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The present invention relates to an assembly for washing, drying and polishing
cutlery, comprising:
- a washing device with a washing inlet for feeding cutlery to be washed into the
washing device, and with a washing outlet for discharging washed cutlery from
the washing device;
- a polishing device with a polishing inlet for feeding cutlery to be polished into
the polishing device, and with a polishing outlet for discharging polished
cutlery from the polishing device;
in which the washing device and polishing device are separate modules.
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Such an assembly is known to the extent that the modules of which it is
composed, namely the washing device and the polishing device, are both known
modules that are to be found in combination in kitchens, in particular catering kitchens
of restaurants, hotels etc. However, in those places they are in every case modules
working completely separately from each other. An operative in each case takes cutlery
washed with the washing device by hand over to the polishing device for polishing of
the cutlery there, so that the cutlery in the end looks sparkling again, and tarnish stains
as a result of water that has dried on it are avoided. Such washing devices and polishing
devices for treating cutlery in the catering trade have already been known for decades.
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The object of the present invention is to provide an assembly of the type
mentioned at the beginning, in the case of which assembly the cutlery is washed, dried
and polished with a minimum of human effort.
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The abovementioned object is achieved according to the invention by providing
an assembly of the type mentioned at the beginning, which according to the invention is
characterized in that the washing outlet and polishing inlet can be connected to each
other. The washing device and the polishing device in this case remain two separate
modules, which is very practical not only for maintenance and repairs, but also for
replacement. However, the outlet of the washing device, called the washing outlet, and
the inlet of the polishing device, called the polishing inlet, are provided on the
respective modules in such a way that they can be connected to each other, so that
washed cutlery discharged by way of the washing outlet can be fed directly into the
polishing device. This is advantageous not only because it saves a human action, but
also because the end result, the washed, dried and polished cutlery, is of much better
quality. There is hardly any delay between the polishing and washing, so that prior to
the polishing the cutlery has not already partially dried unchecked, which would result
in stains that cannot be polished off.
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It is particularly advantageous here according to the invention if the washing
outlet has a washing outlet aperture and the polishing inlet has a polishing inlet
aperture, and if the washing outlet aperture is provided above the polishing inlet
aperture in such a way that the cutlery is conveyed from the washing outlet aperture
into the polishing inlet aperture under the influence of gravity. In this way it is possible
to transfer cutlery from the washing device to the polishing device in a reliable manner,
without the intervention of conveyance means with moving parts. In particular, the
washing outlet aperture will be situated vertically above the polishing inlet aperture. In
this way the cutlery washed and discharged by the washing device can fall directly out
of the washing device into the polishing device.
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It is further advantageous according to the invention if a conveyor belt extends
between the washing inlet and the washing outlet, in order to convey the cutlery
through the washing device, and if washing jets are provided along said conveyor belt
for the purpose of washing cutlery passing along the conveyor belt with a jet of
washing liquid. In this way it is possible to place the cutlery to be washed in the
washing device at the inlet of the washing device, and the cutlery can then be taken
fully automatically by the conveyor belt from the washing inlet to the washing outlet
and washed in the meantime by subjecting the cutlery to washing liquid sprayed from
the washing jets on or against the cutlery. From the conveyor belt the washed, undried,
still wet cutlery - in the case of certain types of polishing devices possibly fully or
partially dried cutlery - is then discharged from the washing device by way of the
washing outlet and fed to the polishing device.
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In order to remove soap residues or other active ingredients of the washing
liquid other than water reliably from the cutlery, it is advantageous according to the
invention if downstream of the washing jets rinsing jets are provided for rinsing cutlery
passing along the conveyor belt, in particular with clean water, or at any rate water
without added detergent.
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With a view to a simple infeed of the cutlery to be washed into the washing
device, it is advantageous according to the invention if the washing inlet opens out
above the upstream end of the conveyor belt - at any rate assuming that the conveyor
belt is not made unnecessarily long - and if the washing outlet, or at any rate the
washing outlet aperture, lies below the downstream end of the conveyor belt. It then
becomes possible to place the cutlery on the conveyor belt from the top, or simply to let
it fall onto the conveyor belt, and to discharge the cutlery directly at the end of the
conveyor belt by way of the washing outlet aperture. Having the washing inlet open out
above the conveyor belt also means that the risk of water coming out of the washing
device is reduced. This makes it possible to have the washing device operating
continuously, or at any rate operating while cutlery to be washed is being fed to the
washing device.
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In order to make it easier to discharge water from the conveyor belt and to
prevent this water from having to be carried along with the cutlery by the conveyor
belt, which would make washing of the cutlery more difficult, it is advantageous
according to the invention if the conveyor belt comprises a conveyance surface
provided with apertures, in particular a perforated conveyance surface. Fixed walls may
be provided along the conveyance surface if desired, in order to prevent the cutlery
from falling off the conveyor belt, or at any rate off the conveyance surface. These
walls can be solid or possibly fully or partially provided with apertures. By providing
the conveyance surface with apertures and also possibly providing apertures in the side
walls along the conveyor belt, it is also possible to make the washing jets spray the
cutlery from the side or, if desired, from the bottom for the purpose of cleaning. The
same also applies to the rinsing jets. It is therefore further advantageous according to
the invention if washing jets and/or rinsing jets are provided above and below the
conveyance surface, in order to permit spraying of cutlery lying on the conveyance
surface from the top and from the bottom.
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The conveyor belt can be, for example, a roller conveyor, driven or otherwise.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the conveyor belt is,
however, of the so-called endless type.
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It is particularly advantageous according to the invention if the conveyor belt is
composed of an endless chain of U-shaped elements. The side legs of the U-shaped
elements then form, as it were, the side walls of the conveyor belt that prevent the
cutlery from falling off the conveyor belt, and the web of the U-shaped elements that
connects said legs to each other then forms the conveyance surface of the conveyor
belt. In this way it is ensured that the side walls of the conveyor belt also move along
with the cutlery, which reduces the risk of blockages occurring on the conveyor belt
because of cutlery becoming jammed between the opposite walls. This is because the
walls move along with the conveyor belt, so should cutlery become jammed the
jammed piece or pieces of cutlery will simply be conveyed further and will not obstruct
other cutlery.
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It is further advantageous according to the invention if the washing device
comprises sensors for detecting cutlery, which sensors are connected to switching
means that are designed to switch off the washing device, or at any rate to place it in a
standby mode if no cutlery has been detected for a predetermined period of time. This
predetermined period of time can be, for example, 10 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or
more. These switching means will then switch off the conveyor belt and/or the washing
jets and/or rinsing jets. The washing liquid and the rinsing liquid will still be kept at
temperature, at any rate in the standby mode. It is possible to save energy in this way,
and the noise produced by the assembly is also minimized, namely occurs only in those
periods when the assembly is actually in use.
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In order to ensure good synchronization of the washing device with the
polishing device, it is advantageous according to the invention if the washing cycle
time of the washing device is less than or equal to the polishing cycle time of the
polishing device. Washing cycle time in this context is meant in particular to convey
the quantity of cutlery that can be processed by the washing device per unit time.
Polishing cycle time in this context is meant in particular to convey the quantity of
cutlery that can be processed by the polishing device per unit time.
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In order to make a further energy saving and noise reduction possible in the
case of polishing devices that can be placed on standby, it is advantageous according to
the invention if the washing device comprises switching means - which, as will be
clear, can be controlled by the abovementioned sensors or also otherwise - for
switching the washing device on and off, or at any rate for placing the washing device
in or taking it out of a standby mode, and if these switching means are further
connected to the polishing device in order to switch the latter simultaneously on or off,
or to or from the standby mode, possibly with a predetermined delay. In this way it can
be ensured that when the washing device is switched on or off the polishing device is
also switched on or off respectively. It is then unnecessary to perform two manual
switching operations. Since it can happen that the washing device has already delivered
the last cutlery while this cutlery has not yet been fully processed by the polishing
device, it can be advantageous to switch off the polishing device with a time delay after
switching off the washing device. Conversely, at the time of start-up it will generally be
the case that no cutlery is yet present in the polishing device, while there will already
be cutlery in the washing device. It is therefore also possible when switching on the
devices to switch on the polishing device with a delay after switching on the washing
device.
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The present invention can in principle be embodied with various types of
washing device, so not just the type that is specifically described above. The type of
washing device described above is, however, the preferred embodiment. The same also
applies to the type of polishing device. Many polishing devices known from the prior
art can be used for the type of polishing device. It is, however, preferable according to
the invention to use a specific type of polishing device, as is known, for example, under
the brand name Rösler, model CD 8000L. Such a type of polishing device comprises:
- a tank with granular, preferably water-absorbent material, such as corn grains or
maize grains;
- vibrating means for setting the tank containing the granular material in
vibration;
- a helical perforated plate part provided in the tank, extending from the centre of
the tank up to the polishing outlet.
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Such a polishing device is also known from EP 0,882,424. With a suitable choice of
the granular material the polishing device can also dry the cutlery. In that case it is
possible for the cutlery to be conveyed without any drying at all from the washing
device to the polishing device.
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According to a further aspect, the invention relates to a washing device intended for
an assembly according to the invention.
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The present invention will be explained in greater detail below with reference to an
example shown diagrammatically in the drawing, in which:
- Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic, perspective view, partially with disassembled parts,
of an assembly according to the invention; and
- Figure 2 shows diagrammatically and in perspective a top view of a polishing
device, with the cover removed, for an assembly according to the invention.
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Fig. 1 shows an assembly according to the invention comprising a washing device 1
and a polishing device 2. For the sake of clarity, the washing device 1 is shown with the
cover 3 removed.
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The washing device 1 comprises a superstructure 4 and a substructure 5. The
substructure 5 contains systems (not shown) for feeding in washing liquid and spraying
liquid, and for storage of such liquids, in addition to other not so special parts for the
functioning of such a device. An endless conveyor 5 is accommodated in the
superstructure. Said endless conveyor is composed of U-shaped segments, which are
connected together to form a chain. One segment is indicated by 6. Each segment
consists of two vertical side walls 7 and a bottom 8. The bottom parts 8 are provided
with apertures, or if you like perforations. The side walls 7 can, if desired, also be
provided with such apertures or perforations, but in this case the side walls 7 are solid
in each case. The direction of conveyance of the top part of the endless conveyor 9 is
shown by arrow 10. A washing inlet aperture 11 is provided in the cover 3 above the
upstream part of the conveyor 5. Dirty cutlery can be placed on the conveyor 5 by way
of the washing inlet aperture 11. The conveyor 5 will then convey this cutlery in the
direction of arrow 10 past jet means 12 for washing liquid. Said jet means 12 comprise
jet pipes provided transversely along the top of the upper part of the conveyor 5 and
also transversely along the bottom of the upper part of the conveyor. The top jet pipes
13 are positioned with the jet nozzles directed downwards, and the bottom jet pipes 14
are positioned with the jet nozzles directed upwards. Owing to the fact that the
segments 6 of the conveyor are provided with apertures 9, the washing liquid can drain
away through the conveyor 5 and it is possible for the bottom jet pipes 14 also to wash
cutlery lying on the conveyor 5. A rinsing assembly 15 with a top jet pipe and a bottom
jet pipe is shown downstream of the washing liquid jets 12. The top jet pipe and also
the bottom jet pipe of this rinsing assembly have the jet nozzles directed towards the
conveyor 5. Downstream of the rinsing means 15 the conveyor 5 is guided over a
turning point 16. The washing outlet 17 is provided after the turning point 16. Said
washing outlet 17 comprises a guide and has a washing outlet aperture (not shown) on
the underside. The washing outlet aperture is situated directly above the polishing inlet
aperture of the polishing device 2. Said polishing inlet aperture is provided in the cover
18 of the polishing device 2 and is situated directly above the central pipe part 19 of the
vibrating tank 20 provided in the top part of the polishing device 2.
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The polishing device 2 is of the type with a vibrating tank 20 filled with maize
granules 21. A perforated plate 22 is provided, extending helically, in this vibrating
tank, which perforated plate in particular makes slightly more than one revolution. The
perforations in the helical plate 22 have a diameter that is greater than that of the
granular material with which the tank 20 is filled. This granular material in this
example consists of maize granules, but it can also be another granular material.
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Cutlery emptied into the vibrating tank 20 by way of the pipe part 19 will be
polished and preferably also dried under the action of the granules 21. If desired, it is
possible to dispense with drying means in the washing device. Under the influence of
the vibrating action to which the vibrating tank 20 is subjected by vibrating means (not
shown) that are known per se, the cutlery moves by itself up along the helical plate 22
towards the polishing outlet 23.
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A sensor 24 can be provided in the washing device 1, for example at the discharge
end of the conveyor 5. It can be seen with this sensor 24 whether cutlery is present on
the conveyor 5. This sensor 24 can be connected to switching means, which are
designed in such a way that if the sensor 24 has not detected any further cutlery for a
period of, for example, 30 seconds, the switching means switch the washing device 1 to
a standby mode. In standby mode the washing liquid jets and the rinsing jets will not be
operational and the conveyor 5 will also be at a standstill. The systems for maintaining
the washing liquid at temperature and otherwise for keeping the washing liquid ready in
operational mode will continue to work in the standby mode. This sensor 25 is also
connected to switching means for switching the washing device 1 on and off. When the
washing device 1 is in the switched-off or standby mode, as soon as this sensor detects
that cutlery is passing through washing inlet aperture 11 the washing device will be put
into full operation. The polishing device 2 will also be put into operation, possibly with
a delay. By connecting sensor 25 to a time counter, said sensor can also be used for
switching off the washing device. The washing device will then be switched off as soon
as a period of time that is equal to or greater than the preceding cycle time of the
washing device has elapsed. In that case it is possible, if desired to dispense with sensor
24.
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The switching system for placing the washing device 1 in standby mode in the case
of the type of polishing device described with reference to the figures will not be
connected to the polishing device for placing that polishing device on standby. This is
because said polishing device cannot be kept at temperature when in standby mode. A
sensor 25 can be provided in a corresponding manner at the washing inlet aperture 11.
