Solid material comminution or disintegration – Apparatus – Including means applying fluid to material
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-04
2004-04-13
Rosenbaum, Mark (Department: 3725)
Solid material comminution or disintegration
Apparatus
Including means applying fluid to material
Reexamination Certificate
active
06719228
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to food waste disposers, and more particularly to a baffle for a food waste disposer to reduce noise.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional food waste disposers produce noise during operation. This is due, in part, by the operation of the motor as well as the by the food impacting against the disposer body and grind components. To reduce noise, it has been known to place an insulating cover around the exterior housing of the disposer. An exterior cover, however, does not prevent noise from traveling up through a drain opening of a sink where it can easily be heard by the user of the food waste disposer.
It has also been known to use a mounting gasket between the disposer inlet and the drain opening. One function of the mounting gasket is to keep food waste from getting “kicked back” up through the drain opening when the disposer is operating.
FIG. 1
depicts a food waste disposer
10
having a conventional mounting gasket
50
. The food waste disposer
10
has an inlet portion
12
that connects to a sink
20
and drain opening
22
. The inlet portion
12
of the disposer
10
is connected to the sink
20
and drain opening
22
via a connecting apparatus
40
and the mounting gasket
50
. Although different mechanisms exist, one type of connecting apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,007, which is owned by the assignee of the present application and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The mounting gasket
50
, shown in more detail in
FIGS. 2A-C
, has an outer seal portion
52
and a pleated portion
54
. The outer seal portion
52
provides a seal between the connecting apparatus
40
and the inlet portion
12
of the disposer
10
. The pleated portion
54
has surfaces
55
,
56
, and
57
. The first surfaces
55
are perpendicular to the outer seal portion
52
. The first surfaces
55
have truncated ends, which form an open center
58
. The second surfaces
56
extend from the sides of the first surfaces
55
at an angle &agr;
1
of nearly 90-degrees. The third surfaces
57
are interconnected to the second surfaces
56
, and form an angle &agr;
3
of approximately 45 degrees with respect to the first surfaces
55
. The surfaces are also truncated at the center of the gasket to form roughly a funnel shape which is provided by forming angle &agr;
2
(
FIG. 2C
) at greater than 90 degrees between the first surfaces
55
and the second surfaces
56
. The surfaces
55
,
56
, and
57
form openings
59
about the center
58
that are substantially rectangular. The surfaces
55
,
56
, and
57
allow the pleated portion
54
and center
58
to expand to allow larger food waste to pass to the disposer
10
. The mounting gasket
50
is made of a flexible material such as rubber and, as previously mentioned, serves to retain food waste in the grinding chamber of the disposer
10
.
Although the pleated portion
54
of the mounting gasket
50
reduces some of the noise from the disposer
10
, it does not reduce all of the noise emanating from the disposer
10
and up into the sink
20
. This is due in part to the fact that the mounting gasket
50
has center
58
that allows noise to directly pass through the drain opening
22
, as best seen in FIG.
2
B. Center
58
becomes more pronounced during operation of the food waste disposer, because even slight pressure on the pleated portion
54
of the gasket
50
(e.g., from the water pressure from the sink) causes the size of center
58
to increase from its resting position.
It has been known in the art to insert a device in the drain opening
22
and to position the device on the mounting gasket
50
. Referring to
FIG. 3
, a perspective view of an insertable device
60
is illustrated in accordance with the prior art. The position of the insertable device
60
on the mounting gasket
50
is illustrated with a dotted line in the FIG.
1
. The device
60
includes a cylindrical body
62
. A plurality of flaps
70
is flexibly attached to an inner wall of the body
62
. Each of the flaps
70
is separated from adjacent flaps by slots
72
. A small hole
74
at the end of the slots
72
may help prevent tearing of the material. Each flap
70
contains an opening
76
, and each flap
70
includes a curved end, which forms part of a large, central opening
78
through the device
60
. The openings
76
in the flaps
70
circumscribe the large, central opening
78
formed by the curved ends.
Neither the conventional mounting gasket
50
nor the insertable device
60
of the prior art are particularly effective in preventing the transfer of noise from the grinding mechanism in the disposer
10
to the sink, although they will reduce the noise to some degree. Although the various structures of the gasket
50
and insertable device
60
do to some extent cover and shield the grinding mechanism, the clear hole through the centers
58
and
78
of both of these devices
50
and
60
allow noise to be directly transferred via the air to the sink
20
. Additionally, water flowing into the disposer from the user's faucet, which normally flows during the operation of the disposer, does not act to adequately fill the spaces left by the centers
58
and
78
. Instead, water runs almost unencumbered through these centers
58
and
78
and down into the disposer, and hence the water does not act to further shield noise from emanating into the sink.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/997,678, entitled “Food Waste Disposer Having Mechanism and Method For Creating a Water Baffle to Reduce Noise,” filed Nov. 29, 2001 by inventor Joseph U. Farmerie, and claiming priority to provisional patent application serial No. 60/253,804, filed Nov. 29, 2000, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, discloses a method for creating a water baffle to block the noise of the grinding mechanism. The method disclosed in these applications involves injecting water through a special port on the side of the disposer to create a water dam between the grinding mechanism and the drain opening. In one embodiment in that patent, a diaphragm is placed between the grinding mechanism and the sink to assist in the pooling of water on the diaphragm's surface. However, the diaphragm disclosed in that patent application has a large central opening (see
FIG. 8
) which would permit noise to flow directly from the grinding mechanism to the drain opening were it not for the creation of the water dam. In other words, the diaphragm disclosed in that patent application requires water introduction, and formation of the water dam, to assist in reducing the noise from the grinding mechanism. Moreover, that patent contemplates the creation of a water dam by virtue of water introduced through a separate inlet into the disposer, which might be unnecessarily complicated or expensive for a given application. A more complete noise-reduction solution, including a solution that would eliminate grinding noise even in the absence of water, or that relies upon the water from the sink's faucet to create a water dam, would be beneficial.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a baffle for a food waste disposer to reduce noise. The baffle has a diaphragm that allows solid and liquid waste to pass through the diaphragm, and accordingly does not substantially affect the normal operation of the disposer. However, because the baffle substantially covers the central opening of the conventional mounting gasket in the prior art, a direct path from the grinding mechanism in the disposer to the sink is blocked, thus muffling the noise coming from the grinding mechanism. Additionally, the baffles are preferably, but not necessarily, designed to create a water dam on their surface by impeding the flow of water from the sink's faucet in a way to create a pool of water. The disclosed baffles may be installed in the drain opening of a sink above the conventional mounting gasket, making it easy for a con
Berger Thomas R.
Jara-Almonte Cynthia
Emerson Electric Company
Howrey Simon Arnold & White , LLP
Rosenbaum Mark
LandOfFree
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