WO2005061134A1

WO2005061134A1 - Food-trash processing unit for kitchen

Info

Publication number: WO2005061134A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/003322
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dong-Ho Cho; Hyun-Chul Jang; Hyun-Cheol Park; Sang-Sik Lee; Jung-Bon Son; Kun-Ho Choi
Original assignee: Softbiotech Corporation
Priority date: 2003-12-23
Filing date: 2004-12-16
Publication date: 2005-07-07
Also published as: KR20050018727A; CN1741865A; JP2007516077A; KR100541570B1; JP4485533B2

Abstract

The invention relates to a food-trash processing unit for kitchen, which is installed in the under space of a tableware washing stand to separate automatically the food-trash. This food-trash processing unit comprises an inlet duct (20) provided in the body (10) so as to be connected to a drain of a tableware washing stand; a dewatering drum (40) connected to the inlet duct (20); a cap (50) mounted on the dewatering drum (40) and having a discharge opening (51); a transferring screw (60) supported on the cap (50); a drying container (80) disposed under the cap (50) and connected to the discharge opening (51), said drying container being provided with a discharge opening (81) and a heater (82); a stirring member (100) inserted inside the drying container (80); a storing receiver (300) disposed withdrawably under the drying container (80); a ventilating fan (400) and a vermin exterminator (500), each disposed in the drying container (80); and a controller (600) for automatically controlling the above-described components.

Description

FOOD-TRASH PROCESSING UNIT FOR KITCHEN

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a food-trash processing unit for kitchen and more particularly a food- trash processing unit for kitchen which can be lightly installed in the lower space of a tableware washing stand or kitchen sink and which allows the quantity of the disposed food-trash originating from homes or- restaurants to be minimized by separating the food-trash into the moisture part and the solid or water insoluble part, and subjecting the substantially solid part to a further dewatering under compressing, cutting as well as crushing and a final drying to result in a decreased quantity of dry du pable waste.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally, the food-trash remaining after meals is caused to be collected on the filtering nets placed on the sink drains of tableware washing stands to be separated from the washing water component for the separate further treatment. The food-trash collected on the filtering nets contains a considerable amount of moisture, and therefore dumping as such or burying the food wastes underground would lead to easy rotting or the generation of terribly unpleasant odor due to the leaking percolate, resulting in the environmental pollution. On the other hand, the incineration can be often carried out with a difficulty or would require a considerably long time, if possible. Thus, measures to solve the fundamental problems of the pollution of the soil and waters or the stink due to rotting of the food wastes are urgently needed, because the food-trash dumped from homes or restaurants are apt to spoil the soil or waters due to the septic reaction. In fact, the food-trash was conventionally used as the feed stuff for livestock including the hog, chicken, duck, dog etc. but it is, in recent years, evaded by the farmers due to the shortage of man powers and the inconvenience in handling and use. Further, when the food- trash is buried in the soil or dumped into the rivers, various gases and stinks emitted due to rotting cause the environmental pollution and the serious damage to the growth of the crops, because the food-trash includes various kinds of nutritive substances. Accordingly, nowadays the food-trash processing units are provided with high-speed dryers, fermenting chambers and food-trash destructors to solve the above-described problems of reducing disposal quantities. However, the above-described conventional high-speed dryers, fermenting chambers and food-trash destructors are high-priced and large-sized, so that they are not suited to be installed for ordinary homes and restaurants, particularly in the lower spaces of sinks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is devised to resolve the drawbacks with the conventional art described above. Thus, the object of the invention is to provide a food-trash processing unit, so that such units can be easily installed in the lower spaces of the tableware washing stands used by most housewives by miniaturizing the units so as to contribute to convenient uses and the quantity of the finally disposed food-trash can be minimized due to the complete removal of the moisture contained in the food- trash through the processes of dewatering, cutting and drying applied to the initially water-saturated food-trash. The above object is achieved according to a preferred aspect of the invention by a food-trash processing unit for kitchen, wherein a body is built in the lower space of a tableware washing stand, an inlet duct having a branch tube and a discharge pipe is provided in the body so as to be connected to a drain of the tableware washing stand, a shut-off plate is built in the inlet duct to be opened or closed automatically through a switching actuator, a dewatering drum having an inlet opening and a filtering- separating sieve is slantly connected to the lower part of the inlet duct on one side of the latter, a cap having a discharge opening is mounted on the dewatering drum in the upper section of the latter, a transferring screw supported on the cap is fitted inside the filtering-separating sieve, a motor for driving the transferring screw is provided, a drying container having a discharge opening and a heater is disposed under the cap while being connected to the discharge opening, a cover for tightly closing the top of the drying container is provided, a stirring member supported on the cover is inserted inside the drying container, a reversible motor is provided to drive the stirring member, a storing receiver is disposed withdrawably under the drying container, a ventilating fan and a vermin exterminator are disposed in the drying container, and a controller for automatically controlling the above-described components is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 shows the perspective view of the food-trash processing unit for kitchen according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 shows the sectional view of the unit corresponding to Fig. 1, Figs. 3a and 3b show the sectional views of the unit similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the different states of the operation, Fig. 4 shows the sectional view of a dewatering drum with a cap according to the invention, Figs. 5a and 5b show the perspective and sectional views of a cap used in the unit shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 6 shows the perspective view of a drying container used in the unit shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 shows the perspective view of a stirring member used in the unit shown in Fig. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The technical construction of the invention is described in detail below by referring to the accompanying drawings . In short, the food-trash processing unit for kitchen according to the invention is characterized in that the unit comprises, as shown in Figs. 1 to 7, a body 10 built in the lower space of a tableware washing stand; an inlet duct 20 provided in the body 10 so as to be connected to a drain of the tableware washing stand, said inlet duct being provided with a branch tube 21 and a discharge pipe 22; a shut-off plate 30 built in the inlet duct 20 to be opened or closed automatically through a switching actuator 31; a dewatering drum 40 slantly connected to the lower part of the inlet duct 20 on one side of the latter, said dewatering drum being provided with an inlet opening 41 and a filtering-separating sieve 42; a cap 50 mounted on the dewatering drum 40 in the upper section of the latter, said cap being provided with a discharge opening 51; a transferring screw 60 supported on the cap 50, said transferring screw being fitted inside the filtering- separating sieve 42; a motor 70 for driving the transferring screw 60; a drying container 80 disposed under the cap 50 and connected to the discharge opening 51, said drying container being provided with a discharge opening 81 and a heater 82; a cover 90 for tightly closing the top of the drying container 80; a stirring member 100 supported on the cover 90 and inserted inside the drying container 80, a reversible motor 200 for driving the stirring member 100; a storing receiver 300 disposed withdrawably under the drying container 80; a ventilating fan 400 and a vermin exterminator 500, each disposed in the drying container 80; and a controller 600 for automatically controlling the above-described components. Here, the body 10 is formed in a box type, as seen in Fig. 1, and is built in a lower space of a tableware washing stand, wherein the body 10 is in such a size as to be housed in the lower space of the tableware washing stand, an inlet duct 10, a dewatering drum 40 and a drying container 80 are contained within the interior of the body 10, a controller 600 is disposed on the front face of the body 10 and a storing receiver 300 is disposed in a withdrawable manner in the bottom compartment of the body 10. In particular, the inlet duct 20 is disposed so as to protrude from the body 10 at a position of the roof of the body. The inlet duct 20 is installed on the body 10 so as to be connected to a drain opening of a tableware washing stand, wherein the sewage water and food trash ejected from the tableware washing stand flow in the inlet duct 20. A branch tube 21 is connected to an upper point of the inlet duct 20 to discharge the sewage water having flowed-in and a drain pipe 22 is provided at the bottom of the inlet duct 20. In particular, the branch tube 21 is positioned above the shut-off plate 30, as shown in Fig. 2, and a filtering net 21a is disposed at the inlet of the branch tube 21 for the food-trash filtration. The shut-off plate 30 built in the inlet duct 20 is automatically opened or closed through a switching actuator 31, wherein the shut-off plate 40 is, as seen in Fig. 3a, is closed to allow the food-trash contained in the sewage water to be collected or the shut-off plate 30 is opened, as seen in Fig. 3b, to allow the collected food-trash to be dumped down, the shut-off plate 30 being selectively opened or closed through the switching actuator 31. Here, the switching actuator 31 electrically connected to the controller 600 causes the shut-off plate 30 to open or close automatically under the control of the controller 600. The dewatering drum 40, which is slantly connected to the lower part of the inlet duct 20 on one side of the latter and which is provided with an inlet opening 41 and a filtering-separating sieve 42, communicates, at the bottom of the dewatering drum, with the drain pipe 22, wherein the inlet opening 41 communicates with the inlet duct 20 and wherein the mesh size of the filtering-separating sieve 42 lies within the range of 0.3 ~ 2.0 mm. The filtering- separating sieve 42, intended to separate the washing water and the food-trash, acts to separate the minute food-trash to be collected on one place while maintaining the discharge of the washing water smoothly. It is noted that the surface area of the filtering-separating sieve 42 shall be as large as possible to prevent the reverse flow of the water in the case of a possible surging inflow of the washing water and the opening size of the filtering- separating sieve 42 shall be optimum. The above-described cap 50 mounted on the dewatering drum 40 is provided with the discharging opening 51, wherein the inner surface of the cap wall is provided with a number of projections 52 at a predetermined circumferential interval and a number of guiding wings 53 in a curved form are formed in a plane inside the cap 50 at the level just above the discharge opening 51, as seen in Figs. 5a and 5b. The projections 52 function to cut the food-trash to a predetermined size during dewatering to improve the efficiency of the subsequent drying and the guiding wings 53 function to guide the discharge of the dewatered food-trash so that the food-trash can be easily put into the drying container 80 through the discharge opening 51. The transferring screw 60 supported on the cap 50 is fitted inside the filtering-separating sieve 42 to remove the water from the food-trash by compressing the food-trash while moving the latter, wherein the transferring screw 60 is diminished in its diameter with the upward distance from the base to give a screw with a wide bottom and a narrow top. Accordingly, the dewatering efficiency can be improved because the volume of the matter to be treated is decreased due to the loss of the water contained in the food-trash as the screw 60 is driven upward. The motor 70 mounted on the top of the cap 50 drives the transferring screw 60. The motor 70 is electrically connected to the controller 600 so that it can drive the transferring screw 60 automatically in accordance with the control of the controller 600. The drying container 80, which is disposed under the cap 50 in such a manner as to be connected to the discharge opening 51 of the dewatering drum 40, is provided with a discharge opening 81 and heater 82. The drying container 80 is heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 82 to dry the dewatered food-trash, wherein the heater 82 is electrically connected to the controller 600 so that it can heat the drying container 80 automatically in accordance with the control of the controller. Guiding pieces 81a protrude respectively on the upper opposite sides of the discharge opening 81 so that the guiding pieces enclose a discharge screw 110 of a stirring member 100 to be described in the following. The cover 90 for closing the top of the drying container 80 is provided with crushing bars 91, perpendicularly extending downward, on the opposite sides of the inner surface of the cover 90. The crushing bars 91 perform the role of crushing the food-trash conglomerated during drying to fine particles. The stirring member 100 supported on the cover 90 is fitted inside the drying container 80. The discharge screw 110 to be fitted in the discharge opening 81 of the drying container 80 is formed on the lower central part of the stirring member 100, horizontal wings 120 in a curved form are formed on the opposite lower positions of the stirring member 100 on the opposite sides of the latter, a vertical wing 130 is formed at the end of one horizontal member 120 and the guiding pieces 81a enclosing the discharge screw 110 are disposed erectly on the opposite sides of the discharge opening 81, as described above. The discharge screw 110 acts to eject the dried food-trash smoothly into the discharge opening 81 while pulverizing the dried food- trash. The both horizontal wings 120 easily crush and remove the roasted food-trash adhered to the floor of the drying container 80, while the vertical wing 130 scrape off the food-trash adhered to the wall surface of the drying container 80. The reversible motor 200 drives the stirring member 100 in a positive direction or negative direction, wherein the motor is mounted on the top of the cover 90. The reversible motor 200 is electrically connected to the controller 600 so that the motor can drive the stirring member 100 automatically in accordance with the control of the controller 600. The storing receiver 300 is disposed in a withdrawable manner under the drying container 80, wherein the container stores the food-trash or its residue which is discharged through the discharge opening 81 after having been dried in the drying container 80. Here, the storing receiver 300 is disposed so as to be withdrawn in front of the body 10, as seen in Fig. 1. The ventilating fan 400 is disposed in a top position of the drying container 80 in order to remove the odor generated in the course of drying, wherein the outlet of the ventilating fan is connected to the drain pipe 22 of the inlet duct 20 via a hose 410. Therefore, the disagreeable smell characteristic of a food-trash generated during drying can be exhausted by the fan 400 to the drain pipe 22, wherein the fan 400 is electrically connected to the controller 600 to operate in an automatic manner under the control of the controller 600. The vermin exterminator 500 is disposed at a proper place in the upper section of the drying container 80, wherein the vermin exterminator 500 acts to desorb the peculiar odor in the equipments due to the long use, besides the extermination of harmful insects. The vermin exterminator 500 is electrically connected to the controller 600 to operate in an automatic manner under the control of the controller 600. The above-described controller 600 serves to automatically control the switching actuator 31, motor 70, heater 82, reversible motor 200, ventilating fan 400 and vermin exterminator 500, wherein the controller 600 may be disposed, together with switches, on the front face of the body 10. The sensors and other control-related items are not described, as they would be evident. The overall operation of the invention constructed as described above is described in the following. First, the sewage water and food-trash discharged through the drain of a tableware washing stand flow inside through the inlet duct 20, and the sewage water having entered the inlet duct 20 then reaches, through the branch tube 21, the discharge pipe 22 so as to be discharged, while the food-trash in the solid form is collected on the shut-off plate 30, as seen in Fig. 3a. When the disposition of the food-trash collected on the shut-off plate 30 is desired, the switch on the controller 600 is operated to turn the plate 30 downward through the actuation of the switching actuator 31, as shown in Fig. 3b. Thereby, the central portion of the inlet duct 20 is opened to dump down the food-trash collected on the shut-off plate 30, so that the fallen food-trash enters inside the filtering-separating sieve 42 of the dewatering drum 40 through the inlet opening 41. In an operation linked therewith, the motor 70 mounted on the top of the cap 50 is driven to rotate the transferring screw 60 fitted within the filtering- separating sieve 42. Thus, the food-trash received within the filtering-separating sieve 42 of the dewatering drum 40 is moved upward along the transferring screw 60, while it is freed of the water due to compression. On the other hand, the water or moisture freed from the food-trash is discharged to the drain pipe 22 through the filtering- separating sieve 42. The food-trash moving upward along the transferring screw 60 under dewatering travels further toward the cap 50. The food-trash component having reached the cap 50 after the foregoing steps is then pulverized by the help of the projections 52 and the guiding wings 53 provided on and in the cap 50 before being discharged smoothly through the discharge opening 51. Thus, the dewatered and dried food- trash fell subsequently into the drying container 80. As described above, the food-trash, which is discharged into the drying container 80 through the discharge opening 51 after being subjected to compression, dewatering and cutting in the course of passing the dewatering drum 40, is dried in the drying container 80. When the food-trash cut to a predetermined fragment size is introduced into the drying container 80, the reversible motor 200 mounted on the cover 50 is caused to be driven, and simultaneously the stirring member 100 connected to the reversible motor 200 is put to rotation and also the heater 82 installed under the drying container 80 is switched on to heat up the interior of the drying container 80 to a proper temperature. The discharge screw 110 of the stirring member 100, which is operated in one direction and its reverse direction by the reversible motor 200, discharges the processed food-trash through the discharge opening 81, cutting the food-trash minutely, wherein the both horizontal wings 120 act to break the food-trash adhered to the bottom of the drying container, besides helping drying by agitation, the vertical wing 130 acts to scrape off the food-trash adhered to the wall surface of the drying container 80, besides helping drying by agitation, and the both crushing bars 91 extending down from the cover 90 act to crush the parts of the food-trash agglomerated rigidly during agitation. Further, the stirring member 100 is operated in one rotational and its reverse directions by the reversible motor 200 and the horizontal wings 120 are so curved as to collect the rotating food-trash toward the inner side in a positive direction and toward the outer side in a negative direction, resulting in an increased stirring effect on the food-trash. When the dewatering and drying of the food-trash have been completed through the above-described processes, the dried food-trash is discharged through the discharge opening 81 of the drying container 80 to the lower section following the further pulverization by the discharge screw 110 of the stirring member 100. The food-trash fallen through the discharge opening 81 is collected in the storing receiver 300. Then, after a certain elapse of time, the food-trash contained in the storing receiver 300 is appropriately disposed after disconnecting the container 300 from the body 10, whereby the treatment of the food- trash is finished. As described above, the odor peculiar to a food-trash generated during drying is discharged to the discharge pipe 22 via the ventilating fan 400, because the ventilating fan 400 for removing odors is provided on the top of the drying container 80 and in addition, the outlet of the fan 400 is connected to the discharge pipe 22 via the hose 410. Further, the vermin exterminator 500 provided in the drying container 80 acts to exterminate any noxious insects possibly inhabiting in the drying container 80 and remove the offensive smell peculiar to the equipment, due to the use over a long time. Accordingly, the invention has an advantage that the devices can be easily installed in the lower spaces of tableware washing stands used by most housewives for convenient uses, thanks to miniaturization of the treating units. There is another advantage that the quantity of the finally disposed food-trash can be minimized due to the complete removal of the moisture contained in the food- trash through the processes of dewatering, cutting and drying applied to the initially water-saturated food-trash. Furthermore, a pleasant indoor environment can be kept due to the perfect removal of the odor generated during the food-trash treatment and infiltration of noxious insects can also be prevented, according to the present invention. In brief, the food wastes originating from kitchens are compressed, dewatered and dried under the heat as well as agitation for the perfect removal of moisture, so that the disposable waste quantity can be minimized, in the case of the food-trash processing units for kitchens according to the invention, and the size of the inventive processing units is small enough to be built in the lower spaces of the tableware washing stands, so that they can be lightly installed for both homes and restaurants for the convenient use .

Claims

1. A food-trash processing unit for kitchen comprising a body (10) built in the lower space of a tableware washing stand; an inlet duct (20) provided in the body (10) so as to be connected to a drain of the tableware washing stand, said inlet duct being provided with a branch tube (21) and a discharge pipe (22); a shut-off plate (30) built in the inlet duct (20) to be opened or closed automatically through a switching actuator (31) ; a dewatering drum(40) slantly connected to the lower part of the inlet duct (20) on one side of the latter, said dewatering drum being provided with an inlet opening (41) and a filtering-separating sieve (42); a cap (50) mounted on the dewatering drum(40) in the upper section of the latter, said cap being provided with a discharge opening (51); a transferring screw(60) supported on the cap (50), said transferring screw being fitted inside the filtering-separating sieve (42); a motor(70) for driving the transferring screw(60); a drying container (80) disposed under the cap (50) and connected to the discharge opening (51), said drying container being provided with a discharge opening (81) and a heater (82); a cover (90) for tightly closing the top of the drying container (80) ; a stirring member (100) supported on the cover(90) and inserted inside the drying container (80) ; a reversible motor (200) for driving the stirring member (100); a storing receiver (300) disposed withdrawably under the drying container (80) ; a ventilating fan(400) and a vermin exterminator (500) , each disposed in the drying container (80) ; and a controller ( 600) for automatically controlling the above-described components.

2. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the mesh size of the filtering- separating sieve (42) lies between 0.3mm and 2.0mm.

3. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the inner wall surface of the cap (50) is provided with a plurality of proj ections (52) at a predetermined circumferential interval and a plurality of guiding wings (53) in a curved form are formed in a plane inside the cap (50) at the level just above the discharge opening (51) .

4. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the transferring screw (60) is diminished in its diameter with the upward distance along its axis from its base to result in a wide bottom and a narrow top.

5. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a discharge screw (110) fitted in the discharge opening (81) of the drying container (80) is formed on the lower central part of the stirring member (100), horizontal wings (120) in a curved form are formed on the opposite lower positions of the stirring member (100), a vertical wing (130) is formed at the end of one horizontal member (120) and guiding pieces (81a) enclosing the discharge screw (110) are disposed erectly on the opposite sides of the discharge opening (81).

6. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim 1, wherein crushing bars (91) are disposed perpendicularly downward on the opposite sides of the inner surface of the cover (90).

7. The food-trash processing unit for kitchen as claimed in Claim !,• wherein the ventilating fan (400) is connected to the discharge pipe (22) of the inlet duct (20) via a hose(410) .