Patent Publication Number: US-2005126600-A1

Title: Method and system for cleaning of working utensils, in particular in the food processing industry

Description:
The present invention relates to a method for cleaning protective gloves, particularly in the food industry, comprising positioning of a number of protective gloves on mutually spaced, elongated holding members with each holding members projecting into the inner cavity of the glove positioned thereon and retaining said holding members in mainly stationary positions in a substantially closed cleaning installation for the duration of a cleaning process including pre-rinsing, washing and rinsing steps conducted by substantially nozzle-shaped sluicing means in the cleaning installation.  
      The food processing industry, for example slaughterhouses, uses tools for a number of work operations, substantially in the form of knives of various shapes and sizes that must be kept constantly sharply ground and the use of which therefore, for work safety reasons, requires use of protective equipment to avoid personal injuries.  
      It is particularly well-known to use metallic protective gloves made of chain mail weave to protect the user&#39;s hands and arms against serious cut lesions.  
      Like the actual work tools, such gloves must be frequently cleaned, typically several times during a work day, due to the constant contact with meat, fat and bone tissue which tends to stick in the chain mail weave, and the cleaning must be of a nature to maintain the desired level of hygiene.  
      EP-A-0 641 612 describes a cleaning installation for this purpose in the form of a two-floor tunnel for cleaning of both knives and protective gloves. The objects to be cleaned are placed in-holders which are moved horizontally, by means of horizontally propelled carriages, through the tunnel floors and are moved between the two floors by means of lift devices in towers at the tunnel ends. The individual steps of the cleaning process are carried out in this installation by means of fixed sluicing nozzles in the towers and one of the tunnel sections.  
      Correspondingly, the applicant&#39;s international patent application WO 00/69242 describes a tunnel-shaped cleaning installation through which knives and protective gloves arranged on trolleys that can be rolled through the slaughterhouse can be passed for carrying out the cleaning process.  
      These prior-art arrangements are so extensive and complex with consequent high manufacturing and installation costs that they can substantially only be used in central cleaning installations in large slaughterhouses with resulting requirements of collection of knives and gloves from the different work areas of the slaughterhouse at the frequency required in view of hygiene demands. For practical use such arrangements are therefore relatively inflexible.  
      Moreover, the fact that knives and protective gloves are subjected to the same cleaning process means that the cleaning of protective gloves which typically present a substantially higher level of contamination than knives due to the structure of the chain mail material often becomes inadequate.  
      To remedy these disadvantages, it is quite common to carry out cleaning of protective gloves by means of conventional industrial washing machines with a tumbler function. However, this solution presents the disadvantage that the protective gloves exhibit a considerable degree of entanglement after the cleaning process.  
      Against this background, it is the object of the invention to provide a simplified and improved method of cleaning work utensils in the food industry so that the cleaning can be carried out locally and at an improved hygiene level without comprehensive installations and the resulting costs.  
      In view of this object, a method of the type described according to the invention is characterized by arrangement of said holding members and the protective gloves positioned thereon in a configuration of columns in the cleaning installation with the glove openings localized mainly in a common plane and conducting at least said pre-rinsing step sequentially for one column at a time as a substantially directional sluicing from said sluicing means at an elevated sluicing pressure of at least 60 bar, the orientation of the protective gloves positioned on the holding members and the sluicing direction being adapted for discharge of contaminated sluicing medium through the glove openings.  
      Carrying out at least the pre-rinse, for which ordinary cold water is normally used, at a substantially increased sluicing pressure ensures, already in this part of the cleaning process, a substantially more efficient removal of meat, fat and bone remains that have stuck in the chain mail weave of a protective glove, and the mutually adapted orientations of the directional sluicing and the elongated protective gloves ensure that the gloves are secured on the stationary holding members and are not detached from them as a consequence of the increased sluicing pressure, and that the sluicing medium contaminated by meat, fat and bone tissue is passed out through the glove opening after having penetrated through the glove material from its exterior side.  
      The dependent claims  2  to  10  provide advantageous and suitable embodiments of the method.  
      For carrying out the method, the invention also comprises a system for cleaning protective gloves, particularly in the food industry, by carrying out the method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a substantially closed cleaning installation for stationary retaining mutually spaced, elongated holding members for positioning of protective gloves for the duration of a cleaning process comprising the steps of pre-rinsing, washing and rinsing conducted by substantially nozzle-shaped sluicing means provided in said cleaning installation.  
      According to the method stated, such cleaning system according to the invention is characterized in that the holding members are arranged in a configuration of columns for retaining the protective gloves with the glove openings localized in a common plane, and that the sluicing means is connected with a high-pressure feeding unit for sluicing medium and are controlled to conduct at least said pre-rinsing step sequentially for one column at a time as a directional sluicing at an elevated sluicing pressure of at least 60 bar, the orientation of the holding members and the protective gloves positioned thereon and the sluicing direction being adapted for discharge of contaminated sluicing medium through the glove openings.  
      Advantageous and suitable embodiments of such system are stated in dependent claims  12  to  32 .  
      In a fairly simple embodiment, the cleaning installation may thus comprise an upright, substantially box-shaped cabinet with a work chamber, in which said holding members and sluicing members are arranged, and an openable front door for said work chamber.  
      In this connection it is particularly advantageous if the holding members comprise mounting members fixed in said cabinet and separate elongated holding devices removably mountable on said mounting members and with connecting parts for releasable engagement with the mounting members.  
      The mounting members in the work chamber of the cabinet may thus comprise a first and/or a second type of mounting members placed partly in said column-row configuration on a vertical back wall of the cabinet and designed for removable mounting and securing of the connecting parts of the holding devices to produce said upwardly inclined orientation, partly individually in said column configuration secured in a substantially horizontal plane at the bottom of the cabinet work chamber and designed for removable mounting and securing of the connecting parts of the holding devices to produce said vertically projecting column orientation.  
      A particularly advantageous further development of the above simple embodiment is moreover characterized in that the holding members comprise mounting members in connection with a mobile support trolley which can be passed into and out of the cabinet through said front door. Thereby, other than cleaning of protective gloves, the system can be used in a simple manner also for cleaning of other kinds of work utensils in the form of, for example, knives and cutting boards. As the cabinet design claimed is also extremely favourable in price compared with prior-art central cleaning systems for slaughterhouses, this embodiment of the system according to the invention makes very flexible utilisation possible both in a central cleaning system which may comprise a number of cleaning cabinets, and in a local arrangement of cleaning systems in a large slaughterhouse, thus obviating the need for transportation of utensils to be cleaned over large distances and between different floors or height levels.  
    
    
      The invention will now be described in further detail below with reference to the schematic drawing, in which  
       FIG. 1  shows a simplified side view of an embodiment of a cleaning installation in a system according to the invention,  
       FIG. 2  is a corresponding, simplified top view of the installation of  FIG. 1 ,  
       FIG. 3  shows a simplified diagram of a feeding and sluicing control system for use in the installation of  FIGS. 1 and 2 ,  
       FIG. 4  is an enlarged segment of a sluicing unit of the installation of  FIG. 1 ,  
       FIG. 5  is an embodiment of a holding device and a stationary mounting member of a first type,  
       FIGS. 6 and 7  are enlarged views of a connecting part of the holding device of  FIG. 5 ,  FIGS. 8 and 9  show an embodiment of a stationary mounting member of a second type,  
       FIGS. 10 and 11  show schematic vertical and horizontal sectional views of an alternative cabinet design for a cleaning installation having a modified sluicing system and holding members for work utensils in the form of gloves, knives and cutting boards arranged on mobile support trolleys,  
       FIGS. 12 and 13  schematically show details of the design of a high-pressure sluicing unit of the installation shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , and  
      FIGS.  14  to  22  are schematic side views of an alternative embodiment of the cabinet design of  FIGS. 10 and 11 . 
    
    
      In the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the cleaning installation of a system according to the invention comprises an upright, substantially box-shaped cabinet  1 , in which a work chamber  2  is defined by a vertical back wall  3 , a top wall  4 , a trough-shaped bottom wall  5  with an outlet  6 , side walls  7  and  8  and an openable front door  9 . In an upper chamber  10  in the cabinet  1  above the top wall  4 , a high-pressure feeding unit for sluicing medium is installed, the design of which is described in detail below by way of example with reference to  FIG. 3 .  
      Immediately in front of the vertical back wall  3 , a column-row configuration of holding members  11  for metallic protective gloves with chain mail weave, not shown and known per se, is arranged. In the example shown, the individual holding members  11  of the column-row configuration are arranged in five columns S 1 -S 5  each with five rows R 1 -R 5 , but the number may, of course, be varied in accordance with the dimensions of the cabinet, but with such mutual distance between neighbouring holding members  11  in the column-row configuration that they are kept completely free of each other during the individual phases of the cleaning process.  
      The cleaning process, which comprises at least the steps or phases of pre-rinse, wash and rinse, is carried out in the example shown by means of a joint sluicing unit  12  which is movable up and down in a vertical plane located outside the holding members  11 , for example as shown in  FIG. 1  near the openable front door  9 . As seen most clearly in  FIG. 2 , the sluicing unit  12  may comprise a horizontally transverse main bar  13  with also horizontally projecting carrier members  14 - 19  with individual sluicing members associated with the columns S 1 -S 5  in the column-row configuration of holding members as follows:  
                                                   COLUMN   CARRIER MEMBER                          S1   14-15           S2   15-16           S3   16-17           S4   17-18           S5   18-19                      
 
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the length of the carrier members  14  is adapted so that the carrier members project in between the holding members  11  in each of the rows R 1 -R 5 . In the example shown, the sluicing unit  12  also comprises outer carrier members  14  and  19  between the outermost columns S 1  and S 5  and the respective side walls  7  and  8 .  
      The vertical up-and-down movement of the sluicing unit may be provided by drive and transmission members, not shown and known per se, for example an electric motor arranged in the upper chamber  10  and chain drives extending along the side walls  7  and  8  of the cabinet  1 .  
      The individual sluicing members associated with the carrier members of the sluicing unit  12 , the arrangement of which sluicing members is described below by way of example with reference to  FIG. 4 , are connected, as schematically indicated in  FIG. 1 , with the high-pressure feeding unit arranged in the upper chamber  10  via individual flexible hose connections connected to pipe lead-ins  21  through the top wall  4 .  
      In the example shown schematically in  FIG. 3 , the high-pressure feeding unit of the cleaning installation comprises an electrically driven high-pressure pump  22  which may be connected at its supply side via valves V 1 -V 3  to feed conduits  23 - 25  for, for example, cold water, warm water at a temperature of about 60° C. and hot water at a temperature of about 85° C. On the discharge side of the pump  22 , a discharge conduit  26  branches to two valves V 4  and V 5 . From the valve V 4 , the branch conduit  27  is passed direct to individual valves V 6 -V 10  for the individual flow connections  20 ,  21  to the individual sluicing members of the sluicing unit  12  on the carrier members  14 - 19 . From the valve V 5 , the branch conduit  28  is passed to a dispensing device  29  for addition of detergent or disinfectant and from there to the valves V 6 -V 10 .  
      The individual control valves V 1 -V 9  of the feeding unit are controlled from a joint programme-controlled control device  30 .  
      According to the invention at least the pre-rinse step of the cleaning process is carried out at an increased aggregate sluicing pressure from the sluicing members of at least 60 bar. In practice, with the embodiment of  FIGS. 1 and 2  it has proved suitable to use a sluicing pressure of, for example, 180 bar for efficient pre-rinse of protective gloves. The pump  22  must thus be dimensioned to supply this sluicing pressure.  
      Of the other steps of the cleaning process, at least the wash or disinfection with the addition of detergent or disinfectant should be carried out at a lower sluicing pressure in consideration of the water consumption. The rinse can be carried out at the same lower sluicing pressure as the washing or disinfecting step, but alternatively at the same increased sluicing pressure as the pre-rinse.  
      As a consequence of the type of the contaminating components typically found in the chain mail weave of protective gloves, the pre-rinse should always be carried out with ordinary cold water, while for the washing or disinfecting step warm or preferably hot water is used.  
      As a non-limiting guiding example, the control of the valves V 1 -V 9  may be carried out according to the below table, the figure designations  0  and  1  being used to indicate closed and open valve, respectively, and subject to the assumption that the valves V 6 -V 10 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , are associated with the carrier members  14 - 19  of the sluicing unit  12  and thus with the columns S 1 -S 5  as follows:  
                                           VALVE   PRE-RINSE   WASH/DISINFECTION   RINSE                  V1   1   0   1       V2   0   0/1   0       V3   0   1/0   0       V4   1   0   1       V5   0   1   0       V6   1 (S1)   1   1           0 (S2-S5)       V7   1 (S2)   1   1           0 (S1, S3-S5)       V8   1 (S3)   1   1           0 (S1, S2, S4, S5)       V9   1 (S4)   1   1           0 (S1-S3, S5)        V10   1 (S5)   1   1           0 (S1-S4)                 S1: V6            S2: V7            S3: V8            S4: V9            S5: V10             
 
      As will appear from the table, the increased sluicing pressure in the pre-rinse step is provided by sequential actuation of the valves V 6 -V 10  so that the sluicing at this step is carried out for a single column at a time, while the sluicing in the washing and rinsing steps is carried out with all valves V 6 -V 10  open, that is, simultaneously for all holding members  11  in the column-row configuration and the protective gloves placed thereon, whereby it is assumed that the volumetric flow volume of cold or hot water discharged from the pump  22  is the same at all steps.  
      In the segment of the sluicing unit  12  shown in  FIG. 4 , two of the carrier members  15  and  16  projecting from the main bar  13  project on respective sides of a glove  31  placed on one of the holding members  11  in the column S 2  in the column-row configuration shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . As will appear, each of the carrier members  15  and  16  comprises two close-lying projecting pipe members  15   a ,  15   b  and  16   a ,  16   b , which each has three sluicing nozzles  32  connected. The nozzles  32  connected to the pipe members  15   b  and  16   a  are oriented obliquely inwards towards the glove  31  belonging to the column S 2 , while the nozzles  32  connected to the pipe members  15   a  and  16   b  are oriented obliquely outwards towards gloves, not shown, placed on holding members  11  in the neighbouring columns S 1  and S 3 , respectively.  
      In the example shown all nozzles  32  are oriented in a substantially horizontal plane in view of the directional orientation of the holding members  11  described below, but alternatively they may be oriented in a slightly downwardly inclined direction.  
      As further appears from the above, the two pipe members belonging to the same carrier member are connected via hose couplings, not shown, to the hose connections  20  to a respective one of two of the valves V 6 -V 10 . The pipe members  15   a  and  15   b  belonging to the carrier member  15  are thus connected with the valves V 6  and V 7 , respectively, while the pipe members  16   a  and  16   b  are connected with the valves V 7  and V 8 .  
      Of the other carrier members of the sluicing unit  12 , the carrier members  17  and  18  are designed in the same way as shown and described for the carrier members  15  and  16 , while each of the outermost carrier members  14  and  19  only comprises a single pipe member connected to the valves V 6  and V 10 , respectively.  
       FIG. 5  shows a side view of a preferred embodiment of the holding members  11  arranged in stationary positions in a column-row configuration and secured to the vertical back wall  3  of the cabinet  1 . In this embodiment, each holding member  11  comprises partly a mounting member fixed to the back wall  3  and comprising a suspension hook  33  and a horizontal supporting rod  34  as well as a guide stick  35  projecting in an upwardly inclined direction at a short distance above the suspension hook  33 , partly a holding device  36  removably mountable in relation to the mounting member and having five projecting finger members  37  which, at one end, are set in a connecting part  38  for removable mounting on the suspension hook  33  of the mounting member in secured engagement therewith as will appear from the following description with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 .  
      As it appears from  FIGS. 1 and 4 , the holding device  36  is designed so that at mounting on a suspension hook  33  the finger members  37  are oriented in a substantially vertical plane to allow the closest possible arrangement of neighbouring holding devices  36  in each of the rows R 1  to R 5  and thus the least possible distance between the columns S 1  to S 5 .  
      The projecting finger members  37  are formed of a wire material and designed so that they are slightly diverging in a hand-like shape as shown in  FIG. 4 . To ensure that each finger member results in the distension of the corresponding finger space in a protective glove which is optimum for the cleaning effect, each finger member  37  as shown in  FIG. 4  is made as a double branch by a wire piece bent in a hairpin shape with the bend located at the distal end facing away from the connection part  38 .  
      As also shown in  FIG. 5 , the mounting members secured to the back wall  3  are made so that the supporting rod  34  is at a greater distance from the back wall  3  than the suspension hook  33 . This results in a slightly upwardly inclined orientation of the projecting holding devices  36 , generally at an angle of 10-20° above horizontal. In conjunction with the sluicing direction determined by the shape and location of the nozzles  32 , the shape and orientation of the holding devices  37  will ensure partly that the protective gloves placed on them are efficiently cleaned, partly that such gloves are secured firmly on the holding devices  37 , also at the increased sluicing pressure during the pre-rinse.  
      While the dismountable holding devices  36  have the advantage that protective gloves can be arranged on them quickly and easily outside the cabinet  1 , for example in connection with brief breaks during the work day, the projecting guide sticks  35  of the mounting members make it substantially easier to position the connecting part  38  of a holding device  36  with protective glove placed thereon when it is to be placed in engagement with a suspension hook  33 .  
      In the embodiment shown, the connecting part  38  of each holding device  36  is preferably made of moulded plastic and, as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , as a lattice structure with a boat-like plane shape in which tubular setting cases  39  at the ends of the wire pieces are connected by lengthwise and transverse stays  40  and  41 , respectively. In a bottom wall  42  in the slightly tapering one end, the connecting part  38  is designed partly with a slot  43  for engagement with a suspension hook  33  in one of the mounting members secured to the back wall  3  of the cabinet  1 , partly with a triangle-like indentation  43 ′ from the front edge for guiding abutment on the projecting guide stick  35  to ensure reliable and easy mounting of the connecting part on the suspension hook  33 .  
      For engagement with the supporting rod  34  in the mounting member, at least one semicircular recess  45  is formed in longitudinal side walls  44  of the connecting part  38 , the engagement of which recess with the supporting rod  34  results in firm securing of the connecting part  38  and thus the holding device  36  to the mounting member in the cabinet  1 . To allow varying angular positions of the holding device  36 , one or more additional recesses  45  may be formed in the lower edges of the side walls  44  as shown.  
      While the design of the holding devices  37  and the mounting members therefor described so far is intended for relatively short protective gloves for protection of hand and lower arm, one or more holding members  11 ′ for protective gloves of greater length, so-called shoulder gloves, may be arranged in the cabinet  1  as shown by dotted lines in  FIG. 1 . Such holding members are preferably placed as shown with an upright column orientation and secured to the bottom wall  5  of the cabinet  1 .  
      To enable such holding members to be provided by means of stationary mounting members in the cabinet  1  and holding devices removably mountable thereon of basically the same design, but substantially greater length than the holding devices  36 ,  FIGS. 8 and 9  show an embodiment of mounting members for firm securing of such holding devices of great length.  
      For this, as shown in  FIG. 1 , an arrangement of paired parallel mounting rails  46  may be fastened at the bottom of the cabinet  1 , to which rails upright mounting flanges  47  are fastened, at the upper edge of one end of which a projecting hook member  48  is formed. For engagement with such hook members  48  on the two parallel mounting rails  46  of a rail pair, the upper edge of one of the side walls  44  of the connecting part  38  has two relatively flat rectangular recesses  49 . A spring-loaded latch member  50  is swingably connected with the mounting flange  47  on one of the rails  46 , which latch member forms a catch  51  for engagement with the upper edge of the second side wall  44  of the connecting part  38 , the distance between the hook members  48  and the catch  51  being smaller than the width of the connecting part  38  between the outer sides of the side walls  44 .  
      The connecting part  38  is thus brought into engagement with the mounting member so designed from above, whereby the latch member  50  may yield so far from the operative position shown that passage of the connecting part  38  for placing of recesses  39  in engagement with the hook members  38  is made possible, whereupon the latch member  50  is snapped into engagement with the opposite side wall  44  of the connecting part  38 .  
      With the same design, the connecting part  38  may thus be used for holding devices for both short and long protective gloves.  
      In purely schematic side and top views of the cabinet  101 ,  FIGS. 10 and 11  show an alternative cabinet design of a cleaning installation according to the invention with a modified sluicing system and holding members for different work utensils in the form of gloves, knives and cutting boards.  
      Instead of a high-pressure sluicing unit with carrier members in stationary connection with a main bar, the high-pressure sluicing unit thus comprises a main bar  113  with an arrangement of three nozzle-shaped sluicing members  114 ,  115  and  116 , which are mounted displaceably on a carriage  117  horizontally reciprocateable along the main bar  113 .  
      In this arrangement, the vertical movement of the main bar  113  along the entire height of the cabinet  101  extends in a vertical plane close to the back wall  103  of the cabinet  101 . At the cleaning of protective gloves, the pre-rinse is carried out sequentially for each one of the columns, in this example seven columns S 1 -S 7 , at a time at an increased sluicing pressure as at the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , as the carriage  117  may be horizontally displaced along the main bar  113  from one column to the next, for example by means of a drive arrangement placed at the top of the work room  102  of the cabinet and comprising, for example, a driving carriage displaceable along a rotating threaded spindle and having a fork member which grips the carriage  117  at the upper extreme position of the main bar  113 . For this purpose, the carriage  117  with such driving carriage can be provided with mutually cooperating means for accurate stopping of the carriage  116  at positions opposite the individual columns S 1 -S 7 .  
      This modification of the high-pressure sluicing unit substantially simplifies the control valve arrangement, as only a single hose connection, not shown, has to be passed from the carriage  117  to a single control valve, also not shown.  
      To ensure the desired reduction of the sluicing pressure in the washing or disinfection step of the cleaning process with this modification, a separate low-pressure sluicing system is used, comprising a number, in the example shown four, horizontally extending nozzle bars  118  each with a number of stationary sluicing nozzles, not shown, arranged in a joint supporting frame  119  which, as shown by the arrow  120 , can be reciprocated between the back wall  103  and a position close to the front door  109  of the cabinet  101 .  
       FIGS. 10 and 11  also show how a number of lower arm protective gloves  120  are arranged on respective individual holding members  121  which, as described above and shown in FIGS.  5  to  7 , may be removably mounted on mounting members  122  which however, in this modified cabinet design, are arranged on a mobile trolley  123  which can be passed into and out of the cabinet  101  through the front door  109 . If, for example for the purpose of placing pumps or containers for detergents in a lower cupboard  124 , the lower edge of the front door  109  is raised above the floor level  125 , a suitable, for example hydraulic lifting device may be associated with the cabinet  101  as shown by the arrow  126 .  
      With the embodiment of  FIGS. 10 and 11 , in addition to cleaning of protective gloves, the cabinet can thus alternatively be used for cleaning of other work utensils in the form of work knives, sharpening steels, cutting boards and protective aprons or mail coats. The figures thus show placement of work knives in conventional knife baskets  127 , known per se, on an also mobile support trolley  123   a  and arrangement of cutting boards  128  suspended on a mobile support trolley  123   b . When such other utensils are cleaned, the entire cleaning process, including the pre-rinse, can be carried out at a fairly low sluicing pressure.  
      As shown in more detail in  FIGS. 12 and 13 , the protective gloves  120  of the embodiment of  FIGS. 10 and 11  are arranged in a substantially horizontally projecting orientation from an upright wall  129  on the trolley  123 . To obtain efficient high-pressure pre-rinse the arrangement of high-pressure sluicing members on the carriage  117  movable along the bar  113  may comprise two top nozzles  114  and  115  which, as shown in  FIG. 13 , are placed symmetrically on respective sides of the glove  120  when the carriage  117  is positioned opposite to one of the columns S 1 -S 6  with sluicing directions which, in the horizontal plane, are oriented obliquely inwards towards the opposite sides of the glove, while both the top nozzles  114  and  115  in the vertical plane are placed a distance above the glove in the column currently being sluiced with a sluicing direction oriented obliquely downwards towards the glove. A bottom nozzle  116  of the sluicing member arrangement is placed in the horizontal plane right between the top nozzles  114  and  115  and in the vertical plane at a suitable distance below the top nozzles  114  and  115 .  
      In the embodiment shown in FIGS.  10  to  13 , the holding members for other work utensils than protective gloves may suitably be made as fixed holding members on the respective mobile support trolleys. For protective gloves, however, the dismountable design described provides substantial advantages in that arrangement of protective gloves on holding devices can be carried out outside the support trolley or the cabinet, and in that the cleaning of the holding devices themselves which are encumbered during operation with heavily contaminated sluicing water is substantially facilitated.  
      Furthermore, the cleaning process can be carried out in others way than as described as, for example, warm water can be used for the washing step, while a subsequent disinfecting step is carried out using hot water. Moreover, the rinse may comprise the addition of a surfactant and may be carried out in several steps.  
      The purely schematic side views of FIGS.  14  to  22  show an alternative embodiment of a cleaning cabinet as shown in FIGS.  10  to  13 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 14 , the high-pressure sluicing unit  130  with main bar and nozzle-shaped sluicing members is here arranged close to the front wall  132  of the cabinet  131  so that the vertical movement of the high-pressure sluicing unit extends in a vertical plane close to the front wall. The pre-rinse at increased sluicing pressure is otherwise carried out in the same way as described above with reference to  FIGS. 10 and 11 .  
      In this embodiment, the separate low-pressure sluicing system comprises a frame configuration which, in its starting position, is placed close to the one side wall  133  of the cabinet  131  and comprises a vertical main bar  134  placed close to the front wall  132  and four horizontally extended nozzle bars  135  so that also the low-pressure sluicing unit moves during the washing, rinsing and disinfection processes in parallel with the front wall  132  of the cabinet with the nozzle bars  135  extending in between rows of work utensils arranged on a mobile support trolley passed into the cabinet  130  as explained below.  
      In addition to the front wall  132  and the side walls  133  the cabinet  131  comprises top and bottom walls  136  and  137  and a back wall  138 . An access passage to and from the inside of the cabinet  130  is provided in the front wall  132  in a manner not shown in these figures by means of an openable front door.  
      By means of holding members, not shown in detail, the work utensils to be cleaned, for example, protective gloves, protective aprons, cutting boards and/or work knives, are secured to a mobile support trolley  139  shown in  FIG. 15  in a starting position just outside the access passage in the front wall  132  of the cabinet.  
      In the embodiment shown, the support trolley  139  comprises a lower part  140  with wheels  141 , two or more vertical uprights  142  and an upper part  143  which is mounted at both sides with a set of projecting double support rollers  144  whose function will be described below.  
      In the top part of the cabinet  131  at each of the side walls  133 , a lifting/lowering arrangement is mounted in the form of a relatively elongated lifting arm  145  which, at one end via an articulated arm  146 , is swingably connected with the side wall  133  and at the other end carries an upright catch member  147  designed to engage with the upper part  143  of the support trolley  139 , for example on the side of the support rollers  144  facing away from the cabinet  130 .  
      By means of a suitable drive mechanism, not shown in detail, the support trolley  139  can be lifted as shown in  FIG. 16  from the starting position of  FIG. 15  to a lifted position where it is positioned outside the cabinet with the upper part  143  placed just below the top wall  136  of the cabinet. As shown, the lifting arms  145  in this position assume a position inclining slightly downwards towards the inside of the cabinet  131 , for example at an angle of about 5° to the horizontal plane. The rotational axes of the lifting arms  145  are placed so that the innermost ends of the lifting arms  145  in this position correspond with a pair of projecting carrier beams  148  fastened to the back wall  138  of the cabinet  131  and inclining slightly downwards towards the front wall  132 .  
      The lifting arms  145  being formed with upward running surfaces  149  for the support rollers  144  and the carrier beams  148  with upward corresponding engagement surfaces  150  for the support rollers  144 , the support trolley  139  will roll by its own weight from the lifted position in  FIG. 16  into the cabinet  131  until the support rollers  144  engage with the surfaces  150  on the carrier beams  148  as shown in  FIG. 17 .  
      From this position the lifting arms  145  can now be released from engagement with the upper part  143  of the support trolley  139 . As a result of the downward inclination of the carrier beams  148 , the support trolley  139  will thus roll a distance in the opposite direction until the support rollers  144  abut fixed end stops  151  on the carrier beams  148 , and the lifting arms  145  can be swung in the opposite direction as shown in  FIGS. 18 and 19  to a fixed position in which they extend in parallel with and in front of the back wall  138  of the cabinet  131 .  
      Projecting stops  152  for the lifting arms  145  being provided on the support trolley at the vertical uprights  142 , this swinging movement of the lifting arms  145  in the opposite direction will take the support trolley  139  to the cleaning position inside the cabinet shown in  FIG. 19 .  
      A cleaning process as described above can now be carried out with the support trolley  139  placed in this position with the protective gloves, aprons, cutting boards and/or work knives secured to holding members associated with the support trolley.  
      After completion of the cleaning process the support trolley  139 , as shown in  FIGS. 20, 21  and  22 , is returned to the starting position shown in  FIG. 15 , the lifting arms  145  being swung up from the fixed position in  FIG. 19  into engagement with the support rollers  144 , which are resting against the end stops  152  of the carrier beams  148 , and lifting the support rollers  144  free of these end stops, whereby the support trolley  139  can roll out of the cabinet  131  by its own weight.