AU2008100504A4

AU2008100504A4 - Waste food disposal unit

Info

Publication number: AU2008100504A4
Application number: AU2008100504A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Kwong Yip Poon; Israr Ahmed Khan Saeed; Cheuk Yan Wong
Original assignee: Johnson Electric SA
Current assignee: Johnson Electric SA
Priority date: 2008-05-30
Filing date: 2008-05-30
Publication date: 2008-07-10
Anticipated expiration: 2016-05-30

Description

00 -1-

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicants: Actual Inventors: Johnson Electric S.A.

Israr Ahmed Khan Saeed and Kwong Yip Poon and Cheuk Yan Wong Address for Service is: SHELSTON IP Margaret Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 CCN: 3710000352 Attorney Code: SW Telephone No: Facsimile No.

(02) 9777 1111 (02) 9241 4666 Invention Title: WASTE FOOD DISPOSAL UNIT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us File: 58785AUP00 501571025 1.DOC5845 00 O WASTE FOOD DISPOSAL UNIT FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a waste disposal unit.

BACKGROUND

V) Waste food disposers, especially those designed for domestic use, are often installed under a sink where they are directly attached to the drain of the sink. As such, the 00 disposer is located in a prime location in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, the disposer is a noisy device due to the function it provides. While short periods of noise are accepted for the convenience provided, the longer the disposer takes to complete its task, the more noticeable the discomfort to the user. Efforts have been made to reduce the noise of the disposer but most of the better noise reduction has resulted in inefficient and thus longer operation. Thus, there is still a desire for a faster and/or a more efficient waste disposal unit.

The present invention in one embodiment thereof allows a faster and/or more efficient food waste disposer through the use of an improved shredder ring or at least provides the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides a waste food disposer comprising: a housing defining a grinding chamber having an inlet and an outlet; and a grinding mechanism disposed within the housing including: a shredder ring; a grinding disc, having at least one grinding lug; and a motor, for rotating the grinding disc and having an output shaft; wherein the shredder ring comprises a ring of metal having a plurality of slots open at a lower edge of the ring and extending towards the upper edge at an angle to the vertical such that the slots form teeth extending downwardly and in the direction of rotation of the grinding disc.

00 SPreferably, the angle is between 200 and 300 to the vertical.

Preferably, wherein the shredder ring has a plurality of inwardly directed fingers spaced circumferentially and located axially above the slots.

Preferably, the teeth are tapered such that the slots between the teeth are divergent.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0One preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example 00 only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: C, Figure 1 is a sectional schematic view of a waste food disposer according to the present invention; Figure 2 is an exploded schematic of the working parts of the disposer of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional view of a grinding mechanism of the disposer of Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of a shredder ring, being a part of the grinding mechanism of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred waste food disposer, as shown in Figure 1, has a housing 12 defining a grinding chamber 14, having an inlet 16 and an outlet 18. The inlet 16 is adapted to be fixed to the drain of a sink and the outlet is connected, in use, to a drain pipe for the removal of the waste. Located within the grinding chamber is a grinding mechanism including a shredder ring 20 and a grinding disc 22.

The grinding disc 22 is mounted on an output shaft 28 of an electric motor 24 by way of a mounting bracket 26. The motor 24, in this embodiment, is a high voltage DC motor, and is located in a motor compartment 15 of the housing which is separated from the grinding chamber by a divider 30. The output shaft 28 of the motor 24 passes through the divider 30. A seal assembly 32 provides a waterproof rotating connection between the divider 30 and the shaft 28. The divider 30 has an outer periphery which forms part of the housing 12 and the outlet 18.

00 O The shredder ring 20 is fixed to the housing 12 within the grinding chamber 14. The shredder ring 20 is more clearly shown in Figure 4. The shredder ring 20 is a ring of steel, preferably stainless steel and has a plurality of slots 33 extending upwardly from the lower edge of the ring forming large teeth 34. The slots 33 are not vertical but are slanted at an angle between 200 and 30' to the vertical so as to point the teeth 34 downwardly in the direction of rotation of the grinding disc 22 which is disposed, in use, t within the shredder ring 20 and axially aligned with the teeth 34. The teeth 34 are tapered resulting in the slots 33 being divergent in the downward direction. The shredder 00ring 20 has a number of inwardly projecting fingers 36 located in the unslotted or upper portion of the shredder ring. In this embodiment, there are three fingers 36. The shredder ring 20 also has a number of inwardly projecting fingers 38 located in the slotted or lower portion of the ring, being formed in a respective tooth 34. Fingers 36 and fingers 38 help with the grinding process as will be described 10 later.

While the shredder ring 20 may be formed from a pipe, it is preferably formed from a strip of steel which is rolled into a ring with its ends joined together. While the ends may be joined by welding or riveting, they are preferably joined by a stamped dovetail connection 21, as shown in Figure 4.

The grinding disc 22 is more clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. In Figure 3, which is a cross sectional view of the grinding disc, we can see that the disc is flat. The grinding disc 22 has a plurality of peripheral recesses 42 which form teeth for aiding the shredding process. The grinding disc also has a number of pushers 44, two shown in this embodiment. The pushers are fixed to the disc and stand vertically and close to the periphery of the disc to help push the matter to be shredded to the slots 33 in the shredder ring 20. The pushers 44 shown in Figure 2 are fixed pushers meaning that they are fixed to the grinding disc 22 and cannot move with respect to the grinding disc 22.

They are each fixed by rivets 46. The pushers 54 of Figure 3, on the other hand, are swivel pushers. Swivel pushers are fixed to the grinding disc 22 for rotation therewith but they can rotate and/or slide about or along the fixing rivet. This has added value when dealing with hard matter such as bones, allowing the impact to be less forceful on the motor and the mounting structure and creating less noise and 30 vibration for the user.

00 The mounting bracket 26 is fixed to the grinding disc 22 by rivets 48. The mounting bracket is a stepped bar with a non-round hole 50 in the center which mates with and is keyed to the output shaft of the motor. In this embodiment, the output shaft has two flat sides 52. A spacer (not shown) and a screw (not shown) fix the mounting bracket 26 to the output shaft in known manner. The ends of the mounting bracket 26 extend up t from the central region and are then bent back to follow the surface of the grinding disc 22.

00 Referring back to Figure 1, operation of the waste food disposer will now be described.

Water and waste food is led into the grinding chamber 14 via the inlet 16. The water flows through the slots 33 in the shredder ring 20 and through the recesses 42 in the grinding disc to be discharged from the housing 12 via outlet 18. When the motor 24 is switched on, the output shaft 28 rotates the grinding disc at high speed to fling the matter towards the shredder ring and through the slots 33. Small particles of matter will pass through the slots 33 while large particles of matter will be caught and torn between the large teeth 34 of the shredder ring 20 and the recesses 42 on the disc, 10 until the large particles are small enough to pass through the slots 33. The pushers 44 help to fling the matter to the shredder ring 20. The fingers 36 and 38 do some minor shredding of softer matter but are used to stop large particles of matter from riding on the grinding disc and rubbing high on the shredder ring and thus, avoiding being caught by the teeth 34 of the shredder ring.

Seal assembly 32 prevents water and other liquids from passing through the shaft opening in the divider 30 and into the motor chamber The shredder ring itself may be stepped and the pushers either fixed type or swivel type or combination type, partly fixed, partly swivel type, are correspondingly stepped to match the grinding interface and push the waste matter out through the teeth of the shredder plate.

Waste food disposal units made according to the present invention exhibit a shorter grind time thus increasing the efficiency of the disposer and reducing the total noise Screated.

The embodiment described above is given by way of example only and various modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

t In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, 00 the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" 35 is used in an 0 10 inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

Claims

2. A waste food disposer according to Claim 1, wherein the angle is between 200 and 300 to the vertical.
3. A waste food disposer according to Claim 2, wherein the shredder ring has a plurality of inwardly directed fingers spaced circumferentially and located axially above the slots.
4. A waste food disposer according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the shredder ring has at least two inwardly directly projections located between a respective pair of adjacent slots. A waste food disposer according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the teeth are tapered such that the slots between the teeth are divergent.