EP0100724A2 - Method and machine for washing plane articles like trays, plates and saucers - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process for mechanically washing articles of flat tableware, such as plates, saucers or the like, conveyed continuously, said process comprising the steps of subjecting the articles to a wet phase by rotary brushing under a projection of detergent water and then subjecting them to a phase of physical elimination of the wet residue by projection of a flat jet of air over the whole surface of the articles, maintained in inclined position, the flat jet of air pushing the remanent liquid film in the direction of gravity. It also relates to a machine for carrying out this process, of the type comprising a station for brushing provided with means for projecting detergent water, a tank of detergent water supplied by the return by gravity of the water coming from said wet brushing station, means for recycling the water from this tank towards the detergent water projecting means, said machine further comprising, immediately downstream of said wet brushing station, means for projecting a flat jet of air adapted to scrape and physically eliminate the wet film remaining on the surface of the articles.

Description

The present invention relates to a method and a device for implementing this method, with a view to economical and fully automatic washing of articles of tableware such as in particular trays, dishes, plates, saucers or the like.

The invention will be more particularly used for the equipment of installations set up in places suitable for providing collective meals such as traditional restaurants, self-service restaurants, canteens, community dining halls, fast food places, etc. .

The machines which have been produced up to now with a view to automating the work of washing dishes in collective installations all have a certain number of drawbacks, in particular the bulk, the handling at the entry and at the exit, excessive consumption of water and thermal energy and finally an unsatisfactory final state of the dishes as a result of deposition of concentrated active products on the surface after drying.

The invention aims to remedy these various drawbacks and proposes for this purpose a method and a device applying a new methodology and a more efficient, more compact and fully automatic apparatus.

As will be seen throughout this specification, the collective washing process for tableware uses a single wet washing operation in detergent water, which is recycled after filtration and maintained at a moderate temperature of the order 60 °, while the single wash water and the active products it contains is removed from the surface of the articles not by wet rinsing but by physical scraping, preferably in the form of a ramp ejecting an air knife chasing the wet film in the direction of gravity.

The machine according to the invention can be fed by a stack of dirty articles corresponding to a certain quantity, positioned in a standard container, the staff being freed from the tasks of placing the trays in the machine, which is carried out. automatically at a feeding station, while the machine continuously returns to an output station a quantity or stack of clean articles available for immediate re-use.

More particularly, the invention relates to a mechanical washing process for articles of flatware or flat tableware such as plates, saucers or the like, conveyed continuously, the process being characterized in that the articles subjected to a wet phase by rotary brushing under projection of detergent water, are then subjected to a phase of physical elimination of the wet residue by projection of an air space along the entire surface of the articles, maintained in an inclined position, the air space chasing the residual liquid film in the direction of gravity.

According to this process, the articles are conveyed all along the flat course and in an ascending inclined plane both during the brushing phase under spraying with detergent water and during the phase of elimination of the residual wet film, and the upward tracking angle of the articles is between 10 and 30 °.

The invention also relates to a device for setting using the above method, of the type comprising a brushing station under liquid spray of detergent water, a supply of detergent water supplied by the gravity return of the water coming from said wet brushing station, recycling means water from this reserve to the means for spraying detergent water, and the device is characterized in that it comprises immediately downstream of said wet brushing station means for projecting an air knife capable of scraping and physically removing the residual moisture film from the surface of the articles.

• La figure 1 représente une vue en coupe longitudinale schématique de l'ensemble de l'installation selon l'invention.
• La figure 2 représente une vue de détails montrant en coupe transversale le montage d'une assiette sur les moyens de guidage et d'entrainement.
• La figure 3 montre la même vue que la figure 2 précédente représentée cette fois en coupe longitudinale.
• La figure 4 représente une vue en perspective d'un jeu d'assiettes en cours de lavage et entraînées par les moyens de guidage et d'entrainement.
• La figure 5 représente une vue en perspective du système de remise en piles des articles propres.
• La figure 6 est une vue générale en coupe longitudinale et schématique d'une variante de l'invention appliquée au lavage de plateaux.
• La figure 7 est une vue en élévation arrière de la machine selon la ligne II-II de la figure 6.
• La figure 8 est une vue en coupe partielle de l'extrémité de la machine, correspondant au poste de stockage amont et montrant les moyens de préhension des plateaux empilés à ce poste.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows and which is given in relation to two particular embodiments presented by way of example without limitation.

• Figure 1 shows a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the entire installation according to the invention.
• Figure 2 shows a detail view showing in cross section the mounting of a plate on the guide and drive means.
• Figure 3 shows the same view as the previous Figure 2 shown this time in longitudinal section.
• Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a set of plates being washed and driven by the guide and drive means.
• FIG. 5 represents a perspective view of the system for re-storing clean articles.
• FIG. 6 is a general view in longitudinal and schematic section of a variant of the invention applied to washing trays.
• FIG. 7 is a rear elevation view of the machine along line II-II of FIG. 6.
• Figure 8 is a partial sectional view of the end of the machine, corresponding to the upstream storage station and showing the gripping means of the trays stacked at this station.

Considering all of the figures, it can be seen that the device according to the invention essentially consists of a washing station 2 followed by a station 3 for the physical elimination of the wet film which constitute, attached to one other, the heart of the machine or device.

Upstream, there is the supply station 1 from the upstream stack 5 of dirty products, while downstream is the station 4 for re-storing 41 clean products.

According to the invention, the machine is supplied from containers 54 constituting interchangeable cassettes and which will be used for storage, transport, reception of the products specific to the downstream station 4, as well as for the establishment of the stack. dirty products to constitute the stack 5 of flat tableware intended to be subjected to continuous washing in the machine. These containers can be mounted on bearings to form trolleys, ( _{V. F} ig 6, 7 and 8)

The stack of dishes 5 is put in place at the downstream station 1 inside a standard cassette and the station includes for this purpose locating means such that the cassette is automatically placed in the right location to allow the work and gripping of the recovery members shown schematically in 6 (Figure 1) and which are shown in the starting position (in line full) and in position 6 'of arrival to supply the machine (in dotted lines).

This device is formed by a coupling 7 operated by the jack 59 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) sliding on a set of rails 8 and carrying a jack 9 at the base of which a gripping system with suction cups 10 makes it possible to grasp the plates, dishes, trays etc ... to bring them to their starting position in the feeding of the machine.

At the upstream departure station 1, a system can be provided for physically eliminating solid or pasty waste which may remain on the plate, for example in the form of a projection of a fluid intended to expel these debris which fall into the tank 11. The fluid may be liquid or possibly air and this phase essentially aims to physically remove the solid elements from the plate so as to deliver a dirty plate to the machine but without significant deposits of solid matter.

The whole machine operates continuously and for this purpose, the plates, dishes, trays are conveyed by a drive means consisting of toothed belts 12,12 'cooperating with guide rails 13,13', 14,14 '. The articles are thus positioned flat and maintained in this position along an ascending inclined plane. The rails 13,13 ', 14,14' are simple fixed and passive supports allowing the upward sliding of the tableware such as 15.15 ', 16.16' plates.

The rails for example consist of fixed linear supports formed more particularly of semi-rigid extruded synthetic cords and offering a smooth outer wall with low friction coefficient, possibly supported in the lower position by a rigid rod such as a flat rod 17.17 'stainless steel (Figure 2).

The rails constitute simple sliding means making it possible to ensure the constant positioning of the plates along their upward course and for this purpose, the rails are arranged along a course in inclined plane forming an angle of the order of 15 to 20 °. with the horizontal.

Between two adjacent and receiving rails of a train of successive plates is arranged a notched drive belt 12 and 12 'which itself rests on a lower support 18 formed for example of a rigid rod with square section for example in stainless steel (Figures 2 and 3).

It can be seen that the plates are thus routed from their arrival at the downstream station 1 through the machine and they pass through the washing station 2 and the wet film elimination station 3.

According to the invention, the method and the machine which implements this method comprise a single wet phase carried out at station 2; at this station, water jets are sprayed from the upper nozzles 19 and lower 20 detergent at a temperature of the order of 60 ° C which reaches the upper surface and the lower surface of the plate 15; this operation is coupled to brushing from the rotary brush 21 and makes it possible to eliminate any deposit on the walls of the plate.

A wall 60 (Figure 6) separates the washing station from upstream and it has two lips 61,62 of elastically deformable material capable of lending itself to the passage of articles by marrying and scraping their upper and lower faces. This wall 60 keeps the water at the washing station.

The water flowing from this washing station joins the receiving tank 24 through the inclined planes 22, 23 through a screen 25, so that the water in the tank does not contain solid residues which have been retained by the screen 25; this water can be recycled by the pump 26 to the spray nozzles 19 and 20. The washing water is regularly renewed. The article which leaves the washing station is therefore clean but has on its surface a wet film of washing water. This water contains the active products (detergents and bactericides) according to an appropriate dosage and avoiding any excess, but it is clear that this residue or this wet film must be eliminated.

Unlike the previous devices in which the elimination was done with great energy reinforcement by a rinsing constituting in reality a dilution of the active products, followed by a drying resulting in concentrating the residues on the surface of the plate, the invention proceed by a physical elimination by rejecting by scraping the wet film in the direction of the gravity, the film being expelled in the form of droplets which join the washing tub 24.

In the context of the example carried out, an air knife projected from the upper nozzle 27 was used.

Symmetrically a lower nozzle 28 projects at the base of the plate an air flow in the form of a blade which scrapes and pushes towards the rear end, in the form of droplets which then fall back into the tank, the remaining film or wet film on the base of the plate.

The nozzles 27, 28 form ramps projecting an air flow forming a blade arranged in an inclined plane relative to the general plane of the plate at an angle slightly less than the perpendicular and of the order of 75 °.

The plates are then sent to the serving station where they are delivered by the toothed belt 12; this serving station can be an intermediate waiting station 29 where the individual plates enter by pushing the pawl 30 which is repositioned at the rear of the plate, this pawl being located at the end of the piston 31 maneuvered by the cylinder 32. The piston shown in dotted lines in the extended position and in solid lines in the retracted position is capable of bringing the plate outward, that is to say towards the re-stacking station.

At this re-stacking station is operated a descender consisting of a support train or hitch 33 mounted on one or two guide columns and operated by the piston rod 34 coming from the actuating cylinder vertical 35. The coupling 33 comprises a device for supporting and removing the plates shown in FIG. 5 and consisting of the two arms 36, 37 for supporting the plate 38 shown in the high position, in solid lines (and in the lower position and dotted lines).

The two arms are each associated with an actuating cylinder 39.40, so that the arms can be brought into the close position to support the plate and then moved apart to allow the plate to be deposited at the top of the stack.

All of the jacks 35, 39 and 40 are associated with a control and servo-control device (not shown) itself comprising contactors capable of detecting the presence of the plate 38 in the arrival position on the close arms 36.37, which controls the start of the cycle with lowering of the coupling 33 to the top of the stack 41; the stop is controlled by a contactor associated with the train 33 and coming for example in abutment on the upper plate 42, which causes the stop of the jack and the positioning at suitable height of the coupling 33; subsequently the two jacks 39 and 40 are brought into the spacing position so that the plate 38 is deposited on the upper plate 42; after which the train 33 can be raised with approximation of the arms 36 and 37 to return to the high position or start of the cycle.

The invention makes it possible to produce compact, fully automatic apparatus.

The spacing between the rails 13,13 ', 14,14' corresponds to an interval of less than half the smallest width dimension of the items of tableware, thus opposing the fall of an article between two rails.

The toothed belts 12,12 ′ are mounted on two end pulleys, one of which is a drive pulley 47, the belt thus being able to follow an upward path, being positioned between two fixed rails forming a guide path, and a reverse return path. lower, the notches being in position projecting outward to grip on the articles subjected to washing.

Figures 6,7,8 show a variant in which the machine is washing trays, which are routed in an ascending path, being guided and driven by a train of side rollers.

As can be seen more particularly in these figures, the machine comprises upstream a storage station for tableware in the dirty state and located under the recovery and displacement means (6,10,8); downstream, the machine comprises a storage station for clean tableware and each upstream and downstream storage station is capable of receiving a removable container 54 forming a cassette (for example mounted on rolling means) and in which can be positioned a stack of tableware arranged horizontally resting on each other; each container is thus able to be put in place at the upstream storage station to deliver dirty cutlery items picked up by the machine and the same container, once empty, can be brought to the downstream storage station to receive the cutlery items clean delivered by the machine, each container also being a storage cassette for articles either in the dirty state or in the clean state.

Claims (9)

1- Process for mechanical washing of plasterware or flat ware such as plates, saucers or the like, conveyed continuously, characterized in that the articles subjected to a wet phase by rotary brushing under spraying with detergent water, are then subjected at a phase of physical elimination of the wet residue by projection of an air space along the entire surface of the articles, maintained in an inclined position, the air space chasing the residual liquid film in the direction of gravity. 2 - Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the articles are conveyed throughout the journey in an inclined upward position, both during the brushing phase under projection of detergent water and during the elimination phase of the remanent wet film, preferably the upward conveying angle of the articles being between 10 and 30 °. 3 - Device for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 or 2 above, of the type comprising a brushing station 1 provided with means for spraying liquid detergent water, a reserve (24) of water detergent supplied by the return by gravity of the water coming from said wet brushing station, the recycling means (26) of the water from this reserve to the means (19,20) for spraying detergent water, characterized in that that it comprises downstream of said wet brushing station means (27, 28) for projecting an air knife capable of scraping and physically removing the film of residual moisture on the surface of the articles. 4 - Device according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises routing means (12,12 ', 13,14), articles being washed and elimination of the film of residual moisture, according to a ascending plane forming an angle between 10 and 30 ° with the horizontal and the air projection means consist of two ramps (27,28) arranged transversely relative to the path of the items of tableware (16), respectively at above and below said articles, these ramps being supplied with air under pressure and being capable of projecting an air flow in the form of a blade, attacking the ascending surface of said articles (16) at an angle of between 70 and 80 ° relative to on the inclined surface of said articles, the projection of the air taking place in the direction of gravity and by driving backwards, in the direction opposite to the upward movement of the articles, the film or film of surface moisture. 5 - Device according to claim 4, characterized in that the conveying means consist on the one hand of linear fixed supports (13,13 ', 14; 14') coated with a lining of material with low coefficient of friction such as an extruded plastic cord, arranged longitudinally and in an inclined plane to ensure the upward path of the articles (15,15 ', 16,16') subjected to washing, these parallel linear supports being separated from each other with an interval of less than half the smallest dimension in width of the items of tableware and thus constituting a longitudinal gap guide path, and the conveying means are also made up of movable members (12 , 12 ') training and suitable for engaging the flat cutlery pieces (15,15 ', 16,16') to ensure the upward movement along the longitudinal guide path formed by the fixed linear members. 6 -A device according to claim 5, characterized in that the drive members ensuring the upward movement of the items of tableware, consist of at least one toothed belt (12,12 ') closed on itself mounted on two pulleys end including a drive pulley (47), the belt being able to follow an upward path being positioned between two fixed linear supports forming a guide path and a lower reverse return path, the notches being in position projecting outwardly take hold of items being washed. 7 - Device for the continuous washing of articles of tableware such as trays, of the type comprising a washing station (1) provided with water spraying means, and at least one station for removing the wet film (2) provided air projection means, the device also comprising means for scrolling the trays routed successively in the different stations, characterized by the combination of the following elements: a) The device comprises, upstream of the washing station, a storage station (1) provided with storage means (2) of dirty trays stacked horizontally one on the other and gripping and displacement means (6,10 , 8) of each plate individually for its introduction into the cycle and its recovery by said scrolling means, b) The device comprises, downstream from the station for removing the wet film, a storage station (4) for clean trays, capable of receiving the trays placed in a stacking position horizontally one on the other, at the end of route, the trays being delivered to the downstream storage station by said scrolling means, c) The device comprises a plurality of removable containers (54), each forming a cassette (in particular mounted on rolling means), and being receivers of a stack of horizontal plates resting one on the other, each container being suitable to be suitably positioned at the storage stations (1,4), each container (54) being able to be brought, filled with stacked dirty trays, to the upstream storage station and to be removed, once emptied from its trays, and each empty container is able to be put in place at the downstream storage station to receive the clean trays. 8 - Washing device according to one of claims 3 to 7, characterized in that the means for gripping individual items of tableware for their routing to the washing station and their recovery by scrolling means, are constituted by a hitch (6) guided on rails (8) and movable along a substantially horizontal path by a first jack (59), the hitch comprising a gripping base movable vertically relative to said hitch, by a vertical actuating jack (9) , the base being provided with individual gripping means, such as vacuum suction cups (10). 9 - Device according to one of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that it comprises downstream of the station (2) for physical removal of the wet film on the washed objects, a station for receiving said dry articles and supplied by means drive such as the toothed belt, and this station comprises means for re-stacking consisting of a descender mounted to slide along a generally vertical axis between the level of arrival of the items of cutlery conveyed by the drive members ( toothed belt) and the instantaneous top of the stack (41) in formation, and the descender comprises a support capable of receiving in the high position the clean item of tableware and of supporting this item along the vertical path descending to the top of the stack (41) where the support is able to be placed in the erasing position relative to the item of tableware to deposit the latter at the top of the stack, the support being associated for this purpose with operating means such ascylinders.

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