Apparatuses and methods for compacting waste
AssigneeATOP S.p.A.
InventorMarco Santandrea
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and a method for treating organic waste, like the waste that is eliminated in kitchens, foresee containing the waste (15) to be treated, grinding the waste, compacting the ground waste and exerting a squeezing action to remove residual liquids. A screw device (17) is foreseen which rotates inside a casing (18) around a longitudinal axis to convey and compact the ground waste against a closure (19) which moves during compacting. A solution for cleaning the apparatus is also foreseen to remove remaining any waste, when the apparatus needs to stay empty for longer periods of inactivity.
Claims15
Apparatus for treating food waste in a kitchen environment, the apparatus comprising:
- a container for receiving the waste to be treated;
- cutting blades for grinding said waste to obtain ground waste;
- a worm screw disposed inside a casing, said worm screw rotating around a longitudinal axis for conveying and compacting said ground waste against a wall of a closure;
- a cover that guides movement of said closure inside said casing with respect to said worm screw during compacting due to the compression force exerted by said worm screw, while preventing discharging of compacted waste;
- a force dampener that applies an opposing force on said closure during movement of said closure;
- a drive mechanism that removes said closure from said casing to form an exit opening at an outlet end of said casing to allow discharge of compacted waste;
- and
- a drive assembly that displaces said worm screw parallel to the longitudinal axis toward the exit opening to discharge said compacted waste out of said casing.
A method for treating food waste in a kitchen environment, said method comprising:
- containing the waste to be ground;
- grinding the waste using cutting blades to form ground waste;
- rotating a worm screw inside a casing around a longitudinal axis for conveying and compacting ground waste against a wall of a closure;
- causing a movement of said closure inside said casing with respect to said worm screw during compacting against said closure resulting from compression force exerted by said worm screw against the closure, while preventing discharging of compacted waste;
- opposing the movement of said closure with respect to the worm screw;
- removing the closure from the casing to form an exit opening at an outlet end of the casing to discharge compacted waste;
- and
- displacing said worm screw parallel to the longitudinal axis toward the exit opening during the discharging to push the compacted waste out of said casing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.