Bottlewasher system for warewashers

Abstract

A bottlewasher rack assembly includes a mount hub for mounting to a lower wash and liquid feed system of a warewash machine, and a plurality of interconnected wash arms and rinse arms to which wash liquid and rinse liquid, respectively, are fed from the mount hub. A plurality of upwardly projecting wash feed tubes are provided, each wash feed tube having at least one wash spray nozzle. A plurality of upwardly projecting rinse feed tubes are provided, each rinse feed tube having at least one rinse spray nozzle. The wash feed tubes and the rinse feed tubes are arranged in a multiplicity of side-by-side pairs so that each pair can project upward within a respective upside down bottle placed thereon. A warewash machine incorporating the bottlewasher rack assembly is also described.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A bottlewasher rack assembly, comprising:
 a mount hub for mounting to a lower wash and liquid feed system of a warewash machine;   a plurality of interconnected wash arms and a plurality of interconnected rinse arms to which wash liquid and rinse liquid, respectively, are fed from the mount hub;   a plurality of upwardly projecting wash feed tubes, each wash feed tube having at least one wash spray nozzle;   a plurality of upwardly projecting rinse feed tubes, each rinse feed tube having at least one rinse spray nozzle;   wherein the wash feed tubes and the rinse feed tubes are arranged in a multiplicity of side-by-side pairs so that each pair can project upward within a respective upside down bottle placed thereon.   
     
     
         2 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 1  wherein, for one or more of the pairs, the wash feed tube projects upward higher than the rinse feed tube. 
     
     
         3 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 2  wherein, for one or more of the pairs, the wash feed tube includes multiple wash spray nozzles arranged to promote a swirling flow of wash liquid within the bottle. 
     
     
         4 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a bottle support disposed about each pair. 
     
     
         5 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 4  wherein the bottle support is angled from horizontal and/or the bottle support is configured with pores or openings to facilitate bottle draining. 
     
     
         6 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising an upper bottle retainer. 
     
     
         7 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 6  wherein a height of the upper bottle retainer is adjustable. 
     
     
         8 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 6 , further comprising an intermediate bottle stabilizing frame with multiple bottle rings aligned over respective ones of the pairs of wash and rinse tubes. 
     
     
         9 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of interconnected wash arms form a wash frame of the assembly, the plurality of interconnected rinse arms form a rinse frame of the assembly, and the rinse frame is rigidly mounted to the wash frame. 
     
     
         10 . The bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 9  wherein the rinse frame is mounted on top of the wash frame and the mount hub extends downward from an underside of the wash frame. 
     
     
         11 . A warewash machine including the bottlewasher rack assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the machine includes a mount hub that engages the mount hub of the assembly. 
     
     
         12 . The warewash machine of  claim 11  including a controller configured with at least one bottle specific ware cleaning cycle. 
     
     
         13 . The warewash machine of  claim 12  further comprising at least one sensor for detecting the bottlewasher rack assembly. 
     
     
         14 . The warewash machine of  claim 13  wherein the controller is configured to enable the bottle specific cleaning cycle if the bottle rack assembly is detected by the sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The warewash machine of  claim 14  wherein the controller is configured to disable the bottle specific cleaning cycle if the bottlewasher rack assembly is not detected by the sensor. 
     
     
         16 . A method of configuring a warewash machine to wash bottles, the machine including a lower feed mount that feeds wash liquid to a lower rotating wash arm and rinse liquid to a lower rotating rinse arm, the method comprising:
 removing the lower wash arm and the lower rinse arm from the lower feed mount;   installing a bottlewasher rack assembly with a rack feed mount upon the lower feed mount, wherein the rack feed mount includes at least one wash liquid path to multiple upright wash feed tubes and at least one rinse liquid path to multiple upright rinse liquid tubes, wherein at least some of the wash liquid tubes and rinse liquid tubes are arranged in side-by-side pairs for projecting into upside down bottles.   
     
     
         17 . A method of utilizing a warewash machine having a lower feed mount that feeds wash liquid from one path and rinse liquid from another path, the method comprising:
 mounting a lower rotating wash arm and a lower rinse arm to the lower feed mount;   carrying out a ware cleaning cycle in which wash liquid is sprayed from wash arm nozzles and rinse liquid is sprayed from rinse arm nozzles;   removing the lower wash arm and the lower rinse arm from the lower feed mount;   installing a bottlewasher rack assembly with a rack feed mount upon the lower feed mount, wherein the rack feed mount includes at least one wash liquid path to multiple upright wash feed tubes and at least one rinse liquid path to multiple upright rinse liquid tubes;   carrying out a bottle cleaning cycle in which wash liquid is sprayed from the wash feed tubes and rinse liquid is sprayed from the rinse feed tubes.