A pan cleaning system is provided having a support carriage with one or more track supports and one or more track guides. An indexing conveyor provides a stream of baking pans and indexes the pans onto the support carriage as single pans. One or more twists in the track supports are provided such that the pans admitted by the indexing conveyor are turned at least substantially perpendicular relative to the horizontal plane of the machine. One or more frame assemblies having one or more sets of swing arms mounted on it is provided. With one or more secondary conveyors coupled to th frame assemblies. One or more cleaning subsystems are releasably coupled to the swing arms. A controller is provided where the single baking pan is admitted via the indexing conveyor based on signals from the controller into the one or more track guides as supported by the one or more supports and conveyed by the support carriage along the track guides and into the one or more frame assemblies after the twist turns the pan at least substantially perpendicular and the pan engages the one or more secondary conveyors and the pans is conveyed by the support carriage and the secondary conveyor to one or more cleaning subsystems.

A warewash machine includes a housing defining a ware inlet, a ware outlet and an internal chamber including a plurality of sequential spray zones including at least one wash zone and a rinse zone downstream of the wash zone in a ware conveyance direction. A vent path leads from the chamber leading to a vent outlet for connecting to a building ventilation system. A damper is provided for controlling a flow area at a location along the vent path. A controller is connected to control a position of the damper, the controller configured to adjust a position of the damper based upon input from at least a first temperature sensor, wherein the first temperature sensor is located at one of (i) the ware inlet, (ii) the ware outlet or (iii) along the vent path. Methods of operating a warewash machine are also provided.

A system for monitoring the operation of a commercial dishwasher (2), which is embodied as a box-type dishwasher or as a conveyor dishwasher, includes at least one temperature sensor (60) designed to record a temperature profile with respect to time which corresponds to the temperature profile with respect to time to which an item of washware is subjected when it is treated in the dishwasher (2). The system further includes an evaluation device (62) designed to receive and to evaluate the temperature profile recorded by the at least one temperature sensor (60), wherein the evaluation device (62) is further designed to ascertain a value of a notional unit of quantity of heat from the temperature profile recorded by the temperature sensor (60). A dishwasher (2) including a corresponding monitoring system and a method for monitoring the operation of a dishwasher (2) are also provided.

A conveyor dishwashing machine (1) has at least one washing zone (7), and at least one final rinse zone (8) which is connected downstream (as viewed in the transport direction (T) of the wash items) of the at least one washing zone (7). The conveyor dishwashing machine (1) has a transport apparatus for transporting the wash items through the treatment zones (6, 7) of the conveyor dishwashing machine (1) so that the wash items are situated at least in regions in a washing plane (5) which runs horizontally. The washing plane (5) is configured as a main washing plane, and there is at least one additional washing plane (6) in at least one of the treatment zones (7, 8) of the conveyor dishwashing machine (1), in which additional washing plane (6) wash items can be treated at the same time as wash items in the main washing plane (5).

A warewash machine for washing wares includes a chamber for receiving wares, the chamber having an inlet side, an outlet side, multiple spray zones between the inlet side and the outlet side, and a conveyor arrangement for moving wares along a conveyance path through the multiple spray zones in a ware travel direction. A prescrapping zone is located toward the inlet side of the chamber, the prescrapping zone having a blow-off system comprising a plurality of prescrapping nozzles and a compressed air feed line for delivering compressed air to the prescrapping nozzles.

The invention is directed to an improved pan cleaning machine that has a cleaning section that comprises a plurality of frames for mounting a sequence of interchangeable modular cleaning mechanisms. It can include quick-release mounting arrangements so that cleaning mechanisms can be quickly changed for cleaning different types of pans or to replace brushes or other wearing parts of cleaning mechanisms when they require replacement. In some embodiments, the frames for mounting the cleaning mechanisms can comprise swing arms so that the cleaning mechanisms can be swung away from the cleaning position so that the cleaning mechanism can be removed and replaced without interrupting the operation of the machine. If the machine is stopped, the swing arm can still be used to facilitate access to the cleaning mechanism to reduce the time needed to complete the maintenance or replacement. This also allows the position of the cleaning mechanism in relation to the baking pans to be adjustable during the cleaning process which can permit increased application of brushing forces or prevent overloading and also permits easy jam removal. In addition, the swing arm makes the pan cleaning machine more adaptable for cleaning pans with different depths and customizable. A method of operation and control, including pre-programmed cleaning cycles and various control paradigms is also provided.

A conveyor type ware washing machine uses a heat pump to reduce exhaust heat and to heat incoming water. A modulating valve is used to control incoming water flow through a heat exchanger of the heat pump. Processing circuitry automatically dynamically adjusts the modulating valve between a plurality of open states based on the sensed refrigerant head pressure of the heat pump, so that the refrigerant head pressure is maintained in a predefined range. The ware washing machine is efficient, and reduces the amount of heat exhausted to ambient. Related methods are also disclosed.

A dish overflow protection system for a dishwasher. The dishwasher has a conveyor mechanism, a holding area, and a washing system. The dish overflow protection system has a housing including a user interface. A first sensor is disposed on the housing and is configured to take a first reading. A second sensor is remote from the housing and is configured to take a second reading. The dish overflow protection system has a control unit configured to halt operation of the conveyor mechanism where a difference between the first reading and the second reading is greater than a threshold. The user interface is usable to modify the threshold.

A conveyor warewasher for cleaning washware includes at least one washing zone at least one rinsing zone and a conveyor apparatus for conveying the washware therethrough. A camera system is arranged above or below or to the side of the conveyor apparatus and is configured to capture at least one image of an area of the conveyor apparatus. An evaluation device is configured to evaluate and determine on the basis of the classification performed whether, at the time of the image capture, at least one of the following categories of washware was present in the area of the conveyor apparatus: cutlery or pieces of cutlery; pots, pans, or GN containers; glasses, in particular drinking glasses; trays or tray-like objects; plates, cups, or bowls; utensils; other washware; mixed washware; plastic washware; or no washware.

Example intelligent dishwashing systems and methods are described. In one implementation, a system includes an imaging system configured to capture at least one image of an article of dishware. A processing system analyzes the at least one image to determine a presence and a location of a stain on the article of dishware. Responsive to determining the presence of a stain, a cleaning system is configured to clean the location of the stain on the article of dishware.