APPARATUS FOR SORTING UNSANITARY LANDFILL WASTES Technical Field The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes which is used to separate soil, non-recyclable flammable wastes, and recyclable non-flammable wastes one from another, and, more particularly, to an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes wherein an inner rotating body, in which a blade having a predetermined degree of tension is mounted to a rotary scrubber, is rotated inside an outer drum in the same direction and at a different rpm to allow the blade to scrub away an inner surface of the outer drum so that mixed wastes having a higher content of water are not piled up on the inner surface of the outer drum, and wherein brushes are rotated outside and along with the outer drum so that holes defined through the outer drum are not clogged, thereby significantly improving soil separation efficiency.

Background Art Generally, an unsanitary waste landfill is positioned in the vicinity of a metro area in consideration of waste transportation efficiency. In order for environment-friendly processing of unsanitary landfill wastes, it is inevitable to dig out haphazardly land-filled wastes and sort the wastes by their kinds. The landfill wastes include soil, recyclable non-flammable wastes such as concrete masses, bricks and stones, and non-recyclable flammable wastes such as vinyl sheets and pieces of wood. In this connection, a waste sorting apparatus capable of precisely sorting wastes by their kinds is demanded in the art.

However, the conventional waste sorting apparatuses disclosed so far in the art are encountered with a serious problem in that, if wastes having a high content of water are introduced, their screens are easily clogged, which deteriorates soil separation efficiency. To cope with this problem, it is known in

the art to heat a screen using a petroleum burner. Nevertheless, this being the case, defects are caused in that consumption of petroleum is increased, environmental pollution arises from the generation of soot, and thus economic efficiency is degraded.

Also, because the conventional waste sorting apparatuses have among their component elements a flammable waste separator which comprises a high output blower for wind separation of flammable wastes, waste separation efficiency is deteriorated due to scattering of wastes and mixing of small-sized stones with the flammable wastes. Consequently, as it is difficult to immediately heap the flammable wastes at a site, a scale of entire equipment cannot but be increased, and a wide area is required.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes wherein an inner rotating body, in which a blade is mounted to a rotary scrubber, is rotated inside an outer drum in the same direction and at a different rpm to allow the blade to scrub away an inner surface of the outer drum, and brushes are installed outside the outer drum to prevent holes defined through the outer drum from being clogged, thereby obviating the need for a burner, improving economic efficiency and safety, and considerably decreasing probability of a fire or explosion to occur.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes wherein a low output blower is used in place of a high output blower for wind separation of wastes so that energy is saved and noise and vibration are decreased, wherein almost all of soil is separated in a soil separator to substantially reduce an amount of dust to be generated in downstream facilities, and an impeller is disposed in a wind separator in which dust is

generated to the greatest degree, to minimize dust generation.

In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes wherein a soil separator is installed to separate soil having a small grain size among mixed wastes introduced through a waste inlet opening, a foreign material separator is installed at a side of the soil separator to separate flammable wastes contained in the soil separated in the soil separator and allow only the soil to be conveyed and heaped at a site, a flammable waste separator is installed downstream of the soil separator to separate and convey only flammable wastes among the mixed wastes deprived of the soil, a wind separator is installed to allow massive non-flammable wastes to fall between screen fins and light flammable wastes not separated in the flammable waste separator to be separated by wind and fall onto a flammable waste conveyor, and a small-sized waste separator is installed downstream of the wind separator to separate flammable wastes not separated in the wind separator using the same structure as the foreign material separator.

In particular, in the soil separator, an outer drum is installed to be rotated by an outer driving gear which is meshed with a middle portion of the outer drum, a plurality of holes are defined through the outer drum at a predetermined interval so that soil can be separated and discharged to the outside through the holes, brushes are rotatably installed outside both halves of the outer drum to remove substances caught in the holes, and an inner rotating body is disposed in the outer drum such that side drum portions and a middle drum portion of the inner rotating body are connected with each other by connection bars and scrubbers are rigidly coupled to the connection bars to remove substances caught in the holes of the outer drum, the inner rotating body being rotated by inner driving gears which are meshed with both end portions of the inner rotating body, at an rpm different from that of the outer drum.

Also, in each scrubber, a body support is coupled to the connection bar of the inner rotating body, a blade body is slopingly coupled to the body support, and a base and a blade are coupled to both ends, respectively, of the blade body.

Further, in each scrubber, the blade is hingedly coupled to the blade body integrally coupled to the connection bar by the medium of hinge parts, and both ends of scrubber springs are respectively connected to the blade and the blade body between two adjoining hinge parts.

Moreover, support rollers are installed through both end portions and a middle portion of the outer drum so that the support rollers are brought into contact with both end portions and the middle portion of the inner rotating body and thereby the outer drum and the inner rotating body can be rotated while they are separated from each other.

Furthermore, in the foreign material separator, resin brushes which are attached to a first driving chain to be operated therewith in an interlocked manner and first driving sprockets for driving the driving chain are installed in a first housing, a soil conveyor is installed at a lower end of the first housing to be crossed with the resin brushes, and a lower portion of the first housing, which is bent upward to create an upwardly narrowing space between the lower portion of the first housing and the first driving chain and to be brought into contact with the resin brushes, has an edge for delimiting a lower end of an outlet opening through which foreign wastes can be discharged.

Besides, in the flammable waste separator, a second driving chain is rotatably wound on second driving sprockets secured to driving rotation shafts which are positioned opposite to each other, pick-up rakes each composed of steel tines and steel bristles are respectively coupled to rake supports which are fastened to the second driving chain, and a rotary drum has ribs which are spaced apart one from another by a predetermined angle about a drum rotation shaft and waste passages which are defined between two adjoining ribs and communicated one with another.

In addition, in the wind separator, volume sorting means is installed such that massive non-flammable wastes can fall due to the presence of the screen fins projectedly formed on screen rollers and engagement fins projectedly formed on a sorting drum, a blower is installed at a side of the volume sorting means to

separate light flammable wastes by wind, a rubber roller is disposed perpendicularly to the sorting drum, a plurality of engagement rods are mounted to roller supports which are connected with each other via crank arms, and an impeller is installed between an outlet port and the engagement rods to disperse the wind.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic view for explaining an operation scheme of an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a soil separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the soil separator shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a partially-enlarged perspective view illustrating a scrubber serving as a main component element of the soil separator; Fig. 6 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view for the'B'part of Fig. 3; Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a foreign material separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention; Fig. 8 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating an inflammable waste separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention; Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a state wherein inflammable wastes picked up by pick-up rakes of the inflammable waste separator are

discharged through a rotary drum; Fig. 10 is a front view illustrating an operation relationship between the pick-up rakes and the rotary drum which constitute the inflammable waste separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention; Figs. lla and llb are cross-sectional views respectively illustrating a steel tine and a steel bristle which constitute the pick-up rake of the inflammable waste separator ; Fig. 12 is a side view illustrating a wind separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention; Figs. 13 and 14 are respectively a front view and a plan view illustrating blocking bars adopted for preventing an outlet defined in the wind separator from being clogged; Fig. 15 is a perspective view illustrating an impeller of the wind separator; and Fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a small-sized waste separator of the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

As can be readily seen from Fig. 1 schematically illustrating an entire system, in an apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, only the soil 121 having a small grain size is separated from mixed wastes 120 which are introduced through a waste inlet opening 90, by a soil separator 10 and a foreign material separator 30, to

then be discharged by a soil conveyor 38. Then, the mixed wastes 120 which are almost deprived of soil 121 continuously pass through a flammable waste separator 40 so that flammable wastes 122 are separated. Thereafter, non- flammable wastes 123 are separated while passing through a wind separator 100 and a small-sized waste separator 130.

First, as shown in Figs. 2 through 6, the soil separator 10 serves as a device for separating soil 121 from the mixed wastes 120 in which soil 121, flammable wastes 122 and non-flammable wastes 123 are mixed one with another. In the soil separator 10, an outer drum 14 is rotated faster than an inner rotating body 20, and a blade body 26 is attached to an inner surface of the inner rotating body 20. A base 24 for the blade body 26 functions to upwardly push the mixed wastes 120 so that the mixed wastes 120 finally fall and the soil 121 can be discharged through a plurality of holes 11 defined through the outer drum 14. A distal end of a blade 27 scrubs away an inner surface of the outer drum 14 to remove substances which are caught in the holes 11 of the outer drum 14.

That is to say, the outer drum 14 is defined with the plurality of holes 11 so that the soil 121 can be pushed upward and fall to be discharged through the holes 11. A plurality of support rollers 29 are installed through both end portions and a middle portion of the outer drum 14 so that the support rollers 29 are brought into contact with both end portions and a middle portion of the inner rotating body 20 when the inner rotating body 20 is rotatably disposed in the outer drum 14. Each support roller 29 is installed through the outer drum 14 to project outward and inward so that the outer drum 14 and the inner rotating body 20 can be rotated while they are separated from each other by a predetermined gap.

An outer driven gear 12 for transmitting rotation force is projectedly formed on a circumferential outer surface of the middle portion of the outer drum 14. The outer driven gear 12 is meshed with an outer driving gear 15 to which rotation force of a driving motor (not shown) is transmitted.

In the inner rotating body 20, a middle drum portion 19 is connected to

both side drum portions 21 by connection bars 18. The inner rotating body 20 is formed to have a greater axial length than the outer drum 14. Inner driven gears 13 are projectedly connected to the connection bars 18 at both end portions of the inner rotating body 20. The inner driven gears 13 are meshed with inner driving gears 16 to which rotation force of a driving motor (not shown) is transmitted.

The drawing reference numeral 17 designates brushes which are rotatably installed outside both halves of the outer drum 14 to remove substances caught in the holes 11 of the outer drum 14.

A body support 25 is bolted to the connection bar 18 of the inner rotating body 20, and the blade body 26 is slopingly coupled to the body support 25.

The base 24 is attached to one end of the blade body 26 so that the mixed wastes 120 including the soil 121 can be pushed upward by the base 24 and then fall.

In order to ensure that the mixed wastes 120 are not caught in the holes 11 while the soil separator 10 is rotated, the blade 27 serving as a rotating blade is coupled to the other end of the blade body 26 to scrub the mixed wastes 120 away. A scrubber 23 having the blade 27 mounted to the blade body 26 is installed on the connection bar 18 via the body support 25.

As shown in Fig. 5, in each scrubber 23, the blade 27 is hingedly coupled to the blade body 26 by the medium of hinge parts 28, and both ends of scrubber springs 22 are respectively connected to the blade 27 and the blade body 26 between two hinge parts 28.

Further, in order to ensure that the blade 27 is fluctuated while being rotated to prevent the mixed wastes 120 from being caught in the holes 11, at each end of the blade body 26, one first hinge arm is fastened to the blade body 26 and two second hinge arms are fastened to each piece of the blade 27 so that one first hinge arm and two second hinge arms are connected with each other by a hinge pin.

In addition, between both ends of the blade body 26, third hinge arms are fastened to the blade body 26, and pairs of fourth hinge arms are fastened to pieces of the blade 27 so that each pair of fourth hinge arms are fastened to two

adjoining pieces of the blade 27. Each third hinge arm and associated pair of fourth hinge arms are connected with each other by a hinge pin.

In the foreign material separator 30, as shown in Fig. 7, resin brushes 34 are affixed to a first driving chain 33 in a first housing 35 to be integrally rotated therewith. A pair of first driving sprockets 31 and 32 for driving the first driving chain 33 are placed up and down in the first housing 35. The soil conveyor 38 is installed at a lower end of the first housing 35 so that the resin brushes 34 can be moved across the width of the soil conveyor 38. The soil 121 separated from the mixed wastes 120 can be collected on the soil conveyor 38 to be discharged to the outside.

A lower portion of the first housing 35 is bent upward to create an upwardly narrowing space between the lower portion of the first housing 35 and the first driving chain 33. The lower portion of the first housing 35 is brought into contact with the resin brushes 34 when the resin brushes 34 are moved integrally with the first driving chain 33. An upper end edge 36 of the lower portion of the first housing 35 delimits a lower end of an outlet opening 37 through which light flammable wastes 122 separated from the mixed wastes 120 can be discharged to the outside.

The plurality of resin brushes 34 each having a diameter of 1.5-2. 5 mm are arranged to be spaced apart one from another by a predetermined distance and affixed to the first driving chain 33. If a diameter of the resin brush 34 is less than the above range, separation efficiency for the light flammable wastes 122 is deteriorated, and if a diameter of the resin brush 34 is greater than the above range, 1.5-2. 5 mm, a substantial amount of soil 121 is likely to be contained in the light flammable wastes 122 separated from the mixed wastes 120. It is preferred that the resin brush 34 is composed of bristles each having a waved sectional shape.

In the meanwhile, although the flammable waste separator 40 may be independently employed rather than being added to the apparatus, preferably, as shown in Fig. 1, the flammable waste separator 40 is disposed between the soil

separator 10 and the wind separator 100 which constitute the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention. Thus, the flammable wastes 122, such as vinyl sheets and pieces of wood, contained in the mixed wastes 120 which are deprived of the soil 121 in the soil separator 10, can be separated from non-flammable wastes 123 which are relatively massive, through pick-up operations by a plurality of pick-up rakes 50, independently of simple wind separation using the wind separator 100, to be discharged and reliably sorted.

In the flammable waste separator 40, as can be readily seen from Figs. 8 through 1 lb, from the mixed wastes 120 which are deprived of the soil 121 and conveyed by a mixed waste conveyor 43, the light flammable wastes 122 such as vinyl sheets are picked up by the pick-up rakes 50 which are rotated integrally with a second driving chain 70. At this time, the flammable wastes 122 each having a small volume are forced by a removing brush 59 to fall while prevented from scattering. The flammable wastes 122 which cling to the removing brush 59 can be released from the removing brush 59 as the removing brush 59 passes over a release bracket 64.

In the flammable waste separator 40, only the flammable wastes 122 are picked up and transferred through a rotary drum 60 which is rotated in an opposite direction with respect to the second driving chain 70, onto a flammable waste conveyor 44 which is positioned at a lower end of a second housing 41.

A pair of driving rotation shafts 71 and 73 are oppositely positioned in the flammable waste separator 40, and a pair of second driving sprockets 72 and 74 are fastened to the driving rotation shafts 71 and 73, respectively. The second driving chain 70 is wound on the second driving sprockets 72 and 74 and rotatably supported by support sprockets 76 which are fastened to support rotation shafts 75 which are appropriately disposed between the pair of driving rotation shafts 71 and 73. It is preferred that one driving rotation shaft 71 is operatively connected to a driving motor (not shown).

Each pick-up rake 50 is composed of steel tines 52 and steel bristles 56.

The pick-up rakes 50 are respectively coupled to rake supports 58 which are fastened to the second driving chain 70 to be spaced part one from another by a preselected distance. At this time, as shown in Fig. 1 la, the steel tine 52 which constitutes the pick-up rake 50 has, at a proximal end thereof, a rake spring 51 having a predetermined degree of elasticity, and has, at a distal end thereof, a curved portion 54. The curved portion 54 of the steel tine 52 is brought into contact with the rotary drum 60.

The steel bristles 56 are coupled to the rake support 58 so that two steel bristles 56 are positioned at both sides of each steel tine 52. Specifically referring to Fig. I lb, differently from the configuration of the steel tine 52, each steel bristle 56 is composed of two bristle segments.

Each pick-up rake 50 is composed of the steel tines 52 and steel brushes 56 which are assembled with each other and arranged on the same rake support 58. The removing brush 59 is rotatably positioned adjacent to a rear end of the second driving chain 70 and above the flammable waste conveyor 44 so that small-sized flammable wastes 122 picked up by the steel tines 52 and the steel brushes 56 can be released by the removing brush 59 to finally fall on the flammable waste conveyor 44.

As can be seen in Figs. 9 and 10, the rotary drum 60 has ribs 62 which are spaced apart one from another by a predetermined angle about a drum rotation shaft 61. Waste passages 63 are defined between two adjoining ribs 62 so that they are communicated one with another.

Accordingly, in the flammable waste separator 40, while the rotary drum 60, which is operatively connected to a driving motor (not shown) independently of the driving rotation shafts 71 and 73, is rotated, the light flammable wastes 122, picked up by the pick-up rakes 50 which are integrally rotated with the driving rotation shafts 71 and 73, fall through the waste passages 63 of the rotary drum 60 onto the flammable waste conveyor 44 to then be discharged to the outside.

In the wind separator 100, as shown in Figs. 12 through 15, volume

sorting means 114 is installed between the mixed waste conveyor 43 and a non- flammable waste conveyor 45. The volume sorting means 114 comprises screen rollers 103 on an outer surface of which a plurality of screen fins 102 are formed and a sorting drum 113 on an outer surface of which engagement fins 104 are formed.

The screen fins 102 are formed on the circumferential outer surfaces of the screen rollers 103 to be uniformly spaced apart one from another, so that the non-flammable wastes 123 contained in the mixed wastes 120 deprived of soil 121 and partially deprived of flammable wastes 122 are separated and fall onto the non-flammable waste conveyor 45 which is positioned below the sorting drum 113. The engagement fins 104 are projectedly formed adjacent to an end of the sorting drum 113, so that non-flammable wastes 123 having high specific gravities can be effectively sorted.

A blower 101 is installed at a side of the mixed waste conveyor 43. A rubber roller 105 is disposed perpendicularly to the sorting drum 113 and opposed to the blower 101. Above the rubber roller 105, a plurality of engagement rods 106 are mounted to a pair of roller supports 111 which are connected with each other via crank arms 109. In this way, weight sorting means 115 is constructed.

The sorting drum 113 is rotatably disposed behind the screen rollers 103 to transfer the non-flammable wastes 123. The blower 101 is installed at a side of the volume sorting means 114 so that light flammable wastes 122 can be separated by wind.

In order to ensure that the flammable wastes 122 scattered over the rubber roller 105 by the wind of the blower 101 are not discharged through an outlet port 108 and fall, the plurality of engagement rods 106 are mounted to the roller supports 111 which are connected with each other via the crank arms 109 so that the engagement rods 106 are uniformly separated one from another, whereby the weight sorting means 115 is constructed.

More concretely speaking, as can be readily seen from Figs. 13 and 14, the engagement rods 106 are mounted to the roller supports 111 in a state wherein

rollers 112 are attached to both ends of the roller supports 111. The pair of roller supports 111 are positioned one behind the other and connected to the crank arms 109 so that they can be moved leftward and rightward in opposite directions to each other. The engagement rods 106 are obliquely installed so that the flammable wastes 122 which are engaged between the engagement rods 106 can easily fall on the flammable waster conveyor 44.

Referring to Fig. 15, an impeller 107 is installed between the outlet port 108 and the engagement rods 106 so that the wind can be dispersed while flowing from the blower 101 toward the outlet port 108. Therefore, the flammable wastes 122, such as vinyl and synthetic resin, which are engaged between the engagement rods 106 while being blown off by the wind, can be disengaged from the engagement rods 106 and fall on the flammable waste conveyor 44 to be discharged to the outside.

In the small-sized waste separator 130, as shown in Fig. 16, a pair of third driving sprockets 31 and 32 are installed up and down along an inclined line in a third housing 35. A third driving chain 33 is wound on the third driving sprockets 31 and 32 to be driven thereby. Steel brushes 56 are affixed to the third driving chain 33 to be integrally rotated therewith.

The non-flammable waste conveyor 45 for receiving and discharging the non-flammable wastes 123 is placed at a lower end of the third housing 35 so that the steel brushes 56 can be moved across the width of the non-flammable waste conveyor 45. The small-sized waste separator 130 is constructed in substantially the same manner as the foreign material separator 30, with the exception that the soil conveyor 38 is changed to the non-flammable waste conveyor 45 and the resin brushes 34 are replaced with the steel brushes 56.

The flammable wastes 122 contained in the mixed wastes 120 which are conveyed on the mixed waste conveyor 38 and include the non-flammable wastes 123, are sequentially separated onto the flammable waste conveyor 44 while passing through the flammable waste separator 40, the wind separator 100 and the small-sized waste separator 130, to then be heaped at a site. On the other hand,

the non-flammable wastes 123 which are left after the flammable wastes 122 are finally separated in the small-sized waste separator 130, are continuously conveyed on the non-flammable waste conveyor 45 to then be heaped at another site.

The soil 121 separated in the soil separator 10 is conveyed on the soil conveyor 38 to then be heaped at still another site. The mixed waste conveyor 43 is positioned at one side of the flammable waste separator 40 to convey the mixed wastes 120 placed thereon. The flammable waste conveyor 44 is positioned at the other side of the flammable waste separator 40, parallel to the mixed waste conveyor 43, to convey the flammable wastes 122 separated in the flammable waste separator 40.

The non-flammable waste conveyor 45 positioned downstream the wind separator 100 receives and conveys the non-flammable wastes 123 which are deprived of the flammable wastes 122 in the small-sized waste separator 130.

The flammable wastes 122 which are separated in the wind separator 100 and the small-sized separator 130 are continuously conveyed on the flammable waste conveyor 44 to then be heaped at the site.

In the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention, constructed as mentioned above, as can be readily seen from Fig. 1, from the original mixed wastes 120 introduced into the apparatus through the waste inlet opening 90, the fine soil 121 is first separated by the soil separator 10 and the foreign material separator 30 which separates the light flammable wastes 122 not screened in the soil separator 10. The soil 121 is then placed on the soil conveyor 38.

The flammable wastes 122 are separated from the mixed wastes 120 deprived of the soil 121, by the flammable waste separator 40, and then, a procedure proceeds so that the non-flammable wastes 123 are then separated through the wind separator 100 and the small-sized waste separator 130.

As can be readily seen from Figs. 2 through 6, in the soil separator 10 according to the present invention, not only the outer drum 14 but also the inner

rotating body 20 are rotated so that the soil 121 can be substantially completely removed from the mixed wastes 120. At this time, the base 24 of the scrubber 23 which is integrally installed on the connection bar 18 of the inner rotating body 20, upwardly pushes the mixed wastes 120 so that the mixed wastes 120 finally fall.

In response to the rotation of the outer and inner driving gears 15 and 16, the outer drum 14 and the inner rotating body 20 are rotated at different rpms in the same direction. The distal end of the blade 27 of the inner rotating body 20 scrubs away the inner surface of the outer drum 14 to prevent the holes 11 of the outer drum 14 from being clogged by the mixed wastes 120 having a higher content of water. For example, it is preferred that the outer drum 14 is driven at 16 rpm and the inner rotating body 20 is driven at 14 rpm.

In the scrubber 23, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the respective blade pieces which constitute the blade 27 elastically coupled to the other end of the blade body 26 by way of the scrubber springs 22 are brought into close contact with the inner surface of the outer drum 14 under the influence of the elasticity of the scrubber springs 22. While the inner rotating body 20 is rotated at a different rpm in the same direction as the outer drum 14, the blade 27 slides on the inner surface of the outer drum 14 to scrub away the soil 121 therefrom.

Steel, stone, etc. which are caught in the holes 11 of the outer drum 14 are removed by the rotating motion of the scrubber 23. When the outer drum 14 and the inner rotating body 20 are rotated, the support rollers 29 allow the outer drum 14 to be separated from the inner rotating body 20 by the predetermined gap.

The soil 121 having passed through the holes 11 may contain small flammable wastes 122. Referring to Fig. 7, these small flammable wastes 122 not screened in the soil separator 10 are separated in the foreign material separator 30 in which the resin brushes 34 are affixed to the first driving chain 33.

Thereafter, the soil 121 is conveyed by the soil conveyor 38 to be heaped at a proper site.

That is to say, the soil 121 containing a substantial amount of the flammable wastes 122 is introduced into the foreign material separator 30 while being conveyed by the soil conveyor 38, to be crossed with the resin brushes 34 which are rotatingly driven. By continuous functioning of the resin brushes 34 which are affixed to the first driving chain 30 and spaced apart one from another by the predetermined distance, the light flammable wastes 122 contained in the soil 121 pass over the upper end edge 36 of the lower portion of the first housing 35 and are discharged through the outlet opening 37.

Some of the light flammable wastes 122 which clung to the resin brushes 34 are released as the resin brushes 34 pass over a release bracket 64, to fall through the outlet opening 37. The soil 121 deprived of the light flammable wastes 122 is conveyed out of the foreign material separator 30 by the soil conveyor 38 to be heaped at a predetermined site.

The mixed wastes 120 deprived of the soil 121 in the soil separator 10 contain the flammable and non-flammable wastes 122 and 123. The flammable wastes 122 are primarily and secondarily separated through two times in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the mixed wastes 120, by the flammable waste separator 40 in which the pick-up rakes 50 having the rake springs 51 and the removing brush 59 are installed.

In the flammable waste separator 40, as shown in Figs. 8 through 1 lob, the mixed wastes 120 conveyed on the mixed waste conveyor 43 and containing the light flammable wastes 122 such as vinyl are moved on the second driving chain 70. By this fact, the flammable wastes 122 are separated by the pick-up rakes 50 each of which is composed of steel tines 52 and the steel brushes 56 assembled with each other. At this time, the flammable wastes 122 each having a small volume are forced by the removing brush 59 to fall while being prevented from scattering.

When the flammable wastes 122 are picked up by the pick-up rakes 50 with the aid of the rotary drum 60 which is rotated in the direction opposite to the second driving chain 70, the flammable wastes 122 naturally fall through the

waste passages 63 of the rotary drum 60 which are defined between two adjoining ribs 62, onto the flammable waste conveyor 44 which is positioned at the lower end of the second housing 41, while being prevented from scattering.

In the flammable waste separator 40 according to the present invention, non-recyclable flammable wastes 122 can be separated from the non-flammable wastes 123 which are relatively massive, through pick-up operations by the plurality of pick-up rakes 50, independently of wind separation using the wind separator 100, to be discharged and reliably sorted.

In particular, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each pick-up rake 50 for picking up the flammable wastes 122 is composed of steel tines 52 and steel bristles 56 which are assembled with each other to be arranged in the same line. However, a person skill in the art will readily recognize that each pick-up rake 50 may comprise steel tines 52 or steel bristles 56, without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

The flammable wastes 122 separated in the flammable waste separator 40 are conveyed and discharged to the outside thorough the flammable waste conveyor 44 which is installed parallel in its lengthwise direction to the wind separator 100. At this time, the flammable wastes 122 which are not separated in the flammable waste separator 122 pass through the wind separator 100.

When the mixed wastes 120 pass through the wind separator 100, due to the fact that the screen rollers 103 each of which is formed on the outer surface thereof with the screen fins 102 are rotated, the massive non-flammable wastes 123 fall through a space defined in the volume sorting means 114 to be conveyed on the non-flammable waste conveyor 45. At this time, the flammable wastes 122 pass over the volume sorting means 114.

The flammable wastes 122 having a low specific gravity are separated through the weight sorting means 115 using the wind generated by the blower 101. Due to the presence of the impeller 107 for dispersing the wind, the flammable wastes 122 engaged between the engagement rods 106 while being blown off by the wind are prevented from scattering toward the outside.

Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 16, the flammable wastes not separated in the volume sorting means 114 and the weight sorting means 115 of the wind separator 100 are additionally separated by the small-sized waste separator 130 which is installed in the course of the flammable waste conveyor 44. The separated flammable wastes 122 are gathered by the flammable waste conveyor 44 and heaped at a site. The non-flammable wastes 123 sorted in the small-sized waste separator 130 are gathered and heaped at another site.

Industrial Applicability As apparent from the above description, the apparatus for sorting unsanitary landfill wastes according to the present invention provides advantages in that, since non-recyclable flammable wastes, such as vinyl sheets and pieces of wood, contained in mixed wastes deprived of soil in a soil separator, can be separated from non-flammable wastes which are relatively round and massive, through pick-up operations by a plurality of pick-up rakes rotated in an opposite direction to a rotary drum, independently of simple wind separation, to be discharged in a reliably sorted manner, waste separation capability of the apparatus is improved. Therefore, it is not necessary for a person to conduct additional work for the separated wastes, and environment pollution due to imprecise sorting of the landfill wastes is prevented.

In particular, an inner rotating body to which a blade having a predetermined degree of tension is mounted is rotated inside an outer drum in the same direction and at a different rpm to allow the blade to scrub away an inner surface of the outer drum, and brushes are installed outside the outer drum to prevent holes defined through the outer drum from being clogged. As a consequence, the need for a burner is obviated, economic efficiency and safety are improved, and probability of a fire or explosion to occur is considerably decreased.

Further, in the conventional art, when separating flammable wastes using

wind, a substantial amount of non-flammable wastes is contained in flarnmable wastes, and environmental pollution is provoked due to scattering of the flammable wastes. In these considerations, in the present invention, mechanical separation devices employing continuously rotating rakes and brushes are used to improve flammable waste separation efficiency and prevent environmental pollution.

Moreover, in the present invention, a low output blower is used in place of a high output blower for wind separation of wastes so that energy is saved and noise and vibration are decreased, and almost all of soil is separated in the soil separator to substantially reduce an amount of dust to be generated in downstream facilities. Furthermore, an impeller is disposed in a wind separator in which dust is generated to the greatest degree, to minimize dust generation.