Vertical Dish Washing Machine

Abstract

A vertical dish washing machine is disclosed to include a dish basket for carrying dishes for washing and a vertical loop conveyer system including a first transmission mechanism adapted to carry the dish basket vertically front a front top location to a front bottom location, a second transmission mechanism adapted to carry the dish basket horizontally from the front bottom location to a rear bottom location, a third transmission mechanism adapted to carry the dish basket vertically from the rear bottom location to a rear top location, and a fourth transmission mechanism adapted to carry the dish basket from the rear top location to the front top location.

Description

This invention is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 12/875,265, entitled “Vertical Dish Washing Machine” filed on Sep. 3, 2010 and currently pending.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to dish washing technology and more particularly, to a vertical dish washing machine, which utilizes a vertical loop conveyer system formed of a plurality of power cylinder-bases transmission mechanisms to carry a dish basket with dishes to be washes, enabling dishes to be washed automatically, saving much dish washing labor and time.

2. Description of the Related Art

In medium and big scale restaurants and any restaurant having a good business, a big amount of dishes and kitchen utensils must be washed daily. Washing these dishes and kitchen utensils require much labor and time, and may be unable to reach to expected washing quality and hygienic standards. In some restaurants, dish washing equipment with conveyors may be used to save delivery time. However, a dish washing equipment of this kind requires much installation space. Further, regular restaurants are commonly established in a downtown, shopping center, or area having a dense population where the price of land or rent is high. Therefore, a dish washing equipment with conveyors cannot be popularly accepted. Further, when delivering dishes and kitchen utensils before or after washing, the floor or carpet may be contaminated accidentally, causing a hygienic problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has been accomplished to provide a vertical dish washing machine, which has the advantages of high operation stability, low noise level, simple structure, ease of maintenance and space saving.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a vertical dish washing machine, which utilizes a vertical loop conveyer system formed of a plurality of power cylinder-bases transmission mechanisms to carry a dish basket with dishes to be washes, enabling dishes to be washed automatically, saving much dish washing labor and time.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a vertical dish washing machine, which enables one vertical dish washing machine to be installed in every floor in a multi-story restaurant, saving much dish delivering labor and avoiding possible contamination during delivery of dirty dishes from one floor to another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic elevational view illustrating the main components of a vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plain view of the present invention, illustrating relative mounting arrangement of the first power cylinder sets, the second power cylinder sets, the lifting frames, the sliding rails, the dish basket carriers, the first and second auxiliary pull rods and the related power cylinders.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial view of the present invention, illustrating the relative mounting arrangement of the first and second power cylinder sets of the first and third transmission mechanisms and the related sliding rails.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the present invention, illustrating the relative mounting arrangement of the dish basket carriers, first and second auxiliary pull rods and related power cylinders of the first and third transmission mechanisms and the related sliding rails.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a partial view of the present invention, illustrating the relative mounting arrangement of the support frames, first and second main pull rods and related power cylinders of the first and third transmission mechanisms.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a partial view of the present invention, illustrating the relative mounting arrangement of the support frames, first and second main pull rods and the related power cylinders of the first and third transmission mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a schematic elevational view of the fourth transmission mechanism of the vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side plain view of the vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an elevational view, in an enlarged scale, of the disk basket of the vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an elevational view of a part of the present invention, illustrating the structural arrangement of the first transmission mechanism.

FIG. 15 is a schematic drawing illustrating an operation status of the first transmission mechanism vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention (I).

FIG. 16 is a schematic drawing illustrating an operation status of the first transmission mechanism vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention (II).

FIG. 17 is a schematic drawing illustrating an operation status of the first transmission mechanism vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention (III).

FIG. 18 is a schematic drawing illustrating an operation status of the first transmission mechanism vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention (IV).

FIG. 19 is an elevational view of a part of the present invention, illustrating the structural arrangement of the second transmission mechanism.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-12, a vertical dish washing machine in accordance with the present invention is shown comprising a housing 1, a vertical loop conveyer system formed of a plurality of transmission mechanism 2;3;4;5 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 12) and mounted in the housing 1 for delivering a dish basket 7 that carries the dishes to be washed, a recycled water rinsing device 13 and/or clean water rinsing device (not shown) and/or hot water rinsing device 15 mounted in the housing 1 for rinsing dishes in the dish basket 7, a drying device 17 mounted in the housing 1 for drying cleaned dishes in the dish basket 7, a soaking chamber 12 disposed in a bottom side inside the housing 1, and an ultraviolet sterilizer and/or infrared sterilizer 19 mounted in the housing 1 for sterilizing cleaned dishes in the dish basket 7. The aforesaid transmission mechanisms 2;3;4;5 include a first transmission mechanism 2, a second transmission mechanism 3, a third transmission mechanism 4 and a fourth transmission mechanism 5 (see FIG. 11). Further, a main control board (not shown) is mounted inside the housing 1 for controlling the operation of the first, second, third and fourth transmission mechanisms 2;3;4;5.

The first transmission mechanism 2 comprises two first power cylinder sets 20 bilaterally mounted in a front side inside the housing 1 (see FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Each first power cylinder set 20 comprises a first power cylinder 201 reciprocatable in vertical relative to the housing 1 to carry the dish basket 7 up and down. The first transmission mechanism 2 can be controlled to start or to stop by the main control board, carrying the dish basket 7 to a rack 105 in a front bottom side inside the housing 10, and thus, the dish basket 7 can be further carried by the second transmission mechanism 3 to a bottom side of the third transmission mechanism 4. Further, the fourth transmission mechanism 5 can carry the dish basket 7 to the top side of the first transmission mechanism 2. Further, the first power cylinder 201 of each first power cylinder set 20 comprises a piston rod 202 (see FIG. 5) coupled to a left or right side of a first lifting frame 203. Thus, the piston rods 202 of the first power cylinders 201 of the two first power cylinder sets 20 of the first transmission mechanism 2 can be controlled to move the first lifting frame 203 up and down. Sliding rails 204 are mounted at the first lifting frame 203 and coupled to respective sliding grooves 181 in the housing 1 (see FIG. 4) to guide vertical sliding movement of the first lifting frame 203 relative to the housing 1. Dish basket carriers 28 are pivotally coupled to the sliding rails 204 for carrying the dish basket 7. Thus, when the piston rods 202 of the first power cylinder sets 20 are retracted, the first lifting frame 203 and the sliding rails 204 with the respective dish basket carriers 28 are lowered (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) to carry the dish basket 7 toward the bottom side. Further, first auxiliary pull rods 281 are respectively pivoted to the dish basket carriers 28. Each first auxiliary pull rod 281 has the top end thereof respectively pivotally connected to a bottom end 2062 of a crank lever 206 at a first shaft 205 at the first lifting frame 203 by a pivot rod 282 (see FIG. 7). The crank lever 206 at the first shaft 205 has its top end 2061 (see FIG. 6) pivotally connected to a piston rod 284 of a first auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 283. Thus, when the first auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 283 extends out the piston rod 284, the crank lever 206 will drive the first shaft 205 to turn the first auxiliary pull rod 281 about the pivot rod 282, thereby receiving the dish basket carriers 28. On the contrary, when the first auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 283 retracts the piston rod 284, the crank lever 206 will be forced to reverse the first shaft 205, turning the first auxiliary pull rod 281 about the pivot rod 282 in the reversed direction, thereby extending out the dish basket carriers 28 (see FIG. 2, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) for carrying the dish basket 7. The first transmission mechanism 2 further comprises a plurality of first support frames 29 (see FIG. 8 and FIG. 9). Each first support frame 29 is biasable by a first main pull rod 291 to an extended position for carrying the dish basket 7. Further, each first support frame 29 can also be biased by the first main pull rod 291 reversely to a received position (see FIG. 10). Each first support frame 29 has its one side pivotally connected to the first main pull rod 291 by a pivot member 297. The topmost first support frame 29 has its opposite side connected with a coupling member 290 (see FIG. 8 and FIG. 9), which has its opposite side 293 pivotally connected to a piston rod 295 of a first main pull rod power cylinder 294. Thus, retracting the piston rod 295 can bias the first main pull rod 291 in one direction to move the support frames 29 to the received position (see FIG. 10). On the contrary, extending out the piston rod 295 of the first main pull rod power cylinder 294 can bias the first main pull rod 291 in the reversed direction to extend out the support frames 29 (see FIG. 9) for carrying the dish basket 7.

The second transmission mechanism 3, as shown in FIG. 19, is mounted in the bottom side inside the housing 1 for carrying the dish basket 7 from the first transmission mechanism 2 to the rack 105 at the bottom side of the third transmission mechanism 4 that is disposed at the rear side inside the housing 1. Further, a movable linkage 37 is provided in the bottom side inside the housing 1 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 12). The linkage 37 has its one side 371 movable horizontally back and forth by a rope 381 of a pulley block 38. The rope 381 is extended through a plurality of pulleys 382;383;384 in the housing 1, having its one end connected to a lug 392 at a piston rod 391 of a third power cylinder 39. Thus, retracting the piston rod 391 can drive the linkage 37 to carry the support frame 104 and the dish basket 7 to the rack 105 at the bottom side of the third transmission mechanism 4. When extending out the piston rod 391, the linkage 37 will be moved forwardly to its former position.

The third transmission mechanism 4 comprises two second power cylinder sets 40 bilaterally arranged at the rear side inside the housing 1 (see FIGS. 3-5). Each second power cylinder set 40 comprises a second power cylinder 401 controllable to move a piston rod 402 thereof vertically relative to the housing 1 to carry the dish basket 7 up and down. The third transmission mechanism 4 can be controlled to start or to stop by the main control board, carrying the dish basket 7 out of the rack 105 in a rear bottom side inside the housing 10, and thus, the dish basket 7 can be further carried by the fourth transmission mechanism 5 to the top side of the first transmission mechanism 2. Further, the piston rod 402 of the second power cylinder 401 of each second power cylinder set 40 has its one end connected to left or right side of a second lifting frame 403. Thus, the piston rods 402 of the second power cylinders 401 of the two second power cylinder sets 40 of the third transmission mechanism 4 can be controlled to move the second lifting frame 403 up and down. Sliding rails 404 are mounted at the second lifting frame 403 and coupled to respective sliding grooves 181′ in the housing 1 (see FIG. 4) to guide vertical sliding movement of the second lifting frame 403 relative to the housing 1. Dish basket carriers 48 are pivotally coupled to the sliding rails 404 for carrying the dish basket 7 (see FIG. 2, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Thus, when the piston rods 402 of the second power cylinder sets 40 are retracted, the second lifting frame 403 and the sliding rails 404 with the respective dish basket carriers 48 are lifted to carry the dish basket 7 toward the top side. Further, second auxiliary pull rods 481 are respectively pivoted to the dish basket carriers 48 (see FIG. 6 and FIG. 7). Each second auxiliary pull rod 481 has the top end thereof respectively pivotally connected to a bottom end 2062′ of a crank lever 206′ at a second shaft 205′ at the second lifting frame 403 by a pivot rod 482 (see FIG. 7). The crank lever 406 at the second shaft 405 has its top end 2061′ (see FIG. 6) pivotally connected to a piston rod 484 of a second auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 483. Thus, when the second auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 483 extends out the piston rod 484, the crank lever 406′ will drive the second shaft 205′ to turn the second auxiliary pull rod 481 about the second pivot rod 482, thereby receiving the dish basket carriers 48. On the contrary, when the second auxiliary pull rod power cylinder 483 retracts the piston rod 484, the crank lever 406 will be forced to reverse the second shaft 405, turning the second auxiliary pull rod 481 about the second pivot rod 2482 in the reversed direction, thereby extending out the dish basket carriers 48 (see FIG. 2, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7) for carrying the dish basket 7. The third transmission mechanism 4 further comprises a plurality of support frames 49 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 10). Each support frame 49 is biasable by a second main pull rod 491 to an extended position for carrying the dish basket 7. Further, each support frame 49 can also be biased by the second main pull rod 491 reversely to a received position (see FIG. 10). Each second support frame 49 has its one side pivotally connected to the second main pull rod 491 by a pivot member 497 (see FIG. 8). The topmost support frame 49 has its opposite side connected with a coupling member 490, which has its opposite side 493 pivotally connected to a piston rod 495 of a second main pull rod power cylinder 494. Thus, retracting the piston rod 495 can bias the main pull rod 491 in one direction to move the support frames 49 to the received position (see FIG. 7). On the contrary, extending out the piston rod 495 of the second main pull rod power cylinder 494 can bias the second main pull rod 491 in the reversed direction to extend out the support frames 49 (see FIG. 9) for carrying the dish basket 7.

The fourth transmission mechanism 5 (see FIG. 1 and FIG. 11) is mounted in the top side inside the housing 1 for carrying the dish basket 7 from the third transmission mechanism 4 to the first transmission mechanism 2. Further, a fourth power cylinder 54 is mounted in the top side inside the housing 1, having its piston rod 55 pivotally connected to a linkage 56. Extending out or retracting the piston rod 55 of the fourth power cylinder 54 can move the linkage 56 toward or away from the first transmission mechanism 2. Further, the linkage 56 is mounted with guide blocks 562 that are slidably coupled to respective guide rails 561 in the top side of the housing 1 to guide forward-backward sliding movement of the linkage 56 smoothly.

Further, a gear shaft 280 is connected between the first lifting frames 203 at the first power cylinders 201 of the first power cylinder sets 20 of the first transmission mechanism 2 (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Two gears 2801 are respectively mounted at the two distal ends of the gear shaft 280 and meshed with a respective first tooth rack 185 that is vertically and fixedly mounted in the top side inside the housing 1. Thus, the first lifting frames 203 can be moved up and down stably.

Further, a gear shaft 480 is connected between the second lifting frames 403 at the second power cylinders 401 of the second power cylinder sets 40 of the third transmission mechanism 4 (see FIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Two gears 4801 are respectively mounted at the two distal ends of the gear shaft 480 and meshed with a respective second tooth rack 186 that is vertically and fixedly mounted in the top side inside the housing 1. Thus, the second lifting frames 403 can be moved up and down stably.

The aforesaid soaking chamber 12 (see FIG. 13) is mounted in the bottom side inside the housing 1 for holding a certain amount of water and detergent (not shown. The soaking chamber 12 is connected to a first water intake pipe 101, which is adapted to guide a flow of water into the soaking chamber 12 to produce an eddy flow in the soaking chamber 12 for removing residues from dishes in the dish basket 7.

Further, the aforesaid recycled water rinsing device 13 (see FIG. 12) is mounted in the rear side inside the housing 1 at a rear top side relative to the soaking chamber 12. The recycled water rinsing device 13 comprises a plurality of spray pipes 131, and a second water intake pipe 132 connected to the spray pipes 131. The soaking chamber 12 is connected to a first pump 81 through a suction pipe 120. The first pump 81 is controllable to pump water out of the soaking chamber 12 through the suction pipe 120 to a strainer 80, which is connected to a water outlet pipe 801 and then a water distributor 802. The water distributor 802 is connected to one end 1321 of the second water intake pipe 132 through a first water distribution pipe 803. Thus, the water in the soaking chamber 12 can be recycled. Through jets (not shown) of the spray pipes 131, high pressure water is ejected onto dishes in the dish basket 7. Further, the water distributor 802 is also connected to the first water intake pipe 101 through a second water distribution pipe 804. Thus, water that is pumped out of the soaking chamber 12 and filtered through the strainer 80 can be delivered through the water outlet pipe 801 and the second water distribution pipe 804 and then guided back to the soaking chamber 12 by the first water intake pipe 101, causing disturbed water in the soaking chamber 12.

The aforesaid hot water rinsing device 15 is mounted in the rear side inside the housing 1 and disposed at a top side relative to the recycled water rinsing device 1. The hot water rinsing device 15 comprises a plurality of spray pipes 151, a third water intake pipe 152 (see FIG. 12) connecting the spray pipes 151 to a water source (not shown), a heater 155 mounted at the water source and adapted to heat water passing from the water source to the third water intake pipe 152, a second pump 8, a connection pipe 154 connecting the heater 155 to the second pump 83 for enabling the second pump 83 to pump heated water to the spray pipes 151 to rinse dishes in the dish basket 7.

Further, a steam cleaning device (not shown) may be used to substitute for the aforesaid hot water rinsing device 15. The steam cleaning device comprises a plurality of steam nozzles (not shown), a low pressure steam generator, for example, small-scale boiler (not shown), and a connection pipe connecting the small-scale boiler to the steam nozzles.

The aforesaid drying device 17 (see FIG. 12) is mounted in the top side inside the housing 1. The drying device 17 comprises an air passage 171, and an air blower (or fan) mounted at one end of the air passage 171 and controllable to blow a flow of air through the air passage 171 for drying dishes in the dish basket 7.

The aforesaid ultraviolet sterilizer or infrared sterilizer 19 (see FIG. 12) is mounted at a bottom side of the drying device 17 inside the housing 1, comprising an ultraviolet or infrared lamp 191 for giving off ultraviolet or infrared light to sterilize dishes in the dish basket 7.

Further, sensors (not shown) are mounted inside the housing 1. For example, a first sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the dish basket 7 carrying cleaned dishes has been moved out of the first transmission mechanism 2; a second sensor is provided for detecting whether or not the dish basket 7 carrying dishes for cleaning has been positioned on the support frames 23 of the first transmission mechanism 2. After positioning of the dish basket 7 with loaded dishes on the support frames 23 of the first transmission mechanism 2, the second sensor immediately provides a signal to the main control board, causing the main control board to start the first transmission mechanism 2.

Further, the aforesaid main control board is adapted to control on/off of the first transmission mechanism 2, the second transmission mechanism 3, the third transmission mechanism 4 and the fourth transmission mechanism 5.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the housing 1 of the vertical dish washing machine defines a first opening 111. Through the first opening 111, the dish basket 7 with dishes to be cleaned is put in the first transmission mechanism 2. After washing, the dish basket 7 with cleaned dishes can be taken out of the first transmission mechanism 2 through the first opening 111.

Further, an ultrasonic vibrator (not shown) can be mounted in or outside the soaking chamber 12, and controllable to vibrate water in the soaking chamber 12.

Further, dish soap or detergent can be added to water in the soaking chamber 12. Further, an overflow switch (not shown) is mounted in the soaking chamber 12 for giving a signal to the main control board when the level of water in the soaking chamber 12 surpasses a predetermined value, causing the main control board to open a drain valve (not shown) at a drain port of an overflow pipe 102.

The housing 1 further defines a maintenance access door 114 (see FIG. 3) that can be opened to facilitate maintenance and repair.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, the dish basket 7 comprises a rim 71 and a bottom 70. Partition members can be provided in the dish basket 7 to divide the holding space of the disk basket 7 into multiple compartments for accommodating bowls, plates, dishes and other tableware separately. As the design of the dish basket 7 is not within the scope and spirit of the present invention, no further detailed description in this regard will be necessary.

When using the vertical dish washing machine, the dish basket 7 with the tableware to be washed are placed on the support frames 29 of the first transmission mechanism 2 (see FIG. 14), and then control the first main pull rod power cylinders 294 to retract the respective piston rods 295, moving the support frames 29 to the received position and enabling the dish basket 7 to be carried by one dish basket carrier 28. Thereafter, control the first power cylinders 201 of the first power cylinder sets 20 to retract the respective piston rods 202, forcing the first lifting frames 23 to lower the disk basket carriers 28 and the dish basket 7 (see FIG. 15) to the soaking chamber 12 and for enabling the dish basket 7 to be carried by the support frames 104. Before this action, the first main pull rod power cylinders 294 have been controlled to extend the respective piston rods 295, enabling the support frame 29 to carry the dish basket 7. Thereafter, control the auxiliary pull rod power cylinders 283 to extend out the respective piston rods 284, driving the crank levers 206 to bias the first shafts 205, and therefore, the auxiliary pull rods 281 are moved to receive the dish basket carriers 28 (see FIG. 17). Thereafter, control the first power cylinders 201 of the first power cylinder set 20 to extend out the respective piston rods 202, moving the first lifting frames 203 with the respective sliding rails 204 and the pivoted dish basket carriers 28 upwards (see FIG. 18). Thereafter, control the first transmission mechanism 2 to extend out the dish basket carriers 28 (see FIG. 14), enabling the topmost dish basket carrier 28 to wait for the dish basket 7 with the cleaned dishes. Further, when the disk basket 7 is carried by the support frames 104 in the front bottom side inside the housing 1, control the third power cylinders 39 of the second transmission mechanism 3 to extend out the respective piston rods 391, driving the linkage 37 to carry the support frame 104 and the dish basket 7 to the rack 105 at the bottom side of the third transmission mechanism 4. Thereafter, control the third power cylinders 39 of the second transmission mechanism 3 to retract the respective piston rods 391, moving the linkage 37 forwardly to its former position for a next operation. After the second power cylinders 401 of the second power cylinder sets 40 of the third transmission mechanism 4 have retracted the respective piston rods 402 to lower the second lifting frames 403 with the sliding rails 404 and the dish basket carriers 48, control the second auxiliary pull rod power cylinders 483 to extend out the respective piston rods 484, forcing the second crank levers 406 to bias the second shaft 205′, and therefore the second auxiliary pull rods 481 are turned about the respective second pivot rods 482 to extend out the dish basket carriers 48. At this time, the lowest dish basket carrier 48 is transferred by the second transmission mechanism 3 to the rack 105 at the rear bottom side inside the housing 1. Thereafter, control the second main pull rod power cylinders 494 to extend out the respective piston rods 495, biasing the support frames 49 to extend out the dish basket 7. Thereafter, control the second power cylinders 401 of the second power cylinder set 40 to extend out the respective piston rods 402, moving the second lifting frames 403, the sliding rails 404 and the dish basket carriers 48 with the dish basket 7 upwards. Thus, when the dish basket carriers 48 of the third transmission mechanism 4 carried the dish basket 7 to the top end, the dish basket 7 can then be carried by the support frames 49. Thereafter, control the fourth power cylinder 54 of the fourth transmission mechanism 5 to extend out the respective piston rods 55, moving the linkage 56 to carry the dish basket 7 to the support frames 29 at the top side of the first transmission mechanism 2, enabling the dish basket 7 to be further carried down by the first transmission mechanism 2. Thereafter, control the fourth power cylinder 54 of the fourth transmission mechanism 5 to retract the respective piston rods 55, moving the linkage 56 back to its former position for a next operation. At this time, the dish basket 7 is lowered to the soaking chamber 12 and carried by the support frames 104, and then the carried by the support frames 104 to the rack 105 by the second transmission mechanism 3, enabling the dishes in the dish basket 7 to be washed by the turbulent water and applied detergent. Thereafter, the dish basket 7 is lifted by the third transmission mechanism 4. During this upward movement, the spray pipes 131 of the recycled water rinsing device 13 and the spray pipes 151 of the hot water rinsing device 15 and the steam cleaning device are controlled to eject water and steam onto dishes in the dish basket 7. Further, when the dish basket 7 is carried by the fourth transmission mechanism 5 to the first transmission mechanism 2, the air blower 172 of the drying device 17 is controlled to blow air toward cleaned dishes in the dish basket 7, and the ultraviolet sterilizer or infrared sterilizer 19 is controlled to emit ultraviolet or infrared light onto the cleaned dishes in the dish basket 7, and thus dishes carried in the disk basket 7 are cleaned, dried and sterilized for service.

Further, the first power cylinders 201 of the first power cylinder sets 20 of the first transmission mechanism 2, the third power cylinder 39 of the second transmission mechanism 3, the second power cylinders 401 of the third transmission mechanism 4 and the fourth power cylinders 54 of the fourth transmission mechanism 5 can be hydraulic cylinders and/or pneumatic cylinders.

In conclusion, the invention provides a vertical dish washing machine, which has the advantages and features as follows:

• • 1. By means of the hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders of the vertical loop conveyer system in the housing 1 to move respective movable component parts, the dish basket 7 can be moved up and down and back and forth smoothly without causing much noise. Thus, the vertical dish washing machine has the advantages of high operation stability, low noise level, simple structure, ease of maintenance and space saving.
  • 2. By means of the first transmission mechanism 2 to carry the dish basket 7 vertically to the front bottom side, the second transmission mechanism 3 to carry the dish basket 7 horizontally to the rear bottom side, the third transmission mechanism 4 to carry the dish basket 7 vertically to the rear top side, and the fourth transmission mechanism 5 to carry the dish basket 7 horizontally to the front top side, the dish basket 7 with the loaded dishes can be moved in proper order through the soaking chamber 12, the recycled water rinsing device 13, the clean water rinsing device (not shown), the hot water rinsing device 15, the second hot water rinsing device (not shown), the steam cleaning device (not shown), the drying device 17 and the ultraviolet/infrared sterilizer 19, enabling dishes to be cleaned, dried and sterilized automatically.
  • 3. Supplied water can be recycled, meeting environmental protection and energy conservation requirements.
  • 4. One vertical dish washing machine can be installed in every floor in a restaurant, saving much dish delivering labor and avoiding possible contamination during delivery of dirty dishes from one floor to another.

Claims

1. A vertical dish washing machine, comprising a housing, a vertical loop conveyer system formed of a plurality of transmission mechanisms and mounted inside said housing, and a dish basket movable by said vertical loop conveyer system in said housing for carrying tableware for washing.

2. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical loop conveyer system comprises a first transmission mechanism adapted to carry said dish basket vertically front a front top location to a front bottom location, a second transmission mechanism adapted to carry said dish basket horizontally from said front bottom location to a rear bottom location, a third transmission mechanism adapted to carry said dish basket vertically from said rear bottom location to a rear top location, and a fourth transmission mechanism adapted to carry said dish basket from said rear top location to said front top location.

3. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said vertical loop conveyer system comprises:

a first transmission mechanism comprising two first power cylinder sets bilaterally mounted in a front side inside said housing, each said first power cylinder set comprising a first power cylinder movable vertically relative to said housing to carry said dish basket from a front top location to a rack at a front bottom location inside said housing;

a second transmission mechanism mounted in a bottom side inside said housing bottom end and adapted to carry said dish basket from said front bottom location to a rear bottom location inside said housing;

a third transmission mechanism comprising two second power cylinder sets bilaterally mounted in a rear side inside said housing, each said second power cylinder set comprising a second power cylinder movable vertically relative to said housing to carry said dish basket from said rear bottom location to a rear top location inside said housing; and

a fourth transmission mechanism mounted in a top side inside said housing and adapted to carry said dish basket from said rear top location to said front top location.

4. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein:

said first transmission mechanism further comprises two first lifting frames coupled to respective piston rods of said first power cylinders of said first power cylinder sets, a plurality of vertically extending sliding rails respectively connected to said first lifting frames and coupled to respective vertically extending sliding grooves inside said housing, a plurality of dish basket carriers pivotally coupled to said first lifting frames at different elevations, a plurality of first auxiliary pull rods respectively pivotally connected to said dish basket carriers, a first shaft mounted at each said first lifting frame, a plurality of crank levers coupled between said first shafts and the piston rods of said first auxiliary pull rods for enabling said dish basket carriers to be moved between an extended condition and a received condition during rotation of said first shafts, a plurality of support frames respectively pivotally mounted at a left front side and a right front side inside said housing, a plurality of first main pull rods respective coupled to said support frames for biasing said support frames between an extended condition and a received condition, a main pull rod power cylinder for moving said main pull rods to extend out said support frames for carrying said dish basket, and a coupling member coupled between one said support frame and said main pull rod power cylinder;

said second transmission mechanism comprises a movable linkage, a pull block comprising a rope connected to said movable linkage for moving said movable linkage horizontally back and forth, a plurality of pulleys supporting said rope, a third power cylinder connected with a piston rod thereof to one end of said rope opposite to said movable linkage and controllable to move said movable linkage, a support frame connected to said movable linkage, and a rack at a bottom side of said third transmission mechanism, said third power cylinder being controllable to retract and extend out the piston rod thereof, said movable linkage being driven to carry the support frame of said second transmission mechanism and said dish basket to said rack when the piston rod of said third power cylinder is retracted, said movable linkage being moved back when the piston rod of said third power cylinder is extended out;

said third transmission mechanism comprises two second lifting frames coupled to respective piston rods of said second power cylinders of said second power cylinder sets, a plurality of vertically extending sliding rails respectively connected to said second lifting frames and coupled to respective vertically extending sliding grooves inside said housing, a plurality of second dish basket carriers pivotally coupled to said second lifting frames at different elevations, a plurality of second auxiliary pull rods respectively pivotally connected to said second dish basket carriers, a second shaft mounted at each said second lifting frame, a plurality of crank levers coupled between said second shafts and the piston rods of said second auxiliary pull rods for enabling said second dish basket carriers to be moved between an extended condition and a received condition during rotation of said second shafts, a plurality of second support frames respectively pivotally mounted at a left rear side and a right rear side inside said housing, a plurality of second main pull rods respective coupled to said second support frames for biasing said second support frames between an extended condition and a received condition, a second main pull rod power cylinder for moving said second main pull rods to extend out said second support frames for carrying said dish basket, and a coupling member coupled between one said second support frame and said second main pull rod power cylinder;

said fourth transmission mechanism comprises a fourth power cylinder comprising a piston rod, and a linkage pivotally connected to the piston rod of said fourth power cylinder and movable by said fourth power cylinder toward and away from said first transmission mechanism, a plurality of guide blocks mounted at the linkage of said fourth transmission mechanism and slidably coupled to respective guide rails in said housing to guide forward-backward sliding movement of the linkage of said fourth transmission mechanism.

5. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said housing comprises two first tooth racks and two second tooth racks; said first transmission mechanism further comprises a first gear shaft connected between said first lifting frames at said first power cylinders of said first power cylinder sets, and two gears respectively mounted at two distal ends of said first gear shaft and meshed with said first tooth racks; said second transmission mechanism further comprises a second gear shaft connected between said second lifting frames at said second power cylinders of said second power cylinder sets, and two gears respectively mounted at two distal ends of said second gear shaft and meshed with said second tooth racks.

6. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 5, further comprising at least one rinsing/cleaning device mounted inside said housing and adapted to clean dishes in said dish basket, a drying device, said drying device comprising an air passage and an air blower for blowing a flow of air through said air passage to dry dishes in said dish basket, and an ultraviolet/infrared sterilizer mounted inside said housing for emitting ultraviolet/infrared light to sterilize dishes in said dish basket.

7. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein said housing comprises a soaking chamber for holding a predetermined amount of water; said at least one rinsing/cleaning device comprises a recycled water rising device, a clean water rinsing device, a hot water ringing device and a steam cleaning device.

8. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 7, wherein said recycled water rinsing device comprises a plurality of recycled water spray pipes and a second water intake pipe connected to said recycled water spray pipes; said soaking chamber is connected to a first pump through a suction pipe, said first pump being controllable to pump water out of said soaking chamber through said suction pipe to a strainer being connected to a water outlet pipe and then a water distributor, said water distributor being connected to one end of said second water intake pipe through a first water distribution pipe for recycling water in said soaking chamber, said water distributor being also connected to said first water intake pipe through a second water distribution pipe; said hot water rinsing device is mounted in a rear side inside said housing and disposed at a top side relative to said recycled water rinsing device, said hot water rinsing device comprising a plurality of hot water spray pipes, a third water intake pipe connecting said hot water spray pipes to a water source, a heater mounted at said water source and adapted to heat water passing from said water source to said third water intake pipe, a second pump, a connection pipe connecting said heater to said second pump for enabling said second pump to pump heated water to said hot water spray pipes for rinsing dishes in said dish basket.

9. A vertical dish washing machine, comprising a housing, a vertical loop conveyer system formed of a plurality of transmission mechanisms and mounted inside said housing, a dish basket movable by said vertical loop conveyer system in said housing for carrying tableware for washing, and rinsing and cleaning means mounted inside said housing for rinsing and cleaning dishes being carried in said dish basket.

10. The vertical dish washing machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein said vertical loop conveyer system comprises:

a first transmission mechanism comprising two first power cylinder sets bilaterally mounted in a front side inside said housing, each said first power cylinder set comprising a first power cylinder movable vertically relative to said housing to carry said dish basket from a front top location to a rack at a front bottom location inside said housing;

a second transmission mechanism mounted in a bottom side inside said housing bottom end and adapted to carry said dish basket from said front bottom location to a rear bottom location inside said housing;

a third transmission mechanism comprising two second power cylinder sets bilaterally mounted in a rear side inside said housing, each said second power cylinder set comprising a second power cylinder movable vertically relative to said housing to carry said dish basket from said rear bottom location to a rear top location inside said housing; and

a fourth transmission mechanism mounted in a top side inside said housing and adapted to carry said dish basket from said rear top location to said front top location.