Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01J—ELECTRIC DISCHARGE TUBES OR DISCHARGE LAMPS
  • H01J9/00—Apparatus or processes specially adapted for the manufacture, installation, removal, maintenance of electric discharge tubes, discharge lamps, or parts thereof; Recovery of material from discharge tubes or lamps
  • H01J9/50—Repairing or regenerating used or defective discharge tubes or lamps
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
  • B03B—SEPARATING SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS
  • B03B9/00—General arrangement of separating plant, e.g. flow sheets
  • B03B9/06—General arrangement of separating plant, e.g. flow sheets specially adapted for refuse
  • B03B9/061—General arrangement of separating plant, e.g. flow sheets specially adapted for refuse the refuse being industrial
  • B03B9/062—General arrangement of separating plant, e.g. flow sheets specially adapted for refuse the refuse being industrial the refuse being glass
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03B—MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES
  • C03B33/00—Severing cooled glass
  • C03B33/08—Severing cooled glass by fusing, i.e. by melting through the glass
  • C03B33/085—Tubes, rods or hollow products
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
  • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
  • Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
  • Y02W30/60—Glass recycling
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
  • Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
  • Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
  • Y02W30/82—Recycling of waste of electrical or electronic equipment [WEEE]

Definitions

• the invention concerns the sector of disposal of electronic equipment waste.
• the present invention concerns the treatment and/or recycling of cathode-ray tubes.
• the present invention concerns a procedure for treating cathode-ray tubes and a corresponding system intended to recover the parts of the equipment to be recycled or subjected to safety treatments.
• cathode-ray tubes are devices for reproducing images typically employed in television sets or computer screens, as well as in other equipment like automatic ticket or money dispensers or clinical and industrial devices.
• a CRT substantially comprises a glass casing, inside which vacuum is created, consisting of a front panel or screen rigidly connected to one part, called cone, that tapers and ends with a cylindrical neck at the rear end of which one or more electron guns are positioned.
• Each electron gun sends out a beam of electrons destined to be properly conveyed and directed onto a layer comprising fluorescent phosphoric material that covers the inner surface of the screen.
• the elements of phosphoric material of the above mentioned layer that are hit by the beam are excited and generate the desired image.
• the screen is rigidly connected to the cone along its perimetral edge by welding and the glass that makes it up is characterised by a high content of barium oxide and strontium oxide.
• This welding is carried out using a mixture containing metal powders, glass and a significant quantity of lead that form a connection area.
• the glass of which the cone and the neck are made contains a high quantity of lead to limit the diffusion of the radiations generated by the electron guns, as well as other heavy metals.
• CRTs Considering the high number of CRTs discarded every year and the substances they contain, which are potentially harmful to the environment and to man, various directives and regulations have been issued regarding their final disposal.
• the two types of glass obtained can be recycled and used for different purposes.
• Said cutting operation must be carried out with great precision, in order to prevent the glass to be recycled of the screen from being contaminated by the lead present in the connection area and in the cone.
• the operators ventilate the CRT in order to create a balance between the internal and external pressure and extract the electron guns. After cutting the CRT, the operators themselves provide for recovering the powders of phosphoric material of the screen and the glass components of the
• a first drawback posed by the procedures for recovering CRTs of known type lies therefore in that they require the intervention of one or more operators.
• a further drawback lies in that during these procedures the operators carry out dangerous and potentially toxic operations, in fact they are exposed to the particles of phosphoric material, of lead and of other heavy metals dispersed in the air.
• CRT must proceed with the due care and competence, since this piece of equipment comprises fragile and delicate parts that can break and injure him/her.
• the CRT furthermore, may contain residual electrostatic charges.
• Another drawback is represented by the fact that the operations mentioned above require the intervention of specialised and skilled operators and the use of special equipment.
• a further drawback is constituted by the fact that execution times and costs are considerable and sometimes difficult to quantify.
• the object of the present invention is to overcome all the drawbacks described.
• One of the proposed solutions advantageously makes it possible to implement a procedure and a corresponding system that reduce to a minimum the need for the intervention of operators.
• one of the proposed solutions makes it possible to implement a procedure and a corresponding system including several operations that can be performed even on a continuous cycle line. Still advantageously, one of the proposed solutions makes it possible to carry out the treatment of a CRT in total safety, protecting the health of the operators.
• one of the proposed solutions makes it possible to cut a
• a proposed solution makes it possible to remove the phosphoric material of the screen of a CRT more rapidly and precisely than allowed by the procedures and systems of known type.
• a proposed solution makes it possible to implement a procedure and a system capable of reaching optimal efficiency, which means a higher number of treated pieces per unit of time compared to the procedures and systems of known type.
• a proposed solution makes it possible to carry out a system that ensures reduced noise levels and does not pollute the environment in which it is installed, and that will certainly obtain approval according to environmental protection regulations.
• a proposed solution makes it possible to carry out a system suitable for being monitored also by a remote control station.
• FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of one operation of the procedure that is the subject of the invention
• FIG. 7 shows a schematic side view of a system carried out according to the present invention.
• FIG. 8 shows a schematic plan view of the system of Figure 7
• - Figure 9 shows a schematic front view of the system of Figure 7;
• FIG. 15 and 16 respectively show a schematic side view and a plan view of another example of a system carried out according to the present invention
• FIG. 17 shows a schematic side view of another construction variant of a system carried out according to the invention
• FIG. 23 shows a front view of a first operating phase of the system shown in Figure 21;
• - Figures from 24 to 26 show each a schematic side view of the system of Figure 21 in a corresponding number of operating positions;
• - Figure 27 shows a schematic plan view of the system of Figure 21 in a successive operating position;
• FIG. 32 shows some parts of a further embodiment of the system that is the subject of the invention.
• FIG. 33 shows a schematic side view of a part of another example of the system that is the subject of the invention.
• CRT cathode-ray tubes
• the above mentioned procedure substantially comprises an operation for cutting the CRT T carried out along a cutting plane 50 by arranging the CRT T with the screen S facing upwards. More particularly, according to the procedure, the screen S is preferably arranged on a substantially horizontal plane.
• the cutting operation is suited to divide the CRT T into at least a first part A and at least a second part B.
• the second part B is arranged below the part A with respect to the cutting plane 50.
• the cutting plane 50 preferably intersects the connection area G or part of the screen S but does not involve the cone C.
• the cutting plane 50 preferably involves a part of the screen S near the connection area G.
• the procedure that is the subject of the invention also comprises an operation for separating the second part B from the first part A wherein the second part B preferably falls by gravity, as illustrated in Figure 2.
• the procedure proposed may also comprise an operation intended to hit/shake the CRT T near the cut performed on the CRT T itself.
• This operation is suited to facilitate the separation of the second part B from the first part A, as shown in Figure 3, and is carried out by means of hitting members 60.
• Said members 60 are suited to hit the CRT T substantially in the area affected by the cutting plane 50 after said cutting operation has been performed.
• This last operation advantageously makes it possible to obtain the separation of the two parts A and B also in the cases in which there are uncut portions of glass that maintain the two parts A and B still joined together. These areas mainly affect the vertexes of the CRT and more precisely of the screen S.
• the procedure that is the subject of the invention may also comprise an operation for removing the phosphoric material that covers a surface S 1 of the screen S of the CRT T and in particular the surface Sl facing the cutting plane 50.
• This operation is preferably performed by brushing the surface Sl with rotary brushes 51, as schematically shown in Figures 4, 5, and/or by washing the surface Sl, as schematically shown in Figure 6.
• the washing operation is carried out with at least one liquid jet 52, preferably comprising water. More particularly, it is carried out by spraying a liquid that is successively and preferably collected into a tank 53 in order to be subjected to specific treatments for the recovery of the phosphoric material M contained therein or, alternatively, to be disposed of and/or treated.
• the procedure may also comprise a phase for the suction of the phosphors present on the surface Sl, for example during the brushing phase.
• a preferred and non-limiting example of embodiment of a system that is also the subject of the present invention and is suited to implement the procedure described above is schematically represented in Figures 7, 8 and 9, where it is indicated as a whole by 1.
• Said system 1 is particularly suited to be used in continuous cycle lines for the treatment and/or recycling of CRTs. It is intended to cut a CRT T along a cutting plane 50 preferably near the connection area G in order to divide it into a first part A and a second part B and to separate the second part B from the first part A as described above. More particularly, the first part A preferably comprises glass of the screen S and the second part B preferably comprises glass of the connection area G and of the cone C as already explained above.
• the system 1 comprises means for cutting the CRT T, indicated as a whole by number 10, holding means suited to hold the CRT T during the cutting phase and indicated as a whole by 20, and moving means suited to mutually move the CRT T with respect to the cutting means 10 and indicated as a whole by 30.
• said holding means 20 are suited to hold the CRT T so that it is arranged with the screen S substantially facing upwards during the cutting operation.
• the second part B is arranged below the first part A with respect to the cutting plane 50, as will be described in greater detail below. This advantageously allows the second part B to fall by gravity after the cutting operation.
• Said holding means 20, represented in greater detail in Figure 10, preferably comprise one or more devices 21 suited to be bound to the screen S of the CRT T. More particularly, said devices operate through suction and/or the creation of vacuum.
• said devices 21 comprise suckers that are suited to come into contact with the surface S2 of the screen S and cooperate with means suited to create vacuum between each sucker and the screen S.
• said holding means 20 may comprise other types of devices 21 like for example pliers or handling mechanisms.
• the cutting means 10 in the preferred and non-limiting embodiment of the invention represented herein they comprise at least one cutting station indicated as a whole by 11 in Figures 8, 9 and 10.
• Said cutting station 11 comprises one or more cutting devices, each one indicated as a whole by 12. Each of them defines a cutting plane that is substantially coplanar to the cutting plane 50.
• said cutting devices 12 are two and they move along at least one axis, indicated by 2 in Figures 8, 9 and 10, that is substantially parallel to the cutting plane 50 and transversal and more particularly orthogonal to the mutual direction of movement of the means 10 and the CRT.
• the cutting devices 12 are preferably carried by carriages, not represented, suited to slide along at least one rail.
• each one of the cutting devices 12 comprises at least one circular blade 13, rotating around a respective axis 3 that is substantially orthogonal to the cutting plane 50.
• Said circular blade 13 is preferably of the diamond type.
• each cutting device 12 may comprise at least one laser cutting device or a water jet cutting device. It should be observed that in these further construction variants the cutting station
• 11 may advantageously comprise only one cutting device 12.
• moving means 30 represented in Figures from 8 to 13, in the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated herein they cooperate with the holding means 20. More particularly, said moving means 30 are suited to move the cathode-ray tube
• FIGS 7 and 8 substantially parallel to the cutting plane 50, in order to make the CRT engage with the cutting means 10.
• they comprise guide means, not represented, comprising two parallel rails on which corresponding moving carriages slide.
• each carriage is moved by a timing belt that is not represented, either, cooperating with a pinion, not represented, operated by a preferably electric driving means.
• rack systems may be used.
• the moving means 30, furthermore, a suited to move the holding means 20 along an axis 9 substantially orthogonal to the cutting plane 50 to move the CRT T from at least a first collection position, represented in Figures from 7 to 11, to at least a second raised position, shown in Figure 12.
• the CRT T is arranged so that the cutting plane 50 intersects the CRT in the desired area as described above.
• the moving means 30 are furthermore suited to rotate the holding means 20 by at least 90° with respect to the axis 9.
• the moving means 30 comprise members suited to translate the holding means 20 along the two axes 4 and 9, as well as to rotate said holding means 20 with respect to the axis 9, as shown in particular in Figure 13 and as will be better described below.
• These members are preferably operated by hydraulic and/or pneumatic driving means.
• the system 1 also comprises measuring means, indicated as a whole by 40 in Figures 9 and 10.
• Said means 40 are suited to measure the size of the CRT T and cooperate with the cutting devices 11 in order to allow them to move away from/approach each other by moving along the directions indicated by 2 in Figures 8, 9 and 10, in such a way as to be able to come into contact with the CRT T and cut it.
• said measuring means 40 comprise two pairs of proximity sensors indicated by 41, a first pair arranged upstream of the cutting means 11 and a second pair arranged downstream of the cutting means 11, as shown in particular in Figure 14.
• Each one of said proximity sensors 41 comprises two feeler elements suited to come into contact with the CRT T.
• FIG. 15 and 16 Another preferred example of embodiment of a system suited to implement the procedure that is the subject of the invention is represented in Figures 15 and 16, where it is indicated as a whole by 100. It differs from the previous one due to the fact that the cutting means 10 comprise at least two cutting stations.
• the cutting means 10 comprise a first cutting station 11a and a second cutting station l ib arranged along axis 4 and defining substantially coincident cutting planes 50.
• the first cutting station 1 Ia is suited to perform a first cut of two opposite sides of the CRT T and the second cutting station 1 Ib is suited to cut the other two sides.
• the cutting stations 11 may also be more than two.
• Another preferred embodiment of a system suited to implement the procedure that is the subject of the invention is represented in Figures from 17 to 20, where it is indicated as a whole by 200.
• hitting/shaking means 70 arranged downstream of the second cutting station 1 Ib.
• Said means 70 comprise hitting members 71 moved by kinematic mechanisms and are suited to hit the CRT T, as shown in Figures from 18 to 20, near the cutting area in order to facilitate the separation of the two parts by breaking any connection area that may have not been cut.
• FIG. 21 Another preferred embodiment of a system suited to implement the procedure that is the subject of the invention is represented in Figures 21 and 22, where it is indicated as a whole by 300. It differs from the previous embodiment in that it also comprises means 80 suited to remove the phosphoric material that covers the surface Sl of the screen S of the CRT T.
• said means 80 comprise one or more powered rotary brushes
• the means 80 may comprise washing devices suited to release liquid jets, preferably water jets, onto the layer of phosphoric material of the surface Sl of the screen S.
• the liquid containing said phosphoric material may then be properly collected into a tank 84 located under the washing devices and subjected to successive treatments for the recovery of said material or, alternatively, it may be disposed of.
• the system may also advantageously be provided with side walls suited to define a tunnel inside which all of the operations described above are performed.
• the cutting station 11 may even be just one. Further embodiments of the system that is the subject of the invention, not represented herein, differ from the previous ones in that the moving means are suited to move the cutting means 10 with respect to the CRT T in such a way as to cut the CRT T along the plane 50.
• the cutting devices 12 may move along at least two axes substantially parallel to said cutting plane 50 and/or move along at least one axis substantially orthogonal to said cutting plane
• Said movements respectively allow the cutting devices 12 to come into contact with the CRT T and cut it, to be positioned at the height of the cutting plane 50 and to move around the profile of the CRT T in line with the cutting plane 50 to cut the CRT itself.
• the operation of the system of the invention will successively be described making reference to the embodiment illustrated in particular in Figures 21 and 22, the latter being the most complete among the described embodiments.
• the other embodiments of the system described herein do not include some of the operations or stations present in the system illustrated in Figure 21.
• the CRT to be treated is initially arranged in the collection position with the screen S facing upwards, as shown in particular in Figure 23, in order to allow the measuring means to measure one side of the CRT T and thus position the cutting devices 12 at the mutual distance that is useful to cut the CRT T.
• the moving means 30 move the holding means 20 along the axis 9 until bringing the suckers 21 into contact with the surface S2 of the screen S. At this point vacuum is created and the CRT is anchored to the holding means 20 that, through the moving means 30, move it to the raised position shown in Figure 24, in which the cutting plane 50 intersects the CRT T in the desired cutting area.
• Successively the moving means 30 move the CRT T along the longitudinal axis 4 of the system in such a way as to position the CRT T first in contact with the blades 13 and then downstream of the first cutting station 11a, thus cutting two sides of the CRT T, as shown in Figures 25 and 26.
• the opposing position of the cutting blades 13 is such that each of them exerts on the CRT T a force directed crosswise to its advance direction, but in opposite directions.
• the two forces nullify each other and thus the CRT can be held more easily.
• Successively the moving means 30 rotate the CRT T by 90° around the axis 9, as shown in Figure 27.
• the second pair of feelers 42 thus starts operating to determine the dimensions of the second side of the CRT T and thus position the second pair of blades 13 for the cutting operation, as shown in detail in Figure 28. Successively, the CRT T is further advanced until it is positioned downstream of the second pair of blades 13, as shown in Figure 29.
• the CRT is then stopped and, if the lower part B has not yet detached from the upper part A, the hitting means 70 intervene and, as shown in Figure 30, shake the CRT T, thus ensuring the separation of the two parts.
• the second part B is collected in a first container not represented in the drawings.
• the screen S remains anchored to the holding means 20 that bring it to the successive washing station 80, where the water jets and the brushes eliminate the phosphors present on the surface S2.
• the waste is then collected in the tank 84 and sent to the treatment phase.
• the screen S instead, is moved further forward until it is in line with a conveyor belt 90 where it is released, as shown in Figure 32, and from where it is successively sent to a second container.
• the operation of the other systems differs from the operation of the system described above in that the cutting is performed by means of a single blade that moves along the perimeter of the cutting area of the CRT T or alternatively by holding the cutting blade still and moving the CRT T in such a way as to cut it as shown for example in Figure 33.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Processing Of Solid Wastes (AREA)
• Electroplating Methods And Accessories (AREA)
• Formation Of Various Coating Films On Cathode Ray Tubes And Lamps (AREA)

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• 2007
  • 2007-06-19 IT IT000175A patent/ITVI20070175A1/it unknown
• 2008
  • 2008-06-16 WO PCT/IB2008/001577 patent/WO2008155625A2/en active Application Filing
  • 2008-06-16 EP EP08762903A patent/EP2168135A2/de not_active Ceased

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