Equipment for collecting fluid fatty household waste

Abstract

 Equipment for collecting fluid fatty household waste (22), having a collection tank (20), an enclosure (10) formed to receive the collection tank (20) and a support (16 to support the collection tank (20). The top (12) of the enclosure (10) has an aperture (14), which is closed by a cover (70) that can be opened by sliding. There is a downwards narrowing funnel (50) placed at the aperture (14), and a valve (60) is connected to the lower end of the funnel (50, and the rod (65) of the valve (60) is guided by sleeves (53, 55) in a sliding manner along the axis. There is an arm (66) connected to the upper end of the rod (65) by its first end. The second end of the arm (66) co-operates with a sliding path (74) arranged at the underside of the cover (70) in such a manner that when the cover (70 is slid from the position when it is closing the aperture (14, it turns the arm (66) so that the first end of the arm (66) moves the rod (65) of the valve (60) upwards, towards closing of the valve (60). There is a transmitter (30) in the enclosure, which transmitter (30) is connected to the level sensor (32) detecting the level of the fluid household fat (22) in the collection tank (20).

Description

[0001] The object of the invention is equipment for collecting fluid fatty household waste.

[0002] Fatty household waste pollutes the environment and also contains a substantial amount of utilisable energy. The disposal of such waste to household waste or the common sewer network significantly pollutes the environment. The selective collection and recycling of such household fat or oil waste would be expedient. There is no equipment known for such purpose, be means of which fatty waste generated in households could be collected. For the purposes of the present description, fluid fatty household waste includes edible oils, frying oils and other fats that can be emptied from vessels by way of gravitation.

[0003] An object to be achieved is to provide an equipment suitable for the selective collection of fluid fatty household waste, which can be placed in residential areas, the staircases of block of flats or other places suitable for this purpose, respectively. Within the framework of the same object, it is aimed to develop the equipment in a manner that enables the collection of such collected fat, oil from the equipment, respectively.

[0004] A further object is that the oil and oily fat collected in the equipment can be stored safely before its removal and that any unpleasant smells generated during its storage can be retained.

[0005] In order to achieve the aimed objective, we have designed an equipment for the collection of fluid fatty household waste having the substantial features specified in Claim 1.

[0006] Preferred embodiments of the equipment according to the invention are defined by the features of the dependent claims

[0007] The invention will be disclosed in details with reference to the attached drawings showing exemplary embodiments of the invention. In the drawings

Figure 1 is the schematic sectional view of the equipment according to the invention,

Figure 2 is the schematic sectional view of a funnel connected to a top of the equipment,

Figure 3 is a drawing showing the co-operation of a sliding cover closing an aperture on the top of an enclosure of the equipment with a valve at the bottom of the funnel at the time when the valve is just starting to close,

Figure 4 is a drawing corresponding Figure 3 but with a the cover completely moved aside and the valve completely closed.

[0008] The embodiment of the equipment according to the invention shown on Figure 1 has a enclosure 10, which has an opening door not separately shown, through which a collection tank 20 may be placed into the enclosure 10. The enclosure 10 has a strong frame structure, and is mounted with a suitable safety locking structure preventing unauthorised access to the interior of the enclosure 10. The material of the enclosure 10 and the frame structure thereof, depending on the selected manufacturing method, may be made of metal, metal alloy, plastic or any other material that complies with the relevant safety and environment protection requirements. Its shape may be an essentially rectangle or square-base prism or even a circular cylinder

[0009] In the enclosure 10, there is a support 16 arranged, the height of which is expediently adjustable, whereon the collection tank 20 may be placed. The collection tank 20 is for the safe storing and removal of the fluid household fat to be collected, and accordingly, it complies with the relevant safety and environment protection requirements. It may be made of both plastic and metal. It is expedient to use tanks normally applied for such purpose, mounted with a snapping lid and a handhold for its moving by human force. Of course, the collection tank 20 may have a different shape, with such outer dimensions and capacity that are sufficient for the receiving the fat 22 to be prospectively collected by the equipment.

[0010] When the collection tank 20 is put in, its lid must be removed, and it must be placed on the support 16 with the lid removed. Within the enclosure 10, there is a lid 24 having a similar shape, which is, however, fixed and may be removed from the enclosure 10 only by appropriate dismounting operations. Such removal is not necessary when the collection tank 20 is changed after it has filled. The function of the lid 24 shall be specified in more detail later below.

[0011] On its upper side the enclosure 10 is closed by a top 12, which has an aperture 14 arranged approximately in its middle. From the aperture 14, a funnel 50 for receiving the fat reaches downwards towards the collection tank 20. The funnel 50 tapers downwards and a valve 60 is attached to its lower edge; while below the valve 60 an aperture 26 is formed on the lid 24 which is adapted to let the fat 22 flow through down from the funnel 50.

[0012] The valve 60 attached to the funnel 50 has a valve disc 62, which is arranged slideably along the rod 65. A washer 61 is affixed to the lower end of the rod 65, for example by means of a nut screwed onto a thread cut on the rod 65 or any other suitable fixing element. There is a spring 64 between the washer 61 and the valve disc 62. The rod 65 is located along the axle of the funnel 50, and its central position is determined by holding elements 52 and 54, which fit into the inside of the funnel 50 and have sleeves 53, 54 in their centre as shown in Figure 3, and hold the rod 65 in such a manner that it remains moveable upwards and downwards. At least the upper one of the holding elements 52 and 54 is a filter.

[0013] In case of the present embodiment, the aperture 14 formed on the top 12 is closed by a cover 70, which can be slid sideways along guide rails 76. The cover 70 and the valve 60 cooperate with one another so that only one of them is open at the same time. The cover 70 operates the valve 60 in such a manner that when the cover 70 us slid to open position, the valve 60 closes. To this end, an arm 66 is joined pivoting to the upper end of the rod 65 of the valve 60, and it is passed through the guiding sleeve 67 located at the edge of the funnel 50. The guiding sleeve 67 can be pivoted around the hinge 68. In case the upper holding element 52 is formed as a filter, the clear mesh of the filter is determined in such a manner that the particles getting through the filter do not hinder closure of the valve 60.

[0014] There is a bellow 56 between the lid 24 and the outer surface of the funnel 50, which bellow 56 prevents oil flowing down from the funnel 50 from getting to unwanted places within the enclosure 10. Should the collected fat escape despite of the above due to a leakage, it will be collected by a tray placed in the bottom of the enclosure 10, which tray may also be emptied when the collection tank 20 is changed.

[0015] There is a transmitter 30 in the interior of the enclosure 10, which transmitter 30 is connected to a level sensor 32 detecting the level of the fat 22 in the collection tank 20. In case of the embodiment shown, the level sensor 32 is shaped as a float, and the transmitter 30 forwards the information relating to the amount of the fat 22 collected to a central supervising unit not shown. Expediently, the transmitter 30 transmits the signs via a mobile phone network. Furthermore, the transmitter 30 may forward other information as well to the supervising unit. Such information can be for example:

• the level of the fat 22 in the collection tank 20,
• the time when the enclosure 10 is opened,
• loss of energy supply or low energy supply,
• error signal,
• temperature signal or fire alarm,
• smoke alarm, etc.

[0016] The function of the equipment according to the invention is described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4.

[0017] The equipment placed in residential areas, housing estates, staircases or highly populated residential settlements, public buildings or near selective waste collection facilities can be used for the collection of waste fat deriving from households in such a manner that the cover 70 on the top 12 of the enclosure 10 is slid to the right as shown in Figure 1, as a result of which the upper aperture of the funnel 50 becomes free and the valve 60 at its bottom is closed. The waste fat is poured into the funnel 50 from a bottle or some kind of vessel, and when the pouring is finished, the cover 70 is pushed back over the aperture 14. This is when the valve 60 opens and the fat runs down through the open valve 60 and the aperture 26 on the lid 21 to the collection tank 20. The capacity of the collection tank 20 is selected so that it would fill up around at the same time as the collection tank 20 of another equipment collecting similar fat fill up, so that they can be emptied on the same day. Emptying and removal is a costly operation, especially if the relatively low value of the fat collected is considered.

[0018] The level of the fat 22 in the collection tank 20 is detected by the level sensor 32 and the transmitter 30 forwards data on the detected level to the supervising centre with a certain regularity. Considering that it is not very likely that the collection tank 20 will fill up quickly, the interval between the information transmissions may be relatively long, for instance 2 hours, or even 6-8 hours. In addition to regular data transmissions, extraordinary data transmissions may become necessary, for instance when the collection tank 20 is filled unexpectedly quickly, e.g. after holidays, when the amount of waste fat deriving from households exceeds the usual amount. Extraordinary transmissions will be necessary when the door of the enclosure 10 is opened, or in case of an error or fire, etc.

[0019] When the level of the fat 22 in the collection tank 20 reaches a preset value, the supervising centre gives an instruction to change the collection tank 20. Upon changing, the operating person, having opened the door of the enclosure 10, takes the lid 24 off the collection tank 20, lifts the full collection tank 20 out of the enclosure 10 by means of a barrow adapted for this purpose, and places an empty collection tank 20 in place of the full collection tank 20. Then the full collection tank 20 is covered by a lid and placed in a transport vehicle. In connection with the foregoing, it is to be noted that no special transport vehicles are needed for transporting the collection tanks 20.

[0020] Furthermore, a locking rod 44 is lead through the lid 24 and a float 42 is arranged at the lower end of the locking rod 44 while the upper end of the locking rod 44 forms a latch 40, which protrudes above the level of the top 12 when the float 42 raises and prevents the cover 70 from being slid aside. Such kind of locking the equipment should be avoided because it has a highly unfavourable psychological effect on the persons for bringing fat to the equipment in vain.

[0021] Figure 2 shows the structure of the funnel 50 without the parts of the valve 60. An upper holding element 52 and a lower holding element 54 is located in the funnel 50. Both of them has a sleeve 53, 55. The upper holding element 52 is formed as a filter, and thereby it prevents any coarse solid waste included in the fat 22 poured down from getting into the valve 60 and blocking the valve disc 62 from closing on the valve 60, thereby blocking the valve 60 from being closed. Of course, a small amount of leakage may be allowed, it does not influence the operation of the equipment according to the invention. The lower holding element 54 does not need to be a filter, it is sufficient if it holds the 55 sleeve centrally in the centre-line of the funnel 50. To allow cleaning of the equipment both holding elements 52 and 54 may be lifted out from above from the funnel 50. In an assembled status their removal is not possible, only a person authorised to do so can lift it out together with other moving parts of the valve 60 in case the cover 70 is slid to a maintenance position, which is different from the normal operating position. In order to prevent any unauthorised persons from being able to move the cover 70 into such mounting position, there is also such a lock (not shown) on the top 12 which may be operated only from the inside of the enclosure 10. Such lock is not unavoidably necessary if the arm 66 operating the valve 60 is formed in such a way that it prevents the cover 70 from being moved into the mounting position, except if after the enclosure 10 is opened, the rod 65 of the valve 60 is pushed upwards by hand, resulting in the arm 66 overlying onto the upper surface of the top 12 and may give free way to sliding the cover 70 as much as wanted.

[0022] Figure 1 shows the cover 70 in a closed position, when the valve disc 62 and the rod 65 move downwards by their own weight. Figure 3 shows the cover 70 in a position slid slightly to the right towards the direction of the arrow, wherein it just begins to turn the arm 66, which lifts the rod 65 upwards along the arrow together with the valve disc 62 on the rod 65. When the 66 is being turned, at the same time it slides in the guiding sleeve 67. Figure 4 shows the cover 70 in a completely open position, when the arm 66 is turned almost to a horizontal position and it lifts the rod 65 up completely. In such case, the valve disc 62 is pushed against the lower edge of the funnel 50, while the spring 64 is compressed and presses the valve disc 62 on the edge of the funnel 50.

Claims

1. Equipment for collecting fluid fatty household waste (22) having a collection tank (20), characterised in that

- it has an opening enclosure (10) formed to receive the collection tank (20)

- and a support (16) supporting the collection tank (20) in the enclosure (10), furthermore

- the enclosure (10) is closed by a top (12) from above, and

- there is an aperture (14) in the top (12),

- the aperture (14) is closed by a cover (70) which may be opened by sliding it sideways

- there is a funnel (50) narrowing downwards situated by the aperture (14),

- a valve (60) is connected to the lower edge of the funnel (50), and

- below the funnel (50), there is a lid (24) formed to close the collection tank (20) in an reopenable manner,

- in the middle of the lid (24), there is an aperture (26) shaped to let through the fluid fat (22), and

- the part of the funnel (50) falling outside the aperture (26) is connected to the lid (24) by an elastic bellow (56) shaped with corrugated walls,

- the valve (60) has a valve disc (62), which may be pressed against the lower edge of the funnel (50) in a sealed manner, and it has a rod (65, which can move the valve disc (62) upwards and downwards, which valve disc (62) is arranged on the rod (65) in a sliding manner, and a washer (61) is connected to the bottom end of the rod (65), and a spring (64) is arranged between such washer 61 and valve disc (62).

- an upper holding element (52) and a lower holding element (54) are arranged above one another, both of which have a sleeve (53,55) in their centre to guide the rod 65 in a sliding manner to axis direction,

- there is a guiding sleeve (67) arranged at the upper edge of the funnel (50), which guiding sleeve (67) can be pivoted around a hinge (68) and an arm (66) is joined pivoting to the upper end of said rod (65) and said arm (66) is slideably guided in said guiding sleeve (67).

- the second end of the arm (66) co-operates with a sliding cam (74) formed at the underside of the cover (70) in such a manner that siding said cover (70) from the position closing the aperture (14) turns the arm (66) so that the first end of the arm (66) moves the rod (65) of the valve (60) upwards for closing of the valve (60), and

- there is a transmitter (30) in the enclosure, which transmitter (30) is connected to the level sensor (32) detecting the level of the fluid household fat (22) in the collection tank (20).

2. The equipment according to claim 1 characterised in that there is a locking-bar (44) passing through the lid (24), and there is a float (42) operated by the level of the fluid household fat (22) connected to the end of such locking-bar (44), the upper end of which is passing through the top (12) of the enclosure (10) in a moveable manner, and such upper end constitutes a latch (40) preventing the opening of the cover (70) if the level of the fluid household fat (22) in the collection tank (20) exceeds a previously specified level.

3. The equipment according to claim 1 or 2 characterised in that the transmitter (30) is in a telecommunication connection with a mobile telephone network.

4. The equipment according to any of the claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the level sensor (32) is a scale detecting the weight of the fluid household fat (22) in the collection tank (20).

5. The equipment according to any of the claims 1, 3 and 4 characterised in that there is a latch (40) on the top (12) of the enclosure (10), which latch (40) prevents the opening of the cover (70) if the level of the fluid household fat (22) in the collection tank (20) exceeds a previously specified level, and the latch (40) is in an operating connection with the transmitter (30).

6. The equipment according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that at least the upper one of the holding elements (52 and 54) is shaped as a filter.

7. he equipment according to any of the preceding claims characterised in that the transmitter (30) is adapted to transmit additional information, optionally representing intrusion, error, temperature, fire emergency.

Drawing