JP7748730B2 - Separator for used sanitary goods treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a separator for a used sanitary product treatment device that breaks down used sanitary products into the materials that make up the sanitary products while supplying treatment liquid inside a rotating separation tank.

In recent years, urinary absorption pads and disposable paper diapers have become popular hygiene products. Paper diapers, which are hygiene products, are composed of materials such as an absorbent made from pulp or other materials, a high-molecular-weight absorbent (high-molecular-weight polymer) that retains the moisture absorbed by the absorbent, and a waterproof material (plastic) that wraps these. Urinary absorption pads and other hygiene products are also composed of materials such as an absorbent made from pulp, a high-molecular-weight absorbent (high-molecular-weight polymer) that retains the moisture absorbed by the absorbent, and a waterproof material (plastic) that wraps these. Currently, these used hygiene products, such as urinary absorption pads and disposable paper diapers, are treated (disposed of) as general waste.

However, if these used disposable diapers, urine pads, and other sanitary products are disposed of as general waste, for example by incineration, harmful substances may be produced, and if they are disposed of in landfills, the soil may be polluted by infectious substances, etc.

Therefore, from a hygienic and environmental perspective, Patent Document 1 proposes a sanitary product treatment device that breaks down and treats sanitary products into individual materials. In the used disposable diaper treatment device proposed in Patent Document 1, used disposable diapers are mixed with a treatment liquid inside a rotating drum, breaking them down into materials such as pulp, high molecular weight polymers, and plastics.

In the processing equipment described in Patent Document 1, used disposable diapers are placed inside a rotating drum, and a predetermined amount of processing liquid of a predetermined concentration is supplied into the processing chamber. The used disposable diapers are then immersed in the processing liquid inside the drum, and the drum is then rotated to disassemble the used disposable diapers into their respective materials. The disposable diapers that are disassembled by rotating the rotating drum include so-called tape-type diapers, which are unfolded and then attached to both sides of the body with tape after being worn, and pants-type diapers, which are pre-formed into pants like underwear. Inside the rotating drum, a mixture of tape-type and pants-type diapers are immersed in the processing liquid and disassembled.

In addition, the processing device described in Patent Document 1 has multiple agitation protrusions on the inner wall of the rotating drum, which hook and agitate used disposable diapers while dismantling them. These agitation protrusions are elongated along the axial direction of the rotating drum, and multiple protrusions are formed at equal intervals around the circumferential direction of the inner wall of the rotating drum.

As the rotating drum rotates, the agitating protrusions hook and scrape up used diapers from the lower side of the rotating drum. When the agitating protrusions reach the upper side of the rotating drum, the used diapers hooked on the agitating protrusions fall to the lower side of the rotating drum, thereby dismantling the used diapers. As the used diapers fall from the agitating protrusions located at the upper side of the rotating drum to the lower side, they collide with the surface of the treatment liquid inside the rotating drum, and are dismantled.

Patent No. 3569260

However, when used disposable diapers are scraped up from the bottom to the top of the rotating drum and then dropped to the bottom of the rotating drum, if the stirring protrusions do not scrape them up properly and the used disposable diapers stagnate at the bottom of the rotating drum, it takes a long time to disassemble the used disposable diapers, which creates the problem of increased processing time (disassembly time) for the used disposable diapers.

Furthermore, if the distance (height) from the agitation protrusion to the bottom of the rotating drum is short, the used disposable diapers caught on the agitation protrusions will immediately fall to the bottom of the rotating drum. In this case, the impact force on the used disposable diapers when they hit the surface of the treatment liquid inside the rotating drum is small, making it impossible to efficiently disassemble the used disposable diapers.

The present invention aims to provide a separator for a used sanitary product processing device that can efficiently disassemble used sanitary products and shorten the processing time.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, a first aspect of the present invention is a separator for a used sanitary product treatment device, which comprises an inner body separating tank that is rotatably supported in an outer body separating tank fixed to a housing and rotates and agitates used sanitary products introduced therein together with a treatment liquid, and separates the used sanitary products into a plurality of materials that constitute the sanitary products,
A scraping protrusion is provided on the inner wall of the inner body separation tank to scrape up the used sanitary products from the lower side of the inner body separation tank to an upper side above at least the vicinity of the liquid level of the treatment liquid in the inner body separation tank, and drop the used sanitary products from the upper side to the lower side of the inner body separation tank, thereby applying an impact force to the used sanitary products,
The scraping projection has a scraping surface that is located on the front side of the rotation direction of the inner body separation tank and extends toward the rotation center of the inner body separation tank to lift the used sanitary products from the lower side to the upper side of the inner body separation tank, and a hooking corner that is located on the tip of the scraping surface on the rotation center side of the inner body separation tank to hook the used sanitary products, and a decomposition water supply unit that supplies decomposition water consisting of at least water, lime , and a disinfectant to the used sanitary products placed in the inner body separation tank;
A separator for a used sanitary product treatment device, characterized in that it has a discharge section that is connected to the lower side of the outer body separation tank and discharges wastewater containing dirt together with the decomposition water in the outer body separation tank.

A second aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the liquid level of the treatment liquid is below the center of rotation of the inner body separation tank, and the scraping protrusion drops the used sanitary products onto the liquid level of the treatment liquid from a position at least above the liquid level of the treatment liquid from the lower side of the inner body separation tank.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the scraping protrusion drops the used sanitary products onto the surface of the treatment liquid between a position of 60 degrees and a position of 150 degrees in the rotational direction from the lowest side of the inner body separation tank.

According to the present invention, scraping protrusions are provided on the inner wall of the inner body separation tank. These scraping protrusions scrape used sanitary products from the lower side of the inner body separation tank to the upper side above at least the vicinity of the liquid surface of the treatment liquid in the inner body separation tank, causing them to fall from the upper side to the lower side of the inner body separation tank, thereby applying an impact force to the used sanitary products. This makes it possible to efficiently disassemble used disposable diapers and shorten the processing time.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a used sanitary product treatment apparatus using a separator for a used sanitary product treatment apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a rear view showing a separator for a used sanitary product treating device according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view showing a separator for a used sanitary product treating device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a separator for a used sanitary product treating device according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a shaft support part for supporting the inner body separation tank of the separator for the used sanitary product treating device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the initial state of decomposition when used disposable diapers are placed in the inner body separation tank of the separator and a treatment liquid is supplied. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a scraping projection provided in the inner body separation tank of the separator for the used sanitary product treatment device according to the present invention. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the scraping protrusion, taken in a direction intersecting the axial direction of the inner body separation tank. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of used disposable diapers in the inner body separation tank at the beginning of disassembly. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the state of used disposable diapers in the inner body separation tank at the end of the decomposition stage. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of another shape of the scraping projection. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing an example of another shape of the scraping projection. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing an example of another shape of the scraping projection.

The following describes an embodiment of a separator for a used sanitary product treatment device according to the present invention. The used sanitary product treatment device (hereinafter referred to as the "treatment device") separates the multiple materials that make up used sanitary products, such as used disposable diapers, from the waste absorbed by the used disposable diapers, and recovers the separated materials.

The used disposable diapers used as sanitary products to be disposed of in this embodiment are composed of a surface material, leak-prevention gathers, absorbent material, waterproof material, and other materials. The surface material is made of nonwoven fabric such as polyester or polypropylene. The leak-prevention gathers are made of nonwoven fabric and elastic material. The absorbent material is made of a combination of absorbent paper, cotton-like pulp, polymer absorbent material, and other materials. The waterproof material is a waterproof sheet that covers the outside of the disposable diaper and is made of nonwoven fabric made of synthetic fibers, etc. Other materials used include adhesive tape and fastening materials to secure the disposable diaper in place.

In this embodiment, "material" refers to the plastics used in the absorbent polymer, surface material, and three-dimensional gathers of disposable diapers, the pulp used in absorbent paper, and other materials such as adhesive tape and rubber. In addition, used disposable diapers to be processed in this embodiment include so-called tape-type disposable diapers and pants-type disposable diapers.

The decomposition water used as the treatment liquid in the treatment device of this embodiment is a mixture of lime as a decomposition agent, hypochlorous acid as a disinfectant (germicide), and water, with the amounts of lime, hypochlorous acid, and water being set depending on the type and amount of used disposable diapers to be treated. Additives such as detergents and bleach may also be added as needed.

It is also possible to use a mixture of lime and water as the decomposition water, and supply hypochlorous acid as a disinfectant to the treatment device separately from the decomposition water mixture of lime and water. In this embodiment, the decomposition water is a mixture of lime as a decomposition agent, water, and hypochlorous acid as a disinfectant. A treatment device using the separator of this embodiment will be described below. In this embodiment, an example of treating used disposable diapers as sanitary products will be described.

[Processing device 1]
1 shows the overall configuration of a treatment device 1 that uses a separator 3. As shown in the figure, the treatment device 1 includes a separator 3 that decomposes used disposable diapers 2, which are used sanitary products, into the materials that make up the disposable diapers, a discharge section 4 that discharges wastewater containing waste matter together with the decomposition water in the separator 3 to the outside, and a sorter 5 that receives the materials separated by the separator 3 and dries them to separate at least the pulp and plastic that make up the disposable diapers.

[Features of the separator 3 according to the present embodiment]
The separator 3 of this embodiment is provided with an inner body separating tank 8 that is rotatably supported in an outer body separating tank 7 fixed to a housing 6 and rotates and agitates used sanitary products introduced therein together with the treatment liquid 34. In the inner body separating tank 8, used disposable diapers 2 are separated into the multiple types of materials that make up the disposable diapers.

The separator 3 of this embodiment is provided with a scraping protrusion 10 on the inner wall 11 of the inner body separating tank 8, which scrapes up used diapers 2 from the lower side of the inner body separating tank 8 to the upper side 36 above at least the vicinity of the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 in the inner body separating tank 8, and drops them from the upper side 36 to the lower side 33 of the inner body separating tank 8, thereby applying an impact force to the used sanitary products. The separator 3 used in the treatment device 1 of this embodiment will be described below.

[Separator 3]
1 to 4, the separator 3 is installed via vibration-isolating members 69 on a base 68 placed on a floor 67, and is composed of an outer body separating tank 7 fixed to a housing 6 on the base 68, an inner body separating tank 8 rotatably disposed within the outer body separating tank 7, a treated liquid supply unit 14 that supplies treated liquid 34 into the outer body separating tank 7, and a discharge unit 4 that discharges wastewater containing sewage together with the treated liquid 34. The outer body separating tank 7 is cylindrical, with an opening 16 formed at one end face that communicates with an inlet/outlet port 15 provided in the housing 6, and the other end face closed by a back panel 17. When the inlet/outlet port 15 is closed by an inlet/outlet door 18, the interior of the outer body separating tank 7 is sealed.

The inner body separating tank 8 is cylindrical with an inner diameter smaller than that of the outer body separating tank 7, and small diameter holes are formed along the entire outer surface (side surface) by punching or other means. One end face of the inner body separating tank 8 is located on the front side of the housing 6, and the other end face is located on the rear side of the housing 6. An opening 19 that communicates with the loading/unloading port 15 of the housing 6 is formed on one end face of the inner body separating tank 8. A rotary drive shaft 20 protrudes from the other end face of the inner body separating tank 8 toward the rear side, penetrating the back plate 17 of the outer body separating tank 7. The rotary drive shaft 20, which protrudes toward the rear side and penetrates the back plate 17, is rotatably supported by a shaft support portion 21 provided on the rear side of the back plate 17.

As shown in Figure 5, the shaft support section 21 is formed by a cylindrical bearing case 23 fixed to the back plate 17 of the outer body separation tank 7 by a support frame 22, and bearings 24, 25 that rotatably support the rotary drive shaft 20 on the back plate 17 side and rear side of the bearing case 23. The bearing case 23 is formed by a front case 26 on the back plate 17 side and a rear case 27 on the rear side, and these front case 26 and rear case 27 are connected at the center to form an integrated unit. The rotary drive shaft 20 is inserted inside these front case 26 and rear case 27.

A bearing 24 is provided inside the front case 26 via a sleeve 28 to rotatably support the rear plate 17 side of the rotary drive shaft 20, and a bearing 25 is provided inside the rear case 27 to rotatably support the rear side of the rotary drive shaft 20. The tip of the rotary drive shaft 20 protrudes from the front case 26 and passes through the rear plate 17, and is connected to the center of the rear side of the inner body separation tank 8. A pulley 29 is attached to the tip of the rotary drive shaft 20 protruding from the rear case 27. Rotational driving force from a motor 30 is transmitted to the pulley 29.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the motor 30 is located at the top of the separator 3, directly above the rotary drive shaft 20, and is fixed to the housing 6. A transmission belt 32 is wound between the drive shaft 31 of the motor 30 and a pulley 29 attached to the tip of the rotary drive shaft 20. The rotational drive force of the motor 30 is transmitted to the rotary drive shaft 20 via the transmission belt 32 and pulley 29, causing the inner body separation tank 8 to rotate within the outer body separation tank 7, and agitating the used disposable diapers 2 placed in the inner body separation tank 8 together with the treatment liquid 34.

As shown in Figure 6, the inner wall 11 of the inner body separation tank 8 is provided with a scraping protrusion 10 that scrapes up used disposable diapers 2 from the lower side 33 within the inner body separation tank 8 to the upper side 36 above at least the vicinity of the liquid surface 9 of the treatment liquid 34 within the inner body separation tank 8, and then drops them from the upper side 36 toward the lower side 33 within the inner body separation tank 8, applying an impact force to the used disposable diapers 2.

The scraping protrusions 10 are elongated along the rotational axis of the inner body separation tank 8 and protrude from the inner wall 11 toward the rotational axis of the inner body separation tank 8. The scraping protrusions 10 are provided at six locations at equal intervals around the circumference of the inner body separation tank 8. Each scraping protrusion 10 has a scraping surface 12 that extends forward in the rotational direction of the inner body separation tank 8 toward the rotation center 37 of the inner body separation tank 8 and lifts used disposable diapers from the lower side 33 to the upper side 36 of the inner body separation tank 8, and a hooking corner 13 that is provided at the tip of the scraping surface 12 toward the rotation center 37 of the inner body separation tank 8 and hooks used disposable diapers 2.

The scraping protrusion 10 has a trapezoidal cross section intersecting the rotation axis of the inner body separation tank 8. An attachment portion 38 to the inner wall 11 is formed on the front side in the rotation direction A of the inner body separation tank 8, and a scraping surface 12 (described below) is provided extending from this attachment portion 38 in the axial direction of the inner body separation tank 8. Furthermore, an attachment portion 39 to the inner wall 11 is formed on the rear side in the rotation direction of the inner body separation tank 8, and a support portion 40 is formed from this attachment portion 39 in the axial direction of the inner body separation tank 8. Furthermore, the scraping surface 12 and support portion 40 are connected by a connecting top portion 41.

The liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 is located on the lower side 33 of the rotation center 37 of the inner body separation tank 8, and the scraping projection 10 is located at least on the upper side 36 of the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 from the position on the lower side 33 of the inner body separation tank 8, and drops the used disposable diapers 2 onto the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34. Specifically, the scraping projection 10 drops the used disposable diapers 2 onto the liquid level 35 of the treatment liquid 34 between a position of approximately 30 degrees and a position of approximately 160 degrees in the rotational direction from the lower side 33 of the inner body separation tank 8.

After used disposable diapers 2 are collected from ordinary households, hospitals, nursing homes, etc., they are weighed by a weighing conveyor 42 and formed into a lump of a specified weight, as shown in Figure 1. This lump of used disposable diapers 2 is suspended by an inserter 43 and moved to the front side of the separator 3, where it is inserted into the interior of the housing 6, i.e., into the inner body separation tank 8, through the insert/remove port 15. Decomposition water and detergent are supplied by a processing liquid supply unit 14 into the inner body separation tank 8 into which the used disposable diapers 2 have been inserted.

The treatment liquid supply unit 14 is composed of a decomposition water tank 44, a detergent tank 45, a decomposition water supply port 46, a supply pump 47, and pipes 48 and 49. The decomposition water tank 44 stores decomposition water as treatment liquid 34, which is a mixture of decomposition water, water, and a disinfectant prepared in a predetermined ratio. This decomposition water is supplied into the inner body separation tank 8 by the pump 47. When decomposition water is supplied into the inner body separation tank 8, the inner body separation tank 8 is rotating at a predetermined rotation speed.

Used disposable diapers 2 are placed in the inner body separation tank 8, which is rotated at a predetermined speed and supplied with processing liquid. The used disposable diapers 2 are separated into the materials that make up the disposable diapers, such as pulp, high-molecular-weight polymers, plastics, and other components. The high-molecular-weight polymers are also decomposed, separating waste (wastewater) from the inside. The decomposition water (wastewater) obtained after the used disposable diapers 2 are decomposed in the inner body separation tank 8 is discharged to the discharge section 4. At this time, solids that do not dissolve in the decomposition water (undissolved pulp and plastic) remain in the inner body separation tank 8, while the pulp and waste (wastewater) that have dissolved in the decomposition water are discharged to the discharge section 4.

The discharge section 4 is composed of a wastewater receiving tank 50 into which the decomposition water in the outer body separation tank 7 is discharged, a drainage pit 51 that filters and temporarily stores the wastewater, and a drainage pipe 52 that connects the wastewater receiving tank 50 and the drainage pit 51 and directs the wastewater into the drainage pit 51. The supplied decomposition water decomposes used disposable diapers 2, and the decomposition water containing the waste matter contained in the polymer (wastewater such as urine), any attached waste, and pulp is discharged into the wastewater receiving tank 50. The decomposition water containing pulp discharged into the wastewater receiving tank 50 passes through the drainage pipe 52 and is stored in the drainage pit 51. The decomposition water stored in the drainage pit 51 contains a large amount of pulp, which is separated from the decomposition water and collected by a pulp recovery device (not shown).

The solids (undissolved pulp and plastic) that did not dissolve in the decomposition water and remain in the inner body separation tank 8 are dehydrated by stopping the supply of decomposition water to the inner body separation tank 8 and rotating the inner body separation tank 8. The decomposition water removed from the pulp and plastic through this dehydration is discharged to the discharge section 4. The dehydrated solids, i.e., the pulp and plastic that did not dissolve in the decomposition water, are sent from the input/output port 15 to the sorter 5 by the conveyor 42.

The sorting machine 5 is composed of an outer body sorting tank 54 fixed and supported within the housing 53, an inner body sorting tank 55 rotatably arranged within the outer body sorting tank 54, an unloading and conveying section 56 provided below the outer body sorting tank 54, and a dry air supply section 57 located above the housing 53 and supplying dry air into the outer body sorting tank 54.

The outer body sorting tank 54 is cylindrical and fixed to the housing 53 with one end face tightly attached to the inner surface of one side of the housing 53 and the other end face tightly attached to the inner surface of the other side of the housing 53. One end face has an input side opening that communicates with the input port 58 of the housing 53, and the other end face has an output side opening that communicates with the output port 59 of the housing 53. Dry air is introduced into the outer body sorting tank 54 from the dry air supply unit 57, drying the pulp and plastic in the inner body sorting tank 55.

The inner body sorting tank 55 is cylindrical and slightly smaller in diameter than the outer body sorting tank 54. Both axial ends are open and communicate with the openings at both ends of the outer body sorting tank 54. The inner body sorting tank 55 also has multiple through-holes formed by punching or other methods on its circumferential side. The pulp and plastic in the rotating inner body sorting tank 55 are dried by dry air introduced into the outer body sorting tank 54 from the dry air supply unit 57.

The dry air supply section 57 is composed of a heater 60, a fan 61, a dry air inlet 62, and a dry air outlet 63. The heater 60 is formed from multiple heat exchange pipes, to which high-temperature steam is supplied. Outside air passes around the pipes, heating the air and generating dry air, which is then sent into the outer shell sorting tank 54 via the dry air inlet 62. The fan 61 sucks the dry air from the outer shell sorting tank 54 through the dry air outlet 63 and sends it into the duct 64. The duct 64 is connected to a pulp recovery device 65 equipped with a bag filter. The fan 61 exhausts (sucks out) the dry air from the outer shell sorting tank 54, introducing outside air into the heater 60. The outside air is heated by the heater 60, generating dry air, which is then supplied into the outer shell sorting tank 54.

This causes moisture to evaporate from the pulp and plastic in the rotating inner barrel sorting tank 55, drying and sorting the pulp and plastic. The dry air sucked out of the outer barrel sorting tank 54 by the fan 61 is sent to the pulp recovery device 65 via the duct 64, and the pulp contained in the dry air is recovered by a bag filter.

Once the pulp and plastic are dried, they are separated and sorted. Of the sorted pulp and plastic, the pulp is removed to the outside by the removal conveying section 66, and the plastic is removed to the outside through the removal port 56.

Next, we will explain how used disposable diapers 2 are processed by the separator 3. After a predetermined weight of used disposable diapers 2 is placed in the inner body separation tank 8, the treatment liquid 34 is supplied into the inner body separation tank 8 by the treatment liquid supply unit 14, and the inner body separation tank 8 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed. As the inner body separation tank 8 containing the used disposable diapers 2 is rotated, the treatment liquid 34 is supplied into the inner body separation tank 8. As the inner body separation tank 8 rotates, the used disposable diapers 2 are scraped up by the scraping protrusions 10 from the lower side 33 to the upper side 36 within the inner body separation tank 8.

As shown in Figure 6, when a predetermined amount of used disposable diapers 2 has been placed in the inner body separation tank 8, the used disposable diapers 2 are located above the liquid surface 9 of the treatment liquid 34 to the upper side 36. When the inner body separation tank 8 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed from this state, as shown in Figure 9, at the initial stage of decomposition, the used disposable diapers 2 come into contact with the scraping surface 12 and are scraped up from the lower side 33 of the inner body separation tank 8 to the upper side 36 of the inner body separation tank 8 while being hooked on the hook corner 13. The used disposable diapers 2 scraped up to the upper side 36 slide down from the scraping surface 12 and fall onto the liquid surface 9. At this time, the used disposable diapers 2 collide with the liquid surface 9 and used disposable diapers 2 floating near the liquid surface 9, and are subjected to an impact force. When an impact force is applied to the used disposable diaper 2, the surface material, leak-preventing gathers, water-absorbing material, waterproof material, and other components that make up the disposable diaper 2 are physically decomposed, and the treatment liquid 34 soaks into these components.

When the inner body separation tank 8 is rotated for a predetermined time from the state shown in Figure 9 and the used disposable diapers 2 are agitated with the treatment liquid 34 in the inner body separation tank 8, as shown in Figure 10, at the end of the decomposition stage, the used disposable diapers 2 are broken down into smaller pieces and become the components that make up the disposable diaper. As the disposable diapers break down and become smaller, the treatment liquid 34 soaks into the used disposable diapers 2, causing the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 to drop to the lower side 33. At the initial stage of decomposition of the used disposable diapers 2, if the lower side 33 is the initial position, the used disposable diapers 2 are scraped up from the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 at a position of approximately 90 degrees to the upper side 36 at a position of approximately 150 degrees, and then fall onto the liquid level 9 from the upper side 36 at a position of approximately 150 degrees. Furthermore, at the end of the decomposition stage, the used disposable diaper 2 becomes even smaller, and if the lower side 33 is the initial position, it falls from the liquid surface 35 of the treatment liquid 34 at an angle of approximately 60 degrees onto the liquid surface 35 at an angle of approximately 150 degrees on the upper side 36. As the used disposable diaper 2 decomposes and becomes smaller, it falls toward the liquid surface 35 from an angle smaller than the approximately 150 degrees on the upper side 36.

When the decomposition process of the used disposable diapers 2 is completed, the treatment liquid 34 is discharged from the inner body separation tank 8 to the discharge section 4. The discharged treatment liquid 34 (discharged liquid) contains a mixture of waste (wastewater such as urine) that was decomposed from the used disposable diapers 2 and contained in the high molecular weight polymer, any attached waste, and pulp, and is drained into the wastewater receiving tank 50. The decomposition water containing pulp drained into the wastewater receiving tank 50 passes through the drain pipe 52 and is stored in the drainage pit 51. The decomposition water stored in the drainage pit 51 contains a large amount of pulp, and the pulp is separated from the decomposition water and collected by a pulp recovery device (not shown).

The solids (undissolved pulp and plastic) that did not dissolve in the treatment liquid 34 and remained in the inner body separation tank 8 are dehydrated by stopping the supply of decomposition water to the inner body separation tank 8 and rotating the inner body separation tank 8. After dehydration, the solids (pulp and plastic that did not dissolve in the treatment liquid 34) are sent from the inlet/outlet port 15 to the sorter 5 by the conveyor 42.

The solid materials (pulp, plastic) sent to the sorter 5 are sorted in the rotating inner sorting tank 55, where moisture evaporates from the pulp and plastic, drying the pulp and plastic. The dry air sucked out of the outer sorting tank 54 by the fan 61 is sent to the pulp recovery device 65 via the duct 64, and the pulp contained in the dry air is recovered by a bag filter.

As described above, the separator 3 for a used sanitary product treatment device according to this embodiment is provided with scraping protrusions 10 on the inner wall 11 of the inner body separation tank 8. These scraping protrusions 10 scrape up used disposable diapers 2 from the lower side 33 within the inner body separation tank 8 to the upper side 36, which is at least above the liquid level 9 of the treatment liquid 34 within the inner body separation tank 8, and then drop them from the upper side 36 toward the lower side 33 within the inner body separation tank 8, applying an impact force to the used disposable diapers 2. This allows used disposable diapers 2 to be efficiently disassembled, thereby shortening the treatment time.

In addition, according to the separator 3 for a used sanitary product processing device of this embodiment, by providing a hooking corner 13 at the tip side of the scraping surface 12 of the scraping projection 10, used disposable diapers 2 can be securely hooked, and more used disposable diapers 2 can be scraped up from the lower side 33 to the upper side 36, thereby reducing the amount of used disposable diapers 2 remaining on the lower side 33 and enabling the used disposable diapers 2 to be disassembled efficiently.

Furthermore, the scraping projections 10 cause the used disposable diapers 2 to fall from the upper side 36 to the lower side 33, where they collide with the liquid levels 9, 35, allowing the decomposition water serving as the treatment liquid 34 to thoroughly soak into the used disposable diapers 2 and immerse them in the decomposition water. In this case, even pants-type used disposable diapers 2 can be decomposed by causing the used disposable diapers 2 to collide with the liquid levels 9, 35, and the sufficient immersion in the treatment liquid 34 ensures that the used disposable diapers 2 can be reliably separated into their respective materials.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the motor 30 that applies rotational driving force to the inner body separation tank 8 is located in the upper and central part of the housing 6, which allows for a large space to be provided on the lower side of the housing 6, thereby improving the flexibility of installing piping and the like for discharging wastewater from the inner body separation tank 8. Furthermore, the motor 30 does not get in the way when performing maintenance on the shaft support portion 21, improving maintainability.

In the above embodiment, used disposable diapers 2 were used as an example of used sanitary products, but the separator 3 of the present invention can also be used to process sanitary products that use absorbent materials (high molecular weight polymers), such as urine absorption pads.

In addition, in the above embodiment, the scraping surface 12 is provided on the forward side of the scraping protrusion 10 in the rotation direction A of the inner body separator 8. However, if the rotation direction of the inner body separation tank 8 is reverse (opposite to rotation direction A), the scraping surface 12 may be provided on the forward side of the support part 40 in the reverse rotation direction. In this case, a hook corner 13 may be provided at the connecting part between the tip of the support part 40 in the rotation axis direction of the inner body separator and the connecting top part 41.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the scraping protrusion 10 has a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, but it does not necessarily have to be trapezoidal, as long as the scraping surface 12 is located on the forward side of the rotation direction A of the inner body separation tank 8. Furthermore, the support portion 40 does not have to have the same shape as the scraping surface 12, and can have any shape that supports the scraping surface 12. Other shapes of the scraping protrusion shown in Figures 11 to 13 are described below.

The scraping protrusion 70 shown in Figure 11 has a triangular cross-section cut in a direction intersecting the rotation axis of the inner body separation tank 8, with a scraping surface 71 provided on the forward side in the rotation direction A of the inner body separation tank 8 and a hook corner 72 provided at the tip in the direction of the rotation axis of the inner body separation tank 8.

The scraping protrusion 73 shown in Figure 12 has a trapezoidal cross section cut in a direction intersecting the rotation axis of the inner body separation tank 8, and has a scraping surface 74 on the forward side in the rotation direction A of the inner body separation tank 8. The connecting top 75 of this scraping protrusion 73 is formed in a mountain shape, and a hook corner 76 is formed at the tip of each mountain.

The scraping protrusion 81 shown in Figure 13 has a triangular cross section cut in a direction intersecting the rotation axis of the inner body separation tank 8, and has a scraping surface 77 on the forward side in the rotation direction A of the inner body separation tank 8, and a V-shaped groove 79 on the connecting top 78. A hook corner 80 is provided at the connecting portion between the edge of this groove 79 and the scraping surface 77.

As stated above, while embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. All such modifications and equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims.

In addition to processing used disposable diapers, the separator for used sanitary product processing equipment according to the present invention can also be used to process sanitary products that use high-molecular polymers to absorb urine and other waste, such as sanitary napkins and urine absorption pads.

1 Used sanitary product treatment device 2 Used paper diapers 3 Separator 6 Housing
7 Outer body separation tank 8 Inner body separation tank 9 35 Liquid surface 10 Raising protrusion 11 Inner wall 12 Raising surface 13 Hook corner

Claims (3)

A separator for a used sanitary product treatment device, comprising an inner body separation tank that is rotatably supported in an outer body separation tank fixed to a housing and rotates and agitates used sanitary products introduced therein together with a treatment liquid, and that separates the used sanitary products into a plurality of materials that constitute the sanitary products,
A scraping protrusion is provided on the inner wall of the inner body separation tank to scrape up the used sanitary products from the lower side of the inner body separation tank to an upper side above at least the vicinity of the liquid level of the treatment liquid in the inner body separation tank, and drop the used sanitary products from the upper side to the lower side of the inner body separation tank, thereby applying an impact force to the used sanitary products,
The scraping projection has a scraping surface that is located on the front side of the rotation direction of the inner body separation tank and extends toward the rotation center of the inner body separation tank to lift the used sanitary products from the lower side to the upper side of the inner body separation tank, and a hooking corner that is located on the tip of the scraping surface on the rotation center side of the inner body separation tank to hook the used sanitary products, and a decomposition water supply unit that supplies decomposition water consisting of at least water, lime , and a disinfectant to the used sanitary products placed in the inner body separation tank;
A separator for a used sanitary product treatment device, characterized in that it has a discharge section that is connected to the lower side of the outer body separation tank and discharges wastewater containing dirt together with the decomposition water in the outer body separation tank. the liquid level of the treatment liquid is below the rotation center of the inner body separation tank,
The separator for a used sanitary product treatment device as described in claim 1, characterized in that the scraping protrusion drops the used sanitary products onto the surface of the treatment liquid from a lower position of the inner body separation tank at least above the surface of the treatment liquid. A separator for a used sanitary product treatment device as described in claim 2, characterized in that the scraping protrusion drops the used sanitary products onto the surface of the treatment liquid between a position of 60 degrees and a position of 150 degrees in the rotational direction from the lowest side of the inner body separation tank.