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US 8,464,970 B2Granted
Under-sink waste processing appliance
AssigneeWhirlpool Corporation
InventorsScott J. Ceru, Andrew Deakin, Suzanne G. Howard, Martin J. Kay, Peter Riering-Czekalla, Altay J. Sendil, Casey J. Tubman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An under-sink waste processing appliance includes a waste separator which extracts liquid from organic waste and passes such extracted liquid to a residential drain line. The remaining solid, in the form of organic pulp, is dried in a dryer and deposited in a removable collection receptacle.
Claims17
An apparatus for processing organic waste from a sink positioned in a countertop, comprising:
- a waste separator comprising (i) a first waste inlet coupled to a drain of the sink, (ii) a second waste inlet coupled to a waste-receiving slot located in the countertop, (iii) a motor-driven cutter operable to cut organic waste received through the first waste inlet and the second waste inlet, (iv) a liquid outlet for dispelling liquid extracted from organic waste during operation of the motor-driven cutter, and (v) a pulp outlet for dispelling pulp extracted from organic waste during operation of the motor-driven cutter, the pulp outlet being fluidly isolated from the liquid outlet,
- a dryer comprising (i) a pulp inlet coupled to the pulp outlet of the waste separator, (ii) a drying chamber positioned to receive pulp advanced through the pulp inlet, (iii) a heating element operable to heat and dehydrate pulp positioned in the drying chamber to generate dried solid waste, and (iv) a dried waste outlet for dispelling dried solid waste from the drying chamber, and
- a removable collection receptacle positioned to receive dried solid waste expelled from the dried waste outlet of the dryer.
A domestic kitchen assembly, comprising:
- a kitchen sink positioned in a countertop, the kitchen sink having a drain,
- a faucet operable to fill the kitchen sink with water,
- a waste separator comprising (i) a first waste inlet coupled to the drain of the kitchen sink, (ii) a second waste inlet coupled to a waste-receiving slot located in the countertop, (iii) a motor-driven cutter operable to cut organic waste received through the first waste inlet and the second waste inlet, (iv) a liquid outlet for dispelling water from the kitchen sink and liquid extracted from organic waste during operation of the motor-driven cutter, the liquid outlet being configured to be coupled to a drain, and (v) a pulp outlet for dispelling pulp extracted from organic waste during operation of the motor-driven cutter, the pulp outlet being fluidly isolated from the liquid outlet, and
- a dryer comprising (i) a pulp inlet coupled to the pulp outlet of the waste separator, (ii) a drying chamber positioned to receive pulp advanced through the pulp inlet, (iii) a heating element operable to heat and dehydrate pulp positioned in the drying chamber to generate dried solid waste, and (iv) a dried waste outlet for dispelling dried solid waste from the drying chamber.
1 more element
A method for processing organic waste from a kitchen sink positioned in a countertop, comprising:
- advancing organic waste through a drain of the kitchen sink and into a waste separator positioned below the kitchen sink,
- advancing organic waste through a waste receiving slot located in the countertop and into the waste separator,
- operating a motor-driven cutter positioned in the waste separator to generate pulp and a separated liquid from the organic waste,
- advancing the pulp from the waste separator to a dryer,
- draining the separated liquid from the waste separator to a drain via a fluid path which bypasses the dryer, and
- heating the pulp in the dryer to form a dried solid waste.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.