KR102302481B1 - Food Waste Disposer Having Self-purification Function - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a food processor having a self-cleaning function that pulverizes and decomposes food waste using a ceramic ball and a ceramic carrier and removes food waste residues after treatment, wherein an outer case and an inner case provided inside the outer case a case unit comprising an upper case and a lower case; A cylindrical drum body rotatably provided in the inner case, a plurality of through holes formed on a circumferential surface of the drum body, a ceramic ball dummy provided inside the drum body, a driving motor for rotating the drum body, and the drum body a drum unit including a plurality of blades protruding from the inner circumferential surface; a piping unit including a water supply valve provided in the outer case; a heating unit including a heating pad provided on a bottom surface of the lower case and a heater provided on a rear surface of the heating pad; a disassembling unit comprising a support plate disposed between the lower end of the drum body and the bottom surface of the lower case, and a pile of ceramic carriers placed on the support plate; and a cleaning unit comprising a drilling means for removing residues blocking the through-holes, and a spray nozzle connected to the water supply valve and removing residues attached to the drum body or inner wall of the inner case.

Description

Food Waste Disposer Having Self-purification Function

The present invention relates to a food processor having a self-cleaning function, and more particularly, to a food processor having a self-cleaning function that pulverizes and decomposes food waste using a ceramic ball and a ceramic carrier and removes food waste residues after treatment. .

Food waste has serious problems with odor, landfill limitation, and leachate during the collection process, so the existing volume-based system has limitations in its disposal.

Accordingly, there are various types of food processing machines installed in the sink drains of each household, which crush food waste, dry it to reduce the amount, and then discharge it or decompose it with microorganisms and discharge it to the sewer in various forms.

As such a food processor, a food processor that pulverizes food waste more finely by the grinding action of a ceramic ball instead of a grinding cutter has been introduced.

As introduced in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1485716 (registration date: January 16, 2015) (FIG. 1), a food processor using a ceramic ball has a dewatering hole 112 on the surface and a ceramic ball 113 on the inside. When food waste is put into the drum 110 provided with .

In this restoration process, relative motion occurs between adjacent ceramic balls 113 , and food waste caught between the ceramic balls 113 is crushed during the relative motion process.

When this series of processes is repeated, the particle size of the food waste becomes smaller and the food waste pulverized smaller than the double dewatering hole 112 is discharged through the dewatering hole 112 .

The discharged pulverized food waste is put into the microbial treatment tanks 131 and 132 located below the drum 110, undergoes decomposition by microorganisms, and then is discharged to the sewer.

However, high viscous sludge contained in the food waste blocks the dewatering hole 112 to reduce the working speed, while the residue remaining inside the processing machine after work causes a bad odor or hardens, causing malfunction of the device. .

KR 10-1485716 B1 2015.01.16.

The problem to be solved in the present invention is to provide a food processor capable of preventing the high-viscosity sludge contained in the food waste from blocking the hole formed in the drum body and effectively removing the food waste adhesive remaining on the inner wall of the food processor, thereby having a self-cleaning function. will provide

In order to solve the above problems, a food processor having a self-cleaning function of the present invention includes an outer case and an inner case provided inside the outer case, the inner case comprising: a case unit comprising an upper case and a lower case; A cylindrical drum body rotatably provided in the inner case, a plurality of through holes formed in a circumferential surface of the drum body, a ceramic ball dummy provided in the drum body, a driving motor for rotating the drum body, and the a drum unit including a plurality of blades protruding from the inner circumferential surface of the drum body; a piping unit including a water supply valve provided on one inner side of the outer case; a heating unit including a heating pad provided on a bottom surface of the lower case and a heater provided on a rear surface of the heating pad; a disassembling unit comprising a support plate disposed between the lower end of the drum body and the bottom surface of the lower case, and a dummy ceramic carrier placed on the upper portion of the support plate; and a cleaning unit including a drilling means for removing residues blocking the through-holes, and a spray nozzle connected to the water supply valve and removing residues attached to the drum body or the inner wall of the inner case. .

In addition, the food processor having a self-cleaning function of the present invention is characterized in that the drilling means is a brush that is detachably provided on a bracket provided on the upper case and is provided in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drum body.

In addition, the food processor having a self-cleaning function of the present invention is characterized in that the washing unit further includes scattering plates formed on both side plates of the drum body.

In addition, the food processor having a self-cleaning function according to the present invention further includes a control unit for controlling the operations of the crushing unit and various devices provided in the crushing unit, wherein the control unit controls the forward and reverse rotation of the driving motor to rotate the drum body It is characterized in that it is changed periodically or intermittently.

In addition, the food processor having the self-cleaning function of the present invention is characterized in that it is located close to the outer peripheral surface of the drum body, but is characterized in that it is additionally provided with a detachable removal spatula to a separate bracket provided in the upper case.

According to the food processor having a self-cleaning function of the present invention, the drum through the spray nozzle and the scattering plate to prevent the sludge from blocking the passage of the drum body through the perforation means and to remove the residues attached to the drum body or the inner wall of the inner case. Since residues adhering to the main body and the inner wall of the food processor can be effectively removed, the food processor has a self-cleaning function, thereby increasing the convenience of use.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the inside of a food processor according to the prior art.
2 is a front view showing a food processor according to the present invention.
3 is an exploded perspective view of the outer case of the food processor according to the present invention.
4 is an exploded perspective view of the main part of the food processor according to the present invention.
5 is a perspective view illustrating a lower case of the food processor according to the present invention.
6 is a schematic diagram showing the internal configuration of the drum body of the food processor according to the present invention.
7 is a cross-sectional perspective view taken along line AA of FIG. 3 .
8 is a cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of the spray nozzle and the scattering plate of the food processor according to the present invention.
9 is a cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of the removal spatula in the food processor according to the present invention.

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

2, 3 and 4, according to the present invention, a crusher (A) that is connected to a sink drain and primarily crushes incoming food waste, and is connected to the crusher (A) to pulverize food waste again It consists of a pulverizing unit (B) that decomposes it using microorganisms after being done, and a control unit that controls the operation of various devices provided in the pulverizing unit (A) and the pulverizing unit (B).

In addition, the crushing unit (B) performs crushing, heating, disassembling, and washing operations, and for this purpose, the case unit 10, the drum unit 20 provided in the case unit 10, the piping unit 30, and heating It consists of a unit 40 , a decomposition unit 50 , and a washing unit 60 .

Here, for clarity, the food waste pulverized by the crusher A is referred to as 'shredded material', and the crushed material re-pulverized by the drum unit 20 is referred to as 'pulverized material'. In addition, the crushing operation is carried out in a state in which the crushed material is immersed in water.

When the content of the present invention is described in detail for each configuration of the crushing unit B, first, the case unit 10 includes an outer case 11 and an inner case 13 provided inside the outer case 11. .

The outer case 11 includes a top plate 11a, a bottom plate 11b, and a pair of side walls 11c, and the bottom plate 11b supplies power to a driving motor 25 and a heater 43 to be described later. An outlet 11d for supplying and a connector 11e for supplying water to the water supply valve 31 are provided.

The inner case 13 is a configuration that provides pulverization and various working spaces, and includes an upper case 13a and a lower case 13b that are vertically coupled, and an upper case 13a and a lower case 13b to prevent odor leakage. It consists of a packing ring (13c) provided between.

On the other hand, a first stopper hole 17a is formed in the upper plate 11a of the outer case 11 , and a second stopper hole 17b communicating with the first stopper hole 17a is formed in the upper case of the inner case 13 . A stopper 15 for closing the stopper hole 17 is provided in the stopper hole 17 formed in 13a and the first stopper hole 17a and the second stopper hole 17b constitute the stopper hole 17 .

The ceramic carrier 53 to be described later is placed inside the lower case 13b, but it is decomposed and disappears over time, so it must be supplemented. ) will be supplemented.

For more convenient use, it is preferable to mount a sensor capable of determining whether the ceramic carrier 53 is insufficient inside the inner case 13 and inform the user of this through an LED indicator or voice guidance.

Several holes are formed in the lower case 13b for connection or mounting of the driving motor 25 to be described later, the supply pipe (a) for supplying the crushed material, the discharge pipe 33, the overflow pipe 37 and the injection nozzle 66, etc. has been

The drum unit 20 is configured to perform a pulverization operation of turning the crushed material into a pulverized product, and the cylindrical drum body 21 rotatably provided in the inner case 13 is formed on the circumferential surface of the drum body 21 . A plurality of through-holes 22 to be formed, a pile of ceramic balls 23 provided inside the drum body 21, a driving motor 25 for rotating the drum body 21, and formed protruding from the inner circumferential surface of the drum body 21 It consists of a plurality of blades (27).

One end of the rotary shaft of the drum body 21 is coupled to the rotary shaft of the driving motor 25, and the other end of the rotary shaft of the drum body 21 is connected to a crushed material supply pipe (a) connected to the crushing unit (A), the drum In order to prevent interference with the supply pipe (a) due to the nature of the main body 21 rotating, a bearing member is provided at the corresponding portion.

The driving motor 25 is operated by a signal from the control unit, its rotation speed is adjusted, and it is possible to rotate forward and backward.

When the drum body 21 is rotated by the operation of the drive motor 25 in a state in which crushed material is introduced into the drum body 21 through the supply pipe (a) and water is supplied through a spray nozzle 66, which will be described later, The blade 27 pushes up the pile of ceramic balls 23 gathered at the base of the drum body 21 in the rotational direction.

Afterwards, the pile of ceramic balls 23 pushed up is returned to the base by the action of gravity, and crushing of the crushed material is mostly made in this return process.

In addition, the pulverized material having a particle diameter smaller than the through hole 22 by grinding is discharged to the outside of the drum body 21 through the through hole 22 and collected in the lower case 13b, and then the microorganisms provided by the decomposition unit 50 will be decomposed by

The blade 27 is made of a metal or synthetic resin material and pushes the pile of ceramic balls 23 to a higher position to increase the grinding efficiency by extending the return path thereafter, and as shown in FIG. 6 , basically It consists of a flat plate in the form of a straight line in cross section.

In addition, an incision (not shown) may be formed in the blade 27 to induce disturbance of the sludge liquid so that the ceramic ball 23 and the sludge liquid are more easily mixed. It can be configured to

At this time, the incision cutting unit also serves to further increase the crushing efficiency by cutting again the crushed material or the crushed material in the sludge liquid passing through the incision hole.

The piping unit 30 supplies water to the lower case 13b to make the sludge liquid while discharging the sludge liquid that has been decomposed by the decomposition unit 50 to the outside, and is provided on the bottom plate 11b A water supply valve 31 to be used, a discharge pipe 33 for discharging the sludge liquid to the outside, a discharge valve 35 provided in the discharge pipe 33, and an overflow pipe 37 provided on the side wall of the lower case 13b and a vent pipe (39).

The water supply valve 31 is opened and closed by a signal from the control unit while connected to the water pipe of the sink, and supplies the water pipe constant to the injection nozzle 66 .

In addition, a water level sensor is provided in the lower case 13b to control the water supply so that the sludge liquid level W is equal to or less than the rotation axis of the drum body 21 as shown in FIG. 6 .

One end of the discharge pipe 33 is connected to the bottom surface of the lower case 13b, and the other end is connected to the sink sewer pipe.

Since the opening and closing may be incompletely performed by the accumulated sludge liquid, the discharge pipe 33 is provided with a high-pressure discharge valve 35 that allows the opening and closing to be performed firmly.

On the other hand, if the shredded material is excessively introduced into the inner case 13 and the sludge liquid exceeds the appropriate water level (W), it may be difficult to perform the work of the various configurations provided in the inner case 13, as shown in FIG. Similarly, an overflow pipe 37 for emergency discharge of the sludge liquid is connected to the side wall of the lower case 13b, and an end of the overflow pipe 37 is connected to the discharge pipe 33 .

In addition, since the inner case 13 has a sealing structure to prevent odor leakage, the discharge of the sludge liquid through the discharge pipe 33 may be delayed.

Accordingly, in the present invention, a vent pipe 39 is formed on the side wall of the lower case 13b so that the internal pressure of the inner case 13 is synchronized with the atmospheric pressure, but the vent pipe 39 can leak odors through the exhaust pipe 33 and The end is sealed with a connecting tube (not shown).

In general, food waste has a characteristic of being softened at a high temperature, and the heating unit 40 is configured to apply heat so that the sludge is soaked, and a heating pad 41 provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 13b, the heating It consists of a heater 43 provided on the rear surface of the pad 41 and a sensor for measuring the temperature of the sludge liquid.

The control unit operates the heater 43 based on the measured value of the sensor to maintain the temperature of the sludge liquid at 85 to 95°C.

The decomposition unit 50 provides microorganisms to the sludge liquid accumulated in the lower case 13b to be decomposed, and a support plate 51 disposed between the lower end of the drum body 21 and the bottom surface of the lower case 13b. ) and a pile of ceramic carriers 53 placed on top of the support plate 51 .

The ceramic carrier 53 is made of a porous ceramic material softer than the ceramic ball 23, and microorganisms attach and inhabit in the pores formed on the surface. and disassembly is performed.

In addition, since the sludge liquid is in a high temperature state by the heating unit 40 and is stirred by the rotation of the drum main body 21 to smoothly supply oxygen, microbial growth and decomposition of the pulverized product can be actively performed.

On the other hand, the support plate 51 is made of a network structure so as not to interfere with the agitation of the sludge liquid.

As described above, according to the present invention, since there is no need to secure a separate space for treatment by microorganisms in the food processor, it is necessary to simply provide the support plate 51 and the ceramic carrier 53 in the space of the inner case, so that the food processor can be miniaturized.

When the pulverization and decomposition work is completed, the sludge liquid is discharged to the outside through the discharge pipe 33 connected to the sewage pipe, and some of it remains adhesively on the inner wall of the inner case 13 or the outer peripheral surface of the drum body 21 (hereinafter, 'residues') '), if left unattended, bad odors may leak due to intensification of decay.

The washing unit 60 is a configuration for removing these residues, and a perforating means for removing the residue blocking the through hole 22, the drum body 21 or the inner case 13, which removes the residue attached to the inner wall. It consists of a spray nozzle (66) and a scattering plate (67).

A brush 61 is used as the drilling means, and the brush 61 is provided in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 21 by a bracket 62, and through the rotation of the drum body 21, the drum body 21 Residues adhered to the outer peripheral surface and the through hole 22 are removed.

In case of long-term use, the cleaning efficiency of the brush 61 is reduced due to the sludge adhering to the brush 61 and the brush 61 is also worn. .

On the other hand, when the through hole 22 is blocked by sludge, the sludge protrudes to the outside and the inside of the through hole 22 in most cases, so a removal spatula ( 65) may be additionally provided.

The removal spatula 65 is preferably positioned above the sludge liquid level W close to the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 21, and since the removal spatula 65 may also be worn during long-term use, the upper case for its replacement It may be provided detachably to a separate bracket provided in (13a).

The injection nozzle 66 is provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 13b in a state in which it is connected to the water supply valve 31, and supplies water to the lower case 13b to form a sludge during the grinding operation and washing operation. In the case of cleaning, the residue is removed by spraying water under high pressure.

Meanwhile, the injection nozzle 66 is disposed at one end of the bottom surface of the lower case 13b as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 to wash both the inner wall of the inner case 13 and the drum body 21 .

However, due to the arrangement structure of the injection nozzle 66, the inner wall of the rear inner case 13 opposite to the injection direction becomes a dead area, making it difficult to remove residues.

The scattering plate 67 is a configuration for removing residues by scattering water in the rectangular area, and is formed on both side plates 21a of the drum body 21 to scatter water through the rotation of the drum body 21 . .

Of course, during the pulverization operation, the scattering plate 67 also serves to stir the sludge liquid.

From above, the scattering plate 67 is provided separately on both side plates 21a of the drum body 21, but without the scattering plate 67, the structure of the blade 27 to perform the same function as the scattering plate 67. can also be changed.

That is, when one end of the blade 27 is positioned inside the drum body 21 and a part of the other end is formed to protrude to the outside of the drum body 21 , the portion that protrudes to the outside of the drum body 21 . Like this scattering plate 27, it serves to agitate the sludge liquid accumulated in the lower case 13b.

The specific cleaning process of the spray nozzle 66 and the scattering plate 67 is to start the water spray of the spray nozzle 66 into the inner case 13, which is empty by discharging the sludge after disassembling the inner case 13 and The drum main body 21 is washed, but the discharge valve 35 is blocked and sprayed so that water accumulates in the inner case 13 .

Next, when the water level in the lower side of the drum body 21 is partially submerged, the drum body 21 is rotated at a higher speed than during the grinding operation by a signal from the control unit so that the water is scattered, thereby cleaning the blind area.

In addition, the control unit controls the forward and reverse rotation of the driving motor 25 to change the rotation direction of the drum body 21 periodically or intermittently, thereby further increasing cleaning efficiency.

Finally, the water is discharged by opening the discharge valve 35, but residual residue may remain on the bottom surface of the inner case 13 after discharge. 35) to end the cleaning operation.

On the other hand, the sludge liquid often contains a fat and oil component, which is solidified at a low temperature to block the through hole 22 or adhere to the inner wall, making it difficult to clean.

Accordingly, in the present invention, by operating the heating unit 40, the washing operation can be performed while the washing water is at a high temperature.

Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it should be understood that the scope of the present invention extends to those substantially equivalent to the embodiments of the present invention, Various modifications can be made by those of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention pertains without departing from the spirit of the invention.

10: case unit
11: Outer case 13: Inner case
20: drum unit
21: drum body 22: through hole
23: ceramic ball 25: drive motor
27: blade 29: brush
30: piping unit
31: water supply valve 33: discharge pipe
35: discharge valve 37: overflow pipe
39: vent pipe
40: heating unit
41: heating pad 43: heater
50: disassembly unit
51: base plate 53: ceramic carrier
60: washing unit
61: brush 62: bracket
65: removal spatula 66: spray nozzle
67: scatter plate

Claims (5)

The case unit 10 consists of an outer case 11 and an inner case 13 provided inside the outer case 11, and the inner case 13 includes an upper case 13a and a lower case 13b. );
A cylindrical drum body 21 rotatably provided in the inner case 13, a plurality of through holes 22 formed on the circumferential surface of the drum body 21, and provided inside the drum body 21 A drum unit 20 including a ceramic ball 23 dummy, a driving motor 25 for rotating the drum body 21, and a plurality of blades 27 protruding from the inner circumferential surface of the drum body 21;
a piping unit 30 including a water supply valve 31 provided on one side of the inner side of the outer case 11;
a heating unit 40 including a heating pad 41 provided on a bottom surface of the lower case 13b and a heater 43 provided on a rear surface of the heating pad 41; and
A disassembling unit 50 comprising a base plate 51 disposed between the lower end of the drum body 21 and the bottom surface of the lower case 13b, and a pile of ceramic carriers 53 placed on the base plate 51; and
A drilling means for removing residues blocking the through holes 22, and a spray nozzle 66 connected to the water supply valve 31 and removing residues attached to the inner wall of the drum body 21 or the inner case 13 A washing unit 60 comprising a;
includes,
The washing unit 60 further includes a scattering plate 67 formed on both side plates 21a of the drum body 21,
A control unit for controlling the operation of the various devices provided in the crushing unit (A) and the crushing unit (B) is further provided, and the control unit controls the forward and reverse rotation of the driving motor 25 to rotate the drum body 21 . change direction periodically or intermittently;
A first stopper hole 17a is formed in the upper plate 11a of the outer case 11, and a second stopper hole 17b communicating with the first stopper hole 17a is formed in the upper case ( 13a), the first stopper hole 17a and the second stopper hole 17b constitute the stopper hole 17, and a stopper 15 for opening and closing the stopper hole 17 is provided;
A food processor with a self-cleaning function, characterized in that a sensor for determining whether the ceramic carrier (53) is insufficient is mounted inside the inner case (13). delete delete delete delete

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