US3547360A - Waste disposer rotor with yieldably biased teeth - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent 1111 3,547,360

[ 72] Inventor George 0. Sherman, Jr. [56] References Cited Prairie village, Kans- UNITED STATES PATENTS fg' g z f 2,220,729 11/1940 Powers 241/4608 Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 471,769, r z f f July 13, 1965, Patent No. 3,436,027. [45] Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Primary Examiner-Robert C. Riordon [73] Assignee The Salvajor Company Assistant Examiner-Donald G. Kelly Kansas City, Mo. AIt0rneySchmidt, Johnson, Hovey, Williams & Chase a corporation of Missouri ABSTRACT: A rotor for a waste disposer comprising a relatively heavy base presenting a peripheral, upwardly extending wall and inturned lip defining an inwardly facing groove.

a g Grinding teeth having integral flanges projecting outwardly [S2] U.S. Cl 241/ 191, from the sides of the teeth are carried by the base so that the 241/4608, 241/29l major forces directed against the teeth are transmitted to the [54] WASTE DISPOSER ROTOR WITH YIELDABLY [51] lnt.Cl. ..B02c 13/28, base through the flanges. Resilient members engage each B02c 18/40 tooth respectively to yieldably oppose movement of.the teeth [50] Field of Search away from their normal-grinding positions and a retainer plate 24l/(Rubber Elements in Mills Digest), 46.1,46.0 secures the teeth and resilient members in position on the 46.08, l02, 191 2, 257,259,291, l94,46, 193, 277 base.

PATENTED um 519m 354713 0 Fig.2.

INVENTOR George 0. Sherman Jr.

BY M

NEYS.

WASTE DISPOSER ROTOR WITH YIELDABLY BIASED TEETH CROSS REFERENCES This is a continuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 471,769, filed July 13, 1965, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,436,027, issued Apr. 1, 1969, and entitled Waste Disposer."

This invention relates to waste disposer construction and, more particularly, to a novel rotor for a waste disposer. Conventionally, the rotor carries a plurality of cutting or grinding teeth which cooperate with an annular shredding ring for comminuting the waste material so that the latter may be disposed through the sewer. The teeth normally are situated relatively close to the shredder ring. Consequently,-a problem often encountered in the operation of disposers of this type is the jamming of the rotor as a result of relatively hard material becoming wedged between a tooth and the ring. Various means have been suggested for alleviating the tendency of the rotors to become jammed. For example, the grinding teeth are often swingably mounted on the rotor so that they may pivot away from the grinding position when they encounter objects capable of jamming the rotor. f

The swingable mounting of disposer grinding teeth detracts from the effectiveness of the disposer. Also, the pivot means used in swingably mounting the teeth to the rotor requires complete disassembly of the unit to repair or replace worn or broken teeth. The pivotal coupling of the swingable teeth to the rotor is inherently weak and the teethare prone to break away from the rotor under the influence'of stresses imparted to the teeth during operation of the disposer.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a rotor wherein the teeth are firmly supported against tilting or twisting stresses during operation, yet the teeth are permitted to move away from the shredder ring under the influence of stresses which would otherwise jam the disposer.

It is another object of the invention'to provide a waste disposer rotor constructed in a manner wherein the grinding teeth are supported by a relatively heavy base member during operation so that the forces from the teeth do not distort or damage the other components of the rotor.

it is also an object of the invention to provide a rotor having grinding teeth which are relatively firmly held in normaloperating position but which will readily yield to avoid or release jamming forces.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide novelgrinding teeth configured to distribute the waste material evenly and uniformly to the grinding surfaces of all of the teeth and at a rate which eliminates the tendency to overload or jam any one tooth.

These and other objects of the invention will be further explained or will become apparent from the specification, claims and drawing.

ln the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a rotor embodying the principles of this invention, parts being broken away to reveal details of construction;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, vertical cross-sectional view through a waste disposer equipped with the rotor of H6. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the teeth used in the rotor.

The waste disposer is illustrated fragmentarily in FIG. 2 of the drawing and includes a generally cylindrical housing 12 provided with an annular shredder ring 14 mounted in the upper portion of housing 12 immediately beneath a neck section 16. The latter is adapted to be coupled-with a sink or other waste receiver so that garbage and other kitchen wastes may be flushed into the disposer 10.

The rotor 18 embodying the principles of this invention is mounted within housing 12 and is secured to the shaft 20 of an electric motor 22. Rotor 18 comprises a circular, irregularly shaped, relatively heavy base 24. Base 24 is preferably cast as a homogeneous unit and includes a depending skirt 26 disposed in partial surrounding relationship to the'upper end of motor 22 to provide an air seal to protect motor 22 from water and other liquids handled by disposer 10.

Rotor 18 includes an integral, annular, peripheral rim 28 including an upright wall 30 and an integral, inturned lip 32 overlying the uppermost surface 34 of base 24 at the outer peripheral margin of the latter. Lip 32 and wall 30 define an annular, inwardly facing groove 36. The latter is adapted to receive the complemental outer edge 38 of outwardly projecting flanges 40 on each side of and integral with a tooth 42 carried by rotor 18. It may be seen in H0. 1 that rotor 18 carries four identical teeth 42, each constructed as illustrated best in FIG. 3.

Each tooth 42 comprises an upwardly extending body portion 44, the opposed lateral faces of portion 44 sloping or tapering toward each other as the innermost end of the tooth 42 is approached as illustrated clearly in FIG. 3. The outermost surface of body 44 is the grinding surface and is disposed immediately opposite the cooperating grinding surface of shredder ring 14 so that the waste material is comminuted between the grinding surfaces as the best teeth are rotated during rotation of rotor 18 by motor 22.

Each tooth 42 is provided with an elongated rib 46 integral with and projecting downwardly from the bottom of body 44 beyond the lowermost surfaces of flanges 40. It may be seen in FIG. 2 of the drawing that the upper surface 34 of base 24 is provided with a channel 48 for each rib 46, the latter being complementally received within its corresponding channel for lending stability to the tooth.

Rim 28 is notched to permit each tooth 42 to project radially outwardly from rotor 18 and into relatively closely spaced relationship from shredder ring 14 during normal operation of the disposer. An elongated member 50 of resilient material is received between an outwardly facing shoulder of an upward annular projection 52 and the inner surface of each tooth 42. Projection 52 is integral with base 24. It may be seen in P16. 1 that there is a separate member 50 provided for each tooth 42. The members 50 may be formed of resilient material such as gum rubber or the like, and the members 50'normally hold the teeth 42 in their operating positions. However, when the teeth 42 encounter forces which might otherwise jam the rotor, the yieldable nature of the resilient material 50 permit the tooth to shift radially inwardly to release the jamming force and permit continued rotation of rotor 18.

A retainer or cover plate 54 is bolted to base 24 in overlying relationship to members 50 and the major part of the outwardly extending flanges 40 of the teeth 42. The plate 54 is provided with radially extending, elongated slots 56 as illustrated best in FIG. 1. Slots 56 cooperate with the ribs 46 and channels 48 to define the path of shifting movement of each tooth 42 toward and away from its operating position. It will be noted that the slots 56 are longer than necessary to accommodate the teeth 42. However, an upwardly extending boss 58 integral with each member 50 projects upwardly into each slot 56 immediately behind the corresponding tooth 42 to plug the gap between plate 54 and the innermost ends of the teeth 42. Manifestly, boss 58 is yieldable to permit inward shifting of the teeth 42 as mentioned above. Projections 60 integral with plate 54 provide impeller means for partially comminuting and for directing waste material outwardly of the rotor to the grinding surfaces.

In operation, the material of members 50 yieldably hold the teeth in their grinding positions. The outermost arcuate edges of the flanges 40 are received within the corresponding portions of groove 36 so that the overhanging lip 32 prevents any twisting of the tooth. The forces generated in the comminuting of waste material are transmitted from the tooth directly into the relatively heavy casting or base 24 which is capable of withstanding the forces without a tendency to distort or to become damaged. Relatively little force is directed against the lighter cover plate 54.

The spacing between the adjacent members 50 permits the latter to be installed between projection 52 and the proximal tooth by the application of tensile forces to each end of a member 50. This narrows the member so that it may be positioned easily, whereupon subsequent release of the member places the latter in compression between projection 52 and against tooth 42. Since boss 58 is provided primarily as a filler, it need notbe compressed against tooth 42. The compressive forces of member 50 hold the grinding tooth relatively rigidly until, of course, the tooth encounters forces sufficient to jam or break the rotor whereupon the tooth is permitted to shift by virtue of the deformation of the material of member 50. Such shifting of the tooth immediately releases the forces to obviate jamming or to prevent breakage or damaging of the'rotor.

The sloping surfaces of body 44 provide that the leading surface of each tooth is tapered rearwardly as the innermost end of the tooth is approached. This permitsa portion of the waste material which engages the leading surface of the tooth to flow inwardly and rearwardly around the tooth. Such flow prevents the teeth from becoming overloaded as a result of the grinding of the material to the outer periphery of the rotor under the influence of centrifugal force/Consequently, the excess material is permitted to flow past, the inner end of each t'ooth thus equalizing the load on each tooth during the grinding operation.

The importance of the integral flanges 40 of the teeth 42 should not be overlooked. These flanges provide lever arms extending outwardly in each direction from the centerline of the tooth to resist any twisting or bending forces acting upon the tooth. Accordingly, the teeth are normally in their proper working positions and only move therefrom when jamming or damaging forces are encountered. Should. the rotor become jammed, it is merely necessary to reverse the direction of motor 22 and the resilient forces exerted by members 50 permit sufficient withdrawal of the teeth to release the jam. Rotor I8 is constructed so that the disposer may operate in the reverse direction with no loss of efficiency whatsoever. In this connection, it is to be no'tedthat each side of each tooth 42 is symmetrical withthe other side so that the leading surface of each tooth is tapered rearwardly regardless of the direction of rotation of the rotor.

l claim:

A waste disposer rotor comprising: a rotatable base having an upper surface; a peripheral rim extending upwardly from the surface, said rim haying an inwardly facing groove; a grinding tooth shiftably carried on said upper surface; flange means integral with the tooth and .extending into said groove, the rim having a notch to permit projecting of the tooth from the base during grinding, the proximal edge of the flange means being received within the groove when the .tooth is in its grinding position for stabilizing the latter;

a resilient member carried by the base and engaging the tooth for yieldably biasing the latter into said grinding position; and

means carried by the base for securing the tooth and said member to the base.

2. The invention of claim 1; said base including an upwardly extending projection presenting an outwardly facing shoulder, the member being interposed between the shoulder and the tooth.

3. The invention of claim 1, wherein said securing means includes a plate: said plate having an elongated slot extending radially of the rotor and aligned with the notch of said rim; said tooth being received through the slot, the latter being longer than the. corresponding portion of the tooth to permit limited shifting of the latter longitudinally of the slot toward and away from said grinding position.

4. The invention of claim 3: there being a plurality of teeth carried by the base; said base having a notch and said plate having a slot for each tooth respectively.

5. he invention of claim 4, wherein said flange means includes a flange for, each side of the tooth respectively and integral therewith: each flange extending outwardly from the corresponding side of the tooth; said groove in the rim being arcuate, the proximal edge of eachflange being complemental with the corresponding portion ofsaid groove.

6. The invention of claim 5: there being an elongated channel in said upper surface of the base for each toothrespectively; each channel being longitudinally aligned with the corresponding slot in said plate; and a rib on each tooth, integral therewith, said rib being received in the corresponding channel to limit relative movementbetweenthe base and said tooth to thelongitudinal direction of said channel.

7'. The invention of claim 4, wherein said member includes an upwardly projecting, resilient boss extending into the slot behind said tooth to yieldably resist movement of the tooth along the slot in the direction away from said grinding position.

8. The invention ofelairnl, wherein said tooth includes an upwardly projecting, radially elongated body, said body having an upright, leading face disposed to engage waste materialduring rotation of, therotor saiddeading face tapering rearwardly as the radially innermost end of said body. is approached, whereby to permit inward movement of waste material along said tapered face during operation of the disposer.

9. The invention of claim 8, wherein said tooth is provided with a second face on the opposite side of said body from said leading face: said second face being tapered toward said leading faceas the radially innermost end of the body is approached; whereby topermit said inward movement of the waste material upon rotation of the base in either direction.

Images