Patent ID: 8584976

Claim:
An under-sink disposal system, comprising (a) a sink; (b) a disposal located under the sink and operable to shred waste received from the sink, wherein a fluid passageway vertically extends from a drain of the sink to the disposal for passing of waste from the sink to the disposal; (c) a control unit configured to inhibit shredding operation of the disposal; and (d) a metal detector coil and associated circuitry, wherein the metal detector coil is housed within a collar that encircles at least a portion of the fluid passageway vertically extending from the drain of the sink to the disposal such that waste passing from the drain of the sink to the disposal for shredding in the disposal passes through the metal detector coil; (e) wherein the control unit is operatively connected to the disposal and to the circuitry associated with the metal detector coil such that the control unit inhibits shredding operation of the disposal upon the detection of metal passing through the metal detector coil, including, (i) stopping shredding operation of the disposal when running, upon detection of metal passing through the metal detector coil, and (ii) preventing shredding operation of the disposal from starting after detection of metal passing through the metal detector coil until a reset has occurred.