JPH0839043A - Garbage treatment apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To keep the water content of a cultivation bed material nearly constant and to maintain an aerobic environment to promote microorganism decomposition. CONSTITUTION:A garbage treatment apparatus comprises an electrode 25 for measuring the water content of a cultivation bed material, a heating apparatus 17 for keeping the water content of the cultivation bed material nearly constant based on data from the electrode 25, an electric motor 20, and a controller 23 for controlling a ventilation mechanism 19.

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 processing food waste produced at home.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a food waste treatment device is provided with a food waste treatment tank with a lid, a culture floor material containing microorganisms put in the food waste treatment tank, and a food waste treatment tank provided in the food waste treatment tank. It is composed of a stirring mechanism that stirs the food, a ventilation mechanism that exhausts the gas in the garbage treatment tank to the outside through a duct, and a heating device that can raise the temperature of the culture floor material (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 221767).

[0003] In a food waste treatment device for processing food waste by microbial decomposition, the culture floor material absorbs excess water of the introduced food waste to form an aerobic environment for microbial decomposition and agitation of a stirring blade. As a result, food waste can be uniformly contacted with microorganisms, and microbial decomposition is performed.

[0004]

In general, the culture floor material absorbs excess water as much as possible so that microbial decomposition is not impaired even when the amount of water contained in the food waste is too low or particularly when the food waste is excessive. Pre-filled to do. However, since the water content of the culture floor material varies considerably depending on the amount of food waste that is input, if a large amount of food waste is input, the water content will greatly exceed the water content of the aerobic environment suitable for microbial decomposition. Therefore, microbial decomposition will be inhibited until the water content decreases to a suitable water content by spontaneous emission. When the amount of water added is small and the amount of intermittent agitation is large, the drying of the culture bed material is forced to proceed, the microbial decomposition is inhibited, and the culture bed material flies as dust.

An object of the present invention is to keep the water content of the culture floor material substantially constant and maintain an aerobic environment to promote microbial degradation.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, means taken in the present invention are as follows: a garbage disposal tank with a lid, and a culture bed material containing microorganisms put in the garbage disposal tank. A stirring mechanism installed in the food waste treatment tank for stirring the food waste treatment tank, a ventilation mechanism for exhausting the gas in the food waste treatment tank to the outside through a duct, and a heating device for heating the culture floor material In the food waste treatment device having the above, a measuring unit for measuring the water content of the culture bed, and a heating device, a stirring mechanism, and a ventilation mechanism for keeping the water content of the culture bed substantially constant by the information of the measuring unit. It has a control device to control.

[0007]

According to the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus, food waste is put into the food waste processing tank, and the culture floor material and the food waste are stirred in the processing tank by the stirring mechanism. By this stirring, the food waste can be brought into uniform contact with the microorganisms, and effective microbial decomposition is performed. Further, the water content that can hold an aerobic environment is set in the control device, and the water content of the culture bed material is measured by the measuring means. Then, the set value and the measured value are compared, and if the measured value is equal to or higher than the upper limit value of the set value, the control device operates the heating device, operates the ventilation stronger than usual, and stirs for a longer time than usual. When the water content of the culture floor material is reduced by operating it, and if it is below the lower limit, the control device stops the heating device, operates ventilation normally, and stops stirring for a shorter time than usual or stops the culture floor material. Minimize evaporation of water. This makes it possible to maintain an aerobic environment by making the water content of the culture floor material substantially constant, and more effective microbial degradation can be performed. From the above, the operation shown in FIG. 6 can be obtained. As shown in the figure, the present invention has a time T as compared with the time t of the prior art in which the suitable water content is maintained within the appropriate water content, which allows the water content to be maintained at a substantially constant value in an aerobic environment. Can be secured.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a food waste processing apparatus 10. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. The food waste processing apparatus 10 is a food waste processing tank 1 in which a culture floor material 12 for food waste degrading microorganisms and a rectangular input portion 11 into which food waste is input are formed.
3, a lid 15 attached to the upper left side of the food waste treatment tank 13 via a hinge 14 to open and close an input port 13a formed at the upper end of the food waste treatment tank 13, and food waste in the food waste treatment tank 13 And a stirring means 16 for stirring the culture floor material 12,
Heater (heating device) 1 for raising the temperature of the culture bed material 12
7 and a ventilation mechanism 19 for exhausting the gas in the garbage processing tank 13 to the outside through the duct 18.
Further, the culture floor material 12 is almost half filled in the food waste treatment tank 13.

The stirring mechanism 16 includes an electric motor 20, a shaft 21 which is axially supported in the lateral direction and is driven by the electric motor 20,
The culture floor material 12 in the garbage processing tank 13 by the shaft 21
And a stirring blade 22 for stirring the food waste. A control device 23 that controls the electric motor 20 and a switch 24 that operates the control device 23 are arranged in an internal space 13b formed in the raw garbage processing tank 13.
The stirring blade 22 has a rod shape attached radially to the shaft 21, but it is not limited to this shape. Alternatively, the stirring blade 22 may be formed in a spiral shape or the shaft 21 may be formed. It may be possible to support the shaft vertically.

The heater 17 is disposed below the bottom wall 13c forming the garbage processing tank 13, and the temperature of the culture bed material 12 can be heated by the controller 23.

As shown in FIG. 3, the ventilation mechanism 19 includes:
The duct 18 formed in the internal space 13b and the duct 1
It is composed of a fan (not shown) disposed in FIG. 8 and an electric motor (not shown) that drives the fan, and the strength of ventilation can be varied in two levels, strength and weakness.

As the measuring means, an electrode 25 disposed on the closed end side (lower side in FIG. 1) of the side wall 13d forming the garbage processing tank 13 is used.
Is measured, and this information is input to the control device 23 to measure the moisture content. As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 23 compares the measured value with a preset setting value, and the electric motor 20, the ventilation mechanism 19 and the heater 17 operate according to their respective situations.

With the above configuration, the garbage processing device 13
Can biodegrade food waste.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

When the garbage is put into the garbage processing tank 13 and the switch 24 for starting the stirring is turned on, the stirring is started, and the garbage can be brought into uniform contact with the microorganisms. Decomposition takes place. At the same time, the resistance value from the electrode 25 is input to the control device 23 and compared with the set value. This will be described based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

At step S1, the controller 24 for adjusting the water content of the culture bed material 12 is started at the same time when the switch 24 for starting the stirring is turned on. S2 is the resistance value is measured R _H in moisture content limit value, the resistance value of the moisture ratio lower limit is input as a set value in the control device 23 to R _L. In S3 and S4, the fan for ventilating the raw garbage processing tank 13 is operated in the weak mode (normal operation), the electric motor 20 is energized, and the stirring blade 22 starts stirring in the raw garbage processing tank 13. Then, the stirring time is controlled by S5, and the stirring is performed for Z minutes according to the preset arbitrary value Z for 1 to 5 minutes. After stirring for Z minutes, the electric power to the electric motor 20 is cut off in S6, and the stirring in the garbage processing tank 13 is stopped.
In S7, the electric resistance value of the culture flooring 12 as measured by the electrode 25, is input to the R _O of the control device 23. And
The set value R _H set in advance and the measured value R _O are compared in S8. Here, when the resistance value of R _O is larger than the resistance value of R _H , the moisture content is below the upper limit value, and the process proceeds to S9. Then, in S9, the set value R _L and the measured value R _O are compared. Here, when the resistance value of R _O is larger than the resistance value of R _L , the moisture content is below the lower limit value, and the process proceeds to S10. Further, since the water content of the culture bed material 12 is lower than the lower limit value of the water content, the agitation is not started and only the ventilation is performed in the weak mode. Then, in S10, the time during which only ventilation is performed is set to a preset arbitrary value Y of 10 to 12 hours, Y time is elapsed, and evaporation of water in the culture bed material 12 is suppressed to the minimum. After Y hours, the process returns to and the above control is repeated thereafter.

When the measured value R _O is smaller than the set value R _{H in} S8, the process proceeds to S11, the electric motor 20 is energized, and the stirring blade 22 starts the stirring in the garbage processing tank 13. S
At 12, the heater 17 is energized to heat the culture floor material 12. Then, in S13, the fan of the ventilation mechanism 19 is operated in the strong mode. By S11, 12, and 13, the excess water content of the culture bed material 12 is evaporated and returned to the proper water content. Then, in S14, the electric resistance value from the electrode 25 is input again, the measured value is input in R _O , and the set value R _H is input in S15.
And the measured value R _O are compared. When the measured value R _{O at} this time is smaller than the set value R _H , the process returns to S14 and the culture bed material 12
Evaporation of excess water is continued. When the measured value R _O becomes larger than the set value R _H , that is, the culture bed material 1
When the water content of 2 decreases, the electric power to the electric motor 20 and the heater 17 is cut off and the ventilation mechanism 19 is operated in the weak mode in S16, 17, and 18. Then, the process returns to and the control described above is repeated thereafter.

If the measured value R _O is smaller than the set value R _{L in} S9, it means that the water content is within the proper water content.
The interval from one agitation to the next agitation is preset to a time that does not impair effective microbial degradation.
According to an arbitrary value X of 8 hours, the control returns to the above after a lapse of X hours, and the above control is repeated.

From the above, the appropriate water content of the culture floor material 12 is maintained, and the aerobic environment for microorganisms is maintained.

In this embodiment, the heater 17 and the electric motor 2
Although 0 and the ventilation mechanism 19 are used, the combination is not limited to this, and a case where only the heater 17 or the ventilation mechanism 19 is used can be considered.

[0022]

According to the apparatus for treating food waste according to the above-mentioned claim 1, the excess water is removed from the culture floor material by controlling the heating device from the information of the measuring means for measuring the water content of the culture bed material. Evaporation by heating can maintain the water content of the culture floor material at an appropriate water content for a longer time, and by keeping the water content of the culture floor material substantially constant for a longer time, an aerobic environment is created. It can be retained and more effective microbial degradation can be performed.

According to the food waste processing device of the above-mentioned claim 2, from the information of the measuring means for measuring the water content of the culture floor material,
By controlling the agitation mechanism, it is possible to evaporate the excess water by increasing the agitation of the culture bed material and maintain the water content of the culture bed material at an appropriate water content for a longer time. By keeping the temperature substantially constant for a longer time, an aerobic environment can be maintained, and more effective microbial degradation can be performed.

According to the food waste processing apparatus of the above-mentioned claim 3, from the information of the measuring means for measuring the water content of the culture bed material,
By controlling the ventilation mechanism, it is possible to promote the evaporation of surplus water in the culture bed material and maintain the water content of the culture bed material at an appropriate water content for a longer time, and to increase the water content of the culture bed material longer. By keeping the time substantially constant, an aerobic environment can be maintained, and more effective microbial decomposition can be performed.

According to the above-mentioned food waste processing apparatus of claim 4, from the information of the measuring means for measuring the water content of the culture bed material,
By controlling the stirring mechanism, the heating device, and the ventilation mechanism, the water content of the culture bed can be maintained at an appropriate water content for a longer time, and the water content of the culture bed can be kept substantially constant for a longer time. As a result, an aerobic environment can be maintained, and more effective microbial degradation can be performed.

According to the food waste treatment device of claim 5, an electrode is arranged in the food waste treatment tank, and the electric resistance of the culture floor material is measured by this electrode to determine the present water content and the set water content. Are compared. If the electric resistance is high, the water content is low,
Further, since it can be seen that the moisture content is high if the electric resistance is small, it is possible to reduce the cost by using an inexpensive electrode without using a moisture measuring device or the like.

According to the food waste treatment device of claim 6, when the water content of the culture bed material is below the lower limit, the time until the next stirring by the stirring mechanism is made longer (10 to 12 hours). The evaporation of water in the culture bed material can be suppressed to the minimum.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a B B sectional view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a control circuit diagram of a food waste processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a food waste processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a change in water content of a culture bed material according to an example of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Culture floor material 13 ... Garbage treatment tank 16 ... Stirring mechanism 17 ... Heater (heating device) 19 ... Ventilation mechanism 23 ... Control device 25 ... Electrode (measurement means)

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Kaori Ibayashi 2-1-1 Asahi-cho, Kariya City, Aichi Prefecture Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A food waste treatment tank with a lid, a culture floor material containing microorganisms placed in the food waste disposal tank, and an agitation inside the food waste disposal tank disposed in the food waste disposal tank. In a food waste treatment device having a stirring mechanism and a heating device for heating the culture bed, a measuring unit that measures the water content of the culture bed, and the culture bed by the information of the measuring unit A food waste processing device, comprising: a control device that controls the heating device so that the water content is substantially constant. 2. A raw garbage treatment tank with a lid, a culture floor material containing microorganisms put in the raw garbage treatment tank, and agitating the inside of the raw garbage treatment tank provided in the raw garbage treatment tank. In a food waste treatment device having a stirring mechanism, a measuring unit for measuring the water content of the culture bed, and the stirring mechanism for making the water content of the culture bed substantially constant by the information of the measuring unit. A food waste processing device having a control device for controlling. 3. A food waste treatment tank with a lid, a culture floor material containing microorganisms placed in the food waste disposal tank, and an agitation inside the food waste disposal tank provided in the food waste disposal tank. In a food waste treatment device having a stirring mechanism and a ventilation mechanism for exhausting gas in the food waste treatment tank to the outside through a duct, measuring means for measuring the water content of the culture floor material, and information on the measuring means. According to the above, there is provided a food waste processing device having a control device for controlling the ventilation mechanism so that the water content of the culture bed material is substantially constant. 4. A food waste treatment tank with a lid, a culture floor material containing microorganisms placed in the food waste disposal tank, and agitating the food waste disposal tank provided in the food waste disposal tank. In a food waste treatment device having a stirring mechanism, a ventilation mechanism for exhausting gas in the food waste treatment tank to the outside through a duct, and a heating device for heating the culture bed material, the water content of the culture bed material A measuring device for measuring the rate, and a control device for controlling the heating device, the stirring mechanism, and the ventilation mechanism so that the water content of the culture bed material becomes substantially constant based on the information of the measuring device. Characteristic food waste processing device. 5. The measuring means has an electrode arranged in the food waste treatment tank, and measures the water content of the culture bed from the electric resistance value of the culture bed. Item 1. The food waste processing device according to items 1, 2, 3 and 4. 6. The upper limit value and the lower limit value of the water content of the culture bed material are set, and when the water content is below the lower limit value, the time until the next stirring is made longer than usual. The garbage processing device according to 1, 2, 3 and 4.