CN113955458A

CN113955458A - Automatic catering system and automatic catering method

Info

Publication number: CN113955458A
Application number: CN202111353802.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡晏莹; 王鸿; 吴祺; 陈涛; 张雷
Original assignee: Shengdoushi Shanghai Technology Development Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shengdoushi Shanghai Science and Technology Development Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-10
Filing date: 2021-11-10
Publication date: 2022-01-21

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an automatic catering system, comprising: a main conveyor line; a food container storage unit for storing food containers; a food container transfer device for placing the food containers in the food container storage unit onto the main conveyor line; a food product dispensing means for dispensing predetermined food products into said food product containers located on said main conveyor line; a dish providing device for providing a dish; and the food container collecting device is used for collecting the food containers which belong to the same order and are filled with the predetermined food into the same dinner plate. According to the automatic catering system and the automatic catering method, automation of the whole process can be realized. The whole process cancels manual participation, reduces labor cost, improves catering efficiency, avoids errors possibly caused by manual catering, and also avoids sanitary problems possibly caused by contact with food in the manual catering process.

Description

Automatic catering system and automatic catering method

Technical Field

The disclosure belongs to the technical field of catering, and particularly relates to an automatic catering system and an automatic catering method.

Background

With the development of science and technology, the catering field gradually starts to adopt a more intelligent way to replace the manual work. For example, in the food ordering link, the traditional mode is manual food ordering, a waiter manually records dishes ordered by a guest, and then the dish ordering is changed into the dish ordering selected by the waiter through an intelligent device, and at present, two-dimensional codes are used for self-service food ordering in a large scale or the intelligent device for food ordering is directly used by the guest, so that the guest orders the food. For another example, with the development of robot technology, after the dishes are prepared, the mobile robot can be used to transport the dishes to the front of the dining table of the guest. The above advances in the art reduce the possibility of human error and also reduce labor costs, while reducing the risk of disease transmission due to reduced personnel contact. However, a large number of manual participation links still exist in the current link.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, there is a need for an automatic catering system and an automatic catering method that solve at least one of the above problems in the prior art.

To this end, the present disclosure proposes an automatic catering system, comprising:

a main conveyor line;

a food container storage unit for storing food containers;

a food container transfer device for placing the food containers in the food container storage unit onto the main conveyor line;

a food product dispensing means for dispensing predetermined food products into said food product containers located on said main conveyor line;

a dish providing device for providing a dish;

and the food container collecting device is used for collecting the food containers filled with the preset food belonging to the same order into the same dinner plate.

According to the automatic catering system disclosed by the invention, the automation of the whole catering process can be realized, the customer does not need manual participation from ordering to ordering, the manpower cost is reduced, the catering efficiency is improved, the error which may occur in manual catering is avoided, and the possible sanitary problem caused by contact with food in the manual catering process is also avoided.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the food container comprises a food basket, and the food container transfer device comprises a food basket transfer device for placing the food basket onto the main conveyor line. According to this aspect, by providing the baskets, different kinds of foods can be placed in different baskets, respectively, thereby avoiding different foods from being mixed with each other.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the food container transfer device further comprises a basket paper distribution device for placing basket paper into the basket on the main conveyor line. According to the aspect, by arranging the food basket paper, food can be prevented from directly contacting with the food basket, and the food basket is cleaned after use.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the food container transfer device comprises a lifting mechanism, a rotating mechanism and a picking arm, wherein the lifting mechanism is connected with the rotating mechanism and is used for driving the rotating mechanism to lift; the rotating mechanism is connected with the picking arm and used for driving the picking arm to rotate. According to this aspect, since the food containers are continuously taken and replenished during the automatic catering process, which causes the number and height of the food containers to vary, the provision of the elevating mechanism can accommodate the variation in the number of the food containers.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the automatic plate conveying device further comprises a plate conveying line for conveying the plate;

the dinner plate conveying line is intersected with the main conveying line, and the food container collecting device is arranged at the intersection of the dinner plate conveying line and the main conveying line. According to this aspect, automatic transport of the trays can be provided, thereby allowing customers who have ordered multiple food items to conveniently take the food items with the trays.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a detection mechanism for detecting the number of the food containers stored in the food container storage unit is further included. According to this aspect, the number of food containers can be detected, thereby prompting a person to replenish or automatically replenish the food containers when the number is insufficient.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the main conveyor line comprises a plurality of sections, wherein the main conveyor lines in different sections each comprise at least one conveyor line, the number of conveyor lines in different sections being the same or different. According to the aspect, the types, the quantities and the volumes of the foods related in different sections are different, and the food demand amounts corresponding to different sections are different, so that different sections are arranged, a certain number of conveying lines are set in different sections according to needs, the demands of different sections can be met, and the overstock of orders is avoided.

According to one aspect of the disclosure, the tray paper distribution device is further included for placing tray paper on the tray. According to this aspect, the tray paper can be placed on the tray, thereby further ensuring cleanliness of the tray.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the food product container pooling device pools the food product containers according to a predetermined order of the predetermined food products. According to the food ordering method and the food ordering system, the food can be collected according to the order of the orders, the order is guaranteed to be firstly ordered, and the dining feeling and the satisfaction degree of customers are improved.

The present disclosure also provides an automatic meal-matching method, which includes:

transporting a food container for storing food;

placing a predetermined food product into the food container during the transporting of the food container;

the food containers containing the predetermined food items and belonging to the same order are collected into the same dinner plate.

According to the automatic meal matching method disclosed by the invention, the automation of the whole process of meal matching can be realized. The whole process cancels manual participation, reduces labor cost, improves catering efficiency, avoids errors possibly caused by manual catering, and also avoids sanitary problems possibly caused by contact with food in the manual catering process.

Drawings

Other advantages, features and details of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The features and feature combinations mentioned above in the description and the features and feature combinations mentioned below in the description of the figures and/or shown in the figures individually can be used not only in the respectively specified combination but also in other combinations or alone without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In the drawings:

fig. 1 schematically shows a principle configuration diagram of an automatic catering system of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a perspective view of one embodiment of a basket transfer device of the automated catering system of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 schematically illustrates a top view of one embodiment of a basket transfer device of the automated catering system of the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a perspective view of the basket transfer device and basket paper dispensing device integrated module.

The figures are purely diagrammatic and not drawn to scale, and moreover they show only those parts which are necessary in order to clarify the disclosure, while other parts may be omitted or merely mentioned briefly. That is, the present disclosure may include other components in addition to those shown in the figures.

Detailed Description

While the present disclosure will be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which contain preferred embodiments of the disclosure, it should be understood before this description that one of ordinary skill in the art can modify the disclosure described herein while obtaining the technical effects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that the description herein is of an extensive disclosure to those skilled in the art, and is not intended to limit the exemplary embodiments described in the present disclosure.

Furthermore, in the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the disclosure. It may be evident, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in schematic form in order to simplify the drawing.

Fig. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of the automatic catering system of the present disclosure. According to the automatic catering system disclosed by the invention, the automatic catering of the whole flow can be realized. The overall structure of the automated catering system according to the present disclosure will be described below with reference to fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 1, the automatic catering system of the present disclosure can be divided into a distribution area, a grabbing area and a catering area according to the characteristics of the fast food industry.

The automated catering system of the present disclosure begins with an automatically grasping food basket or food container, also known as a dinner plate or the like, for holding food items. In this area, a basket transfer device a, a basket paper dispensing device B, a meal item dispensing device, and a conveyor line are provided. After receiving the order, the food basket transfer device distributes the food baskets with the specified quantity according to the order and moves the food baskets to the conveying device, the food basket paper distribution device B places the food basket paper on the food baskets, then the food baskets are moved on the conveying line, and when the food baskets pass through corresponding food storage points, corresponding food is added into the food baskets according to the order of a customer.

The distribution area on the far left in fig. 1 is mainly used for distributing small pieces of products, such as chips, popcorn chicken, chicken pieces, etc. If the automated catering system of the present disclosure is not used in the fast food industry but is used in other catering industries such as chinese restaurants, the distribution area may distribute dishes such as fried peanut rice, palace chicken cubes, and the like. The means for dispensing the food may take a variety of forms, for example a sheet-like structure for stirring the food, or a scoop-like member for receiving a corresponding amount of food, but may of course also be realized by tilting the food storage means, as long as a dosed dispensing of the food is achieved.

After the food basket is moved to the grasping area on the conveyor line, the corresponding food item is placed in the food basket. The gripping area is used for larger catering, such as fried chicken wings, hamburgers, chicken cutlets and the like, or such as steamed bread, steamed rolls, steamed stuffed buns, eggs or other forms of food which can be gripped. The district comprises meal article strorage device, meal basket paper distributor, conveyer, meal article are got and are taken the device and constitute. The meal storage device is divided into different areas and used for storing different meals. After the meal basket on the conveying line moves to the specified meal basket storage device, the meal basket paper distribution device lays meal basket paper on the specified meal basket, the taking device carries out the taking of the meal item to the specified storage position, and the meal item is placed in the specified meal basket.

Of course, the basket paper distribution device in the grabbing area may not be provided, but the basket paper distribution device in the distribution area may place the basket paper in all the baskets on the conveying line in the distribution area.

In fig. 1, the transport line of the distribution area is a single-line type transport device, while in the gripping area a double-line type transport device is used. This is because the distribution area is a place where food is just distributed, and only a single line is needed for order processing in sequence, while the quantity of food to be delivered is increased in the grasping area, and thus the two lines are arranged. This is merely an exemplary way and those skilled in the art may adapt based on the number of orders, the area of the catering area, etc.

The baskets in the conveyor line are then transported to a gathering area for gathering the ready-prepared meal items to be gathered in a dish for serving to the respective guest. The dinner plate distribution area C, the dinner plate paper distribution area D and the dinner basket collection area E are arranged in the area. The dinner plate distribution device is used for distributing dinner plates, and the dinner paper distribution device is used for laying the dinner paper into the dinner plates. After the food items of the same order are prepared, the food items are collected in a collection area, and a collection device pushes a food basket into a specified food plate.

Optionally, a beverage dispensing area F may also be included in the catering area for dispensing beverages according to the customer's order information and placing the beverages in the dinner tray.

The dinner plate with the prepared food is sent to a food delivery area by a conveying line for customers to take.

Furthermore, the dinner plate on the conveyor line can be directly conveyed to the mobile robot, and the mobile robot conveys the dinner plate to the corresponding dinner table.

The above is an explanation of the core concept of the automated catering system of the present disclosure. Possible embodiments of the individual parts are described below.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a basket transferring device of the automatic catering system of the present disclosure, and fig. 3 shows a top view of the basket transferring device of fig. 2. As can be seen in connection with fig. 2 and 3, a plurality of baskets 4 are stacked on the support member 2, and the baskets 4 are arranged in a plurality of stacks in order to place a greater number of baskets 4 in a limited space. In particular, figure 3 shows 4 stacks of

trays

41, 42, 43 and 44. Beside the support element 2, a transfer unit 1 is arranged for picking up a dinner tray from a plurality of dinner trays 4 arranged in a stack and transporting it to a target location, i.e. a conveyor line 5 as shown in fig. 3. The transfer unit 1 may include, for example, a lifting mechanism by which the pick-up arm is lowered so that one end of the pick-up arm comes into contact with the basket 4, a rotating mechanism, and a pick-up arm; the pick arm is then secured to the basket 4, for example by suction with a suction cup or by electro-magnet, and the pick arm is then driven to rotate by a rotation mechanism which lowers the basket as it is conveyed onto the conveyor line.

As a specific embodiment, the lifting mechanism is connected with the rotating mechanism and is used for driving the rotating mechanism to lift; the rotating mechanism is connected with the picking arm and is used for driving the picking arm to rotate.

The basket transferring device further comprises a base 3 for supporting and fixing the transferring unit 1 and the bearing part 2. The transfer unit 1 and the support element 2 are for example removably mounted on the base, so that on site the transfer unit 1 and the support element 2 can be mounted directly on the base without re-dimensioning, thus facilitating modularity of the basket transfer device and reducing the cost of the arrangement on site.

The paper dispenser of the food basket can also be realized by adopting a similar structure. Of course, in fig. 1, the basket transfer device a and the basket paper dispensing device B employ separate modules. In a specific implementation, the food basket transfer device a and the food basket paper dispensing device B may be configured as a common module. Fig. 4 shows a schematic structure.

Referring to fig. 4, the basket transferring device a and the basket paper dispensing device B are integrated into one module. Specifically, the transfer unit 1 is provided with a first pick-up arm 101 and a second pick-up arm 102, the first pick-up arm 101 can be used for picking up the baskets 4, and the second pick-up arm 102 can be used for picking up the basket paper 7. A basket paper pickup device 6 is disposed on the second pickup arm 102 to pick up the basket paper 7. The basket paper pickup device 6 may take the form of a suction cup. In view of the flexible structure of the basket paper, 4 suction cups are shown in fig. 4 to pick up the basket paper.

When the meal basket picking device works, firstly, the rotating mechanism drives the picking arm to rotate to a first position along one direction, then, the lifting mechanism lowers the picking arm, and the first picking arm 101 picks up the meal basket 4 at the first position; then the rotating mechanism drives the picking arm to continue to rotate to a second position along the direction so as to release the picked food basket 4 to the second position; then the rotating mechanism drives the picking arm to rotate reversely to a third position, then the picking arm is lowered through the lifting mechanism, the packing paper 7 at the third position is picked up by the second picking arm 102, and finally the rotating mechanism drives the picking arm to continue rotating reversely to a fourth position so as to release the picked packing paper into the dining basket 4 released by the first picking arm 101.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the food baskets and the number of the food basket paper can be detected, and when the number is less than a preset value, the staff is reminded to supplement the corresponding food baskets or the food basket paper in a sound and light prompt manner. This can be achieved by providing a weight sensor to detect the weight of the basket or basket paper, a photo sensor to detect the height of the basket or basket paper, etc.

The food in the gripping area may be gripped by a robot. Since the baskets and the basket paper are already in place, the grasped food is placed directly on the corresponding basket in the area according to the order. Of course, it is not necessary to place basket paper in all baskets at the dispensing zone, given that some food items such as hamburgers and the like may already be loaded into the package and therefore no basket paper is needed.

In addition, an additional food basket transfer device can be arranged in the grabbing area to deal with the condition that only food in the grabbing area is contained in the customer order. In this case, the baskets can be picked up directly from the gripping area without waiting for the baskets to be delivered from the dispensing area. Accordingly, the area may also be provided with a basket paper dispensing device.

When the food baskets enter the food gathering area, a plurality of food baskets belonging to the same order are placed in the same food plate. As can be seen from fig. 1, the trays are moved on the conveyor line in the tray dispensing area C and the tray sheets are dispensed onto the trays in the tray sheet dispensing area D by the tray sheet dispensing means, and when the trays are transported to the tray collection area E, a plurality of trays belonging to the same order are placed into the same tray.

The means for moving the tray and the means for dispensing the tray paper may be similar to the means for moving the basket and the paper of the basket.

In addition, as previously mentioned, a beverage dispensing area F may be provided to carry the beverage ordered by the guest to the dinner plate.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the above described embodiments are exemplary and can be modified by those skilled in the art, and that the structures described in the various embodiments can be freely combined without conflict in structure or principle.

Having described preferred embodiments of the present disclosure in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims, and the disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein.

Claims

1. An automated catering system, comprising:

a main conveyor line;

a food container storage unit for storing food containers;

a dish providing device for providing a dish;

and the food container collecting device is used for collecting the food containers which are filled with the predetermined food and belong to the same order into the same dinner plate.

2. The automated catering system according to claim 1,

the food container comprises a food basket, the food container transfer device comprises a food basket transfer device, and the food basket transfer device is used for placing the food basket on the main conveying line.

3. The automated catering system according to claim 2,

the food container transfer device further comprises a basket paper distribution device, and the basket paper distribution device is used for placing basket paper into the baskets on the main conveying line.

4. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the food container transfer device comprises a lifting mechanism, a rotating mechanism and a picking arm;

the lifting mechanism is connected with the rotating mechanism and is used for driving the rotating mechanism to lift;

the rotating mechanism is connected with the picking arm and used for driving the picking arm to rotate.

5. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the dinner plate conveying line is used for conveying the dinner plates;

the dinner plate conveying line is intersected with the main conveying line, and the food container collecting device is arranged at the intersection of the dinner plate conveying line and the main conveying line.

6. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the food container storage unit is used for storing food containers, and the food container storage unit is used for storing food containers.

7. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the main conveyor line comprises a plurality of sections, wherein the main conveyor lines in different sections each comprise at least one conveyor line, and the number of the conveyor lines in different sections is the same or different.

8. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the tray paper distribution device is used for placing tray paper on the tray.

9. The automated catering system according to any of claims 1-3,

the food product container pooling device pools the food product containers according to a predetermined order of the predetermined food products.

10. An automatic catering method, characterized in that the automatic catering method comprises:

transporting a food container for storing food;