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EP-4638012-B1 - CONTINUOUS MECHANICAL SHREDDING APPARATUS AND RELATED CONTROL METHOD

EP4638012B1EP 4638012 B1EP4638012 B1EP 4638012B1EP-4638012-B1

Inventors

  • DIANI, Marco
  • COLLEDANI, Marcello
  • DELFRATE, Davide

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20231206

Claims (15)

  1. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus (1), comprising: - a first transportation system (10) of input material (710), for a material to be shredded, - a first data acquisition system (20) for said input material (710), configured to analyze at least one first dimension (810) of said input material (710), - a mechanical shredding system (30) comprising moving tools (33, 34) to shred said input material (710), and further comprising at least one regulation device (35) configured to adjust a dimension of output particles from said mechanical shredding system (30), - a control system (40) operatively associated with elements of said mechanical shredding apparatus (1), - a second transportation system (50) of output material (720), for a material shredded by said mechanical shredding system (30), - a second data acquisition system (60) for said output material (720), configured to analyze at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (720), wherein said control system (40) is configured to receive said at least one first dimension (810) of said input material (710) and said at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (720), and wherein said control system (40) is further configured to automatically determine process parameters including: - an operation speed of said first transportation system (10) to modify a flow rate (910) of said input material, - at least one dimensional parameter (930) of said at least one regulation device (35), - at least one rotation speed (920) of said moving tools (33, 34), said control system (40) being adapted to optimize said process parameters according to a target for said at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (720).
  2. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to claim 1, said control system (40) being adapted to determine said process parameters according to a real-time training considering said at least one first dimension (810) of said input material (710) and said at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (720).
  3. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said control system (40) comprises a database (400) adapted to store previously acquired historical data, and comprises a data processing module (420) making a data processing algorithm (420) trained with said historical data.
  4. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said control system (40) further comprises a feedback control module (430) adapted to verify a dimensional compliance of said at least one second dimension (820) with a target dimension (830) and to further train said processing algorithm according to data collected in real time by said first data acquisition system (20) and said second data acquisition system (60).
  5. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein said control system (40) further comprises an optimization module (440; 442, 444) configured to optimize (442) said second dimension of said output material and further configured to minimize (444) an energy requirement of said mechanical shredding system (30) and wear of said moving tools (33, 34).
  6. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, said control system (40) being further adapted to automatically adjust said operation speed of said first transportation system (10), said at least one dimensional parameter of said at least one regulation device (35), and said at least one rotation speed of said moving tools (33, 34).
  7. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, said first data acquisition system (20) and said second data acquisition system (60) comprise at least one image acquisition system configured to determine at least a dimensional distribution of a material framed in an image.
  8. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, said first data acquisition system (20) and said second data acquisition system (60) are further configured to analyze further morphological characteristics of said input material (710) and of said output material (720), respectively, said morphological characteristics including shape and/or sphericity and/or symmetry.
  9. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, said first data acquisition system (20) and said second data acquisition system (60) are further configured to analyze at least respective samples of said input material (710) and of said output material (720).
  10. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said mechanical shredding system (30) comprises at least one rotor (33) in a shredding chamber (32), said at least one rotor (33) being associated with a plurality of tools (34) adapted to shredding.
  11. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said regulation device (35) comprises a grid element having adjustable spacing and/or at least one manually swappable element.
  12. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein said regulation device is mechanically and automatically adjustable and provides for a regulation of a distance between said moving tools (33, 34).
  13. Continuous mechanical shredding apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein said first transportation system (10) and/or said second transportation system (20) comprise at least one conveyor belt.
  14. Control method of a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus (1), said continuous mechanical shredding apparatus (1) comprising: - a first transportation system (10) of input material (710), for a material to be shredded, - a first data acquisition system (20) for said input material (710), - a mechanical shredding system (30) comprising moving tools (33, 34) to shred said input material (710), and further comprising at least one regulation device (35) configured to adjust a dimension of output particles from said mechanical shredding system (30), - a second transportation system (50) of output material (720), for a material shredded by said mechanical shredding system (30), - a second data acquisition system (60) for said output material (720), said control method comprising: - analyzing at least one first dimension (810) of said input material (710) by said first data acquisition system (20), - analyzing at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (820) by said second data acquisition system (60), - determining process parameters including: an operation speed of said first transportation system (10) to modify a flow rate (910) of said input material; a dimensional parameter (930) of said at least one regulation device (35); at least one rotation speed (920) of said moving tools (33, 34), wherein said process parameters are optimized according to a target for said at least one second dimension (820) of said output material (720).
  15. Control method according to claim 14, adapted to be provided in a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 13.

Description

Technical field The present invention relates to a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus. The present invention relates to a control method of a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus. The present invention finds application in mechanical shredding apparatuses, in particular the ones incorporating cyber-physical systems for the control of mechanical machining. Prior art A mechanical shredding process is a process through which the dimensions of a starting material, subjected to shredding, can be reduced. The shredded material, reduced to dimensions even smaller than 1 mm, may thus become a raw material for the production of manufactured articles. Non-limiting examples of mechanical shredding machineries used for the reduction of the dimensions of an object are: sanders, chippers, granulators, and hammer mills. Usually but without limitations, a mechanical shredding apparatus comprises a transportation system bringing the material to be shredded to the mechanical shredding machinery, one or more mechanical shredders, and, lastly, an area designated for the collection of shredded material. Usually but without limitations, the mechanical shredding machineries have an inlet designated for the supply of the material to be shredded, sharp tools mounted on one or more rotors placed inside a shredding chamber and a system for letting the material exit that may be in free fall or through a grid for controlling the output dimension. In a mechanical shredding machinery, shredding occurs, usually but without limitations, due to the impact and/or shearing force generated by the collision of the moving tools with the material inside the chamber and by the compression of the material between them and the walls of said chamber, during the movement due to the action of the moving tools. The publication Diani M., Colledani M., Cyber-Physical Systems formalization in de- and remanufacturing and application to size reduction stage, Procedia CIRP Volume 91, 2020, Pages 741-746, https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.procir.2020.03.117 relates to an architecture aimed at optimizing and controlling, among others, of a shredding process. A known prior art is disclosed in the Japanese patent No. JP 6 747213 B2 owned by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp and relating to a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus. Summary of the invention An object of the present invention is to overcome drawbacks of the prior art. A further particular object of the present invention is to provide a more effective continuous mechanical shredding apparatus. A further particular object of the present invention is to control a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus in an improved manner and, more particularly, improving the control of dimension of the output material in the shredding apparatus. A further particular object of the present invention is to provide a more accurate prediction of the dimensional characteristics of the shredded material exiting a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus. A further particular object of the present invention is to provide a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus that allows a lower energy consumption, for a same quality of the shredded output material. These and other objects are achieved by a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus defined in claim 1 and by a corresponding control method according to to claim 14. An idea underlying the present invention is to provide the control of the process parameters of a continuous mechanical shredding machinery. The proposed shredding system comprises one or more devices for the acquisition of dimensional data of objects, one or more mechanical shredders and a control system, in particular by means of software, to predict the dimensional distribution of the material at the shredder output. The mechanical shredding apparatus uses an approach based on the demand of material within a required specification, to optimize the process of continuous mechanical shredding. In particular, the system for controlling the process of continuous mechanical shredding has a software including two modules for the optimization of the process parameters; the first module is designated for the optimization of the output dimensional distribution whereas the second module is designated for cost minimization, in particular for the minimization of wear and energy costs. The control of the shredding process may be carried out by means of a change of a dimensional grid, a change of shredding tools, an adjustment of the rotation speed of the shredding tools and a variation of the flow rate of the material put into the shredding chamber. The invention provides a continuous mechanical shredding apparatus, comprising: a first transportation system of input material, for a material to be shredded,a first data acquisition system for the input material, configured to analyze at least one first dimension of the input material,a mechanical shredding system comprising moving tools to shred the input mater