JP2011000289A - Apparatus for circulating and conveying food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for circulating and conveying food which can quickly convey ordered goods to the hand of each order customer.SOLUTION: For the appratus for circulating and conveying food, a subsidiary conveying apparatus MAT which conveys the ordered goods that have been individually ordered is installed. The subsidiary conveying apparatus MAT is constituted by including a driving section DR which continuously circulates a belt member BT on the vertical surface, a guiding section GD which guides a food container DS to a target position by preventing the food container DS conveyed while being mounted on the belt member BT from moving, and a sensing sensor SN which is positioned on the upstream side of the guiding section GD and senses the arrival of the food container to be guided. In this case, a plurality of the guiding sections GD are installed in the moving direction of the belt member BT.

Description

  The present invention relates to a food circulating and conveying device to which a specially ordered product is added to a customer's table quickly and automatically.

  In general, in a store called a revolving sushi restaurant, an endless chain is circulated to form a circulation path, and food dishes filled with sushi and the like are circulated on this circulation path. Visitors receive food dishes with their favorite sushi from the circulation.

  By the way, at this type of conveyor belt sushi restaurant, it is not always possible to circulate all kinds of foods desired by customers. To come to ask. Conventionally, such custom-made items are circulated in a state in which they are distinguished from general foods by placing them on a special food dish or setting a flag on the food dish.

  However, with such a configuration, it takes unnecessary traveling time until the ordered item reaches the desired customer, and other customers may accidentally pick up the ordered item, or the original order. There is a problem that the customer may forget to take the order. Therefore, in order to deal with such a problem, it is conceivable to provide a special lane for transporting only the ordered items separately from the general circulation path.

  Here, it is conceivable to place a special tray on a special lane and reciprocate it. In such a configuration, the start operation of the return path operation is left to the ordering customer in the forward path and return path operations. Therefore, there is a problem that the next order cannot be delivered until the operation is performed. If the start operation of the return path operation is forgotten, the special lane becomes inoperable.

  By the way, in general, there are few visitors from 14:00 to 17:00 in the afternoon, but there is a strong demand for a device that can reduce the number of foods that are discarded without being eaten during such idle time. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a food circulation transport device that can quickly transport an ordered product to the hand of each individual customer and can eliminate the number of discards during idle time. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a food circulating and conveying device provided with a sub conveying device for conveying individually ordered items separately from a main circulating device that circulates an endless chain and circulates food. The sub-conveying device has a drive unit that continuously circulates the band member on a vertical surface, and the food container placed on the band member and prevented from moving to move the food container to a target position. And a detection sensor that detects the arrival of the food container to be guided and located upstream of the guide portion, and the guide portion is arranged in the moving direction of the belt member. A plurality are provided.

  According to the present invention, a plurality of guide portions are provided in the moving direction of the belt member, and a reciprocating motion is not required for transporting the ordered items, so that a large number of ordered items can be delivered quickly. Also, during idle time when customers are reduced, it is possible to provide only ordered items by stopping the main circulation device and operating only the sub-transport device, and the food waste rate in that time zone is zero. Can be.

  The food container of the present invention may be a food dish or other tableware with food such as sushi, or may be a transport container for transporting a plurality of such dishes. And when the embodiment which guides a food dish etc. is taken, whenever one food dish which should be guided is detected, a guidance member may be operated individually, and a plurality of food dishes with the same target position In order to continuously guide the guide member, the guide member may be operated continuously for a predetermined time.

  Preferably, a guide path serving as a target position of the food container should be provided on the outer side in the moving direction of the belt member corresponding to the guide portion. By adopting such a configuration, the customer does not need to take out the target food container from the moving belt member.

  In addition, it is preferable that the plurality of food containers placed on the band member are sequentially transported from the upstream side to the downstream side by the guide unit to the target position. If such a configuration is adopted, it is only necessary to operate the guide unit in response to the reaction of the detection sensor, and it is not necessary for each guide unit to select whether to prevent the movement of the food container. Become.

  The guide portion includes a substantially rod-like drive portion configured to be rotatable in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction with a center position in a length direction as a rotation center, and the drive portion in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the belt member. And a movable portion integrally formed in an L shape by the guide portion and the contact portion, and when the drive member rotates by a predetermined angle, the tip portion thereof is in contact with the contact portion. It is preferable that the guide portion is configured to change to a posture for guiding the food container to a target position by pressing the portion.

  Here, it is preferable that the open end of the abutting portion is connected to an elastic body. When such a configuration is adopted, the movable portion is quickly and steady in response to the drive portion returning to a stable posture. Return to posture. In addition, the drive unit is preferably connected to a bar that reciprocates in the moving direction of the belt member. In such a configuration, the drive unit is moved clockwise and counterclockwise in response to the reciprocation of the bar. It can be rotated by an appropriate angle.

  The imaginary line connecting the rotation center of the drive unit and the rotation center of the movable unit is preferably substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the band member, and the movable part having the same shape is provided at both ends of the drive unit. Each is preferably arranged.

  According to the above-described present invention, the ordered product can be quickly transported to the hand of each ordering customer. In addition, it functions effectively during idle time when the number of customers in the store decreases, contributing to the sales of the store by reducing the food waste rate to zero, and also contributing to the maintenance of the global environment.

It is a perspective view which shows the rotary sushi restaurant which provided the food circulation conveyance apparatus of an Example. FIG. 2 is a layout diagram of the carousel sushi restaurant of FIG. 1. It is the schematic plan view and schematic front view which show the principal part of a guidance device. It is a top view explaining the operation content of a guidance device. It is drawing explaining operation | movement of a guide lever.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a rotating sushi restaurant provided with a food circulation conveying apparatus according to an embodiment. As shown in the figure, this food circulation / circulation device circulates the belt BT on a vertical surface at an upper position of the circulation path of the crescent chain separately from the main circulation device that circulates the crescent chain in a horizontal plane close to the passenger seat table TBL. It has a sub-transport device MAT.

  Although not shown in the figure, food plates filled with sushi are regularly circulated in the crescent chain, and customers at the customer table TBL store food plates filled with their favorite sushi. Eat out of the chain.

  On the other hand, if the user's favorite food is not circulated, the customer requests the desired food using an unillustrated interphone or the like. Then, the requested order is placed on the belt BT of the sub transport device MAT and transported, and guided to the guide lever of the guide device GD to reach the side table TL.

  As illustrated, the side table TL is arranged on both sides of the belt BT adjacent to the main table TBL, and is configured to be slightly lowered in the traveling direction of the belt BT. In addition, although not shown in figure, the conveyed food tray is hold | maintained so that it may not fall from the side table TL. In the illustrated example, each ordered item is independently transported for each food dish. However, a plurality of ordered items may be accommodated in a single transport container and transported.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of the sub-transport device MAT, in which a kitchen is provided on the left side with the shielding wall SH interposed, and 4 × 6 seat tables are arranged on the right side. The sub-transport device MAT includes a drive unit DR that continuously circulates the belt BT, a guide device GD that prevents the food container placed on the belt BT from moving and guides the food container to the position of the side table TL, and a guide The detection sensor SN is located upstream of the device GD and detects the arrival of the food pan, and a control device (not shown) that controls the operation of each unit uniformly.

  In this embodiment, twelve passenger seat tables arranged on both sides of the belt BT are divided into six passenger seat sections S1 to S6. Therefore, six sets of guidance devices GD and detection sensors SN are provided corresponding to this configuration along the moving direction of the belt BT. Each of the passenger seat sections S1 to S6 is divided into a traveling direction right side R and a traveling direction left side L with the belt BT interposed therebetween.

  Although not particularly limited, in the present embodiment, the drive unit DR transports the belt BT at a moving speed of about 15 to 20 m / min, and the transport distance of the belt BT is about 10 m in the forward path length. Is set to Assuming that the moving speed is 18 m / min and the forward transport distance of level BT is 9.9 m, the time required for the belt BT sent from the drive unit DR to reach the forward path end point is about 33 seconds. .

  3 to 5 illustrate the main part of the guidance device GD. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view (a) and a schematic front view (b) of the guidance device GD, FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an operation state, and FIG. 5 is a drawing for explaining the operation principle. 3 and 4, the food dish DS on which the ordered items are stacked is placed on the belt BT and moves in the right direction in the drawing.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the guidance device GD has a rotation center C2 and C2, a pair of movable parts 10 and 10 configured in an L shape in plan view, and the center of the belt BT in the width direction. When the drive unit 20 rotates by a predetermined angle ± θ, the movable unit 10 pressed by the drive unit 20 is moved to the food dish DS. It moves to the position where the movement is obstructed.

  The two movable parts 10, 10 have a rotating shaft 12 held by a bearing 11, a guide lever 13 fixed to the lower part of the rotating shaft 12, and a contact plate 14 fixed to the upper part of the rotating shaft 12. Each is configured (FIG. 3). The guide lever 13 and the contact plate 14 are orthogonal to each other in plan view, so that the movable portion 10 has an L shape in plan view as a whole, and these rotate integrally with the rotary shaft 12.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the guide lever 13 is disposed in the vicinity of the belt BT. However, in the steady state, the guide lever 13 is located outside the belt BT based on the action of the tension spring 30 (FIG. 4B). Located and stable. On the other hand, when the driving unit 20 rotates, the contact plate 14 is pressed by the tip of the driving unit 30, so that the guide lever 13 advances to the upper surface of the belt BT and prevents the food dish DS from moving.

  The drive unit 20 includes a swivel arm 21 configured in a rod shape, a bearing 22 fixed at the center position of the swivel arm 21, and an electromagnetic solenoid 23 that rotates the swivel arm 21. Although not particularly limited, the rotation center C1 of the swivel arm 21 is the center in the width direction of the belt BT, and is at the center position of an imaginary line connecting the rotation centers C2 and C2 of the two rotation shafts 12 and 12. Has been placed. An imaginary line connecting the three rotation centers C2, C1, and C2 on a plane is orthogonal to the moving direction of the belt BT.

  Tension springs 30 and 30 are connected between the center portion of the swing arm 21 (the outer ring of the bearing 22) and the two contact plates 14 and 14, respectively (FIGS. 4B and 4C). . Then, the two abutment plates 14 and 14 are pulled to the rotation center C1 of the swivel arm 21 with an appropriate strength, so that in a steady state, the two guide levers 13 and 13 are aligned in the moving direction of the belt BT. Is done. 3 and 4A, the tension spring 30 is not shown for convenience.

  The electromagnetic solenoid 23 includes a main body 24 and a plunger 25, and the tip of the plunger 25 is pivotally supported by a pin provided on the turning arm 21. The plunger 25 is configured to operate in three states: an origin position (FIG. 4A), a forward position (FIG. 4B), and a backward position (FIG. 4C). Corresponding to the back-and-forth movement, the turning arm 21 rotates by a predetermined angle θ counterclockwise and clockwise.

  By using the above operation, the guidance device GD of the present embodiment has a first guidance operation in which the plunger 25 reciprocates as the origin position → the advance position → the origin position, and the origin position → the reverse position → the origin position. The second guiding operation that reciprocates is realized. In the first guiding operation, the food dish DS is guided to the side table on the right side in the traveling direction, and in the second guiding operation, the food dish DS is guided to the side table on the left side in the traveling direction.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing a relationship between the swing arm 21 and the movable portion 10 (the contact plate 14 and the guide lever 13). Here, it is assumed that the axial length of the swing arm 21 is R, and the separation distance between the rotation center C1 of the swing arm 21 and the rotation center C2 of the movable unit 10 is L.

  In such a case, when the swivel arm 21 rotates counterclockwise by θ, the tip of the swivel arm 21 presses the contact plate 14, so that the entire movable unit 10 rotates clockwise by Φ. Here, if the separation distance between the contact point between the turning arm 21 and the contact plate 14 and the rotation center C2 is T, the relational expressions TcosΦ + Rcosθ = L and TsinΦ = Rsinθ are established.

  Then, when the above two equations are solved, the rotation angle Φ of the movable portion 10 becomes cot Φ = L / (R sin θ) −cot θ, and the rotation angle θ of the swivel arm 21 is greatly amplified from the relationship of L≈R. Incidentally, when the design is L / R = 10/9, when the rotation angle θ of the swing arm 21 is 1 to 17 °, the rotation angle Φ of the movable portion 10 is about 9 to 77 °.

Incidentally, the rotation angle θ of the turning arm 21 is determined based on the stroke length Y of the plunger 25 and the separation distance X between the rotation center C1 and the pivotal support position of the plunger 25. Specifically, the rotation angle of the turning arm 41 is rotated. The angle θ is θ = tan ⁻¹ (Y / X). Therefore, the relationship among the rotation angle Φ required for the movable part 10, the stroke length Y of the electromagnetic solenoid 23, and the pivot position X of the plunger 25 is uniquely specified, and the optimum value is selected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the detection sensors SN are arranged on the upstream side of the guidance device GD configured as described above. The detection sensor SN is not particularly limited. For simplicity, a transmissive or reflective optical sensor including a light emitting unit that emits inspection light and a light receiving unit that receives the inspection light is used. Here, when a transmission type optical sensor is used, the inspection light is blocked by the food dish DS, thereby detecting the passage of the food dish DS. When a reflection type optical sensor is used, the inspection light is reflected from the food dish DS. By doing so, the passage of the food dish DS is detected.

  Next, the operation content of the sub transport apparatus MAT shown in FIG. 2 will be described. Here, it is assumed that, for all the seat sections S1 to S6, 4 dishes are ordered from either the right side R or the left side L at the same time, and a total of 4 × 6 food dishes are transported. Will be explained.

  On the kitchen side that has received an order from the customer, the order is placed on the food dish DS and placed on the belt BT in the order of the passenger seat section S1 to the customer seat section S6. Then, the clerk sets the side table TL to receive the food dish on the control device. The food dish can be loaded at a time interval of about 1.2 seconds at the maximum speed corresponding to the belt BT conveyance speed, but usually 2 to 3 seconds in consideration of the work load of the worker. It is said to be about. Therefore, the time required to place a total of 24 food dishes DS on the belt BT is TM × 24 corresponding to the food dish loading time interval TM.

  In any case, the food dish placed on the belt is identified by the operation of the staff, so that the control device grasps the guidance time for operating the movable portion 10 of the guidance device GD. Can do. For example, when guiding four food dishes to the side table, the induction time is TM × 4 corresponding to the food dish insertion interval TM.

  Further, in this embodiment, when the food dish is inserted, the control device can know the guidance device to be operated and the operation mode of the movable portion 10. Here, the operation mode of the movable portion 10 is either a first guiding operation for guiding the food dish DS to the side table on the right side in the traveling direction or a second guiding operation for guiding it to the side table on the left side in the traveling direction.

  The food dish put on the belt BT in the above procedure eventually reaches the position of the detection sensor SN on the most upstream side. Then, the guidance device GD corresponding to the detection sensor SN performs an appropriate operation based on the control of the control device. Here, since the order of 4 dishes is contained from all the passenger seat sections S1 to S6, the most upstream induction device GD performs the induction operation of the induction time of TM × 4 corresponding to 4 food dishes. Execute. Further, the first guiding operation or the second guiding operation is performed depending on whether the sheet is conveyed to the right side table or the left side table. Note that the guide lever 13 may be opened and closed four times during the TM × 4 induction time, or may be opened and closed only once.

  Subsequent operations are the same, and the guiding device GD sequentially operates from the upstream side toward the downstream side, and four food dishes are respectively conveyed to the corresponding side tables. In the operation example described above, it takes about 33 seconds for the belt BT sent from the drive unit DR to reach the end of the forward path, so it is necessary to place 24 food dishes on the belt BT. Even if the time TM × 24 is combined, the delivery of all 24 dishes is completed in a total TM × 24 + 33 seconds.

  Therefore, if it is estimated that TM = 2.5 seconds, after about 1.5 minutes, the loading of the food dish to the belt BT for the next order can be started. Of course, the delivery of the next order can be started before the first 24 dishes have been completely delivered.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the food dishes on which the ordered items are stacked are put into the belt BT from the upstream side toward the downstream side, that is, in the order of the passenger seat section S1 to the customer seat section S6. Therefore, each guidance device GD may take an alternative operation of whether or not to start the guidance operation when the corresponding detection sensor SN reacts, and the control device is easy to control.

  In addition, the ordered items from each passenger seat section are not necessarily 4 dishes, but by setting the operating time of the guidance device GD corresponding to the number of orders (1 to 4), all the food dishes are placed at the same time. Can be inserted at intervals. However, regardless of the number of orders from each passenger seat section, a time interval of 4 dishes may always be provided, and the food dishes in the downstream seat section may be inserted. The operation time of the guidance device GD can be fixed to a constant value.

  As mentioned above, although the Example of this invention was described in detail, the concrete description content does not specifically limit this invention. In particular, the layout of the sub-transport device MAT and the specific configuration of the guidance device GD are merely examples, and various modifications can be made.

  In the embodiment, the food dishes with the ordered items are individually conveyed. However, as described in the beginning, a plurality of ordered items may be accommodated in a single conveying container. is there. However, in such a case, there is a possibility that it cannot move smoothly to the side table TL due to the relationship with the overall load. Therefore, in such a case, for example, the belt is also circulated through the side table and moved in conjunction with the belt BT of the sub transport path. Alternatively, for simplicity, it is also preferable to provide a wheel in the transport container and freely rotate the wheel.

  In the above embodiment, an optical sensor is used as the detection sensor SN. However, for example, a small storage device such as an IC chip is arranged on a food dish, and the stored content of the IC chip is detected in the detection sensor SN as an IC chip reader. It is also preferable to adopt a configuration for reading out. In such a case, if the receiving position is written by the IC chip writer at the time of loading the food dish with the ordered products on the belt BT, it is not necessary to define the ordering procedure of the ordered products, and the ordered products can be prepared according to the order. It becomes possible to deliver.

MAT Sub-conveying device DR Drive unit BT Band member DS Food container SN Detection sensor GD Guide unit

Claims (8)

In addition to the main circulation device that circulates the endless chain and circulates the food, it is a food circulation conveyance device provided with a sub-conveyance device that conveys individually ordered items,
The sub-conveying device guides the food container to a target position by preventing the movement of the food container that is placed on the belt member and transported by a driving unit that continuously circulates the belt member on a vertical surface. And a detection sensor that detects the arrival of the food container to be guided on the upstream side of the guide unit,
A food circulating and conveying apparatus, wherein a plurality of the guiding portions are provided in the moving direction of the belt member.   The food circulating and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a guide path serving as a target position of the food container is provided outside the band member in the moving direction, corresponding to the guide portion.   The food circulation conveyance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of food containers placed on the band member are sequentially conveyed to a target position by the guide unit from the upstream side toward the downstream side. The guide portion includes a substantially rod-shaped drive portion configured to be rotatable in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction with a center position in a length direction as a rotation center, and the drive portion in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction of the belt member. An elastic body that stabilizes the steady posture of and a movable part integrally configured in an L shape by the guide part and the contact part,
When the driving member rotates by a predetermined angle, the guide portion is configured to change to a posture for guiding the food container to a target position by pressing the abutting portion with a tip portion thereof. The food circulation conveyance apparatus in any one of.   The food circulating and conveying device according to claim 4, wherein an open end of the contact portion is connected to the elastic body.   The food circulating and conveying device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the driving unit is connected to a bar that reciprocates in the moving direction of the belt member.   The food circulation transport device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein an imaginary line connecting the rotation center of the drive unit and the rotation center of the movable unit is substantially orthogonal to the moving direction of the band member.   The food circulating / conveying device according to any one of claims 4 to 7, wherein movable parts having the same shape are respectively disposed at both ends of the drive part.

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