Patent Application
20230233050
The present disclosure relates, in general, to a cleaning device and, more specifically relates, to a cleaning device used to clean kitchen tools.
In a commercial or domestic kitchen, time is the essence. Keeping food preparation surfaces and utensils clean and sanitary is often a conflicting goal, since cleaning is a time consuming task. In particular, kitchen tools, such as knives, spoons, spatula, chopping board, and cutlery, must be kept absolutely clean and free from pathogens, which are almost universally present in uncooked meat and seafood, organic produce, and direct farm supplies. Multiple kitchen tools are often used in cooking process, and hence there is a need to wash them before and after every use to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. However, washing of multiple kitchen tools may disturb flow of other work in the kitchen and may lead to a high water consumption in order to eliminate presence of any sticky substance on the kitchen tools.
Swedish Patent Publication 1830122 discloses a dishwasher for washing kitchen tools, where water, steam, or detergent is supplied soon after a kitchen tool is introduced into the dishwasher. Further, a United Kingdom Patent Publication 2459298 discloses a cutlery cleaner that includes oscillating hard sponge pad cleaning system which contacts surface of the kitchen tool to perform cleaning process. U.S. Pat. Publication 2003/131426 discloses a cleaning container that includes a set of brushes which are actuated to rotary motion when the kitchen tool is inserted into the cleaning container. However, these reference fail to disclose features which aid in achieving an efficient cleaning of kitchen tools besides providing easy maintenance of the cleaning device and reducing consumption of water.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a cleaning device includes a body defining an inlet aperture configured to receive a kitchen tool therethrough, a first infinite belt assembly disposed along a first plane parallel to a longitudinal plane of the body and a second infinite belt assembly disposed along a second plane parallel to the longitudinal plane of the body. The second infinite belt assembly is positioned proximal to the first infinite belt assembly and defines a gap therebetween to receive the kitchen tool. Each of the first infinite belt assembly and the second infinite belt assembly includes a plurality of bristles extending from respective outer surfaces to contact the kitchen tool. The cleaning device also includes a water supply manifold to supply water onto at least one of the kitchen tool, the first infinite belt assembly, the second infinite belt assembly, and the gap. A drive unit of the cleaning device counter rotates the first infinite belt assembly with respect to the second infinite belt assembly.
In an embodiment, the cleaning device includes a corrugated portion defined on peripheral internal surfaces of the body. At least one of the first infinite belt assembly and the second infinite belt assembly is positioned proximal to the corrugated portion such that the corrugated portion contacts the plurality of bristles of the first infinite belt assembly or the second infinite belt assembly during operation of the cleaning device. In an embodiment, the cleaning device further includes a solenoid valve to regulate water supply to the water supply manifold. In an embodiment, the bristles of each of the first infinite belt assembly and the second infinite belt assembly is made of one of silicone or ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber. In an embodiment, the cleaning device is used in a dishwasher.
The present disclosure provides an improved cleaning device for cleaning kitchen tools. Particularly, the first infinite belt assembly and the second infinite belt assembly offers a large surface area coverage for large spatula or multiple tools in one go. The corrugated portion on the peripheral internal surface of the body provides a self-cleaning mechanism for the cleaning device, where clutter stuck to the bristles are removed when the bristles contact the corrugated portion during rotation of the first infinite belt assembly and the second infinite belt assembly. As such, cleaning of the kitchen tools and cleaning of the bristles are simultaneously performed, thereby largely reducing consumption of water.
These and other aspects and feature of non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific non-limiting embodiments of the disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
A better understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure (including alternatives and/or variations thereof) may be obtained with reference to the detailed description of the embodiments along with the following drawings, in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to specific embodiments or features, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, corresponding, or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or corresponding parts. Moreover, references to various elements described herein, are made collectively or individually when there may be more than one element of the same type. However, such references are merely exemplary in nature. It may be noted that any reference to elements in the singular may also be construed to relate to the plural and vice-versa without limiting the scope of the disclosure to the exact number or type of such elements unless set forth explicitly in the appended claims.
Referring to
Further, the body 108 houses a water supply manifold 204 located at a top portion thereof and fluidly connected to the solenoid valve 202. As such, the solenoid valve 202 regulates the supply of water to the water supply manifold 204. The water supply manifold 204 includes a plurality of nozzles 206 extending in a direction inward with respect to walls of the device 102. In an aspect, the device 102 includes a first infinite belt assembly 207 (indicated in
The second infinite belt assembly 209 includes a second set of belt pulleys (not shown in
The device 102 further includes a base plate 224 slidably disposed at the base of the body 108. The base plate 224 may be selectively slid in a direction along the width of the device 102 and may be selectively detached from the body 108. An opening 226 defined in the base plate 224 fluidly connects the body 108 with the outlet pipe 116. Preferably, the base plate 224 may be configured to be accessed when all wash water injected by the nozzles 206 is drained through the opening 226.
The first infinite belt 304 extends around the first belt pulley 208 and the second belt pulley 212; and the second infinite belt 306 extends around the first belt pulley 302 and a second belt pulley (not shown) of the second set of belt pulleys. As seen in
Advantageously, each of the first infinite belt 304 and the second infinite belt 306 includes a plurality of bristles 308 extending from respective outer surfaces thereof. The bristles 308 are configured to contact the kitchen tool 106, such as the cutting board. In an embodiment, the bristles 308 are made of one of silicone or ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber, and hence associated with low stiffness. Therefore, the bristles 308 may freely bend during contact with the kitchen tool 106. Further, the nozzles 206 are suitably oriented such that the water jet impinges sufficiently on at least one of the infinite belt assemblies, the gap “G”, and the kitchen tool 106. During cleaning of the kitchen tool 106, the bristles 308 clean the surface of the kitchen tool 106 by scrubbing action. Flexibility of the bristles 308 results in easy removal of clutter from the kitchen tool 106 in presence of flowing water. With such configuration, the device 102 may reduce cleaning time and consumption of water.
In some embodiments, the microcontroller 504 may be implemented as a processor, such as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuitries, or any devices that manipulate signals based on operational instructions. Among other capabilities the processor may be configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory thereof. Various functions of the processor may be provided using dedicated hardware as well as hardware capable of executing software in association with appropriate software. When provided by the processor, the functions may be provided by a single dedicated processor, by a single shared processor, or by a plurality of individual processors. Moreover, explicit use of the term “processor” should not be construed to refer exclusively to hardware capable of executing software, and may implicitly include, but not limited to, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, network processor, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), field programmable gate array (FPGA), read only memory (ROM) for storing software, random access memory (RAM), and non-volatile storage. Other hardware known to a person skilled in the art may also be included.
In operation, actuation of the switch 502 to ON condition provides electric supply to the microcontroller 504 which is configured to simultaneously actuate the motors 220, 222 and the solenoid valve 202. The microcontroller 504 is configured to actuate the first motor 220 to cause the first infinite belt 304 to rotate in the clockwise direction and actuate the second motor 222 to cause rotation of the second infinite belt 306 to rotate in anticlockwise direction. When the kitchen tool 106, such as the cutting board, is inserted through the tool insertion slit 104 defined in the countertop 100, the cutting board is received in the gap “G” and between the bristles 308 of the first infinite belt 304 and the second infinite belt 306. By virtue of the flexibility, the bristles 308 develop a scrubbing action against the surface of the cutting board, thereby removing dirt and substances from the surface. Any clutter present on the surface of the cutting board would be carried by the bristles 308 during movement of the infinite belts. Upon contacting the corrugated portion 402, the clutter and dirt may be discharged from the bristles 308, thereby rendering the bristles 308 clean for subsequent contact with the surface of the cutting board. Due to the large surface area of the infinite belts and rotation speed of the belt pulleys, cleaning of the cutting board may be achieved in short duration. Simultaneously, the microcontroller 504 controls the solenoid valve 202 to supply water to the water supply manifold 204. The nozzles 206 inject the jet of water onto at least one of the infinite belts, the kitchen tool 106, and the gap “G”, thereby aiding faster cleaning of the cutting board and the bristles 308. Upon completion of the cleaning cycle, the switch 502 may be actuated to the OFF condition, where the electrical supply to the microcontroller 504 is ceased. As such, electrical supply to the motors 220, 222 and the solenoid valve 202 may be stopped simultaneously. In some embodiments, the microcontroller 504 may be configured to store a predefined amount of electrical charge, for example, in capacitors thereof, to operate the motors 220, 222 and the solenoid valve 202 for a predefined duration, for example 30 seconds. During such operation of the solenoid valve 202, water may be injected onto the infinite belts to remove any further remains of clutter or dirt from the bristles 308. Such operation helps to keep the device 102 ready for subsequent cleaning cycles. On completion of the predefined duration, the motors 220, 222 and the solenoid valve 202 are stopped.
While aspects of the present disclosure have been particularly shown and described with reference to the embodiments above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various additional embodiments may be contemplated by the modification of the disclosed methods without departing from the spirit and scope of what is disclosed. Such embodiments should be understood to fall within the scope of the present disclosure as determined based upon the claims and any equivalents thereof.
