Patent Publication Number: US-2018029948-A1

Title: Food waste recycler with mixing assembly

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Food waste recyclers are known to implement a composting cycle for biologically and chemically decomposing organic material, such as food waste and other refuse, into compost for use as a fertilizer and soil amendment. The composting cycle can be implemented in a composting bin by providing water, heat and aeration to the refuse, and can require a period of time for completion. 
     The composting bin is capable of holding about seven days of refuse, and contains a mixing assembly to facilitate material movement. The movement of material promotes effective mechanical breakdown and aerates the refuse to prevent anaerobic decomposition, and promotes drying of the refuse through the processing cycle. Additionally, the mixing assembly facilitates material movement at the bottom of the bin to aid in transfer of refuse out of the bin. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In one aspect the present innovation relates to, a food waste recycler for composting refuse according to an automatic cycle of operation, the food waste recycler comprising a housing, a bin located within the housing and defining an inner surface, a heater thermally coupled to the waste container, a motor located within the housing, and a stirrer, located in the bin and having a shaft coupled to the motor, an auger extending about the shaft, and a skimming wand extending from the shaft and located adjacent, but not in contact, with the inner surface, wherein the motor rotates the shaft to rotate the auger, which mixes waste within the bin, and rotates the skimming wand, which moves near the inner surface to dislodge waste attached to the inner surface without scraping the inner surface. 
     In another aspect, a stirrer for a bin having an inner surface in a food waste recycler, the stirrer comprising a shaft, an auger extending about the shaft, and a skimming wand extending from the shaft and located adjacent, but not in contact, with the inner surface. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a food waste recycler including a bin with a stirrer. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of a control system of the food waste recycler. 
         FIG. 3  is side view of the bin and stirrer of the food waste recycler with the housing removed for clarity. 
         FIG. 4  is top view of the bin of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the stirrer of the food waste recycler. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of another embodiment of the stirrer of the food waste recycler. 
         FIG. 6A  is a schematic top view of the stirrer of  FIG. 6 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of a food waste recycler  10  or a food recycler oriented in the vertical direction for transforming organic material into compost by way of a composting cycle of operation. The food waste recycler  10  can include a housing  12  defining an interior  13  having a front wall  14  spaced from a back wall  16 , a pair of side walls  17 , and a controller  18  located within the housing  12 . 
     A top wall  20  can enclose the housing  12  at the top of the front wall  14 , back wall  16 , and the pair of side walls  17 . The housing  12  can be any structure for enclosing, supporting and protecting the electrical and mechanical components of the food waste recycler  10  including, but not limited to a cabinet with a frame. 
     The top wall  20  can include a cover  22  slidably mounted to a portion of the top wall  20  for sliding movement between open or closed positions to enable access to interior components of the food waste recycler  10 . The cover  22  can be any barrier that provides selective access to a fill opening  23  for inputting organic material into the food waste recycler  10 , including, but not limited to a hingedly, slidably or removably mounted door, drawer, panel or lid. While shown in  FIG. 1  as coupled to the top wall  20 , the cover  22  can be mounted to any exterior wall enclosing the housing  12  including, but not limited to the front wall  14 . The top wall  20 , as well as the remainder of the housing  12 , can be formed of any material suitable for construction of the housing structure including, but not limited to metal such as steel or steel alloy, plastic, composite materials such as a hardened polymer composite material and combinations thereof. Some models of food waste recyclers  10  can include decorative panels that can be mounted on the housing  12  or one or more walls. 
     When in the open position, the cover  22  provides access to the interior  13  of the housing  12 . In the open position, the cover  22  can further expose any element of the interior  13  including but not limited to one or more water fill inlets for supplying water to the food waste recycler  10  and one or more enzyme dispenser inlets. A bin  24  is provided within a bin housing  27 . The bin  24  can be disposed beneath the cover  22  such that the cover provides selective access to the bin  24  as the cover is opened/closed. While the bin  24  is illustrated as a composting bin, it is also contemplated that the bin  24  is a temporary storage bin for accumulating refuse prior to a composting cycle. 
     The bin  24  further comprises a mixing assembly having a stirrer  28 , which includes a shaft  30  mounting an auger  32  and a skimming wand  34 . A conduit  29  can extend from the bin  24 , such as from a lower portion of the bin  24 , toward an access drawer  26 . Embodiments of the disclosure can optionally include a transfer mechanism  29   a  disposed inside the conduit  29  capable of assisting the transfer of material from the bin  24  to the access drawer  26 . Examples of a transfer mechanism can include, but are not limited to, a rotatable auger, a conveyor, a gravitational chute, and the like. 
     The access drawer  26  is provided and slides in or out through an opening in the front wall  14 . The access drawer  26  is a drawer slidably mounted to the housing  12  on a horizontal axis for movement between open and closed positions. It will be understood, however, that access to the interior  13  of the food waste recycler  10  via the front wall  14  can be provided in other ways, including but not limited to, a door pivotally connected to the front wall  14 . The access drawer can be detachably mounted to an internal side of the housing  12  and is accessible from outside the housing  12 . The access drawer  26  can be removable from the interior  13  of the housing  12  so that the contents thereof can be discharged at will by a user, as for example, by dumping the contents of the drawer  26  onto a garden. The access drawer  26  can be located on any part of the housing  12  rather than the front wall  14 . 
     A motor  80  can be provided inside the housing  12  and can be operatively coupled with the stirrer  28  by way of a belt or pulley system. The motor  80  can be a brushless permanent magnet (BPM) motor. Alternately, other motors such as an induction motor or a permanent split capacitor (PSC) motor can also be used. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a schematic of the controller  18  for controlling the operation of the food waste recycler  10  is illustrated. The controller  18  can be provided with a memory  70  and a central processing unit (CPU)  72 . The memory  70  can be used for storing the control software that is executed by the CPU  72  in completing a cycle of operation using the food waste recycler  10  and any additional software. The memory  70  can also be used to store information, such as a database or table, and to store data received from one or more components of the food waste recycler  10  that can be communicably coupled with the controller  18 . 
     The controller  18  can be operably coupled with one or more components of the food waste recycler  10  for communicating with and controlling the operation of the component to complete a cycle of operation. For example, the controller  18  can be operably coupled with the motor  80  to control the operation of the motor  80 . In another example, the controller  18  can be operably coupled to a heater  86 . The controller  18  can also be coupled with one or more sensors  84  provided in one or more of the systems of the food waste recycler  10  to receive input from other sensors in the food waste recycler  10 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates details of the components of the mixing assembly of the food waste recycler  10  in a side view with the housing  12  removed for clarity. As is seen in  FIG. 3 , the mixing assembly comprises the bin  24 , the motor  80 , and the stirrer  28 . The motor  80  can be configured to operate the mixing assembly at different speeds during the cycle of operation to facilitate the reducing or mixing of refuse in the bin  24  or the access drawer  26 . 
     The stirrer  28  comprises the shaft  30 , the auger  32 , and the skimming wand  34 . The shaft  30  extends from the bottom of the bin  24  towards the top, and is coupled to the motor  80  to operate, rotate, toggle, or actuate the stirrer  28 . The auger  32  extends about the shaft  30  and may be in the form of a blade, or a flange, and may rotate, or wrap, around the shaft  30  in a spiral, helical, or other suitable shape. 
     The skimming wand  34  is mounted to the shaft  30  by means of the bars  33  or any other suitable approach such as directly mounting to the auger  32 , and extends toward the bin  24 . However, the skimming wand  34  does not contact the bin  24 ; instead, the skimming wand is spaced slightly from the bin to avoid direct contact between the skimming wand  34  and the inner surface  24   a  of the bin  24 , which reduces wear between the two parts. The skimming wand may comprise a rod or a blade. 
     The stirrer  28  further comprises two choppers  35 ,  39 . A first chopper  35  is located on an upper portion of the stirrer  28  and comprises a first blade  36  mounted to the shaft  30 , and a second blade  38  mounted to an inner surface  24   a  of the bin  24 . A second chopper  39  is located on the lower portion of the stirrer  28  and comprises a fork  40  having tines  40   a,  mounted to a bar  33  or any other suitable approach such as directly mounting to the auger  32 , and projections  42  mounted to the bin  24  located in between the rotational path defined by the tines  40   a.    
       FIG. 4  is a top view of bin  24  in  FIG. 3  in order to show in greater detail the projections  42  mounted to the bin  24 , that are located in between the rotational path defined by the tines  40   a.    FIG. 4  also better illustrates the skimming wand  34 , which is spaced very closely to the inner surface  24   a  of the bin  24 , without touching the inner surface  24   a.    
     Turning to  FIG. 5 , the stirrer  28  is shown without the bin  24 . While illustrated as wrapping around the shaft for multiple revolutions, the auger  32  can wrap around the shaft for less than or more than one revolution. It is also contemplated that the auger  32  does not continuously wrap around the shaft  30 , wherein the auger comprises a plurality of segments that wrap around the shaft  30 . The skimming wand  34 , like the auger, may rotate, or wrap, around the shaft  30  for less than one revolution and/or more than one revolution. The distance of the crest of the auger  32  to the next crest or the auger  32  (a complete revolution) defines pitch X of the auger  32 . Likewise, the distance of the crest of the skimming wand  34  to the next crest of the skimming wand  34  defines the pitch Y of the skimming wand  34 . As seen in  FIG. 4 , the skimming wand  34  makes less than ⅛ of a revolution around the shaft  30 . In this embodiment, the pitch X of the auger  32  is less than the pitch of the skimming wand  34  since the vertical distance of pitch X in a complete revolution is less than the vertical distance than pitch Y of skimming wand  34  in less than ⅛ of a revolution. 
     An alternative embodiment of a stirrer is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . This embodiment is similar to the first embodiment, therefore, like parts are identified with like numerals increasing by  100 , with it being understood that the description of the like parts of the first embodiment applies to the additional embodiment, unless otherwise noted. In this embodiment, the skimming wand  134  is mounted to the shaft by means of a bar  133  and a fork  140 . Also, the pitch X of the auger  132  and the pitch Y of the skimming wand  134  are less than the pitch X of the auger  32  and the pitch of the skimming wand  34  illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The skimming wand  134  of  FIG. 6  is shown in  FIG. 6A  making about ¼ of a revolution around the shaft  130 . Since the pitch Y of skimming wand  134  is less than double that of pitch Y of skimming wand  34  of  FIG. 5 , the pitch Y of skimming wand  134  is less than pitch Y of skimming wand  34 . 
     An example of a complete cycle of operation can include receiving organic material into the bin  24 , mixing the refuse within the bin  24  while simultaneously drying the refuse and then transferring the refuse to the access drawer  26  after which the composted refuse can be removed. 
     More specifically, operation of the stirrer  28  can include rotating, toggling, or actuating the stirrer  28 . Upon operation of the stirrer  28 , the auger  32  mixes the refuse in the bin  24 . The bin  24  may be a mixing container and/or a composting container where the refuse is mixed and/or composted. Simultaneously, the skimming wand  34  moves near the inner surface  24   a  of the bin  24  to dislodge refuse attached to the inner surface  24   a  without scraping the inner surface  24   a.  The skimming wand  34  also helps to move refuse vertically. In addition, the choppers  35 ,  39 , interact to comminute refuse in the bin  24 . The choppers can be can be spaced apart relative to the stirrer and located on an upper and/or lower portion of the stirrer  28 . A chopper located at the lower portion of the stirrer  28 , such as chopper  39 , can keep refuse from settling at the bottom of the bin  24 , and prevent the formation of a crust. Also, chopper  39  may aid in transfer of material outside of the bin  24  through conduit  29  to access drawer  26 . 
     To the extent not already described, the different features and structures of the various embodiments can be used in combination with each other as desired. That one feature cannot be illustrated in all of the embodiments is not meant to be construed that it cannot be, but is done for brevity of description. Thus, the various features of the different embodiments can be mixed and matched as desired to form new embodiments, whether or not the new embodiments are expressly described. Combinations or permutations of features described herein are doored by this disclosure. 
     This written description uses examples to disclose embodiments of the invention, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to practice embodiments of the invention, including making and using any devices or systems and performing any incorporated methods. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and can include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differ from the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalent structural elements with insubstantial differences from the literal languages of the claims.