KR20210028944A - Food Waste Disposer Having Self-purification Function - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a food waste disposer having a self-purification function, which is able to grind and decompose food waste by using a ceramic ball and a ceramic carrier, to remove the residue of food waste after treating the food waste, comprising: an outer case; and an inner case placed in the outer case. The inner case includes: a case unit made of an upper case and a lower case; a drum unit which includes a cylindrical drum mainframe rotatably placed in the inner case, a large number of penetrating holes formed on the outer circumferential surface of the drum mainframe, a ceramic ball group placed in the drum mainframe, a driving motor rotating the drum mainframe, and a plurality of blades formed on the inner circumferential surface of the drum mainframe to protrude; a pipe unit including a water supply valve placed on the outer case; a heating unit which includes a heating pad placed on the floor surface of the lower case, and a heater placed on the rear surface of the heating pad; a decomposing unit which includes a support plate placed between a lower end of the drum mainframe and the floor surface of the lower case, and a ceramic carrier group placed on an upper side of the support plate; and a cleaning unit which includes a punching means for removing residue blocking the penetrating holes, and a spray nozzle connected to the water supply valve to remove residue on an inner wall of the drum mainframe or the inner case.

Description

Food Waste Disposer Having Self-purification Function}

The present invention relates to a food waste treatment machine with a self-cleaning function, and more particularly, to a food waste treatment machine with a self-cleaning function for pulverizing and decomposing food waste using ceramic balls and ceramic carriers, and removing food waste residues after treatment. .

Food waste has serious problems such as odor in the collection process, limitation of landfills and leachate, so there is a limit to the treatment of food waste with the existing pay-as-you-go method.

Accordingly, various types of food waste disposers have been disclosed that are installed in the drains of the sinks of each household to crush food waste, dry it to reduce the amount, and then discharge it or disassemble it into microorganisms and then discharge it to the sewer.

As such a food waste treatment machine, a food waste treatment machine that crushes food waste more finely by grinding ceramic balls instead of a grinding cutter has been introduced.

A food waste treatment machine using ceramic balls, as introduced in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-1485716 (registration date: January 16, 2015) (Fig. 1), has a dehydration hole 112 on its surface and a ceramic ball 113 inside. When food waste is placed in the drum 110 equipped with) and rotated, the pile of ceramic balls 113 rises in the rotational direction of the drum 110 and returns to the base of the drum 110 by gravity. .

In this return process, a relative motion occurs between the ceramic balls 113 adjacent to each other, and food waste caught between the ceramic balls 113 in the relative motion process is crushed.

When this series of processes is repeated, the particle diameter of the food waste becomes smaller and the food waste crushed smaller than the double dehydration hole 112 is discharged to 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 a decomposition process by microorganisms, and then discharged to the sewer.

However, there is a problem that the high-viscosity sludge contained in the food waste blocks the dewatering hole 112 and lowers the working speed, while the residue remaining inside the processor after the operation causes an odor or hardens, causing a malfunction of the device. .

KR 10-1485716 B1 2015.01.16.

The problem to be solved in the present invention is a food waste disposal device capable of self-cleaning by preventing the high viscosity sludge contained in the food waste from blocking the pores formed in the drum body, and effectively removing the adhesive matter of food waste remaining on the inner wall of the food waste disposal machine. To provide.

A food waste treatment apparatus having a self-cleaning function of the present invention for solving the above problem includes: a case unit comprising an outer case and an inner case provided inside the outer case, and the inner case comprises an upper case and a lower case; A cylindrical drum body rotatably provided in the inner case, a plurality of through holes formed on the circumferential surface of the drum body, a pile of ceramic balls provided inside the drum body, a drive 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 an 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 decomposition unit comprising a support plate disposed between a lower end of the drum body and a bottom surface of the lower case, and a pile of ceramic carriers placed on the support plate; And a washing unit including a perforation means for removing residues blocking the through holes, and a spray nozzle connected to the water supply valve and for removing residues attached to the drum body or the inner wall of the inner case. .

In addition, the food waste treatment apparatus having a self-cleaning function of the present invention is characterized in that the perforation means is a brush provided detachably to a bracket provided in an upper case and provided in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drum body.

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

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

According to the food waste treatment machine having a self-cleaning function of the present invention, the drum through a spray nozzle and a scattering plate that prevents sludge from blocking the perforation of the drum body through a perforation means, and removes residues attached to the drum body or the inner wall of the inner case. Since residues stuck to the main body and the inner wall of the food waste treatment machine can be effectively removed, the food waste treatment machine has a self-cleaning function, and the convenience of use thereof is increased.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the interior of a food waste treatment machine according to the prior art.
2 is a front view showing a food waste treatment device according to the present invention.
3 is an exploded perspective view showing the outer case of the food waste treatment machine according to the present invention.
4 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the food waste treatment machine according to the present invention.
5 is a perspective view showing a lower case of the food waste treatment machine according to the present invention.
6 is a schematic view showing the internal configuration of the drum body of the food waste treatment machine 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 waste treatment apparatus according to the present invention.
9 is a cross-sectional view showing an arrangement of a spatula in the food waste treatment machine according to the present invention.

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

Referring to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the present invention is connected to the sink drain, the crushing portion (A) for primarily pulverizing the incoming food waste, the crushing portion (A) is connected to the food waste re-crushed After that, it consists of a pulverization unit (B) that decomposes it using microorganisms, and a control unit that controls the operation of all devices provided in the crushing unit (A) and the pulverizing unit (B).

In addition, the pulverization unit (B) performs pulverization, heating, disassembly 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 disassembly unit 50 and a washing unit 60.

Here, for clarity, the food waste crushed in the crushing unit A is referred to as “crushed material”, and the crushed material pulverized again in the drum unit 20 is referred to as “crushed material”. In addition, the pulverization operation is carried out in a state in which the crushed material is immersed in water, and a mixture of water and crushed material or pulverized material is called a'sludge liquid'.

When describing the contents of the present invention for each configuration of the pulverizing part (B) in detail, first, the case unit 10 is composed of an outer case 11 and an inner case 13 provided inside the outer case 11. .

The outer case 11 is composed of a top plate 11a, a bottom plate 11b, and a pair of sidewalls 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 configured to provide a space for grinding and processing, and an upper case 13a and a lower case 13b that are coupled up and down, 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 plug hole (17a) is formed in the upper plate (11a) of the outer case (11), and the second plug hole (17b) communicating with the first plug hole (17a) is the upper case of the inner case (13). The first plug hole 17a and the second plug hole 17b are formed in (13a) to form a plug hole 17, and a stopper 15 for closing the stopper hole 17 is provided.

The ceramic carrier 53, which will be described later, is placed inside the lower case 13b, but decomposes 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 in the inner case 13 and notify the user of this through an LED indicator light or voice guidance.

Several holes are formed in the lower case (13b) for connection or mounting of the drive motor 25, the supply pipe (a) for feeding crushed material, the discharge pipe (33), the overflow pipe (37) and the injection nozzle (66), which will be described later. Has been.

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

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

The drive motor 25 is operated by a signal from the control unit, its rotation speed is adjusted, and forward and reverse rotation is also possible.

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

Subsequently, the pile of ceramic balls 23 that are pushed up returns to the base by the action of gravity, and the crushed material is mostly crushed in this return process.

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

The blade 27 is made of a metal or synthetic resin material and serves to improve the grinding efficiency by pushing the pile of ceramic balls 23 to a higher position and extending the return path thereafter. It consists of a flat plate in a straight line in cross section.

In addition, a cutout (not shown) may be formed in the blade 27 so that the ceramic ball 23 and the sludge liquid are more easily mixed by inducing disturbance of the sludge liquid, and the cutout consists of a cutout hole and a cutout cutting part. Can be configured to

At this time, the cut-off cutting part also serves to further increase the pulverization efficiency by cutting the crushed material or pulverized material in the sludge liquid passing through the cut hole again.

The piping unit 30 is a configuration for supplying water to the lower case 13b to make a sludge liquid and 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, 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 ventilation pipe (39).

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

In addition, a water level sensor is provided in the lower case 13b to control water supply so that the sludge liquid level W is less than or equal to 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.

The discharge pipe 33 may be incompletely opened or closed by the accumulated sludge liquid, and thus a discharge valve 35 for high pressure is provided to ensure that the opening/closing is made firmly.

On the other hand, when the crushed 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 all the configurations provided inside the inner case 13, as shown in FIG. Likewise, 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, due to the characteristics of the inner case 13 having a sealing structure to prevent leakage of odor, 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, and the odor may be discharged through the vent pipe 39, so that the discharge pipe 33 and the The end is sealed with a connected tube (not shown).

In general, food waste has a property of softening at high temperatures, and the heating unit 40 is configured to apply heat so that the sludge is soaked, and the heating pad 41 provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 13b, the heating unit 40 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 so that the temperature of the sludge liquid is maintained at 85 to 95°C.

The decomposition unit 50 is a configuration that provides microorganisms to the sludge liquid accumulated in the lower case 13b to cause decomposition, and the 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 the base plate 51.

The ceramic carrier 53 is made of a porous ceramic material that is softer than the ceramic ball 23, and microorganisms adhere to the pores formed on the surface, and when the ceramic carrier 53 is immersed in the sludge liquid, the microorganisms inoculate and proliferate in the pulverized material. The disassembly work is performed.

In addition, since the sludge liquid is in a high temperature state by the heating unit 40 and agitated by the rotation of the drum body 21 to smoothly supply oxygen, microbial growth and decomposition of pulverized material 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 sludge liquid agitation.

As described above, in the present invention, it is not necessary to secure a separate space for the treatment by microorganisms in the food waste treatment machine, and simply provide the support plate 51 and the ceramic carrier 53 in the space of the inner case, so that the food waste treatment machine can be downsized.

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 sticks to the inner wall of the inner case 13 or the outer circumference of the drum body 21 (hereinafter referred to as'residue). If left unattended, odors may leak due to intensifying decay. In particular, if the operation of the food waste disposer is stopped for a long time, it may harden and interfere with the operation of all components when restarted.

The washing unit 60 is configured to remove such residues, a perforation means for removing residues blocking the through holes 22, and for removing residues attached to the inner wall of the drum body 21 or the inner case 13 It comprises a spray nozzle (66) and a scattering plate (67).

A brush 61 is used as the perforation 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 the drum body 21 is rotated through the rotation of the drum body 21. The residue adhered to the outer circumferential surface and the through hole 22 is removed.

In the case of long-term use, the cleaning efficiency of the brush 61 is lowered due to the sludge adhered to the brush 61 and the brush 61 is also worn, so it is provided detachably/attachable to the bracket 62 for convenience of exchange. .

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

It is preferable that the removal spatula 65 is located at the top of the sludge liquid level (W) close to the outer circumference of the drum body 21, and the removal spatula 65 may also be worn during long-term use, so the upper case for its replacement It may be provided detachably to a separate bracket provided in (13a).

The spray nozzle 66 is provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 13b while being connected to the water supply valve 31, and during the pulverization operation, water is supplied to the lower case 13b to form a sludge liquid, and the cleaning operation is performed. In this case, water is sprayed at high pressure to remove the residue.

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 clean 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 rectangular area, making it difficult to remove residues.

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

Of course, during the grinding operation, the scattering plate 67 also has a stirring action of the sludge liquid.

Above, the scattering plate 67 is provided separately on both side plates 21a of the drum body 21, but the structure of the blade 27 to perform the same function as the scattering plate 67 without having the scattering plate 67 You can also change it.

That is, if one end of the blade 27 is formed to be located inside the drum body 21, but a part of the other end is formed to protrude to the outside of the drum body 21, the part protruding to the outside of the drum body 21 Like the scattering plate 27, it plays a role of agitating the sludge liquid accumulated in the lower case 13b.

The specific cleaning process of the spray nozzle 66 and the scattering plate 67 is, first, after disassembling, the water spray of the spray nozzle 66 is started to the empty inner case 13 due to the discharge of the sludge liquid, and the inner case 13 and the inner case 13 and the The drum body 21 is cleaned, but sprayed while the discharge valve 35 is closed to allow water to collect in the inner case 13.

Next, when the water level at the bottom of the drum body 21 is partially submerged, the drum body 21 is rotated at a higher speed than during the crushing operation by a signal from the control unit so that the water is scattered, thereby washing the rectangular area.

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

Finally, 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 washing operation.

On the other hand, the sludge liquid contains a fat component in many cases, and the fat component solidifies at a low temperature to block the through hole 22 or adhere to the inner wall, making washing operation difficult.

Accordingly, in the present invention, the heating unit 40 may be operated to perform the washing operation while the washing water is at a high temperature.

Although the 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 the scope substantially equal to the embodiment of the present invention. Various modifications may be made by those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains within the scope not 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: ventilation 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: scattering plate

Claims (5)

A case unit 10 comprising an outer case 11 and an inner case 13 provided inside the outer case 11, and the inner case 13 comprises 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 pile of ceramic balls (23), a drive 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) in which the outer case (11) is provided on one side of the inside;
A heating unit 40 including a heating pad 41 provided on the bottom surface of the lower case 13b and a heater 43 provided on the rear surface of the heating pad 41; And
A disassembly unit 50 comprising a base plate 51 disposed between a lower end of the drum body 21 and a bottom surface of the lower case 13b, and a pile of ceramic carriers 53 placed on the base plate 51; And
A perforation means for removing residues blocking the through hole 22, and a spray nozzle 66 connected to the water supply valve 31 to remove residues attached to the inner wall of the drum body 21 or the inner case 13 Washing unit 60 comprising a;
Food waste treatment machine with a self-cleaning function, characterized in that consisting of a. The method of claim 1,
The drilling means is a food waste treatment machine with a self-cleaning function, characterized in that it is a brush 61 detachably provided on the bracket 62 provided in the upper case 13a and provided in close contact with the outer circumferential surface of the drum body 21 . The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The washing unit 60 further includes a scattering plate 67 formed on both side plates 21a of the drum body 21. A food waste treatment machine having a self-cleaning function. The method of claim 1,
The crushing unit (A) and the crushing unit (B) is further provided with a control unit for controlling the operation of all the equipment provided,
The control unit controls the forward and reverse rotation of the drive motor (25) to periodically or intermittently change the rotation direction of the drum body (21). The method of claim 2,
A food waste treatment machine with a self-cleaning function, characterized in that a removal spatula (65), which is located close to the outer circumferential surface of the drum body (21), but is detachable to a separate bracket provided in the upper case (13a).

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