US2819848A

US2819848A - Waste disposal apparatus

Info

Publication number: US2819848A
Application number: US623015A
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas T Woodson
Original assignee: General Electric Co
Current assignee: General Electric Co
Priority date: 1956-10-15
Filing date: 1956-11-19
Publication date: 1958-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 1975-01-14
Also published as: FR1184383A

Description

Jan. 14, 1958 T. T. WOODSON 2,819,848

WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS FiledNov. 19, 1956 7 k \l l 4. F'lCv. l

9 7 I M- o 0 o 0 o a) 0 r I 2 n k 0 20 i2: 23

INVEN TOR.

THOMAS T. wooosoN HIS ATTORNEY WASTE DISPOSAL APPARATUS Thomas T. Woodson, La Canada, Calif., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application November 19, 1956, Serial No. 623,015

8 Claims. (Cl. 241-46) This invention relates to waste disposal apparatus of the type adapted to be connected to the drain opening of a sink, and has as its principal object the provision of an improved grinding mechanism for such apparatus.

Another object of this invention is to provide waste disposal apparatus with an improved grinding mechanism impeller adapted to present a variable profile to waste material in the grinding chamber.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

Briefly stated, in accordance with one aspect of my invention there is provided a waste disposer including a generally cylindrical grinding chamber, a rotary grinding member including an impeller mounted for pivotal movement about an axis generally parallel to the axis of the rotary member, and a rotary block secured to the impeller, the rotary block being formed and arranged so as to present a varying profile to waste material in the grinding chamber.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the following description and the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary elevation view, in section, illustrating a waste disposal device incorporating this invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the impeller utilized in the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the impeller shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 2 but shows a modified impeller.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of the impeller shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is similar to Fig. 4 but shows another modified impeller.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation view of the impeller shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a waste disposal device having a generally cylindrical casing or hopper 1 enclosing the grinding chamber 2 at the bottom of which the grinding or shredding of waste material takes place. The upper end of hopper 1 is provided with means suitable for supporting the device in the drain opening in a sink or the like, the supporting means including, for example, a flanged drain sleeve 3, a clamping ring 4, a sealing washer 5, and clamping bolts 6, all arranged so that the open top of hopper 1 may be supported in alignment with a sink drain opening. Preferably, the drain opening is equipped with a suitable drain stopper 7, which may be of the type disclosed in application Serial No. 549,744 filed November 29, 1955 by Fred W. Moore, now Patent No. 2,787,423, April 2, 1957, and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

The lower end of hopper 1 is provided with a flange 8 Patented Jan. 14, 1958 which carries mounting screws 9 for securing a motor housing 10 to the hopper so as to form an integral structure. Mounted within motor housing 10 is an electric motor (not shown) provided with a vertically extending shaft 11 projecting into the drainage chamber 12 defined by the upper walls of housing 10. Secured to the bottom of tubular hopper 1 is a generally cylindrical shredding ring 13 provided with a flange 14 at the top thereof which is clamped between flange 8 of the hopper and the upper end of motor housing 10 so that the shredding ring is stationary with respect to the hopper. Shredding ring 13 is provided with a plurality of shredding projections 15 on its inner surface, a plurality of openings 16 through which the comminuted material is expelled during grinding operations, and a row of apertures 17 arranged to drain excess water from the cornminuting zone. Projections 15, openings 16 and apertures 17 may be conveniently formed by lancing or stamping operations, or by any other suitable means. The arrangement and function of shredding ring 13 are more fully described and claimed in application Serial No. 553,119 filed December 14, 1955 by Herbert J. Macemon and assigned to the assignee of the present application.

In accordance with the present invention I provide a rotary grinding member, generally designated by the numeral 18, fixedly secured to the upper end of motor shaft 11 by means of a fastening screw 19, for example, and provided with impelling means to be described below. Rotary grinding member 19 includes a generally cylindrical flywheel or table 20 having a running clearance with the lower edge portion of shredding ring 13, and a pair of

impellers

21 and 22 mounted on flywheel 2t) for pivotal movement about an axis generally parallel to the axis of rotation of motor shaft 11.

impellers

21 and 22 are mounted on diametrically oposite sides of the axis of flywheel 26 and are preferably identical, only impeller 21 being described in detail herein.

Impeller 21 is adapted to swing freely about pivot pin 23, and thus to impel waste material against shredding projections 16 and also to cooperate directly with these projections in grinding and cutting waste material. I have found that the height of impeller 21 at its swinging end (i. e., the vertical distance between the top surface of the swinging end of impeller 21 and the top surface of flywheel 20) determines to an appreciable extent the in which the vertical height of the swinging end of theimpeller is variable, and during operation constantly changes. To achieve this variation in height I provide a rotary block element 26 of generally rectangular configuration mounted for rotation on the top surface of impeller 21, by means of an upwardly projecting pin 27, for example. Block 26 includes a pair of fiat

parallel side walls

26a, and 26b, and curved end wall portions 26c, 26d, 26:: and 26 each of the end wall portions being spaced farther away from the pin 27 than the shortest distance between the pin and

side walls

26a and 26b. When rotary block 26 is in the position shown in the drawing, it and impeller 21 presents a large vertical dimension to waste material in the grinding chamber, while a lesser vertical dimension is presented along a considerable portion of the top surface of impeller 21 when rotary block 26 rotates to a position degrees from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In operation, rotary element 26 rotates in an irregular manner on impeller 21 during 3 grinding operations and thus presents a varying profile to waste material in the grinding chamber.

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 4

and 5, impeller 21 is provided with a rotary element'28' which is star-shaped and adapted to rotate about pin 27, so that the impeller as a whole presents a varying profile to waste material in the grinding chamber.

The modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7 includes a rotary block 29 of generally rectangular configuration, the top surface of block 29 being formed by surfaces inclined with respect to the top surface of impeller 21. The side walls of block 29 include a pair of parallel fiat walls 29a and 29b, and a pair of end walls 29c and 29d, which may be slightly curved and are spaced from pin 27 at distances greater than the shortest distance between the pin and walls 29a and 2%. As in the modifications previously described,'rotation of block 29 about pin 27 results in a variation in the'height of the top surface of impeller 21, the variation being irregular depending upon the rotary position of the block.

In all of the modified forms of the invention as described above, the rotary block element located on top of impeller 21 also contributes to improve grinding action by gouging or chipping waste material, it being noted that

rotary elements

26, 28, and 29 all include sharp edges and corners for achieving this function.

While I have shown and described three specific embodiments of this invention, I do not desire the invention to be limited to the particular constructions shown and described, and I intend by the appended claims to cover all modifications within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. Waste disposal apparatus for use with a sink having a drain outlet comprising a housing providing a grinding chamber having at its upper end an inlet opening for water and waste material, mounting means for securing said housing to the sink with said inlet opening in alignment with said drain outlet, shredding members fixedly secured within said chamber, a rotatable grinding member Within said grinding chamber, an impeller pivotally mounting on said rotary member for movement about an axis generally parallel to the axis of rotation of said rotary member, said impeller having a substantially fiat top surface, and a rotary block element rotatably mounted on said surface, said block element having at least two external boundary surface portions spaced at unequal distances from and generally parallel to the rotary axis thereof.

2. Waste disposal apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which said rotary block element is generally rectangular in cross section along planes parallel to said rotary axis, one of said boundary surface portions is a flat rectangular wall, and another of said boundary surface portions is a curved wall spaced farther away from said rotary axis than the shortest distance between said rotary axis and said flat wall.

3. Waste disposal'apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said block element is generally rectangular in cross section along plane parallel to said rotary axis, and is star-shaped in cross section along planes perpendicular to said rotary axis.

4. Waste disposal apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which the external boundaries surface portions of said block element include a pair of parallel fiat walls and a second pair of walls spaced from said rotary axis at distances greater than the shortest distance between said rotary axis and each of said fiat walls.

5. Waste disposal apparatus for use with a sink having a drain outlet comprising a cylindrical housing having at its upper end an inlet opening for water and waste material, mounting means for securing said housing to the sink with said inlet opening in alignment with said drain outlet, shredding members fixedly secured to the inner surfaces -of said housing so as to project into said chamber, a

rotatable flat-topped circular flywheel mounted in said grinding chamber for rotation about the axis of said cylindrical housing, a pair of impellers mounted for pivotal movement on said flywheel, said impellers being located on diametrically opposite sides thereof, and each of said impellers including a substantially fiat top surface and rotary block element rotatably mounted on said surface for rotation about an axis generally parallel to the pivotal axis of said impeller, said block element having at least two external boundary surface portions spaced at unequal distances from and generally parallel to the rotary axis thereof.

6. Waste disposal apparatus in accordance with claim 5 in which said rotary block element is generally rectangular in cross section along planes parallel to said rotary axis, one of said boundary surface portions is a flat rectangular wall, and another of said boundary surface portions is a curved wall spaced farther away from said rotary axis than the shortest distance between said rotary axis and said flat wall.

7. Waste disposal apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which said block element is generally rectangular in cross section along planes parallel to said rotary axis, and is star-shaped in cross section along planes perpendicular to said rotary axis.

8. Waste disposal apparatus as defined in claim 5 in which the external boundary surface portions of said block element include a pair of parallel fiat walls and a second pair of walls spaced from said rotary axis at distances greater than the shortest distance between said rotary axis and each of said fiat walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,730,300 Seymour Oct. 1, 1929 1,803,148 Sheppard Apr. 28, 1931 2,573,213 Miller Oct. 30, 1951 2,760,730 Jordan Aug. 28, 1956