JP7539693B2 - Tableware recovery device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a tableware recovery device.

In recent years, securing workers has become a social problem, and restaurants are increasingly using automated machines, such as conveyors that transport used tableware from customer tables to the kitchen (see, for example, Patent Documents 1-3).

JP 2004-290623 A JP 2005-287651 A Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-33446

There are various types of devices for transporting used tableware from the dining area to the kitchen, such as devices that transport the tableware on a conveyor belt installed along the dining area, and devices that transport the tableware using a water current by putting the tableware into a waterway installed along the dining area. However, in the former type that uses a conveyor belt, food and drink remaining on the tableware may adhere to the moving parts of the conveyor belt, etc., and affect the operation of the transport device. It is difficult to remove the deposits inside the device through daily cleaning, and the accumulation of such deposits may cause the equipment to break down. In the latter case, the tableware must be put into the waterway in small amounts to prevent it from clogging with the tableware.

Therefore, this application discloses a tableware recovery device that can efficiently transport a large number of tableware from the dining area to the kitchen while minimizing the impact on operation caused by food and drink remaining on the tableware adhering to various parts of the device.

To solve the above problem, the present invention involves transporting tableware on a flexible sheet that hangs down from a ring-shaped body.

In detail, the present invention is a tableware recovery device that includes a transport path that starts at an end on the dining area side and ends at an end on the kitchen area side, a start-side rotating shaft that is positioned above the start-side rotating shaft, an end-side rotating shaft that is positioned above the end-side rotating shaft, an endless ring-shaped body that is hung over both the start-side rotating shaft and the end-side rotating shaft, a sheet-attached ring-shaped body that has multiple flexible sheets discretely attached to it, one end of which is connected to the ring-shaped body, and a drive unit that drives the ring-shaped body so that the sheet hanging down from the ring-shaped body with the free end, which is the end on the unconnected side, riding on the transport path is pulled from the start point to the end point on the transport path.

According to this, a ring-shaped body with a sheet, which is made up of multiple flexible sheets with one end connected to the ring-shaped body and arranged in a discrete manner, is installed above the transport path for transporting tableware, so that the free end side, which is the end on the unconnected side of the sheet, hangs down from the ring-shaped body while resting on the transport path. Therefore, it is possible to load tableware on the part of the sheet that is resting on the transport path.

The sheet is then pulled from the start point of the conveying path to the end point by the ring-shaped body being driven. Thus, the tableware placed on the sheet moves from the start point of the conveying path to the end point by the ring-shaped body being driven. Then, at the end point of the conveying path, the sheet on which the tableware was placed is pulled up by the ring-shaped body at the top of the conveying path, so that the tableware placed on the sheet is dropped from the sheet at the end point of the conveying path. This completes the transfer of the tableware.

In such a tableware recovery device, the drive unit for pulling the sheet carrying the tableware from the start point of the transport path to the end point is located at the top of the transport path, so that the impact on operation caused by food and drink remaining on the tableware adhering to the moving parts can be minimized. And because multiple such sheets are discretely provided on the annular body, a large number of tableware can be efficiently transported from the dining area to the kitchen.

The tableware recovery device may further include a wall portion disposed on the side of the conveying path and having an opening for placing food and drink on the sheet placed on the conveying path. This makes it possible to easily load tableware onto the sheet through the opening.

A weight may also be provided on the free end of the sheet. This allows the sheet to hang smoothly from the ring-shaped body.

A cleaning water outlet that ejects cleaning water onto the transport path may also be provided at the starting point. This allows the annular body to smoothly pull the sheet hanging down onto the transport path, as cleaning water flows through the transport path.

The cleaning water may also be sent to the cleaning water outlet from a collection box provided at the end point. This allows the cleaning water to be repeatedly circulated through the transport path.

The above-mentioned tableware recovery device can efficiently transport a large number of dishes from the dining area to the kitchen while minimizing the impact on operation caused by food and drink remaining on the dishes sticking to the moving parts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a lowering and conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing the inside of the housing with the free end of the belt turned up. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a layout within a store. FIG. 4 is a first diagram illustrating an example of a method of using the lowering and conveying device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a conveying state of tableware in the housing. FIG. 6 is a second diagram illustrating an example of a method of using the lowering and conveying device. FIG. 7 is a third diagram illustrating an example of a method of using the lowering and conveying device. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the positional relationship of the end portion of the transport path.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention. The embodiment described below is one aspect of the present invention, and does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. Each of the embodiments and variations described below is suitable for restaurants that serve various foods and drinks, such as sushi, beverages, rice bowls such as soba and udon, fried chicken, tempura, and grilled meat.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a lowering conveying device 1 according to an embodiment. The lowering conveying device 1 is a device that conveys used tableware generated at customer seats in a restaurant to a kitchen. As shown in FIG. 1, the lowering conveying device 1 is a device in which a plurality of belts 3 hang down inside a housing 2, and the belts 3 move from a customer seat side turn-up portion 7 to a kitchen side turn-up portion 9 to convey tableware placed on the belts 3. That is, in the lowering conveying device 1, a circulation operation is performed in which the belts 3 hanging down inside the housing 2 move from the customer seat side turn-up portion 7 to the kitchen side turn-up portion 9 inside the housing 2, the belts 3 are pulled up to the upper part of the housing 2 at the kitchen side turn-up portion 9 and moved to the customer seat side turn-up portion 7, and the belts 3 hang down again inside the housing 2 at the customer seat side turn-up portion 7.

Figure 2 shows the inside of the housing 2 with the free end of the belt 3 turned up. The belt 3 is made of a rectangular sheet material, and one end of the belt 3 in the longitudinal direction is attached to an endless circulating chain 14 provided in the housing 2. The circulating chain 14 may be made of metal or resin. Reference numeral 5 in Figure 1 denotes a rotating shaft 5 for rotatably supporting the circulating chain 14. Reference numeral 6 in the upper part of the housing 2 near the kitchen side turn-back portion 9 denotes a drive unit 6 incorporating an electric motor or the like for driving the circulating chain 14. The belt 3 hangs down from the circulating chain 14 in the housing 2, so a weight 4 is attached to the free end side of the belt 3. As a result, the circulating chain 14 provided in the housing 2 circulates, and when the belt 3 is reversed in the traveling direction at the turn-back portion 7 on the customer seating side, the free end of the belt 3 falls to the lower part of the housing 2 under the weight of the weight 4. When the free end of the belt 3 falls to the bottom inside the housing 2 at the turn-around part 7 on the audience side, it is smoothly guided by a guide surface 8, which is a curved surface on the bottom surface of the housing 2 near the turn-around part 7 on the audience side.

The belt 3 is pulled by the circulation of the circulating chain 14 provided in the housing 2, and when it reaches the vicinity of the kitchen-side fold-back portion 9, it is pulled up to the upper part of the housing 2 together with the circulating chain 14 which folds back near the kitchen-side fold-back portion 9, and moves from the kitchen-side fold-back portion 9 to the customer-side fold-back portion 7 at the upper part of the housing 2. When the belt 3 moves from the kitchen-side fold-back portion 9 to the customer-side fold-back portion 7 at the upper part of the housing 2, it is placed on the circulating chain 14 provided in the housing 2, so that the free end of the belt 3 does not hang down from the circulating chain 14 within the housing 2. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the belt 3 moves from the kitchen-side fold-back portion 9 to the customer-side fold-back portion 7 while maintaining a substantially flat shape.

The belt 3 hangs down from the bottom surface of the housing 2, with a part of the belt 3 resting on the bottom surface, and is pulled by the circulating chain 14 to slide on the bottom surface of the housing 2. The belt 3 is also relatively long. Therefore, about half of the belt 3 in the longitudinal direction is in contact with the bottom surface of the housing 2 and slides on it. Therefore, items such as tableware can be loaded on the part of the belt 3 that rests on the bottom surface of the housing 2. For this reason, the lowering conveying device 1 is provided with an entrance 10 (an example of an "opening" in this application) on the side of the housing 2 (an example of a "wall" in this application) for loading items such as tableware onto the belt 3, and also has an exit 11 for dropping these items from the belt 3 at the kitchen side folded part 9, a stand 12 for supporting the housing 2 at a position slightly higher than the floor, and a collection box 13 for receiving items that drop from the exit 11.

In the lowering conveying device 1 configured in this manner, the bottom surface inside the housing 2 forms a conveying path from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C, and a conveying mechanism for tableware D is realized with the end of the conveying path on the customer seating area K side as the starting point and the end of the conveying path on the kitchen area C side as the end point. Therefore, of the multiple rotating shafts 5 provided in the lowering conveying device 1, the rotating shaft 5 closest to the customer seating side turn-around section 7 side corresponds to an example of the "starting point side rotating shaft" as referred to in this application, and the rotating shaft 5 closest to the kitchen side turn-around section 9 side corresponds to an example of the "ending point side rotating shaft" as referred to in this application. And the circulating chain 14 stretched over both of these two rotating shafts 5 corresponds to an example of the "annular body" as referred to in this application, since each end of the multiple belts 3 is discretely connected to the circulating chain 14.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a layout within a store. For example, as shown in Figure 3, the lowering and conveying device 1 is positioned so that it extends across a seating area K where customer tables T of a restaurant are lined up, and a kitchen area C where store staff S prepare food and drink. As shown in Figure 3, the lowering and conveying device 1 is positioned so that the collection box 13 is located within the kitchen area C. As a result, used tableware that has been placed on customer tables T in the seating area K is placed on the belt 3 and conveyed to the collection box 13. This allows the tableware D to be transported from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C more efficiently than if the store staff S moved from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C while carrying the tableware D.

In addition, since the drive unit 6 for moving the belt 3 is provided on the upper part of the housing 2, the conveying path for conveying the tableware D can be provided at a relatively low position compared to when the power source for conveying the tableware D is provided at the lower part of the conveying path for the tableware D. Therefore, the lowering conveying device 1 can save space at the lower part compared to other types of devices for conveying the tableware D from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C. Therefore, for example, other equipment such as a food and drink conveying device can be installed on the upper part of the lowering conveying device 1. In addition, even when water is sprayed on the floor of the store to clean it, there is a low possibility that water will splash on the driving parts such as the motor of the lowering conveying device 1, so that the breakdown of the lowering conveying device 1 due to corrosion of the driving parts can be suppressed, and the life of the lowering conveying device 1 can be extended.

Figure 4 is the first diagram explaining an example of how to use the lowering conveying device 1. In Figure 4, the longitudinal direction of the lowering conveying device 1 is shown short, but as shown in Figure 3, the lowering conveying device 1 has a housing 2 portion with an appropriate length according to the size of the store. Entrances 10 are provided discretely or continuously at appropriate locations near the customer tables T, so that store staff S or customers can place tableware D on the belt 3 inside the housing 2. The entrances 10 may be closed under normal circumstances by an appropriate automatic or manual door, or may be open at all times. In addition, the driving parts of the lowering conveying device 1, such as the circulation chain 14 that moves the belt 3, may operate constantly while the store is open, or may operate for a certain period of time when the conveying start operation is performed.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the conveyance state of tableware D in the housing 2. Tableware D used at customer table T is loaded onto belt 3 in housing 2 through entrance 10 provided in housing 2 as shown in Figure 5 (A). When tableware D is loaded onto belt 3 in housing 2 through entrance 10 provided in housing 2, tableware D moves toward collection box 13 on belt 3 pulled by circulating chain 14 driven by the power of a motor built into drive unit 6 as shown in Figure 5 (B). Then, when tableware D reaches the vicinity of collection box 13, belt 3 is pulled up to the top of housing 2 together with circulating chain 14 that folds back near kitchen side fold-back section 9 as shown in Figure 5 (C), and tableware D loaded onto belt 3 falls from belt 3 into collection box 13.

As shown in FIG. 5, the recovery box 13 stores cleaning water L, and the lowering and conveying device 1 is provided with a mechanism for sending the cleaning water L in the recovery box 13 to a discharge port (an example of the "cleaning water port" in this application) near the turn-around part 7 on the customer seat side in the housing 2 by the cleaning water pipe 15 and the pump 16. The cleaning water L may be tap water or water mixed with detergent supplied from a supply device not shown. The cleaning water L sent from the recovery box 13 to the turn-around part 7 on the customer seat side in the housing 2 by the cleaning water pipe 15 and the pump 16 flows down toward the recovery box 13 through the bottom of the housing 2. The water level in the recovery box 13 may be maintained at a constant level by a ball tap valve or a water level sensor, or the water may be constantly supplied and constantly replaced by being drained from an overflow pipe.

The cleaning water L flowing through the bottom of the housing 2 toward the collection box 13 exerts the effect of increasing the sliding property of the belt 3 sliding on the bottom surface of the housing 2, reducing the driving force of the circulation chain 14, suppressing dirt adhering to the belt 3, and cleaning the inside of the housing 2 and the belt 3. The driving unit 6 such as a motor that drives the circulation chain 14 is installed at a position higher than the circulation chain 14 and the belt 3, so that there is a low possibility that food and drink remaining on the tableware D will become dirt and adhere to the belt 3. In addition, since the belt 3 slides on the bottom surface of the housing 2 while immersed in the cleaning water L flowing on the bottom of the housing 2, food and drink remaining on the tableware D are unlikely to become dirt and adhere to the belt 3. In addition, the weight 4 provided at the free end of the belt 3 is a rod-shaped body extending laterally to the traveling direction, so that when the weight 4 slides on the bottom surface of the housing 2, it can remove adhesions on the bottom surface, or can hook thin trays or plates remaining on the bottom surface and move them to the collection box 13. Therefore, the amount of food, drink, etc. remaining on the tableware D that becomes dirt and adheres to the circulating chain 14 from the belt 3 is extremely small.

In this embodiment, the lowering and conveying device 1 is structured so that the belt 3 for carrying the tableware D hangs down from the circulation chain 14 inside the housing 2, making it extremely difficult for dirt to adhere to the circulation chain 14 or the drive parts such as the motor inside the drive unit 6, and thus enabling stable operation to be achieved.

Figure 6 is a second diagram illustrating an example of how to use the lowering and conveying device 1. By using the lowering and conveying device 1 to transport tableware D, the tableware D is accumulated in the collection box 13. The tableware D accumulated in the collection box 13 is transferred to a dishwasher or the like by the store staff S. The transfer from the collection box 13 to the dishwasher may be performed manually by the store staff S, or may be performed by a transfer machine that automatically transfers the tableware D.

The lowering conveying device 1 can also convey tableware D of food and drink prepared in the kitchen area C from the kitchen area C to the customer seating table T in the customer seating area K. FIG. 7 is a third diagram explaining an example of a method of using the lowering conveying device 1. The belt 3, which turns around near the kitchen side turn-around section 9 and moves from the kitchen side turn-around section 9 to the customer side turn-around section 7 at the top of the housing 2, is placed on the circulating chain 14 and becomes approximately flat, so that tableware D of food and drink can be placed on it, as shown in FIG. 7. In this way, the lowering conveying device 1 can be regarded not only as a device that collects tableware D from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C, but also as a food and drink conveying device that transports food and drink from the kitchen area C to the customer seating area K. It goes without saying that the lowering conveying device 1 can be used as a device that only closes the open part at the top of the housing 2 and collects tableware D from the customer seating area K to the kitchen area C for hygienic reasons, etc.

The housing 2 is made of a material with excellent corrosion resistance such as stainless steel, but the belt 3 is preferably made of a flexible sheet-like material. Examples of such materials include tarpaulin, polyvinyl chloride, and various other materials. The belt 3 may be a sheet without holes, or may have many holes drilled vertically and horizontally. If the belt 3 has holes, the cleaning water L is more likely to flow off the belt 3. The lowering conveying device 1 may also be provided with a cleaning mechanism that removes dirt from the belt 3 with a brush or the like.

Incidentally, it is preferable that the end of the conveying path formed by the housing 2 is disposed upstream of the conveying path from the rotating shaft 5 at the kitchen side turn-back portion 9. FIG. 8 is a diagram explaining the positional relationship of the end of the conveying path. As shown by the symbol Z in FIG. 8(C), if the end of the conveying path formed by the housing 2 is disposed upstream of the conveying path from the rotating shaft 5 at the kitchen side turn-back portion 9, the tray R can be smoothly dropped into the recovery box 13. That is, when the tray R carrying the tableware D is loaded onto the belt 3 as shown in FIG. 8(A), the tray R moves toward the recovery box 13 while being loaded onto the belt 3 pulled by the circulating chain 14 driven by the power of the motor built into the drive unit 6 as shown in FIG. 8(B). Then, when the tray R reaches the vicinity of the recovery box 13, the belt 3 is pulled up to the upper part of the housing 2 together with the circulating chain 14 that turns around near the kitchen side turn-back portion 9 as shown in FIG. 8(C), and the tray R loaded onto the belt 3 is pulled up together with the belt 3. However, since the end of the conveying path formed by the housing 2 is located upstream of the rotating shaft 5 at the kitchen-side folding portion 9 by the length L, the belt 3 loses support from the bottom surface of the housing 2 at the initial stage of being pulled up to the top of the housing 2. When the belt 3 loses support from the bottom surface of the housing 2, the lower end of the belt 3 hangs down toward the recovery box 13, so that the tray R on the belt 3 falls into the housing 2 before being pulled up to the top of the housing 2 together with the belt 3. The length of the portion indicated by the symbol Z (which can also be considered as the "offset amount") makes it possible to accommodate larger trays R as it becomes longer. However, the length of the portion indicated by the symbol Z can be determined taking into consideration the size of the tray R expected to be used, the length of the belt 3, the height from the bottom surface of the housing 2 to the rotating shaft 5, and various other conditions.

T: Customer table: S: Store staff: W: Wall: C: Kitchen area: K: Customer area: D: Tableware: L: Cleaning water: R: Tray: 1: Lowering conveyor: 2: Housing: 3: Belt: 4: Weight: 5: Rotating shaft: 6: Drive unit: 7: Customer side turn-up part: 8: Guide surface: 9: Kitchen side turn-up part: 10: Inlet: 11: Outlet: 12: Stand: 13: Collection box: 14: Circulation chain: 15: Cleaning water piping: 16: Pump

Claims (5)

A linear conveying path that forms a flat conveying surface starting from an end on the seating area side and ending at an end on the kitchen area side;
a start point side rotation shaft that is disposed above the conveying surface at the start point;
An end point side rotation shaft that is disposed above the conveying surface at the end point;
a sheet-attached annular body, the sheet-attached annular body being an endless annular body that is hung on both the starting point side rotating shaft and the ending point side rotating shaft directly above the conveying surface , and a plurality of flexible sheets, one end of which is connected to the annular body, are discretely attached to the annular body;
a drive unit that drives the annular body so that the sheet hanging down from the annular body with a free end side, which is an end on the non-connected side, placed on the conveying surface is pulled from the starting point to the ending point on the conveying surface ,
The sheet is discretely connected to the annular body so that the sheet has an interval allowing tableware to be placed on the sheet when the sheet is pulled from the starting point to the end point on the conveying surface.
Tableware recovery device. a wall portion disposed on a side of the conveying surface and having an opening for placing food or drink on the sheet placed on the conveying path;
The tableware recovery device according to claim 1. A weight is provided on the free end side of the sheet.
The tableware recovery device according to claim 1 or 2. A cleaning water outlet for discharging cleaning water onto the transport path is provided at the starting point.
The tableware recovery device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The cleaning water is sent from a collection box provided at the end point to the cleaning water outlet.
The tableware recovery device according to claim 4.

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