FR2673824A1 - Machine for evacuating waste from meals eaten in a catering establishment - Google Patents

Abstract

The machine that forms the subject of the invention comprises a stainless steel structure (10) acting both as a track for a conveyor carrying trays (2) from the dining room of a catering establishment, loaded with crockery and cutlery and leftovers from meals, and as a wet channel for hydraulically carrying the waste removed from the trays to the waste disposal unit (4). Connected to this structure are one or more feeder channels (12) into which the operators empty the waste which they have taken from the trays and which a stream of water carries off into the wet channel (11), while the cutlery and crockery taken from the trays is stored in baskets (5) placed on the conveyor (7) leading to the dishwasher (6).

Description

DEVICE FOR DISPOSAL OF COLLECTIVE CATERING WASTE WASTE
The present invention relates to a waste disposal device
and meal reliefs in the dishes and on the trays
used in collective catering.

In collective catering (canteens and restaurants in schools, office buildings, hospitals ...) where meals are very generally served on trays, the task of sorting the contents of the trays (waste, plates, cups , cutlery ...) is very heavy, especially since the peak phenomenon is very accentuated and commonly reaches 1000 trays / hour.

To reduce the personnel assigned to this task, as well as to adapt this task to the remote transport of waste - transport which is more and more often carried out hydraulically after grinding - the diagram shown in Figure 1 is often adopted.

The conveyor (1) for the return of trays (2) (generally of the type with scales or parallel strands) is bordered by a chute (3) about 25 cm in width where the operators - at the same time as they remove the trays (2) of plates, glasses ... - empty the waste of plates, small plastic pots, napkins ..., waste that a stream of water brings to a grinder in the wet phase (4).

In this diagram, the operators must continuously carry out rotations of 180 in order to place in the baskets (5) behind them the materials which they have seized in the trays which pass before them.

These baskets which must pass through the washing machine (6) are generally placed on a roller conveyor (7).

The continuous rotations of 1800 imposed on operators are condemnable in terms of ergonomics and comfort of these operators.

In addition, they decrease their effectiveness.

In an attempt to eliminate these drawbacks, the diagram shown in Figures 3 and 4 has recently been adopted. The operators no longer have to turn around because the baskets (5) and the loading conveyor (7) of the washing machine (6) are in front of them, which carries the specific designation of frontal sorting.

In fact, this new arrangement gives rise, in the case of an assembly using hydraulic evacuation, to a new drawback: the distance between the operators and the baskets to be loaded - which corresponds to the width of the conveyor (1) of the trays increased by the width of the wet chute (3) for bringing waste to the crusher (4) - is too large and the lumbar forces imposed on the operators who load the baskets and then handle them are unacceptable.

To limit the distance between operators and baskets to change, the following procedure illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 has been considered.

- the wet chute (9) is placed under the tray conveyor (8) - the speed of the conveyor (8) is increased so that even at the flow rate of
points the spacing between trays (2) is approximately 60 cm. Under these conditions, each operator has sufficient space to
discard the contents of the
waste from the tray being sorted.

In practice, this procedure is difficult to apply because the speed of movement of the trays (2) in front of the operators is too great to allow them to remove the dishes, cutlery and waste from which the trays are loaded. Furthermore, this waste would inevitably soil one of the strands of the conveyor (8), on the one hand causing the fouling of the installation, on the other hand reducing the adhesion of this strand on the drive drum thus causing a slip therefore a differential speed between the two strands which would prevent any correct operation of the conveyor (8).

The device according to the invention avoids these drawbacks.

It comprises according to Figures 7 and 8 - a conveyor (10) trays from the restaurant room.

This conveyor is of the type with two parallel strands (distant about 30 cm), each of these two strands of plastic or elastomer, has a rectangular or round section and moves in a path of shape adapted to the section according to the drawing. , the path being obtained by deformation of the sheet forming the wet chute (11) described below or consisting of a plastic profile with a low coefficient of friction which has been attached to the sheet. This solution is of particular interest when the range of the conveyor is large.

This chute (11) may be narrow (about 20 cm) because it is only used for transport (operators do not directly throw waste), which allows the paths of the strands to be included in its horizontal upper edges of the conveyor (10). Thus the overall geometric shape of the chute and the conveyor is very simple, which makes cleaning very easy.

- one or more secondary troughs (12) (called antennas) arranged parallel to the main trough and connected laterally to this main trough.

Figures 7 and 8 show an arrangement of these antennas.

On each antenna, one or two operators, after entering the contents of the trays (2) throw the waste into the antenna and place the dishes and cutlery ... in the loading baskets of the washing machine, baskets of which only the width of the conveyor separates them. After they have filled the baskets (5) to the washing machine (6) by action on the conveyor (7).

Each antenna is supplied with water, with a sufficient flow to ensure the entrainment of waste up to the main chute.

In the case of a large number of antennas, a water distributor is used in order to continuously vary the flow rate on each of the antennas, the total flow rate being substantially constant.

 This variation in the flow periodically gives a significant flow rate on each antenna, thus making it possible to evacuate the heaviest or sticky waste that the average flow rate would not be sufficient to carry.

An embodiment of this dispenser is presented in FIG. 9.

Turn 1 supplied axially with water, distributes water successively to all the antennas (3 antennas marked A, B, C, in Figure 9). The openings in the bend and the sections of the tracks
A, B, C, are such that the increase in flow takes place very gradually on each channel, thus avoiding violent projections of water.

The same result can be obtained by other embodiments, for example by using automatic valves (one per antenna) with progressive opening, the operations of which are synchronized.

Claims (3)

1) Device for emptying the trays (2) on which the dishes, cutlery and meal reliefs are found in a collective catering, and for evacuation by hydraulic transport of these reliefs characterized in that it superimposes the conveyor (10 ) from trays to the wet waste collecting chute, this wet chute receiving the waste from a certain number of antennas (10) or from operators after recovering the dishes evacuate the reliefs of meals that a stream of water carries to the wet chute (11).  2) Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the stainless steel structure used both to form a sealed chute where the water laden with waste circulates, and to serve as a path for the two strands of rectangular or round section of the conveyor trays are very simple in shape and easy to access in order to simplify cleaning. 3) Device according to claims 1 and 2 characterized in that the flow rate sent to each antenna varies continuously by the action of a water distributor or a series of automatic valves.