GB976011A - Improvements relating to kitchen waste disposal units - Google Patents

Abstract

976,011. Kitchen appliances; dish washing apparatus; sinks; peeling vegetables; brushes. J. P. R. BELL. March 4, 1963 [Dec. 14, 1962], No. 47292/62. Headings A4C, A4F, A4K, A4N and A4R. [Also in Divisions B2 and D1] A waste disposal unit 1, Fig. II, of the kind fitting under a kitchen sink 4 is combined with a rotary tool, such as a vegetable peeler or dish-washing machine, having a hollow shaft 35 rotatable in a bearing in a plug 36 in the sink outlet 2 and provided at its lower end with a driven clutch member 45 arranged for co-operation with a driving clutch member 26 at the upper end of the driving shaft 8 of the unit, and a removable cover 6 which fits over and encloses the rotary tool is arranged to carry a downwardly-extending clutch-operating member 52 extending into the hollow shaft 35 for the purpose of moving the member 45 against a spring into engagement with the member 26 to effect rotation of the tool. When a waste disposer is used alone, the sink outlet 2 is closed by a plug carrying a magnet which operates a switch 19 to energize the motor 7. When a rotary tool, such as the dishwasher shown, is to be used, a plug 24, which also includes a motor-energizing magnet and supports an auxiliary shaft 22, is first secured in the sink outlet 2 by a bayonet joint 25. The upper end of the shaft 22 carries the aforesaid driving clutch member 26 and the lower end slides in a tubular extension 27 on a female coneclutch member 28 engageable with a member 32 formed by a conical boss on the rotor 9, a spring 30 urging the two members together when the plug 24 is fitted. With a dish-rack 5 inserted in the sink and the plug 36 snap-fitted in the plug 24 the cover 6 is installed and pressure on a button 53 causes a nose 54 to push a shaft 40 downwards to engage the clutch members 45, 26 and effect drive from the motor 7, through the shaft 40 and a cross-pin, to the hollow shaft 35 carrying hard-rubber agitator-blades 46. The button 35 may be held in depressed condition by a slider but no drive is transmitted to the shaft 35 until the cover 6 is fitted. Instead of the dishwasher shown, the tool may be in the form of an abrasive wheel constituting part of a vegetable peeler and enclosed in a separate pot with a lid which must be in position before the abrasive wheel can be driven. When the cover 6 and plug 36 are removed, a further plug 57, Fig. IV, including a flexible shaft 59 driving a scouring brush 72 may be snapped into position. The shaft ends in an enlarged spindle 64, one end of which has a blind bore into which is keyed a shaft 66 carrying a bevel gear 67 meshing with a gear 68 on a hollow shaft 69 in which is keyed a shaft 73 carrying the brush 72. The shaft 69 is retained in position by a spring ring 74 and both this shaft and the brush can be rejected for renewal by operating a button 75. The flexible shaft 59 is normally urged away from the plug 57, inside its outer cover 58, by a spring 76, but, by squeezing a trigger 79, two links 81 force back a thrust-ring 78 against the action of the spring 76, and a coiled spring 85 then forces the spindle 64 and shaft 59 back towards the plug 57 so that a spade-end 86 enters a slot in the driving clutch member 26 to operate the brush. To secure the waste disposal unit to the sink, the chamber 11 is bolted by bolts passing through an annular washer 14 to a lower radial flange on a rubber sleeve 15; an upper flange on this sleeve is gripped between two annular supporting plates 16, 17, the plate 17 resting on a beading 18 held in a groove in the sink outlet.