WO2009085022A1

WO2009085022A1 - Microcontroller controlled doner meat broiler and cutter machine, operated by individual motion forms, with stepper motors and optical scanners

Info

Publication number: WO2009085022A1
Application number: PCT/TR2007/000154
Authority: WO
Inventors: Duran Kabakyer; Ayhan Altun
Original assignee: Güçtek Mühendislik Makina Insaat Elektronik Bilgisayar Sanayi Ticaret Limited Sirketi
Priority date: 2007-12-31
Filing date: 2007-12-31
Publication date: 2009-07-09
Also published as: EP2237709A1

Abstract

This invention subject to the descriptions above is a machine that recognizes the formed doner.meat (24) using optical scanners, achieves individual- forms of motions in terms of linear and angular position-speed-a'cceleration vector properties using microcontroller controlled stepper motors, broils- the doner meat in time defined by the software, cuts the meat in less time than a man at ideal thickness and eliminates the necessity for an operator by means of its specially designed software and electro-mechanical hardware.

Description

Microcontroller Controlled Doner Meat Broiler and Cutter Machine, Operated By Individual Motion Forms, With Stepper Motors and Optical Scanners

This invention relates to a machine that recognizes the formed doner meat by using optical scanners, achieves individual forms of motions in terms of linear and angular position-speed-acceleration vector properties using microcontroller controlled stepper motors, broils the rotating doner meat in time defined by the software, cuts the doner meat in less time than a man at ideal thickness, and eliminates the necessity for an operator by means of its specially designed software and electro-mechanical hardware.

Doner meat is a delicious food that is made out of various meat products in the form of cylindrical or truncate conical form which stands on a table with a central spindle about which it rotates. In recent years, doner meat production has become a standardized product with related regulations which are mostly in frozen form with a number of varieties.

The food sector of doner meat has been becoming a leading sector in the world's fast- food products. In fact, the doner becoming a fast-food sector also a food product that is sold in markets and restaurants.

Doner is typically broiled with an electrical or gas grill, where it stands on a rotating spindle, and is cut at a specific thickness and measures, and is then serviced or frozen as a part of the process. Until now, this process has required one person responsible from the doner broiling and cutting process that relied on the attention of the related person. This task includes some difficulties such as; hygienic conditions due to human intervention, the cost of the person performing the task, the harsh conditions of the task that makes it troublesome and unbearable occasionally. In early days, the cutting was performed by a specially designed long type doner knife and rotating the doner was achieved by applying the necessary force by hand. Later on, a doner cutter with a circular rotating knife was introduced that aimed at reducing the human intervention and involvement in the process. But, until now, no conventional or technological attempt has been successful in reducing the human intervention and involvement in such a difficult and complicated task of doner meat broiling and cutting process.

The successful implementation of the broiling and cutting task without human intervention and involvement have been achieved by means of an electro-mechanical system with a specially designed software, a programmed microcontroller, a motion generation system that operates in horizontal and vertical axes based on linear guides and rails, an individually formed motion using high resolution based on stepper motors, while achieving the task of broiling the meat in time prescribed by the software while rotation for optimum broiling, and perceiving the broiling process using optical scanners.

In addition, a payment control unit is added to the system that operates in synchronization with the controller system. This unit is activated with the sale of the machine, and disables after completion of its instalments.

The achievement of the process of broiling and cutting without human intervention and involvement, and prevention of troubles related to these factors, are described below in the following figures.

Figure: 1 - General perspective view of the machine. Figure: 2 - The front view of the machine showing the broiling side. Figure: 3 - The top view of the machine. Figure: 4 - The placement unit for the rotation knife and inner view of the housing for the spindle that hold the doner meat and the base unit where the horizontal motion is achieved. Figure: 5 - The inner view of the moving arm unit operating in vertical axis that places the knife. Figure: 6 - The doner meat apparatus. Figure: 7 - The grill holding unit. Figure: 8 - The moving arm unit that holds the DC motor and optical scanner sensors. Figure: 9 - The perspective view of the knife unit. Figure: 10 - The inner view of the knife unit. Figure: 11 - The inner-left view of the power and control unit. Figure: 12 - The inner-top view of the power and control unit. Figure: 13 - The perspective view of the power and control unit. Figure: 14 - Remote controller.

The components are in the figures are numbers a list of which is provided below;

(I)-DC motor unit.

(2)-Housing for the cutter knife.

(3)-Horizontal axis body.

(4)-Doner meat spindle's upper central. (5)-Grill carrier arm.

(6)-Grill versus doner meat distance adjustment arm.

(7)-Grill versus doner meat angle adjustment mechanism.

(8)-Grill unit.

(9)-Doner meat spindle. (10)-Doner meat base table.

(11)-Grill heat adjustment valve.

(12)-Doner meat spindle's lower central.

(13)-Emergency button.

(14)-Container for processed doner meat. (15)-Cover of the container for processed doner meat.

(16)-Receiver unit of optical scanners.

(17)-Transmitter unit of optical scanners.

(18)-Grill heater cells.

(19)-Knife unit fixation screw. (20)-Thickness adjustment mechanism of the knife.

(21)-The plate that blocks the processed meat to be scattered. (22)-Holder of cover of the container for processed doner meat.

(23)-Footings.

(24)-Doner meat.

(25)-Perforated plate. (26)-Power and control cables.

(27)-Transfofmer.

(28)-Power and control unit covering case.

(29-A)-Stepper motor driver circuit board for the vertical axis motion.

(29-B)-Stepper motor driver circuit board for the horizontal axis motion. (29-C)-Stepper motor driver circuit board for the rotational motion.

(3O)-AC to DC converter circuit board.

(31-A)-Voltage regulation circuit board for the vertical axis motion.

(31-B)-Voltage regulation circuit board for the horizontal axis motion.

(31-C)-Voltage regulation circuit board for the rotational motion. (31-D)-Voltage regulation circuit board for DC motor.

(32)-Cooler fans.

(33)-Controller circuit board for the optical scanner unit.

(34)-Controller circuit board for the remote controller.

(35)-Microcontroller unit. (36)-Controller circuit board for the magnetic sensors.

(37)-Remote controller receiver unit.

(38)-lnstalment payment control unit.

(39)-Button for "Broil" command.

(40)-Button for "Right" command. (41)-lnstalment payment warning led.

(42)-lnstalment payment confirmation led.

(43)-Button for "Cut" command.

(44)-Magnetic sensor of horizontal motion.

(45)-Remote controller transmitter unit. (46)-Button for "Start/Stop" command.

(47)-Button for "Left" command. (48)-Grill motion bar.

(49)-Grill motion bar housing.

(50)-Grill motion screw bar.

(51)-Grill motion nut for screw bar. (52)-Grill motion screw bar housing.

(53)-Grill junction components.

(54)-Protective tapes of vertical and horizontal axis.

(55)-The holder for the cover of power and control unit.

(56)-Timing belt. (57)-Carrier body of DC Motor unit and optical scanner sensors.

(58)-Magnetic sensor of the vertical motion.

(59)-The cover for the cutter knife housing.

(60)-The cutter knife.

(61)-The air inlet for cooling of the power and control unit. (62)-Magnet.

(63)-The plate that guides the motion of the processed doner meat.

(64)-The cutter knife fixation screw.

(65)-"On/Off button for switching electricity power to the machine.

(66)-The cutter knife shaft. (67)-The fixing screw for the cutter knife thickness adjustment mechanism.

(68)-The housing of the unit that allows the doner meat rotating.

(69)-The horizontal body covering case.

(70)-The vertical body covering case.

(71)- Reduction gearbox. (72-A)-The stepper motor for the vertical axis motion.

(72-B)-The stepper motor for the horizontal axis motion.

(72-C)-The stepper motor for the rotational motion.

(73)-Guide slider.

(74)-Roll. (75)-Gear.

(76)-Guide rail. (77)-Vertical axis body. (78)-Grill angular motion pin. (79)-Electricity cable.

The invention consists of three main subsections; electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit (Figure 1), power and control unit (Figure 11 , 12, 13) and remote control unit (Figure 14).

Electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit; consists of DC motor unit (1) providing the motion for cutter knife (60), cutter knife housing (2), housing for horizontal axis motion generating elements (3), doner meat (24) holding spindle (9), upper locator for the spindle (4), grill carrier arm (5), grill versus doner meat (24) distance adjustment arm (6), grill versus doner meat (24) angle adjustment mechanism (7), grill unit (8) that broils the doner meat (24), doner meat (24) holder spindle (9), doner meat (24) placed base table (10), grill heat adjustment valve (11), lower central positioning locator (12) that provides the housing and joint for the rotational motion for the spindle (9) that holds doner meat (24), the emergency button (13) that breaks the power to the system in the case of an emergency situation, container for processed doner meat, cover (15) of the container (14) for processed doner meat, the optical scanner receiver unit (16) that is used to sense the surface of the doner meat (24), the optical scanner transmission unit (17) that is used to sense the surface of the doner meat (24), grill heater cells (18), cutter knife unit fixation screw (19), cutting thickness adjustment mechanism (20), the plate that blocks the processed meat to be scattered (21), holder (22) of cover (15) of the container (14) for processed doner meat, the height adjustment and vibration eliminating machine footings (23), perforated plate (25) that filters the oil from the processed doner meat on the container (14), remote controller receiver unit (37), the led (41 ) that warns the time of instalment payments, the led (42) that shows that the code provided by the manufacturer that is entered to the system is correct or not, the magnetic sensor (44) that indicates the maximum horizontal axis position versus doner meat (24), the bar (48) that grill slides during its motion, the housing (49) for the grill motion bar (48), the screw bar that provides the linear motion of the nut (51) of the adjustable arm (6) of the grill, grill linear motion providing nut (51) that is activated by screw bar of grill (50), the housing (52) for the grill motion bar, grill junction components (53) for the grill that connects to the grill carrier arm (5), the protective teflon tape (54) that blocks the entrance of dust, unwanted fat, etc. from the openings of the protective coverage plates (69-70) that are laid on the horizontal and vertical axis, the timing belt (56) that conveys the motion from the gear (75) to the guiding sliders (73), carrier body (57) of DC motor unit (1) and optical scanner units (16,17), vertical axis motion magnetic sensor (58) that indicates the maximum distance to the doner meat (24) is reached, cutter knife housing (2) cover (59) that blocks cutter knife (60) surface from contact of doner meat (24) and of fat spilling during cutting process, the cutter knife (60) that cuts the doner meat (24), the magnet (62) that triggers the magnetic sensor (62), the plate (63) that guides the motion of the processed doner meat, the screw (64) that fixes the knife (60) to its housing (2), cutter knife unit DC motor shaft (66), cutting thickness adjustment mechanism (20) fixation screw (67), the housing of the unit that allows the doner meat (24) rotating, the protective covering case (69) that covers the horizontal axis components from outer interference, the protective covering case (70) that covers the vertical axis components from outer interference, reduction gearbox (71), vertical axis motion stepper motor (72- A), horizontal axis motion stepper motor (72-B), rotational motion stepper motor (72-C), guide slider (73) that allows linear motion by conveying motion of from timing belt (56), roll (74) that protective tapes (54) operate on, the gear (75) that conveys the motion between the reduction gearbox (71) and the timing belt (56), the guide rails (76) that the guide sliders slide on, vertical axis components housing (77), grill angular motion pin (78).

Power and control unit; consists of components such as; cable (26) that provides power and data connection between the power and control unit and electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit, transformer (27), protective power and control unit covering case (28), vertical axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-A), horizontal axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-B), rotation motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-C), AC to DC converter circuit board (30), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -A) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for vertical axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-A), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -B) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for horizontal axis motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-B), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -C) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for rotation motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-C), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -D) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for DC motor unit (1), power and control unit cooling fans (32), the holder (55) of the cover (28) that eases the carrying of power and control unit, air inlets (61) for cooling of the power and control unit, button (65) for switching electricity power to the machine, the electricity cable (79); and provides that adjustment of the voltage supplied from the cable (79) to the required AC voltage levels using transformer (27), making output the regulated voltage to AC to DC converter circuit board (30), getting regulated voltage from the transformer (27) and rectifying the voltage, sending rectified voltage to the voltage regulation circuit boards (31 -A, 31 -B, 31 -C, 31 -D), and then transmitting the power to the electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit.

Remote controller; consists of "Broil" button (39), "Right" button (40), "Cut" button (43), remote controller transmitter circuit board (45), "Start/Stop" button (46), and "Left" button (47), and sends necessary control signals from its buttons (39,40,43,46,47) to transmitter unit from which the necessary signals are coded and sent to receiver unit

(37) on the electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit, and after being interpreted the coded signals in controller circuit board (34), then sends the signals to microcontroller unit (35) that finally receives the commands.

By using stainless steel materials for surfaces that are in close contact with the doner meat (24) or open to outer interference, the minimization of harmful outsource effects are achieved while ensuring that a relatively longer life-span for the machine as well as easing the cleaning process, improving the overall health considerations and hygiene. The components such as cutter knife (Figure 9) that is in contact with the doner meat (24), the housing (68) that contains processed doner and the excess fat that is flowed down during broiling and cutting, the lower rotational locator for the doner meat spindle (12), perforated plate (25), container (14) for processed doner meat, container's (14) cover (15) and its holder (22) and the apparatus (Figure 6) that holds the doner meat (24) to be easily un-assembled and cleaned separately from the machine.

Horizontal axis motion: All the components that provide the horizontal axis motion are assembled on housing body (3) that stands on footings (23). Horizontal axis housing body module (3) is protected from unwanted effects such as fat, dust, high temperature, etc. by protective tapes (54) that rotate on the rolls (74) and the covering case (69). The control signals generated by the microcontroller (35) on the power and control unit (Figure 11 , 12) are sent to horizontal axis motion voltage regulation (31 -B) and horizontal axis motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-B). Horizontal axis motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-B) drives the horizontal axis motion stepper motor (72-B) with the individually designed motion forms determined by the microcontroller (35). With the use of the helical reduction gearbox (71) connected to the stepper motor (72-B), output torque at the same speed levels is improved and conveyed the motion to the gear (75). The activated gear (75), with the help of timing belt (56), activates the linear guide slider (73). Linear guide rail (76), with a linear guide slider (73) on, provides the horizontal axis linear motion for vertical axis (Figure 8).

Vertical axis motion: All the components that provide the vertical axis motion are mounted on the vertical axis housing body (77). Vertical axis body module (77) is protected from unwanted effects such as fat, dust, high temperature, etc. by protective tapes (54) that rotate on the rolls (74) and the covering case (70). The control signals are sent to vertical axis motion voltage regulation circuit board (31 -A) and vertical axis motion stepper motor control circuit board (29-A) are generated by the microcontroller (35) located on the power and control unit (Figure 11 , 12). The vertical axis motion stepper motor (72-A) is driven by a vertical axis motion stepper motor control circuit board (29-A) that receives individually designed motion form from the microcontroller (35). With the use of the helical reduction gearbox (71) connected to the stepper motor (72-A), output torque at the same speed levels is improved and conveyed the motion to the gear (75). The activated gear (75), with the help of timing belt (56), activates the linear guide slider (73). Linear guide rail, (76) with a linear guide slider (73) on, provides the vertical axis linear motion for the moving arm (Figure 8).

Rotational motion: All the components that provide the rotational motion unit are mounted on the housing body (3) of the machine. The body (3) is protected from unwanted effects such as fat, dust, high temperature, etc. by the housing part (68). The housing (68) that is subjected to intense fat can be removed from the machine and be cleaned easily. With the use of the software that is coded on the microcontroller (35), the control signals are generated and sent to the voltage regulation circuit board (31 -D) and stepper motor driver circuit board (29-C) of the rotational motion. The rotational motion stepper motor (72-C) is driven by rotational motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-C) using individually designed motion form from the microcontroller (35). With the use of the helical reduction gearbox (71) connected to the stepper motor (72- C), output torque at the same speed levels is improved and conveyed the motion to the reduction gearbox (71). The activated reduction gearbox (71) activates the spindle (9).

The horizontal axis origin positioning: It is the position that the vertical axis body (77) that it reaches the maximum distance to the doner meat (24) achieved with the horizontal axis motion controlled by microcontroller (35) that receives signals from magnetic sensor control circuit board (36) that is activated by vertical axis magnetic sensor (44) that is triggered by the magnet (62) (Figure 5).

The vertical axis origin positioning: It is the position that the moving arm (Figure 8) that it reaches the maximum upper distance in the vertical axis achieved with the vertical axis motion controlled by microcontroller (35) that receives signals from magnetic sensor control circuit board (36) that is activated by vertical axis magnetic sensor (58) that is triggered by the magnet (62) (Figure 8). The working principles of the machine:

Before the broiling and cutting processes, the doner meat (24) is placed on the doner meat spindle (9) and horizontal table (10) (Figure 6). The doner meat apparatus (Figure 6) is placed in the lower section on the doner spindle's lower central (12) and while in the upper section it is joined to the doner spindle's upper central (4). The idea on the design of the grill carrying arm (5) and lower central locator (12) positions being far from the vertical and horizontal axis motion units (3,77) is that these motion units (3,77) are protected from spillage of fat, high temperature and other effects from damaging the equipment and extending their life-span. The system is powered by pressing the "On-Off" button (65) on the power and control unit which then allows the process of broiling and cutting of the doner meat (24) placed on the doner meat apparatus (Figure 6). After system powered, the "Start/Stop" button (46) on the remote controller (Figure: 14) is activated that to compensate for the positional errors which occurs as a result of external interferences to the position of the system and to permit the activation of other functions. As soon as the machine is activated by the "Start/Stop" button (46), control procedure is implemented in a matter of microseconds using the software loaded to the microcontroller (35). If the system is moving, by the "Start/Stop" button (46), the motions are stopped and vertical and horizontal axes motions are initialized to take the origin position, or to take the cutting position. If system is motionless, by the "Start/Stop" button (46), vertical and horizontal axes motions are initialized to take the origin position. The vertical and horizontal axis systems guide sliders (73) moves on guide rails (76) towards down to spindle (9) a little and then stops. Then, vertical and horizontal axes are initialized to take the origin position where the coordinate axis is initialized to origin position. All the vertical, horizontal and rotational motions achieved by the machine are generated using microcontroller (35) which produces specially designed functions to generate individually formed signals to control the stepper motor control circuit boards (29-A, 29- B, 29-C) to drive the stepper motors (72-A, 72-B, 72-C) to generate the individually formed smooth motions. This smooth motion operation minimizes vibration and noise of the machine. After these short time spending steps, the grill unit (8) is activated, and then the "Broil" button (39) on the remote controller (Figure: 14) is pressed to initiate the digital code to start the rotational motion. Meanwhile, the vertical axis and associated cutter knife unit waits at the maximum distance position versus the grill unit (8). The idea of placing the grill unit (8) at a far distance from the horizontal and vertical axis units (3,77) and related components aims that achieving protection these units (3,77) and their components from high temperature effect that cause to shorten their life-span and decrease their performances. In order to achieve the desired broiling performance, the grill heater cells (18) are adjusted using the adjustment valves (11) that allow the right broiling temperatures for broiling process. With the grill distance adjustment arm (6), the necessary distance to doner meat (24) can be adjusted to achieve minimum energy consumption for varying doner meat (24) diameters and related suitable broiling distances. The grill distance adjustment arm (6) is placed on motion nut (51) that moves on a screw bar (50) mounted between two ends in a screw bar housing (52) to operate in a linear fashion. On the other hand, in order to reduce the friction and make the motion of the system easily, the angular position of the grill unit (8) is adjusted according to the shape of the doner meat (24) by means of the adjustment mechanism (7) that rotates on the grill bar housing (49) with the sliding motion of the grill motion bar (48) that is connected to the screw bar (50). The use of the angular adjustment mechanism (7) of the grill unit (8) allows broiling the doner meat (24) broiling position at varying angles are achieved that also reduces the heat demand of the grill unit (8), broils the doner meat (24) homogenously and prevents over broiling the doner meat (24). During the broiling process, after completion of the time defined by the user or the software, in order to stop the rotation motion, either the "Start/Stop" button (46) on the remote controller (Figure:14) is pressed or the broiling time prescribed by the software passed. With the activation of the "Cut" button (43), the height and the diameter measurements of the doner meat (24) is determined by vertical and horizontal axis motions. Using the obtained dimensions, the software on the microcontroller (35) calculates the number of times of vertical cutting needed to complete a full surface cut, the angular displacement required to move on to the next stage of the vertical cut and load the information to the microcontrollers (35) memory for further use. After completion of the measurements and calculations, the cutting process of the doner meat (24) is started with the activation of the-DC motor unit (1 ), on the carrier arm body (57) that is at the cutting height, achieving the defined motion prescribed by control signals received from the microcontroller (35) and using the power from the voltage regulation circuit board (31 -D). The cutting process of the doner meat (24) starts with the touch of the cutting knife (60) to the doner meat (24). The thickness adjust mechanism (20) on the cutting knife unit (Figure 9) allows the adjustment of the thickness of the doner meat (24) to be cut. The spillage of fat due to centrifuge forces generated by the knife (60) to surrounding area is prevented by the plate (21) that blocks the spillage of doner meat (24). The processed doner meat is directed by the directing plate (63) downwards to drop on the perforated plate (25) in the container (14) for processed doner meat. The cutting knife unit (Figure 9) is fixed to the DC motor unit (1) shaft (66) with a fixation screw (19) that allows ease of assembling and disassembling. The DC motor unit (1) rotates the knife (60) and then the knife (60) is moved towards the doner meat (24) by horizontal axis motion. The digital codes are received from the optical scanner receiver and transmitter units (16, 17). The top corner point of the doner meat (24) to start the cutting process is recognised and the microcontroller (35) stops the horizontal axis motion. The idea of repeating this procedure for each cutting stage is to ensure that the problems related to the unequal distances of the doner spindle (9) are resolved and compensated. After identification of the top corner point for the cutting the doner meat (24), the rotating cutting knife (60) cuts the broiled doner meat surface downwards about the height of the doner (24). During the cutting process, the surface of the doner (24) is followed, and both vertical and horizontal axes motions are active. The surface measurements of the doner meat (24) are obtained by optical receiver and transmitter units (16,17) and sent to optical scanner controller unit (33) in a matter of microseconds periodically, then the signals are processed by the optical scanner controller unit (33) and then controller (33) sends the signals to microcontroller (35). The idea of the surface following principle is making the cutting doner meat (24) desired thickness and keeping the cutting knife (60) to keep in touch with the surface of the doner meat (24). The surface following allows reacting in the right manner also compensates for the shape deformations of the doner meat (24) and the irregular forming of the doner in truncate conical or cylindrical shapes. In doing this, irregularities on the surface of the doner meat (24) are treated in a manner that the collapsed areas are applied with less force while protruding areas are applied with extra force to smoothen the surface. The reaction shown in case of truncate conical or cylindrical shapes of doner meat (24) is that the cutting knife (60) is positioned in at an angle to achieve continuous touch with the surface and as a result the surface following is achieved. The voltage values for the horizontal axis motion are determined by the microcontroller (35) control signals defined various voltage levels that drive the voltage regulation circuit board (31 -B) while following the surface. During the vertical axis motion of the cutting process that is achieved by upward and downward motions, the distance travelled is exactly the height of the doner meat (24) and the measurements are made with high resolution levels. Towards the final steps of the cutting process, a bulge section may form on the doner meat (24), this could be resolved by cutting out the irregularities by sharpening the lower part of the doner meat thickness adjustment mechanism (20). At the end of the cutting process, depending on the doner meat (24) size, according to the recorded angular measurements and the software on the microcontroller (35), doner meat (24) is rotated at a predefined angle and the rotational motion is initiated by varying the voltage levels at the voltage regulation circuit board (31 -C) depending on the signals generated by the microcontroller (35). All the voltage regulation circuit boards on the machine (31-A, 31-B, 31-C, 31-D) allows generation of varying voltage levels suitable for varying speed levels minimizes the vibration and noise during operation. At the same time of the rotational motion on doner meat (24), the moving arm (Figure 8) is pulled back to the height of vertical axis cutting height point and horizontal axis is initialized to origin position. During the process of moving the arm (Figure 8) to the vertical axis cutting height point and the horizontal axis being initialized to origin position, the movable arm (Figure 8) is pulled up to the vertical axis motion is started after horizontal axis motion. The idea behind this sequential operation is to prevent burning the processed doner meat that is cut in case of a lower diameters of doner meat (24) relative to base table (10) diameter that drops on to the doner meat base table (10) during which the doner is forced to drop to container for processed doner meat (14) preventing the burning. After a full rotation of the doner meat (24) and the cutting processes defined by the number of cuttings needed achieved, the rotating knife (60) is stopped and the doner meat (24) takes to the broiling position. In the case of ending the broiling process, by pressing the "Start/Stop" button (46), the rotation motion is stopped and the machine starts waiting for a command from user to be achieved by remote controller (Figure:14). If the "Right" button (40) is pressed, doner meat (24) is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction as long as the button (40) kept pressed. If the "Left" button (47) is pressed, doner meat (24) is rotated in a clockwise direction as long as the button (47) kept pressed. With the use of the "Right" and "Left" command buttons (40, 47), the desired area to be cut can be placed to take the cutting position in front of the knife (60), or the unbroiled area can be placed in front of the grill unit (8) thereby allowing manual operation of the system with the user commands. If the "Broil" button (39) is pressed afterwards, doner meat (24) is started to broil along with initiation of rotational motion. By pressing of the "Cut" button (43), the cutting process is repeated by the number of times defined by the software depending on the measurements of the doner meat (24) that are measured to identify new dimensions of the doner meat (24) to register the changes and adapt to the new ones. The instalment payment unit (38) in the power and control unit is installed only on those machines that payments by instalments by the number of instalments and the time period that instalments are to be programmed on the unit during the production. Any machine that is sold by agreement of instalment type of payment, the timer is measured using the instalment payment unit (38). On times of instalment payments, a led (41) is lit to warn the waiting instalment payment. Until all the payments are made, the microcontroller (35) of the machine asks for the code from instalment payment. After the instalment payment, the instalment payment code from the authorised dealer is entered to the control unit (38) by using the buttons on the remote controller (Figure 14). If the entered code is the same as the one loaded during production, then instalment payment confirm led is lit green, and the machine continues to work until the next instalment payment of time, if the code is incorrect, then the instalment payment confirm led is lit red, and the machine is then blocked for usage. If the instalments are made on a regular basis and the necessary codes are entered regularly then the machine works with no problems and continues to function with no interruption. If an instalment time has come and the code is not entered, then instalment payment control unit (38) of the machine will allow ten days to pay the instalment, and then stops the code function and blocks the machine.

By operating in the manner that described above, the machine eliminates the human intervention in the process of doner meat broiling and cutting, and provides more hygienic conditions of operation, and also eliminates the problems related to human worker related issues.

Claims

1) This invention broils and cuts doner meat (24) that uses microcontroller (35) for control purposes, optical scanners for measurements, stepper motors for activation and generation of individually formed of motions for smooth operation, and contains three main sub-systems such as an electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit, a power and control unit and a remote controller.

2) The system defined in Claim (1) has an electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit that contains the features such as; DC motor unit (1) providing the motion for cutter knife (60), cutter knife housing (2), housing for horizontal axis motion generating elements (3), doner meat (24) holding spindle (9), upper locator for the spindle (4), grill carrier arm (5), grill versus doner meat (24) distance adjustment arm (6), grill versus doner meat (24) angle adjustment mechanism (7), grill unit (8) that broils the doner meat (24), doner meat (24) holder spindle (9), doner meat (24) placed base table (10), grill heat adjustment valve (11), lower central positioning locator (12) that provides the housing and joint for the rotational motion for the spindle (9) that holds doner meat (24), the emergency button (13) that breaks the power to the system in the case of an emergency situation, container for processed doner meat, cover (15) of the container (14) for processed doner meat, the optical scanner receiver unit (16) that is used to sense the surface of the doner meat (24), the optical scanner transmission unit (17) that is used to sense the surface of the doner meat (24), grill heater cells (18), cutter knife unit fixation screw (19), cutting thickness adjustment mechanism (20), the plate that blocks the processed meat to be scattered (21), holder (22) of cover (15) of the container (14) for processed doner meat, the height adjustment and vibration eliminating machine footings (23), perforated plate (25) that filters the oil from the processed doner meat on the container (14), remote controller receiver unit (37), the led (41) that warns the time of instalment payments, the led (42) that shows that the code provided by the manufacturer that is entered to the system is correct or not, the magnetic sensor (44) that indicates the maximum horizontal axis position versus doner meat (24), the bar (48) that grill slides during its motion, the housing (49) for the grill motion bar (48), the screw bar that provides the linear motion of the nut (51) of the adjustable arm (6) of the grill, grill linear motion providing nut (51) that is activated by screw bar of grill (50), the housing (52) for the grill motion bar, grill junction components (53) for the grill that connects to the grill carrier arm (5), the protective teflon tape (54) that blocks the entrance of dust, unwanted fat, etc. from the openings of the protective coverage plates (69-70) that are laid on the horizontal and vertical axis, the timing belt (56) that conveys the motion from the gear (75) to the guiding sliders (73), carrier body (57) of DC motor unit (1) and optical scanner units (16,17), vertical axis motion magnetic sensor (58) that indicates the maximum distance to the doner meat (24) is reached, cutter knife housing (2) cover (59) that blocks cutter knife (60) surface from contact of doner meat (24) and of fat spilling during cutting process, the cutter knife (60) that cuts the doner meat (24), the magnet (62) that triggers the magnetic sensor (62), the plate (63) that guides the motion of the processed doner meat, the screw (64) that fixes the knife (60) to its housing (2), cutter knife unit DC motor shaft (66), cutting thickness adjustment mechanism (20) fixation screw (67), the housing of the unit that allows the doner meat (24) rotating, the protective covering case (69) that covers the horizontal axis components from outer interference, the protective covering case (70) that covers the vertical axis components from outer interference, reduction gearbox (71), vertical axis motion stepper motor (72-A), horizontal axis motion stepper motor (72-B), rotational motion stepper motor (72-C), guide slider (73) that allows linear motion by conveying motion of from timing belt (56), roll (74) that protective tapes (54) operate on, the gear (75) that conveys the motion between the reduction gearbox (71) and the timing belt (56), the guide rails (76) that the guide sliders slide on, vertical axis components housing (77), grill angular motion pin (78).

3) The system defined in Claim (1) has a power and control unit that contains the features such as; cable (26) that provides power and data connection between the power and control unit and electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit, transformer (27), protective power and control unit covering case (28), vertical axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-A), horizontal axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-B)₁ rotation motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-C), AC to DC converter circuit board (30), voltage regulation circuit board (31-A) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for vertical axis motion stepper motor's driver circuit board (29-A), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -B) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for horizontal axis motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-B), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -C) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for rotation motion stepper motor driver circuit board (29-C), voltage regulation circuit board (31 -D) that uses microcontroller unit (35) signals to adjust the input voltage for DC motor unit (1), power and control unit cooling fans (32), the holder (55) of the cover (28) that eases the carrying of power and control unit, air inlets (61) for cooling of the power and control unit, button (65) for switching electricity power to the machine, the electricity cable (79); and provides that adjustment of the voltage supplied from the cable (79) to the required AC voltage levels using transformer (27), making output the regulated voltage to AC to DC converter circuit board (30), getting regulated voltage from the transformer (27) and rectifying the voltage, sending rectified voltage to the voltage regulation circuit boards (31-A, 31 -B, 31 -C, 31 -D), and then transmitting the power to the electro-mechanical broiling and cutting unit.

4) It is a remote controller (Figure: 14) for broiling and cutting unit as in Claim (1) that allows remote control operation of the system.

5) The speciality of all horizontal, vertical and rotational motion forms are achieved by generation of individually formed of control signals by software on microcontroller (35), then these signals are sent to stepper motor driver circuit boards (29-A, 29-B, 29-C) from which the stepper motors (72-A, 72-B, 72-C) receive the specially formed power and control signals that minimizes the vibration and noise on the system.

6) Any cutting process involves tasks such as following the surface of the doner meat (24) surface with the optical scanner receiver and transmitter units (16,17), determining of measurement details of the doner meat (24) surface and transferring the data to the microcontroller (35) in a matter of microseconds, generating horizontal axis motion by using control signals that are generated depending on these measurement data recorded on the microcontroller (35), by doing this, making perfect cutting of doner meat (24) at the desired thickness, providing the cutter knife (60) and doner meat (24) surface keeping continuously in touch, and following the surface of the cylindrical or truncate conical form of the doner meat (24) by positioning the cutter knife (60) in a suitable angle.

7) Every cutting process of the doner meat (24) starts from the top corner point of the doner meat (24) that is repeatedly measured by the optical scanner units (16, 17).

8) The doner meat (24) spindle (9) that placed between the grill carrier arm (5) and the lower central locator (12) is kept at a distance from the vertical and horizontal axes motion generating units (3,77) and components.

9) This invention is such a machine that contains the above provided features in a way that it applies sanction on miss of the instalment payment or mistyping the code that enables the operation of the machine by coordination between the payment control unit (38) and the microcontroller (35), or if the payments are made regularly and the codes are entered in correctly in the needed time, it allows the machine to operate normally. In this manner, the customer is enforced to make the instalment payments on a regular basis or the machine is blocked in the case of missing payments or incorrect entering the code.

10) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that the cutting process is achieved in a upward and downward manners, the vertical axis scans the doner meat (24) surface at high resolution while doing only doner meat (24) height length motion, and cutting the lower end shape deformations of doner meat (24) and preventing further deformations by sharpening the doner meat (24) thickness adjustment mechanism's (20) edge towards the end of the cutting process. 11) Achievement of the suitable voltage regulations generated by the horizontal axis motion voltage regulation circuit board (31 -B) aims to provide the necessary voltage values while the surface following for achieving the minimum vibration and noise.

12) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that the cutting process is finished after a full rotation of the doner meat (24) that completes the cutting process achieved according to the registered number of times of cutting, defined by the sides of the doner meat (24), calculated by the microcontroller (35), after which the cutter knife (60) is stopped and doner meat (24) is taken to the broiling position and the moving arm (Figure 8) is taken to the maximum distance versus the grill unit (8).

13) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that the height and the diameter size properties of the doner meat (24) is sensed by optical scanner receiver and transmitter units (16,17) and the measurements are registered by the microcontroller (35) to calculate the necessary parameters.

14) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that after each cutting process, taking a new angular position for the cutting process of the new broiled section of the doner meat (24), while the moving arm (Figure 8) is taken to the cutting height by the vertical axis motion and initializing to the horizontal origin position by the horizontal axis motion. Taking the moving arm (Figure 8) to the cutting height for the next cutting process is implemented after the motion initialising the horizontal origin position. This aims to prevent the over broiling of the processed doner meat dropped on the doner meat table (10), and this provides the necessary motion to drop the processed doner meat to container (14) by pulling the processed doner meat on the table (10) by the thickness adjustment mechanism (20).

15) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that with the control of the operating machine by controlling "Start/Stop" button (46) microseconds periodical time. As soon as the machine is activated by providing power, in matter of microseconds the machine is under control of the user at any time. The controller operates depending the initial state of the machine, that is if the system is moving, by the "Start/Stop" button (46), the motions are stopped and then vertical and horizontal axis motions are initialized to take the origin position or to take the cutting position or if system is motionless, by the "Start/Stop" button (46), vertical and horizontal axes motions are initialized to take the origin position.

16) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that with the "Left" and "Right" command buttons (40,47) on the remote controller, by pressing the buttons at required length of time, the doner meat (24) is rotated clock wise or counter clockwise directions in fast manner. In this manner, the surface of the doner meat (24) that is desired to be cut is placed in front of the cutting knife (60), or the surface desired to be broiled further is placed in front of the grill unit (8) thereby manually operating the system as required.

17) This invention is such a machine that all the metallic surfaces that are in contact with the doner meat (24) and the ones that are in contact with the outer environment are made out of stainless steel material.

18) The grill unit (8) that is used in broiling the doner meat (24) has an angular adjustment mechanism (7) that allows the angle adjustment of the grill unit (8) versus doner meat (24) surface.

19) The grill unit (8) that is used in broiling the doner meat (24) allows adjustment of distance between the grill adjustment arm (6) of the grill unit (8) and the doner meat

(24) depending on the diameter of the doner meat (24).

20) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that slots on the vertical and horizontal covering cases (69, 70) are protected from unwanted effects such as fat, dust, high temperature, etc. by protective tapes (54) that rotate on the rolls (74) and the covering cases (69, 70). 21) In the case of a need for cleaning, the components that are in contact with the doner meat (24) such as cutting knife unit (Figure 9), the body (68) of the machine that the processed doner meat and the fat that drops on the rotating motions are achieved on, spindle (9) lower central locater (12), perforated plate (25), container (14) for processed doner meat, cover (15) of the container (14) for processed doner meat, the holder (22) and the apparatus (Figure 6) that holds the doner meat (24) can be easily dismounted and cleaned separately and that provides hygienic.

22) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that during the broiling processes, when the user decides or after completion of the time defined by the software, the stopping of the rotational motion can be achieved by pressing the "Start/Stop" command button (46) on the remote controller (Figure: 14) or automatically after completion of the broiling time defined by the software is achieved by the microcontroller (35).

23) This invention is such a machine that broils and cuts doner meat (24) in a way that the grill unit (8) is far at a distance from the vertical and horizontal axes motion units (3,77) by the grill carrier arm (5).