KR20220158522A - Automatic dish washing system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an automatic dish-washing system and, more specifically, to an automatic dish-washing system, comprising: a dish and food tray inserting unit for inputting dishes, food trays, or food trays on which dishes are seated to a dish and food tray separation unit described below; the dish and food tray separation unit automatically separating the dishes, the food trays, or the food trays on which the dishes are seated, supplied from the dish and food tray insertion unit and removing residual food waste; a food tray transfer unit transferring the food trays separated from the dish and food tray separation unit to a food tray washing unit; and the food tray washing unit washing the food trays transferred from the food tray transfer unit while transferring the food trays through a washing conveyer belt. The food tray transfer unit includes a stopper. The stopper includes a stop member temporarily stopping the food trays so that the food trays transferred through the food tray transfer unit may be sequentially discharged to the washing conveyor belt; and a protruding drive unit allowing the stop member to protrude or be hidden. The protruding drive unit is interlocked by a drive sprocket and a chain unit for driving the washing conveyor belt to be driven according to the transferring speed of the washing conveyer belt. The dishes and the food trays can be smoothly washed without failure in a separate state.

Description

Automatic dish washing system {Automatic dish washing system}

The present invention relates to an automated dish washing system capable of automatically separating and washing a large amount of dishes and trays quickly and accurately.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In general, collective catering establishments are operated in various public facilities such as companies, factories, and schools to provide meals and related services to a large number of people at once. As the importance of overall food service, such as meal quality, service, and hygiene, has emerged, these collective catering establishments are being managed by outsourcing these tasks to external specialized companies.

The catering business of the external professional company has different characteristics from general distribution, and the biggest characteristic of these is to manufacture and supply meals for people to eat. Therefore, rather than selling industrial products, it prepares food that can directly affect the human body and handles leftover food, so quality and safety are considered more important than anything else, and in particular, hygiene is directly related to human health. Since it is a very important part of food preparation, it is self-evident that safe food, sanitary places and tableware should be provided by frequently checking the sanitary conditions of tableware used in common or when cooking food.

However, since oversupply due to manpower may occur in workplaces that have to serve hundreds or thousands of meals, in the case of tableware to overcome this problem, a large amount of tableware can be washed quickly and hygienically. By providing an automatic dishwasher, it is possible to minimize the number of manpower and manage a large amount of dishware more quickly and hygienically by automating the entire process of dishwashing, which was previously performed manually.

Such an automated dish washing system ultimately aims to realize automation for all processes from collection of dishes and trays to washing in the industry. Technologies for automating the process of separating trays and tableware for washing have been developed and applied to products. For example, in the automatic tableware washing system of Korean Patent Registration No. 203,592, an automatic tableware separator 20 that automatically separates dishes and trays is applied, and the tableware and tray are separated through the automatic tableware separator 20. It is made to be sequentially transferred to the dish and plate washing device 50 to be washed.

However, since a large number of trays and dishes are washed at the same time, there are cases where dishes that have passed through the automatic tableware separator 20 are erroneously put into the tray transfer device 30. When introduced into the washing device 50, the trays are separated or washed with two or more overlapping, resulting in poor cleaning, or the trays are piled up unaligned and do not properly enter the dish and dishwashing device, resulting in frequent breakdowns such as the conveyor stopping. This causes a problem of shortening the life of the device.

The present invention has been derived to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an automated dish washing system that can be smoothly washed without failure while dishes and trays are separated even if they are put in while dishes are placed on the tray. to be

The problem to be solved by the present invention is not limited to the technical problems mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. will be.

The present invention derived to solve the above problems relates to an automated dish washing system, and more specifically, a tableware and tray input unit for inputting dishes, trays, or trays on which dishes are seated to the tableware and tray separation unit; a tableware and tray separation unit that automatically separates the tableware supplied from the tableware and tray insertion unit, or the tableware on which the tableware is seated, and removes residual food waste; a plate transfer unit that transfers the plates separated from the tableware and plate separator to the plate washing unit; and a plate washing unit for washing the plates received from the plate transfer unit through the washing conveyor belt, wherein the plate transfer unit includes a stopper, and the stopper is transported through the plate transfer unit. a stop member temporarily stopping the food trays so that the food trays are sequentially discharged to the washing conveyor belt; A protrusion driving unit protruding or hiding the stop member is provided, and the protrusion driving unit is interlocked by a driving sprocket and a chain unit for driving the washing conveyor belt to drive the protrusion driving unit according to the conveying speed of the washing conveyor belt. characterized by

According to the automated dish washing system according to the present invention, even if a plurality of dishes are put on the tray by minimizing operational errors, the dish and tray can be washed smoothly without failure while being separated.

1 shows the entire system of an automated dish washing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a food transfer unit and a washing conveyor belt according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional side view of a stopper and a drive sprocket according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the protruding drive unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is an exploded perspective view of a deceleration conveyor belt according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 shows a hole for discharging dishes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the present invention can apply various transformations and have various embodiments, specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. However, it should be understood that this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, and includes all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known technologies may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

Terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this application, the terms "include" or "have" are intended to designate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, but one or more other features It should be understood that the presence or addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof is not precluded.

Terms such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. These terms are only used for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another.

The present invention relates to an automated dish washing system, and more particularly, includes: a dish and tray inserting unit for inputting dishes, trays, or trays on which the dish is seated, to the following dish and tray separation unit; a tableware and tray separation unit that automatically separates the tableware supplied from the tableware and tray insertion unit, or the tableware on which the tableware is seated, and removes residual food waste; a plate transfer unit that transfers the plates separated from the tableware and plate separator to the plate washing unit; and a plate washing unit that cleans the plates received from the plate transfer unit while transporting them through the washing conveyor belt.

In the present invention, the automatic dish washing system is a system in which the dish and the dish tray are automatically separated and washed while the dish tray on which the dish is seated is continuously transported by a conveyor transfer system, and is typically used in schools, hospitals, workplaces, etc. where large-scale meals are served. It is used in restaurants to quickly wash a large amount of tableware and trays.

In the present invention, any type of input unit commonly used for inputting dishes and trays into the dish washing system of the present invention can be applied to the dish and tray input unit.

However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the tableware and tray inserting unit may automatically input the dishes, trays, or trays on which the dishes are placed into the tableware and tray separation unit by an input conveyor.

In the present invention, the tableware and tray separation unit serves to automatically separate the tableware, trays or trays on which the tableware is seated supplied from the tableware and tray input unit and remove residual food waste, and to separate any type of tableware and trays. Wealth is also possible.

However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the tableware and plate separation unit may include a rotating body rotating about a horizontal central axis. A conveyor belt and a plurality of rollers to allow the dishes and trays to be separated from each other after the dishes or trays supplied from the dish and tray insertion unit are rotated by the rotating body, and to transfer the separated dishes and trays. Alternatively, a driving unit may be further provided.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the dish transfer unit may be further included. It is characterized in that it includes a conveyor capable of transferring the dishes supplied from the tableware and tray separator to a dish storage unit or a dish washing unit, and any type of conveyor capable of transferring the dishes It is possible.

In addition, in the present invention, the plate transfer unit serves to transfer the plates supplied from the tableware and plate separator to the plate washing unit. The food tray transfer unit is a first transfer section in which the trays separated from the tableware and tray separator are initially introduced into the tray transfer unit, and the trays introduced from the first transfer section are transported in the direction of the dish washer and then stopped by the stop member. It may be preferable to include a second conveying section and a third conveying section in which the food plates pass through the stop member and are transferred to the washing conveyor belt of the dish washing unit.

In the present invention, the tray transfer unit may include a dish discharging hole for separating and discharging dishes that have been erroneously introduced into the first transfer section. Although the tableware and trays are separated through the tableware and tray separation unit, since a large amount of tableware and trays are simultaneously input, an error may occur and the tableware is put into the tray transfer unit. Therefore, according to one embodiment of the present invention, when dishes enter the tray conveying unit including the dish discharging hole, the dishes may be separated and discharged through the dish discharging hole so that the dishes are not transported along the tray transfer unit. Since the hole for discharging dishes is smaller in size than the food plate, it is preferable that the food plate can be transported without problems even if it enters the food plate transport unit.

In the present invention, the plate transfer unit may include a speed reduction conveyor belt for reducing the speed of the plate in the second transfer section. The speed reduction conveyor belt has a height at which the food plate can be transferred corresponding to the operating speed of the speed reduction conveyor belt due to the frictional force between the speed reduction conveyor belt and the food plate when the food plate is transferred between the speed reduction conveyor belt and the bottom surface of the food plate transfer unit. It is characterized in that it is located on the top of the plate transfer unit while being spaced apart from.

The food plates that have entered the food conveyor ride the bottom surface of the food plate conveyor and descend in the direction of the dish washing unit by the inclination of the food plate conveyor, and then are put in between the bottom surface of the food plate conveyor and the speed reduction conveyor belt one by one. According to the speed of the plate, it is slowly transported toward the plate washer. Through this, even if a large amount of trays are input, the trays can be sequentially transferred one by one in the direction of the stopper, so the trays that have passed through the stopper can be transferred to the tray washing unit one by one, increasing cleaning efficiency, minimizing machine errors, and ensuring smooth cleaning. there will be According to an embodiment of the present invention, the reduction conveyor belt may include two first reduction wheels, two second reduction wheels, and a reduction belt. The first deceleration wheel is relatively larger than the second deceleration wheel, positioned slightly higher than the second deceleration wheel, and may be positioned slightly farther from each other than the second deceleration wheel. Therefore, when the food plates enter the reduction conveyor belt, even if they bounce or overlap two or more, the food plates first come into contact with the first reduction wheel and the rotation of the first reduction wheel causes the food plates to be correctly positioned on the food transfer unit one by one. Next, the food plate correctly positioned by the second reduction wheel is introduced between the bottom surface of the food plate transfer unit and the reduction conveyor belt. Also, two or more overlapping food plates may be separated by the second reduction wheel, and at the same time, the food plates may be introduced one by one between the bottom surface of the transfer unit and the reduction conveyor belt. The food plate is slowly transported by a speed reduction belt interlocked with the first reduction wheel and the second reduction wheel, and finally the food plate passes through the other second reduction wheel and the reduction conveyor belt.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the plate transfer unit is provided with a stopper, and in particular, it is preferable to be provided in the third transfer section. The stopper is for sequentially transferring the food plates transported through the food plate transfer unit to the food plate washing unit, and is composed of a stop member temporarily stopping the food plates and a protruding drive unit that protrudes or hides the stop member. Here, the protruding driving unit is interlocked by a driving sprocket and a chain unit for driving the washing conveyor belt to drive the protruding driving unit according to the conveying speed of the washing conveyor belt.

The stopper plays a role of temporarily stopping the food plate transported through the food plate transfer unit when it arrives at the third transfer section, and then transferring it to the washing conveyor belt of the dish dish washing unit. Here, it is preferable that transfer fingers spaced apart at regular intervals exist on the washing conveyor belt. The transfer finger ensures that the food tray that has descended to the washing conveyor belt is stably conveyed without slipping or escaping, and as a result, the food tray is transported and washed standing up while leaning with a load on the transfer finger between the spaced transfer fingers. It can be. Therefore, since the front and back surfaces of the food tray can be washed simultaneously, rapid washing is possible, thereby improving washing efficiency. However, at the moment when the stop member is concealed, the plate may collide with the transfer finger while descending to the washing conveyor belt, causing damage to the plate or the transfer finger or separation of the plate. In order to solve this problem, the present invention is characterized in that the protruding drive unit for controlling the stop member and the drive sprocket for controlling the washing conveyor belt are interlocked by a chain unit, so that the stopper is concealed and the stop member is When the food plate descends to the washing conveyor belt, the food plate may be controlled to be positioned between the spaced transfer fingers. Here, the stop member may be inserted in the direction of the protruding driver according to one embodiment of the present invention and concealed, or may be folded and concealed in the direction of the wall surface of the plate transfer unit according to another embodiment of the present invention. Methods that can be used to conceal the stop member in this way are applicable.

In the present invention, the plate transfer unit may include a steep slope having an inclination of 30 to 85 degrees in the third transfer section. When the food plate is transferred through the food plate transfer unit, the food plate is temporarily stopped by the stop member. Next, the food plate descends in the direction of the washing conveyor belt at the moment when the stop member is concealed in the direction of the protrusion driver. Problems such as breakage or failure of the stopper may occur, which may lead to failure of the stopper. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the food plate transfer unit includes the steep slope in all or part of the third transfer section so that the food trays passing through the stop member can be quickly transferred to the washing conveyor belt. It is preferable that the steep slope has an inclination of 30 to 85 degrees, and through this, it is possible to solve the above-mentioned problem of collision between the stop member and the plate. If the slope of the steep slope is less than 30 degrees, the food plate cannot pass through the steep slope quickly and the stop member and the meal plate collide. In addition, when the slope exceeds 85 degrees, the steep portion may not be transferred to the washing conveyor belt for reasons such as overturning the food plate, and may be separated, and the food plate is overturned and transferred to the washing conveyor belt in the reverse direction with the front and back plates turned over. It can be. In this way, when the food plates are transferred in the reverse direction to the washing conveyor belt, a problem such as separation of the food plates because they do not overlap each other correctly may occur when the food plates that have been washed are collected later.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a dish washing unit may be further included. In the present invention, the dish washing unit and the dish washing unit may wash dishes or trays by spraying washing water through nozzles while transporting sequentially placed dishes or trays by the washing conveyor belt. The conveyor may be any type of conveyor as long as it can sequentially transfer dishes or trays, and the nozzle may be any type of nozzle as long as it can spray washing water toward the dishes or trays. However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, it is preferable that the plate washing unit has a transfer finger on the washing conveyor belt. The transfer finger can be anything as long as it can stand while supporting the load of the food plate between the spaced transfer fingers, but according to an embodiment of the present invention, the transfer finger prevents the lowered food plate from being thrown out, and the A tilted tray with a load on the transfer finger can be transported standing upright at an inclination of 30 to 85 degrees, so even in a small area, it is possible to wash the tray without touching each other, and the contact area between the tray and the transfer finger is It may be desirable to further improve the cleaning power.

In addition, the dish washer and the dish washer may include a leftover collection unit that collects food waste separated from the dishes or the tray at a lower portion, and the collected food waste is transferred to a leftover discharge conveyor positioned at a lower portion of the leftover waste collection unit. can be transported outside.

According to the automated dish washing system according to the present invention, there is an effect of minimizing operational errors and smoothly washing dishes and trays without failure even if they are put in while they are placed on the tray.

Hereinafter, it will be described through drawings to aid understanding of the present invention. The following drawings and description of the drawings are only examples for explaining the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

1 shows the entire system of an automated dish washing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a food plate transfer unit and a washing conveyor belt according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It shows a side cross-sectional view of a stopper and a driving sprocket according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a protruding driving part according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is one of the present invention It is an exploded perspective view of the deceleration conveyor belt according to the embodiment, and FIG. 6 shows a dish discharging hole according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to FIG. 1, the automated dish washing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a tableware and tray input unit 100 for inputting trays on which sequentially placed dishes are seated by an input conveyor, and the dish and tray input unit ( A dish and tray separator 200 that automatically separates the food tray on which the dishes supplied from 100) are seated and removes residual food waste, and a dish transfer unit that transfers the dishes separated and discharged through the dish and tray separator 200 300, the dishwashing unit 500 for receiving and washing the dishes from the dish transfer unit 300, the tray transfer unit 400 for transferring the trays separated and discharged through the dish and tray separator 200, and the trays It is composed of a dish washing unit 600 that receives and cleans the food tray from the food transfer unit 400 . In addition, the plate conveying unit 400 is composed of a first conveying section, a second conveying section, and a third conveying section.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, the stopper 700 in the automated dish washing system of the present invention will be described in more detail as follows. According to FIG. 2, the stopper 700 according to the present invention is a stop member 710 for temporarily stopping a meal plate being transported on a meal plate transfer unit, and the stop member 710 can protrude or conceal the protruding state of the stop member 710 When the plate is stopped on the 710, a protruding driver 720 that conceals the stop member 710 to lower the plate, and a driving spra that drives the washing conveyor belt on which the plate descending from the stop member is seated A kit 730 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the food plates transported through the food plate transfer unit are temporarily stopped by the stop member 710, and the food plates that have passed through the stop member 710 first are transferred to the washing conveyor belt 610, but the washing conveyor belt It is located between the transfer finger 620 on 610 and the transfer finger spaced apart so as not to collide.

According to FIG. 3, the stopper 700 according to the present invention is provided with a protruding drive unit 720, a first driven sprocket 750, and a second driven sprocket 760, which drives the washing conveyor belt The driving sprocket 730 and the chain unit 740 interlock. The protrusion driving part 720 is provided with a pair of bevel gears 770, and when the first bevel gear 772 rotates in conjunction with the chain part 740, the second bevel gear 774 rotates. 1Changes the direction of rotation from up and down to left and right while rotating along the bevel gear. Accordingly, the cam 776 connected to the second bevel gear 774 rotates in the left and right directions. Here, the cam 776 is characterized in that it has a grooved shape on one side of the disc.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the protrusion driving part 720 is provided with a holding member 712, a linear rail 714, and a spring 716 so that the stop member 710 can protrude and be concealed. Accordingly, as the cam 776 rotates, the locking member 712 moves along the straight rail 714 along the side surface of the cam while being in contact with the side surface of the cam. In this way, while the locking member 712 rotates the maximum radius of the cam, the spring 716 is stretched, and the stop member 710 connected to the locking member 712 moves the plate along the straight rail 714. As it moves in the direction of the sending part 400, it maintains a protruding state. Accordingly, the food plate transported along the food plate transfer unit 400 is temporarily stopped by the stop member 710 . However, when the engaging member 712 enters the groove, which is the minimum radius of the cam, the spring 716 contracts by tension and the engaging member 712 moves along the straight rail 714 toward the protruding driving part 720. Accordingly, the stop member 710 is concealed, and the tray temporarily stopped by the stop member 710 is transferred to the washing conveyor belt 610. The cam 776 continuously rotates, and when the cam 776 rotates again to the maximum radius after passing through the groove, which is the minimum radius of the cam, the stop member 710 protrudes again toward the plate transfer unit 400.

Referring to FIG. 5, the process of operating the speed reduction conveyor belt according to an embodiment of the present invention is as follows. The reduction conveyor belt 800 includes two first reduction wheels 810, two second reduction wheels 820, and a reduction belt interlocking the first reduction wheel 810 and the second reduction wheel 820 ( 830). While the food plate is placed on the bottom surface of the food plate transporter, it descends according to the inclination angle of the food plate transporter and comes into contact with the second reduction wheel 820 of the speed reduction conveyor belt. At this time, the second reduction wheel 820 sequentially inputs the food trays one by one while rotating in the direction in which the food trays enter the speed reduction conveyor belt. In addition, the plate is fixed between the bottom surface of the plate transfer unit and the speed reduction belt 830 of the speed reduction conveyor belt, and is slowly transferred toward the plate washing unit. Finally, the food plate comes into contact with another second reduction wheel 820 located at the lower part of the reduction conveyor belt, and the other second reduction wheel 820 rotates in the direction of transporting the food plate to the plate washing unit, and the food plate is moved to the reduction conveyor. It passes through the belt 800. Here, the first reduction wheel 810 rotates even if two or more food plates input to the reduction conveyor belt are overlapped or the food plates bounce when entering the reduction conveyor belt, so that the food plates can be correctly positioned one by one.

According to FIG. 6 , the present invention may further include a hole 900 for discharging dishes. The dish discharging hole 900 is located in the first transfer section of the tray transfer unit 400, and when dishes that have not yet been separated from the dish and tray separation unit flow into the tray transfer unit 400, the dishes are transferred to the tray transfer unit 400. It descends into the dish drain hole and is separated and discharged. The dish discharging hole 900 is smaller than the tray and larger than the dish, so that only the dish is discharged, and the tray passes through the dish discharging hole 900 and is transported through the tray transfer unit.

As described above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains will be able to understand that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without changing its technical spirit or essential features. The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims to be described later rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalent concepts are interpreted to be included in the scope of the present invention. It should be.

100: tableware and tray inserting unit 200: tableware and tray separation unit
300: dish transfer unit 400: food transfer unit
500: dish washing unit 600: dish washing unit
610: washing conveyor belt 620: transfer finger
700: stopper 710: stop member
712: locking member 714: straight rail
716: spring 720: protruding drive unit
730: drive sprocket 740: chain part
750: 1st driven sprocket 760: 2nd driven sprocket
770: bevel gear 772: first bevel gear
774: second bevel gear 776: cam
800: reduction conveyor belt 810: first reduction wheel
820: second reduction wheel 830: reduction belt
900: hole for discharging dishes

Claims (5)

A tableware and tray inserting unit for inputting dishes, trays, or trays on which the dishes are seated to the tableware and tray separation unit; a tableware and tray separation unit that automatically separates the tableware supplied from the tableware and tray insertion unit, or the tableware on which the tableware is seated, and removes residual food waste; a plate transfer unit that transfers the plates separated from the tableware and plate separator to the plate washing unit; and a plate washing unit that cleans the plates while transporting them through the washing conveyor belt.
The plate transfer unit includes a stopper,
The stopper may include a stop member for temporarily stopping the food plates transported through the food plate transfer unit so that the food plates are sequentially discharged to the washing conveyor belt; A protruding drive unit protruding or concealing the stop member is provided,
The automated dishwashing system of claim 1 , wherein the protruding driving unit is interlocked by a drive sprocket and a chain unit for driving the washing conveyor belt to drive the protruding driving unit according to the conveying speed of the washing conveyor belt.
According to claim 1,
The food plate transport unit has a first transfer section in which the food plates separated from the tableware and the plate separator are first introduced, and a second transfer section in which the food plates introduced from the first transfer section are transported in the direction of the plate washing unit and then stopped by the stop member. and a third transfer section in which the food plate passes through the stop member and is transferred to the washing conveyor belt.
According to claim 2,
The plate transfer part has an inclination of 30 in the third transfer section. An automated dish washing system comprising a steep slope inclined at an angle of 85 to 85 degrees.
According to claim 2,
The automated dishwashing system of claim 1 , wherein the food plate transfer unit includes a speed reduction conveyor belt for reducing the speed of the food trays in the second transfer section.
According to claim 2,
The automated dishwashing system of claim 1 , wherein the dish transfer unit includes a dish discharging hole for separating and discharging dishes that have been erroneously introduced into the first transfer section.

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