Abstract:
The present invention provides a garbage disposal machine comprising: a body;  
     a disposal tub installed in said body to put in a garbage and garbage disposal materials that decompose a garbage;  
     an agitating means for agitating garbage and garbage disposal materials in said disposal tub;  
     a warm air induction means for inducing warm air into said disposal tub, circulating the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing in said disposal tub and resending the gas into said disposal tub;  
     a gas exhausting means for exhausting through an exhausting passage part of the gas circulated by said the warm air induction means; and  
     a deodorization means for deodorizing the gas in said exhausting passage exhausted by said gas exhausting means and ejecting the gas to outside.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a garbage disposal machine which may be utilized to decompose garbage discharged from house kitchens and the like using garbage disposal materials like wood chips and the like.  
           [0003]    2. Disscussion of the Background  
           [0004]    In general, a garbage disposal machine commonly decompose garbage by using garbage disposal materials, putting garbage and garbage disposal materials like wood chips and the like into a disposal tub. Inside the disposal tub, agitating blades are fixed, and by rotating the agitating blades, the garbage and garbage disposal materials are agitated and garbage decomposition is accelerated.  
           [0005]    A garbage disposal machine of a prior art, for example, proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.  2000-180059,  has the apparatus having means for warming outdoor air aspirated to a chamber by heater and fan, means for drying garbage by blowing such warm air to garbage, means for passing the gas developed in the process of decomposing garbage through a container in which deodorization accelerator is put, and means for exhausting the gas to outside (hereinafter, this example is called “Prior Art 1”).  
           [0006]    In addition, other garbage disposal machine of a prior art, for example, proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei  8-217581,  has an apparatus, which allows to incline its disposal tub 45 degrees toward the front side when garbage is put in, and also allows to rotate the disposal tub not less than 90 degrees when garbage is ejected (hereinafter, this example is called “Prior Art 2”).  
           [0007]    In case of Prior Art 1, the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing is, without being reused, directly exhausted to outside, which requires to heat up low temperature air from outside, thus resulting the problem of bigger consumption of electric power.  
           [0008]    Also in case of Prior Art 2, the disposal tub cannot be adjusted to incline at the desirable angle, which may, depending on the application circumstance and the like, bring up the problem of inconvenience in putting in and exhausting garbage, and in cleaning up inside of the disposal tub.  
           [0009]    The object of the present invention is to provide a garbage disposal machine, which allows to save electric power and to adjust the disposal tub to incline at the desirable angle, thus giving a solution to the aforementioned problems.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention provides a garbage disposal machine comprising:  
           [0011]    a body;  
           [0012]    a disposal tub installed in said body to put in a garbage and garbage disposal materials that decompose a garbage;  
           [0013]    an agitating means for agitating garbage and garbage disposal materials in said disposal tub;  
           [0014]    a warm air induction means for inducing warm air into said disposal tub, circulating the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing in said disposal tub and resending the gas into said disposal tub;  
           [0015]    a gas exhausting means for exhausting through an exhausting passage part of the gas circulated by said the warm air induction means; and  
           [0016]    a deodorization means for deodorizing the gas in said exhausting passage exhausted by said gas exhausting means and ejecting the gas to outside.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0017]    A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a front view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a drawing for explanation of the inside construction of the reodoring tank;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 4(A) is a top plan sectional view, which shows the inside of the body of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4(B) and FIG. 4(C) are drawings for explanation of the shutter movement;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 5 is a side sectional view for driving method explanation of the agitating blades of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 6 is a bottom view, which shows inside of the lid part of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 7(A) to (C) are the drawings for explanation of the open-close movement of the lid part of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 8 is a drawing for explaining the construction of inclination angle adjustment of the disposal tub (at normal position);  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 9 is a drawing for explaining the construction of inclination angle adjustment of the disposal tub (at 45 degrees inclined position);  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 10 is a drawing for explaining the construction of inclination angle adjustment of the disposal tub (at 90 degrees inclined position);  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 11(A) is a top plan view of the guide part, and FIG. 11(B) is a side view of the guide part;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 12 is a side sectional view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 13 is a rear sectional view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 14 is a front view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 15 is a top plan view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0033]    Embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows inner construction of the deodorization tank. FIG. 4(A) is a horizontal sectional view showing inside of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4(B) and FIG. 4(C) show the shutter movement. FIG. 5  is a side sectional view for explanation of a method of driving the agitating blades in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing inside of the lid part in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7(A) to FIG. (C) show open-close movement of the lid part in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 show the construction of inclination angle adjustment in accordance with the disposal tub. FIG. 11 (A) is a horizontal view of the guide part and FIG. 11(B) is a side view of the guide part.  
         [0035]    The garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention has a body  1  of box shape, a disposal tub  2  which is supported to be rotated in the body  1  and into which garbage and garbage decomposing material like wood chips and the like for decomposing garbage are put, and agitating blades  3  for agitating garbage and garbage disposal materials in the disposal tub  2 .  
         [0036]    In the front side of the body  1 , there is a front door  4  fixed to the side wall of the disposal tub  2 . The front door  4  has a handle  5  for pulling the door to this side (see FIG. 2). An open-close door  6  is provided at the lower part of the front door  4 . The open-close door  6  can be rotated by the support of a spindle  6   a  provided at the bottom edge of the body  1  as fulcrum (see FIG. 8). When the front door  4  is inclined up to the designated angle, it hits the open-close door  6 , which will incline (see FIG. 9 and FIG. 10). Furthermore, the spindle  6   a  has a revolving spring which urges the open-close door  6  back to closing position (vertical position). Besides, at lower part of the front door  4  an inclining part  4   a  is formed, which enables smooth contact between the front door  4  and the open-close door  6 .  
         [0037]    At the bottom of the body  1 , moving casters  7  are provided at  4  places for smoother movement.  
         [0038]    At the upper part of the body  1 , a lid part  8  is fixed by means of hinges  9  (see FIG. 7C), which enables said lid part  8  to be opened or closed. The lower part of the lid part  8  is attached to and supported by the supporting tool  11 , which can be folded and is attached to a bracket  10  at the higher part of the body  1  (see FIG. 7(A) and (B)). Also as shown in FIG. 2, the lid part  8  may be fixed to the body  1  by a latch  12  which is fixed at the edge of the lid part  8 , thus the lid part  8  may be prevented from being kept opened. The lid part  8  is usually closed although it may be opened during the maintenance.  
         [0039]    Inside the lid part  8 , a heater  13  and a fan  14  are installed, which constitute warm air induction means, in order to heat up the garbage by inducing warm air, to circulate the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing in the disposal tub  2 , and to resend the gas into the disposal tub  2 . In the body  1 , a temperature detection part (for example thermocouple) is installed to detect the temperature in the disposal tub  1 , and to regulate the temperature setting of the heater  13  and the rotation speed of the fan  14 .  
         [0040]    Furthermore, the lid part  8  has a lamp  15  attached to illuminate inside of the disposal tub  2  of the body  1 . The lamp  15  is controlled to automatically illuminate when the front door  4  of the body  1  is opened.  
         [0041]    Additionally, the lid part  8  has an exhausting pump  17  installed, which constitutes the gas exhausting means, in order to exhaust part of the gas circulated into the exhausting pipe  16  by the fan  14 . The exhausting pipe  16  is connected to a deodorizing part S, which reodorizes the gas in the exhausting pipe  16  exhausted by means of the exhausting pump  17  and eject the gas to outside.  
         [0042]    The deodorizing part S installed in the body  1  has, as shown in FIG. 3, a deodorization tank  18  filled with deodorant and installed on a base seat K (see FIG. 1), a cylinder-like intermediate case  19  located in the deodorization tank  18 , and the pumice-like air stone  20  which is put in the intermediate case  19  and connected to the end of the exhausting pipe  16 . The deodorant is injected into the deodorization tank from a case filled with deodorant, which is not shown in the drawing, by inserting an injection tool to an inlet port  21  (see FIG. 2) configured at the front side of the body  1  through the inlet port  21  and an injection pipe  23 .  
         [0043]    The gas exhausted by the exhausting pump  17  is sent into the intermediate case  19  in the deodorization tank  18  by means of the exhausting pipe  16 . And the gas comes upward in the shape of bubble with the malodor sealed in the bubble arising from the air stone  20  which is connected to the end of the exhausting pipe  16 , thereafter the gas is ejected to outside through the ejection pipe  24  from the outlet port  25  installed in the body  1 .  
         [0044]    In the body  1 , an outdoor air induction window  26  is provided in order to induce outdoor air into the body, and a shutter  27 , which is able to slide, is installed to open or close the outdoor air induction window  26  (see FIG. 4(A)). The shutter  27  has openings  27   a  at the locations corresponding to the outdoor air induction window  26 . When the openings  27   a  of the shutter  27  and the outdoor air induction window  26  match, outdoor air can be flowed in (see FIG. 4(B)), and when the outdoor air induction window  26  is closed by the shutter  27 , the flow of outdoor air can be stopped (see FIG. 4(C)). For example, in summer when outdoor air temperature is high, the outdoor air induction window  26  better be opened to induce fresh outdoor air, while in winter when outdoor air temperature is low, the outdoor air induction window better be closed. In this way, the volume of outdoor air induction is controlled by the shutter  27 , and the temperature in the disposal tub  2  can be adjusted.  
         [0045]    As shown in FIG. 1, FIGS. 4 and 5, agitating blades  3  has a rotation shaft  3   a  supported in the body  1  and a plurality of rabbles  3   b  positioned with proper distance toward the axial direction of the rotating shaft  3   a.  Each of the rabble  3   b  is fixed with the angle more than 90 degrees (preferably about 120 degrees) open to the adjacent rabble  3   b.  Accordingly, the garbage or garbage disposal materials failed to be scooped can be scooped again by the adjacent rabble  3   b,  which enables even and higher efficiency agitation.  
         [0046]    At the end of the rotation shaft  3   a  of the agitation blades  3 , a supporting roll  28  is fixed (see FIG. 5). At the bottom of the body  1 , a driving motor  29  is installed. And a driving roll  29   a  of the driving motor  29  and the supporting roll  28  are combined by winding a belt B. When the driving motor  29  is driven, the rotating power of the driving roll  29   a  is transferred to the supporting roll  28  by the belt B, which rotates the agitating blades  3 .  
         [0047]    Next, the angle adjustment mechanism of the disposal tub  2  is described with reference to FIG. 8 to FIG. 11. Angle adjustment mechanism of the disposal tub  2  includes a guide part  30 , mounted in the disposal tub  2 , with the elongated guide opening  30   a  configured, a coupling lever  32  mounted in a manner allowed to rotate by the support of a spindle  31  configured in the body  1  as fulcrum, and also mounted in a manner allowed to move, rubbing along the guide opening  30   a  in the guide part  30 , a pulling spring  33  (an urging member) fixed between the body  1  and the coupling lever  32  which pulls the coupling lever  32 , and a stopper  34  fixed in the guide opening  30   a  of the guide part  30  which regulates the rubbing location of the coupling lever  32 .  
         [0048]    The stopper  34 , as shown in FIG. 11, can be moved rubbing along the guide opening  30   a  of the guide part  30  and can be fixed at the desired location of the guide opening  30   a  by means of a screw  35 .  
         [0049]    When the disposal tub  2  is in the normal position, the end of the coupling lever  32  is located at the upper end of the guide opening  30   a  of the guide part  30  (see FIG. 8).  
         [0050]    When the front door  4  is opened and inclined, the disposal tub  2  is also inclined together. In case the inclination angle is within the designated angle, the pulling spring  33  urges the coupling lever  32  to the effect that the disposal tub  2  would return to the normal position.  
         [0051]    In case the inclination angle of the disposal tub  2  is over the designated angle, the pulling spring  33  urges the coupling lever  32  to the effect that the disposal tub  2  would be at the inclined position (see FIG. 9 and FIG. 10).  
         [0052]    The disposal tub  2  can be inclined to the extent that the end of the coupling lever  32  would locate at the lower end of the guide opening  30   a  of the guide part  30 . However, by changing the location of the stopper  34 , the rubbing location of the coupling lever  32  can be regulated. By this way, the position of the disposal tub  2  can be adjusted to remain inclined at the desirable angle.  
         [0053]    Besides, from the viewpoint of stability in movement, it is preferable to install the angle adjustment mechanism of said disposal tub  2  at both sides of the side wall of the disposal tub  2 .  
         [0054]    Next, the movement of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention is described. At first, the front door  4  is pulled to this side by means of the handle  5  and the disposal tub  2  is inclined. The inclination angle of the disposal tub  2  can be adjusted by moving the stopper  34 .  
         [0055]    Then, the garbage and garbage disposal materials are pulled into the disposal tub  2  and the front door  4  is closed again.  
         [0056]    Then, the driving motor  29  is driven to rotate the agitating blades  3  in the disposal tub  2 , which agitates garbage and garbage disposal materials and accelerates decomposition of the garbage. Also, by means of the heater  13  and the fan  14 , warm air is induced into the disposal tub  2 , which adjust the temperature of garbage decomposition. The fan  14  circulates the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing and resend the gas into the disposal tub  2 .  
         [0057]    Also, part of the gas circulated by the fan  14  is exhausted by means of the exhausting pump  17  to the exhausting pipe  16 . The gas exhausted by the exhausting pump  17  is sent into the intermediate case  19  in the deodorization tank  18  by means of the exhausting pipe  16 . Then, after coming up in a state with the malodor sealed in the bubbles arising from the air stone  20  connected to the end of the exhausting pipe  16 , the gas is ejected to outside by means of the ejecting pipe  24  from the outlet port  25  installed in the body  1 .  
         [0058]    Then, the disposal tub  2  is inclined by pulling the front door  4  using the handle  5 , and the dunghill remained after completing garbage decomposing process is discharged. Also, the inside of the disposal tub  2  is cleaned up properly.  
         [0059]    The garbage disposal machine in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention offers the advantage of reducing the consumption of electric power and saving energy, because the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing is, after circulated, utilized again.  
         [0060]    Also, the first embodiment of the present invention offers further advantage of easy handling in putting in or ejecting garbage and cleaning up inside of the disposal tub  2 , because the disposal tub  2  can be adjusted to incline at the desirable angle,  
         [0061]    FIG. 12  is a side view in section of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a rear view in section of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a front view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a top view of the garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0062]    The garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention has a body  1  of box shape, a disposal tub  2  supported and fixed in the body  1  to put in garbage and garbage disposal materials like wood chip for decomposing garbage, and agitating blades  3  to agitate garbage and garbage disposal materials in the disposal tub  2 .  
         [0063]    At both ends of the front side of the body  1 , one pair of front doors  4  are provided which can be opened and closed by the support of a spindle  4   b  as fulcrum (see FIG. 15).  
         [0064]    At the bottom of the body  1 , casters  7  are mounted at  4  places for smoother movement of the unit.  
         [0065]    In upper portion of the body  1 , a lid part  8  is installed which can be opened and closed by the support of a spindle  8   a  as fulcrum. The lower part of the lid part  8  is supported by attaching to a damper  36  that is attached to a bracket  10  installed in the body  1 , which enables the lid part  8  to be easily opened or closed.  
         [0066]    Inside the body  1 , a lamp  15  is attached to illuminate inside of the disposal tub  2  of the body  1  (see FIG. 14). The lamp  15  is controlled to automatically illuminate when the front door  4  of the body  1  is opened.  
         [0067]    At the lower part inside the body  1 , a tray  37  is installed to impound the used garbage disposal materials like wood chip and the like. The tray  37  has a pulling handle  37   a  (see FIG. 14), and by pulling the handle  37   a  to this side, the used garbage disposal materials can be scrapped.  
         [0068]    The construction and the driving method of a agitating blades  3  is same as those of the first embodiment.  
         [0069]    Inside the body  1  at the rear side, as shown in FIG. 13, a heater  13  and a fan  14  is installed as the warm air induction means, which induces warm air into the disposal tub  2  by means of an inducing pipe  38 , circulates the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing in the disposal tub  2  by means of a sending pipe  39 , and resends the gas into the disposal tub  2 . In the body  1 , a temperature detection part (for example thermocouple) is installed, which detects the temperature in the disposal tub  2 , and regulates the temperature setting of the heater  13  and the rotation speed of the fan  14 .  
         [0070]    In addition, inside the body  1 , an exhausting pump  17  is installed as the exhausting means, which exhausts part of the gas circulated by the fan  14  into an exhausting pipe  16 . The exhausting pipe  16  is connected to a deodorizing part S, which deodorizes the gas in the exhausting pipe  16  exhausted by the exhausting pump  17  and ejects the gas to outside. This deodorizing part S is similar to that of the first embodiment.  
         [0071]    The gas exhausted by means of the exhausting pump  17  is, after deodorized through the deodorizing part S, ejected to outside by means of an ejection pipe  24  from an outlet port  25  which is configured in the body  1 .  
         [0072]    Also, the body  1  has an outdoor air induction window  26 , and the outdoor air induction window  26  and the fan  14  are connected by an outdoor air induction pipe  40 . The outdoor air induction window  26  is installed with a shutter  27  that can slide, which is explained in the case of The first embodiment. By means of this shutter  27 , the volume of outdoor air induction and the temperature inside the disposal tub  2  can be adjusted.  
         [0073]    The garbage disposal machine in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention offers the advantage of reducing power consumption and saving energy, because the gas developed in the process of garbage decomposing is circulated and utilized again.  
         [0074]    The present invention is not limited to the aforementioned embodiment, but may be carried out in any of various other forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appending claims.