An apparatus for separating cutlery from kitchen waste is already known, where the waste containing cutlery is accumulated in a special hopper, before the waste is fed further downwards into a waste receptacle, the operator scraping off the waste from plates and the like having to put his hand into the waste to retrieve the cutlery thus trapped. This is, of course, not regarded favorably by persons cleaning off the dishes before they are washed. In many cases it has therefore been found that cutlery retrieval has been neglected, these items being lost in spite of the measures taken. From studies made in restaurant kitchens it has been found that not just one or two items, but large amounts of cutlery are lost in this way, particularly when the restaurant has many customers and the waiters are flurried, cutlery being tipped together with waste into the waste receptacle, although special arrangements have been made to catch or arrest and search the waste, which could contain cutlery, since it is always unpleasant for personnel to retrieve the cutlery, particularly in rush-hour conditions.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the kind mentioned in the introduction for separating cutlery from waste, werewith the problems mentioned above are eliminated. The distinguishing features of the invention are disclosed in the accompanying claims.

As a result of the present invention there has now been achieved an apparatus, with the aid of which cutlery unintentionally tipped away with waste from a plate or the like can be readily dealt with. The cutlery which has been separated from the waste and retrieved is namely collected in a separate cutlery collection receptacle, suitably formed with interstices, through which food residue adhering to the cutlery may be partly flushed away. Upon final separation of the cutlery from bigger residue, the cutlery can be put in the dish washer in the usual way.

The invention is described in more detail hereinafter, with the aid of some embodiment examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, where

Fig. 1

is a schematic, perspective view of a first embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the present invention for separating cutlery from restaurant waste,

Fig. 2

is a schematic view from above of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

is a schematic, perspective view of a second embodiment of the apparatus in accordance with the invention, where cutlery is sorted out with the aid of two flaps, which are movable between end positions, and are pivotably mounted on hinges over a cutlery collection receptacle, these flaps being shown in their closed positions,

Fig. 4

is a schematic, perspective view of the apparatus illustrated in Fig. 3, but more in side view, and where the flaps are in their parted, open positions and

Fig. 5

is a plan view of a part of the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, a first, preferred embodiment of the inventive apparatus includes a stand 1, there being a chute or slide 2 arranged at its upper end. The slide 2 is adjustable for obtaining a suitable incline, and is made from stainless steel or plastics with a smooth upper side, thus enabling the waste 17, that has been scraped off plates and the like to fall onto the slide, to slide with minimum friction down into a waste receptacle 3, also attached to the stand 1. The waste receptacle 3 has its opening 4 situated below the end 5 of the slide 2. In addition, the apparatus includes, in this embodiment of the invention, two flaps 6, 6' which can be swung between two end positions in directions towards, and away from each other. In their first closed positions, their opposing end edges 19, 19' meet along an axis 20 of symmetry in the longitudinal direction of the slide 2. From this axis the flaps 6, 6' may be swung outwards and into their second, open, end positions. The flaps 6, 6' have their hinges at, or immediately under the end 5 of the slide 2, so that in their first end positions, with their end edges 19, 19' juxtaposed, they form a continuation of the slide 2, and in their second end positions, when the flaps 6, 6' are mutually spaced, they no longer form part of the slide 2, which then becomes shorter. The flaps 6, 6' take up their second end positions when a cutlery item 7 present in the waste 17 that is emptied on to the slide 2 is sensed by at least one detector 8 placed under the slide before its free end 5. The cutlery item 7 is then discharged from the slide 2, past the open flaps, directly down into a separate cutlery collection receptacle 9. In this example, the receptacle 9 is arranged inside the waste receptacle 3 and under the flaps 6, 6'. The cutlery receptacle 9 is suitably implemented as a waste basket made from stainless steel or a suitable plastics material, so that any food residue may be partly flushed away before the cutlery receptacle is taken out. Alternatively, the flaps 6, 6' may be open in their first, or normal positions. In this case the waste 17 is then emptied directly from the slide 2 down into the waste receptacle 3. In their second, closed positions, the flaps 6, 6' in this case form a continuation of the slide 2, for enabling discharge of one or more cutlery items, sensed by the detector, into the receptacle 9, which is here suitably arranged in the waste receptacle 3 for receiving them, and is illustrated by dashed lines in Fig. 2.

The detector 8, which may be placed under the slide 2, before its free end 5, is of a known type and detects the passage of cutlery items 7 made from metals, such as stainless steel, aluminium or alpacka. In certain cases, however, it can be calibrated so that such as so-called silver paper, bottle caps etc passing over it do not activate the signal it sends to a drive means 10, which may be of a kind such as the low-voltage motor used for driving windscreen wipers in cars, this motor actuating the mutually relative movement of the flaps 6, 6'.

The slide 2, extending in a direction towards and somewhat above the waste receptacle opening 4, forms a plane, which can be adjusted to a suitable inclination, and tapers, as seen from above, in a direction towards its free end 5. It is also provided with edge portions 11 for guiding waste 17 towards the end 5, from where the waste is discharged past the flaps 6, 6' into the waste receptacle 3.

In accordance with the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the flaps 6, 6' are each fastened to its respective arm 12, 13, which has an arcuate extension about the detector 8. The arms 12, 13, and thus the flaps 6, 6', are pivotable about journalling pins 14, 15 under the slide 2, and they coact synchronously via meshing teeth 16. When a cutlery item 7 is sensed in the waste 17 emptied on to the slide 2, the detector 8 sends a signal to the drive means 10, which is connected by an unillustrated coupling to one arm 12 via the pin 14, for turning the arms 12, 13 and their associated flaps 6, 6' to a second, open end position. The open position of the flaps 6, 6' and their associated arms 12, 13 is maintained by a timing clock (not illustrated on the drawing) for a selectable time period sufficient for the cutlery item 7 to be discharged into the cutlery collection receptacle 9, before the flaps 6, 6' return to their normal position. The flap reversing movement may be achieved either by an unillustrated return spring or by reversing the movement of the drive means 10. When the flaps are in their first, normal or closed positions, the waste 17 is discharged down into the waste receptacle 3 after sliding along the upper surfaces of the flaps 6, 6'.

In Figs. 3-5 there is illustrated a second embodiment of an apparatus in accordance with the invention. Here, the slide 2 is provided, starting immediately under its free end 5 and extending in the direction of waste movement, with two flaps 6, 6' mounted on hinges 26 for being swung to, and from each other between two end positions. The function of the arms 12, 13 guiding the flaps 6, 6' is the same as for the embodiment in the previous description, and thus this function does not need to be described again. In their normal positions the flaps 6, 6' form sliding surfaces having the form of an inverted V in cross section. The flaps 6, 6' have an elongate, rectangular shape, and along one long edge 21, 21' each is fastened to a hinge 26. The cutlery collection receptacle 9 is removably arranged centrally in the waste receptacle 3, to extend right across it, such as to be easily lifted up when it is full of cutlery 7. At their short ends 23, 23' facing towards the arms 12, 13 the flaps 6, 6' have guide pins 24, 24' for connectable coaction with a gripping means 25, 25' on the respective arm 12, 13.

In their normal positions the flaps 6, 6' are in their closed positions with their long edges 19, 19' juxtaposed, and thus constitute a continuation of the slide 2 for discharging waste down into the waste receptacle without the waste coming into the cutlery collection receptacle 9. When a cutlery item 7 is sensed by one or more detectors 8, the flaps 6, 6' swing upwards and outwards to form a hopper-like opening 22 for catching and guiding the item(s) of cutlery down into the receptacle 9. As soon as the cutlery has fallen into the receptacle the flaps 6, 6' rapidly return to their starting or normal positions. A variant of this embodiment would be to have the flaps 6, 6' open in their first, normal positions and the waste receptacle 3 situated in the position taken up by the receptacle 9 according to the drawings, the waste 17 then being collected via the hopper-like opening 22. Here, when a cutlery item 7 is sensed by one or more detectors 9 the flaps 6, 6' swing together into their closed positions and the cutlery is discharged down into the receptacle 9, which in this case is implemented such that it is situated outside the waste receptacle 3, which is now smaller and centrally placed under the flaps 6, 6'.

As will be seen from the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 the slide 2 comprises two separate parts, namely an upper part 27 and a lower part 28 connected after it. These parts are removable and can be positionally fixed relative each other to facilitate cleaning them.