JPH10202132A - Disposer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the noise level of a disposer to be installed in a sink in a kitchen constantly to a specified value or lower by detecting noise generated at the time of pulverizing garbage and controlling the rotation speed of a motor based on the comparison result between the level of the detection signal and a standard level. SOLUTION: The garbage thrown to a disposer 1 through an inlet 3 opened in the bottom part of a sink drops to a pulverizing chamber 4. Then, when a motor 6 is turned on and a turn table in the pulverizing chamber 4 is rotated, the garbage is hit against fixed blades 10 in the inner circumference of the inner cylinder 2C1 and at the same time ground by swinging hammers 8, 8. After that, the pulverized garbage is discharged together with water flow through a discharging pipe 11. At that time, the noise at the time of pulverization is detected by a microphone 15 and during the time when pulverization work is carried out, it is judged whether the noise exceeds 80dB, which is a standard noise value, or higher level consecutively for three seconds or longer and in the case of YES, the output of the motor 6 is lowered by 10%.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a disposer attached to a kitchen sink, and more particularly to a disposer capable of controlling noise generated during crushing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown schematically in FIG. 8, this type of disposer is a crushing device 51 which is driven by a motor M to rotate garbage introduced into a main body 50 with a water flow in the direction of an arrow. And then discharged from the discharge pipe 52. The crushing device 51 generally includes a table 54 provided with swing hammers 53 to 53 on its upper surface, which is driven to rotate by a motor M, and a fixed blade 55 arranged along the outer periphery of the table 54.
The garbage is beaten to the fixed blade 55 by the centrifugal force, and the garbage is crushed by the swing hammers 53. Due to the structure of the crushing device 51, considerable noise is generated at the time of crushing, and various means for suppressing the noise at the time of crushing have been conventionally proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-163900 proposes a configuration in which noise is absorbed and blocked by using a vibration-proof rubber.
Also, JP-A-8-168687 and JP-A-8-20
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6534 proposes a configuration in which a noise seal is provided by providing a water seal at an input port of a disposer.

[0003]

There is a limit to the reduction of noise due to the above-described sound absorption and cutoff. Particularly when the noise is originally loud such as when a hard object is crushed, the noise is reduced. Even if it was somewhat reduced, the annoyance did not change much and the effect was poor.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a disposer for detecting a noise generated when crushing garbage or the like by a crushing mechanism driven by a motor, and detecting the noise by the sensor. A control device that compares a signal level with a reference level and controls the number of rotations of the motor based on a difference between these levels. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the noise is detected by a sensor, for example, a microphone, and the rotation speed of the motor is controlled based on the detected signal, that is, the noise value. If it exceeds, reduce the rotation speed of the motor,
The noise level can always be suppressed below a certain value. Therefore, regardless of whether the material to be crushed by the disposer is soft or hard, noise can be reliably suppressed, and troubles due to noise can be prevented beforehand. Because it can be used, there is a great advantage that it can be used in a multi-family housing without any problem, and the owner has a high sense of security. In the disposer according to the second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the control device has a configuration in which the rotational speed of the motor is reduced when the level of the detection signal exceeds the reference level for a predetermined time or more. According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the level of the detection signal instantaneously exceeds the reference level due to a foreign substance or the like in the crushed object during the crushing, the rotation speed of the motor is not reduced and the reference level is kept for a predetermined time or more. When the number of rotations exceeds the limit, the rotation speed of the motor is reduced for the first time. For this reason, it is possible to prevent instability in operation due to frequent rotation speed control and reduction in durability of the motor. Furthermore, the disposer according to the third aspect of the present invention has a configuration in the first aspect, wherein the control device stops the motor when the level of the detection signal is constant for a predetermined time. According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the processing by the disposer is completed, the level of the detection signal becomes a constant level without further lowering. Therefore, such a state is detected and the motor is stopped. It is possible to stop the motor after the processing is completely completed, and there is an advantage that the motor continues to rotate even though the processing is already completed.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. A main body 2 of a disposer 1 whose internal structure is partially cut away in FIG. 1 shows an upper cylindrical portion 2A having an upper opening shape forming an inlet 3 for garbage and the like, and an intermediate cylindrical portion 2B connected to a lower portion thereof. And a lower casing portion 2C composed of an inner cylinder 2C1 connected to a lower portion thereof and an outer cylinder 2C2 surrounding the inner cylinder 2C1.

A garbage crushing chamber 4 is formed inside the inner cylinder 2C1 of the lower casing portion 2C, and a soundproof material 5 is provided outside the inner cylinder 2C1 with the outer cylinder 2C2. . The outer cylinder 2C2 extends below the inner cylinder 2C1 and accommodates the motor 6 in a vertical configuration.
A turntable 7 arranged in the crushing chamber 4 is connected to an output shaft 6 a of the motor 6.
A pair of swing hammers 8 are pivotally mounted via pins 9 at the center of rotation, that is, at a position appropriately spaced from the output shaft 6 a of the motor 6. The inner cylinder 2C surrounding the turntable 7
A fixed blade 10 is attached to the inner periphery of the fixed blade 1.

The inner cylinder 2C1 of the lower casing portion 2C
Is connected to a discharge pipe 11 for discharging crushed garbage to the outside together with the water flow, and a power cord 12 for supplying power to the motor 6 extends from the lower end of the outer cylinder 2C2 to the outside.

Next, as shown in the figure, the intermediate cylindrical portion 2B has a diameter through which a lid 13 for pushing garbage into the crushing chamber 4 can pass. Is formed with a recess 14, in which a microphone 15 is mounted. The microphone 15 is electrically connected to a controller 16 mounted outside the intermediate cylinder 2B. The controller 16 is connected to the motor 6 by a cord 17, and constitutes a control device for controlling the rotation of the motor 6 based on a signal from the microphone 15, and the control by the controller 16 will be described later.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show a state in which the above-described disposer 1 is mounted on a counter K. FIG. As shown in the figure, the disposer 1 is attached to the lower part of the sink S of the counter K, and the main body 2 described above is attached.
The opening 3 of the upper cylindrical portion 2A is open at the bottom of the sink S. The power cord 12 of the motor 6 is connected to an outlet C provided on the side plate P of the counter K. A faucet W is provided on the upper surface of the counter K.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described below with reference to the control flow chart of the controller 16 shown in FIG. When the faucet W is opened and the garbage is thrown into the inlet 3 of the disposer 1 which is opened at the bottom of the sink S of the counter K with a water flow, the garbage passes from the upper cylindrical portion 2A through the intermediate cylindrical portion 2B into the crushing chamber 4. To fall. Next, when the lid 13 is pushed in, the switch of the motor 6 is turned on, and this is the first step S1 in FIG. When the switch is turned on in step S1, the controller 16 detects a sound from the microphone 15 in step S2. That is, when the motor 6 starts, the turntable 7 disposed in the crushing chamber 4 rotates, and the garbage is beaten by the centrifugal force to the fixed blade 10 on the inner periphery of the inner cylinder 2C1, and the swing hammers 8, 8 are respectively moved. The garbage rocks around the pin 9 and the garbage is crushed. The garbage crushed by such smashing and grinding is discharged from an outer peripheral portion of the crushing chamber 4 to a discharge pipe 1.
1 and is discharged to the outside together with the water flow.

While the crushing operation is being performed, the controller 16 determines in step S3 whether or not a sound having a reference noise value of 80 dB or more continues for 3 seconds or more. To reduce the output of the motor 6 by 10%, and return to step S3 again. That is,
Since the noise fluctuates violently depending on the garbage crushing state, if the rotation control of the motor 6 is performed faithfully to such fluctuations, the operation becomes unstable and the durability of the motor 6 may be significantly reduced. There is. In the present embodiment, the output of the motor 6 is reduced when high noise is continuously generated for a predetermined time or more, so that the operation is stabilized and the overload on the motor 6 can be prevented. Further, by such control, when a noise suddenly rises due to the entry of a foreign substance such as a spoon, for example, the rotation of the motor 6 is gradually reduced and finally stopped. Next, if the determination in step S3 is NO, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not the same noise value (80 dB or less) continues for 5 seconds or more. If the determination is YES, the operation of the motor 6 is stopped in step S6. If the determination is NO, the current output is maintained in step S7 and the process returns to step S2. In other words, if the same noise level continues for a long time,
Detects when crushing of garbage is completed, or when crushing is not possible due to idling, such as when watermelon skin is thrown in as garbage, and when crushing is completed or crushing cannot be further performed As a result, the motor 6 is automatically stopped, so that idling of the motor 6 and waste of power can be prevented. Note that a triac dimmer circuit can be used for the controller 16 that controls the output of the motor 6 as described above.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing changes in noise when the disposer 1 according to the above embodiment is used, with time (sec) plotted on the horizontal axis and noise (dB) plotted on the vertical axis. As shown in the figure, a sound of 80 dB or more is generated for the first few seconds (in order to determine whether a sound of 80 dB or more continues for 3 seconds or more in step S3), but thereafter, the sound is suppressed to 80 dB or less. FIG. 6 is a graph showing a change in noise in the case of the conventional disposer for comparison, in which a sound of 80 dB or more is generated for a long time as shown in FIG. It will be understood that No. 1 provides a significant noise prevention effect. FIG.
FIG. 3 shows an ideal graph in a case where a sound of 80 dB or more is not generated during the first few seconds.

In the above embodiment, the output of the motor 6 is reduced when a sound of 80 dB or more continues for 3 seconds or more. In addition to such control, for example, the noise value is 80 dB or less. In such a case, control for increasing the output of the motor 6 may be performed. By performing such control, the time required for crushing can be reduced while maintaining the noise value at 80 dB or less. In the above embodiment, the noise is detected by the microphone 15 and the controller 1
6, the output of the motor 6 is controlled. However, a vibration sensor may be provided instead of the microphone 15, and the output of the motor 6 may be controlled by the controller 16 based on the level of the vibration. Further, in the above embodiment, the controller 16 controls the output of the motor 6 to reduce the noise.
It is also possible to provide a speaker at an appropriate place toward the crushing chamber 4 and cancel the crushing noise by calculating a sound having the opposite phase to the sound detected from the microphone 15 by the controller 16 and outputting the sound from the speaker. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposer according to an embodiment of the present invention, partially cut away.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state where the disposer of FIG. 1 is attached to a counter.

FIG. 3 is a side view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of control by a controller.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a change in noise when the disposer of FIG. 1 is used.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a change in noise when a conventional disposer is used.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a change in noise caused by an ideal disposer.

FIG. 8 is a cutaway perspective view showing a schematic structure of a conventional disposer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 disposer 6 motor 15 microphone 16 controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A sensor for detecting noise generated during crushing of garbage and the like by a crushing mechanism driven by a motor, a level of a signal detected by the sensor and a reference level are compared, and based on a difference between these levels, A disposer comprising: a control device that controls the number of rotations of a motor. 2. The disposer according to claim 1, wherein the control device reduces the rotation speed of the motor when the level of the detection signal exceeds the reference level for a predetermined time or more. 3. The disposer according to claim 1, wherein the control device stops the motor when a level of the detection signal is constant for a predetermined time.