Apparatus of recycling printed circuit board

• US 7,296,340 B2
• Filed: 07/21/2005
• Issued: 11/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Taniguchi, Toshihisa, Sakaida, Atsusi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cozart; Jermie E.
• Application Number:
  US11/185,760
• Publication Number:
  US 20050246879A1
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• Field of Search: 294/034, 294/033, 294/031, 297/00, 297/62, 241/24.15, 241/24.21, 241/24.11
• US Class Current: 29/700
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 5/00 Operations not covered by a single other subclass or by a single other group in this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 17/02 Separating plastics from other materials
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0255 using different melting or softening temperatures of the materials to be separated
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0456 Pressing tools with calibrated openings, e.g. in sizing plates, for disintegrating solid materials
• CPC Class Codes: B29B 2017/0464 Solid state shear extrusion pulverisation
• CPC Class Codes: B29L 2031/3425 Printed circuits
• CPC Class Codes: C22B 7/001 Dry processes
• CPC Class Codes: C22B 7/005 Separation by a physical processing technique only, e.g. by mechanical breaking
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2201/0129 Thermoplastic polymer, e.g. auto-adhesive layer; Shaping of thermoplastic polymer
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 2203/178 Demolishing, e.g. recycling, reverse engineering, destroying for security purposes; Using biodegradable materials
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/22 Secondary treatment of printed circuits H05K3/1283 takes precedence; embedding circuits in grooves by pressure H05K3/107
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4069 for via connections in organic insulating substrates
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4614 the electrical connections between the circuit boards being made during lamination
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 3/4632 laminating thermoplastic or uncured resin sheets comprising printed circuits without added adhesive materials between the sheets
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 10/20 Recycling
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
• CPC Class Codes: Y02W 30/62 Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49751 Scrap recovering or utilizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49755 Separating one material from another
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49757 by burning or heating
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53 : Means to assemble or disassemble
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53274 : Means to disassemble electrical device

Abstract

The present invention provides a recycler that recycles a printed circuit board for separating and retrieving a metallic material, which includes a printed metallic material, and an insulating material, both composing the printed circuit board. The insulating body base of the printed circuit board as the waste printed circuit board can be a thermoplastic resin or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and inorganic loading material. The recycler includes a pressuring device that pressurizes the waste printed circuit board, a heater that heats the waste printed circuit board to a predetermined temperature at which the waste printed circuit board is at least softened, and a filter that filters the resin material from the waste printed circuit board. The heater can be maintain the filter at the predetermined temperature provided by the heater.

Claims

1. An apparatus for separating resin and metal to separate a resin material composing an insulating material and a metallic material so as to separate and to retrieve the insulating material composing a printed circuit board and the metallic material including a printed metallic material and also composing the printed circuit board from a waste printed circuit board, which is used in waste electric equipment or a waste produced in a process of manufacturing electric equipment, comprising;

a pressurizing means for pressurizing the waste printed circuit board, a heating means for heating up the waste printed circuit board to a predetermined temperature at which the waste printed circuit board is at least softened, and a filtering means for filtering the resin material from the waste printed circuit board that is maintained at the predetermined temperature by means of the heating means, wherein;

the insulating material is made of either thermoplastic resin only or a mixture of thermoplastic resin and an inorganic loading material,

the filtering means filters the insulating material only, the filtering means is made of a sintered metal, and the filtering means includes a filter, which passes only the resin material from the waste printed circuit board,

the pressurizing means includes a driving shaft, which has a rotational body for transporting the waste printed circuit board, a driving unit, which rotates the driving shaft, and a holder unit, which accommodates the rotational body,

a predetermined pressure caused by a rotational force of the rotational body is applied to an inner circumference wall of the holder unit,

the driving shaft of the rotational body is disposed in a vertical direction,

the filtering means is disposed and exposed on the inner circumference wall of the holder unit, so that the resin material is retrieved in the radial outward direction of a driving shaft, and

the rotational body rotates within the inner circumferential wall of the holder unit, which is provided by a circumferential wall of the filtering means.

2. An apparatus for separating resin and metal according to claim 1, wherein the holder unit provides a space, which is located on the opposite side of the driving unit and capable of reserving the metallic material.