FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to sorting waste, in particular for the purposes of recycling or disposal. The invention relates more particularly to a device for cleaning packages in the context of reprocessing waste, in particular waste from supermarkets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of processing waste, in particular waste from supermarkets, processor apparatus is known for collecting the material adhering to the outside surfaces of packages for processing. Such an apparatus is shown in accompanyingFIG. 1.

That apparatus1comprises a cylindrical drum4that is rotatable about a longitudinal axis Ox and that is provided with orifices6to form a screen that retains the packages while allowing the material for collecting to pass through, motor means12for driving the cylindrical drum4in rotation, and an outer casing3for collecting the material that has come from the packages13inserted into the cylindrical drum4and that has passed through the wall of the cylindrical drum4. Optionally, a rotary brush7, likewise driven in rotation by the motor means12, may be mounted in the cylindrical drum4in order to brush the inside surface of the drum.

Thus, when a package13is inserted into that apparatus1, it is caught by the brush7so as to be brushed and taken into the contact zone where the brush makes contact with the inside surface of the cylindrical drum4, in which zone the package is subjected to intense brushing. This has the effect of removing the materials adhering to the surface of the package13. Once the package has left the contact zone, it is ejected by the brush7towards an upper region so as to follow a path that is substantially circular, during which it flies over the brush7and strikes the cylindrical drum4prior to being captured once again by the brush that takes it into the contact zone in order to be subjected therein once more to intense brushing. Each time it flies away from the contact zone, the package being processed loses an additional portion of the materials adhering to its surface, which materials are centrifuged when the package passes over the brush while spinning.

While processing packages containing waste that is stringy—such as meat or pineapple—or that can clump together, easily such as semolina, plugs form that obstruct the orifices in the drum (which is said to be “clogged” with material). It is then necessary to proceed frequently with operations for unclogging the drum. Such operations require access to the inside of the drum and they require the obstructed orifices to be cleaned one by one, which makes it necessary to begin by emptying the drum. Machine downtime is considerable and unclogging operations have a significant impact on the cost of operating the machine.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is to reduce the time and/or the cost of unclogging a processor apparatus for collecting material adhering to a package surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To this end, there is provided processor apparatus for collecting material adhering to surfaces of packages for processing as waste, the processor apparatus comprising a cylindrical drum that is rotatable about a longitudinal axis and that is provided with orifices to form a screen that retains the packages while allowing the material for collecting to pass through; and motor means for driving the rotary drum in rotation. According to the invention, the processor apparatus also includes unclogging means for at least partially unobstructing the orifices while the cylindrical drum is rotating. Thus, the orifices are unclogged while the drum is rotating and the downtime of the processor apparatus for unclogging purposes is reduced, thereby improving the profitability of the processor apparatus.

A device is obtained that is particularly robust when the unclogging means comprise a wheel mounted to rotate about a first axis and provided with at least one radially projecting element for engaging in an orifice of the drum.

The device is particularly reliable when the first axis is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis.

The volume of waste that can be loaded into the drum is increased when the wheel is mounted outside the cylindrical drum.

The wheel is particularly inexpensive to construct when the wheel comprises at least one disk mounted to rotate about the first axis or a plurality of spaced-apart disks mounted to rotate about the first axis.

Advantageously, each orifice is defined by four faces, with construction of the drum and of the wheel being simplified when the four faces are parallel in pairs.

When the radially projecting element is a tooth, the wheel can be constructed in simple manner, e.g. by oxyacetylene cutting a metal sheet. The unclogging of the orifices is more effective when the tooth has a height that is greater than the thickness of the cylindrical drum.

The drum can be constructed by welding together curved sheets when the wheel includes at least two successive radially projecting elements that extend along respective radial directions forming a first angle between them, and when the wheel also includes at least two successive radially projecting elements that extend along respective radial directions forming a second angle between them, the second angle being an integer multiple greater than one of the first angle.

Advantageously, the processor apparatus includes a comb having teeth that extend between successive pairs of disks of the wheel.

Waste is made easier to discharge when a package ejector is arranged to slide inside the drum along a direction substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis.

Also advantageously, the apparatus includes compression means for pressing against an inside face of the cylindrical drum and mounted in the cylindrical drum in the immediate vicinity of its inside surface, the compression means being motor driven so as to be caused to rotate about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis. The compression means then serve to guide the waste into a space that diminishes progressively as the waste approaches the wall of the drum. This ensures that the package and its content are pressed against the wall of the drum, and thus that the content is extracted from the package.

Advantageously, the packages are inserted into the cylindrical drum via a loading hopper having a loading opening and a feed opening facing a feed port leading into the cylindrical drum. Loading operations are made easier when the loading hopper is arranged on a frame of the processor apparatus to slide between a first position in which the feed opening is spaced apart from the feed port, and a second position in which the feed opening faces the feed port.

The performance of the machine with various different types of waste can easily be evaluated when the apparatus includes weighing means for weighing the hopper in its second position.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear in the light of the following description of a nonlimiting embodiment of the invention.

