초록 ▼

The present invention provides a food waste disposer having an upper food conveying section, a motor section, a central grinding section and a controller. The upper food conveying section includes a housing forming an inlet to receive food waste. The motor section includes a switched reluctance mach

The present invention provides a food waste disposer having an upper food conveying section, a motor section, a central grinding section and a controller. The upper food conveying section includes a housing forming an inlet to receive food waste. The motor section includes a switched reluctance machine having a rotor and a stator. The rotor imparts rotational movement to a rotatable shaft. The central grinding section is disposed between the food conveying section and the motor section. The food conveying section conveys food waste to the grinding section. The grinding section includes a grinding mechanism where a portion of the grinding mechanism is mounted to the rotatable shaft. The controller is electrically connected to the stator to control the switched reluctance machine. The controller is capable of directing rotational movement to the rotatable shaft and the portion of the grinding mechanism mounted to the rotatable shaft. The controller is further capable of maintaining the rotational movement of the rotatable shaft at more than one rotational speed. The present invention also includes methods of operating a variable speed motor in different operational modes such as soft start mode, optimized grinding mode, idle mode, rinse mode and anti-jamming mode.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. A method for operating a food waste disposer to process food waste, the food waste disposer having a motor for imparting movement to a rotatable shaft which is coupled to a grinding mechanism, the method comprising: automatically determining the presence of food waste in the

What is claimed is: 1. A method for operating a food waste disposer to process food waste, the food waste disposer having a motor for imparting movement to a rotatable shaft which is coupled to a grinding mechanism, the method comprising: automatically determining the presence of food waste in the food waste disposer; and controllably changing the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism depending on the presence of food waste in the foods waste disposer, including increasing the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism if food waste is present in the disposer. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is increased from a first rotational speed to a second rotational speed. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first rotational speed is between 400 and 800 revolutions per minute. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is subsequently decreased from the second rotational speed to the first rotational speed if food waste exists in the food waste disposer. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is decreased if food waste is not present in the food waste disposer. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is decreased from a first rotational speed to a second rotational speed. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is subsequently increased from the second rotational speed to the first rotational speed if food waste enters the food waste disposer. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the presence of food waste in the food waste disposer is determined by a motor controller. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the motor further comprises a stator, and wherein the controller is in electrical communication with the stator. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the presence of food waste in the food waste disposer comprises using the controller to monitor a current in the stator. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein an increase in current indicates the addition of food waste to the food waste disposer. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is increased in response to the increase in current. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is increased from a first rotational speed to a second rotational speed. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the rotational speed is between 400 and 800 rotations per minute. 15. The method of claim 10, wherein a decrease in current indicates the exiting of food waste from the food waste disposer. 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is decreased in response to the decrease in current. 17. The method of claim 1, wherein the grinding mechanism comprises a shredder plate. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the shredder plate includes grinding lugs. 19. The method of claim 1, wherein the motor is positioned in a motor housing section and wherein the grinding mechanism is positioned in a grinding section, and wherein the motor housing section and the grinding section are adjacent. 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the grinding section further comprises a stationary shredder ring. 21. The method of claim 19, further comprising a food conveying section adjacent to the grinding section for receiving food waste. 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the motor is a switched reluctance motor. 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the motor is a variable speed motor. 24. A method for operating a food waste disposer to process food waste, the food waste disposer having a motor for imparting movement to a rotatable shaft which is coupled to a grinding mechanism, the method comprising: automatically determining the presence of food waste in the food waste disposer; and decreasing rotational speed of the grinding mechanism from a first rotational speed to a second rotational speed if food waste is not present in the food waste disposer. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the rotational speed of the grinding mechanism is subsequently increased from the second rotational speed to the first rotational speed if food waste enters the food waste disposer.