JP3433163B2 - Garbage processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food waste processing apparatus for accommodating a mixture of food waste and a food waste processing material in a processing tank and adjusting the water content of the mixture to decompose the food waste. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, raw garbage is put into a treatment tank filled with porous wood chips (hole chips) which are raw garbage treating materials, and the raw garbage and the whole tip are agitated. By mixing, by the microorganisms inhabiting the mixture,
There is known a food waste processing device that decomposes food waste into water and carbon dioxide gas. In such a food waste treatment device, the treatment efficiency can be improved by adjusting the water content of the food waste / chip mixture to a range suitable for the inhabitation of microorganisms. Therefore, the food waste treatment equipment is equipped with a blower mechanism that sends air into the treatment tank and a heater that heats and dries the food waste / chip mixture in the treatment tank. A water supply device for supplying water to the garbage / chip mixture is provided to adjust the water content.

In order to automatically and optimally adjust the water content,
It is necessary to measure the water content of the food waste / chip mixture in the treatment tank. Conventionally, as a method of measuring the water content, a method of detecting the water content by contacting a pair of electrodes with the garbage / chip mixture and measuring the electrical resistance between the electrodes
(JP-A-7-33572) or a method of detecting the water content by contacting a heating resistor with the food waste / chip mixture and measuring the temperature rise of the food waste / chip mixture (JP-A-8-5
No. 7458) is proposed.

[0004]

However, in the method of measuring the water content using a pair of electrodes, when an electrolyte solution or substance is interposed between the pair of electrodes, the electric resistance between the electrodes changes significantly. Therefore, there is a problem that a large error occurs in the measured value of the water content. In addition, in the method of measuring the water content using a heating resistor, the heating resistor and raw garbage
When the adhesiveness of the chip mixture is poor, there is a problem that the measurement accuracy of the water content decreases.

Therefore, the applicant has developed a water content measuring device which improves the measurement accuracy by optically measuring the water content of the food waste / chip mixture, and has developed a food waste processing device equipped with the device. Patent pending (Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-087235, etc.). The water content measuring device comprises a tungsten lamp for irradiating the garbage / chip mixture with light, and a silicon photodiode and a pyroelectric element for detecting the light reflected from the garbage / chip mixture. The water content of the garbage / chip mixture is calculated based on the ratio of the amount of reflected light detected by using the device and the amount of reflected light detected by using the pyroelectric element.

The silicon photodiode has sensitivity in the first wavelength range (less than 1 μm) where the water transmittance is large, whereas the pyroelectric element is used in the second wavelength range (where the water transmittance is small). (1 μm or more). Therefore, while the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element changes greatly depending on the difference in water content of the garbage / chip mixture,
The amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode hardly changes. Therefore, if the ratio of the amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode and the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element is taken, the known Lambert-Beer equation described below is used to determine the water content of the food waste / chip mixture from the ratio of the amount of light detected. The rate can be calculated.

According to the above-mentioned water content measuring device, the water content of the garbage / chip mixture can be optically measured from the outside of the treatment tank, so that there is no problem in the conventional water content measuring method described above, A higher measurement accuracy can be obtained.

By the way, as the food waste treatment material deteriorates, the particle size becomes smaller and the viscosity becomes higher. Therefore, a plurality of the food waste / chip mixture (10) in the processing tank (12) is provided as shown in FIG. It changes into a large mass of dumplings. When the food waste / chip mixture (10) changes into a dumpling-like mass in this manner, the efficiency of the food waste decomposing process decreases, and anaerobic decomposition occurs inside the dumpling-like mass to generate a foul odor. It is necessary to replace the food waste processing material in the processing tank (12) with a new food waste processing material. However, in the food waste processing device, the user, by visually observing the food waste / chip mixture (10) in the treatment tank (12), or by smelling the food waste / chip mixture (10),
It is necessary to judge whether or not the raw garbage processing material should be replaced, which is a troublesome task. An object of the present invention is to provide a food waste processing apparatus that does not require the user to determine whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced.

[0009]

A first food waste processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a stirrer for stirring a mixture in a processing tank,
A water content detection device that detects the water content of the mixture in the treatment tank, a water content adjustment device that adjusts the water content based on the detected water content, and a notice that the food waste treatment material in the treatment tank should be replaced. An informing device for informing, the water content detecting device,
A light emitting element for irradiating the mixture with light including a first wavelength range having a large transmittance for water and a second wavelength range having a small transmittance for water, and a treatment tank having sensitivity in the first wavelength range. Receiving the reflected light from the mixture in the first, a first light receiving element that emits an output according to the amount of received light, having sensitivity in the second wavelength region, receiving the reflected light from the mixture in the processing tank, The second which outputs an output according to the amount of received light or its change
The light receiving element and the arithmetic processing circuit that executes the operation of calculating the water content of the mixture in the processing tank based on the output signals of the first and second light receiving elements a plurality of times during the stirring operation of the stirring device. The processing tank includes a light transmitting portion on at least a part of a wall surface with which the mixture contacts, and the light emitting element, the first light receiving element, and the second light receiving element are arranged to face the light transmitting portion. The informing device takes in a plurality of calculated values of the water content from the arithmetic processing circuit, and a plurality of the calculated values that are taken in, based on a variation detection means for detecting the magnitude of variation and a detection result of the variation detection means. , A judgment means for deciding whether or not the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced, and a notification to that effect when it is judged that the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced It is equipped with a notification means.

In the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus, the light emitted from the light emitting element passes through the light transmitting portion of the processing tank and is applied to the mixture in the processing tank. The light reflected by the mixture passes through the light transmitting portion, of which the first wavelength component is detected by the first light receiving element, and the second wavelength component is detected by the second wavelength component.
It is detected by the light receiving element. Here, when comparing the case where the water content of the mixture in the treatment tank is high and the case where it is low,
The wavelength range of the light component detected by the first light receiving element (first
(The wavelength range of 2), the transmittance of water is large, so there is almost no difference in the amount of light detected by the first light receiving element, but the wavelength range of the light component detected by the second light receiving element (the second wavelength range).
Since the transmittance of water is small, the amount of light detected by the second light receiving element is different. Therefore, for example, when the ratio of the amount of light detected by the second light receiving element to the amount of light detected by the first light receiving element is taken, the larger the ratio, the smaller the water content of the mixture, and the smaller this ratio, the more the water content of the mixture. growing. Therefore, the water content of the mixture in the processing tank is calculated based on the output signals of the first light receiving element and the second light receiving element.

In the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus, the operation of calculating the water content is executed a plurality of times during the stirring operation of the stirring apparatus. Here, when the food waste treatment material is new, the food waste treatment material is an aggregate of innumerable pieces, and therefore the contact state of the mixture with the wall surface of the treatment tank hardly changes even during the stirring operation of the stirring device. do not do. Therefore, there is almost no variation in the amount of light detected by the first light receiving element and the amount of light detected by the second light receiving element, and there is no great variation in the plurality of calculated values of the water content. On the other hand, when the deterioration of the food waste treatment material progresses and the mixture changes into a plurality of dumpling-like large lumps as described above, a plurality of lumps are formed between the wall surface of the treatment tank and the plurality of lumps contacting the wall surface. Due to the formation of the voids, the contact state of the mixture with the wall surface of the processing tank greatly changes with the stirring operation of the stirring device. That is, there is a state in which one or a plurality of the voids are present in the central portion of the irradiation area of the light from the light emitting element and a state in which the voids are not present. here,
When one or a plurality of voids are formed in the central portion of the irradiation region, the light detection amount by the first light receiving element and the light detection amount by the second light receiving element are smaller than in the state where no space is formed. Therefore, during the stirring operation of the stirring device, a large variation occurs in the light detection amount by the first light receiving element and the light detection amount by the second light receiving element. As a result, there are large variations in the calculated values of water content. Therefore, the magnitude of the variation is calculated for a plurality of calculated values of the water content, and it is determined whether or not the raw garbage processing material should be replaced based on the magnitude of the variation.

As a result of the above judgment, when it is judged that the food waste processing material should be replaced, the fact is notified. Here, as the notification method, various methods such as a method of lighting a lamp indicating that the raw garbage processing material should be replaced, a method of displaying on the display that the raw garbage processing material should be replaced, a method of issuing an alarm, etc. The above notification method can be adopted.
In this way, the notification device determines whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced, and if it is determined that the food waste processing material should be replaced, that effect is notified, so the user However, it is not necessary to judge whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced by visually observing the food waste processing material in the processing tank or by smelling the food waste processing material.

Specifically, the variation detecting means of the notification device calculates a standard deviation for the plurality of calculated values,
The judging means is a magnitude judging means for judging whether or not the calculated standard deviation is larger than a predetermined value, and a variable generating means for generating a variable which increases according to the number of times the standard deviation is judged to be larger than the predetermined value. , Resetting means for resetting the variable generating means when the standard deviation is judged to be smaller than a predetermined value, and when the variable generated by the variable generating means exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the garbage processing material in the processing tank is removed. It comprises an exchange judging means for judging that it should be replaced.

In the above specific configuration, the standard deviation is calculated for a plurality of calculated values of the water content, and the number of times the standard deviation exceeds the predetermined value is counted. In the process of counting up the number of times the standard deviation exceeds the predetermined value, if the standard deviation is below the predetermined value, at that point,
When the count of the number of times is reset and the standard deviation continuously exceeds the predetermined value for the predetermined number of times or more, it is determined that the food waste processing material should be replaced. In this way, it is judged that the food waste processing material should be replaced only when the standard deviation continuously exceeds the predetermined number of times, so that the judgment result is highly reliable.

The water content detecting device of the second food waste treating apparatus according to the present invention comprises a light emitting element, a first light receiving element and a second light receiving element, as in the first food waste treating apparatus, and An arithmetic processing circuit for calculating the water content of the mixture in the processing tank based on the output signals of the first and second light receiving elements is provided.
Then, the notification device captures the output value of the first light receiving element a plurality of times during the stirring operation of the stirring device, and detects the magnitude of the variation in the captured output values. Based on the detection result,
Judgment means for deciding whether or not the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced, and notification to inform that when it is judged that the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced And means.

When the food waste treating material in the treatment tank is new, as described above, the contact state of the mixture with the wall of the treatment tank hardly changes even during the stirring operation of the stirrer. 2 There is no great variation in the amount of light detected by the light receiving element. On the other hand, when the raw garbage processing material in the treatment tank deteriorates and the mixture changes into a large mass of multiple dumplings, the contact state of the mixture with the wall of the treatment tank is accompanied by the stirring operation of the stirring device. A large change causes a large variation in the amount of light detected by the first light receiving element and the second light receiving element. Therefore, during the stirring operation of the stirrer, the magnitude of variation is calculated for a plurality of output values obtained from the first light receiving element, and whether or not the raw garbage processing material should be replaced based on the magnitude of the variation. Is determined. Here, since the light detection amount by the first light receiving element hardly changes according to the change of the water content of the mixture as described above, when the light detection amount by the first light receiving element greatly varies, the variation is It is caused by a large change in the contact state between the wall surface of the treatment tank and the mixture, and it can be determined that the food waste treatment material should be replaced.

[0017]

According to the food waste processing apparatus of the present invention,
The user does not need to make a judgment as to whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the garbage disposal according to the present invention comprises a casing (1) having an upper opening, and a lid (11) pivotably supported at the opening of the casing (1). In the inside of the casing (1), the processing tank (1
2) has been deployed. The treatment tank (12) is made of a material, a color and a thickness capable of transmitting light having a wavelength of a wide band including a visible light region and a near infrared light region, and has a thickness of 2 mm, for example. It is formed using white polycarbonate.

A shaft (21) is horizontally installed inside the treatment tank (12), and a plurality of stirring rods (2) are radially provided around the shaft (21) so as to project. One end of the shaft (21) is connected to a motor (23) through a power transmission mechanism (22), and the stirring rod (2) is rotated by driving the motor (23), It is possible to stir the garbage / chip mixture (10). The stirring of the food waste / chip mixture (10) by the stirring rod (2) is performed every 30 minutes at a frequency of several minutes.

A planar heater (3) is attached to the outer surface of the treatment tank (12) to heat the food waste / chip mixture (10) in the treatment tank (12). . Further, an exhaust fan (4) is provided above the processing tank (12), and the exhaust fan (4) is connected to the exhaust port (13) through the exhaust passage (14), and the exhaust fan (4) It is possible to ventilate the inside of the processing tank (12) by driving (1). Further, a water supply mechanism (not shown) is connected to the treatment tank (12) as necessary, so that water can be supplied into the treatment tank (12).

Further, in the food waste treatment apparatus according to the present invention, the water content of the food waste / chip mixture (10) in the treatment tank (12) is optically measured outside the bottom wall of the treatment tank (12). A water content detector (6) for measuring is attached. As shown in FIG. 3, the water content detector (6) comprises a tungsten lamp (61) mounted toward the treatment tank (12), a silicon photodiode (62) and a pyroelectric element (63). Figure 4 (a)
As shown in, the tungsten lamp (61) emits light having a wide band extending in the visible light region and the near infrared light region. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the silicon photodiode (62) has sensitivity in a relatively narrow wavelength range of 0.5 μm to 1.0 μm, and the pyroelectric element (63) has a sensitivity of 1.0 μm. It has a flat sensitivity characteristic in a wide wavelength range exceeding the range.

As described above, the processing tank (12) is capable of transmitting light having a wavelength in a wide band including a visible light region and a near infrared light region, so that the light emitted from the tungsten lamp (61) is Is passed through the treatment tank (12), irradiated to the garbage / chip mixture (10), the light reflected by the garbage / chip mixture (10) passes through the treatment tank (12), It is incident on the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63).

The control device (5) has a control circuit (51) composed of a microcomputer, and the lighting of the tungsten lamp (61) is controlled by the control circuit (51).
The output signals of the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) pass through the amplifiers (52) and (53), respectively, and then the control circuit.
Supplied to (51). The control circuit (51) is based on signals from the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) during stirring of the garbage / chip mixture (10) by the stirring rod,
Detect the water content of the garbage / chip mixture (10) 10 times and
The average water content is calculated for 0 detection values. And
The operations of the heater (3), the exhaust fan (4) and the motor (23) are controlled on the basis of the calculated average water content, whereby the mixture of the food waste and chips (10) in the treatment tank (12) is controlled. Optimally adjust the water content. Further, the control circuit (51) calculates standard deviations of the 10 detection values of the water content of the garbage / chip mixture (10), and based on the standard deviations, the treatment tank
If it is judged whether the food waste processing material in (12) should be replaced, and if it is judged that the food waste processing material should be replaced, a warning to that effect is displayed on the display (not shown). To do.

The principle of detecting the water content in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, FIG.
Shows the spectral distribution characteristics of the tungsten lamp (61),
Light is distributed over the visible light region and the near infrared light region. 4B shows the spectral distribution characteristic P of the silicon photodiode (62) and the spectral distribution characteristic Q of the pyroelectric element (63). The silicon photodiode (62) has a spectral distribution characteristic of 0.5 μm.
The pyroelectric element (63) has a sensitivity in a relatively narrow wavelength range of .about.1.0 .mu.m, and has a flat sensitivity characteristic in a wide wavelength range of more than 1.0 .mu.m.

FIG. 4 (c) shows the spectral distribution characteristic P'of the amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) when the light emitted from the tungsten lamp (61) is directly received. And the spectral distribution characteristic Q ′ of the light detection amount by However, the pyroelectric element (63) changes the amount of received light (differential).
Since it is a thermal sensor that emits a signal according to, the data corresponding to the absolute value of the received light amount can be obtained by integrating the waveform of the output signal. The peak value of the waveform of is the integrated value (light detection amount). The amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) is approximately proportional to the areas of the regions surrounded by the characteristic curves P'and Q ', respectively.

FIG. 4D shows the distribution of the transmittance of light to water in the wavelength range from the visible light region to the near infrared light region, and the transmittance is about 1 in the visible light region. It can be seen that, while almost no light is absorbed, the transmittance is low in the near infrared light region, and a large amount of light is absorbed.

FIG. 4 (e) shows a case where the light emitted from the tungsten lamp (61) passes through a substance containing water and enters the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63). The distribution Pn (n = 0, 40, 80) of the amount of light detected by the photodiode (62) and the distribution Qn (n = 0, 40, 80) of the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element (63) are shown. Here, n is the water content (%) of the substance. These distributions have the spectral distribution characteristics P ′ and Q ′ shown in FIG.
This can be understood as the product of the water transmittance characteristics shown in FIG. 4 (d), and the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (6
The magnitude of the amount of light detected by 3) is approximately proportional to the area of the region surrounded by the distribution curves Pn and Qn.

As can be seen from FIG. 4 (e), since the transmittance of water is about 1 in the visible light range, even if the water content changes, the light detection amount of the silicon photodiode (62) is almost the same. Although no change is seen, in the near infrared region, the degree of light absorption changes according to the change in water content,
The amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element (63) changes depending on the water content.

The amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode is Ps, and the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element is Qs.
Then, the water content W of the measurement target is expressed by the following equation 1 using the Lambert-Beer equation.

[0030]

[Equation 1] X = -log (Qs / Ps) W = a ・ X + b a, b: constant

The constants a and b in the above equation 1 are experimentally obtained. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, by plotting the value of X and the water content for a plurality of substances having known water contents, and approximating the relationship between them by a straight line, the slopes of the line and the constants a and b are calculated from the contact pieces. You can decide.

The above description of the principle is premised on the case where the light passes through the measurement object (substance containing water) and is incident on the silicon photodiode and the pyroelectric element. This is also true when the reflected light is reflected by the substance and enters the silicon photodiode and the pyroelectric element. This means that the reflected light from the object to be measured includes, in addition to the light reflected by the surface thereof, light that has penetrated into the inside of the object to be measured and is reflected by the particle surface inside, that is, diffuse reflected light. This is because the diffuse reflected light is affected by the absorption characteristics of the measurement target.

FIG. 8 shows a procedure for adjusting the water content in the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus. The procedure is executed once every 30 minutes. As shown in the figure, in a state where the value of the counter variable N is reset, first, in step S1, after stirring the raw garbage / chip mixture (10) with a stirring rod,
In step S2, the tungsten lamp (61) irradiates the food waste / chip mixture (10) with light. As a result, the reflected light is reflected by the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element.
When incident on (63), the control circuit (51) takes in the output signals of the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) and detects the magnitude of the respective light detection amounts. Then step S
In 3, the water content of the food waste / chip mixture (10) is calculated using the above equation 1, and in step S4, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter variable N is 9, and in the case of No, S5
After shifting to (1) and counting up the value of the counter variable N, the process returns to step S2.

Thus, the garbage / chip mixture (10)
Is calculated every few seconds, and then, when the water content of the garbage / chip mixture (10) is calculated 10 times, YES is determined in step S4 and the process proceeds to step S6.
The stirring of the food waste / chip mixture (10) by the stirring rod is completed.

Subsequently, in step S7, an average value is calculated for 10 calculated values of water content, and in step S8, it is judged whether or not the average water content is less than 25%. In step S9, a water supply warning is displayed on the display to prompt the user to supply water, and the stirring time by the stirring rod is shortened to increase the water content. If No is determined in step S8,
In step S10, it is determined whether the water content is higher than 50%. If YES is determined here, in step S11, the fan is rotated to ventilate the inside of the processing tank, the stirring time by the stirring rod is extended, and the set temperature of the heater is raised. Thereby reducing the water content.

As a result, the water content of the food waste / chip mixture in the treatment tank is adjusted to the range of 25% to 50%,
As a result, the efficiency of the food waste decomposition process is maintained high, and the generation of an offensive odor due to the decomposition is suppressed.

FIG. 9 shows a procedure for displaying a processing material exchange warning in the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus. As shown in the figure, first, after resetting the value of the counter variable M in step S21, it is determined in step S22 whether or not the stirring of the food waste / chip mixture (10) by the stirring rod is completed. The same determination is repeated in step S22.

On the other hand, if YES is determined in step S22, the process proceeds to step S23, and the standard deviation is calculated for the 10 calculated values of the water content obtained in step S3 of FIG. Here, when the raw garbage treatment material in the treatment tank is new, the raw garbage treatment material is an aggregate of innumerable pieces, so even if the raw garbage / chip mixture is being stirred, the raw garbage treatment material and The contact state of the dust / chip mixture hardly changes, and there is no great variation in the amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode and the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element. Therefore, there is no great variation in the 10 calculated values for the water content, and their standard deviations are small values.

On the other hand, the deterioration of the food waste treatment material in the processing tank progresses, and as shown in FIG. 6, the food waste / chip mixture (1
When (0) changes into a large mass of dumplings, the treatment tank
A plurality of voids (15) are formed between the bottom surface of (12) and a plurality of masses contacting the bottom surface, and the contact state between the bottom surface of the processing tank (12) and the garbage / chip mixture (10) is as shown in FIG. And as shown in FIG.
It changes greatly with the rotation of the stirring rod. Here, for example, in the state in which one of the plurality of voids (15) is generated in the central portion of the irradiation region of the light from the tungsten lamp (61) as shown in FIG. Silicon photodiode (62)
The amount of light detected by and the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element (63) are reduced. Therefore, while stirring the garbage / chip mixture (10),
A large variation occurs in the amount of light detected by the silicon photodiode (62) and the amount of light detected by the pyroelectric element (63). As a result, the 10 calculated values of the water content greatly vary, and the standard deviations thereof become large. Therefore, based on the standard deviation, it is determined whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced, as described later.

Next, in step S24 of FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the standard deviation is larger than a predetermined value, and if the result is yes, the process proceeds to step S25 and the value of the counter variable M is counted up. In step S26, it is determined whether or not the value of the counter variable M is 5 or more. If the answer is NO in step S26, the process returns to step S22. If the answer is YES, step S27 is performed.
The display shifts to step S22 after displaying a warning to the effect that the food waste processing material should be replaced, and then returns to step S22. If it is determined NO in step S24, the value of the counter variable M is reset in step S28, the warning display is terminated in step S29, and then step S29.
Return to 22.

According to the above procedure, the standard deviation is calculated for the 10 calculated water content values during one stirring operation, and the number of times the standard deviation exceeds the predetermined value is counted. If the standard deviation falls below a predetermined value in the process of counting up the number of times, the count of the number of times is reset at that time. When the standard deviation exceeds the predetermined value five times or more consecutively, it is determined that the food waste processing material should be replaced, and a warning to that effect is displayed on the display.

In the food waste treating apparatus of this embodiment, when the food waste treating material is deteriorated and the food waste / chip mixture (10) is changed into a mass of dumplings as shown in FIG. 6, the food waste treating material is changed. The display will warn you that you should replace the. Therefore, the user should replace the garbage processing material by visually observing the garbage / chip mixture (10) in the treatment tank (12) or by smelling the garbage / chip mixture (10). It is not necessary to judge whether or not Further, in the food waste treating apparatus of the present embodiment, as described above, the food waste treating material should be replaced only when the standard deviation of the water content exceeds the predetermined value five times or more continuously. Since the judgment is made, high reliability can be obtained for the judgment result.

In the above embodiment, the water content detector (6) is attached to the outside of the bottom wall of the treatment tank (12), but the invention is not limited to this. It is also possible to arrange it on the outside. The treatment tank (12) is a water content detector.
It is also possible to form only a portion where (6) faces each other from a light transmissive member such as polycarbonate. Further, as the light receiving element, a combination of the silicon photodiode (62) and the pyroelectric element (63) is used, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the light receiving element having sensitivity in a wavelength range where absorption by water is weak and the absorption by water. As long as it is a combination of light receiving elements having sensitivity in a strong wavelength region, various known combinations of light receiving elements such as a combination of a silicon photodiode and a germanium photodiode can be adopted.

Further, when the standard deviation of the water content exceeds the predetermined value for five times or more in succession, a warning display indicating that the food waste treating material should be replaced is adopted, but instead of this, It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the warning is displayed even when the standard deviation exceeds a predetermined value even once. Furthermore, a configuration is adopted that determines whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced based on the standard deviation of the water content, but instead of this, the standard deviation of the output value of the silicon photodiode (62) is adopted. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the judgment is made based on the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a food waste processing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the food waste processing device in a direction orthogonal to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a water content detector and a control device.

FIG. 4 is a series of graphs explaining the principle of water content detection in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship between the actual measurement value of water content and the logarithmic value of the output ratio of the pyroelectric element and the silicon photodiode.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the raw garbage / chip mixture is changed into a plurality of dumpling-like lumps as the raw garbage processing material deteriorates.

FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining that the contact state of the bottom of the processing tank and the food waste / chip mixture changes greatly.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a procedure for adjusting the water content in the food waste processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for displaying a processing material replacement warning in the food waste processing apparatus of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

(1) Casing (10) Garbage / chip mixture (11) Lid (12) Treatment tank (2) Stir bar (3) Heater (4) Exhaust fan (5) Control device (6) Water content detector (61) Tungsten lamp (62) Silicon photodiode (63) Pyroelectric element

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-10-151431 (JP, A) JP-A-9-174023 (JP, A) JP-A-9-10748 (JP, A) JP-A-8-89930 (JP , A) JP 8-84981 (JP, A) JP 8-276169 (JP, A) JP 6-229917 (JP, A) JP 61-264239 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B09B 3/00 ZAB C05F 9/02 G01N 21/27 G01N 21/35

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A food waste treatment apparatus for accommodating a mixture of food waste and a food waste disposal material in a treatment tank, and adjusting the water content of the mixture to decompose the food waste. Stirrer to stir the water, a water content detection device to detect the water content of the mixture in the treatment tank, a water content adjustment device to adjust the water content based on the detected water content, and the garbage treatment in the treatment tank With a notification device that notifies that the material should be replaced,
The water content detection device includes a light emitting element that irradiates the mixture with light including a first wavelength band having a large transmittance for water and a second wavelength band having a small transmittance for water; A first light-receiving element that has sensitivity and emits an output according to the amount of received light when receiving reflected light from the mixture in the processing tank; and having sensitivity in the second wavelength range, A second light receiving element which receives the reflected light from the mixture of No. 1 and outputs an output according to the magnitude of the amount of received light or a change thereof, and based on the output signals of the first and second light receiving elements during the stirring operation of the stirring device. An arithmetic processing circuit that executes the operation of calculating the water content of the mixture in the treatment tank a plurality of times, wherein the treatment tank includes a light transmitting portion on at least a part of the wall surface with which the mixture is in contact, and the light transmitting portion. The light emitting element, the first light receiving element, and the second light receiving element face each other. The notification device is arranged, the plurality of calculated values of the water content is taken in from the arithmetic processing circuit, the variation detection means for detecting the magnitude of the variation of the plurality of calculated calculation values, the detection of the variation detection means Based on the result, the judgment means for deciding whether or not the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced, and the judgment means when it is judged that the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced. A garbage processing device, comprising: an informing unit for informing that effect. 2. The variation detecting means of the notification device calculates a standard deviation for the plurality of calculated values, and the judging means is a magnitude judging means for judging whether or not the calculated standard deviation is larger than a predetermined value. Variable generating means for generating a variable that increases in accordance with the number of times the standard deviation is judged to be larger than a predetermined value, and reset means for resetting the variable generating means when the standard deviation is judged to be smaller than the predetermined value. The food waste according to claim 1, further comprising exchange determining means for determining that the raw garbage processing material in the treatment tank should be exchanged when the variable generated by the variable generating means exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Processing equipment. 3. A food waste treating apparatus for accommodating a mixture of food waste and a food waste treating material in a treatment tank and adjusting the water content of the mixture to decompose the food waste. Stirrer to stir the water, a water content detection device to detect the water content of the mixture in the treatment tank, a water content adjustment device to adjust the water content based on the detected water content, and the garbage treatment in the treatment tank With a notification device that notifies that the material should be replaced,
The water content detection device includes a light emitting element that irradiates the mixture with light including a first wavelength band having a large transmittance for water and a second wavelength band having a small transmittance for water; A first light-receiving element that has sensitivity and emits an output according to the amount of received light when receiving reflected light from the mixture in the processing tank; and having sensitivity in the second wavelength range, Of the mixture in the treatment tank based on the output signals of the second light receiving element that receives the reflected light from the mixture of No. 2 and emits an output according to the magnitude of the amount of received light or its change, and the first and second light receiving elements. An arithmetic processing circuit for calculating a water content, and the processing tank has a light transmitting portion on at least a part of a wall surface with which the mixture contacts, and the light emitting element and the first light receiving element are opposed to the light transmitting portion. And a second light receiving element are arranged, and the notification device is provided with a stirring device. During the operation, the output value of the first light receiving element is captured a plurality of times, and the variation detection unit that detects the magnitude of the variation in the captured output values, and the detection result of the variation detection unit, A means for judging whether or not the food waste processing material should be replaced, and a notification means for notifying that the food waste processing material in the processing tank should be replaced A garbage processing device that is characterized by