Comminuting liquid swirler

In a dishwasher having a pump for supplying washing liquid to a spray system for cleaning dishes and a centrifugal separator for separating particles from the washing liquid as said liquid passes from said spray system to said pump, a centrifugal motion imparting mechanism for said separator comprising:

• an impeller having a plate wall provided with a plurality of flow conducting openings, said impeller having a flange extending substantially perpendicularly to said plate wall to form with said plate wall a cup-shaped member, said cup-shaped member opening into the flow of liquid passing to said pump;
• a shaft;
• motor means for rotating said shaft to rotate said impeller and thereby impart a swirling motion to said liquid flowing into said cup-shaped member and through said openings;
• and
• a stationary resilient finger closely adjacent said plate wall for engaging and holding large particles carried by said rotating plate wall to cause the large particles to be chopped by the action of the rotating wall openings on the held particles.

In a dishwasher having a pump for supplying washing liquid to a spray system for cleaning dishes and a centrifugal separator for separating particles from the washing liquid as said liquid passes from said spray system to said pump, a centrifugal liquid swirling and particle chopping mechanism for said separator comprising:

• a dish-shaped member having a peripheral sidewall, and a bottom wall provided with perforations sized to allow only the passage of particles that can pass through said pump, said sidewall effectively preventing the passage of particles around the periphery of said dish-shaped member;
• motive means for rotating said dish-shaped member to produce a swirling motion in said washing liquid;
• and
• a flexible particle holding member closely adjacent said bottom wall for holding large particles stationary against said rotating bottom wall, said rotating perforations defining means interacting with said holding member to chop said large particles to a size sufficiently small to allow passage of said chopped particles through said bottom wall perforations to said separator.