KR101458980B1 - Automatic washing machine for food trays - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus to automatically wash dishware, such as food trays, including: a lower conveying unit (100) for conveying dishware before washing; an upper conveying unit (200) which is disposed at an upper part of the lower conveying unit (100) to horizontally convey dishware after washing; a main washing unit (300) which has a fixed drum (310) of a cylindrical form disposed at ends of the lower conveying unit (100) and the upper conveying unit (200), a fixed housing (320) spaced apart from the fixed drum (310) and disposed to surround a part of the fixed drum to guide conveyance of dishware along the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum (310), a washing water nozzle unit (330) disposed at the fixed drum (310) or the fixed housing (320) to spray washing water and washing brushes (341)(342) disposed at the fixed drum (310) or the fixed housing (320), such that dishware put in along the lower conveying unit is reversed and discharged to the upper conveying unit (200); a compulsively conveying unit (400) which is disposed to be able to rotate on the same shaft as the fixed drum (310), guides the dishware horizontally conveyed along the lower conveying unit (100) between the fixed drum (310) and the fixed housing (320), such that the dishware is compulsively conveyed along the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum (310); and a stacking module (500) for stacking dishes horizontally discharged through the upper conveying unit (200). Hence, a two-layer structure of the washing line minimizes the installation space, and the drying process of the dishware after washing can be done quickly.

Description

[0001] Automatic washing machine for food trays [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic dishwashing apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus that can cleanly clean dishware such as a dish while occupying a small space.

Generally, a plate is a dish made by dividing a bowl into a concave shape. Each box is provided with a rice, soup, and three or four side dishes so that it can be used while minimizing the use of dishes.

On the other hand, washing the dishes used after the meal requires a lot of labor and time to manually clean the dishes depending on the size, and since the plates have a standardized shape and size, many automatic plate cleaning apparatuses have been proposed have.

For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0084097 (published on July 27, 2012) (hereinafter referred to as "Prior Art Document 1") proposes a plate washing apparatus using a brush, A plurality of rotationally driven brushes are provided on the moving plate conveying line so that the plate is allowed to wash the plate in the course of movement. However, when the plate is simply placed on the conveyor belt and is not fixed, the plate is contacted with the brush, The contamination of the plate can not be completely removed and the contamination may still remain on the plate.

Also, in the prior art document 1, when the installation position of the brush is increased in the transfer line in order to effectively clean the plate while the plate is moved in the horizontal direction, the entire cleaning operation line becomes long, Lt; / RTI >

On the other hand, in the case where the plate is straight and the washing is performed while the plate is positioned as in the prior art document 1, the washing water is left in the concave space, so that the plate must be turned upside down for drying the plate, A problem may arise in management.

As another example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0019494 (Laid-open date: 2013.02.27) (hereinafter referred to as "Prior Art Document 2") proposes an automatic plate cleaning system, The plate is automatically loaded one by one and the plate is dropped by the conveyor belt so that the plate is washed while being moved horizontally, so that the washed plate is turned upside down and the washing water is not left in the concave space of the plate.

On the other hand, in the prior art document 2, it is necessary to flush the dish that is contaminated with the food, so that the food waste remaining on the plate can be poured to the floor, thereby contaminating the floor of the washing system. So that contaminants are removed from the brush, which is disadvantageous for clean cleaning.

Also, in the prior art document 2, since the plate is simply moved horizontally, the plate is used in a food service facility, and the entire cleaning operation line is long, requiring a wide installation space.

Published Patent Publication No. 10-2012-0084097 (Open date: July 27, 2012)

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2013-0019494 (published on Feb. 201, 2013)

In order to solve the problems of the prior art plate cleaning apparatus, the present invention employs a cleaning transfer line of a multi-layer structure to minimize the installation area of the apparatus, and the plate is firmly supported So that the plate can be cleaned more cleanly.

In order to achieve the above object, the automatic dishwashing apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a lower conveying unit for horizontally conveying a tableware before cleaning; An upper conveyance part provided on the upper part of the lower conveyance part and horizontally conveying the tableware after cleaning; A fixed drum having a cylindrical shape provided at one end of the lower conveyance unit and the upper conveyance unit and spaced apart from the fixed drum 310 to guide the conveyance of the tableware along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed drum, A washing water nozzle unit provided in the fixed drum or the fixed housing to spray wash water and a washing brush provided in the fixed drum or the fixed housing to reverse the dish inserted along the lower feeding unit to be discharged into the upper feeding unit ; A forcible feeding unit rotatably provided coaxially with the fixed drum and guided between the fixed drum and the fixed housing horizontally conveyed along the lower conveyance unit to be forcedly conveyed along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed drum; And a stacking module for stacking and stacking tableware horizontally discharged through the upper transferring part.

Preferably, in the present invention, the forcible conveying unit includes: a pair of rotating drums provided on both sides of the fixed drum and capable of rotating; A plurality of rotary plates disposed radially from the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum to support both ends of the rotary drum in parallel with the axial direction of the fixed drum; Wherein the conveying plate is elastically supported with respect to a rotating direction of the rotating drum or the conveying plate is elastically movable to the rotating drum, So that it is supported as much as possible.

Preferably, in the present invention, the stacking module further comprises: a stacking lever provided at a rear end of the upper transferring unit and capable of vertically transferring the tableware; A guide wall for guiding a tableware vertically fed by the stacking lever; And a pivot support portion supported by the elastic body and hinged to the guide wall so as to be pivotable to support the tableware positioned above by the stacking lever.

Preferably, in the present invention, a water storage tank provided at a lower portion of the main washing unit and storing washing water discharged from the main washing unit; The washing apparatus further includes a pump for supplying wash water stored in the water storage tank to the wash water nozzle unit, and more preferably, a filtration filter for filtering foreign substances in the wash water between the water storage tank and the pump.

The automatic dishwashing apparatus according to the present invention minimizes the installation area of the equipment by employing a multi-layered structure of a lower conveying unit into which the plate before cleaning is put and an upper conveying unit from which the plate after cleaning is discharged, The main washing unit having a cylindrical structure is applied so that the plate can be flipped and discharged while being reversed, so that the drying operation of the washed plate can be performed quickly and conveniently.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an automatic dishwasher according to the present invention;
2 is a view showing a configuration of a main washing unit and a forced feeding unit in an automatic dishwashing apparatus according to the present invention,
3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) are views showing other embodiments of the transfer plate in the automatic dishwashing apparatus according to the present invention,
FIG. 4 is a front view of the stacking module in the automatic dishwasher according to the present invention. FIG.

The specific structure or functional description presented in the embodiment of the present invention is merely illustrative for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment according to the concept of the present invention, and embodiments according to the concept of the present invention can be implemented in various forms. And should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described herein, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the terms first and / or second etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited to the terms. The terms may be referred to as a second element only for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, for example, to the extent that it does not depart from the scope of the invention in accordance with the concept of the present invention, Similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

Whenever an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, but it should be understood that other elements may be present in between something to do. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that an element is "directly connected" or "directly contacted" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. Other expressions for describing the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to" should also be interpreted.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms " comprises ", or "having ", and the like in the specification are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, But do not preclude the presence or addition of steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1, a lower conveying unit 100 for horizontally conveying a plate before washing and an upper conveying unit 200 for horizontally conveying a plate after washing are disposed on upper and lower sides to have a multi-layer structure, and a lower conveying unit 100, And the upper transferring part 200. The washing line length can be reduced in comparison with the cleaning device having the conventional straight line cleaning line.

The lower conveyance unit 100 and the upper conveyance unit 200 may be of a known conveyor belt, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

A plurality of nozzles 110 for preliminary cleaning may be provided in the lower transfer unit 100, and some of the preliminary cleaning nozzles may be detergent nozzles for spraying detergent.

A plurality of nozzles (not shown) may be added to the upper conveyance part 200. In the course of horizontally conveying the washing plate to the upper conveyance part 200 through the main washing part 300, May be achieved.

The food tray 10 transported along the lower transporting unit 100 is transferred to the upper transporting unit 200 through the main washing unit 300 having a cylindrical structure and main washing of the plate, The main washing unit 100 and the main washing unit 300 and the upper transfer unit 200 constitute a continuous cleaning line connected to the upper transfer unit 200. The plate 10 inserted along the lower transfer unit 100 is inverted and discharged to the upper transfer unit 200 .

Although not shown, the upper conveyance unit 200 is provided with a hot air generating unit for discharging hot air to quickly dry the discharged plate, so that the plate moving along the upper conveyance unit 200 can be quickly dried. At this time, Since the moving plate is inverted, the washing water does not float on the concave portion of the plate, and the plate can be dried quickly.

The main washing unit 300 includes a fixed drum 310 having a cylindrical shape and provided at one end of the lower transfer unit 100 and the upper transfer unit 200 and a fixed drum 310 spaced apart from the fixed drum 310 And a washing water nozzle unit 330 provided in the fixed drum 310 or the fixed housing 320 for spraying wash water, and a washing water nozzle unit 330 provided in the fixed drum 310 or the fixed housing 320 for spraying the washing water, And cleaning brushes 341 and 342 provided in the fixed drum 310 or the fixed housing 320. [

The fixed drum 310 has a cylindrical shape and the fixed housing 320 is spaced apart from the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum 310 to cover a part of the fixed drum 310, The plate moves along the fixed housing 320.

The fixed housing 320 has a substantially semi-cylindrical shape, and the fixed drum and the fixed housing may be fixedly installed and supported by separate structures, although not shown.

A plurality of washing water nozzles 330 and a plurality of washing brushes 341 and 342 are disposed in the fixed drum 310 or the fixed housing 320.

The washing water nozzle 330 provided in the fixed drum 310 is connected to the washing water pipe to supply the washing water. A known pump is provided in the washing water pipe, and the high-pressure washing water is sprayed into the plate through the washing water nozzle 330.

It should be understood that although not shown, a separate wash water nozzle may be provided in the fixed housing 320 as well.

The cleaning brushes 341 and 342 may be provided by a rotatable cleaning brush 341 and a stationary cleaning brush 342 and may be provided adjacent to the stationary drum 310 and the stationary housing 320, A pair of rotatable cleaning brushes 341 driven by the cleaning brush 341 can be provided to remove contamination of the plate.

The force transferring unit 400 includes a fixed drum 310 and a fixed drum 310. The forced transferring unit 400 includes a fixed drum 310 and a fixed drum 310. The forced transferring unit 400 includes a fixed drum 310, The plate is forcedly moved along the outer peripheral surface of the plate 310.

2 is a view showing a configuration of a main washing unit and a forced sending unit in an automatic dishwasher according to the present invention.

Specifically, referring to FIG. 2, the forcing conveying unit includes a pair of rotating drums 410 provided on both sides of the fixed drum 310 and capable of rotating; A transfer plate 420 spaced apart from the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum 310 and having a plurality of radially arranged radially arranged to support both ends of the rotary drum 410 so as to be parallel to the axial direction of the fixed drum 310; And may be provided by a rotation driving unit for rotating the rotating drum 420. [

In this embodiment, the rotating drum 410 is provided with an internal gear 411, and the internal gear 411 is engaged with a spur gear 412 driven by a well-known electric motor or speed reducer, Rotation can be achieved. Meanwhile, as the rotation driving unit for rotationally driving the rotating drum, the electric motor or the speed reducer may be connected to the belt or the chain and rotated.

Meanwhile, the conveying plate 420 may be firmly fixed to the rotating drum 410 and rotated together with the rotating drum 410. However, in another embodiment, the conveying plate may be elastically supported with respect to the rotating direction of the rotating drum 410 , Or may be elastically and flexibly supported on the rotating drum.

3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) are views showing another embodiment of the transfer plate in the automatic dishwashing apparatus according to the present invention.

3 (a), the conveying plate 420 is hinged to the rotary drum 410, and the hinge part 421 is provided with a hinge spring 422, one end of which is supported by the rotary drum 410 .

In the present invention, the plate 10 is horizontally conveyed to the lower end of the fixed housing 320 by the lower conveyance unit 100, and then the conveyance plate 420, which rotates together with the rotation drum 410, 10) while moving along the washing line of the main washing unit 300. [0064] As shown in FIG.

3 (b), interference may occur between the plate 10 and the conveyance plate 420 when the plate 10 moving along the lower conveyance unit 100 is not properly timed, In this case, when the transfer plate 420 is firmly fixed to the rotary drum 410, the rotary drum 410 can not be smoothly rotated and overloaded or damaged.

Therefore, in the present invention, when interference occurs between the plate 10 and the conveyance plate 420, the conveyance plate 420 is folded in the pivoting direction to prevent the device or the plate from being damaged by passing through the plate 10 .

As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 3 (c), the transfer plate 420 is provided with a damper and assembled with the rotating drum 410, so that when the plate 420 interferes with the plate, So that interference with the plate 10 can be prevented.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the dish cleaned by the main washing unit 300 is discharged in a state of being inverted from the direction of the filling in the lower conveying unit 100, and is horizontally conveyed along the upper conveying unit 200 .

 Therefore, the plate discharged to the upper conveyance unit 200 is discharged in an inverted state, thereby preventing water from remaining in the concave grooves of the plate for a long time during the washing process.

The stacking module 500 stacks the sheets horizontally discharged through the upper transfer part 200.

Referring to FIG. 4, the stacking module 500 includes a stacking lever 510 provided at a rear end of the upper transferring unit 110 and capable of vertically transferring a plate. A guide wall 520 for guiding the plate conveyed vertically by the stacking lever 510; And a pivotal support portion 530 supported by the elastic body 532 and hinged to the guide wall 520 so as to be rotatable and supporting the plate placed at the upper position by the stacking lever 510.

A guide roller 540 is provided at the rear end of the upper transferring part 200 and a stopper 550 is provided to guide the plate conveyed along the upper transferring part 200 along the guide roller 540, . The stopper 550 may be made of a material such as resin or rubber that can absorb the impact and stop the plate.

The guide roller 540 is provided at the lower end of the guide roller 540 with a stacking lever 510 which moves upward and downward and the plate fed into the stacking module 500 can be raised and lowered by the stacking lever 510.

The guide wall 520 is vertically provided so as to be in contact with the edge of the plate, and guides the lifting movement of the plate when the plate is lifted by the stacking lever 510, and constitutes a case of the stacking module 500.

The guide wall 520 is provided with a plurality of pivotal support portions 530 at a predetermined height and the pivotal support portion 530 is a triangular pedestal 531 having a rectangular triangular plate so that the hinge spring 532 is elastically supported And is hinged to the guide wall 520, and a stopper projection 531b is provided.

The guide wall 520 is provided with an unillustrated fixing protrusion for supporting the stopper protrusion 531b so as to firmly support the rotation supporting portion 530 when the plate is seated on the rotation receiving portion 530. [

When the plate 10 is raised and lowered by the inclined surface 531a, the plate 10 is brought into contact with the inclined surface 531a to move up and down while pivotally moving the receiving portion 530, The hinge spring 532 is returned to its original position by the hinge spring 532 to support the plate 10 which is positioned above the hinge 530. [

A plate can be sequentially stacked on the upper portion of the rotation receiving unit 530, and the plates having the predetermined height can be moved to another place by the operator.

Preferably, in the present invention, a water storage tank 610 provided below the main washing unit 300 and storing washing water discharged from the main washing unit 300; The apparatus further comprises a pump 620 for supplying the wash water stored in the water storage tank 610 to the wash water nozzle unit 330 and more preferably the pump 620 for filtering the foreign substances in the wash water between the water storage tank 610 and the pump 620 And further includes a filtration filter 630.

Therefore, the washing water supplied to the washing water nozzle unit 330 may be supplied from an external water source. However, some or all of the washing water may be reused after filtering the discharged washing water after washing in the main washing unit 300 Water consumption can be saved.

In the automatic dishwashing apparatus having the above-described structure, the used plate 10 is inserted into the lower conveying unit 100, and the plate 10 conveyed along the lower conveying unit 100 is moved to the main washing unit 300 The washing brush 341 and the washing brush 342 are used to wash the washing water and the washing plate is discharged to the upper transfer part 200 and is stacked in turn in the stacked module 500 The cleaning can be completed.

In the meantime, it is to be understood that the present invention can also be applied to dishware such as a plate having a large area and a predetermined height in addition to a plate.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.

100: lower conveying part 200: upper conveying part
300: main washing unit 310: fixed drum
320: fixed housing 330: wash water nozzle part
341: Rotating brushes 342: Fixing brushes
400: force transmission 410: rotating drum
420: transfer plate 500: lamination module
510: Lamination lever 520: Guide wall
530: Rotation support portion 531: Triangular support
421, 532: Hinge spring 531a:
610: Water tank 620: Pump
630: Filtration filter

Claims (7)

A lower conveying part for horizontally conveying the table before cleaning;
An upper conveyance part provided on the upper part of the lower conveyance part and horizontally conveying the tableware after cleaning;
A stationary housing having a cylindrical shape and provided at one end of the lower transfer part and the upper transfer part; a stationary housing spaced apart from the stationary drum so as to surround the stationary drum and guiding the conveyance of the tableware along the outer circumferential surface of the stationary drum; A cleaning water nozzle unit provided in the fixed drum or the fixed housing for spraying the washing water, and a washing brush provided in the fixed drum or the fixed housing, the dishwasher inserted along the lower feeding unit is inverted and discharged to the upper feeding unit, Wealth;
A forcible feeding unit rotatably provided coaxially with the fixed drum and guided between the fixed drum and the fixed housing horizontally conveyed along the lower conveyance unit to be forcedly conveyed along the outer peripheral surface of the fixed drum;
And a stacking module for stacking and stacking tableware horizontally discharged through the upper transfer part,
The forcible sending unit,
A pair of rotary drums provided on both sides of the fixed drum and rotatable;
A plurality of rotary plates disposed radially from the outer circumferential surface of the fixed drum to support both ends of the rotary drum in parallel with the axial direction of the fixed drum;
And a rotation driving unit for rotating the rotating drum. delete The automatic dishwasher cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying plate is elastically supported with respect to a rotating direction of the rotating drum. The automatic dishwasher-washing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveying plate is elastically and movably supported on the rotating drum. The optical module according to claim 1,
A stacking lever provided at a rear end of the upper transferring part and capable of transferring the tableware in a vertical direction;
A guide wall for guiding a tableware vertically fed by the stacking lever;
And a pivotal support portion supported by the elastic body and hinged to the guide wall so as to be pivotable to support the tableware positioned above by the stacking lever. The washing machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a water storage tank provided at a lower portion of the main washing unit and storing wash water discharged from the main washing unit;
And a pump for supplying wash water stored in the water storage tank to the wash water nozzle unit. The automatic dishwasher washing apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a filtration filter for filtering foreign substances in the washing water between the water storage tank and the pump.

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