JP7602795B2 - Laminated glass peeling device and laminated glass recycling method using the same - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a recycling processing technology that allows for the easy separation and removal of only the glass plate portion from laminated glass, such as solar panels, security glass, and laminated glass for automobiles, and significantly increases the efficiency of the subsequent recycling process. In particular, this invention includes the fields of manufacturing and providing laminated glass removal equipment that enables blast processing using projectiles to be carried out more economically, as well as the fields of manufacturing and providing items that do not belong to this field but that can be identified as incorporating the creative content of the technical ideas of this field. It also includes the fields of providing and selling the equipment and tools required for the transportation, storage, assembly, and installation in these fields, as well as the materials, machinery, and parts required for these materials, such as wood. There is practically no unrelated technical field, including fields that provide materials such as wood, stone, various textiles, plastics, and various metal materials; the electronic components that are incorporated into these and the control-related equipment that integrates them; various measuring instruments; the power machinery that drives the equipment and tools; the electricity that provides the energy, and the electricity and oil that are the energy sources for these, all of which are generally referred to as industrial machinery; and further, fields that test, research, exhibit, sell, and import/export these equipment and tools; fields that collect and transport waste generated as a result of their use or from the operation of the equipment and tools used to make them; the recycling field that efficiently reuses this waste, as well as new fields that cannot be imagined at this time.

(Point of interest)
With the development of photovoltaic power generation technology, solar cell modules that have been installed in various locations and used for many years gradually reach the end of their useful life and are to be removed. The removed solar cell modules are transported to a recycling plant, where the terminal box and metal frame are removed, and then the cover glass (plate glass) is separated from the solar cell panel, in which the solar cell cells, wiring material, and encapsulant layer are sandwiched between a resin back sheet and a cover glass (plate glass) and firmly integrated into a laminated structure. However, it is technically difficult to efficiently separate the hard cover glass from the relatively soft solar cell cells, wiring material, encapsulant layer, and back sheet, and no progress has been made in measures to quickly separate, recover, and recycle the modules.

PRIOR ART
Reflecting this situation, it is not surprising that a number of proposals have been made to date that serve as solutions to the problem.
For example, as proposed in the following Patent Document 1 (1), a recycling method for automobile waste glass is known, which includes a type determination step of determining the type of collected automobile waste glass, an attachment removal step of removing attachments on the determined automobile waste glass, a sorting step of sorting the automobile waste glass from which the attachments have been removed based on the determined type, and a crushing step of crushing the sorted automobile waste glass into cullets, and the type of collected plate-shaped automobile waste glass is determined, attachments on the determined automobile waste glass are removed, the automobile waste glass from which the attachments have been removed is sorted based on the determined type, and the sorted automobile waste glass is crushed into cullets. This prevents the inclusion of cullets with impurities attached thereto when collecting automobile waste glass as cullets without performing chemical treatment, and improves the reuse rate of automobile waste glass.

In addition, as seen in the same Patent Document 1 (2), there is a regeneration method for reusing used silicon single crystal substrates that have been used for semiconductor element manufacturing as silicon single crystal substrates for solar cells, which includes a destruction step in which a film formed on the used silicon single crystal substrate is subjected to a physical impact to destroy the film into fine particles, a removal step in which the film destroyed in the destruction step is removed, and a chemical treatment step in which the substrate surface film after the removal step is exposed to a specified chemical agent to dissolve and remove the film, and at the same time, remove the processing distortion layer near the silicon single crystal substrate surface, and obtain a silicon single crystal substrate surface before various films are formed. Since solar cells are manufactured using single crystal silicon substrates that should otherwise be discarded, this contributes greatly to reducing the cost of solar cells and protecting the global environment, and the range of single crystal silicon substrates that can be reused is expanded, and the regeneration process itself is simple and easy, which further reduces costs and achieves global environmental conservation through recycling. A method for remanufacturing used silicon single crystal substrates has been developed.

Furthermore, as proposed in the following Patent Document 1 (3), an electrical component recovery device for a solar cell module recovers electrical components from a solar cell module in which electrical components including solar cells and their wiring materials are interposed between a glass substrate and a back sheet using a sealing material, and the device recovers as much of the electrical components as possible from a sheet-like member in which substantially all of the glass substrate has been removed from the solar cell module and the electrical components are attached to the back sheet. The device includes a supply unit that receives the sheet-like member and supplies the electrical components with the electrical components facing down, a brush roller that supports the sheet-like member supplied from the supply unit with the electrical components facing down and rotates to transport the sheet-like member downstream while scraping off the electrical components from the back sheet of the sheet-like member, and a brush roller that presses the sheet-like member relatively against the brush roller. In the electrical component recovery device, when the supply unit receives a sheet-like material and supplies the electrical component with the electrical component facing down, the sheet-like material is supported by the brush roller and is conveyed by the brush roller while being pressed against the brush roller by the pressing means. During this conveying process, due to the sliding resistance of the pressing plate, the sheet-like material is gradually conveyed and repeatedly rubbed by the brush roller, so that the electrical component, including the sealing material, is scraped off from the sheet-like material as fine powder particles. This makes it possible to mechanically and easily separate the electrical component from the sheet-like material without using chemicals, speeding up the recovery process and improving the recovery efficiency. The scraped off fine powder particles are collected and valuable metals such as silver can be extracted from them. This electrical component recovery device and recycling system for solar cell modules has already been developed.

However, the recycling method of waste glass for automobiles as shown in the former Patent Document 1 (1) involves removing adhesions (masking, silver printing, etc.) from the waste glass for automobiles using a sandblasting device that uses iron particles as an abrasive, judging and separating the glass by type based on the color and brightness of the glass, and then crushing each separated glass into cullet-like pieces. When the glass is separated from the laminated glass L, it is already crushed into cullet-like pieces, and cannot be used as a raw material for glass as it is, which increases the man-hours required for the recycling process. In addition, the method of remanufacturing used silicon single crystal substrates in Patent Document 1 (2) involves first crushing the coating layer by physical impact such as sandblasting, removing the crushed coating, and then exposing the substrate to a mixed solution of hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid to remove the coating residue and the processing distortion layer on the surface of the single crystal silicon. In the process of crushing the coating layer by physical impact such as sandblasting, the SiO ₂ insulating coating and the gate electrode disposed therein are removed from the upper part of the single crystal silicon substrate so that the coating residue and stress distortion remain on the upper surface of the single crystal silicon substrate. However, the method does not separate only the cover glass from the solar cell panel of the solar cell module so as to leave the solar cell, wiring material, and back sheet. Therefore, this technology cannot be used as it is in the recycling process of separating and crushing the cover glass from the solar cell module.

In the electrical component recovery device and recycling system for solar cell modules shown in Patent Document 1 (3), the glass substrate crushing and separating device has a pair of crushing rollers with sharp-tipped crushing teeth arranged in a matrix on their outer circumferential surfaces along the transport direction of the solar cell panel, and further has multiple pairs of pressure rollers and scraping rollers arranged in a row at the rear in the same transport direction, and the solar cell panel passed between these rollers has its cover glass crushed and is separated into crushed material including glass pieces of the glass separated from the back sheet, and a sheet-like member in which almost the entire cover glass has been removed and the electrical components are attached to the back sheet. However, since each of the crushing rollers, pressure rollers and scraping rollers comes into contact with hard glass during rotation, there was a concern that the maintenance costs of these rollers would increase.
(1) JP 2005-75052 A (2) JP 2005-123541 A (3) JP 2020-131165 A

(Issues)
As described above, previously proposed techniques for removing deposits on glass by blasting, or for crushing and removing coating layers and electrodes on the surface of single crystal silicon substrates, are insufficient for use as is in removing the cover glass of solar cell panels, in terms of the selection of blasting material and the recycling process after separation and removal. Furthermore, techniques for crushing and separating the cover glass using crushing rollers involve crushing hard glass with specially shaped crushing rollers, which raises concerns about early wear of the parts that come into strong contact with the glass, including the crushing rollers, and there is a risk that the generation of worn parts will result in high running costs. In light of existing recycling techniques for laminated glass, the present inventors have come to feel the need to develop a new technology that can remove plate glass layers more economically and efficiently.

(Objective of the Invention)
Therefore, this invention was conceived based on the determination that it would be possible to develop a new laminated glass peeling technology that would enable the cover glass to be separated and removed more economically and efficiently from the solar cell panel of a solar cell module, and that would also enable cullet-like glass to be more efficiently separated from the mixed material of crushed and recovered glass, resin, metal, etc. Development and research into this technology was quickly commenced, and after a long period of trial and error and numerous prototypes and experiments, we have now finally succeeded in realizing a laminated glass peeling device with a new structure and a new method for recycling laminated glass using the same. The configuration will be described in detail below, along with a representative embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings.

(Configuration of the invention)
As can be clearly understood from the representative embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings, the laminated glass peeling apparatus of the present invention basically comprises the following components.
That is, a blast chamber is provided to accommodate laminated glass in which a resin layer and a glass layer are laminated together so that the laminated glass can be blasted. A pressurized tank and a blast nozzle that are located outside the blast chamber and accommodate blasting material are drawn into the blast chamber. A blast mechanism having a blast hose that blasts the blasting material supplied from the pressurized tank along with compressed air from a compressed air supply source is provided from the base end of the blast nozzle. A bottom recovery mechanism is provided at the bottom of the blast chamber to automatically recover glass/blasting material mixture that includes foreign matter such as crushed glass particles, blasting material, and resin pieces that have fallen during the blasting process. The bottom recovery mechanism receives the glass/shot material mixture recovered, and the screens are arranged in a layered configuration such that the mesh size of each screen becomes gradually finer from top to bottom: a foreign object sorting chamber having a foreign object screen in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber having a large glass particle screen in the middle-upper layer, a shot material sorting chamber having a shot material screen in the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/shot material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer.Each sorting chamber is provided with a sorting mechanism equipped with a vibrating sieve having a delivery path extended in the centrifugal direction, and a shot material circulation circuit is provided connecting the shot material sorting chamber and a pressurized tank.

A laminated glass peeling device having this basic configuration is, in other words, provided with a blasting chamber that contains laminated glass in which a resin layer and a glass layer are laminated together so that they can be blasted, a pressurized tank that contains blasting material and a blasting nozzle that are located outside the blasting chamber are drawn into the blasting chamber, and a blasting mechanism having a blast hose that blasts the blasting material supplied from the pressurized tank along with compressed air from a compressed air supply source is provided from the base end of the blasting nozzle, and a bottom recovery mechanism is provided at the bottom of the blasting chamber that automatically recovers the glass/blasting material mixture that contains foreign matter such as crushed glass particles, blasting material, and resin pieces that have fallen during the blasting process, and a foreign matter sorting chamber with a foreign matter screen on the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber with a large glass particle screen on the middle and upper layers, a blasting material screen on the middle and lower layers, and a blasting material screen on the bottom layer. A shot material sorting chamber having a vibrating sieve and a small glass particle/crushed shot material particle sorting chamber at the bottom are arranged in a layered configuration, and each of the sorting chambers is provided with a sorting mechanism having a vibrating sieve with a delivery path extending in the centrifugal direction, and a shot material circulation circuit is provided which connects the shot material sorting chamber to the pressurized tank and circulates and supplies the shot material remaining in the shot material sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism and the mixed shot material containing crushed glass particles of a particle size equivalent to that of the shot material to the pressurized tank of the blasting mechanism, and the shot material The mixed blast material is supplied to the pressurized tank of the blasting mechanism through a circulation circuit and blasted onto the laminated glass through the blasting mechanism's blast hose. The materials remaining in the foreign object sorting chamber, large glass particle sorting chamber, and small glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism are separated into glass material, blast material material, and foreign objects such as resin of each particle size, and each can be recycled. This laminated glass peeling device is configured in such a way that it can be reused.

(Related invention 1)
In relation to the laminated glass peeling apparatus described above, the present invention also includes a method for recycling laminated glass utilizing the same.
That is, a blasting mechanism blasts compressed air and blast materials at a laminated glass placed in a blasting chamber, crushing and peeling off only the glass, and the recovered glass particles are fed into the foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer of a vibrating sieve as a sorting mechanism having a foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber in the middle-upper layer, a blasting material sorting chamber in the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/blasting material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer. The recovered materials, including resin particles, metal particles and crushed glass particles, which remain in each of the glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chambers are recycled for their respective uses, and the blast material which remains in the middle/lower blast material sorting chamber, and a mixed blast material of crushed glass particles having the same particle size as the blast material, are circulated and supplied to the blast mechanism and used as blast material. This is a method for recycling laminated glass, which utilizes any one of the laminated glass peeling devices described above and which forms the basis of the present invention.

As described above, the laminated glass peeling device of this invention, unlike conventional devices, has a unique and characteristic configuration as described above, which makes it possible to more economically and efficiently separate and remove only the plate-shaped glass layer from the laminated glass, and also provides a new laminated glass peeling technology that can more efficiently sort and separate cullet-shaped glass from mixed materials such as crushed, separated, and recovered glass, resin, and metal.The vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism has four upper and lower sorting chambers, a foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber in the middle and upper layers, and a small glass particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer. The glass, resin, metal, and other mixed materials that remain in the glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chamber are automatically separated into their respective particle sizes, significantly increasing the efficiency of the subsequent recycling process. Furthermore, the glass/blast material mixed materials that remain in the blast material sorting chamber, the third from the top of the four sorting chambers above and below the vibrating sieve in the sorting mechanism, are circulated to the pressurized tank of the blast mechanism via the blast material circulation circuit, resulting in a significant reduction in the amount of blast material used and an outstanding feature of achieving significantly more economical operation.

In addition, a bottom recovery mechanism is provided, consisting of a screw conveyor provided at the bottom of the blast chamber and a funnel-shaped collection wall inclined from the inner peripheral wall of the blast chamber toward the screw conveyor, and a bucket elevator is provided on the outside of the rear wall of the blast chamber to transport upward the glass/projection material mixture collected by the bottom recovery mechanism, and a vertical transport mechanism having a sealed separator to supply the glass/projection material mixture to the sorting mechanism. This is significantly advantageous for using a vibrating screen in the sorting mechanism, and makes it possible to realize more efficient automatic sorting.

Furthermore, if the front wall of the blasting chamber is provided with a pair of left and right work holes and a viewing window with gloves for both hands, and a pedal switch with a pedal for operating the blasting mechanism on and off and a pedal for operating the conveyor belt of the work holding mechanism on and off, the blasting work can be performed by an operator. If an automatic work machine is installed in the blasting chamber and an integrated control device is installed that automatically controls the automatic work machine, the blasting and stopping operation of the blasting mechanism, and the sending and stopping operation of the conveyor belt of the work holding mechanism, an operator is not required, and the blasting process on laminated glass can be performed automatically, more efficiently and more economically.

A camera connected to the integrated control device is installed at least either inside or outside the blasting chamber to capture images of the peeled state of the glass layer of the laminated glass on the work holding mechanism, and the integrated control device automatically feedback controls the projection and stopping operations of compressed air and projection material to the projection nozzle, the operation of the automatic work machine, and the feed and stop operations of the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism based on the image information from the camera. This makes it possible to thoroughly remove the glass layer of the laminated glass with greater precision, and does not require post-processing such as removing glass pieces that remain on the surface of the laminated glass due to unevenness in the blasting process, making it possible to achieve processing equivalent to that done manually by an operator.

In a case where the blast material has a diameter of 0.8 to 1.2 mm, and the sorting mechanism has a foreign object sorting screen in the foreign object sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve with a 5 mesh screen, a large glass particle sorting screen in the large glass particle sorting chamber of the same vibrating sieve with a 12 mesh screen, and a blast material sorting screen in the blast material sorting chamber of the same vibrating sieve with a 20 mesh screen, the resin pieces remaining in the foreign object sorting chamber can be recycled as a resin resource, the large glass particles remaining in the large glass particle sorting chamber can be recycled as cullet for glass products, and the large glass particles remaining in the blast material sorting chamber can be recycled as cullet for glass products. The retained shot material and crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material can be circulated to the blasting mechanism as mixed shot material and reused. Furthermore, the mixture of small glass particles and crushed shot material particles retained in the small glass particles/crushed shot material particle sorting chamber can be separated into their respective components, allowing the small glass particles to be recycled as a raw material for glass wool, etc., and the crushed shot material particles to be recycled as a raw material for metals, which significantly increases the efficiency of the recycling process of laminated glass.

Furthermore, if the shot material is made of a magnetic material, and a small glass particle sorting mechanism having a magnetic separator that separates small glass particles and crushed shot material particles is provided at the discharge end of the discharge path extending from the small glass particle/crushed shot material particle sorting chamber at the bottom layer of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism, the small glass particles and crushed shot material particles are automatically separated and discharged from the small glass particle sorting mechanism, so that each component can be recycled as is.

According to the laminated glass recycling method using the laminated glass peeling device of the present invention, the recovered material, including resin particles, metal particles, and crushed glass particles, is sorted by particle size by the vibrating sieve having four upper and lower sorting chambers of the sorting mechanism, and the shot material remaining in the third upper shot material sorting chamber and the mixed shot material of crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material are circulated and supplied to the blasting mechanism, which prevents the decrease of the shot material, making it possible to operate more economically. In addition, the mixture of small glass particles and crushed shot material particles remaining in the small glass particle/crushed shot material sorting chamber at the bottom is fed into the magnet separator of the small glass particle sorting mechanism, where it is separated into small glass particles and crushed shot material particles and recycled for their respective uses. The small glass particles can be reused as raw materials for glass products, and the crushed shot material particles can be reused as raw materials for metal products, which significantly increases the work efficiency of the recycling process.

The best or desirable mode for carrying out the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration will now be described.
The blasting chamber must be capable of accommodating the laminated glass to be treated so that it can be blasted, and must have the function of accommodating the laminated glass inside and allowing it to be removed to the outside. The blasting chamber must be surrounded by walls having sufficient strength to prevent the projection material, glass fragments and other debris scattered during the blasting treatment from accidentally leaking out when they collide with the chamber. The bottom of the chamber must have a bottom recovery mechanism for automatically recovering the glass/projection material mixture containing the crushed glass particles, projection material and resin fragments that have fallen during the blasting treatment. Furthermore, as shown in the examples described later, it is preferable that the inner peripheral wall from which the projection material and glass fragments are scattered during the operation is provided with a rubber lining made of abrasion-resistant rubber, or that the chamber can be cleaned to prevent the powdery debris generated during the blasting treatment from leaking out and to ensure visibility during the operation.

As shown in the examples described later, the blasting chamber is preferably provided with an opening and closing door on its peripheral wall to allow the laminated glass to enter and exit, a work hole fitted with gloves for both hands, and a viewing window for work, and the top wall is provided with an air purification mechanism with a function of separating and removing powdery material, and an intake and exhaust port is opened to enable at least one of forced ventilation and circulation within the blasting chamber, and further, a work light and a blast hose with a projection nozzle are suspended from it. The bottom is preferably provided with a funnel-shaped collection wall, and a screw conveyor of the bottom recovery mechanism is preferably installed horizontally at the lower end of the funnel-shaped collection wall. The screw conveyor can be replaced with a belt conveyor, or it can be replaced with a trough-shaped passage arranged with a downward slope from one end to the other end, so that the glass/projection material mixture slides down by its own weight and is automatically transported.

The work holding mechanism has the function of supporting the laminated glass to be treated in a fixed position within the blast chamber, and can be, for example, a support table, support frame, or jig that supports the laminated glass in a vertical, horizontal, or inclined position, or a belt conveyor that can support the laminated glass in a horizontal position, and a drive unit that drives the belt conveyor to send it toward a worker outside the blast chamber performing the blast treatment or toward an automatic work machine such as a robot arm, and the belt conveyor is provided with a temporary fixing mechanism that allows the laminated glass to be temporarily fixed to the belt via suction cups, or a protrusion, claw, protrusion, etc. As shown in the examples described later, the belt surface of the belt conveyor is provided with at least one of left and right lateral slippage prevention mechanisms of left and right protrusions or left and right protrusion rows that prevent the laminated glass LG from slipping sideways in the traveling direction. Furthermore, the belt surface of the belt conveyor 30 can be provided with a vertical slippage prevention mechanism of either transverse protrusions perpendicular to the traveling direction or protrusion rows aligned in the same direction at a total of two locations, each half of a revolution, to prevent the laminated glass LG from slipping backward in the traveling direction.

The blasting mechanism supplies compressed air and blasting material to a blast hose in the blasting chamber to enable blasting. It is installed outside the blasting chamber and has a pressurized tank that supplies the blasting material to the blast hose along with compressed air supplied from a compressed air supply source. Except when new blasting material is being added, the blasting material is a mixture of blasting material selected by the blasting material screen of the sorting mechanism and crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the blasting material.

The sorting mechanism receives the glass/shot material mixture generated and collected in the blast chamber, distributes it into four particle size ranges: maximum, medium-large, medium-small, and minimum, and circulates the shot material classified into the medium-small particle size range, and the mixed shot material containing crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material, to the pressurized tank. The mesh of each screen becomes gradually finer from top to bottom, with a foreign matter sorting chamber having a foreign matter screen in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber having a large glass particle screen in the middle-upper layer, a shot material sorting chamber having a shot material screen in the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/shot material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer arranged in layers, and each of these sorting chambers must be equipped with a vibrating sieve with a delivery path extended in the centrifugal direction.

The shot material circulation circuit must share the function of circulating and supplying to the pressurized tank the shot material that has remained in the shot material sorting chamber having the shot material screen of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism, and the mixed shot material that contains crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material, and must be a piping line connecting the shot material sorting chamber and the pressurized tank. As shown in the examples described later, it is preferable to have a piping line with a downward slope that connects the shot material sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve installed at a high position to the pressurized tank installed at a lower position. If such transportation using gravity is difficult, it can be replaced with a forced transportation mechanism such as a conveyor or elevator.

The small glass particle sorting mechanism has the function of automatically separating the mixed particles of small glass particles and crushed shot material particles remaining in the small glass particle/crushed shot material particle sorting chamber at the bottom layer of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism into small glass particles and crushed shot material particles, and can be a centrifuge capable of separation based on difference in specific gravity, or can have a magnetic separator, as shown in the examples described later.
The vertical transport mechanism has the function of transporting upward the glass/blast material mixture, which is a mixture of crushed glass particles, blast material, resin fragments, and other foreign matter collected by the bottom recovery mechanism at the bottom of the blast chamber, and supplying it to the foreign matter sorting chamber at the top level of the vibrating sieve in the sorting mechanism.The vertical transport mechanism can be a belt conveyor with an upward slope, or, as shown in the examples described below, it can be a bucket elevator with a sealed separator at the top end.

The pedal switch has the function of allowing a worker positioned outside the blast chamber to stop the blast material being sprayed from the spray nozzle through the blast hose and to operate the spray when the worker inserts both hands into the gloves in the work hole and operates the spray nozzle inside the blast chamber, and also has the function of allowing the belt conveyor to be moved forward and stopped when the work holding mechanism is a belt conveyor, and should be located in a position that is easy for the worker to operate, such as below the work hole or observation window in the blast chamber.

The shot material is collided with the glass layer of the laminated glass to be blasted, and the impact force serves to break and separate the glass layer. The shot material should be made of particles made of a material that is hard and has a large specific gravity so that it can efficiently break the glass layer. More specifically, it is preferable for the shot material to be cylindrical or spherical and be of a particle size that can pass through the large glass particle sorting screen in the large glass particle sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve but cannot pass through the shot material sorting screen in the shot material sorting chamber. More specifically, it should be cylindrical or spherical steel, iron, stainless steel, titanium alloy, magnesium alloy, etc., with a particle size of 0.841 mm, which cannot pass through a 20 mesh, or 1.68 mm, which can pass through a 12 mesh. It is preferable to use at least one of metals such as zinc alloy, copper alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., or at least one of glass and various ceramics. For example, it is preferable to use one with a new Mohs hardness of 2 to 14 and a specific gravity of 2.5 to 8.8. More specifically, as shown in the examples described below, if it is made of stainless steel with a particle size of 0.8 to 1.2 mm, a magnetic cylindrical shape, a new Mohs hardness of 6, and a specific gravity of 7.6, it is harder than zinc, has better rigidity than steel, is less likely to break, has excellent durability, has a large specific gravity, and has circular corners on both ends, so that stress caused by collision with the glass layer is easily concentrated, and it can be crushed more effectively.

The laminated glass peeling device of this invention can be one in which an operator separates the glass layers of laminated glass while operating the projection nozzle of the blast hose and the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism, and can also be one in which a horizontal guide rail that crosses the feed direction of the belt conveyor as a work holding mechanism, which is installed with its top surface horizontal so that the laminated glass is laid flat in the blast chamber, is suspended above the belt conveyor, and can move back and forth along the guide rail, holding the projection nozzle of the blast hose facing downward, and when the feed direction of the belt conveyor is the X direction, the head of the plotter has a projection nozzle and moves in the Y direction of the guide rail (a direction crossing the X direction). Also, the automatic work machine can be one in which both ends of the guide rail of the plotter can move freely back and forth in the feed direction along both sides facing each other in a direction perpendicular to the feed direction of the belt conveyor as the work holding mechanism, and the head moves in the X-Y direction of the plane, and the belt conveyor as the work holding mechanism can be replaced with a support stand for laminated glass.

Furthermore, as shown in the examples described below, the laminated glass peeling device of this invention can be configured so that an automatic working machine such as a robot arm that automatically operates the projection nozzle of the blast hose in three dimensions is provided inside the blasting chamber, and furthermore, a camera connected to an integrated control device is provided at least either inside or outside the blasting chamber to photograph the peeling state of the glass layer of the laminated glass on the work holding mechanism, and the integrated control device automatically feedback controls the projection and stopping operation of compressed air and projection material to the projection nozzle, the operation of an automatic working machine such as a robot arm, and the feed and stop operation of the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism based on the image information from the camera.

The laminated glass to be subjected to the blasting treatment can be said to be a glass layer such as plate glass laminated and attached to a resin layer such as a resin sheet, and integrated with the resin layer. It can be a solar cell panel from which exterior parts such as the metal frame and terminal box of a solar cell module have been removed, or laminated glass such as security glass or automobile windshield in which an intermediate layer such as a resin film is sandwiched between glass plates.
The structure of the present invention will be described in detail below together with a representative embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings.

The drawings show several representative embodiments that embody the technical concept of the laminated glass peeling apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a left side view showing the laminated glass peeling device. FIG. 2 is a front view showing the laminated glass peeling device. FIG. 2 is a right side view showing the laminated glass peeling device. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the laminated glass peeling device. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the laminated glass peeling device. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a pressurized tank. 4 is a front view showing a vibrating screen of the sorting mechanism in partial cross section. FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a vibrating screen of the sorting mechanism. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the outer wall of a foreign matter sorting chamber in the uppermost layer of a vibrating screen of a sorting mechanism. FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a magnetic separator serving as a small glass particle sorting mechanism. FIG. 4 is a right side view showing the magnetic separator. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a magnetic separator. FIG. 2 is a right side view showing the laminated glass peeling apparatus provided with a robot arm as an automatic work machine. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a blast treatment of a solar cell panel has started. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a solar cell panel in a state where a blast treatment has progressed halfway. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cross section of the solar cell module. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cross section of the solar cell panel with the metal frame and terminal box removed. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a cross section of the backsheet with the cover glass removed from the solar panel. 1 is a flowchart showing a process for removing glass from a solar panel. 1 is a photographic image showing foreign objects such as large resin pieces remaining in the top foreign object sorting chamber of a vibrating sieve. 1 is a photographic image showing large glass particles remaining in a large glass particle sorting chamber in the upper middle layer of a vibrating sieve. 1 is a photographic image showing shot material remaining in a shot material sorting chamber in the lower middle layer of a vibrating screen, and shot material mixed with crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material. 1 is a photographic image showing small glass particles separated by a magnetic separator of a small glass particle separation mechanism. 1 is a photographic image showing crushed projectile particles separated by a magnetic separator of a small glass particle separation mechanism.

The example shown in Figures 1 to 12 shows a representative embodiment of a laminated glass peeling device of this invention, in which a blasting chamber 2 for accommodating laminated glass LG is provided, a pressurized tank 40 for blasting material and a blasting mechanism 4 having a blast nozzle PN disposed inside the blasting chamber 2 are provided outside the blasting chamber 2, a bottom recovery mechanism 6 for recovering a glass/blasting material mixture is provided at the bottom 20 of the blasting chamber 2, a sorting mechanism 7 is provided with a vibrating sieve 70 in which a foreign matter sorting chamber FR is located at the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber LR is located at the middle-upper layer, a shot material sorting chamber PR is located at the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/shot material crushed particle sorting chamber MR is located at the bottom layer, and a shot material circulation circuit 8 is provided connecting the shot material sorting chamber PR and the pressurized tank 40.

As can be clearly seen from each of these figures, the laminated glass peeling device 1 of this invention has a blast chamber 2 at a height (e.g., 750 mm to 1160 mm) that allows an operator to easily perform blasting work while standing, and a belt conveyor 30 of a work holding mechanism 3 set to dimensions that allow the solar cell panel SP, which is the laminated glass LG to be blasted, to be laid flat with its long sides facing left and right and its short sides facing front and back, is installed so that it can be moved in a horizontal position and forward and backward, and its drive shaft penetrates the left side wall 23 of the blast chamber 2 via a bearing structure that can ensure airtightness, such as a seal bearing, extends to the outside, and is connected to a drive unit DM provided on the outside of the left side wall 23, where it is rotated.

An up-slide type opening and closing door 25 is provided on the right side wall 24 of the blast chamber 2 with a sealed structure, which allows the solar panel SP to be brought in and out onto the belt conveyor 30 from the outside. A funnel-shaped collection wall 60 is provided in the area from below the belt conveyor 30 on the front wall 26 and the left and right side walls 23, 24 of the blast chamber 2 to the bottom 20 of the blast chamber 2. Maintenance doors MD, MD are provided on the funnel-shaped collection wall 60 with a sealed structure, corresponding to the area below the opening and closing door 25 on the right side wall 24. Between the inner lower ends of the funnel-shaped collecting walls 60, a punched metal 61 made of either mesh 2 or mesh 4 is arranged in the form of a horizontal plate, and directly below the punched metal 61, a gutter-shaped passage 63 is provided extending in the front-to-rear direction of the blasting chamber 2. Within the gutter-shaped passage 63, a screw conveyor 60 is provided in a horizontal position with a feed direction set from the front to the rear of the blasting chamber 2. A drive motor DM arranged below the collecting walls 61 of the front wall 26 is connected to the screw conveyor 60 to form the bottom recovery mechanism 6.

The inner wall of the ceiling wall 27 of the blast chamber 2 is hung with inclined lighting lamps LT, LT so as to illuminate the back wall 22 side. A ventilation intake port VP is opened facing downward at a position on the front wall 26 of the blast chamber 2 near the ceiling wall 27, while an exhaust suction port EP is opened facing downward at a position on the back wall 22 near the ceiling wall 27. The exhaust port facing upward of the exhaust suction port EP is connected in a sealed manner so as to cross horizontally in the middle of the sealed elevator box EB of the vertical transport mechanism VT described later, which is installed on the outside of the blast chamber 2, and is further connected to a natural drop type or cycle type elevator installed next to the elevator box EB via a piping path that sucks the air upward. It is connected in a sealed manner to a dust collector DC, which is a forced exhaust type such as a 100-millimeter type, and starts and stops together with the blast mechanism 4. An air purification mechanism AP is provided, which consists of a ventilation intake VP, an exhaust suction port EP, and a dust collector DC. Clean outside air is taken into the blast chamber 2 through the ventilation intake VP, making it possible to clearly see the solar panel SP on the work holding mechanism 3 during blast processing work, and air containing fine particulate matter in the blast chamber 2 is sucked out through the exhaust suction port EP. Furthermore, air containing fine particulate matter suspended in the elevator box EB is also sucked in, and the dust collector DC separates and collects the fine particulate matter contained in the air, and releases clean air to the outside.

A total of four work holes 28, 28, ... are opened in the front wall 26 of the blasting chamber 2, slightly higher than the belt conveyor 30, at the height of the left and right arms of the worker, lined up horizontally so that the left and right hands can be inserted, respectively, and left and right work gloves are attached to the left and right work holes 28, 28, ... so that they extend into the blasting chamber 2, respectively. Furthermore, directly above the work holes 28, 28, ..., the front wall 26 is recessed toward the inside of the blasting chamber 2 and is inclined slightly diagonally downward, and has a total of three observation windows, one in the center and one on the left and right. PW, PW, PW are made of glass, and the projection nozzle PN of the blast hose BH of the blast mechanism 4, which is pulled in from the outside of the blast chamber 2, hangs down from the ceiling wall 27 above the sight windows PW, PW, PW in the blast chamber 2, above the belt conveyor 30 in the blast chamber 2, within reach of the work gloves. Also, an operation panel CP that can operate each part of the laminated glass peeling device 1 is provided on the upper left outer side of the front wall 26 of the blast chamber 2.

A vertical transport mechanism VT is arranged on the outside of the back wall 22 of the blast chamber 2 at a position corresponding to the discharge end of the screw conveyor 62 of the bottom recovery mechanism 6. The vertical transport mechanism VT is equipped with a bucket elevator BE that vertically transports the glass/projection material mixture sent out from the screw conveyor 62 to a height of about 3600 mm above the ground, and an elevator box EB that hermetically surrounds the bucket elevator BE. A sealed separator SR is arranged at the top end of the elevator box EB, and a drive motor DM that drives the bucket elevator BE is provided on the outside of the separator SR.

As shown in Figures 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 to 9, the downward-facing tip of the separator SR of the vertical conveying mechanism VT is connected to the supply port ST at the upper end of the round out-ring type vibrating sieve 70 of the sorting mechanism 7, which is installed within a height range of approximately 2705 mm to 1840 mm above the ground. The vibrating sieve 70 is rotatably supported by a drive spring DS, and a vibrating body VB with unbalanced weights UW, UW arranged above and below and a base PD incorporating a drive motor DM for rotating the vibrating body VB are installed on a stand MT. On the base PD, from the bottom, a small glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chamber MR at the bottom, a blast material crushing particle sorting chamber DM at the middle and lower layers are installed. The sorting chamber PR, the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle and upper layer, and the foreign matter sorting chamber FR in the top layer are arranged in a stacked manner for a total of four layers, and the foreign matter sorting chamber FR in the top layer has the supply port ST in the upper center and a foreign matter sorting screen FS (5 mesh) at the bottom, the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle and upper layer has a large glass particle sorting screen LS (12 mesh) at its bottom, and the projection material sorting chamber PR in the middle and lower layer has a projection material sorting screen MS (20 mesh) at its bottom, and each of the sorting chambers FR, LR, PR, MR has a delivery path DP, DP, ... extending in the centrifugal direction.

As shown in Figures 4 to 7, the discharge path DP extending from the middle-lower projection material sorting chamber PR is connected through the projection material circulation circuit 8 to a hopper section 41 located 1,850 mm above the ground of a direct pressure pressurized tank 40 installed on a support leg, and the pressurized tank 40 is provided with a pressure reducing valve 42 at a height position slightly lower than the hopper section 41. In addition, the lower end opening of the hopper section 41 is provided with a valve control pipe 43 that extends from a compressed air supply source 5 installed outside the pressurized tank 40, the middle part of which penetrates the peripheral wall of the pressurized tank 40 and is drawn into the pressurized tank 40. A direct pressure valve 44 is provided, and the lower end of the pressurized tank 40 is connected to a projection material introduction hole 46 opened in the middle of a high-pressure air pipe 45 that branches off from the middle of the valve control pipe 43 and connects to a blast hose BH, via a projection material amount adjustment valve 47. The pressurized tank 40 is filled from the hopper section 41 with a plurality of cylindrical projection materials PM made of magnetic stainless steel with a particle size of 0.8 to 1.2 mm, more specifically, a particle size of 9 mm, new Mohs hardness 6 (Vickers hardness 400 to 600 HV), and specific gravity of 7.6.

A pedal switch (not shown) with two operating pedals arranged side by side, one for operating a switch (not shown) of the drive unit DM of the belt conveyor 30 of the workpiece holding mechanism 3, and the other for operating an electromagnetic valve (not shown) provided in the middle of the high-pressure air pipe 45 of the blasting mechanism 4, is located on the outside of the front wall 26 of the blasting chamber 2, at a position under the feet of the worker performing the blasting work.

As shown in Figures 1, 4, 5, 10 to 12, the discharge path DP extending from the small glass particle/crushed projection material particle sorting chamber MR at the bottom layer is connected to a hopper 92 that opens at the upper end of a separator box 91 of a magnetic separator 90 of a small glass particle sorting mechanism 9. Inside the separator box 91, a rotating drum 93 having a cylindrical peripheral wall is supported by a horizontal shaft at a position directly below the hopper 92. Inside the rotating drum 93, at least one of a permanent magnet or an electromagnet is fixedly built in between 6 o'clock and 12 o'clock when viewed from the front in Figure 10. A driven pulley 94 is provided at the end of the horizontal shaft of the rotating drum 93 that extends outside the separator box 91, and the rotating drum 93 is in the horizontal direction. A transmission belt 96 is wound around the driven pulley 95 of the drive motor DM, which is installed outside the separator box 91, and the rotating drum 93 is rotated counterclockwise. Furthermore, a speed control handle 97 protrudes from the axis of the driven pulley 94 to the outside of the separator box 91. The speed control handle 97 changes the winding diameter of the driven pulley 94 to adjust the rotation speed of the rotating drum 93. Directly below the rotating drum 93, a non-magnetic material guide path 98 is provided, which branches off from the 6 o'clock position directly below the rotating drum 93 to the 9 o'clock position, where small non-magnetic glass particles fall, and a magnetic material guide path 99 is provided, which branches off from the 6 o'clock position directly below the rotating drum 93 to the 3 o'clock position, where magnetic projectile crushing particles fall.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, 4 to 7, and 10, below the discharge end of the discharge path DP of the foreign matter sorting chamber FR in the top layer of the vibrating sieve 70 of the sorting mechanism 7, a foreign matter recovery bucket (not shown) is arranged to accommodate glass fragments, plastic fragments, metal fragments, etc. with a diameter of more than 4 mm that did not pass through the foreign matter sorting screen FS (5 mesh), and below the discharge end of the discharge path DP of the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle-upper layer, a large glass particle recovery bucket (not shown) is arranged to accommodate large glass particles with a diameter of 4 mm or smaller and larger than 1.68 mm that did not pass through the large glass particle sorting screen LS (12 mesh), and below the discharge end of the discharge path DP of the projection material sorting chamber PR in the middle-lower layer, as described above. It is connected to the shot material circulation circuit 8 that is connected to the hopper portion 41 of the pressurized tank 40, and supplies a mixture of glass particles and shot material that have a diameter of 1.68 mm or less, but are greater than 0.84 mm and are approximately the same size as the shot material (diameter 0.8 to 1.2 mm), which have not passed through the shot material sorting screen MS (20 mesh). Furthermore, the hopper 92 of the magnetic separator 90 of the small glass particle sorting mechanism 9 is connected to the discharge end of the discharge path DP of the small glass particle/crushed shot material sorting chamber MR in the lowest layer, and a bucket for non-magnetic particles is arranged below the non-magnetic material guide path 98 of the magnetic separator 90, and a bucket for magnetic particles is arranged below the magnetic material guide path 99.

(Functions and Effects of Example 1)
As shown in Figures 1 to 12 and 14 to 19, the laminated glass peeling apparatus 1 of the present invention having the above-mentioned configuration can be used in a blasting treatment method for removing (Figure 18) a cover glass CG (glass sheet) as a glass layer from a solar cell panel SP (Figure 17) as laminated glass from which the terminal box TB and metal frame MF have been removed from a discarded solar cell module SM (Figure 16), and the work steps thereof will be described below.

The worker opens the opening and closing door 25 of the blasting chamber 2, places the solar cell panel SP flat on the belt conveyor 30 with the cover glass CG facing upward (a), closes the opening and closing door 25 (b), and then moves to the front wall 26 of the blasting chamber 2, inserts both hands through the left and right gloves through the left and right work holes 28, 28 (c), grasps the projection nozzle PN with the dominant hand (d), depresses the pedal for projecting/stopping the pedal switch (e), sends compressed air into the pressure tank 40, and sprays the projection material from the projection nozzle PN (f), and, from the side closest to the worker (front wall 26 of the blasting chamber 2), operates the projection nozzle PN as shown by the solid arrows in Figures 14 and 15, projecting the projection material within the circular outline range of the thin two-dot chain line, while crushing only the cover glass CG on the surface and blowing it so as to leave the sealing material layer EC and the solar cell SC, wiring material WM and back sheet BS underneath the sealing material layer EC. Skip (g), the cover glass CG (hatched area in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15) is removed in sequence from the front to the back of the worker, while the feed/stop pedal of the pedal switch is operated to drive the belt conveyor 30, and the area in which the cover glass CG of the solar cell panel SP has been removed and only the sealing material layer EC, solar cell SC, wiring material WM, and flexible parts such as the back sheet BS are left is sent to the bottom of the belt conveyor 30, and the blasting process is continued so that the area is either in an inverted state (with the back sheet on top) or in a rolled state and sent to the bottom of the belt conveyor 30. After the blasting process is completed, the belt conveyor 30 and the blasting mechanism 4 are stopped, the opening and closing door 25 is opened, and the back sheet BS with the sealing material layer EC, solar cell SC, and wiring material WM still intact is taken out of the blasting chamber 2.

Of the projection material, crushed glass particles, and resin particles on the surface of the sealing material EC that are scattered into the blasting chamber 2 during the blasting process, the finest crushed particles will fly up into the air inside the blasting chamber 2, but they will be replaced by clean outside air sucked in through the ventilation intake VP of the air purification mechanism AP and sucked out through the exhaust suction outlet EP, cleaning the blasting chamber 2 and maintaining good visibility through the peephole PW, and also preventing fine particles from leaking out of the blasting chamber 2 when the opening and closing door 25 is opened. Furthermore, the air containing the finest particles sucked out from the exhaust suction port EP merges with the air containing fine particles in the elevator box EB of the vertical conveying mechanism VT and is forcibly sucked into the dust collector DC, where the fine particles in the air are collected and only purified air is released outside the dust collector DC. This prevents the accumulation of fine particles in the various operating parts of the vertical conveying mechanism VT and the bottom recovery mechanism 6 connected to it, prevents mechanical trouble from occurring, maintains a clean working environment, and improves safety and work efficiency.

In addition, the glass-projectile mixture, which does not rise into the blast chamber 2 but falls downward, including projectiles, crushed glass particles, sealing material particles EC, metal particles, and a mixture of sealing material fragments and metal fragments, passes through holes in the punched metal 61 at the bottom of the left side wall 23, right side wall 24, and front wall 26, falls along the funnel-shaped collection wall 60 into the gutter-shaped passage 63, and is transported to the outside of the back wall 22 by the rotational drive of the screw conveyor 62, which is driven in conjunction with the start of the blast mechanism 4, and is automatically pumped up into the elevator boxes EB, EB, ... of the bucket elevator BE of the vertical transport mechanism VT (h).

The glass/projection material/sealing material mixture that has risen to the separator SR is supplied to the top foreign matter sorting chamber FR of the vibrating sieve 70 of the sorting mechanism 7 shown in Figures 7 to 9 through the separator SR (j), where it is sorted by the foreign matter sorting screen FS (5 mesh). Large pieces of sealing material and the like that do not pass through the foreign matter sorting screen FS (5 mesh) and remain in the top foreign matter sorting chamber FR are dropped outside the top foreign matter sorting chamber FR through the delivery path DP and are collected in a collection bucket installed below in the state shown in Figure 20.

The glass/projection material mixture that passes through the foreign object sorting screen FS (5 mesh) from the top-level foreign object sorting chamber FR and falls into the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle-upper level directly below is vibrated on the large glass particle sorting screen LS (12 mesh). The large glass particles that do not pass through the large glass particle sorting screen LS and remain in the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle-upper level fall outside the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the middle-upper level through the discharge path DP and are collected in a recovery bucket installed below in the state shown in Figure 21 (k).
The glass/projection material mixture that passes through the large glass particle sorting screen LS (12 mesh) from within the large glass particle sorting chamber LR in the upper middle layer and falls into the projection material sorting chamber PR in the lower middle layer directly below is vibrated on the projection material sorting screen MS (20 mesh), and the glass/projection material mixture that does not pass through the projection material sorting screen MS and has approximately the same diameter as the projection material left in the projection material sorting chamber PR in the lower middle layer becomes in the state shown in Figure 22, is sent out of the projection material sorting chamber PR to the lower middle layer through the delivery path DP, and is circulated and supplied to the pressurized tank 40 through the projection material circulation circuit 8 shown in Figures 4 and 5 (m).

As shown in Figures 1, 4, 5, 10 to 12, the glass/crushed projectile particle mixture, which is finer than the projectile material, passes through the projectile material sorting screen MS (20 mesh) from the projectile sorting chamber PR into the small glass particle/crushed projectile material sorting chamber MR in the lower middle layer and falls directly below into the small glass particle/crushed projectile material sorting chamber MR. The mixture is dropped into the hopper 92 of the magnet separator 90 of the small glass particle sorting mechanism 9 through the discharge path DP, and the magnetic crushed projectile material particles, which are among the fine glass/projectile material mixture in contact with the peripheral wall surface of the rotating drum 93, are dropped into the hopper 92 of the magnet separator 90 of the small glass particle sorting mechanism 9. The non-magnetic fine glass particles and fine sealing material particles are attracted to the permanent magnets (or electromagnets) in the rotating drum 93, fall through the non-magnetic material guide path 98, and are collected in the recovery bucket installed below in the state shown in FIG. 23, while the magnetic projectile crushed particles are released from the attraction force of the permanent magnets (or electromagnets) at a position past the non-magnetic material guide path 98, fall through the magnetic material guide path 99, and are collected in the recovery bucket installed below in the state shown in FIG. 24 (n).

FIG. 13 shows another representative embodiment of the laminated glass peeling apparatus of the present invention, in which an automatic work machine RA is installed in a blast chamber 2, a projection nozzle PN of a blast hose BH drawn into the blast chamber 2 from outside the blast chamber 2 is provided on the automatic work machine RA, and the blast chamber 2 is located below the automatic work machine RA and above the bottom recovery mechanism 6 in the blast chamber 2. A workpiece holding mechanism 3 having a belt conveyor 30 that can feed the laminated glass SP in a horizontal position from the back wall 22 side of the blast chamber 2 toward the front wall 26 side of the blast chamber 2 and a drive unit DM that drives the belt conveyor 30 is provided in the blast chamber 2, and an integrated control device CD is provided for automatically controlling the projection and stopping of compressed air and blast material to the projection nozzle PN, the control of the automatic work machine RA, and the feeding and stopping of the belt conveyor 30 of the workpiece holding mechanism 3.
The laminated glass peeling apparatus 1 of this embodiment has the same basic configuration as that of the first embodiment, so only the different parts of the configuration will be described below.

The most characteristic automatic work machine RA in this embodiment is a robot arm RA that is suspended from the ceiling wall 27 near the front wall 26 of the blast chamber 2 and has a projection nozzle PN at its tip that can move in three dimensions. A camera CM connected to the integrated control device CD is provided at least either inside or outside the blast chamber 2, and photographs the peeling state of the cover glass CG as the glass layer of the solar cell panel SP (see Figures 14 to 18) as laminated glass on the belt conveyor 30. Based on the image information from the camera CM, the integrated control device CD controls the projection and stopping of compressed air and projection material PM to the projection nozzle PN, and the operation of the robot arm RA. , and the feed and stop operation of the belt conveyor 30 is automatically feedback-controlled. Furthermore, the belt surface of the belt conveyor 30 is provided with at least one of left and right lateral slippage prevention mechanisms of paired parallel left and right protrusions or left and right protrusion rows to prevent inadvertent lateral slippage in the direction of travel of the mounted solar cell panel SP. Furthermore, the belt surface of the belt conveyor 30 is provided with transverse protrusions perpendicular to the direction of travel or vertical slippage prevention mechanisms of one of the protrusion rows aligned in the same direction at two locations, each half of a revolution, to prevent inadvertent reversal of the solar cell panel SP in the direction of travel.

(Functions and Effects of Example 2)
In the laminated glass peeling apparatus 1 of the present invention, as shown in Figs. 13 to 18, when an operator turns on the main power supply of the operation panel CP, the integrated control device CD is started up. The operator then opens the opening/closing door 25, lays the solar cell panel SP as the laminated glass flat on the belt conveyor 30 of the work holding mechanism 3 so that its left and right ends engage with the left and right lateral displacement prevention mechanisms and its rear end, which faces the rear wall 22 of the blast chamber 2, engages with the vertical displacement prevention mechanism, closes the opening/closing door 25, and performs a start-up operation from the operation panel CP. The integrated control device CD then receives a video signal from the camera CM. 14 and 15, the integrated control device CD controls the robot arm RA (projection nozzle PN) to aim at a corner of the solar panel SP and start projection. The integrated control device CD recognizes the remaining range of the cover glass CG based on the video signal from the camera CM, and while taking into account the feed amount of the belt conveyor 30, the robot arm RA (projection nozzle PN) advances to project the blast material thoroughly, as shown by the solid arrows in FIGS. 14 and 15, and projects the blast material toward the back wall 22 of the blast chamber 2 as shown by the hollow arrows in FIGS. 14 and 15. The belt conveyor 30 is controlled to move the remaining area of the cover glass CG on the side (the hatched area in FIGS. 14 and 15) to the vicinity directly below the robot arm RA near the front wall 26 of the blasting chamber 2 by the feeding operation of the belt conveyor 30, and even during and after the belt conveyor 30 stops, the integrated control device CD continues to receive the video signal from the camera CM, and while taking into account the feeding amount of the belt conveyor 30, automatically controls the robot arm RA so that the projection range of the projection nozzle PN follows the remaining area of the cover glass CG, and the blasting operation is interrupted. The process continues without any break, and the area of the solar cell panel SP from which the cover glass CG has been removed is left with the encapsulant layer EC, the solar cell SC, and the wiring material WM remaining as the flexible and easily deformable back sheet BS, which is then moved around to the underside of the belt conveyor 30 and gradually onto the perforated metal 61. Finally, the first back sheet BS which has completed the blast process is placed flat on the perforated metal 61, and the integrated control device CD stops projecting the blast material, returns the robot arm RA to the standby position, and controls it to stop its functions.

After the robot arm RA is in the standby position, the worker opens the door 25, removes the first back sheet BS that has been blasted on the punched metal 61, and places it outside the blast chamber 2. The second solar panel SP is placed flat on the belt conveyor 30 so that its left and right ends engage with the left and right lateral displacement prevention mechanisms and its rear end, which is the rear wall 22 of the blast chamber 2, engages with the vertical displacement prevention mechanism. The door 25 is closed and the start-up operation is performed from the operation panel CP. In the same manner as above, the cover glass CG of the second solar panel SP is removed. The second back sheet BS that has been blasted and moved to the bottom of the belt conveyor 30 is placed flat on the punched metal 61. The integrated control device CD stops the projection of the blast material, returns the robot arm RA to the standby position, and stops its function. After that, the worker opens the door 25 and removes the second back sheet BS from the blast chamber 2.

(Conclusion)
As described above, the laminated glass peeling device and the laminated glass recycling method using the same according to the present invention are capable of achieving the intended purpose throughout due to their novel configuration, and are easy to manufacture. Compared with conventional techniques for separating glass from solar cell modules, laminated glass, etc., the laminated glass peeling device and the laminated glass recycling method using the same enable the glass to be separated and removed from the laminated glass more economically and efficiently, and also enable the cullet-like glass to be more efficiently selected and separated from the mixture of glass, resin, metal, etc. that has been crushed, separated, and recovered. Therefore, in the current situation in which a large amount of used solar cell modules that have exceeded their useful life are expected to be generated in the future, the device is expected to be highly evaluated not only by the recycling industry involved in the regeneration processing and the glass industry that produces glass products, but also by the solar cell power generation industry, the construction industry that handles security glass, and the automobile maintenance industry that handles automobile glass, which wish to properly process solar cell modules and laminated glass that have deteriorated or broken down due to deterioration or damage and become unrepairable, and are expected to be widely used and popularized.

1. Laminated glass removal device 2. Blast chamber
20 Same bottom
21 Inner wall
22 Same back wall
23 Left side wall
24 Same right side wall
25 Same opening and closing door
26 Front wall
27 Same ceiling wall
28 Same work hole
MD Maintenance door
PW same peephole
LT Same Lighting AP Air purifying mechanism
VP Ventilation intake
EP same exhaust suction port
DC dust collector
CP Operation panel 3 Work holding mechanism
30 Same conveyor belt
DM Same Drive unit 4 Same Blast mechanism
40 Pressurized tank
41 Hopper section
42 Pressure reducing valve
43 Valve control piping
44 Direct pressure valve
45 High pressure air piping
46 Projection material introduction hole
47 Projection material amount adjustment valve
BH Blast Hose
PN Projection nozzle 5 Compressed air supply source (compressed air)
6 Bottom recovery mechanism
60 Funnel-shaped collection wall
61 Punching metal
62 Screw conveyor
63 The same gutter 7 Sorting mechanism
70 Same Vibrating Sieve
PD same pedestal
DS same drive spring
UW Unbalanced weight
VB Same vibrator
ST same supply port
FR Same Foreign object sorting room on the top floor
FS Foreign object sorting screen (5 mesh)
LR: Large glass bead sorting room in the upper middle layer
LS Large glass bead sorting screen (12 mesh)
PR: Middle and lower level projection material sorting room
MS Projection material sorting screen (20 mesh)
MR Same The lowest layer of small glass particles and crushed projectile particles sorting room
DP same sending route
MT Frame 8 Projection material circulation circuit 9 Small glass particle sorting mechanism
90 Same magnetic separator
91 Separator box
92 Hopper
93 Rotating drum
94 Same driven pulley
95 Drive pulley
96 Transmission belt
97 Synchronous speed handle
98 Same non-magnetic guideway
99 Magnetic material guideway VT Vertical transport mechanism
BE Bucket elevator
EB Elevator Box
SR Separator RA Automatic work machine (robot arm)
CD Integrated control device
CM Camera SM Solar cell module
SP Solar panel
MF Same metal frame
CG Cover glass (plate glass)
EC Same Encapsulating material layer
SC Solar cell
WM Same wiring material
BS Back sheet
TB Terminal box

Claims (10)

A blasting chamber is provided for accommodating laminated glass in which a resin layer and a glass layer are laminated together so that the laminated glass can be blasted. A blasting mechanism is provided, which includes a pressurized tank that is located outside the blasting chamber and that accommodates blasting material, and a blasting hose that has a blasting nozzle that is drawn into the blasting chamber and that blasts the blasting material supplied from the pressurized tank from the base end of the blasting nozzle in association with compressed air from a compressed air supply source. A bottom recovery mechanism is provided at the bottom of the blasting chamber for automatically recovering glass/blasting material mixture that includes a mixture of foreign matter such as crushed glass particles, blasting material, and resin pieces that have fallen during the blasting process. a foreign matter sorting chamber having a foreign matter screen in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber having a large glass particle screen in the middle-upper layer, a shot material sorting chamber having a shot material screen in the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/shot material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer, are arranged in a layered manner to receive the glass/shot material mixture collected by the bottom recovery mechanism and have gradually finer meshes from top to bottom, and each sorting chamber is provided with a sorting mechanism equipped with a vibrating sieve having a delivery path extended in the centrifugal direction, and a shot material circulation circuit is provided connecting the shot material sorting chamber and a pressurized tank.
A blasting chamber is provided for accommodating laminated glass in which a resin layer and a glass layer are laminated together so that the laminated glass can be blasted. A pressurized tank is provided outside the blasting chamber for accommodating blasting material. A blasting mechanism is provided, the pressurized tank being located outside the blasting chamber and having a blast hose with a blast nozzle drawn into the blasting chamber and blasting the blasting material supplied from the pressurized tank from a base end of the blasting nozzle in association with compressed air from a compressed air supply source. A bottom recovery mechanism is provided at the bottom of the blasting chamber for automatically recovering glass/blasting material mixture containing foreign matter such as crushed glass particles, blasting material, and resin pieces that have fallen during the blasting process. A foreign matter sorting chamber having a foreign matter screen in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber having a large glass particle screen in the middle and upper layers, and a projection material sorting chamber having a projection material screen in the middle and lower layers receive the glass/blasting material mixture recovered by the bottom recovery mechanism and are separated into a plurality of chambers, each of which has a screen with a mesh size that gradually becomes finer from top to bottom. In the lowest layer, small glass particles/crushed blast material particle sorting chambers are arranged in a layered manner, and each of these sorting chambers is provided with a sorting mechanism equipped with a vibrating sieve having a delivery path extending in the centrifugal direction. A blast material circulation circuit is provided that connects the blast material sorting chambers to the pressurized tank and circulates and supplies the blast material remaining in the blast material sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism and the mixed blast material containing crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the blast material to the pressurized tank of the blast mechanism. Through the blast material circulation circuit, This laminated glass removal device is characterized in that the mixed blast material supplied to the pressurized tank of the blasting mechanism is blasted at the laminated glass through the blast hose of the blasting mechanism, and the materials remaining in the foreign object sorting chamber, large glass particle sorting chamber, and small glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism are separated into glass material, blast material material, and foreign matter such as resin of each particle size, and each can be recycled.
3. The laminated glass peeling device according to claim 1, wherein the bottom recovery mechanism has a screw conveyor that runs horizontally through the bottom of the blast chamber and delivers the mixture to the rear wall of the blast chamber, and a funnel-shaped collection wall that is inclined from the inner peripheral wall of the blast chamber toward the screw conveyor, and a vertical transport mechanism is provided on the outer side of the rear wall of the blast chamber, the vertical transport mechanism having a bucket elevator that receives the glass/blast material mixture collected by the bottom recovery mechanism at its lower end and rises to its upper end, and a sealed separator that supplies the glass/blast material mixture transported by the bucket elevator to its upper end to the sorting mechanism.
4. The laminated glass peeling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blast chamber has a door on at least one of its left and right walls that can be opened and closed to accommodate laminated glass, a pair of left and right work holes with gloves for both hands and a sight window above the work holes are provided in the front wall of the blast chamber, a blast hose projection nozzle hangs down into the blast chamber from a ceiling wall of the blast chamber above each work hole, and a work holding mechanism having a belt conveyor capable of feeding the laminated glass in a horizontal position and capable of feeding the laminated glass from the rear wall side of the blast chamber to the front wall side of the blast chamber and a drive unit for driving the belt conveyor is provided inside the blast chamber below each work hole in the blast chamber and above a bottom recovery mechanism in the blast chamber, and a pedal switch having a pedal for projecting and stopping the blast mechanism and a pedal for feeding and stopping the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism is provided outside and below the pair of left and right work holes in the front wall of the blast chamber.
5. The laminated glass removing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the blast chamber has an opening/closing door on at least one of the left and right walls thereof for accommodating laminated glass, an automatic work machine is installed in the blast chamber, and the automatic work machine is provided with a projection nozzle for a blast hose drawn into the blast chamber from outside the blast chamber, and inside the blast chamber, which is below the automatic work machine in the blast chamber and above the bottom recovery mechanism in the blast chamber, a belt conveyor capable of feeding laminated glass in a horizontal position and capable of feeding from the back wall side of the blast chamber to the front wall side of the blast chamber, and a work holding mechanism having a drive unit for driving the belt conveyor are installed, and an integrated control device is installed for automatically controlling the automatic work machine, the projection and stopping operation of the blast mechanism, and the feeding and stopping operation of the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism.
6. A laminated glass peeling device as described in claim 5, wherein a camera connected to the integrated control device is provided at least either inside or outside the blasting chamber to photograph the peeled state of the glass layer of the laminated glass on the work holding mechanism, and the integrated control device automatically feedback controls the projection and stopping operations of compressed air and projection material to the projection nozzle, the operation of the automatic work machine, and the feed and stop operations of the belt conveyor of the work holding mechanism based on image information from the camera.
7. A laminated glass peeling device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the blast material has a diameter of 0.8 to 1.2 mm, and the sorting mechanism has a foreign matter sorting screen in the foreign matter sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve with a 5 mesh screen, a large glass particle sorting screen in the large glass particle sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve with a 12 mesh screen, and a blast material sorting screen in the blast material sorting chamber of the vibrating sieve with a 20 mesh screen.
8. A laminated glass peeling device as described in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the blast material is made of a magnetic material, and a small glass particle sorting mechanism having a magnetic separator for separating small glass particles and crushed blast material particles is provided at the discharge end of a discharge path extending from a small glass particle/crushed blast material particle sorting chamber in the lowest layer of the vibrating sieve of the sorting mechanism.
A blasting mechanism blasts compressed air and blast materials against the laminated glass placed in the blasting chamber, crushing and peeling off only the glass. The glass particles that are collected are fed into the foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer of a vibrating sieve as a sorting mechanism having a foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer, a large glass particle sorting chamber in the middle-upper layer, a blasting material sorting chamber in the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/blasting material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer. The foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer, the large glass particle sorting chamber in the middle-upper layer, and the small glass particle/blasting material crushed particle sorting chamber in the bottom layer are then fed into the foreign object sorting chamber in the top layer of the vibrating sieve as a sorting mechanism. A method for recycling laminated glass using a laminated glass peeling device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the recovered materials including resin particles, metal particles and crushed glass particles remaining in each of the small glass particles/crushed blast material particle sorting chambers are recycled for their respective uses, and the blast material remaining in the middle/lower blast material sorting chamber and a mixed blast material of crushed glass particles having a particle size equivalent to that of the blast material are circulated and supplied to the blasting mechanism and used as blast material.
The blasting mechanism blasts compressed air at the laminated glass placed in the blasting chamber, crushing and peeling off only the glass. The recovered glass particles are fed into the foreign object sorting chamber at the top of the vibrating sieve, which acts as a sorting mechanism with a foreign object sorting chamber at the top, a large glass particle sorting chamber at the middle-upper layer, a blasting material sorting chamber at the middle-lower layer, and a small glass particle/blasting material crushed particle sorting chamber at the bottom. The recovered materials, including resin particles, metal particles, and crushed glass particles that remain in the foreign object sorting chamber at the top and the large glass particle sorting chamber at the middle-upper layer, are recycled for their respective uses. The shot material remaining in the middle and lower shot material sorting chamber and the mixed shot material of crushed glass particles of the same particle size as the shot material are circulated and supplied to the blasting mechanism to be used as shot material, and the mixture of small glass particles and crushed shot material particles remaining in the small glass particle/crushed shot material sorting chamber in the bottom layer is fed into a magnet separator of the small glass particle sorting mechanism to separate the small glass particles and crushed shot material particles, which are then recycled for their respective uses. A method for recycling laminated glass using a laminated glass peeling device as described in claim 8.

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