WO2011042028A1

WO2011042028A1 - Disk feeder for feeding used objects

Info

Publication number: WO2011042028A1
Application number: PCT/DK2010/050259
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henrik Juhl Petersen
Original assignee: Anker Andersen A/S
Priority date: 2009-10-09
Filing date: 2010-10-08
Publication date: 2011-04-14
Also published as: EP2485854A1; EP2485854A4; CA2777133A1; AU2010305151A1; AU2010305151B2; BR112012008025A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding objects, such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, comprising receiving means (21, 22, 23, 6, 3) and at least one feeding conveyor (2), wherein the objects are supplied on the receiving means (21, 22, 23, 6, 3) and forwarded one by one with a predetermined orientation to the at least one feeding conveyor (2).

Description

Disk feeder for feeding used objects Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for feeding objects, such as used beverage containers (in the following referred to as "UCBs"), to a recording and/or sorting unit, which apparatus can comprise receiving means and a feeding conveyor, which objects are supplied on the receiving means and forwarded one by one with a predetermined orientation to the feeding conveyor.

Background of the Invention

Breweries, bottleries and manufacturers of mineral water, soft drinks and the like frequently use non refillable bottles made of plastic, glass or metal cans that are part of a deposit / return system, e.g. the PET-cycle system in Germany (PET is short for polyethylene terephthalate and PET is a thermoplastic polymer resin of tlie polyester family). Each UBC represents a deposit fee that has an effect on manufacturers, distribu- tors and consumers motivating tl e consumers to return the UCBs in the shops, where the returned UCBs either are counted and registered in VM's (Reverse Vending Machines), or manually accepted by tlie cashier whereby the consumer gets the deposit fee back. In either case the UCBs are transported to central counting centres, where tlie UCBs are counted and registered once again and sorted into the different material frac- tions e.g. PET, glass, aluminium and steel. Based upon the counting and registration at the counting centre, the distributors are invoiced for tl e deposit fee, which amount is collected by the shops. After counting and registration the UCBs can be processed in e.g. compactors, shredders etc. and the residual products are sent to recycling. Used beverage containers may also be referred to as "empties".

A system for processing of packages, such as recyclable UCBs, is known from WO 2006/125436 Al . In this system, UCBs are recorded, counted and sorted in a counting and sorting machine. Large numbers of UCBs can be handled per time unit. Due to the high capacity of this system, it may be referred to as a high speed counting and sorting machine. In this system the UCBs are supplied in a receiving container and picked up and advanced on conveyors by means of carriers on said conveyors, said carriers thereby applying a force to the packages. The packages are subsequently fed singly to a recording unit at a high speed. Some of the returned UCBs are possibly glass bottles, and if the share of glass bottles in the returned packages is too large, the feeding unit is unable to provide a sufficient number of packages to the recording unit to utilize the maximum capacity of this known system due to the fragility of the glass bottles.

A feeding system for bottles is known from DE 32 02 991. In this system, upright bottles are transferred from laterally adjacent rows on a feed conveyor into a single row of bottles on a downstream conveyor. The bottles align in a single row due to passing a number of conveyors with increasing speed. No external forces are applied to the bot- ties; they move across the conveyors solely due to gravity. However, the system applies to upright bottles identical in shape and would be unsuitable for e.g. bottles of different shapes in a horizontal position.

For feeding bottles or cans to the recording unit in a reverse vending system, the bot- ties must be fed singly and orientated correctly. If the high capacity system described in WO 2006/125436 Al is not suitable for this, the alternative is to arrange that UCBs are supplied to a receiving table and orientated manually and placed on a conveyor. This is not considered a cost-effective solution just as this solution is limited in capacity both in the amount of recyclable UCBs which can be handled at the time and the speed at which the UCBs can be processed. Moreover, a manual solution for feeding the UCBs to the recording and sorting units involves a labour intensive and monotone working operation.

An automated feeding system based on one or more rotating disks was disclosed in PCT/D 2009/050084 which was published after the priority date of the present invention. In PCT/DK2009/050084 it was disclosed that conveyor belt could be provided to forward objects between the disks to increase the load capacity of the feeding apparatus. However, as such conveyor belts can be quite costly it is an object of die present invention to provide a high capacity automated feeding system which is still simple in functionality but more cost-effective in production and in use. Object of the Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automated feeding system which has a high capacity and has a high speed. It is further the object of the pending application to achieve an effective receiving system and method for receiving large quantities of bottles and/or cans and to deliver the received bottles and/or cans in line at a belt for transport of bottles and/or cans into a counting and sorting unit.

Description of the Invention

This is achieved by an apparatus for feeding objects, such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, comprising receiving means and at least one feeding conveyor, wherein the objects are supplied on the receiving means and forwarded one by one with a predetermined orientation to the at least one feeding conveyor, where the receiving means comprises at least one receiving surface comprising, a peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving surface wherein the peripheral barrier at least in one section forms an arc, a conveyor system for moving the objects along the arc, and the at least one feeding conveyor at the receiving surface. By using the above mentioned apparatus is it possible to feed objects such as UCBs to a recording and/or sorting unit in a fast and reliable manner. One of the advantages is that the apparatus can be dimensioned in such a way that it can talie a large number of UCBs and forward them to a recording and/or sorting unit at a very high speed. An example of a receiving surface is a table, meaning that the conveyor system could be arranged in such a way as to form a table.

In an embodiment of the present invention the conveyor system comprises a curved conveyor. The UCBs are normally equipped with machine readable code such as a barcode this code could either be written directly on the UCBs or on a sticker or label on the UCBs. This code could get worn; this is especially the case when the UCBs are moved from one moving surface to another moving surface and especially if the moving direction of one surface is different from moving direction of the next. By use of a curved conveyor it is possible to secure that when the UCBs moves from one conveyor to another the difference between moving direction is minimised thus preventing the wear of the code. If the code gets won. it could lead to the point where a machine is unable to read the code. This is undesirable because it would lead to manual sorting and/or recording of the UCBs which slows the process considerably.

Preferably the curved conveyor substantially follows the arc formed by the peripheral barrier in the at least one section that forms an arc. One of the advantages of this is that it also minimises the wear of the machine readable code. It is further advantageously if the arc is a circular arc.

In an embodiment the predetermined orientation is substantially in the longitudinal direction of the objects. If the containers are UCBs then this means that the UCBs are oriented with either bottom or top first.

The circular arc of the curvature could be between 30° and 270°, preferably 150° to 210°. This gives the UCBs a sufficiently large centrifugal force and aligns the UCBs along the peripheral barrier so that the feeding conveyor is supplied with containers from the receiving surface in a continuously and swift manner.

If the receiving surface has a second section that is straight it could be advantageous if that second section has a peripheral barrier. Thus the barrier secures that the objects such as UCBs are held within the receiving surface. The conveyor system could move the objects straight along the second section. Another advantage is that the receiving table can contain a larger number of UCBs.

Preferably the peripheral barrier comprises a peripheral conveyor; such a conveyor can be used to aid in forwarding the containers to the feeding conveyor.

In an embodiment the conveyor system comprises a roller conveyor and/or a belt conveyor and/or a wire mesh conveyor. By using different kinds of conveyor types it is possible to secure that the most advantageously conveyor system is made in relation to the properties of the containers.

The peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving surface could leave the periphery open where the substantially tangential feeding conveyor is arranged at the side of the rotating disk or beside a conveyor belt moving between rotating disks. Such an opening can be used to let the containers through to the feeding conveyor. At least part of the feeding conveyor could be inclined in relation to the receiving surface, among other things this enables the use of the gravitation force to help moving the containers.

Preferably the peripheral banier in the section that forms an arc comprises a first part substantially perpendicular to the receiving surface. The barrier could be inclined as a way to secure that the containers stay on the receiving surface. If it is inclined with a small angle between the barrier and the surface the containers have difficulty in moving along the arc of the barrier on the other hand if the angle is large then the containers could accidentally leave the surface. Therefore a substantially perpendicular barrier could be used to secure that the containers do not accidentally leave the receiving surface nor that it hinders the containers in following the conveyors.

The peripheral barrier could in the section that forms an arc comprise a second part inclined in relation to the first part. The second part can be used as an extra security against containers accidentally leaving the receiving surface. If the banier has a first part that is perpendicular to the receiving surface and on top of that a part that has an inclination, preferably inwards over the receiving surface then it secures that the containers do not accidentally leave the apparatus. This is especially advantageously when several UCBs are placed on the receiving surface, as they hit each other and the barrier. Resulting in that they at least to some extent get thrown up in the air. In an embodiment the feeding conveyor is provided substantially tangential relative to the arc. In this embodiment one can use the centrifugal force to forward the objects such as UCBs to the feeding conveyor. The invention could also be a part of a sorting unit. The sorting unit would then comprise an apparatus for feeding objects as described above.

The invention could also be described as a method of feeding objects, such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, by supplying the objects on receiving means and forwarding the objects one by one with a predetermined orientation to at least one feeding conveyor, characterised in that once supplied on the receiving means, the objects are moved in an arc by a conveyor system and thereby aligned along a barrier circumscribing at least a portion of the arc so that the objects are aligned and forwarded to a feeding conveyor. Advantageously the method comprises a feeding conveyor which is arranged beside the rotating disc or beside a conveyor belt connecting the rotating disks. Instead of placing the feeding conveyor belt beside the disk, the feeding conveyor belt is placed parallel to the sorting board, which sorting board can be inclined to let objects be forced by gravity to move from the board to the feeding conveyor.

Using this method one can feed containers to a recording and/or sorting unit in a reliable, efficient and fast manner.

This can be achieved by an apparatus as described in the preamble to the claim 1 if further modified by three or more rotating disks wherein peripheries of adjacent rotating disks are at least partly overlapping, and at least one feeding conveyor provided tangential relative to at least one rotating disk, and a peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving table. By using three or more disks the total area of the receiving table is increased without using expensive conveyor belts. Practical experience has also proven that rotating disks are more reliable and less service dependent than conveyor belts with mechanics that can be susceptible to pieces of broken glass. At least one feeding conveyor is provided tangential relative to at least one rotating disk and the objects are fed to the feeding conveyor through an opening in the peripheral barrier. A rotating disk that feeds object to a feeding conveyor may in the follow- ing be termed "feeding disk" or "delivery rotating disk" or just "delivery disk". Thus, an apparatus according to the invention comprises one or more of those feeding disks from where objects are fed to a feeding conveyor, preferably primarily by means of the rotation of the feeding disk. Another embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for feeding objects, such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, wherein the objects are supplied on receiving means and forwarded one by one with a predetermined orientation on at least one feeding conveyor,

the receiving means comprises at least one receiving table comprising at least one ro- tating disk with at least one feeding conveyor provided tangential relative to at least one rotating disk, and with a peripheral barrier essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said receiving table(s).

In this embodiment the receiving table may comprise e.g. two rotating disks in a com- bination with conveyor means transporting the UCBs between the disks. In this conveyor based approach conveyor means may be arranged to transport objects from one disk to the other, said conveyor means preferably comprising a forward conveyor belt forwarding the objects towards a delivery rotating disk and a return conveyor belt returning objects not delivered to a feeding conveyor to the second rotating disk. He- reby, a large capacity of the apparatus may be provided.

To further increase the capacity of the conveyor based feeding apparatus, additional rotating disks may be provided. Thus, further embodiments of the invention comprise more than two rotating disks, such as at least three, four, five or at least six rotating disks, preferably comprising conveyor belts forwarding the objects between the disks. Feeding conveyors may be located tangentially to one or more of the rotating disks. Accordingly, by the invention there is also provided a method of feeding recyclable UCBs, to a recording and/or sorting unit, by supplying the objects on receiving means and forwarding the objects one by one with a predetermined orientation on at least one feeding conveyor. Once supplied on the receiving means, the objects are rotated on one or more rotating disks and thereby aligned along a barrier circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one delivery disk so that the objects are aligned and forwarded on a feeding conveyor, which preferably is tangentially arranged relative to a rotating disk. A receiving table is not limited to one, two or three rotating disks. Further embodiments of the invention may comprise at least four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, forty, or at least fifty rotating disks. For a feeding principle without conveying means between the disks to function properly, the disks must be placed with a controlled distance depending on the size of the objects to achieve effective movement of the objects. Thus, two disks are overlapping each oilier if the distance between the centres of the disks is less than the sum of the radii of the two disks. How much two disks overlap each other may vary between dif- ferent embodiments and/or different disks. Thus, if two disks are considered then in various embodiments of the invention a first rotating disk may be overlapping a second rotating disk by maximum 10% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 20% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 30% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 40% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 50% of the diameter of the second disk.

In one embodiment of the invention the centres of at least a part of the rotating disks are arranged substantially in line with each other. Further, the rotating disks may be arranged such that one point on the periphery of each disk is arranged in a straight line.

If a plurality of the disks are arranged substantially on a line a tangential feeding conveyor may be provided substantially parallel along with the rotating disks. Thus, the feeding conveyor is fed from a feeding disk and objects fed to the conveyor will move in a direction on the conveyor which is substantially parallel with the line of disks, see for example fig. 1 or 2.

The rotating disks are preferably rotating in the same plane, such as rotating in the horizontal plane. Further, the disks preferably rotate in the same direction of rotation. However, for the disks to overlap the horizontal planes of rotation of the disks may be vertically displaced relative to each other.

The disk feeding principle is most efficient if the conveying direction of the tangential feeding conveyor is substantially equal to the tangential direction of rotation of the feeding disk at the tangential position of the feeding disk where said feeding conveyor is located, see e.g. fig 1.

The area of the receiving table may be expanded by increasing the number of rotating disks and the rotating disks can be arranged in any geometric form, e.g. in one embodiment of the invention three rotating disks are arranged substantially in a triangle with a rotating disk located in each corner of said triangle. Further, at least four of the rotating disks may be arranged substantially in a rectangle with a rotating disk located in each corner of said rectangle. Further, rotating disks may be arranged in a circle, e.g. with a central rotating disk surrounded by other rotating disks.

In one embodiment of the invention the diameter of the rotating disks are substantially alike. However, the diameter of at least one of the rotating disk may be larger than the diameters of the other rotating disks. E.g. the diameter of a feeding disk may be larger than the diameter of the other rotating disks.

In one embodiment of the invention the rotating disks are substantially plane. However, preferably one or more disks, such as a feeding disk, are provided with a conical inner portion for guiding objects on the disks towards the periphery thereof. The coni- cal portion may cover maximum 10% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 25% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 50% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 75% of the area of the disk, such as maximum 90% of the area of the disk, such of the rotating disks is a cone. Preferably each feeding disk is provided with a conical inner portion. Rotating disks that are not feeding disks are preferably substantially plane. In another embodiment of the invention a pole is provided in the centre of one or more of the rotating disks. Said pole is preferably provided to prevent objects from being located in the centre of a rotating disk where no centrifugal forces can guide said object towards the periphery of the rotating disk. In the feeding apparatus solely based on rotating disks there may be areas in the receiving table that are not covered by a rotating disk. There areas are termed "dead areas" because there is no movement associated with these areas, i.e. objects may be caught in a dead area. This may be solved by shaping the peripheral barrier as the outer periphery of the collection of rotating disks. However, this complicates the de- sign and manufacturing of the barrier. Instead a receiving table may be provided with some sort of filler material in the dead areas that guide the objects away from the dead areas, i.e. prevents objects from being caught in the dead areas.

By the invention, there is provided a simple and efficient feeding system for use in a deposit / return system for UCBs, such as bottles or cans. The apparatus according to the invention allows for a gentle handling for the UCBs, which makes the feeding system according to the invention suitable for both glass, plastic or metal packages and any mixture thereof. Besides the versatility of the feeding apparatus according to the invention, it is found that the apparatus can be designed to provide high tliroughput capacity. The actual capacity can be optimized by selecting a proper combination of diameter and speed of rotating disk(s), and/or speed of conveyors connecting the rotary disks. Another advantage by an apparatus according to the invention is that a feeding system which is compact in size may be provided. For instance, the apparatus according to the invention does not necessarily have to be aligned with the conveying direction of the recording and sorting units. Thus, a more flexible solution is provided with the appara- tus according to the invention which has a smaller footprint on the floor. By choosing an appropriate diameter of the delivery disk relative to the size of the UCBs to be processed thereon and the amount, an efficient and reliable feeding system is provided. In the preferred embodiment, the feeding conveyor(s) is inclined relative to the substantially horizontal receiving table. Preferably, the barrier circumscribing the receiving table leaves the periphery open where a tangential feeding conveyor is arranged. Hereby, the UCBs are lifted upward as they are taken over by a feeding conveyor and forwarded thereon. This means that should a container be transferred to the feeding conveyor in an unfavourable orientation, this container will most likely fall off the feeding conveyor and return to the receiving table and reprocessed.

In the preferred embodiment means for adjusting the conveying speed of the feeding conveyor(s) and/or the rotation of the disk(s) is comprised. Furthermore, the cross- section of the feeding conveyor(s) is preferably substantially V-shaped, thereby helping to maintain the objects in the predetermined orientation.

The chosen diameter of the feeding disks is dependent of the type of objects to be sorted. It has been shown that optimal operation of the present feeding apparatus is pro- vided when the diameter of the disk is preferably 2 to 4 times larger than the length of the longest objects to be fed. For example for feeding bottles and cans the rotating disk may be between 0.9 and 1 m in diameter. And for feeding standard batteries in sizes up to D-cell batteries the diameter of the rotating disk can e.g. be between 12 and 25 cm in diameter.

UCBs in the receiving table will substantially be lying down due to the rotational forces of the rotating disk(s) and/or by the forces exerted by forward and return conveyor belts, i.e. the longitudinal axis of the UCBs will typically be substantially parallel with the horizontal plane of the receiving table. This is true for most UCBs, how- ever some beverage containers may be designed or changed in a way that the state of equilibrium / point of balance is not with a horizontal longitudinal axis, i.e. said UCBs may be tilted with respect to horizontal. This may be the case if the bottleneck of a bottle is heavy compared to the rest of the bottle. A tilted UCBs may be at least par- tially overlapping another UBC on the feeding conveyor. Overlapping UCBs in a scanning unit may result in faulty registration, because overlapping UCBs may be registered as one UBC. Thus, a further object of the invention is to ensure that UCBs are fed one by one. This is achieved by a further embodiment of the invention comprising means for detecting objects that are not lying horizontal.

Tilted bottles are inclined compared to horizontal and they may also be inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of a feeding conveyor. Thus, a further embodiment of the invention comprises means for detecting objects inclined compared to the longitu- dinal axis of a feeding conveyor(s). This is preferably provided by means of at least one photocell arrangement located at a feeding conveyor, said photocell arrangement detecting objects inclined compared to the feeding conveyor. Preferably the photocell arrangement is located below the line of motion of objects at the feeding conveyor. When an inclined object is detected it means that there is a risk of two or more overlapping objects. The distance between objects being conveyed on a first conveyor can be increased by transferring the objects to a subsequent second conveyor with a higher conveying speed than the first conveyor. A feeding conveyor in this invention will typically be succeeded by another conveyor before entering a scanning and sorting unit, said another conveyor typically having similar or higher conveying speed compared to the feeding conveyor. If the conveying speed of a feeding conveyor is reduced, the distance between objects on a succeeding conveyor will be increased. Thus, in a further embodiment of the invention the speed of at least one feeding conveyor is reduced temporarily when an object inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor is detected. Furthermore, the rotation of at least one rotating disk may be reduced temporarily when an object inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor is detected. Temporarily may be a period of time. I.e. when an object, which is inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of a feeding conveyor, is detected, the conveying speed of the feeding conveyor is preferably immediately re- duced for a predetermined period of time, such as approximately 1 , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 seconds or at least 5 or 10 seconds. It may be found advantageous to provide supply means including a supply conveyor for supplying at least one batch of objects in storage containers and means for discharging a batch of objects from a container onto the receiving table. Hereby, a compact automatic supply of batches of UCBs may be provided.

The apparatus according to the invention may be used for feeding objects of any type, however preferably objects that are substantially rotary-symmetrical around at least one axis, such as rotary-symmetrical around a long axis. Thus, the apparatus according to the invention may be used in connection with recording and/or sorting of many ty- pes of objects, preferably used and/or recyclable objects. Thus, the herein described feeding principles can for example be applied to batteries or other environmentally critical recycled products. The pending application can be modified for all kinds of recycled articles. In the future, most containers for household or for personal use such as milk containers will be recycled.

Description of the Drawing

Fig 1 shows a schematic top and perspective view, respectively, of an embodiment of the invention based on three rotating disks in line;

fig. 2 a)-d) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of an embodiment of the invention based on four rotating disks in line;

fig. 3 a)-d) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of an embodiment of the invention based on three rotating disks in a triangle; and fig. 4 a)-d) are schematic illustrations of an example of an arrangement for detecting tilted bottles.

Fig. 5 a)-b) are schematic perspective and top views, respectively, of a first embodiment of the invention based in the use of a conveyor system. Fig 6 a)-b) are schematic top and perspective views, respectively, of a second embodiment of the invention based on the use of a conveyor system. Detailed Description of the Invention

With reference to figures 1 a)-b), one embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention is shown. This embodiment is based on a receiving table with three rotating disks 21, 22, 23. The diameters of the disks 21, 22, 23 are substantially alike and the centres of the disks are arranged substantially in line and the surfaces of the disks are substantially plane. The preferred direction of rotation of the disks 21 , 22, 23 is indicated by means of arrows, i.e. clockwise for all disks. Around the disks 21 , 22, 23 a barrier 6 is provided. A feeding conveyor 2 is arranged tangential to the feeding disk 21 so that objects gathered along the barrier 6 due to the rotation of the feeding disk are substantially pointing towards conveyor 2 as the objects are transferred from the feeding disk 21 to the feeding conveyor 2 in a continuous movement. Objects on the rotating disks 21, 22, 23 will experience a centrifugal force exerted by the rotation of the disk which will guide the object towards the periphery of each disk. However, the disks 21 , 22, 23 may also have a surface generating friction in relation to the objects so the object more efficiently are moved towards the feeding conveyor 2.

The embodiment illustrated in figs. 1 c)-d) differs from 1 a)-b) in that the diameter of the feeding disk 21 ' is slightly larger than the other disks 22, 23. This may provide a more efficient transport of objects from the feeding disk 2 to the feeding conveyor 2. The feeding disk 2 is furthermore partly conical and is overlapping the adjacent flat disk 22 which is overlapping the next disk 23. Due to the variation in diameter between the disks the centres of the disks 21, 22, 23 are not arranged in line because centre of the feeding disk 21 ' is displaced from the centre line of the other disks 22, 23. However, the peripheries of the disks 21 , 22, 23 are aligned along a line parallel with and opposite the conveying axis of the feeding conveyor 2.

Figs. 2 a)-d) correspond to figs. 1 a)-d), however based on four rotating disks 21, 22, 23, 24 with a conical feeding disk 2 of slightly larger diameter in figs. 2 c)-d). Figs. 3 a)-d) show a triangular shaped disk based embodiment of the invention. It is thus seen that, compared to a conveyor based disk feeder, the solution based entirely on rotating disks is more flexible in choosing the shape and size of the receiving table. The dead areas 30 in the receiving table not covered by a rotating disk are indicated in fig. la and fig. 13a, however these dead areas 30 are present in many embodiments of the disk feeder because they will naturally present when two disks overlap each other. The dead areas 30 may be avoided if the barrier 6 follows the combined outer periphery of the rotating disk 21, 23, 23 (not shown in the drawings). To avoid that objects end up in dead areas 30 they may be filled to e.g. make up a slanted wall against the barrier 6 (not shown in the drawings).

The UCBs 1, such as glass and/or plastic bottles and/or metal cans, are supplied onto the receiving table 3 from a bag or the like which is emptied out onto the receiving table 3. The disks 21-24 and the conveyor belts 2 run in a direction as indicated by the arrows in fig. 1-3. Hereby, the objects 1 are stirred and the outermost are moved towards the barrier 6 and in the direction towards the outlet where the feeding conveyor 2 is arranged at the delivery disk 21. The disks 21-24 may be provided with a conic inner portion for facilitating the movement of the objects towards die periphery of the disks 21-24. At least a portion of the UCBs 1 are hereby pressed towards the barrier 6 which their longitudinal axis in a generally tangential direction relative to the disk 21 - 24. When the UCBs in this position are moved to the outlet, the feeding conveyor 2 takes over the movement and moves the UCBs along a linear path to further processing. The UCBs which are not transferred at this time are simply returned to "another round" on the receiving table 3. Accordingly, these UCBs are returned on the return conveyor belt 2 to the second disk and/or directly to the forward conveyor belt 2 for a new alignment on the delivery disk 21.

The rotating frequency of a disk is preferably approximately 1 Hz, such as between 0.8 and 1.2 Hz, such as between 0.5 and 1.5 Hz, such as at least 0.1 Hz, such as at least 0.5 Hz, such as at least 1 Hz, such as at least 1.5 Hz, such as at least 2 Hz, such as at least 3 Hz, such as at least 5 Hz. The capacity of the apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is at least 50 UCBs per minute, such as at least 100 UCBs per minute, such as at least 150 UCBs per minute, such as at least 200 UCBs per minute, such as at least 300 UCBs per minute, such as at least 400 UCBs per minute, such as at least 500 UCBs per minute, such as between 150 and 300 UCBs per minute. The footprint of the apparatus may be less than 1 m², such as less than 1.5 m², such as less than 2 m², such as less than 2.5 m², such as less than 3 m², such as less than 4 m², such as less than 5 m².

By the invention, it is realised that other variants of a feeding apparatus may be pro- vided without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Figures 4 a)-d) is a schematic illustration of an example of a means for detecting inclined objects which is tilted bottles 1 ' in this case. Fig. 4a, 4c and 4d are longitudinal cross-sections of a feeding conveyor 2. In this example the feeding conveyor 2 comprises two parallel conveying belts forming a "V" towards each other, i.e. the transverse cross-section of the feeding conveyor is substantially V-shaped and thus bottles will be conveyed with their longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the groove of this "V". There is preferably a gap between the sides in the "V", i.e. there is preferably a gap in the longitudinal direction of the bottom of the feeding conveyor 2. This is illustrated as 18 on fig. 4c which is a top view of a feeding conveyor 2. Fig. 4d illustrates how normal bottles 1 are moving on a feeding conveyor 2. The longitudinal axes of the bottles 1 are substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor 2 and the line of motion of the bottles 1. Fig. 4c illustrates how bottles 1 ' with a heavy bottleneck are located on a feeding conveyor 2. Due to the heavy bottleneck the bottles Γ will be tilted, i.e. the longitudinal axis of the bottles are inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor 2 and the line of motion. Thereby the bottleneck of a bottle 1 ' may penetrate the gap 18 in the bottom of the feeding conveyor 2. A photocell arrangement 16, 16' is located in a groove 17 below the line of motion of the bottles 1 , 1 '. The photocell arrangement could be a light emitter 16 and a receiver 16'. The normal bottle 1 will not interfere with the photocell arrangement 16, 16'. However, the bottleneck of an inclined bottle i ^! will interfere with the photocell arrangement 16, 16'. Thereby an example of a how to detect an inclined object is provided. The feeding conveyor 2 may further be provided with one or more holes 17' in the groove to get rid of small loose parts from tlie objects, such as caps from e.g. bottles. Thus, the holes 17' are large enough to let small parts like beer caps fall through the feeding conveyor whereas the holes 17' are too small to disturb the conveying passage of objects like UCBs 1 , 1 '.

Common to most of tlie different embodiments, tlie disks 21, 22, 23, 24 and the conveyor belts 2 run in a direction as indicated by the arrows in the figures. Hereby, tlie objects 1 are stirred and the outermost are moved towards the barrier 6 and in the di- rection towards tlie outlet where the feeding conveyor 2 is arranged at the delivery disk 21. The disks 21, 22, 23, 24 may be provided with a conic inner portion for facilitating tlie movement of the objects towards tlie periphery of the disks. At least a portion of the UCBs 1 are hereby pressed towards the barrier 6 which their longitudinal axis in a generally tangential direction relative to the disk 21, 21 '. When the UCBs in this posi- tion are moved to the outlet, the feeding conveyor 2 takes over the movement and moves the UCBs along a substantial linear path to further processing. The UCBs which are not transferred at this time are simply returned to "another round" on the receiving table 3. Accordingly, in some embodiments these UCBs may be returned on the return conveyor belt 2 to the second disk 22 and/or directly to the disk 22 for a new alignment on tlie delivery disk 21. An in other embodiment the UCBs may be transferred between tlie rotating disks 22, 23, 24 before eventually over time ending up on for a new alignment on the delivery disk 21, 2Γ. Thus, most of the herein disclosed embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention are self-depleting, i.e. all objects will eventually be guided onto a feeding conveyor, preferably for subsequent further processing.

The invention is described above with reference to a plurality of embodiments. However, it is realised by the invention that variants may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention as it is defined in the accompanying claims.

Fig. 5 a) and b) shows an embodiment of the apparatus 101. The apparatus 101 has a receiving surface or a table 1 10 that comprises a first 104 and a second 106 straight conveyor, a first 103 and a second 105 curved conveyor and a divider 107. The conveyors are substantially in line and the surface of the conveyors is substantially plane. The conveyors have a surface generating friction in relation to the objects securing that the objects are moved when the conveyors are moved. The divider 107 has an elevated centreline and an inclined surface. The surface of the divider 107 should have a relatively low friction in relation to the objects so they do not get stuck on it. The divider 107 separates the conveyors such that UCBs on the table 110 never gets in contact with two conveyors that moves in different directions this secures that the objects does not get trapped on the table 110.

Arrows shows the moving direction of the conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106. They are aligned so that an object placed on one conveyor is forwarded to next conveyor. This means that when containers are placed on the receiving surface 110 they follow the arrows around in a closed loop, until they are feed to the feeding conveyor 102. For example when an UBC is placed on the first straight 104 it is forwarded to the second curved conveyor 105. An aspect of the present invention is that the speed of the conveyors is the same and that there is no large difference in the direction of movement when going from one conveyor to the next, this secures that there are minimum wear on the containers.

When addressing the speed of the first 103 and the second 105 curved conveyors it is acknowledged that the speed of a curved conveyor is not the same everywhere on the conveyor surface. By the speed; there is meant the speed in the centreline of the curved conveyor unless it is obvious from the context that another speed is meant.

The receiving surface has a peripheral barrier 109 the height of this barrier depends on the size of the objects; the larger the objects the higher the barrier 109 needs to be. The barrier 109 secures that objects does not accidentally leave the receiving surface 110. The feeding conveyor 102 is inclined in relation to the receiving surface 1 10. The feeding conveyor 102 has a feeding barrier 1 11. This secures that an object such as a UBC falling off the first part of the feeding conveyor 102 will land on the receiving surface 1 10. The UBC will then so to speak start over again. As an additional feature the invention could have legs 108 or similar means for securing the desired height. As loading of containers will happen on the receiving surface 110 the invention should have the height that facilitates that operation.

When a object such as a UBC is placed on the receiving surface 110 it will gain speed due the movement of the conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106. If the UBC is on the first 103 or the second 105 curved conveyor it will due to the centrifugal force move toward the peripheral barrier 109. At some point the UBC will get in contact with the peripheral barrier 109 and the UBC will align itself in the longitudinal direction with either top or bottom first. The UBC will the follow the barrier 109 until it reaches the loading area 112 here the UBC will be feed either top or bottom first to the feeding conveyor 102. The correct position of the UCBs on the feeding conveyor 102 dependents on the properties of the feeding conveyor 102. In the present embodiment the correct positioning is the longitudinal direction of the UBC parallel to the direction of movement, (this can be see on fig 20) with either top or bottom first.

Nonnally one wishes to unload a large amount of UCBs at the same time on the receiving surface 1 10. This unloading could happen anywhere on the surface 110. The UCBs would then in principle do the same as described above but now they will also hit each other and they can also be positioned in two rows meaning that a first UBC is in contact with the peripheral barrier 109 and on the other side of the first UBC there could be a second UBC that gets pressed against the first. The loading area 1 12 is arranges so that only one UBC can be forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102 and positioned correct on it. In other words a UBC that is in contact with the peripheral barrier 109 at the second curved conveyor 105 and hence at the loading are 1 12 can be positioned on the feeding conveyor 102. If UCBs are forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102 but positioned incorrectly they will fall back to the receiving surface 110.

The speed of the feeding conveyor 102 is preferably larger than the speed of the conveyors 103, 104, 105, 106 on the receiving surface 1 10 this secures that the UCBs are moved quickly away from other UCBs that might hit them and hinders the correct positioning on the feeding conveyor 102 further is secures a distance between two UCBs. This distance is defined by the difference between the speed of the out feed conveyor and the second curved conveyor 105 which could have same speed as the other conveyors fonning of the receiving surface 103, 104, 106.

The invention shown in fig 6 has four separate conveyors, as an alternative it could be made of only one curved conveyor that would loop the entire receiving surface; it could also be made of 2 conveyors or any other number of conveyors. A further embodiment of an apparatus for feeding objects is shown in fig. 6 a) and b). Here the invention is shown where a primary 121 and a secondary 122 straight conveyors moves the objects such as UCBs and deliver them one by one to the feeding conveyor 102. As the primary 121 and the secondary 122 straight conveyors are parallel, the receiving surface 1 10 is smaller than the joint surfaces of the primary 121 and the secondary 122 straight conveyors. The arrow on the conveyors 121 and 122 shows tire movement of the conveyors. The conveyors have a relative large friction in relation to the objects.

The embodiment has a peripheral conveyor system 124 that has a peripheral conveyor belt 125, which fonns part of the peripheral barrier 109. The peripheral conveyor belt 125 is substantially perpendicular to the receiving surface 110. It secures that the objects are feed to the feeding conveyor 102. The peripheral conveyor belt 125 has a concave form, which a person skilled in the art would know how to construct. An arrow (see fig 22 a)) shows the moving direction of the peripheral conveyor belt 125. The peripheral conveyor belt 125 has a friction in relation to the objects which preferably is larger than the friction between secondary straight conveyor 122 and the objects. This secures that when an object gets in contact with the peripheral conveyor belt 125 it will follow the movement of that conveyor and not get stuck on the secondary straight conveyor 122.

If an object such as a UBC is placed on the primary straight conveyor 121 it will follow the movement of that until the UBC reaches the peripheral barrier 109. Here the UBC will follow the peripheral barrier 109 and get in contact with the secondary straight conveyor 122. Depending on the speed of the UBC and the friction between the straight conveyors 121, 122 the UBC will be either in contact with the straight section of the peripheral barrier 109 or at some distance from it when on the secondary straight conveyor 122. The UBC will then follow the secondary straight conveyor 122 until it reaches the peripheral conveyor belt 125 which will forward the UBC on to the feeding conveyor 102. If the UBC is not positioned correct in the longitudinal direction the UBC will either, not get on the feeding conveyor 102 or fall off the feeding conveyor 102 shortly after it is placed on it. Either way the UBC will be or get back on the receiving surface 1 10. Here the feeding barrier 1 1 1 secures that the UCBs do not fall off to the wrong side risking that it will not get counted and/or sorted.

Usually one wishes to unload a larger amount of UCBs on to the receiving surface 1 10 at the same time. The invention will then forward the UCBs one by one on the feeding conveyor 102. Having a multitude of UCBs will in principle not change the function of the embodiment. The UCBs will hit each other and to some extend obstruct d e alignment of the UCBs. The feeding conveyor 102 in tiiis embodiment is constructed so that it can only forward one UBC at a time and only if the UBC is positioned in the predetermined manner. Here only the UBC that are close to the peripheral conveyor belt 125 will be forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102. Further it is desirable that the speed of the feeding conveyor 102 is greater than the speed of the peripheral conveyor belt 125 as this secures a small distance between the UBC on the feeding conveyor 102. The UCBs that are not forwarded on the feeding conveyor 102 are passed on to the primary straight conveyor 121 and gets another round and will eventually be forwarded to the feeding conveyor 102.

For both the embodiment on fig 5 and on fig 6 the length of the straight conveyors 104, 106 or 121 , 122 could be adjusted so that the embodiment is suitable for any predetermined volume of objects. Further; in fig 5 and 6 the feeding conveyor 102 is shown as being tangentially to the peripheral barrier 109. The feeding conveyor 102 could also be angled in relation to the tangent of the peripheral barrier 109; this angle could for example be between 0° and 10° or 0° and 90°. It is noted that any of the features described for any embodiment, are also applicable to the embodiments on fig 5 and 6.

Claims

1. An apparatus for feeding objects, such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, which apparatus comprises receiving means and at least one feeding conveyor (2,102), which objects (1) are supplied on the receiving means and forwarded one by one with a predetermined orientation to the feeding conveyor (2,102), characterised in that the receiving means comprises at least one receiving surface (3,103), the receiving means comprises a peripheral barrier (6,109) essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving surface (3,103), wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) at least in one section forms an arc, the receiving means comprises a conveyor system (21-24,103-106) for moving the objects (1) along the arc, which peripheral barrier (6; 109) comprises an opening towards the feeding conveyor (2,102), through which opening objects are delivered one by one to the feeding conveyor (2,102).

2. An apparatus for feeding objects according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor system (21-24,103-106) comprises a curved conveyor.

3. An apparatus for feeding objects according to claim 2, wherein the curved conveyor substantially follows the arc formed by the peripheral barrier (6.109) in the at least in one section that forms an arc.

4. An apparatus for feeding objects according one of the claims 1-3, wherein the arc is a circular arc.

5. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-4, wherein the predetermined orientation is substantially in the longitudinal direction of the objects.

6. An apparatus for feeding objects according to claim 4, wherein the circular arc of the curvature is between 30° and 270°, preferably 150° to 210°.

7. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-6, wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) comprises at least one second section that is straight.

8. An apparatus for feeding objects according to claim 6, wherein the conveyor system for moving the objects (1) additionally moves the objects (1) straight along the second section.

9. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1 -9, wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) comprises a peripheral conveyor.

10. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-10, wherein the conveyor system comprises a roller conveyor and/or a belt conveyor and/or a wire mesh conveyor (104.106).

11. An apparatus according to one of the claims 1-10, wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving surface (3,103) leaves the peripheiy open where the substantially tangential feeding conveyor is arranged.

12. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-1 1, wherein the at least part of the feeding conveyor (2,102) is inclined in relation to the receiving surface.

13. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-12, wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) in the section that forms an arc comprises a first part substantially perpendicular to the receiving surface (3, 103).

14. An apparatus for feeding objects according to claim 11 , wherein the peripheral barrier (6,109) in the section that forms an arc comprises a second part inclined in relation to the first part.

15. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-14, wherein the feeding conveyor (2,102) is provided substantially tangential relative to the arc.

16. A sorting unit comprising an apparatus for feeding objects, according to one of the claims 1-15.

17. An apparatus for feeding objects according to one of the claims 1-15 wherein the receiving means comprises at least one receiving table comprising:

three or more rotating disks (21-24) wherein peripheries of adjacent rotating disks (21- 24) are at least partly overlapping,

at least one feeding conveyor (2,102) provided tangential relative to at least one rotating disk (21), and

a peripheral barrier (6,109) essentially circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one receiving table.

18. An apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the receiving table(s) comprises four or more, such as five or more, such as six or more rotating disks (21-24).

19. An apparatus according to the claims 17 or 18, wherein a first rotating disk (21-24) is overlapping a second rotating disk by maximum 10% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 20% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 30% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 40% of the diameter of the second disk, such as maximum 50% of the diameter of the second disk.

20. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-19, wherein the centres of the rotating disks (21 -24) are arranged substantially in line with each other.

21. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-20, wherein at least one point on the periphery of each rotating disks (21-24) are arranged substantially in line.

22. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-21, wherein a tangential feeding conveyor (2,102) is provided substantially to the peripheral pai of the rotating disks (21-24).

23. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-22, wherein the rotating disks (21- 24) are rotating mostly in the same plane, such as rotating in the horizontal plane.

24 An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-23 , wherein the conveying direc- tion of the tangential feeding conveyor (2,102) is substantially equal to the tangential direction of rotation of a disk (21-24) where said feeding conveyor (2,102) is located.

25. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-24, wherein the rotating disks (21- 24) rotate in the same direction of rotation.

26. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-25, wherein three rotating disks (21-24) are arranged substantially in a triangle with a rotating disk (21-24) located in each corner of said triangle.

27. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-26, wherein at least four of the rotating disks (21-24) are arranged substantially in a rectangle with a rotating disk located in each comer of said rectangle.

28. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-27, wherein the diameter of the rotating disks (21 -24) are substantially alike.

29. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-28, wherein the diameter of at least one of the rotating disk (21-24) is larger than the diameters of the other rotating disks.

30. An apparatus according to one of the claims 17-29, wherein the diameter of the rotating disk (21-24) adjacent to the feeding conveyor is larger than the diameter of the other rotating disks.

31. A method of feeding objects (1), such as used beverage containers, to a recording and/or sorting unit, by supplying the objects (1) on receiving means and forwarding the objects (1) one by one with a predetermined orientation to at least one feeding conveyor (2,102), characterised in that once supplied on tire receiving means, the objects (1) are moved in an arc by a conveyor system and thereby aligned along a barrier (6,109) circumscribing at least a portion of the arc so that the objects (1) are aligned and forwarded to a feeding conveyor (2,102).

32. A method according to claim 31 whereby once supplied on the receiving means, the objects (1) are rotated on at least one rotating disk (21-24) and thereby aligned along a barrier (6,109) circumscribing at least a portion of said at least one delivery disk (21-24) so that the objects are aligned and forwarded on a feeding conveyor (2,102) which is tangentially arranged relative to a rotating disk (21-24).

33. A method according to claim 32, whereby the objects are rotated on at least one of four or more, such as five or more, such as six or more rotating disks (21-24).

34. A method according to claim 32 or 33, whereby objects are moved from one rotating disk (21-24)to an adjacent overlapping rotating disk (21 -24) at least partly by means of centrifugal force acting on the objects (1).

35. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 34, whereby objects (1) are transported to and fed to the feeding conveyor (2,102).

36. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 35, whereby objects (1) are transported between rotating disks (21-24) arranged substantially in line.

37. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 360, whereby the rotating disks (21-24) rotate in the same direction of rotation.

38. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 37, whereby objects (1) are fed to the feeding conveyor (2,102) from a rotating disk (21-24) with a diameter that is larger than the diameters of the other rotating disks (21-24).

39. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 38, wherein the at least one feeding conveyor (2,102) is inclined relative to the substantially horizontal receiving table.

40. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 39, wherein the objects (1) enter the feeding conveyor(s) (2,102) through a peripheral opening in the barrier (6,109) circumscribing the receiving table.

41. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 40, wherein feeding conveyors (2,102) are provided tangential relative to ail rotating disks (21-24) and wherein the feeding conveyors (2,102) are inclined relative to the substantially horizontal receiving table.

42. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 41 , wherein the objects (1) are guided towards the periphery of a rotating disk (21-24) by means of conical inner portion of said rotating disk (21-24).

43. A method according to any of the claims 32 to 42, whereby the speed of the feed- ing conveyor(s) (2,102) and/or the speed of the rotating disk(s) (21 -24) can be adjusted.

44. A method according to one of the claims 32 to 43, wherein the objects (1) are maintained in the predetermined orientation by means of a substantially V-shaped transverse cross-section of the feeding conveyor(s) (2,102).

45. A method according to any of claims 32 to 44, whereby at least a part of the objects (1) that are not lying horizontal are detected.

46. A method according to any of claims 32 to 45, whereby at least a part of the objects (1) inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor(s) (2,102) are detected.

47. A method according to any of claims 32 to 46, whereby at least a part of the ob- jects (1) inclined compared to the longitudinal axis of the feeding conveyor(s) (2,102) are detected by means of at least one photocell arrangement (16) located at the feeding convey or(s) (2,102).

48. A method according to claim 47, wherein the photocell arrangement (16) is located below the line of motion of objects at the feeding conveyor(s) (2,102).

49. A metliod according to any of claims 32 to 48, whereby the speed of at least one feeding conveyor (2,102) and/or rotating disk (21-24) is reduced temporarily when an object (Γ) inclined compared to the feeding conveyor (2,102) is detected.