Research and design of testing equipment for garbage containers

Abstract

As to mechanical property testing of garbage containers, the testing results by traditional manual testing means are fundamentally limited by large manual error, low stability, long testing cycle, etc. Based on the common use characteristic of garbage containers in the market, we develop automatic testing equipment for performances of effective volume, opening and closing force, durability, and structural strength of garbage containers. The testing equipment is modular-designed, which can realize commands-control and data transmission of the sensor module and tooling module through the PLC module of measurement and control. Two methods are used to test the item of effective volume, which are the weighing method and the flow method, to optimize the data validity and repeatability by collecting and calibrating two kinds of testing results. The performances of opening and closing force and durability of containers with the different on-off operation modes, such as pedals mode, cover mode, and the mode of the door, are tested by the recombination tooling module with pulling force sensors and torque sensors of the equipment. The structural strength is tested by a lifting mechanism and free-fall tooling in the equipment. Compared to testing results from the traditional method, it is found that results from the testing equipment developed in this study are higher in stability and shorter in the testing cycle. Also, it can realize the automatic testing of garbage containers.