CN113979062B

CN113979062B - Meal preparing system and meal preparing method

Info

Publication number: CN113979062B
Application number: CN202111324982.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吴祺; 田艳; 李双南; 胡晏莹
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: 2023-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2041-11-10
Also published as: CN113979062A

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a meal preparation system and a meal preparation method. The meal preparation system comprises: a food delivery device comprising a food delivery line for receiving a food container and delivering the food container to a pick-up location; the dinner plate conveying device comprises a dinner plate conveying line, wherein the dinner plate conveying line is used for carrying dinner plates and conveying the dinner plates to a dinner collecting position and a dinner discharging position in sequence; a first food transfer assembly configured to grasp the food containers from the pick-up location and release the food containers onto the meal trays at the meal collection location.

Description

Meal preparing system and meal preparing method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to automated distribution technology in the field of dining, and more particularly, to a catering system and a catering method.

Background

In the field of snack production and sales, food preparation areas prepare various forms of food for customer selection by standardized processing flows. Currently, the various foods produced are typically buffered by shelves located behind the checkout counter, the shelves being provided with a plurality of sections, each section identifying the particular food stored by a tag. When a customer pays off a meal, the salesperson needs to manually collect the meal, i.e., the salesperson takes the corresponding food at the shelf according to the order list, collects the food on a dinner plate and then provides the food to the customer.

Because the food ordered by the customer is random and multi-item, during the catering process, the salesperson needs to check the list for multiple times when taking the food so as to avoid errors such as missing taking, misplacement taking and the like. Especially, during the peak period of dining, the flow of people in unit time is large, orders are rapidly increased, the working intensity of salesperson is high, and the salesperson is easy to fatigue. In addition, when a salesperson takes food from the shelf, the salesperson needs to frequently contact with the food container, and the food sanitation hidden trouble exists.

Disclosure of Invention

Based on this, there is a need to provide a meal preparation system and a meal preparation method, which solve at least one of the above problems of the prior art meal preparation method.

The present disclosure provides a catering system comprising: a food delivery device comprising a food delivery line for receiving a food container and delivering the food container to a pick-up location; the dinner plate conveying device comprises a dinner plate conveying line, wherein the dinner plate conveying line is used for carrying dinner plates and conveying the dinner plates to a dinner collecting position and a dinner discharging position in sequence; a first food transfer assembly configured to grasp the food containers from the pick-up location and release the food containers onto the meal trays at the meal collection location.

Further, the food conveying apparatus includes a food container position detector for detecting position information of the food container on the food conveying line; and/or the tray conveying device comprises a first tray position detector for detecting position information of the tray on the tray conveying line; and/or the first food transfer device comprises at least one mechanical arm.

Further, the food container position detector includes a first sensor corresponding to the pick-up position; the first meal disk position detector includes: a second sensor corresponding to a tray receiving position on the tray conveying line for receiving the tray, and/or a third sensor corresponding to the tray collecting position, and/or a fourth sensor corresponding to the tray discharging position.

Further, the dinner plate conveying line comprises a first linear conveying section, an arc-shaped conveying section and a second linear conveying section which are adjacent in sequence, the first linear conveying section and the second linear conveying section are mutually angled, the dinner outlet position is positioned at the tail end of the second linear conveying section, and the first linear conveying section, the arc-shaped conveying section and the second linear conveying section can be driven by the same driving mechanism; alternatively, the tray conveyor comprises a first conveyor and a second conveyor separated and arranged at an angle to each other, the beginning of the second conveyor corresponding to the sink position and being adapted to receive trays output from the end of the first conveyor, the discharge position being at the end of the second conveyor; the first conveyor line and the second conveyor line are independently operable.

Further, the food conveying line comprises a plurality of food conveying sections which are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the food containers and can independently operate, and the food conveying section positioned downstream can receive the food containers output by the food conveying section positioned upstream; wherein the food container position detector comprises a first sensor corresponding to the pick-up position and at least one fifth sensor corresponding to at least one of the food transport sections; and/or the dinner plate conveying line comprises a plurality of dinner plate conveying sections which are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the dinner plates and can independently run, and the dinner plate conveying section positioned at the downstream can receive the dinner plates output by the dinner plate conveying section positioned at the upstream; wherein, first cutlery tray position detector includes: a second sensor corresponding to a tray receiving position on the tray conveying line for receiving the tray, and/or a third sensor corresponding to the tray collecting position, and/or a fourth sensor corresponding to the tray discharging position, and/or at least one sixth sensor corresponding to at least one tray conveying section.

Further, the meal distribution system further comprises: the goods shelf is arranged at the side part of the food conveying line and is used for caching food; a second food transfer device configured to grasp the food item from the rack and release the food item onto the food item container on the food transport line.

Further, the meal distribution system further comprises: the dinner plate buffer area is used for supporting the dinner plates which can be stacked together; the dinner plate transferring device is suitable for grabbing the dinner plates in the dinner plate buffer area and releasing the dinner plates to a tray receiving position of the dinner plate conveying line, wherein the tray receiving position is located at the upstream of the dinner collecting position.

Further, the tray transfer device includes: a lifting mechanism comprising a mount capable of longitudinal movement; a rotation mechanism mounted on the mount and having a longitudinally extending rotation output shaft; the grabbing mechanism is connected with the rotary output shaft so as to rotate around the axis of the rotary output shaft, and the grabbing mechanism is suitable for grabbing and releasing the dinner plate.

Further, the grabbing mechanism comprises a support and a plurality of vacuum suction nozzles mounted on the support, and the support is connected with the rotary output shaft.

Further, the meal distribution system further comprises a second meal tray position detector for detecting meal tray information of the meal tray buffer.

Further, the tray conveyor is further configured to convey the received trays to a pad position, the pad position being between the tray receiving position and the sink position; the distribution system further comprises a paper-backing distribution device, wherein the paper-backing distribution device comprises a paper-backing buffer area and a paper-backing output port, and the paper-backing distribution device is used for outputting paper-backing stored in the paper-backing buffer area to the dinner plate at the paper-backing position through the paper-backing output port.

Further, the paper backing position coincides with the tray receiving position.

Further, the meal distribution system further comprises a controller, and the food conveying device, the dinner plate conveying device, the first food transferring device, the dinner plate transferring device and the packing paper distributing device are respectively and electrically connected with the controller and are controlled by the controller to operate.

The present disclosure also provides a meal preparation method comprising:

conveying the food container containing food to a pick-up position through a food conveying line, and conveying the dinner plate to a dinner collecting position through a dinner plate conveying line;

transferring the food containers at the pick-up position to the dinner plate at the meal collecting position through a first food transfer device;

and conveying the dinner plate loaded with the food container from the dinner collecting position to the dinner discharging position through the dinner plate conveying line.

Further, the catering method further comprises: before the dinner plate is conveyed to a dinner collecting position through a dinner plate conveying line, the dinner plate stored in the dinner plate buffer area is transferred to a tray receiving position of the dinner plate conveying line through a dinner plate transfer device, and the tray receiving position is located at the upstream of the dinner collecting position.

Further, the catering method further comprises: before the dinner plates are conveyed to the dinner collecting position from the tray receiving position through the dinner plate conveying line, packing paper is output to the dinner plates positioned at the tray receiving position through a packing paper distributing device.

Further, the dinner plates stored in the dinner plate buffer area are detected, and when the number or the weight of the dinner plates stored in the dinner plate buffer area is smaller than the preset number or the preset weight, alarm information is sent out.

The automatic meal distribution system provided by the disclosure can be used for completing automatic meal distribution, so that not only can the labor force be saved and the labor intensity of salesperson be reduced, but also the contact probability of the salesperson with food in the meal distribution link can be reduced, and the food sanitation and the food safety can be improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a dispensing system provided in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a partial enlarged view of FIG. 1;

fig. 3 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a delivery system provided in accordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 schematically illustrates a perspective view of a dispensing system provided in accordance with a second embodiment of the present disclosure; and

fig. 5 schematically illustrates a flow chart of a delivery method provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 1-3, block diagrams and block diagrams of a meal distribution system according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure are schematically shown. The meal distribution system comprises at least a food conveying device 1, a dinner plate conveying device 2 and a first food transferring device 3.

The food conveying apparatus 1 includes a food conveying line 11, the food conveying line 11 for receiving the food containers 100 and conveying the received food containers 100 to the pickup position A1. In some embodiments, the food container 100 may be a uniform size container to facilitate standardized administration. For example, the food container 100 may be a standard sized meal basket, and different or the same food types (including, for example, hamburgers 101, french fries, etc.) may be placed on the number of meal baskets and then transported with the meal basket to the pick-up location A1. It will be appreciated that the food product is typically packaged with an outer package, and that in some embodiments, the food product may not be provided with a meal basket, but rather the outer package of the food product may be placed directly on the food conveyor line 11 as a food container. The pick-up position A1 may be, for example, at the end (which may also be referred to as output) of the food conveyor line 11. The food conveyor line 11 may convey the food container 100 containing the food received upstream thereof toward the end thereof.

In fig. 1, two food conveying lines 11 are provided, and the two food conveying lines 11 are arranged to extend in a straight line. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, only one food conveyor line 11 may be provided or more food conveyor lines 11 may be provided, and the direction of extension of each food conveyor line 11 may be non-linear, but adapted to the space, for example, to an arcuate extension. The food conveyor line 11 may be, for example, a conveyor line for food conveying of known technology. In some embodiments, food containers 100 including different or identical food products are carried on the food conveyor line 11 in a predetermined order and are sequentially conveyed to the pick-up location A1 according to the customer's order requirements. In some embodiments, the end of the food conveyor line 11 may be provided with a stopper (not shown in the figures) for avoiding accidental falling of the food container 100 from the end of the food conveyor line 11.

The tray conveying device 2 includes a tray conveying line 21, where the tray conveying line 21 is used to accept trays 200 (e.g., accept empty trays), then convey the accepted trays 200 to a meal collecting position B2 for meal collecting and loading, and convey the trays 200 at the meal collecting position B2 to a meal delivering position B3 for a salesperson to take a meal to a customer, for example. It will be appreciated that sink meal location B2 is upstream of meal output location B3. The meal outlet position B3 may be, for example, at the end (output end) of the meal tray conveyor line 21. The tray conveyor 21 may be, for example, a known article conveyor. In fig. 1, one tray transfer line 21 is provided, and in other embodiments, the number of tray transfer lines 21 is not limited to one.

There are also a number of arrangements of the dish conveyor 21. In this embodiment, the tray conveyor 21 includes, for example, a first linear conveyor section 210, an arcuate conveyor section 230, and a second linear conveyor section 220 that are sequentially adjacent. Wherein the first linear conveyor section 210 and the second linear conveyor section 220 may be angled with respect to each other, e.g., substantially perpendicular, with the first linear conveyor section 210 upstream and the second linear conveyor section 220 downstream. For example, the beginning of the first straight section 210 serves as a tray location B1 for receiving empty trays 200 to be transported. The sink position B2 is located, for example, on the curved conveying section 230 and/or the second linear conveying section 220. Meal out position B3 is, for example, at the end of second rectilinear conveying section 220. The first linear conveyor section 210, the arcuate conveyor section 230, and the second linear conveyor section 220 can be driven to operate synchronously by the same drive mechanism. In some embodiments, the tray 200 travel from the tray position B1 to the sink position B2 is substantially equal to the tray travel from the sink position B2 to the exit position B3, such that when the loaded tray 200 travels from the sink position B2 to the exit position B3, the empty tray 200 at the tray position B1 may travel to the sink position B2.

The first food transfer apparatus 3 is configured to grasp the food containers 100 from the pickup position A1 and release the food containers 100 onto the dinner plate 200 located at the meal collecting position B2. As can be seen from fig. 1, the first food transfer device 3 may for example comprise two robotic arms, for example arranged on both sides of the end of the food conveying line 11, for easy transfer of the food and food containers 100 at the pick-up position A1 of the adjacent food conveying line 11 to the serving tray 200 at the sink position B2. It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the first food transfer apparatus 3 is not limited to a robotic arm and that any suitable transfer apparatus may be employed. The first food transfer apparatus 3 may be provided with a gripping mechanism for gripping and releasing the food container 100, and the gripping mechanism may be, for example, any suitable mechanism such as a gripper type gripping mechanism (including, for example, two jaws that can be opened and closed relatively), a vacuum suction type gripping mechanism (including a vacuum suction nozzle), or the like. After the trays 200 at the sink position B2 are loaded with the food containers 100, the trays 200 are transported by the tray transport line 21 to the discharge position B3.

The automatic meal preparing system provided by the embodiment can be used for completing automatic meal preparing, not only can save manpower and reduce the labor intensity of salesperson, but also can reduce the contact probability of the salesperson with food in the meal preparing link, and is beneficial to improving food sanitation and food safety.

In some embodiments, as the empty trays 200 move with the tray conveyor 21 to the sink position B2, the tray conveyor 21 pauses moving, leaving the empty trays 200 in the sink position B2. The first food transfer apparatus 3 sequentially places the food containers 100 belonging to the same order, which successively arrive at the pickup position A1 in a predetermined order, on the dinner plate 200 staying at the meal collecting position B2. After the trays 200 are loaded, the tray conveyor 21 conveys the trays 200 loaded with the food containers 100 to the meal out position B3 for removal by a salesperson, at which time a new empty tray 200 may be conveyed to the meal collecting position B2 for the next round of meal collecting loading.

In some embodiments, not shown, shelves may be provided on one or both sides of the food conveyor line 11, for example, on which various food items that may be served may be sorted and buffered. In addition, a plurality of second food transfer devices may be provided, each of which is capable of, for example, gripping food from a shelf and releasing the food onto the food container 100 on the food conveying line 11. In some embodiments, the second food transfer device may, for example, selectively place the grabbed food on different food containers 100 on the food conveyor line 11 in the order of different customers to enable all food containers related to the previous order to reach the pick-up location A1 in preference to all food containers related to the next order. In some embodiments, the second food transfer apparatus may employ, for example, an articulated robot.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the meal system may further comprise a dish buffer 7 and a dish transfer device 8, for example. Wherein the dish buffer 7 is a platform supported by the support 71, and a plurality of stacked dishes 200 can be placed on the dish buffer 7. The tray transfer device 8 is adapted to grasp trays 200 stored at the tray buffer 7 and release the trays 200 grasped thereby to a tray position B1 of the tray conveyor line 21 for receiving trays 200, the tray position B1 being upstream of the sink position B2. In this way, an automatic supply of trays 200 to tray conveyor 21 is achieved, further saving of manpower.

In the present embodiment, the tray transfer device 8 includes, for example, a lifting mechanism 81, a rotation mechanism 82, and a gripping mechanism 83. Wherein the lifting mechanism 81 may include a mounting base 810 capable of moving in a longitudinal direction, and the rotating mechanism 82 is mounted on the mounting base 810 and can be lifted and lowered together with the mounting base 810. The elevating mechanism 81 may be of a known structure including a longitudinally extending slide rail and a driving mechanism, and the mount 810 is slidably disposed on the slide rail and driven by the driving mechanism to perform elevating movement. The rotation mechanism 82 has a longitudinally extending rotation output shaft having an axis X-X. The rotation mechanism 82 includes, for example, a gear motor, and an output shaft of the gear motor serves as, for example, a rotation output shaft. The gripping means 83 is connected to the rotation output shaft so as to be able to rotate about the axis X-X of the rotation output shaft, the gripping means 83 being adapted to grip and release the dinner plate 200. The gripping mechanism 83 comprises, for example, a rack 831 and a plurality of vacuum nozzles 832 mounted on the rack, the rack 831 being connected to a rotating output shaft, the vacuum nozzles 832 gripping and releasing the trays 200 by means of vacuum suction. Of course, the embodiment of the tray transfer device 8 and the embodiment of the gripping mechanism 83 thereof are not limited to the above examples, and for example, in other examples, the tray transfer device 8 may be an articulated robot arm, and the gripping mechanism 83 may be a clamp type gripping mechanism.

The operation mode of the tray transfer device 8 may be, for example: first, the gripping mechanism 83 is driven to rise by the lifting mechanism 81, and the gripping mechanism 83 is driven to rotate by the rotating mechanism 82, so that the vacuum nozzle 832 is rotated above the dinner plate 200 to be gripped. Then, the lifting mechanism 81 drives the grabbing mechanism 83 to move downwards so that the vacuum suction nozzles 832 attract the dinner plates 200, and drives the grabbing mechanism 83 to lift up so that the grabbed dinner plates 200 are separated from other dinner plates 200 below. Thereafter, the rotation mechanism 82 drives the grasping mechanism 83 to rotate so that the grasped dinner plate 200 is located above the tray position B1. Finally, the lifting mechanism 81 drives the grabbing mechanism 83 to move downwards, and after the grabbed dinner plate 200 is placed on the tray receiving position B1, the vacuum suction nozzle 832 releases the grabbed dinner plate 200, and the dinner plate 200 is transferred from the dinner plate buffer area 7 to the tray receiving position B1.

Referring again to fig. 1, the meal system may also include a dunnage dispensing apparatus 9, for example, the dunnage dispensing apparatus 9 may be supported by a stand 90, for example, and the dunnage dispensing apparatus 9 may be used to automatically dispense dunnage onto an empty dinner plate 200. The sheet dispensing device 9 may be of a known technology, and for example, it includes a sheet buffer 91 and a sheet output 92, the sheet buffer 91 may store a stack of sheets 300, and the sheet dispensing device 9 may include a friction wheel that abuts against the uppermost sheet 300 of the stack of sheets. Thus, when an empty tray 200 is placed at tray position B1, the friction wheel rotates to apply an initial velocity to the uppermost sheet of paper 300, and paper 300 is output through paper output 92 and slides down onto tray 200 at tray position B1. The tray conveyor 21 is stopped, for example, when the liner 300 is delivered to the tray 200 at the tray receiving position B1, to prevent the liner 300 from falling onto the tray 200 successfully. After the mat 300 is placed on the dinner plate 200, the dinner plate conveyor line 21 continues to run to convey the dinner plate 200 with the mat 300 placed to the sink position B2.

It should be noted that, although in the present embodiment, the tray position of the empty tray 200 on the tray conveying line 21 for receiving the tray 300 coincides with the tray position B1, it is understood that in other embodiments, the tray conveying line 21 may convey the empty tray 200 to other suitable tray positions for receiving the tray 300, and the tray positions are between the tray position B1 and the sink position B2. For example, in some embodiments, the liner position may coincide with sink position B2.

Referring to fig. 3, to further increase the automation of the meal system, the meal system may further comprise a controller 6, and at least part of the electric drive means of the meal system (e.g. comprising the food conveying means 1, the meal tray conveying means 2, the first food transfer means 3, the second food transfer means, the meal tray transfer means 8, the liner dispensing means, etc.) may be electrically connected to the controller 6 and controlled by the controller 6 to operate itself.

In some embodiments, the food conveying apparatus 1 may further comprise a food container position detector 4, the food container position detector 4 being for detecting position information of the food container 100 on the food conveying line 11. The food container position detector 4 is connected to the controller 6, for example, and transmits the detected position information of the food container 100 to the controller 6. Referring to fig. 1, the food container position detector 4 includes, for example, a first sensor 41 corresponding to the pickup position A1, and when the food container 100 reaches the pickup position A1, the first sensor 41 sends a food container arrival signal to the controller 6. When the food container 100 at the pick-up position A1 cannot be taken away in time, the controller 6 can control the food conveying line 11 to stop running, and after the food container 100 at the pick-up position A1 is taken away, the controller 6 controls the food conveying line 11 to continue running.

In some embodiments, the tray conveyor 2 may further comprise a first tray position detector 5 for detecting position information of the trays 200 on the tray conveyor line 21. The first tray position detector 5 is connected to the controller 6, for example, and transmits the detected tray 200 position information to the controller 6. Referring to fig. 1, the first meal disk position detector 5 may include, for example, a second sensor 51 and/or a third sensor 52 and/or a fourth sensor 53. The second sensor 51 corresponds to a tray position B1 of the tray conveyor 21 for receiving trays 200, the third sensor 52 corresponds to a sink position B2, and the fourth sensor 53 corresponds to a discharge position B3. When the dinner plate 200 moves to the tray receiving position B1, the dinner collecting position B2 and the dinner outlet position B3 on the dinner plate conveying line 21, the corresponding sensors respectively send corresponding dinner plate arrival signals to the controller 6.

The two mechanical arms of the first food transfer device 3 may be electrically connected to the controller 6, respectively, for receiving the grasping information sent from the controller 6, so as to place the food container 100 at the pick-up position A1 on the dinner plate 200 at the meal collecting position B2. One of the mechanical arms can be responsible for one food conveying line 11, communication is carried out between the two mechanical arms, and the motion paths of the two mechanical arms can be interlocked, so that the mutual interference of the motion paths is avoided. In addition, after one mechanical arm places the grabbed food container 100 in place on the dinner plate 200, the placement position information is transmitted back to the controller 6, and when the other mechanical arm places the food container 100 on the same dinner plate 200, the placement position of the last time can be avoided. For example, the dinner plate 200 can be virtually divided into a plurality of subareas, the position information of the subareas occupied by the dinner plate 200 when the food container 100 is placed each time is transmitted back to the controller 6 by the mechanical arm, and the controller 6 can control the mechanical arm to avoid the position of the dinner plate 200 where the food container 100 is placed when the food container 100 is placed next time. The arm may also transmit back to the controller 6 that the tray 200 is full.

The second food transfer apparatus is electrically connected to the controller 6, and for example, places food on the shelf on the food container 100 on the food conveying line 11 based on the order information sent from the controller 6. To facilitate a customer to remove food items from their order at one time, the food container 100 associated with the subsequent order may not be brought to the pick-up position A1 prior to any food container 100 associated with the previous order.

The dish information of the dish buffer 7, for example, information about whether the dish buffer 7 stores the dishes 200 or whether the number of dishes 200 in the dish buffer 7 is less than a predetermined number, is detected by the second dish position detector 72. Because the weight of the trays 200 is relatively standard, in determining whether the number of trays 200 stored in the tray buffer 7 is less than the predetermined number, the number of trays may be indirectly determined, for example, by testing the weight of the trays 200 stored in the tray buffer 7. When the number of trays 200 at the tray cache 7 is zero or less than the predetermined number, the second tray position detector 72 for example sends an alarm message to the controller 6 to alert the person to timely replenish the tray cache 7 with trays 200.

The tray transfer device 8 and the pad paper dispensing device 9 may be electrically connected to the controller 6, respectively. In the case where the dinner plate buffer 7 stores the dinner plate 200, the dinner plate transfer device 8 moves the dinner plate 200 at the dinner plate buffer 7 to the tray receiving position B1 on the suspended dinner plate conveying line 21 after receiving the information from the controller 6. When an empty tray 200 is placed at the tray receiving position B1, the paper feeding device 9 receives information from the controller 6, outputs paper 300 to the empty tray 200, and then the controller 6 controls the tray conveyor 21 to move. When the tray 200 with the packing paper 300 laid thereon is moved to the meal collecting position B2, the controller 6 controls the tray conveyor line 21 to be suspended for meal collecting loading. After the meal collecting and loading is completed, the controller 6 controls the meal tray conveying line 21 to continue moving so as to pause after the meal tray 200 loaded with the food container 100 is moved to the meal outlet position B3 for the salesperson to take the meal.

The sensors used for the food container position detector 4, the first tray position detector 5, and the second tray position detector 72 may be photoelectric sensors or other types of sensors.

Fig. 4 schematically shows a perspective view of a meal system according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure, which differs from the first embodiment described above mainly in the structure of the meal tray conveyor line 21. In addition, the layout of the dish buffer 7, the dish transfer device 8, the pad paper distribution device 9, etc. is modified in this embodiment. The present embodiment is similar to the first embodiment and will not be described again.

Referring to fig. 4, the tray conveyor line 21 includes first and

second conveyor lines

201 and 202 that are spaced apart and arranged at an angle (e.g., perpendicular) to each other, and the first and

second conveyor lines

201 and 202 are generally L-shaped and may take a known conveyor line configuration. The tray position B1 is, for example, at the start end of the first conveyor line 201. The beginning of the second conveyor line 202 corresponds for example to the sink position B2 and is adapted to receive the meal trays 200 output from the end of the first conveyor line 201. Meal out station B3 is, for example, at the end of the second conveyor line 202. The first conveyor line 201 and the second conveyor line 202 are driven by different driving mechanisms so that the first conveyor line 201 and the second conveyor line 202 can be independently operated. The end of the first conveyor line 201 may for example be higher than the start of the second conveyor line 202.

By configuring the tray transfer line 21 as two relatively independent lines in this embodiment, after the tray 200 slides from the end of the first line 201 to the meal collecting position B2 on the second line 202, the tray transfer device 8 can immediately grasp the next empty tray 200 from the tray buffer 7, place the empty tray 200 on the tray receiving position B1 of the first line 201, then place the packing paper 300 on the empty tray 200, and then move the tray 200 with the packing paper 300 to the end of the first line 201 to wait for transferring to the meal collecting position B2 of the second line 202. The dinner plate 200 at the meal collecting position B2 of the second conveying line 202 is kept still when the food containers 100 are loaded, and after the first food transfer device 3 finishes loading the food containers 100 on the dinner plate 200 at the meal collecting position B2, the second conveying line 202 moves the dinner plate 200 to the meal discharging position B3 for a salesperson to take meals. During waiting for the meal to be taken, the meal tray 200 previously delivered to the end of the first conveyor line 201 can be quickly transferred to the meal collecting position B2 of the second conveyor line 202, which improves the efficiency of meal preparation.

The present disclosure also provides a third embodiment, not shown, which differs from the first embodiment described above mainly in the implementation of the food conveyor line 11, the meal tray conveyor line 21, the food container position detector 4 and the first meal tray position detector 5, which are similar to the first embodiment and will not be described again here.

In the present embodiment, the food conveying line 11 includes, for example, a plurality of food conveying sections which are arranged in order along the conveying direction of the food container 100 and which are capable of independent operation, and the food conveying section located downstream is capable of receiving the food container 100 output by the food conveying section located upstream thereof. The food container position detector 4 may comprise the first sensor 41 corresponding to the pick-up position A1 and at least one fifth sensor corresponding to at least one food conveying section as described above. By configuring the food conveying line 11 as a plurality of relatively independent food conveying sections, key detection positions can be preset on each food conveying section, and food container arrival information of each key detection position can be detected through the first sensor 41 and the fifth sensor, when food containers 100 on downstream food conveying sections are jammed, downstream food conveying sections can be controlled to temporarily stop running, and non-jammed upstream food conveying sections can continue to run, so that conveying efficiency is improved.

The tray conveyance line 21 includes, for example, a plurality of tray conveyance sections which are arranged in order along the conveyance direction of the tray 200 and which can be independently operated, and the tray conveyance section located downstream can receive the tray 200 output from the tray conveyance section located upstream thereof. The first meal disk position detector may include: a second sensor corresponding to a tray receiving position B1 of the tray conveyor line 21 for receiving trays 200, and/or a third sensor corresponding to a meal collecting position B2, and/or a fourth sensor corresponding to a meal outlet position B3, and/or at least one sixth sensor corresponding to at least one tray conveying section. By configuring the tray conveying line 21 as a plurality of relatively independent tray conveying sections and detecting tray arrival information of preset key detection positions through the second sensor 51, the third sensor 52, the fourth sensor 53 and the sixth sensor, when tray 200 on the downstream tray conveying section is jammed, the downstream tray conveying section can be controlled to temporarily stop running, and the non-jammed upstream tray conveying section can continue running, so as to improve conveying efficiency.

Referring to fig. 5, embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a meal preparation method that may be performed using, but is not limited to, the meal preparation system provided by the above embodiments. As shown in fig. 5, the catering method may include the steps of:

s101, the food container 100 is transported to the pickup position A1 via the food transfer line 11, and the dinner plate 200 is transported to the meal collecting position B2 via the dinner plate transfer line 21.

S102, the food container 100 located at the pickup position A1 is transferred to the dinner plate 200 at the meal collecting position B2 by the first food transfer device 3.

S103, the dinner plate 200 loaded with the food container 100 is transported from the meal collecting position B2 to the meal discharging position B3 via the dinner plate transporting line 21.

In some embodiments, prior to transporting the trays 200 through the tray transfer line 21 to the sink location B2, the trays 200 stored in the tray buffer 7 are transferred to the tray receiving location B1 of the tray transfer line 21 by the tray transfer device 8, the tray receiving location B1 being located upstream of the sink location B2. Wherein the dinner plates 200 stored in the dinner plate buffer area 7 can be stacked and placed right side up.

In some embodiments, after the trays 200 stored in the tray buffer 7 are transferred to the tray position B1 of the tray transfer line 21, the spacer 300 is output to the tray 200 located at the tray position B1 by the spacer distributing device 9 before the tray 200 is transferred from the tray position B1 to the sink position B2 through the tray transfer line 21.

In some embodiments, the trays 200 stored in tray buffer 7 may be detected by a second tray position detector 72. An alarm message is issued when the number of trays 200 stored in tray cache 7 is less than a predetermined number (e.g., less than 1) so as to alert the employee to timely replenish trays 200. Alternatively, when the weight of the trays 200 stored in the tray cache 7 is less than a predetermined weight (for example, the sum of the weights of five or not more than ten trays), it may be indirectly determined that the number of trays in the tray cache 7 is less than the predetermined number, and the second tray position detector 72 may send out an alarm message.

The above-described food conveying line 11, first food transfer device 3, dinner plate conveying line 21, dinner plate transfer device 8, and paper pad distribution device 9, etc. may be implemented by the corresponding devices in the catering system of the foregoing embodiment.

The foregoing examples merely represent several embodiments of the present disclosure, which are described in more detail and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. It should be noted that variations and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the disclosure, which are within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of protection of the present disclosure should be determined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A meal distribution system comprising:

a food conveying apparatus (1) comprising a food conveying line (11), the food conveying line (11) being adapted to receive a food container (100) and convey the food container (100) to a pick-up location (A1), the food container (100) associated with a subsequent order not reaching the pick-up location (A1) prior to any food container (100) associated with a previous order;

a dinner plate conveying device (2) comprising a dinner plate conveying line (21), wherein the dinner plate conveying line (21) is used for receiving a dinner plate (200) and sequentially conveying the dinner plate (200) from a tray collecting position (B1) to a dinner collecting position (B2) and a dinner discharging position (B3), the travel from the tray collecting position (B1) to the dinner collecting position (B2) is equal to the travel from the dinner collecting position (B2) to the dinner discharging position (B3), the travel is separated from the dinner plate, and when the loaded dinner plate (200) moves from the dinner collecting position (B2) to the dinner discharging position (B3), an empty dinner plate (200) at the tray collecting position (B1) just moves to the dinner collecting position (B2);

a first food transfer device (3) configured to grasp the food containers (100) from the pick-up location (A1) and release the food containers (100) onto the dinner plate (200) at the sink location (B2).

2. The meal preparation system according to claim 1, characterized in that,

the food conveying apparatus (1) comprises a food container position detector (4), the food container position detector (4) being adapted to detect position information of the food container (100) on the food conveying line (11);

and/or the tray conveying device (2) comprises a first tray position detector (5) for detecting position information of the trays (200) on the tray conveying line (21).

3. The meal preparation system according to claim 2, characterized in that,

the food container position detector (4) comprises a first sensor (41) corresponding to the pick-up position (A1);

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the first dinner plate position detector (5) comprises: a second sensor (51) corresponding to a tray position (B1) on the tray conveyor line (21) for receiving a tray (200); and/or a third sensor (52) corresponding to the sink position (B2); and/or a fourth sensor (53) corresponding to the meal-out position (B3).

4. The meal preparation system according to claim 1, characterized in that,

the dinner plate conveying line (21) comprises a first linear conveying section (210), an arc-shaped conveying section (230) and a second linear conveying section (220) which are adjacent in sequence, the first linear conveying section (210) and the second linear conveying section (220) are mutually angled, the dinner discharging position (B3) is positioned at the tail end of the second linear conveying section (220), and the first linear conveying section (210), the arc-shaped conveying section (230) and the second linear conveying section (220) can be driven by the same driving mechanism;

alternatively, the meal tray conveyor (21) comprises a first conveyor (201) and a second conveyor (202) separated and arranged at an angle to each other, the beginning of the second conveyor (202) corresponding to the sink position (B2) and being adapted to receive the meal tray (200) output from the end of the first conveyor (201), the meal outlet position (B3) being at the end of the second conveyor (202); the first conveyor line (201) and the second conveyor line (202) can be operated independently.

5. The meal preparation system according to claim 2, characterized in that,

the food conveying line (11) comprises a plurality of food conveying sections which are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the food containers (100) and can independently operate, and the food conveying section positioned downstream can receive the food containers (100) output by the food conveying section positioned upstream; wherein the food container position detector (4) comprises a first sensor (41) corresponding to the pick-up position (A1) and at least one fifth sensor corresponding to at least one of the food conveying sections;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the dinner plate conveying line (21) comprises a plurality of dinner plate conveying sections which are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the dinner plates (200) and can independently operate, and the dinner plate conveying section positioned at the downstream can receive the dinner plates (200) output by the dinner plate conveying section positioned at the upstream; wherein the first dinner plate position detector (5) comprises: a second sensor (51) corresponding to a tray position (B1) on the tray conveyor line (21) for receiving a tray (200); and/or a third sensor (52) corresponding to the sink position (B2); and/or a fourth sensor (53) corresponding to the meal-out position (B3); and/or at least one sixth sensor corresponding to at least one of said dish-conveying sections.

6. The meal distribution system of claim 1, further comprising:

the goods shelf is arranged at the side part of the food conveying line (11) and is used for caching food;

a second food transfer device configured to grasp the food from the rack and release the food onto the food container (100) on the food conveyor line (11).

7. The meal system of any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

a dish buffer (7) for supporting the dishes (200) that can be stacked together;

the dinner plate transferring device (8) is suitable for grabbing the dinner plates (200) in the dinner plate buffer area (7) and releasing the dinner plates (200) to a tray receiving position (B1) of the dinner plate conveying line (21) for receiving the dinner plates (200), and the tray receiving position (B1) is upstream of the dinner collecting position (B2).

8. The meal preparation system of claim 7, wherein the meal preparation system comprises a plurality of meal preparation units,

the dinner plate transferring device (8) comprises: a lifting mechanism (81), the lifting mechanism (81) comprising a mount (810) movable in a longitudinal direction; a rotation mechanism (82), the rotation mechanism (82) being mounted on the mount (810) and having a longitudinally extending rotation output shaft; -a gripping mechanism (83), said gripping mechanism (83) being connected to said rotation output shaft so as to be rotatable about an axis (X-X) of said rotation output shaft, said gripping mechanism (83) being adapted to grip and release said dinner plate (200);

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the meal distribution system further comprises a second meal tray position detector (72) for detecting meal tray information of the meal tray buffer (7);

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the tray transfer line (21) is further configured to transfer the received trays (200) to a pad position between the tray receiving position (B1) and the sink position (B2); the catering system further comprises a paper-backing distribution device (9), wherein the paper-backing distribution device (9) comprises a paper-backing buffer area (91) and a paper-backing output opening (92), and the paper-backing distribution device (9) is used for outputting paper-backing (300) stored by the paper-backing buffer area (91) to the dinner plate (200) at the paper-backing position through the paper-backing output opening (92).

9. The meal distribution system according to claim 8, characterized in that said gripping means (83) comprise a support (831) and a plurality of vacuum nozzles (832) mounted on said support, said support (831) being connected to said rotary output shaft;

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the paper pad position is overlapped with the tray receiving position (B1);

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

the catering system further comprises a controller (6), wherein the food conveying device (1), the dinner plate conveying device (2), the first food transferring device (3), the dinner plate transferring device (8) and the packing paper distributing device (9) are respectively and electrically connected with the controller (6) and are controlled by the controller (6) to operate.

10. A method of preparing a meal comprising:

transporting the food containers (100) to a pick-up position (A1) through a food conveying line (11), transporting the dinner plates (200) from a tray receiving position (B1) to a dinner collecting position (B2) through a dinner plate conveying line (21), wherein the food containers (100) associated with the later order do not reach the pick-up position (A1) before any food container (100) associated with the previous order;

transferring the food containers (100) located at the pick-up position (A1) to the dinner plate (200) at the meal collecting position (B2) by a first food transfer device (3);

transporting the dinner plate (200) loaded with the food container (100) from the dinner collecting position (B2) to a dinner discharging position (B3) through the dinner plate conveying line (21),

wherein the travel from the tray receiving position (B1) to the meal collecting position (B2) is equal to the travel from the meal collecting position (B2) to the meal discharging position (B3), and the travel is separated between the dinner plates, and when the loaded dinner plate (200) moves from the meal collecting position (B2) to the meal discharging position (B3), the empty dinner plate (200) of the tray receiving position (B1) just moves to the meal collecting position (B2).

11. The meal preparation method according to claim 10, further comprising: before the dinner plates (200) are conveyed to the dinner collecting position (B2) through the dinner plate conveying line (21), the dinner plates (200) stored in the dinner plate buffer area (7) are conveyed to a tray receiving position (B1) of the dinner plate conveying line (21) through a dinner plate conveying device (8), and the tray receiving position (B1) is located at the upstream of the dinner collecting position (B2).

12. The method of preparing a meal of claim 11,

the catering method further comprises the following steps: -outputting a mat (300) onto said trays (200) at said tray receiving position (B1) by means of a mat dispensing device (9) before said trays (200) are transported from said tray receiving position (B1) to said tray collecting position (B2) by means of said tray transport line (21);

and/or the number of the groups of groups,

detecting dinner plates (200) stored in the dinner plate buffer area (7), and sending out alarm information when the number or weight of the dinner plates (200) stored in the dinner plate buffer area (7) is smaller than a preset number or preset weight.