Automatic machine to wash kitchenware

Abstract

An automatic machine used to wash one or more set of kitchenware items having a washing chamber that contains a rotary drum and a series of nozzles. The rotary drum is provided with a basically horizontal axis of rotation and the nozzles are preferably disposed according to a radial direction with respect to the rotary drum and under the axis of rotation.

1 . An automatic machine to wash kitchenware comprising:
 a rigid support frame,   one or more covering panels fixed to said rigid support frame,   a compartment defined by said covering panels;   a washing chamber disposed inside said compartment and provided with a bottom wall tilted with respect to the horizontal axis by an angle higher than 3° in order to make the washing water flow towards an outlet;   a rotary drum disposed inside the washing chamber and provided with an axis of rotation wherein when the items are in loading position they are situated under said axis of rotation;   at least one nozzle provided with at least one dispenser point disposed inside said washing chamber;   an encoder to count the number of revolutions of the rotary drum;   a control unit adapted to compare the number of revolutions (N) detected by the encoder with a preset number of revolutions (Np);   a stop device that automatically stops the rotation of the drum, when the number of revolutions (N) detected by the encoder is equal to the preset number of revolutions (Np) minus half a revolution (N=Np−½) in such manner that the kitchenware items are situated above the axis of rotation of the drum to drain water;   a timer that momentarily stops the rotation of the drum for a preset time interval and successively releases the rotation of the drum to make the last half revolution and bring the kitchenware back to the loading position.   
     
     
         2 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said encoder is installed in a gear motor provided with a drive shaft connected to said drum and said encoder counts the number of revolutions of said drive shaft. 
     
     
         3 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said timer is adapted to temporarily stop the rotation of the drum for a preset time interval comprised between 2 and 4 seconds. 
     
     
         4 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , also comprising a detection means to detect the position of the kitchenware items in the rotary drum, said detection means being operatively connected to the control unit to monitor the washing cycle in accordance to the position of the kitchenware items. 
     
     
         5 . The automatic machine of  claim 4 , wherein said detection means comprise a position sensor fitted to the washing chamber to detect the direction of the cavity of the kitchenware items. 
     
     
         6 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said angle between the base wall of the washing chamber and the horizontal axis is 5°. 
     
     
         7 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said washing chamber has a truncated-conical shape. 
     
     
         8 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said washing chamber has a cylindrical shape and said axis of rotation of the rotary drum is inclined with respect to the horizontal axis. 
     
     
         9 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said at least one nozzle is disposed in such manner to spray steam according to a vertical direction or a radial direction with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotary drum. 
     
     
         10 . The automatic machine of  claim 9 , wherein said at least one nozzle is disposed under the axis of rotation of said rotary drum. 
     
     
         11 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said rotary drum comprises a cage made of a plurality of circular sections bent in such manner to form a plurality of consecutive circles, disposed in parallel position, and a plurality of straight longitudinal sections that cross the circular sections. 
     
     
         12 . The automatic machine of  claim 11 , wherein said rotary drum is provided with a bottom portion comprising one or more circular sections with a lower diameter with respect to said circular sections and a plurality of radial sections connecting the circular section with higher diameter with circular sections with the lower diameter. 
     
     
         13 . The automatic machine of  claim 1 , wherein said rotary drum is provided with locking means adapted to prevent the movement of the kitchenware items, loaded inside said rotary drum during rotation. 
     
     
         14 . The automatic machine of  claim 13 , wherein said locking means consists in inserts that comprise flexible rods with two ends, each of them being joined with said circular sections or said straight longitudinal sections.