EP2629271A1 - Distributeur automatique de produits alimentaires réchauffable - Google Patents

Distributeur automatique de produits alimentaires réchauffable Download PDF

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Publication number
EP2629271A1
EP2629271A1 EP13152203.9A EP13152203A EP2629271A1 EP 2629271 A1 EP2629271 A1 EP 2629271A1 EP 13152203 A EP13152203 A EP 13152203A EP 2629271 A1 EP2629271 A1 EP 2629271A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
vending machine
oven
product
charging
passage channel
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP13152203.9A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Pietro Cattaneo
Angelo Ribello
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
FAS International SRL
Original Assignee
FAS International SRL
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by FAS International SRL filed Critical FAS International SRL
Publication of EP2629271A1 publication Critical patent/EP2629271A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
    • G07F—COIN-FREED OR LIKE APPARATUS
    • G07F17/00—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services
    • G07F17/0064—Coin-freed apparatus for hiring articles; Coin-freed facilities or services for processing of food articles
    • G07F17/0078—Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a hot or cooked condition, e.g. popcorn, nuts

Definitions

  • the object of the present invention is a vending machine for food products, even heatable ones.
  • Vending machine for food products are able to heat (or cook) the selected product, before it is delivered to the consumer, so as to allow the consumer to get the best out of the product itself.
  • a microwave oven having a cooking chamber, a magnetron suitable for generating a flow of microwaves and a waveguide coupled with the magnetron and with the cooking chamber to guide the flow of microwaves generated by it and insert it into the cooking chamber.
  • the cooking chamber made from microwave-reflecting material, is equipped with an opening for charging/discharging the product and it is mounted so as to rotate from a receiving position to a cooking position and from here to a discharging position.
  • the cooking chamber In the receiving position, the cooking chamber has its opening facing upwards, in other words towards the portion of distributor suitable for housing the products to be dispensed.
  • a product When a product is selected, it falls into the cooking chamber through the opening and the cooking chamber rotates into the cooking position in which the opening is positioned laterally and is closed by an element made from microwave-reflecting material so as to define a closed cooking cavity.
  • the magnetron is activated and the product is heated/cooked.
  • the cooking chamber rotates further until the opening is positioned below and the product is discharged into the retrieval area of the vending machine.
  • vending machine for food products even heatable ones, described above allow heated or cooked products to actually be dispensed at an optimal temperature for ready consumption and although such dispensing takes place quickly or in any case in acceptable time periods, such vending machines do have some drawbacks.
  • the technical task forming the basis of the present invention is to propose a vending machine for food products, even heatable ones, that overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art quoted above.
  • the purpose of the present invention is to provide a vending machine for food products, even heatable ones, that is able to heat and cook the products evenly.
  • a further purpose of the present invention is to propose a vending machine for food products, even heatable ones, which allows the selected product to be dispensed quickly in the case in which the latter does not need heating or cooking.
  • a further purpose of the present invention is to provide a vending machine for food products, even heatable ones, having low production costs.
  • the vending machine 1 comprises a frame 2 preferably equipped with a transparent panel 3, for example made from glass or polymeric material, to allow a user to see the products that can be dispensed by the vending machine.
  • the transparent panel 3 can be mounted in a front rim 4 hinged to the frame 2.
  • a storage area 5 for orderly housing a plurality of products to be dispensed.
  • the storage area 5 comprises a plurality of trays 6 (only one of which is shown in figure 1 ) preferably housed in the high part of the frame 2. Such trays 6 are arranged one on top of the other and can be seen through the transparent panel 3.
  • An extraction member 7 takes care of extracting a selected product from the storage area 5.
  • each tray 6 has an associated extraction member 7 of the products.
  • extraction members comprise a plurality of spirals 8 set in rotation by one or more motors (not illustrated).
  • the products to be dispensed are housed between the coils of the spirals 8, so that the rotation of the coils causes the products to move forwards until they are no longer supported by the tray 6 and fall towards the bottom of the frame 2.
  • the selected product is released by the extraction member 7 into a passage channel 9 that is defined by the space existing between the trays 6 and the transparent panel 3.
  • the vending machine 1 also comprises an oven 11 arranged operatively upstream of the retrieval drawer 10 and downstream of the storage area 5 to heat or cook a heatable products dispensed by the storage area 5.
  • the oven 11 comprises an opening 12 for the entry of the product to be heated and the exit of the heated product ( figures 2 and 4 ).
  • the oven 11 is an infrared oven, in other words an oven equipped with an infrared radiation source 11a (for example one or more infrared lamps).
  • the oven 11 comprises a heating chamber 13 facing the passage channel 9 through the opening 12.
  • the infrared radiation source 11a is preferably arranged inside the heating chamber 13 on the opposite side with respect to the opening 12.
  • the walls of the heating chamber 13 are made from or coated with material that reflects infrared radiation, for example such walls are made from or coated with aluminium.
  • the element intended to close the opening 12 of the oven 11 (described later on) is also made from or coated with material that reflects infrared radiation.
  • the vending machine 1 comprises a member 14 for charging and discharging the oven 11 that is mobile between an intercepting position in which it interferes with and engages the passage channel 9 ( figure 2 ) to intercept a product transiting in the passage channel 9, a charging position of the oven 11 in which it closes the opening 12 of the oven 11 and neither engages nor interferes with the passage channel 9 ( figure 3 ) and a release position in which it partially engages and interferes with the passage channel 9 ( figure 4 ) to release the heated product towards the retrieval drawer 10.
  • the charging and discharging member 14 comprises a door 15 able to move between the intercepting, charging and release positions.
  • the door 15 has dimensions substantially equal to the transversal dimension of the passage channel 9 measured at the oven 11 and substantially equal to the dimensions of the opening 12 of the oven 11.
  • the opening 12 of the oven 11 and the transversal dimension of the passage channel 9 measured at the oven 11 are substantially identical to each other and identical to the dimension of the door 15.
  • the vending machine 1 also comprises a moving device 16 for moving the charging and discharging member 14, and in particular for moving the door 15.
  • the moving device 16 comprises a motor 16a arranged beneath the oven 11.
  • the motor 16a is connected to a linkage, in particular a lever mechanism 16b, which engages the door 15 on the opposite side with respect to the surface thereof intended to close the opening 12 of the oven 11 allowing the door to be moved between the quoted operating positions.
  • the movement of the charging and discharging member 14 is controlled and a monitoring and control unit 17 ( figure 5 ).
  • the vending machine comprises a selector 18 (schematised in figure 1 and 5 ) for selecting the product to be dispensed.
  • the selector 18 upon selection of a product by the user, generates a selection signal SS representative of the selected product and sends it to the monitoring and control unit 17.
  • actuation signal SA is only generated in the case in which the selected product needs to be heated or cooked; otherwise, the monitoring and control unit 17 does not generate the actuation signal SA.
  • the actuation of the infrared oven 11 takes place upon receiving a further actuation signal SA2 generated and sent to the oven 11 by the monitoring and control unit 17.
  • Such a further actuation signal SA2 is generated upon receiving a passage signal SP generated by a sensor 19, for example a photocell, arranged along the passage channel 9 and upstream of the charging and discharging member 14.
  • the sensor 19 is sensitive to the passage of a product along the passage channel 9.
  • the further actuation signal SA2 is also sent to the moving device 16 to take the charging and discharging member 14 into the charging position.
  • the charging and discharging member 14 in rest condition of the vending machine, occupies the charging position. In other words, between one dispensing of a product and the next, the door 15 is in the charging position, closing the opening 12 of the oven 11 and leaving the passage channel 9 free.
  • the actuation signal SA activates the moving device taking the charging and discharging member 14 into intercepting position and prealerts the oven 11. Upon receiving the further actuation signal SA2, the charging and discharging member goes into the charging position closing the opening of the oven 11 and the oven goes into operation.
  • the moving device takes the charging and discharging member 14 into discharging position.
  • the vending machine 1 comprises a collection basket 20 for the product to be heated forming part of the charging and discharging member 14.
  • the collection basket 20 comprises reticular walls 21 suitable for supporting the product during heating.
  • the collection basket 20 comprises walls 21 consisting of preferably metallic elements shaped like a net or grating.
  • the mesh size of the grating is much greater, preferably at least 10 times greater, than the wavelength of the radiation emitted by the oven 11.
  • the collection basket 20 is constrained to the door 15 at the surface thereof intended to directly face into the heating chamber of the oven 11 when the charging and discharging member 14 is in the charging position.
  • the collection basket 20 comprises a first wall 21a constrained to the door 15, a second wall 21b that extends away from an edge of the first wall 21a, a shoulder wall 21c that extends substantially parallel to the first wall 21a from an edge of the second wall 21b opposite the joining edge with the first wall 21a.
  • Two further side walls 21d (only one of which is illustrated in the attached figures), preferably trapezoidal, join together the free edges of the walls 21a, 21b, 21c described above.
  • the walls 21 of the collection basket 20 are not in direct contact with the charging and discharging member 14, so as to prevent the product to be heated from staying rested on a continuous surface and thus not being hit by the infrared radiation.
  • the collection basket 20 is constrained to the charging member 14 through spacer elements 22 (partially illustrated in figure 2 ).
  • the collection basket 20 is constrained through the first wall 21a to the door 15 by means of the aforementioned spacer 22 that, in the illustrated embodiment, consists of a pair of profiled elements having a C-shaped section.
  • the collection basket 20 when inserted in the heating chamber of the oven 11, in other words when the charging and discharging member is in the charging position, does not make contact with the walls of the heating chamber, to allow a correct and uniform cooking or heating of the food product.
  • the collection basket makes it possible the heat and cook the products evenly, since it avoids the product to be heated or cooked coming into contact with any continuous surface of the oven.
  • the charging and discharging member allows direct and immediate dispensing of a product that does not need heat treatment, since it does not intercept such a product.
  • the charging and discharging member allows the production costs to be cut given there is little need for sealing elements or shielding elements capable of controlling the propagation of radiation inside or outside the vending machine.

Landscapes

  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Vending Machines For Individual Products (AREA)
  • Control Of Driving Devices And Active Controlling Of Vehicle (AREA)
EP13152203.9A 2012-02-14 2013-01-22 Distributeur automatique de produits alimentaires réchauffable Withdrawn EP2629271A1 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT000204A ITMI20120204A1 (it) 2012-02-14 2012-02-14 Distributore automatico per prodotti alimentari anche riscaldabili.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP2629271A1 true EP2629271A1 (fr) 2013-08-21

Family

ID=45998555

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP13152203.9A Withdrawn EP2629271A1 (fr) 2012-02-14 2013-01-22 Distributeur automatique de produits alimentaires réchauffable

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP2629271A1 (fr)
IT (1) ITMI20120204A1 (fr)

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3653541A (en) * 1970-03-31 1972-04-04 Ven Dog International Food heating and dispensing machine
US4513879A (en) * 1981-07-13 1985-04-30 Linda Reiss Hot/cold food dispensing machine
EP0269134A2 (fr) * 1986-08-29 1988-06-01 Dagritech A/S Dispositif pour la préparation successive d'articles de restauration rapide
DE3738708A1 (de) * 1987-11-14 1989-05-24 Mario Alessi Vorrichtung zum automatisierten erwaermen einzelner oder mehrerer lebensmittelportionen mit einer automatischen entnahmevorrichtung aus einem vorratsspeicher
WO2008141746A1 (fr) 2007-05-21 2008-11-27 Mario Alessi Four à micro-ondes pour dispositif de vente

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3653541A (en) * 1970-03-31 1972-04-04 Ven Dog International Food heating and dispensing machine
US4513879A (en) * 1981-07-13 1985-04-30 Linda Reiss Hot/cold food dispensing machine
EP0269134A2 (fr) * 1986-08-29 1988-06-01 Dagritech A/S Dispositif pour la préparation successive d'articles de restauration rapide
DE3738708A1 (de) * 1987-11-14 1989-05-24 Mario Alessi Vorrichtung zum automatisierten erwaermen einzelner oder mehrerer lebensmittelportionen mit einer automatischen entnahmevorrichtung aus einem vorratsspeicher
WO2008141746A1 (fr) 2007-05-21 2008-11-27 Mario Alessi Four à micro-ondes pour dispositif de vente

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
ITMI20120204A1 (it) 2013-08-15

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