Patent ID: 6460789
Filing Date: 2002-10-08
Classification: A23K,A23N,B02C,B09B,C05F,Y02A,Y02P

Abstract:
An automatic food waste processing system comprising:a hopper for introducing food waste; a conveying apparatus connected to the hopper and including: a conveyer housing; a plurality of shower units coupled to upper and lower portions of the hopper; a pair of conveyer screws for conveying the food waste introduced into the hopper; a salt sensor and a water level sensor mounted on a predetermined position in the conveyer housing to detect salt concentration and water level of the food waste; and a discharger mounted at a bottom of the housing to automatically discharge water according to the water level and the salt concentration of the food waste; a crushing apparatus including: a crusher housing; a crusher having a crush roller and vertically mounted in the crusher housing to crush the food waste conveyed from the conveying apparatus; at least one remover arranged in the crusher housing to remove residue jammed between gears of the crushing roller; a separator connected to a power source for detecting and removing metallic materials; a sensor mounted at an upper portion of the crusher housing for determining an amount of the food waste; and at least one pair of shower nozzles separately arranged at a predetermined location in the housing; a drying apparatus including: a dryer housing having an insulating material on an outer surface; a cylinder having a heater and mounted to the dryer housing; a pair of conveyer screws configured to rotate in a direction appositive to each other to convey the food waste from the crushing apparatus and to remove moisture contained therein, wherein a pitch of the conveyer screw is relatively wider adjacent to an inlet portion and gradually narrowed toward an outlet portion; and a center shaft of the conveyer screw includes a heater rod inserted thereinto; a cutting apparatus mounted adjacent to the drying apparatus and including at least one cutting blade rotating at a higher speed than that of the conveyer screw, the cutting blade cutting dried food waste into chips having a predetermined size; a first chip conveying apparatus connected to the drying apparatus for conveying the dried chips to a second chip conveying apparatus, the first chip conveying apparatus capable of being reverse-rotated to prevent sludge introduction thereinto, the second chip conveying apparatus mounted adjacent to the outlet portion of the first chip conveying apparatus to facilitate the collection of the dried chips; a washing water removing apparatus including: a housing having an upper housing and a lower housing; the upper housing with one end portion communicating with the dryer housing, the middle portion of the upper housing communicating with the crusher housing, and the other end portion of the upper housing communicating with a drain pipe; a pair of conveyer screws in the upper housing; and the lower housing having one end portion communicated with a lower portion of the upper housing, an evaporator mounted to the lower housing, a conveyer mounted to the other end portion of the lower housing; and a sludge conveying apparatus mounted adjacent to the housing of the water washing removal apparatus to facilitate the collection of sludge.