WO1998044465B1

WO1998044465B1 - Automatic popcorn dispenser with microwave oven and method to operate the same

Info

Publication number: WO1998044465B1
Application number: PCT/EP1998/001805
Authority: WO
Filing date: 1998-03-26
Publication date: 1998-12-23

Abstract

The invention concerns an automatic dispenser - and a method to operate the same - for food prepacked in packets, particularly popcorn, which comprises a frame (1) with at least one conveying unit (2), at least a microwave oven (3) and a collecting container (4) mounted on said frame (1), the conveying unit (2) being positioned above the oven (3) and the container (4) under the oven (3), said microwave oven (3) being of parallelepiped shape and comprising at least an inlet door (31) and an outlet door (33), the opening and closing of said doors (31, 33) being under control, said packets (5) being fed one by one into said inlet door (31), by way of said conveying unit (2), and dropping out from said outlet door (33) into said collecting container (4).

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS

[received by the International Bureau on 4 November 1998 (04.11.98); original claim 1 amended; remaining claims unchanged (3 pages)]

1) Automatic dispenser for food pre-packed in packets, comprising a frame with at least one conveying unit, at least a microwave oven and a collecting container mounted on said frame, the conveying unit being positioned above the oven and the container under the oven, said microwave oven comprising at least an inlet top door, characterized in that said microwave oven further has an outlet bottom door whereby the said packets are fed one by one by said conveying unit through said inlet top door into said oven and out of said oven through said outlet bottom door into said collecting container along a path through which the packets run only by gravity

2) Automatic dispenser as in claim 10 wherein said microwave oven is of parallelepiped shape and said packets are fed into said oven, from the top, through one of its minor sides.

3) Automatic dispenser as in claim 1) or 2), herein said inlet door is tilting, being hinged along one of the short sides of said microwave oven.

4^ Automatic dispenser as in any one of the previous claims. wherein said outlet door is formed by the whole tilting bottom of said microwave oven, being hinged along one side thereof.

5 Automatic dispenser as in claim 4 wherein said inlet and outlet doors are kept closed by electric motors which remain energized.

6) Automatic dispenser as in claim 5). wherein said outlet door comprises a counterweight apt to balance, on its tilting hinge, the actual weight of the door and of the prepacked packet resting thereon .

7) Automatic dispenser as in claim 40 wherein said doors comprise a toothed packing forming a seal against the microwaves.

8) Automatic dispenser as in claim 7). wherein said packing is of metal.

9 Automatic dispenser as in claim 80 herein said packing is of beryllium alloy.

10) Automatic dispenser as in any one of the previous claims, wherein the collecting container, positioned under the oven, is bent into

15 a wide U-shaped channel, the arms of the U being longer than 1 m.

11) Automatic dispenser as in any one of the previous claims, wherein said conveying unit comprises a storage and conveying section., as well as a feeding chute leading into the oven.

12) Automatic dispenser as in claim 10), wherein said storage and conveying section consists of one or more channels, each housing a spiral with wide coils, between which said prepacked packets are inserted, said spiral being caused to rotate by steps to move said packets forward one by one.

13) Automatic dispenser as in claim 12), wherein the bottom of said channels has a gull-wing section.

14) Automatic dispenser as in claim 11), wherein said conveying unit comprises detection means, to reckon the presence of a prepacked packet of raw food.

15) Automatic dispenser as in any one of the previous claims, wherein said prepacked packet of raw food contains spiced corn to be popped into popcorn.

16) Method for the automatic and instant cooking of prepacked packets containing raw food to be dispensed to the public, using an automatic dispenser as in any one of the previous claims, characterized in that it comprises the steps of:

- picking one by one, from a storage unit, said prepacked packets containing raw food;

- feeding said packets to a microwave oven with magnetron source, by dropping them along a conveying chute;

- cooking in said oven the food prepacked in said packets;

- dropping the prepacked packets with the cooked food into a collecting container accessible to the consumer.

17) Method for the automatic and instant cooking of prepacked packets containing raw food, substantially as in claim 16). characterized in that the consumer starts on a selection panel a logic system, so as to control the following sequence of operations:

16 a) close the tilting outlet door of the oven and open its tilting inlet door onto which, in a previous step, a prepacked packet of raw food has been dropped; b) close said inlet door and turn on the magnetron source to heat the oven; c) turn off the magnetron source after a preset cooking period; d) open said outlet door to drop the packet of cooked food, by gravity, into the collecting container accessible to the consumer; e) operate a conveyor storing the prepacked packets of raw food, and feed said packets, one by one, to a chute along which the single packet, drops by gravity onto said tilting inlet door.

18) Method as in claim 17) wherein, before step a), the prepacked packet of raw food is reckoned through a scanner so as to regulate, accordingly, said preset cooking period.

19) Method as in any one of claims 16) to lS), wherein said prepacked packet of raw food contains spiced corn to be popped into popcorn.

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