Waste disintegrating device for a dishwater

Abstract: This invention relates to a device for a dishwasher comprising a tub (10) in which liquid by means of a circulation pump ( 17) and at least one rotating wash arm ( 11 ) is sprayed on the dish. The liquid is collected at the bottom (13) of the tub in order to be distributed from there to a sewage or the like by means of a drain pump (21). The bottom (13) is provided with a collecting means (42) for waste emanating from the dish. The device comprises a rotating and cutting means (44) cooperating with the collecting means (42) for disintegrating the waste on the collecting means so that the disintegrated waste falls down into a container (43) or the like being in communication with the inlet of the drain pump (21).

Description: This invention relates to a device for a dishwasher comprising a tub in which liquid by means of a circulation pump and a least one rotating wash arm is sprayed on the dish and is collected at the bottom of the tub in order to be distributed from there to a sewage or the like by means of a drain pump the bottom being provided with a collecting means for waste emanating from the dish. Devices of the above mentioned type are previously known the bottom of the tub usually being provided with one or several sieves covering a sump in which water is collected before it is circulated through the wash arms in the tub by means of the circulation pump. After each wash cycle the water is emptied from the sump by means of the drain pump. Normally the sieves slope so that waste falling down from the dish by means of the water flow on the sieves is carried towards a certain place on the sieve this place being shaped as a basket or the like which can be removed and which is comparatively easily accessible for cleaning. The cleaning however has to be made manually and sometimes under flowing water. In order to reduce the work for cleaning the sieve separating the waste from the liquid it has also previously been suggested to disintegrate the waste by passing it through rotating cutting elements which are placed either in the circualtion system of the dishwasher, see DE 1 129 667 and EP 79752 (on which the preamble of claim 1 is based) or are connected to the drain pump, see DE 1 144 447. Larger bones, crockery or the like are taken up by a coarse sieve in front of the cutting elements. When using these devices there is however a risk that hard objects follow the water and jam the cutting elements and hence also the pump since the cutting elements are integrated with the impeller or its drive. To remove such an object is both troublesome and time consuming since a large part of the machine has to be demounted before the cutting elements are accessible. It is also previously known, see EP 150 478 to clean the collecting part of the sieve by flushing water on it from one of the wash arms thereby disintegrating the material which then leaves together with the sewage water. However, the method has several drawbacks. It it can only be used on soft and easily divisible material since the water pressure is not particularly high. The action is also limited to a very small annular surface which is much less than the bottom surface of the basket shaped collecting container. The arrangement also has the drawback that the amount of water which is necessary for the dishwashing procedure becomes larger which is a drawback from an energy consumption point of view. A further drawback is that the arrangement demands that the liquid level in the sump is maintained at an exact level which is above the inlet opening of the circulation pump and at the same time below the filter surface. Should for instance the nozzles of the washarm be clogged there is a risk that the water level rises in the sump which means that the water jet coming from the washarm hits the water surface instead of the waste. The purpose of this invention is to create a device which by means separated from the pump function disintegrate the waste effectively, the larger particles of the disintegrated waste being separated from the circulating water and during the dishwashing procedure being stored at the inlet side of the drain pump in order to be emptied together with the sewage water. The construction is also very user friendly since it is easily accessible and simple to demount. A further advantage is that the arrangement also makes it possible to mechanically clean a filter area which is a part of the separating system of a dishwasher, effectively. This is achieved since the invention has the characteristics mentioned in the claims. An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings where Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a lower part of a dishwasher being provided with a device according to the invention and Fig. 2 in a larger scale is a partly cut horizontal projection on the line II-II in Fig. 1. In the Figures 10 is a dishwasher tub in which the dish is stored on basket, not shown. In the tub 10 there is one or several rotating wash arms 11 from which the liquid, which preferably is water, is sprayed through nozzles 12 on the dish. The bottom 13 of the tub slopes towards a sump 14 and is covered by a hopper-like fine sieve 15. The sump 14 is at the lower part of the side wall provided with an outlet opening 16 which is communicating with a circulation pump 17 the outlet of which via a hose 18 is connected to a pipe 19 arranged centrally in the tub and on which pipe the washarm 11 is supported for rotating motion. The sump has at its bottom an another outlet opening 20 which is connected to a drain pump 21 by means of which the water in the dishwasher is emptied through a hose 22 which is connected to a sewage, not shown. Within the sump there is a vertical shaft 23 which is driven by means of a motor 24 fixed below the bottom of the sump the shaft being sealed from the sump by means of a sealing 25. The shaft 23 supports a cylindric brush holder 26 which at two generatrixses situated opposite to each other is provided with bristle elements 27 following the rotation of the shaft. The tips of the bristle elements are in touch with a sleeve 28 whose envelope surface 29 consists of a fine sieve, for instance a wire mesh, clamped between an upper ring 30 and a lower ring 31. Between the ring 30 and 31 and spaced at equal distances around the periphery there are several ribs 32 serving as brush cleaning elements. The lower ring 31 of the sleeve 28 rests on the lower inwardly directed flange 33 of a water guide 34 resting on the bottom of the sump. The water guide 34 also has an outwardly directed flange 35 which is oval and abuts the side wall of the sump near the inlet of the circulation pump whereas the flange at the opposite side is placed at a distance from the wall but secured to it by two distance means 36. The water guide has a cylinder wall 37 which at its lower part has an opening 38 through which water can flow freely between two annular shaped spaces 39 and 40 which are created between the sleeve 28 and the water guide 34 and between the water guide 34 and the wall of sump 14. The upper ring 30 of the sleeve supports a cup shaped hat 41 having a central coarse grating 42 which means that a container 43 is formed. The container is covered by said grating 42 and is surrounded by the envelope surface 29 and the bottom of the sump 14. Above the grating 42 and fastened to the shaft 23 there are knives 44. The knives are curved and cooperate with the grating in order to disintegrate objects falling down on it. The knives 44 are fastened on a knife supporting arm 45 which is fixed to the shaft 23 by means of a nut 46 which is removably fastened to the shaft 23 to that the knives can be loosened and the device can be dismounted. The device operates in the following manner. Food remainders and waste falling down from the dish on the bottom of the tub will, by means of the water flow, be transported on the fine sieve towards the grating 42 and stay on it. At a certain predetermined time the motor 24 starts which means that the shaft 23 and the knives 44 rotate. The waste on the grating will then be disintegrated and transported down into the container 43. All the larger particles will during the circulation of the water remain in the container but are distributed to the sewage when the drain pump 21 starts operating. At the same time as the knife 44 cuts the waste the inside of the envelope surface 29 is cleaned by the bristles 27 which are in touch with the fine sieve. When the bristles 27 pass the ribs 22 the bristles will shake so that the particles which are present on the bristles fall down to the bottom of the sump and are removed together with the sewage water. It should be mentioned that the motor 24 only is activated temporarily, for instance a short while during the inital part of the dishwashing cycle, the motor being driven with a comparatively low speed.

Claims: Device for a dishwasher comprising at least a tub (10) in which liquid by means of a circulation pump (17) and at least one rotating wash arm (11) is sprayed on the dish and is collected at the bottom (13) of the tub in order to be distributed from there to a sewage or the like by means of a drain pump (21), the bottom being provided with a collecting means (42) for waste emanating from the dish, characterized in that the device comprises a rotating and cutting means (44) cooperating with the collecting means (42) for disintegrating the waste on the collecting means so that the disintegrated waste falls down into a container (43) being in communication with the inlet of the drain pump (21). Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said cutting means (44) is driven by a slow speed motor whose drive is independent of the drive of the circulation- or drain pump (17, 21). Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the container (43) at least partly is surrounded by a sieve (29). Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the surface of the sieve (29) facing forward the interior of the container (43) is influenced by a cleaning device (27). Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the cleaning device (27) is a brush. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the collecting means (42) comprises a grating which is placed above the container (43). Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the cleaning device (27) and the cutting means (44) are driven by the same shaft (23) from a motor (24) which is arranged under the bottom (13) of the tub. Device according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the cutting means (44) are activated temporarily at least once under the dishwashing procedure. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the sieve (29) is shaped as a cylinder. Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the interior of the sieve (29) is provided with one or several ribs or the like for cleaning the cleaning device (27).

Inventors: NILSSON NILS STURE, NILSSON, NILS STURE
Applicants: ELECTROLUX AB, AKTIEBOLAGET ELECTROLUX
Application year: 1991
Main classification: A47L15
IPC codes: A47L15, B02C18