ORGANIC WASTE AND/OR ALIMENTARY WASTE

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The present invention relates to the sector of electrical household appliances and in particular regards an apparatus designed to compact and dehydrate domestic organic waste and/or alimentary waste, for example to be installed directly underneath the drain column of the kitchen sink.

This does not on the other hand rule out its use in the commercial field.

Currently, there are not known electrical household appliances capable of compacting domestic organic waste and at the same time dehydrating them.

Consequently, the alimentary waste produced in the kitchen is thrown directly into refuse bags.

This entails a series of drawbacks.

A first drawback i ^l s represented by the fact that the aforesaid refuse bags are rapidly filled by domestic organic waste and a plurality of refuse bags are consequently generated, which evidently occupy a considerable space.

Consequently, neither operations for collecting the waste nor those for transporting the waste or storing it are facilitated.

Also known, from the international patent application No. O2005/061134 , is an apparatus for treating alimentary kitchen waste that is equipped with means for compacting and dehydrating waste, but this is a very complicated and somewhat cumbersome apparatus.

The main purpose of the present invention is to overcome the above drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art by providing an electrical household appliance for compacting and dehydrating organic waste that reduces its volume by approximately 80-90% and the liquids present in said waste by more than 60%. All this entails the reduction of the weight and of the volume of the waste, which, once dehydrated, drastically reduces the formation of percolate.

According to the invention, the above and further purposes have been achieved by providing an apparatus that preferably comprises:

- a tube for connection of the drain column of the sink to the top part of the body of the machine (electrical household appliance) , designed to receive any organic material and/or alimentary waste, such as for example chicken bones, watermelon peel, potatoes, apples, and damp paper serviettes ;

- a compacting body equipped with mechanical means for the treatment of said alimentary and/or organic waste designed to compact it and dehydrate it by squeezing it in order to separate it from the liquid fraction; and

- an underlying drawer, designed to receive said compacted and dehydrated alimentary waste that exits from the compacting body, for example by dropping by gravity, as well as the alimentary and/or organic waste to be thrown directly in said drawer, such as for example lamb, pork, and beef bones.

According to the invention, there are also provided means of a known type designed to collect and convey the liquids that exit from said compacted and dehydrated alimentary waste into the drains. Said means for collecting and conveying the liquid fraction are preferably comprised in the compacting body.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the ensuing detailed description and with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment merely by way of example.

In the drawings:

Figures 1-4 are schematic illustrations of an example of installation of the apparatus according to the present invention: visible in these figures is the hole of the drain column of the sink, which is located in the direction of the hole for loading the compacting apparatus;

Figure 5 shows schematically a preferred embodiment of the apparatus for compacting and dehydrating organic waste and/or alimentary waste forming the subject of the invention;

Figure 6 is an exploded view of the connection valve between the drain of the sink and the inlet duct of the apparatus described;

Figure 7 shows a longitudinal section of the apparatus of Figure 5, in which the compacted and dehydrated waste falls from the apparatus into the underlying bottom drawer;

Figure 8, which is similar to Figure 4, shows the internal parts of the invention, with the bottom drawer open;

Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C are a longitudinal sectional 3D view and a plan view of the tray for collecting liquids;

Figure 10 is a longitudinal section of the central body with the various components fixed to it;

Figure 11 shows a detail regarding the new support for the guides of the scrapers and/or pistons;

Figure 12, which is similar to Figure 10, is a longitudinal cutaway view that shows the auger with its axis and the scrapers mounted on the corresponding support;

Figures 13 and 14 are, respectively, an exploded

3D view and an assembled view of the refrigerating drawer;

Figures 15 and 16, which are substantially similar to Figure 8, show, respectively, the apparatus according to invention with installed thereon, on the inlet hole, an adjustable spacer for the drain, column and a slide valve;

Figure 17 is a 3D view of the central body alone;

Figure 18 shows the load-bearing chassis of the apparatus;

Figure 19, which is similar to Figure 17, shows some constructional details;

Figure 20 is a 3D view of the central body alone as a whole, complete with liquid-carrying tray;

Figure 21 is a side view of the main internal parts of the apparatus;

Figures 22, 23, and 24 are 3D views that illustrate the internal structural parts of the apparatus ;

Figure 25 is a partially sectioned side view of a variant of the invention that may be used as stand- alone electrical household appliance instead of as under-sink apparatus; it also shows a different arrangement of the motor that drives the auger, on the side opposite to the one for introducing the material to be treated;

Figures 26 and 27 are enlarged details of Figure

25;

Figures 28 and 29 show the side bars, called "guides", for supporting the central body;

Figure 30 shows the detail regarding the slide valve on the inlet hole, during installation; this detail can advantageously be rotated through 90° to the right or to the left for directing discharge according to the installation requirements;

Figures 31A and 31B show passage of the water with the slide valve in the closed configuration, in order to prevent passage thereof into the apparatus;

Figures 32A and 32B show passage of the organic material and/or alimentary waste with the slide valve open, the waste entering the apparatus for being treated; and

Figures 33A and 33B show, respectively, a 3D view and a side view of the auger.

With reference to the figures, provided in the preferred embodiment described is an apparatus for compacting and dehydrating organic waste, comprising:

- an opening I (Figure 5) for loading/introducing the organic material and/or alimentary waste into the apparatus itself;

- mechanical means for compacting and dehydrating said organic material and/or alimentary waste, comprising a central compacting body CC, designed to separate the liquid fraction from the material to be treated;

- means for collecting and discharging the liquid fraction coming from the treated material;

- a drawer CA, underlying the central compacting body CC (Figure 7), which collects the alimentary waste compacted and dehydrated via said central body CC and possibly the non-compactable waste that can be introduced manually directly into the drawer CA.

In the example described, said mechanical means are basically made up of an auger CO designed to feed and simultaneously compress and dehydrate the organic material introduced by the user into the aforesaid central body CC via the loading opening I connected to the drain of the sink. According to the invention, by compressing and dehydrating said organic material, said auger CO reduces the volume thereof so that the organic liquids contained therein come out via a plurality of self-cleaning slits 50 that are set longitudinally or else like spokes of a wheel in a clockwise direction or counterclockwise direction purposely arranged on the lateral surface of the outer casing of the auger CO (Figure 10) : in this way, a first dehydration of the organic materials and/or alimentary waste is obtained, caused by them being "squeezed".

The central body CC comprises said means for collecting and discharging the liquid fraction coming from the treated material, and in particular:

- means (Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C) for collecting, by gravity, said organic liquids, said means being positioned underneath said auger CO;

- means for conveying said organic liquids to a pipe for discharge into the drains;

- a motor reducer (Figures 7 and 8) designed to be connected to the auger CO; and

- a hole for loading the material to be treated, located on the top part of the auger CO.

With reference to Figure 9, said means for collecting the organic liquids are constituted by a jacket defined by at least one collection tray with a frusto-conical front part 14 and a cylindrical rear part 15 (the latter also possibly being made up of two separate parts joined together in a known way), whilst the means for conveying said organic liquids into the drains are constituted by a purposely provided tube TU for outlet of liquids that is designed to be connected to an extraction pump 28 (Figures 8 and 23) .

In the example illustrated (Figures 19 and 33A- 33B) , the auger CO is a variable-pitch auger and may also be provided with a multi-start screw.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the auger CO has a shape - from crest to crest - that is markedly concave, as may be seen in Figures 33A and 33B, in such a way as to enable the scraper pistons 10 to be accompanied upwards even when said auger CO changes direction of rotation in the event of clogging/j amming .

The auger CO is mounted on an internal shaft AC made of steel and has the external shape of a helix (Figures 7 and 33A and 33B) , the height of which and the pitch of which decreases starting from the rear end, for entry of the material to be treated, to the front end, for exit of the treated material.

It should be noted that the auger CO is self- cleaning and for this purpose is equipped with one or more scraper pistons 10 housed in a cup-shaped liner 13 pushed towards the auger CO by purposely provided springs 11 blocked by corresponding threaded plugs 12 that are positioned coaxially to the respective springs (Figure 12) . Said threaded plugs 12 are designed also to regulate the pre-loading of the spring.

It should be noted that the cup-shaped liners 13 function as guides for the scraper pistons 10, and for this purpose are firmly anchored on the conical front part of the central body CC, via a purposely provided support 13A.

The aforesaid scraper pistons 10 render the auger self-cleaning because they act directly in the cavities of the auger itself favouring conveying and advance of the material towards the outlet. This in fact enables complete emptying of the loading compartment and cleaning thereof. The upward movement of the pistons 10 is provided by the rotation of the auger CO itself, whereas their downward movement is provided by the return springs 11 housed in the cup 13 itself.

The above auger is housed in a frusto-conical casing (Figure 10) , which, as already mentioned, is equipped with a plurality of self-cleaning slits 50 for enabling the liquids of the "squeezed" organic material to flow into the collection jacket constituted by the collection tray 14, 15 (Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C) .

The frusto-conical casing illustrated in Figure 10 has a large rear axial hole G, in which the auger CO is inserted, whilst said top hole I for introducing the material to be treated is set transversely with respect to the rear hole just described, once again in the substantially cylindrical rear part of the central body CC.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support 13A for the liners 13 for guiding the pistons 10, which is mounted fixedly on the conical front part of the central body CC, is set so that the pistons 10 are perpendicular to the conical surface and not perpendicular to the axis of the auger CO. Alternatively, the pistons 10 could be mounted so as to be perpendicular to the axis of the auger CO.

Another peculiar characteristic of the invention lies in the fact that provided at the free end of the conical front part of the central body CC is a hopper plug 6, which has a seat for an oil seal 16, a seat for a thrust bearing 17, as well as a central hole for passage of the shaft AC of the auger CO.

Advantageously, by gripping radially on the shaft AC of the auger a purposely provided locking element 18 that rests directly on the thrust bearing 17 it is obtained that said shaft AC - which is fixed to the auger CO - can turn freely with respect to the central body and at the same time be blocked axially in a preset position so that the auger CO cannot recede during the cycle of squeezing of the organic material to be treated .

The lock ring 18 is fixed on the shaft AC of the auger CO preferably thanks to a groove 51 impressed in the shaft itself of the auger, as may be seen in Figures 7 and 12.

Advantageously, in this way the axial thrust generated by the auger CO within the central body CC during treatment of the organic material and/or the alimentary waste discharges directly on the thrust bearing housed in the hopper plug 6 thanks to a locking system 18 (Figure 19) on the shaft AC of the auger itself. This advantageously enables the possibility of having a lighter and less cumbersome rear structure.

For cleaning the apparatus, a flushing cycle is envisaged, which is carried out in part during the squeezing cycle and completed at the end of the cycle.

Partial flushing is carried out in order to improve the squeezing cycle and for cleaning the tray for collecting liquids 14 and 15 (Figures 9A, 9B, and 9C) and the slits 50 (Figure 10) . Flushing moreover facilitates exit of the liquids that are formed during squeezing by conveying them towards the rear discharge duct TU.

Present under the tray, connected downstream of the rear discharge duct TU, is an electric pump 28 that pushes the liquids into the drains.

Also envisaged is the possibility of carrying out one or more supplementary flushing cycles governed manually at the discretion of the user.

For this purpose, one or more spray nozzles 8 is provided (Figure 17), positioned in strategic points of the apparatus .

Operation of the nozzles is by means of purposely provided timed solenoid valves connected to the water mains or, in the absence of water pressure, by a purposely provided electric pump (not shown) .

The drawer CA (Figures 7, 8, 13, and 14) is equipped with a structure designed to house a bag for collecting the compacted and dehydrated alimentary waste (compost) that falls by gravity from the front duct 52 of the central body CC ·

The drawer CA is made up of a box-shaped load- bearing base 22, screwed to which are the slide guides 25, and of a rack equipped with perforated walls, which may be an enbloc element or else be constituted by two or four composable walls, side walls 19, a rear wall 20, and a front wall 21, to facilitate the cleaning operations .

Also the bottom 23 of the rack can be easily removed for possible cleaning and has two protuberances designed to co-operate with two supporting springs 26, fixed to the load-bearing base 22 of the drawer CA, so that said bottom will be oscillating and slightly inclined.

With the increase of the weight of the dehydrated waste, the above oscillating inclined bottom 23 tends to drop until, once a predetermined end-of-travel position has been reached, there is activation of a sensor that will signal the need to replace the collection bag.

In the proximity of the front end of the auger CO, scraping means are provided, preferably shaped for keeping the auger clean and for facilitating dropping of the compacted and dehydrated alimentary waste into the underlying bag. In the example described, the aforesaid scraping means comprise at least one knife or scraper piston 10.

In addition, it is preferable for the drawer CA to be equipped with means for drawing in air and conveying it towards the outside.

Said means for drawing in and conveying air towards the outside are positioned in the rear part of the apparatus and comprise a dehumidification fan.

In order to improve ventilation and reduction in weight of the compost, said fan is set on a perforated wall .

It should also be envisaged that the air at outlet from of the apparatus is made to pass through an activated-carbon filter for eliminating any bad smells.

In the preferred embodiment described, the apparatus comprises means for refrigeration of the dehydrated waste designed to be fixed on the load- bearing structure.

With reference to Figure 8, said refrigeration means comprise, for example, a refrigeration unit UR with an evaporator housed within the compartment that houses the drawer CA.

The drawer CA is designed to be moved along its longitudinal axis for its entire length and may even be totally extractable.

Figure 15 shows the apparatus according to the invention equipped with a telescopic spacer on the hole I for introducing the material to be treated, where said spacer enables installation of the apparatus to be facilitated, irrespective of the height of the drain hole of the sink with respect to the inlet hole I of the apparatus.

Figure 16 shows the apparatus according to the invention equipped with a slide valve V on the hole I for introducing the material to be treated. Said slide valve V as per Figures 30, 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B, advantageously enables by-passing of the apparatus in the case where the sink has to discharge only water and discharging of the sink into the apparatus only when organic waste and/or alimentary waste has to be dis- charged, thus avoiding the need for the discharge pump 28 to be activated whenever the sink is to be emptied.

Operation of the slide valve V may be electrical or manual.

As is illustrated clearly in Figures 30, 31A, 31B, 32A, 32B referred to above, the valve V has a lateral discharge outlet above the sliding portion of the valve, which has the purpose of enabling direct off- flow of the liquids directly from the discharge hole of the sink into the drains.

The apparatus comprises a mechanism for detecting jamming of the auger based upon the measurement of current absorption, said mechanism being associated to the motor reducer in order to detect rotation thereof.

When the auger gets jammed, current absorption in turn changes considerably and consequently, thanks to a purposely provided electronic card, which controls the entire apparatus, supply of the motor reducer is interrupted. It is possible to unj am said auger automatically via the electronic control card, which, having detected jamming of the auger, acts on the rotation of the motor reducer by reversing the direction of rotation itself for a pre-set time, after which it interrupts supply to the motor reducer itself to enable technical intervention to solve the problem.

According to the invention, the apparatus is also equipped with a light and/or acoustic warning device designed to warn the user that the auger is jammed and that it is necessary to remove the object that has caused jamming of the auger itself.

Said light and/or acoustic warning system is activated by the electronic control card.

The means designed to drive the apparatus described comprise an electrical system, as well as pushbuttons, warning lights, and acoustic warning devices, which are preferably set on the outer front wall of the electrical household appliance:

- a main ON/OFF switch;

- a switch for start of the compacting and dehydrating cycle;

- a switch for start of the supplementary flushing cycle;

- green/red warning light of the refrigerating unit;

- service warning light;

- "drawer full" warning light.

It should be noted that, as an alternative tp the ON/OFF switch and to the service warning light, it is possible to provide an ON/OFF switch with the service warning light integrated therein.

In the example described, said pushbuttons and/or switches and/or warning lights and/or warning devices are located on a control panel on the front wall of the apparatus, but said control panel may be positioned also at a distance so as to enable convenient activation of the apparatus without having to open the door of the kitchen-sink cabinet.

A variant of the invention, illustrated in Figures 25 to 29, may be used as stand-alone electrical household appliance, which does not need to be installed under the sink where the drain pipe is present, but is installed separately and for this purpose is equipped with a fixed lid that covers the opening I when the apparatus is in the closed configuration for use. In this variant, the apparatus is opened (i.e., displaced along the lateral guides of the load-bearing chassis) only for introducing the organic material and/or the alimentary waste to be treated. Illustrated in the figures just referred to is a different position of the motor reducer MR that moves the auger CO, which is located on the front side of the auger, i.e., the one opposite to that for inlet of the material to be treated. According to the invention, the position of the motor reducer MR and of the corresponding motor ME may indifferently be the one just described or else the one on the opposite side of the auger, as in the foregoing figures regarding the version positioned under the sink.

The present invention has been described and illustrated according to a preferred embodiment and a variant, but it is understood that equivalent modifications and/or replacements may be made by any person skilled in the branch, without thereby departing from the sphere of protection of the present industrial patent right.