / closing member 44 and the lid 28 is opened, the next styrene piece S1 can be introduced.

  The above operation is repeated to pulverize a large number of styrene pieces S1. When a predetermined amount of crushed pieces S2 are accommodated in the saucer 26, the saucer 26 is removed from the housing 24, as shown in FIG. In addition, the opening of the plastic bag 16 may be sealed.

In consideration of the safety of the pulverizer 4, for example, the following countermeasures are taken.
In the state where the lid 28 is opened, the drive motor 58 does not operate even if the drive motor 58 is energized.
When the lid 28 is opened during pulverization, the energization to the drive motor 58 is turned off and the rotation of the cutter plate 50 is stopped.

Further, when the expanded polystyrene product S is cut into 20 to 30 cm cubic polystyrene pieces S1, the size of the crusher 4 is determined in consideration of space saving, convenience, etc. in each store using the expanded polystyrene product S. Is set as follows.
-Diameter of the casing 24: about 600 mm
・ Height from the bottom surface of the tray 26 to the lid 28: about 800 mm

  Various reductions were made in the crushing blade 52 formed on the cutter plate 50 to examine the volume reduction rate. 3 to 7 show a file, a juicer rotary blade, a plastic grate, a metal grate, and a mixer rotary blade used as the grinding blade 52, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the file 64 used in the present embodiment has a large number of crushing blades 68 formed between a large number of concave portions 66 intersecting with a mesh pattern, and the pitch P1 of the concave portions 66. Was about 1.6 mm, and the height H1 of each crushing blade 68 was about 0.5 mm.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the juicer rotary blade 70 used in this embodiment has eight rows of grinding blades formed radially from the center of rotation, and each row has a plurality of grinding blades 72. The crushing blades 72 were formed at predetermined intervals, the diameter D2 of each crushing blade 72 was about 54 mm, and the height H2 was about 0.5 mm.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the plastic grate 74 used in the present embodiment has a large number of circular punched holes 76 formed at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of pulverizations are provided around each punched hole 76. Blades 78 are formed at predetermined intervals. The diameter D3 of each punch hole 76 is about 8 mm, the pitches P3 and P3 ′ of the punch holes 76 in the longitudinal direction and the width direction of the grate 74 are substantially equal, about 12.5 mm, and the height H3 of each grinding blade 78 is about It was 0.5 mm.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the metal grate 80 used in the present embodiment has a large number of oval punch holes 82 formed at a predetermined interval, and a large number of pulverizations are formed between the punch holes 82. Blades 84 are formed at predetermined intervals. The length D4 of the major axis of each punch hole 82 is about 20 mm, and the pitches P4 and P4 ′ of the punch hole 82 in the longitudinal direction and width direction of the grate 80 are about 13 mm and about 24 mm, respectively. Was about 1 mm.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotary blade 86 of the mixer used in this embodiment has a plurality of rotary blades 88 extending radially from the center of rotation, and the leading edge of each rotary blade 88 in the rotational direction. A plurality of crushing blades 90 are formed at predetermined intervals. The rotation diameter D5 of the rotary blade 88 was about 52 mm, and the height H5 of the crushing blade 90 was about 0.5 mm.

Using these crushing blades, the volume reduction rate when crushing the polystyrene piece S1 obtained by cutting the expanded polystyrene product S into a predetermined size was examined. The results shown in Table 1 were obtained.
<Table 1>

  The volume reduction rate in Table 1 is the ratio when the volume when the expanded polystyrene foam P of about 30 cm cubic is put in the container is 100.

  Further, the “foamed particles” in Table 1 are beads produced by primary foaming in the production process of the expanded polystyrene product P. That is, the expanded polystyrene product P is made of polystyrene, which is a kind of plastic, and a spherical bead having a diameter of about 1 mm in which a foaming gas such as butane is confined as a raw material. These beads are formed by sticking together the particles of beads that have expanded further by applying steam, and these beads are called “foamed particles”.

  As can be seen from Table 1, when the rotating blade 86 of the mixer or the metal grate 80 is used as the pulverizing blade 52, a plurality of foam particles adhered to each other are contained in the pulverized piece S2, and a large amount of air remains. Therefore, the volume reduction rate before and after vacuum compression is large. Further, when a plastic grate 74 or a juicer rotary blade 70 is used as the crushing blade 52, adhesion of the foam particles is not observed, but more or less air remains, and volume reduction before and after vacuum compression is achieved. Although the rate is lower than when the rotary blade 86 of the mixer or the metal grater 80 is used, it is still not sufficient as compared with the case where the file 64 is used.

  When the file 64 is used, when the cut polystyrene pieces S1 are pulverized, a predetermined pressing force is applied to a large number of foam particles adhered to each other, whereby the foam particles are separated into individual foam particles having a diameter of 2 to 3 mm. It was confirmed that the particles were “twisted”. As a result, the air present in each expanded particle is almost expelled, the volume reduction rate before and after vacuum compression is reduced, and the density of the crushed pieces P2 is increased.

Then, the volume reduction rate of the expanded polystyrene product P was investigated using various files. Files used include single-file files with parallel straight eyes cut at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis, and double-file files with lower and upper eyes cut in two directions to intersect. Various files with different numbers were used. As a result, when the styrol piece S1 was pulverized while being pressed against the file with a pressing force of 0.04 to 0.1 MPa using a file having the following specifications, the volume reduction rate decreased to a desired value or less.
-File type: a double-file file in which a large number of quadrangular pyramidal projections are formed continuously-Projection height: 0.5 mm or more, 1.0 mm or less-Number of projections (density): 80 to 90 / cm ²

The reason why the height of the protrusion is set to 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less is as follows.
Styrofoam with a foaming rate of 50% has a foam particle diameter of about 2 mm, and when the height of the protrusion is 0.5 mm or less, the crushing efficiency is low due to insufficient “catch” to scrape the foam particles and make them fine. bad. On the other hand, when the height of the protrusions is 1.0 mm or more, the scraped foam particles stay between adjacent protrusions, and the adjacent protrusions are connected by the retained foam particles to foam on these protrusions. Since the particles roll while receiving the pressing force (moves while rubbing), the effect of extracting the air inside the foamed particles is reduced. Moreover, the foamed particles may be scraped off by a large lump of several tens, and the volume reduction rate after pulverization decreases.

  That is, the optimum height of the protrusion is set based on the size (diameter of about 2 mm) of each expanded particle.

  Further, as described above, the pressing force of the styrene piece S1 is preferably 0.04 to 0.1 MPa, but this pressing force is an experiment in which a file is placed on a scale and the styrene piece S1 is pulverized. This is based on the result of observing the state of the crushed polystyrene piece S1 by variously changing the pressing force.

  That is, when the pressing force is 0.04 MPa or less, the styrene pieces S1 cannot be cut and separated into individual foam particles, whereas when the pressing force is 0.1 MPa or more, the expanded particles are large. It was scraped off as a lump and crushed without being crushed.

  Furthermore, in this experiment, when the relationship between the distance by which the polystyrene piece S1 is moved on the file and the degree of air escape inside the foamed particles was examined, it was found that it was necessary to move the polystyrene piece S1 along the file by at least 7 cm. It was.

  That is, when the moving distance of the polystyrene piece S1 on the file is 7 cm or less with a pressing force of 0.04 to 0.1 MPa applied, the expanded particle is only separated into the individual expanded particles. The original shape was retained, and the air inside the foamed particles did not escape. On the other hand, when the moving distance of the polystyrene piece S1 on the file was 7 cm or more, it was confirmed that the air inside the foamed particles was removed.

  In the above embodiment, the plastic bag 16 is used to accommodate the crushed pieces S2, but bags other than the plastic bag can also be used.

  The method for reducing the volume of a foamed polystyrene product according to the present invention is to cut a foamed polystyrene product into a plurality of polystyrene pieces using a hot-wire cutter that is easy to operate, and then crush the polystyrene pieces using a compact crusher and crush them. Since the piece is contained in a plastic bag and evacuated, it is extremely useful for reducing the volume of a used polystyrene product in each store using, for example, a cushion packaging material made of polystyrene foam.

It is the schematic which shows the volume reduction method of the expanded polystyrene product concerning this invention. In the volume reduction method of the expanded polystyrene product concerning this invention, it is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the grinder used in order to grind expanded polystyrene products. The file used as a crushing blade of the crusher of Drawing 2 is shown, (a) is the front view, (b) is the side view, and (c) is the fragmentary perspective view. The rotation blade of the juicer used as a crushing blade of the crusher of Drawing 2 is shown, (a) is the front view, (b) is the side view, and (c) is the fragmentary perspective view. The plastic grate used as a crushing blade of the crusher of Drawing 2 is shown, (a) is the front view, (b) is the fragmentary sectional view, and (c) is the fragmentary perspective view. The metal grate used as a crushing blade of the crusher of FIG. 2 is shown, (a) is the front view, (b) is the fragmentary sectional view, (c) is the fragmentary perspective view. The rotary blade of the mixer used as a grinding blade of the grinder of FIG. 2 is shown, (a) is the front view, (b) is the front view of one grinding blade which comprises a rotary blade.

Explanation of symbols

2 Hot wire cutter, 4 Crusher, 6 Wire holder, 8 Wire,
10 grips, 12 power cords, 16 plastic bags, 18 exhaust holes,
20 vacuum cleaner, 22 suction hose, 24 housing, 26 saucer, 28 lid,
30 circular opening, 32 lifting shaft mounting member, 34 lifting shaft,
36 rotation handle, 38 pressing plate, 40 protrusion, 42 hinge,
44 Opening and closing member, 46 Cutter plate mounting member, 48 Center axis,
50 Cutter plate, 52 Grinding blade, 54 Boss, 56 Pulley with teeth,
58 drive motor, 60 toothed pulley, 62 toothed belt, 64 file,
66 recess, 68 crushing blade, 70 rotating blade, 72 crushing blade,
74 plastic grate, 76 punched holes, 78 grinding blades,
80 metal grate, 82 punched holes, 84 grinding blades, 86 rotary blades,
88 rotary blades, 90 grinding blades,
S Styrofoam products, S1 polystyrene pieces, S2 crushed pieces.

Claims (7)

A method for reducing the volume of a foamed polystyrene product for reducing the volume of the foamed polystyrene product,
Cutting the polystyrene foam product into a predetermined size;
Crushing a plurality of polystyrene pieces obtained by cutting,
Storing a large number of pulverized pieces obtained by pulverization in a bag, and evacuating the inside of the bag through an opening; and
A method for reducing the volume of a foamed polystyrene product, comprising: In the pulverization step, a predetermined pressure is applied to the polystyrene pieces to separate a large number of foam particles constituting the polystyrene pieces into individual foam particles, and air is expelled from the inside of each foam particle. A method for reducing the volume of the expanded polystyrene product according to claim 1. 3. The volume reduction method for a polystyrene foam product according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined pressure is set to 0.04 to 0.1 MPa. A polystyrene mill for cutting a polystyrene foam product into a predetermined size,
A cylindrical housing, a saucer detachably attached to the lower portion of the housing, a lid for opening and closing the upper opening of the housing, and attached to the lid via a lifting shaft A pulverization comprising a pressing plate, a disk-shaped cutter plate rotatably mounted in the housing, a pulverizing blade attached to the cutter plate, and a driving means for rotating the cutter plate Machine. The pulverizer according to claim 4, wherein the pulverizing blade has a large number of quadrangular pyramid-shaped protrusions formed continuously. The pulverizer according to claim 5, wherein a height of the protrusion is 0.5 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less. The pulverizer according to claim 5, wherein the number of the protrusions is 80 to 90 / cm ² .

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