Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/505,558, filed on Jul. 8, 2011. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to food waste disposers, and more particularly, to a food waste disposer having a food deflecting housing. 
         [0003]    Food waste disposers are used to comminute food scraps into particles small enough to safely pass through household drain plumbing. A conventional food waste disposer of the type for under sink mounting that is mounted to a sink, such as a kitchen sink, includes a food conveying section, a motor section, and a central grinding section disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The food conveying section includes a housing that forms an inlet for receiving food waste and water. The food conveying section conveys the food waste to the grinding section, and the motor section includes a motor imparting rotational movement to a motor shaft to operate the grinding mechanism. 
         [0004]    The grinding section in which comminution occurs typically has a rotating shredder plate with lugs and a stationary grind ring received in a housing of the grinding section. The motor turns the rotating shredder plate and the lugs force the food waste against the grind ring where it is broken down into small pieces. Once the particles are small enough to pass out of the grinding mechanism, they are flushed out into the household plumbing. Size control is primarily achieved through controlling the size of the gap through which the food particles must pass. In some cases, the housing of the grinding section and the housing of the food conveying section are integrally formed as a single housing. In other cases, they are not. Such a prior art food waste disposer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,006, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The food waste disposer may be mounted in a well-known manner in the drain opening of a sink using mounting members of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,007, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a prior art food waste disposer  100  which is similar to the prior art food waste disposer described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,729 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,729 is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The disposer includes an upper food conveying section  102 , a central grinding section  104  and a motor section  106 , which may include a variable speed motor. It should be understood that motor section  106  could also include a fixed speed motor, such as an induction motor. The grinding section  104  is disposed between the food conveying section  102  and the motor section  106 . 
         [0006]    The food conveying section  102  conveys the food waste to the grinding section  104 . The food conveying section  102  includes an inlet housing  108  and a conveying housing  110 . The inlet housing  108  has an inlet  109  at the upper end of the food waste disposer  100  for receiving food waste and water. Inlet  109  is surrounded by a gasket  111 . The inlet housing  108  is attached to the conveying housing  110 , such as by an antivibration mount  113 . 
         [0007]    The conveying housing  110  has an opening  142  to receive a dishwasher inlet  144 . The dishwasher inlet is used to pass water from a dishwasher (not shown). The inlet housing  108  and conveying housing  110  may be made of metal or molded plastic. Alternatively, inlet housing  108  and conveying housing  110  may be one unitary piece. 
         [0008]    The grinding section  104  includes a housing  112  surrounding a grinding mechanism  114  having a rotating shredder plate assembly  116  and a stationary grind ring  118 . Housing  112  is formed as a clamp ring and clamps conveying housing  110  to an upper end bell  136  of motor section  106 . Stationary grind ring  118 , which includes a plurality of spaced teeth  120  (only two of which are indicated by reference number  120  in  FIG. 1 ), may be received in an adaptor ring  122  disposed between housing  112  and stationary grind ring  118 . A gasket  123  is disposed between adaptor ring  122  and an upper portion  125  of housing  112 . A bottom flange  127  of conveying housing  110  is received in gasket  123  and gasket  123  seals inlet housing  110  to adaptor ring  122 . 
         [0009]    The shredder plate assembly  116  may include a rotating shredder plate  124  mounted to a rotatable shaft  126  of a motor  128  of motor section  106 , such as by a bolt  130 . Motor  128  also includes a rotor  129  to which rotatable shaft  126  is affixed and a stator  131 . A plurality of fixed lugs  132  (only one of which is shown in  FIG. 1 ) are mounted on rotating shredder plate  124  as are a plurality of swivel lugs  134  (only one of which is shown in  FIG. 1 ). It should be understood that in this regard, rotating shredder plate assembly  116  could include only fixed lugs  132  or only swivel lugs  134 . 
         [0010]    Motor section  106  includes an upper end bell  136  affixed to a bottom  138  of grinding section  104 . Upper end bell  136  includes a discharge chamber  140  having a discharge outlet  141  for coupling to a tailpipe or drainpipe (not shown). 
         [0011]    In an aspect, food waste disposer  100  may include a trim shell  146  that surrounds food conveying section  102 , grinding section  104  and motor section  106 . A layer of sound insulation  148  may be disposed between trim shell  146  and conveying housing  110  of food conveying section  102  and housing  112  of grinding section  104 . 
         [0012]    In the operation of the food waste disposer  100 , the food waste delivered by the food conveying section  102  to the grinding section  104  is forced by lugs  132 ,  134  of the rotating shredder plate assembly  116  against teeth  120  of the stationary grind ring  118 . The sharp edges of the teeth  120  grind or comminute the food waste into particulate matter that combines with water, such as water that entered the food waste disposer through inlet  109 , to form a slurry that drops into discharge chamber  140 . This slurry is then discharged through the discharge outlet (not shown) into the tailpipe or drainpipe (not shown). 
         [0013]    The food conveying section  102  (which includes inlet housing  108  and conveying housing  110 ) serves as the conduit for the food waste from the drain opening of the sink to the grinding mechanism of the grinding section. In a food waste disposer that operates in a batch feed mode, the amount of food waste that can be ground at a time is dictated by the volume of the food conveying section, mainly the conveying housing  110 . 
         [0014]    As discussed, conveying housings such as conveying housing  110  can be made of different materials. The most common are a molded reinforced polymer such as glass filled polypropylene, or stainless steel. The advantages of stainless steel are higher durability and higher perceived consumer value. The primary disadvantage of stainless steel compared to a polymer is that is more difficult to form complex shapes of stainless steel compared to a polymer. 
         [0015]    The shape of the conveying housing  110  has an influence on the performance of the grinding mechanism. It is known in the art that a conveying housing with a conical or curved wall will redirect food waste expelled upwardly by the grinding mechanism back into the grinding mechanism more quickly than a housing with a straight wall. It is relatively easy to form a conveying housing having a conical or curved wall if molding a polymer to form the conveying housing. It is more difficult to do so if forming the conveying housing from stainless steel. 
         [0016]    Typically, conveying housings made of stainless steel have been formed primarily as straight wall tubes. In certain prior art food waste disposers including one marketed under the InSinkErator® brand as Model 555, the food conveying housing was formed as a stainless steel tube where the lower portion of the stainless steel tube which contained the stationary shredder ring was expanded to a slightly larger diameter than the upper portion. This created a small shoulder over the stationary shredder ring which served as a food deflecting feature. In another prior art food waste disposer disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,360,729, the food conveying housing was formed as a stainless steel tube with a flange on the lower end. The stationary shredder ring was contained in a plastic adaptor ring that extended above the stationary shredder ring and incorporated a food deflecting overhang and bevel. The adaptor assembly and stainless steel tube were mated through a gasket and an external clamp ring. U.S. Pat. No. 7,607,599 discloses a food waste reduction mechanism for a food waste disposer that has a ledge that overhangs a periphery of a rotating shredder plate assembly of the grinding mechanism of a food waste disposer. 
         [0017]    In a prior art food waste disposer marketed under the InSinkErator® brand as Model 77, the conveying housing, which was made of stainless steel, had a two-chamber body in which the upper portion or chamber had a significantly smaller diameter than the lower portion or chamber. The transition between the small diameter upper portion and the larger diameter lower portion had a curved or arch-like profile that served to deflect food back into the grinding mechanism. The food waste disposer having this food conveying housing was a highly-aggressive, fast grinding food waste disposer compared to food waste disposers where the body of the food conveying housing was a straight wall stainless steel tube. The disadvantage of the food conveying housing having this two-chamber body was that the volume of the food conveying housing was reduced compared to straight wall bodies. Also, certain components such as the body top and trim shells had to be redesigned to accommodate the smaller diameter upper chamber. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0018]    This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. 
         [0019]    In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a food waste disposer has a food conveying section that receives food waste and water; a grinding section including a grinding mechanism, and a motor section including a motor. The grinding section is disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The grinding mechanism includes a stationary grind ring and a rotating shredder plate assembly that rotates in the grind ring to grind food waste to form ground matter that combines with the water to form a slurry. The slurry passes into a discharge area in an upper end bell below the shredder plate assembly. The food conveying section includes a housing having a food waste deflecting band with an angular profile at a lower end of the housing. 
         [0020]    In an aspect, the food waste deflecting band includes diverters. 
         [0021]    In an aspect, the diverters are projections that project downwardly from a lower sloped wall of the food waste deflecting band. In an aspect, the diverters are projections that project inwardly from a junction where upper and lower sloped walls of the food waste deflecting band meet. 
         [0022]    In an aspect, the food deflecting band is discontinuous having a plurality of discontinuities spaced therearound which provide the diverters. In an aspect, the discontinuities are flattened sections of the food waste deflecting band wherein the lower sloped wall of the food waste deflecting band at each flattened section is flattened to provide a horizontally inwardly extending projection. 
         [0023]    In an aspect, the food waste deflecting band is a continuous band. 
         [0024]    In an aspect, the conveying housing is a conical wall housing and in an aspect, may be a plastic molded housing having the deflecting band integrally molded at a lower end thereof. In an aspect the deflecting band includes a plurality of diverters and in an aspect, each diverter includes a projection having a inwardly extending truncated triangular section and a downwardly extending truncated triangular section. 
         [0025]    Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0026]    The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. 
           [0027]      FIG. 1  shows a cross-sectional view of a prior art food waste disposer; 
           [0028]      FIG. 2  shows a cross-sectional view of a food waste disposer having a food conveying housing having a straight cylindrical sidewall and a food waste deflecting band in a lower end thereof in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure; 
           [0029]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional perspective view of an upper portion of the food waste disposer of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0030]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view cross-sectional perspective view of an alternative upper portion for the food waste disposer of  FIG. 2  having a discontinuous food waste deflecting band in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure; 
           [0031]      FIG. 5  is a bottom perspective view of the upper portion of  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0032]      FIG. 6  is a cross-section perspective view of an upper portion of a food waste disposer having a food conveying section with a housing having a conical sidewall and a food deflecting band in a lower end thereof in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0033]    Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. 
         [0034]    With reference to  FIG. 2 , in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a food waste disposer  200  is shown where a lower end  204  of conveying housing  110 ′ has a food deflecting band  202 . Other than these differences, food waste disposer  200  is essentially the same as food waste disposer  100 . The following discussion will thus focus on these differences which relate to conveying housing  110 ′ of food conveying section  102 ′ having food deflecting band  202 . Conveying housing  110 ′ may illustratively be a cylinder, such as a stainless steel tube, with food deflecting band at lower end  204 . 
         [0035]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional perspective view of food conveying section  102 ′ and grinding section  104 , and shows in more detail food deflecting band  202  at the lower end  204  of conveying housing  110 ′. Food deflecting band  202  extends around conveying housing  110 ′ at lower end  204  thereof. Food deflecting band  202  includes a bottom flange  206 , a lower, sloped wall  208  and an upper wall  210 . Bottom flange  206  extends over tops  212 ,  213 , respectively, of stationary grind ring  118  and adaptor ring  122 . Bottom flange  206  is captured between the tops  212 ,  213 , respectively of stationary grind ring  118  and adaptor  122  (on the one hand) and gasket  123  abutting upper portion  125  of grinding section housing  112  on the other hand. In the illustrative embodiment shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , food waste deflecting band  202  is a continuous band extending around conveying housing  202 . It should be understood that food waste deflecting band  202  may be discontinuous as discussed in more detail below. 
         [0036]    In the illustrative embodiment shown in  FIGS. 2-4 , lower sloped wall  208  is planar and has a slope that slopes from bottom flange  206  at an angle inwardly and upwardly. The angle is an angle at which food waste expelled upwardly by rotating shredder plate assembly  116  from generally the periphery thereof is deflected back down into the grinding section  104 . It may illustratively be determined heuristically. It may, by way of example and not of limitation, be forty-five degrees. It should be understood that lower sloped wall  208  can have a shape that is other than planar. Its shape could for example be concave, convex or have other curvatures. 
         [0037]    Lower sloped wall  208  and upper wall  210  meet at a junction  214 , which is at radially inner ends of each of lower sloped wall  208  and upper wall  210 . In this regard, reference number  214  also identifies the radially inner ends of lower sloped wall  208  and upper wall  210 . 
         [0038]    Upper wall  210  extends between junction  214  and straight cylindrical sidewall  216  of conveying housing  110 ′. In the illustrative example shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , upper wall  210  slopes upwardly and outwardly from junction  214  to cylindrical sidewall  216 . Upper wall  210  may, for example, slope at the same angle as lower sloped wall  208 . In this illustrative example, food deflecting band  202  is a V-shaped band with the point of the V, junction  214 , the radially innermost part of food deflecting band  202 . It should be understood, that upper wall  210  could slope at an angle other than the angle at which lower sloped wall  208  slopes, or could extend horizontally between junction  214  and cylindrical sidewall  216 . 
         [0039]    In operation when shredder plate assembly  116  is rotating, food waste that is expelled upwardly from grinding section  104  is reflected by food waste deflecting band  202  back to grinding mechanism  114  in grinding section  104 . It should be understood that some of the food waste that is expelled upwardly from grinding section  104  may be expelled inwardly as well, and thus may not be reflected by food waste deflecting band  202 . However, the expulsion of food waste upwardly from grinding section  104  is typically caused by the contact of the food waste against stationary grind ring  118  and thus it is expelled upwardly from a periphery of rotating shredder plate  124 , such as along stationary grind ring  118 . This food waste is thus likely to contact food waste deflecting band  202  and be reflected back into grinding section  104 . 
         [0040]    Food deflecting band  202  may optionally include diverters  220 . Diverters  220  prevent food waste from riding on food deflecting band  202 , particularly lower sloped wall  208 , and helps it more rapidly tumble back into grinding section  104 . “Riding” as that term is used in the art is where food waste spins but does not grind. In an aspect, diverters  220  may illustratively be projections that project downwardly from lower sloped wall  208  and may be formed in lower sloped wall  208 , such as dimples, truncated triangular members, or other projecting members. Diverters  220  may alternatively be members attached to lower sloped wall  208 . In an illustrative aspect, lower sloped wall  208  includes three diverters  220  spaced equidistantly around food deflecting band  202 . It should be understood that food deflecting band  202  can have more or fewer than three diverters  220 , or none at all. It should also be understood that diverters  220  could additionally or alternatively be projections that project inwardly from junction  214 , such as projection  300  shown in  FIG. 3 . Diverters  220  could be integrally formed as part of food deflecting band  202 , or be affixed to food deflecting band  202 . Diverters  220  could by way of example and not of limitation when conveying housing  110 ′ is a molded plastic housing, be integrally molded with conveying housing  110 ′, and in an aspect, may be a metal cladded. Diverters  220  could also be, by way of example and not of limitation, stamped or cast metal parts, molded plastic parts, or metal reinforced molded plastic parts. 
         [0041]    In an aspect, the food waste deflecting band may be discontinuous with the diverters  220  being provided by discontinuities in the food waste deflecting band.  FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional perspective view of a food conveying section  400  having a discontinuous food deflecting band  402  and  FIG. 5  is a bottom view of food conveying section  400  (but without dishwasher inlet  144  being shown). Food conveying section  400  is the same as food conveying section  102 ′ other than discontinuous food deflecting band  402 . Discontinuous food waste deflecting band  402  has a plurality of discontinuities  404  therein spaced around food deflecting band  402 , only one of which is shown in  FIG. 4 . In the aspect shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , each discontinuity  400  is a flattened section  408  of the food waste deflecting band  402  that in an aspect, is formed by an indentation  410  in upper wall  210  and a corresponding inwardly extending horizontal projection  412  in lower sloped wall  208  immediately beneath indentation  410 . The term “horizontal” is used in this context with reference to the orientation of projection  412  when food waste disposer  200  is mounted to a sink. In this regard, horizontal projection  412  may in effect be an inward extension or projection of bottom flange  206 . It should be understood that horizontal projection  412  can have a slight angle with respect to horizontal and the term horizontal projection in this context includes a projection that has a slight angle with respect to horizontal as well as a projection that is horizontal. Discontinuous food deflecting band  402  may in an aspect have three discontinuities  404  and may in an aspect have four discontinuities  404 . It should be understood that discontinuous food deflecting band  402  may have other than three or four discontinuities  404 . Each discontinuity  404  may be ⅝ of an inch wide. It should be understood however, that each discontinuity  404  may have a width other than ⅝ of an inch. In an aspect, discontinuous food waste deflecting band  402  may also include projections that provide diverters  220  in addition to discontinuities  404 . 
         [0042]    In the illustrative embodiments shown in  FIGS. 2-5 , conveying housing  110 ′ is formed of stainless steel and food deflecting band  202 ,  202 ′ formed as an integral part thereof. It should be understood that food conveying housing  110 ′ could also be die cast metal (such as aluminum, magnesium, zinc or other die castable metals) or molded of plastic. It should also be understood that food deflecting band  202 ,  402  could be a plastic or metal insert affixed to cylindrical sidewall  216  of food conveying housing  110 ′ at a bottom thereof. 
         [0043]    While conveying housing  110 ′ in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 2 and 4  has a straight, vertical cylindrical sidewall  216 , it should be understood that the conveying housing could have a conical or curved sidewall. The term “vertical” is used in this context with reference to the orientation of sidewall  216  when food waste disposer  200  is mounted to a sink.  FIG. 6  shows a sectional view of food conveying section  600  having a conveying housing  602  having a conical sidewall  604  with food waste deflecting band  606  extending therearound at a lower end  608  of conical sidewall  604 . Food waste deflecting band  606  may optionally include diverters  610  spaced around it (only one of which is shown in  FIG. 6 ) Diverters  610  in the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6  have an inwardly projecting truncated triangular section  612  and a downwardly projecting truncated triangular section  614 . In should be understood that diverters  610  can have other shapes. 
         [0044]    Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature&#39;s relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. 
         [0045]    The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

Technology Category: e