Abstract:
A rotary dinnerware washing apparatus includes a housing defining therein a washing chamber, a washing mechanism mounted in the housing for spaying hot water over the washing chamber, and a rotating rack rotatably mounted in the washing chamber, a power drive arranged below the washing chamber for rotating the rotating rack in the washing chamber. The rotating rack has partitions radially suspending in the washing chamber and respectively kept in contact with the peripheral wall of the washing chamber and dividing the washing chamber into multiple separately enclosed zones, for example, two cleaning zones, two buffer zones at two opposite lateral sides of the cleaning zones and one dinnerware access zone between the buffer zones.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to washing apparatus and more particularly, to a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus, which divides the washing chamber into multiple separately enclosed zones for cleaning sorted dishes, cups, chopsticks, knives, spoons and many other dinnerware. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Many dinnerware washing machines for industrial or home application are known and widely used by people. 
         [0005]    During the operation of a dinnerware washing machine, a basket is used to carry the dinnerware to be washed and then put in the washing chamber in the dinnerware washing machine. After cleaning and drying, the cleaned pieces of dinnerware are taken out of the basket and arranged in a dish rack for service. Further, an automatic dinnerware washing system uses a conveyer to continuously carry dinnerware for cleaning. An automatic dinnerware washing system of this design is designed for use in a restaurant or any other place where a large number of dinnerware items is used. 
         [0006]    In a conventional dinnerware washing machine or system, all dinnerware items receive a series of cleaning steps in one same operation space. During washing, cleaning fluid may splash over the surroundings or leak out of the machine to wet the surroundings, causing contamination. 
         [0007]    To eliminate the aforesaid problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,064 discloses a washing machine entitled “Glass washer with rotary carrier”. According to this design, the machine has a glass carrier rotatable on an upright axis, half of the carrier is always in an access zone where glasses can be loaded onto the carrier and removed from it, the other half in a cleansing zone where detergent solution is discharged from a first set of spray nozzles and germicidal rinsing solution is discharged from a second set of nozzles. This design of glass washer uses a detergent solution with a large amount of water to clean glasses. In consequence, the cleaning cost is high. Further, this cleaning manner is not environmentally friendly. Further, blind means is set between the machine body and the rotary table to block the gap. However, cleaning solution may splash during a cleaning operation, wetting the surrounds. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. It is the main object of the present invention to provide a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus, which divides the internal washing chamber of the housing thereof into separately enclosed cleaning zones, buffer zones and dinnerware access zone, and utilizes hot water to sterilize cleaned dinnerware, eliminating the use of detergent, avoiding leakage of washing water or steam and maintaining the surroundings in a dry condition. 
         [0009]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus, which provides a clutch design, avoiding component sticking and damage, and assuring a high level of operational safety. 
         [0010]    It is still another object of the present invention to provide a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus, which facilitates recycling of food debris and waste water, saving energy consumption and providing an environmentally friendly atmosphere. 
         [0011]    To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus comprises a housing defining therein a washing chamber, a washing mechanism mounted in the housing for spaying cold and hot water over the washing chamber, and a rotating rack rotatably mounted in the washing chamber, a power drive arranged below the washing chamber for rotating the rotating rack in the washing chamber. The rotating rack has partitions radially suspending in the washing chamber and respectively kept in contact with the peripheral wall of the washing chamber and dividing the washing chamber into multiple separately enclosed zones, for example, two cleaning zones, two buffer zones at two opposite lateral sides of the cleaning zones and one dinnerware access zone between the buffer zones. 
         [0012]    Further, a clutch is set between the power drive and the rotating rack. When the rotating rack is stopped from rotation by an external object, the clutch will be forced to disconnect the rotating rack from the power drive, avoiding a finger jam or power drive burnout due to an overload. 
         [0013]    Further, a recycled water tank is mounted inside the housing for collecting food debris and waste water after dinnerware cleaning. Further, wire gauze filters of different meshes are used to remove food debris from waste water. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  is a sectional side view of the present invention, illustrating the internal structure of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  is a sectional side view of the recycled water tank of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  is a schematic top plain view of the present invention, illustrating the relationship between the partitions of the rotating rack and the washing chamber of the housing. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  corresponds to  FIG. 5 , illustrating the rotating rack rotated to another angular position. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  is an exploded view of the clutch of the rotating mechanism of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  is a sectional view of a part of the present invention, illustrating the first tooth block and second tooth block of the clutch meshed together. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  corresponds to  FIG. 8 , illustrating the first tooth block disengaged from the second tooth block. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0023]    As shown in  FIGS. 1˜3 , a rotary dinnerware washing apparatus  10  in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a housing  20 , a washing mechanism  30 , a rotating mechanism  40 . 
         [0024]    The housing  20  defines a washing chamber  22  in an upper part thereof, an access hole  24  in communication with the washing chamber  22  for enabling dinnerware to be put into or taken out of the washing chamber  22 , a guide port  26  located on the bottom wall of the washing chamber  22 , and a guide plate  28  arranged at the bottom side of the washing chamber  22 . As illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the guide plate  28  extends obliquely downwardly from the guide port  26 . 
         [0025]    The washing mechanism  30  comprises a recycled water tank  31 , a pump  32 , two spray bars  33 , a water heater  34  and two hot water nozzles  35 , as shown in FIGS.  2  and  3 . The recycled water tank  31  is mounted in the lower half of the housing  20  below the guide plate  28 , comprising a tank body  36 , a fine wire gauze filter  37  and a coarse wire gauze filter  38 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The fine wire gauze filter  37  is horizontally arranged at the top side of the tank body  36 . The coarse wire gauze filter  38  is obliquely arranged at the top side of the fine wire gauze filter  37 . The mesh size of the coarse wire gauze filter  38  is greater than that of the fine wire gauze filter  37 . The pump  32  is connected with the tank body  36  of the recycled water tank  31 , and adapted for pumping recycled water out of the tank body  36  into the two spray bars  33 . The two spray bars  33  are respectively arranged at the top and bottom sides of the washing chamber  22 , and connected to the pump  32 , as shown in  FIG. 2 , and adapted for spraying compressed water to remove food debris and oil stains from dinnerware. The water heater  34  is mounted in the lower half of the housing  20 , and adapted for heating input water to above 85° C. for output. The two hot water nozzles  35  are connected to the water heater  34  and respectively arranged at the top and bottom sides of the washing chamber  22 , and respectively kept apart from the spray bars  33  at a distance for spraying hot clean water over the inside of the washing chamber  22  to remove residual recycled water from dinnerware. 
         [0026]    The rotating mechanism  40  comprises a power drive  50 , a rotating rack  60 , and a clutch  70 . The power drive  50  is mounted in the housing  20  right below the washing chamber  22 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The rotating rack  60  comprises a spindle  62 , 5 partitions  64  and a dish rack  66 . The spindle  62  is aimed at the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . The partitions  64  extend radially from the periphery of the spindle  62  toward the peripheral wall of the washing chamber  22 , dividing the washing chamber  22  into two cleaning zones  22   a ; 22   b , two buffer zones  22   c ; 22   d  and a dinnerware access zone  22   e , wherein the buffer zones  22   c ; 22   d  are respectively disposed at two opposite lateral sides of the cleaning zones  22   a ; 22   b ; the dinnerware access zone  22   e  is disposed between the buffer zones  22   c ; 22   d , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The distal end edge of each partition  64  is covered with a water seal strip  68  and kept in contact with the peripheral wall of the washing chamber  22 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , so that cleaning zones  22   a ; 22   b  and the buffer zones  22   c ; 22   d  are enclosed. It is to be understood that the number of the partition  64  can be adjusted to fit different requirements. However, the number of partition  64  must be at least 2. 
         [0027]    The dish rack  66  is attached to the partitions  64  at the bottom side to carry dinnerware and to reinforce the structural strength of the rotating rack  60 . Further, the dish rack  66  comprises a plurality of a plurality of steel wire rings  662  concentrically arranged together, and a plurality of supports  664  equiangularly and radially fastened to the steel wire rings  662  for supporting dinnerware on the steel wire rings  662 . The clutch  70  is set between the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50  and the spindle  62  of the rotating rack  60 , comprising a first tooth block  71 , a transmission shaft  72 , a second tooth block  73 , a sleeve  74  and a spring member  75 , as shown in  FIG. 7 . The first tooth block  71  is fixedly mounted on the bottom end of the spindle  62 . The transmission shaft  72  is coaxially coupled to the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50 . The second tooth block  73  is coupled to the top end of the transmission shaft  72  opposite to the power drive  50 , and detachably engaged with the first tooth block  71 . The sleeve  74  is sleeved onto the bottom end of the transmission shaft  72  and affixed thereto. The spring member  75  is set between the second tooth block  73  and the sleeve  74  to impart a pressure to the second tooth block  73  toward the first tooth block  71 , forcing the second tooth block  73  into engagement with the first tooth block  71 . Thus, when the first tooth block  71  and the second tooth block  73  are engaged together, as shown in  FIG. 8 , the rotating rack  60  can be synchronously rotated by the power drive  50 . When the first tooth block  71  and the second tooth block  73  are disengaged from each other, as shown in  FIG. 9 , the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50  will run idle without rotating the rotating rack  60 . 
         [0028]    After understanding of the structural details of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus  10 , the operation and features of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus  10  will now be described hereinafter. 
         [0029]    Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIGS. 5˜7 , the dinnerware to be washed is inserted through the access hole  24  of the housing  20  into the dinnerware access zone  22   e  in the washing chamber  22  and placed on the dish rack  66  of the rotating rack  60 . Thereafter, the rotating rack  60  is rotated in the washing chamber  22  by the power drive  50  subject to engagement between the first tooth block  71  and the second tooth block  73 . When the rotating rack  60  is rotated to the position corresponding to the spray bars  33  of the washing mechanism  30 , i.e., through the buffer zone  22   d  to the cleaning zone  22   a , food debris is removed from the dinnerware by the recycled water sprayed by the spray bars  33 . Thereafter, the rotating rack  60  is rotated to the position between the two hot water nozzles  35 , i.e., the cleaning zone  22   b , and then cleaned by hot clean water from the hot water nozzles  35 . Thus, one cleaning cycle is finished. Thereafter, the rotating rack  60  is rotated through the buffer zone  22   c  to the dinnerware access zone  22   e . At this time, the user can take the cleaned dinnerware out of the access hole  24  of the housing  20 , or run another cleaning cycle. When washing dinnerware, sprayed recycled water from hot water from the spray bars  33  and hot water from the hot water nozzles  35  will be blocked by the partitions  64  of the rotating rack  60  in the washing zones  22   a ; 22   b , keeping the cleaning zones  22   a ; 22   b  in an enclosed and hot condition. Thus, every piece of dinnerware can be well cleaned, thermal energy and hot water will not leak out of the cleaning zones  22   a ; 22   b , and the surroundings of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus  10  can be kept dry and clean, maintaining a comfortable working environment. 
         [0030]    Further, removed food debris and waste water will be guided by the guide plate  28  to the recycled water tank  31 . As stated above, the coarse wire gauze filter  38  is obliquely arranged at the top side of the fine wire gauze filter  37 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , and the mesh size of the coarse wire gauze filter  38  is greater than that of the fine wire gauze filter  37 , different pieces of food debris will be retained at the coarse wire gauze filter  38  and the fine wire gauze filter  37  for further recycling or treatment. Further, waste water will flows through the coarse wire gauze filter  38  and the fine wire gauze filter  37  to the inside of the tank body  36  and further pumped by the pump  32  for application, saving water and energy consumption and providing an environmentally friendly atmosphere. 
         [0031]    If the rotation of the rotating rack  60  is slowed down or stopped due to blocking of an external object during the operation of the rotary dinnerware washing apparatus  10 , the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50  keeps providing a torque to the rotating rack  60 , and the spindle  62  of the rotating rack  60  cannot be synchronously rotated with the output shaft  52 . At this time, the second tooth block  72  of the clutch  70  will be disengaged from the first tooth block  71 , as shown in  FIG. 9 , enabling the output shaft  52  of the power drive  50  to run idle and avoiding power drive damage or accidental injury. 
         [0032]    Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.