| Sonstiges: |
- Nachgewiesen in: USPTO Patent Applications
- Sprachen: English
- Document Number: 20240099549
- Publication Date: March 28, 2024
- Appl. No: 18/475357
- Application Filed: September 27, 2023
- Claim: 1. A conveyor warewasher for cleaning washware, wherein the conveyor warewasher comprises at least one washing zone and at least one rinsing zone and a conveyor apparatus for conveying washware through the at least one washing zone and the at least one rinsing zone, wherein the conveyor warewasher comprises a device for sensing a loading of the conveyor apparatus, which device is configured in order to determine a loading of the conveyor apparatus with the washware to be conveyed through the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher, characterized in that the conveyor warewasher comprises a control device, which is configured in order to, during a learning or observation phase over at least one observation period or over a plurality of observation periods each relating to a washing shift or a washing day of the conveyor warewasher or a portion thereof, determine a chronological profile of the loading of the conveyor apparatus with washware to be conveyed through the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher, wherein the control device is further configured in order to deduce a pattern or a regularity based on the determined chronological profile of the loading of the conveyor apparatus with washware.
- Claim: 2. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 1, wherein the control device is further configured in order to divide the observation period relating to a washing shift or a washing day of the conveyor warewasher or a portion thereof into a first sub-period and into at least one further second sub-period, wherein, in the first sub-period of the observation period, the determined average loading level of the conveyor apparatus with the washware corresponds to a first relative value or falls within a first relative value range, and wherein, in the at least one second sub-period of the observation period, the determined average loading level of the conveyor apparatus with the washware corresponds to a second relative value or falls within a second relative value range.
- Claim: 3. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 2, wherein the first relative value of the average loading level of the conveyor apparatus corresponds to a remaining load capacity of the conveyor apparatus that is greater than the remaining loading capacity of the conveyor apparatus corresponding to the second relative value of the average loading level of the conveyor apparatus.
- Claim: 4. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 2, wherein the control device is further configured in order to initiate, for the first sub-period, after the end of the learning or observation phase, at least one first measure influencing the treatment of the washware in the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher and/or at least one measure influencing the quality of a washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone of the conveyor warewasher and to initiate, for the at least one second sub-period, at least one second measure influencing the treatment of the washware in the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher and/or at least a second measure influencing the quality of a washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone of the conveyor warewasher.
- Claim: 5. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 4, wherein the measure influencing the treatment of the washware in the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher is at least one of the measures listed below: increasing or decreasing the temperature of the rinsing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one rinsing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the pressure of the rinsing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one rinsing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the amount of rinsing liquid sprayed per unit of time in the at least one rinsing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the temperature of the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the pressure of the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the amount of washing liquid sprayed per unit time in the at least one washing zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the pressure of drying air to be sprayed in an optional drying zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the temperature of drying air to be sprayed in an optional drying zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the amount of drying air sprayed per unit time in an optional drying zone; and/or increasing or decreasing the conveying speed of the conveyor apparatus.
- Claim: 6. The conveyor warewasher (1) according to claim 4, wherein the measure influencing the quality of the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone of the conveyor warewasher is at least one of the measures listed below: increasing or decreasing a regeneration of the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone of the conveyor warewasher; increasing or decreasing a dirt-carrying capacity of the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone; and/or activating or deactivating a dirt discharge from the washing liquid to be sprayed in the at least one washing zone.
- Claim: 7. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 6, wherein the at least one washing zone comprises a washing system configured as a recirculation circuit, wherein the washing system comprises a nozzle system having at least one washing nozzle for spraying washing liquid onto the washware to be cleaned, a wash tank for collecting at least a portion of the sprayed washing liquid, and a wash pump for supplying washing liquid collected in the wash tank to the at least one wash nozzle, and wherein a soil discharge system associated with the at least one washing system is further provided, wherein a tank cover screen is associated with the soil discharge system, which screen is configured in order to separate soil particles from the washing liquid that is sprayed and flows back into the wash tank due to gravity, wherein the soil discharge system comprises a soil collection region arranged at least regionally in the wash tank for collecting the soil particles separated from the washing liquid by means of the tank cover screen, and wherein a soil discharge system fluidly connected to the soil collection region is further provided, via which system the soil collection region can be emptied, in particular as needed, wherein the control device is configured in order to activate and/or deactivate a soil discharge pump associated with the soil discharge system, automatically depending on the determined average loading level of the conveyor apparatus, if necessary at a delay.
- Claim: 8. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 1, wherein the device for sensing a loading of the conveyor apparatus comprises a camera system, which is arranged above or below or to the side of the conveyor apparatus and is configured in order to capture at least one image of a region of the conveyor apparatus continuously or at predetermined or determinable times and/or events, wherein an evaluation device is further provided, which is configured in order to evaluate and determine whether, at the time of the image capture, washware-free regions are present in the region of the conveyor apparatus, and/or what the loading level of the conveyor apparatus is.
- Claim: 9. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveyor warewasher comprises a control device, which is configured in order to output a notification to the washing personnel assigned to the conveyor warewasher and/or to the operator of the conveyor warewasher, when it is determined by the device for sensing a loading of the conveyor apparatus that a current or average loading level of the conveyor apparatus is above or below a predetermined or determinable loading level of the conveyor apparatus.
- Claim: 10. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveyor warewasher comprises a control device, which is configured in order to determine a chronological profile of the loading of the conveyor apparatus with washware to be conveyed through the treatment zones of the conveyor warewasher and/or to create statistics about the loading level of the conveyor apparatus.
- Claim: 11. The conveyor warewasher according to claim 10, wherein the control device is further configured in order to generate a corresponding notification and/or output it to the operator of the conveyor warewasher depending on the determined chronological profile and/or the statistics created, wherein the notification contains a recommendation for optimized operation of the conveyor warewasher with regard to the cleaning efficiency.
- Claim: 12. A method for operating a conveyor warewasher, wherein the method comprises the following method steps: during an observation phase over an observation period relating to a washing shift or a washing day of the conveyor warewasher, a chronological profile of a loading level of the conveyor apparatus determined by the device for sensing a loading of the conveyor apparatus is determined and, based on the determined chronological profile, a pattern or regularity is derived; and/or during an observation phase over an observation period relating to a washing shift or a washing day of the conveyor warewasher, statistics are created regarding the chronological profile of the loading level of the conveyor apparatus.
- Claim: 13. The method according to claim 12, wherein a corresponding notification is generated and/or output to the operator of the conveyor warewasher depending on the determined chronological profile and/or the statistics created, wherein the notification contains a recommendation for optimized operation of the conveyor warewasher with regard to the cleaning efficiency.
- Claim: 14. The method according to claim 12, wherein an error or warning message is output to the washing personnel assigned to the conveyor warewasher and/or the operator of the conveyor warewasher when it is determined that the determined average loading level of the conveyor apparatus falls below a pre-determined or determinable loading level.
- Current International Class: 47; 47; 47
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