WO2019207592A1 - Appareil automatique de distribution et de cuisson et procédé associé - Google Patents

Appareil automatique de distribution et de cuisson et procédé associé Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2019207592A1
WO2019207592A1 PCT/IN2019/050240 IN2019050240W WO2019207592A1 WO 2019207592 A1 WO2019207592 A1 WO 2019207592A1 IN 2019050240 W IN2019050240 W IN 2019050240W WO 2019207592 A1 WO2019207592 A1 WO 2019207592A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
semi
feeder
solid liquid
heater plate
tank
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IN2019/050240
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Madhura PRIYA S.
L Senthilnathan
Original Assignee
Unlimitive Llp
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 Unlimitive Llp filed Critical Unlimitive Llp
Publication of WO2019207592A1 publication Critical patent/WO2019207592A1/fr

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
    • A47J—KITCHEN EQUIPMENT; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; APPARATUS FOR MAKING BEVERAGES
    • A47J36/00—Parts, details or accessories of cooking-vessels

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a cooking apparatus.
  • the present invention particularly relates to an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus and method that are capable of achieving controlled cooking of food product at desired heat state.
  • a primary objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus, which is capable of achieving uniform dispensing and controlling of cooking substance in an easy and cost-effective manner with the help of gravitational force.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus, which deploys a low rpm motor with high torque to achieve necessitated power to operate, making the overall apparatus as cost- effective.
  • Another objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic cooking apparatus, which ensures continuous monitoring of vital cooking parameters such as thickness of product, roast levels, quantity of raw material to be supplied using different viscosity, measuring of different kinds and variety of ingredients and so on so forth.
  • a further objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus, which is capable of being positioned at various angles to facilitate feeding and collection of cooking substance in an easy and smooth manner.
  • a further objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus, which achieves forward and reverse movement via a single rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism and thereby reducing vibration, noise and cost of overall apparatus.
  • a further objective of the present invention is to provide an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus, which is capable of being used as a wall mounted or table top cooking apparatus by placing in a vertical or tilted position, and being used as a normal heater plate by placing in a horizontal position.
  • an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus comprises a vertical supporting frame having a plurality of side support frames enclosed by an outer cover and a foldable positioning leg attached to the outer cover.
  • a heater plate is placed between the side support frames and operated for cooking a semi-solid liquid substance applied on it.
  • a semi-solid liquid tank is fixed at the top of the vertical supporting frame to receive and store the semi-solid liquid substance in it.
  • a plurality of sliding wedges is slidably mounted on the side support frames and actuated by a drive mechanism arranged within the vertical frame.
  • a feeder assembly is attached within the sliding wedges for downward and upward movement of the feeder roller assembly with respect to the heater plate.
  • the feeder assembly comprises: a feeder mechanism arranged with a slot to be positioned and aligned to a bottom opening of the tank to automatically collect a desired quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance using the principles of inverted dispensing system of liquids from the tank by means of gravitational force, and angularly rotated between home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate; and an extracting blade placed ahead and adjacent to the feeder mechanism, and close proximity to the surface of the heater plate to extract the cooked product from the heater plate.
  • this automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus is capable of achieving uniform dispensing and controlling of cooking substance in a easy and cost-effective manner with the help of gravitational force. It is capable of being positioned at various angles to facilitate feeding and collection of cooking substance in an easy and smooth manner.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank, the feeder mechanism and the extracting blade are individually detachable from the cooking apparatus for storing, cleaning and maintenance.
  • the feeder assembly is snap-fitted into the sliding wedges to move along with the movement of sliding wedges.
  • the feeder mechanism of the feeder assembly is coupled and rotated by a rack and pinion mechanism or side supporting track for angular rotation of the feeder mechanism between the home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate.
  • the feeder mechanism is arranged as a feeder roller to collect the semi-solid liquid substance into its slot by actuating an one-way opening valve at the bottom of the tank.
  • the feeder mechanism is rotated to dispense the semi-solid liquid substance from the slot onto the heater plate and simultaneously the one-way opening valve at the tank bottom is being closed to restrict excess filling of the semi solid liquid substance into the feeder slot.
  • each of the side support frames is engraved with a plurality of guiding rails on its outer side surface for up and down movement of the sliding wedges within the tracks of guiding rails.
  • Each sliding wedge is coupled to a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable connected to at least one winding pulley operated by a motor in the drive mechanism for actuating the sliding wedges to move up and down with respect to the heater plate by guiding its wedge pins within the tracks of guiding rails.
  • the sliding wedge pins are positioned and routed between upper and lower tracks defined in each guiding rail by means of one-way opening flips for tracking and controlling the movement of feeder assembly in upward, downward, forward and backward directions with respect to the heater plate.
  • the wedge guiding pin is moved down and automatically routed in the lower track of the guiding rail when the feeder assembly is moved in the downward direction.
  • the wedge guiding pin is automatically lifted up and routed in the upper track of the guiding rails to create a gap between the feeder assembly and the heater plate when the feeder assembly is moved in the upward direction.
  • the cooking apparatus also comprises a scrubber blade linearly movable and fixed to the tank, where when the feeder mechanism is at its home position, the edge of the scrubber blade is positioned in proximity to the outer circumference of the feeder mechanism at its slot region to remove the residue of dried semi-solid liquid substance in the feeder mechanism.
  • the extracting blade is actuated to extract the cooked substance from the heater plate into a collecting tray when the feeder assembly is moved downwards for subsequent dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the tank and the feeder mechanism slot are partitioned into a plurality of chambers each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance in it
  • the cooking apparatus is vertically or slantingly positioned by adjusting the foldable positioning leg for automatic feeding and cooking of the semi-solid liquid substance, and is horizontally placed by completely folding the positioning leg for manual cooking of other food substance.
  • an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus comprises a vertical supporting frame having a plurality of side support frames enclosed by an outer cover and a foldable positioning leg attached to the outer cover.
  • a heater plate is placed between the side support frames and operated for cooking a semi-solid liquid substance applied on it.
  • a tank assembly is detachably attached a plurality of sliders being operated by a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism arranged within the vertical frame for downward and upward movement of the tank assembly with respect to the heater plate.
  • the tank assembly comprises: a semi-solid liquid tank arranged to receive and store the semi-solid liquid substance in it; a feeder mechanism or feeder roller with a slot fixed and positioned at a bottom opening of the tank to automatically collect a desired quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance from the tank by means of gravitational force, and angularly rotated between home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate; a scrubber blade linearly movable and fixed to the tank, where the edge of the scrubber blade is positioned in proximity to the outer circumference of the feeder mechanism or feeder roller at its slot region; and an extracting blade hinged through a guide pin between the feeder mechanism or feeder roller and the heater plate to flip the extracting blade towards the heater plate.
  • this automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus is capable of achieving uniform dispensing and controlling of cooking substance in a easy and cost-effective manner with the help of gravitational force. It is capable of being positioned at various angles to facilitate feeding and collection of cooking substance in an easy and smooth manner.
  • the apparatus also comprises an oil tank assembly detachably arranged with an oil container at the side of the vertical frame.
  • the oil tank assembly is operated to uniformly spill a desired quantity of oil from the oil container to the cooking semi-solid liquid substance through an oil flow tube while moving the tank assembly along with the feeder roller on the heater plate from the home position to the feeding position.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank, the feeder roller and the scrubber blade are individually detachable from the tank assembly for storing, cleaning and maintenance.
  • each of the side support frames is engraved with a plurality of guiding rails on its outer side surface for up and down movement of the slider within the track of guiding rails.
  • Each side support frame is arranged with an auxiliary guiding support with rails for routing and flipping movement of the extracting blade.
  • Each slider is coupled to a guiding shaft and a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable connected to at least one winding pulley operated by a motor in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism for actuating the sliders to move up and down in the guiding shaft and to guide within the guiding rails.
  • the slider is attached to the tank assembly through a rack and pinion mechanism in such a way that the slider is operated to slide within main guiding rail tracks in the side support frame, which aids forward and backward movement of the tank assembly with respect to the heater plate.
  • the rack and pinion mechanism is coupled to the feeder roller of the tank assembly for angularly rotation of the feeder roller between home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate.
  • the rack and pinion mechanism is actuated by one or more latches provided at both ends of the side support frames in such a way that the latches are simultaneously activated with respect to the slider movement to operate the rack and pinion mechanism in forward and backward movement within the slider for rotating the feeder roller between the feeding and home positions.
  • the feeder roller is designed in a Z-shaped circular form in such a way to create a gap between the feeder roller and the heater plate when the feeder roller is being rotated and placed at its home position.
  • each slider is assembled with a wedge into which the tank assembly is snap-fitted, where the wedge is fixed with a wedge guiding pin and slidable within the slider.
  • the wedge guiding pin is positioned and routed in upper and lower tracks defined in each guiding rail for tracking and controlling the movement of tank assembly in upward, downward, forward and backward directions with respect to the heater plate.
  • the wedge guiding pin is moved down and automatically routed in the lower track of the guiding rail when the tank assembly is moved in the downward direction.
  • the wedge guiding pin is automatically lifted up and routed in the upper track of the guiding rail to create a gap between the tank assembly and the heater plate when the tank assembly is moved in the upward direction.
  • the feeder roller or feeder mechanism in the tank assembly is rotated by a rotary mechanism between the home position at 70 degree and the feeding position at 90 degree, where the rotary mechanism is a rack and pinion mechanism routed in the auxiliary support guiding rails for rotary movement of the feeder roller.
  • the feeder roller is rotated back to its home position by a spring/cam mechanism once the desired semi-solid liquid substance to be cooked is dispensed from the feeder slot to the heater plate.
  • the scrubber blade is spring loaded and in contact with the outer circumference of the feeder roller to remove the residue of dried semi-solid liquid substance in the feeder roller when the feeder roller is moved back to its home position.
  • the extracting blade is operated by a spring mechanism to extract the cooked substance from the heater plate when the tank assembly is moved downwards for subsequent dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the tank and the feeder roller slot are partitioned into a plurality of chambers each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance in it.
  • the tank assembly is downwardly moved from top to bottom position by the sliders, whereas at anticlockwise direction of the motor, the sliders lift-up the tank assembly back to its home position.
  • the tank assembly is actuated in backward direction at the home position to be in close proximity to the heater plate for subsequent feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance from the feeder roller on the heater plate and simultaneously the extracting blade is flipped to extract the cooked substance from the heater plate to a collecting tray.
  • the cooking apparatus is vertically or slantingly positioned by adjusting the foldable positioning leg for automatic feeding and cooking of the semi solid liquid substance, and is horizontally placed by completely folding the positioning leg for manual cooking of other food substance.
  • the semi-solid liquid substance may be dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc. amongst others.
  • an automatic dispensing and cooking apparatus comprises a vertical supporting frame having a plurality of side support frames enclosed by an outer cover and a foldable positioning leg attached to the outer cover.
  • a heater plate is placed between the side support frames and operated for cooking a semi-solid liquid substance applied on it.
  • a tank assembly is fixed at top of the vertical frame, the tank assembly comprises: a semi-solid liquid tank arranged to receive and store the semi-solid liquid substance in it; and a feeder roller with a slot fixed and positioned at a bottom opening of the tank to automatically collect a desired quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance from the tank by means of gravitational force, and angularly rotated between home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate.
  • a feeder blade is attached to a plurality of guiding blocks being operated by a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism arranged within the vertical frame for downward and upward movement of the feeder blade with respect to the heater plate.
  • the feeder roller is rotated at the feeding position towards the heater plate for automatic dispense of the semi-solid liquid substance from the feeder slot due to gravitational force, and simultaneously the feeder blade is downwardly moved till the bottom of the heater plate to uniformly spread the semi-solid liquid substance on the heater plate from the feeder roller.
  • the apparatus also comprises an auto cleaning blade positioned at the bottom edge of the heater plate in such a way that the cleaning blade edge is in contact with the inner circumference of the feeder blade to clean the residue of dried semi-solid liquid substance in the feeder blade while moving the feeder roller back to its home position.
  • the apparatus further comprises an oil tank assembly detachably arranged with an oil container at the side of the vertical frame, where the oil tank assembly is operated to uniformly spill a desired quantity of oil from the oil container to the cooking semi-solid liquid substance through an oil flow tube while moving the feeder blade on the heater plate.
  • the feeder roller is rotated by the feeder motor at 180 degree to dispense the semi-solid liquid substance on to the heater plate.
  • the feeder roller is automatically rotated back to its home position by a spring/cam mechanism once the semi-solid liquid substance is dispensed from the feeder slot to the heater plate.
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism is arranged with a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable pulley to move the feeder blade on the heater plate from top to bottom position with the help of feeder blade motor.
  • Each guiding block is coupled to a guiding shaft and a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable connected to at least one winding pulley operated by a motor in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism for actuating the guiding blocks to move up and down in the guiding shaft
  • the feeder blade is automatically lifted up by a pin mechanism to create a gap between the feeder blade and the heater plate when the feeder blade is moved in the upward direction.
  • the feeder roller collects the semi solid liquid substance into its slot from the bottom opening of the tank.
  • the feeder roller dispenses the semi-solid liquid substance from the slot onto the heater plate and simultaneously closes the tank bottom opening to restrict leakage of the semi-solid liquid substance from the tank.
  • the tank and the feeder roller slot are partitioned into a plurality of chambers each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance in it.
  • the feeder blade is downwardly moved from top to bottom position by the guiding blocks, whereas at anticlockwise direction of the motor, the guiding blocks lift-up the feeder blade back to its home position.
  • the feeder blade is actuated in backward direction at the home position to be in close proximity to the heater plate for subsequent feeding and spreading of the semi-solid liquid substance from the feeder roller on the heater plate and simultaneously the feeder blade extracts the cooked substance from the heater plate to a collecting tray.
  • the cooking apparatus is vertically or slantingly positioned by adjusting the foldable positioning leg for automatic feeding and cooking of the semi solid liquid substance, and is horizontally placed by completely folding the positioning leg for manual cooking of other food substance.
  • the semi-solid liquid substance comprises dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc amongst others.
  • an automatic dispensing and cooking method comprises: filling semi-solid liquid substance into a storage tank of a tank assembly; fixing the tank assembly into each wedge in a plurality of sliders operated by a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism; attaching a feeder mechanism or feeder roller, a scrubber blade and an extracting blade into the tank assembly; powering-on the cooking apparatus to keep a heater plate to be ready for cooking operation; downwardly moving the tank assembly by operating the sliders to automatically collect a desired quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance into a slot in the feeder mechanism or feeder roller from the tank by means of gravitational force; and simultaneously rotating the feeder mechanism or feeder roller to its feeding position towards the heater plate for automatic dispense of the semi-solid liquid substance from the feeder slot by means of gravitational force, which uniformly spreads the semi-solid liquid substance to be cooked on the heater plate.
  • this method is capable of achieving uniform spreading and controlling levels of heat to be applied to
  • the bottom opening in the tank is automatically closed by the circumference of the feeder mechanism or feeder roller.
  • the feeder mechanism or feeder roller is set back to its home position to collect the semi-solid liquid substance for the next process.
  • the shape and thickness of the cooked food substance is controlled by the feeder mechanism or feeder roller through the gravitational force.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank moves forward to create a desired gap between the heater plate and the semi-solid liquid tank.
  • the tank assembly is operated for the next dispensing process and simultaneously the extracting blade is flipped to extract the cooked food substance from the heater plate.
  • FIG. 1 shows an overall view of an automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2A shows the automatic cooking apparatus in a vertical plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2B shows the automatic cooking apparatus in an angled vertical plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2C shows the automatic cooking apparatus in a horizontal plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGS. 3A to 3F show detailed operational sequences of upward and downward movements of sliding wedges in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of a feeder roller assembly with an extracting blade of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of a semi-solid liquid filing position of the feeder roller assembly with respect to a semi-solid liquid tank, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGS. 6A to 6G show working principles and sequences of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7A shows an overall view of an automatic cooking apparatus in a vertical plane, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7B shows an overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus in an angled vertical plane, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7C shows an overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus in a horizontal plane, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 shows an overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus with a tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9A shows a right side view of the automatic cooking apparatus without the tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9B shows a sectional side view of the automatic cooking apparatus without the tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 shows an internal view of the automatic cooking apparatus without an outer cover, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 11 shows a view of a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 12 shows a detailed view of the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 13A to 13C show a schematic view of different rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable routing arrangements in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 14A to 141 show detailed operational sequences of upward and downward movements of a slider in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 15 shows a detailed view of a tank assembly of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 16 shows a sectional view of semi-solid liquid filling position of the tank assembly, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 17A to 17C show a sectional view of different positions of a unique design of a feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 18A and 18B show a detailed view of a slot in the feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 19A shows a detailed view of partitions in a semi-solid liquid storage tank of the tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 19B shows a detailed view of partitions in the feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 20A and 20B respectively shows exploded and assembled views of an extracting blade in the tank assembly, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 21 shows a detailed view of an oil tank assembly in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGS. 22A and 22B show a detailed view of a rack and pinion mechanism in the feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 23A to 23C show a detailed view of various operational movements of a scrubber blade in the tank assembly, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 24A to 24J show working principles and sequences of various functional movements of the tank assembly in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 25A shows an exploded view of a slider with wedge in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 25B shows an assembled view of the slider with wedge in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 26A and 26B show a detailed view of the wedge movement within the slider, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 26C shows a detailed view of movement of a wedge guiding pin in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 27A to 27H show detailed sequences of upward and downward movements of the slider along with wedge in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 28 shows a sectional view of semi-solid liquid filling position of the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 29A to 29C show a sectional view of different positions of another unique design of feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 30A and 30B show a detailed view of a slot in the feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 31A and 31B show a detailed view of a rack and pinion mechanism in the feeder roller of the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 32A to 32D show a detailed view of various operational movements of a scrubber blade in the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIGS. 33A to 33K show working principles and sequences of various functional movements of the tank assembly in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 34 shows another exemplary illustration of an automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIGS. 35A and 35B depict exploded and assembled views of a semi-solid liquid container respectively, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 36A depicts a sectional view of a feeder roller at a semi-solid liquid collecting position and a feeding position in the tank assembly respectively, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 36B illustrates a detailed view of partitions in the feeder roller, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 37 shows a railing arrangement for coordinating movement of guiding sliders using a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 38A depicts a coating process of semi-solid liquid material on to a heater plate by a feeder blade, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 38B depicts a cleaning process of uncoated semi-solid liquid material, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 38C illustrates a gap required between the heater plate and the feeder blade, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 1 shows a schematic overall view of an automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the present invention relates to an automatic, cost-effective and dynamic cooking apparatus (100] that is capable of being vertical and inclined at varying angles to assist in uniform collection and spreading of the ingredients in either of automatic or manual mode.
  • the use of semi-solid liquid tank mechanism facilitates varying the thickness of product while enabling collection and feeding of the semi solid liquid substance (150] at the same time.
  • the present invention envisages an automatic cooking apparatus (100] for dispensing and cooking a semi-solid liquid substance (150] (dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc. amongst others] into cooked food substance like dosa, omelete, crepe, etc.
  • the automatic cooking apparatus (100] broadly comprises of a vertical supporting frame or structure (101], a semi-solid liquid tank (1], a feeder roller assembly (2], an extracting blade (3], a heater or hot plate (104], a foldable cooked substance collecting tray (126] and a foldable leg (103]
  • the entire mechanism is fixed to the vertical supporting frame (101] enclosed and covered by an outer cover
  • This vertical supporting frame (101] is preferably a metal frame divided into right and left side sub-frames (119]
  • the heater plate (104] is placed and fixed between the right and left side sub-frames (119] of the vertical supporting frame (101], where the heater plate (104] is being connected to a heating system (not shown] to heat the heater plate (104] for cooking the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the vertical supporting frame (101] is enclosed with a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism (114] and provided with a foldable positioning leg
  • FIG. 2A which shows the automatic cooking apparatus (100] in a vertical plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • This foldable positioning leg (103] is adjustable to different positions to stand the cooking apparatus (100] in an inclined or sloping position as well, as shown in Fig. 2B, which shows the automatic cooking apparatus (100] in an angled vertical plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the cooking apparatus (100] is vertically or slantingly positioned using the foldable positioning leg (8] for automatic feeding and cooking of the semi-solid liquid substance, and is horizontally placed for manual cooking of any food substance (150] such as chapathi, roti, dosa, etc, as shown in Fig. 2C, which shows the automatic cooking apparatus in a horizontal plane, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • each side support frame (119] is engraved with guiding rails (122, 122a, 122b] at its outer surface side for up and down movement of sliding wedges (4] within the track of guiding rails (122, 122a, 122b]
  • the cooking apparatus (100] comprises a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism (114] provided with winding pulleys (115] (either single pulley or multiple pulleys] fixed to each of the support frames (119], where these winding pulleys (115] are connected by rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables (121] for operating and actuating the sliding wedges (4] to move up and down in the rails (122, 122a, 122b], as shown in FIGS. 11, 12 and 13A to 13C.
  • Each winding pulley (115] is connected using a connecting shaft (117] which is actuated by a motor (116] fixed to at least one of the side support frames (119], where the motor (116] is a low RPM blade motor (116]
  • the connecting shaft (117] is fixed with at least one gear wheel (118] which is operatively coupled to the motor shaft for operating and rotating the winding pulleys (115] with the help of motor (116]
  • the rotational output from the motor (116] is utilized to rotate the pulley, which thereby achieves winding and unwinding of rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or rope (121] to make the sliding wedges (4] to move upwards and downwards in the vertical cooking apparatus (100] [0088]
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism (114] is operated by the motor (116], where the function of this mechanism can be achieved using low rpm motor (116] with high torque, where this rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114]
  • the present cooking apparatus (100] is implemented using a single rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] routed by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables in the winding pulleys (115] operated by a single motor (116] and thereby the overall cooking apparatus (100] is cost efficient.
  • the same speed and same direction movement of both sliders (105] can be achieved by connecting 1 st and 3 rd routing of the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable with the sliders (105], where multiple positioning and routings can be achieved using the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or roping system, as shown in FIGS. 13A to 13C.
  • FIGS. 3A to 3F show detailed operational sequences of upward and downward movements of sliding wedges (4] in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the cooking apparatus (100] is also composed of sliding wedges (4] to slide on the guiding rails (122, 122a, 122b] through wedge pins (4a] that are provided at the bottom area of each sliding wedge (4] and placed to be guided within the guiding rails (122, 122a, 122b] in the side supporting sub-frames (119].
  • the sliding wedges (4] are coupled to the respective rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables or ropes (121] of the drive mechanism (114] for lateral movement of the sliding wedges (4] within the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or rope (121], which in turns for downward and upward movement of the feeder roller assembly (2] with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is downwardly moved from top to bottom position by the sliding wedges (4] to uniformly spread the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104], whereas at anticlockwise direction of the motor (116], the sliding wedges (4] lifts the feeder roller assembly (2] back to its home position, as shown in FIG. 12.
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is actuated in such a way to form a desired gap between the feeder roller assembly (2] and the heater plate (104]
  • the sliding wedges (4] are slidably mounted on the side support frames and actuated by the drive mechanism arranged within the vertical frame.
  • the sliding wedges (4] are coupled to the respective rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114], i.e. the rotating motion from the winding pulley (115] is converted and transferred into the sliding wedges (4] for lateral up and down movement of the sliding wedges (4]
  • the sliding wedges (4) have front and back movement so that the feeder roller assembly can move front and back as per the machine function.
  • the sliding wedges (4] are respectively connected to the feeder roller assembly (2] through insertion snap locks (4e] provided at its both ends in such a way that the sliding wedges (4] are operated to slide within guiding rail tracks (122, 122a, 122b] in the side support frame, which aids forward and backward movement of the feeder roller assembly (2] with the movement of the sliding wedges (4]
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is attached to the sliding wedges (4], which is assembled to guide by means of wedge guiding pins (4a] for tracking and controlling the movement of the sliding wedges (4], which in turn controls the up and down movement of the feeder roller assembly (2]
  • the guiding rails (122] in the support frame is provided to route and guide the sliding wedges (4] for upward and downward movement, i.e. in the downward direction, the semi solid liquid substance (150] is dispensed into the heater plate (104] with the downward movement of the feeder roller assembly (2] by guiding and routing the sliding wedges (4] in the main lower guiding rails (122a] and simultaneously the rack and pinion mechanism (2c] is operated to rotate the feeder roller in the feeder roller assembly into its feeding position.
  • the semi-solid liquid substance (150] already dispensed in the heater plate (104] is allowed to get cooked while upwardly moving the feeder roller assembly (2] by creating a space or gap required between the feeder roller assembly (2] and the heater plate (104] with the help of guiding and routing the sliding wedges (4] in the upper guiding rails (122b] and simultaneously the rack and pinion mechanism (2c] is operated to rotate the feeder roller in the feeder roller assembly back into its home position.
  • the required gap between the feeder roller assembly (2] and the heater plate (104] facilitates to prevent spoilage or damage to the semi-solid liquid substance (150] already spread for cooking in the heater plate (104] while the feeder roller assembly (2] is retraced and moved back in the upward direction to reach its home position.
  • the sliding wedges (4] are moved between the lower and upper guiding rail tracks (122a, 122b] with the help of flips (122c] being provided in the guiding rails at its track ends, where the flips are operational and implemented as one way opening valves (122c], i.e. retaining its original position even after its flexible movement.
  • the guiding rails (122] in the support frame each comprise two tracks, i.e. upper and lower guiding rail tracks (122b, 122a], the guiding pin of the sliding wedges (4] is routed in the lower track (122a] while dispensing the semi solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104] with the downward movement of the feeder roller assembly (2] by means of sliding wedge movement.
  • the wedge guiding pin is automatically routed and lifted up to the upper track (122b] of the guiding rails (122], which makes the sliding wedges (4] to be moved forward to move the feeder roller assembly (2] in forward direction in order to create a space or gap required between the feeder roller assembly (2] and the heater plate (104], as shown in FIG. 6E.
  • FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the feeder roller assembly (2] with the extracting blade (3] of the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the separate feeder roller assembly (2] is composed of a rotatable feeder roller or mechanism (2a] and the extracting blade (3], where this feeder roller assembly (2] is inserted and locked into the sliding wedges (4) at feeder roller locking area during operation and functioning of the cooking apparatus.
  • This feeder roller assembly is also detachable for easy cleaning.
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is detachably connected to the sliding wedges (4] by means of snap-fit in such a way that the feeder roller assembly (2] is actuated and moved by the sliding wedges (4] in an upward and downward directions with respect to the heater plate (104] for feeding operation.
  • a feeding system consisting of feeder roller with rack and pinion mechanism, extracting blade and other feeding mechanism are hereby collectively referred as feeder roller assembly throughout this first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention only for the convenient and easy understanding purpose but not by the way of any limitations to it.
  • Each sliding wedge (4] is arranged to be snap-fitted with the feeder roller assembly (2] for the feeding operation, especially insertion snap locks (2d] in the side surface of the feeder roller (2a] of the feeder roller assembly are mating and locked into snap lock (4b] formed in each sliding wedge (4], where the snap lock (2c] is pushed to detach the feeder roller assembly (2] from the sliding wedge (4]
  • the feeder roller (2a] is provided with a slot (2b] which is designed with a sufficient semi-solid liquid collecting area to collect the semi solid liquid substance (150] from the tank (1]
  • the slot (2b] is filled with the semi solid liquid from the tank using the gravitation force with less wastage.
  • the feeder roller (2a] is angularly rotated by a rotary mechanism (rack and pinion mechanism] (2c] to apply (pour] the semi solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104]
  • rack and pinion mechanism a rack and pinion (2c] are arranged in the feeder roller (2a] for rotary movement of the feeder roller (2a] to be rotated between a home or filing position and a feeding position.
  • the feeder roller (2a] is coupled to the rack and pinion mechanism (2c] and angularly rotated between home/filling and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate (104] [0096]
  • the tank (1] is provided with a detachable auto cleaning blade (2e] to be placed in close contact with the feeder roller (2a] when it is in filling position, where the auto cleaning blade (2e] can be spring loaded and linearly movable with respect to the feeder roller (2a]
  • the auto cleaning blade (2e] is placed in proximity to the outer circumference of the feeder roller (2 a] at its slot region (2b] in such a way that the edge of the auto cleaning blade (2e] is in close contact with the slot edge area of the feeder roller (2a]
  • the purpose of auto cleaning blade (2e] is used to remove the dried semi solid liquid which remains in the edge of the feeder roller (2a] formed during the cooking process to avoid mixing of these dried batter into the fresh batter when it is applied onto the heater plate (104]
  • the auto cleaning blade process takes place at the time of feeder roller (2a] sets back to the home position from the feeding position.
  • the auto cleaning blade (2e] is in contact with the outer circumference of the feeder roller (2a] to remove the residue of dried semi-solid liquid substance (150] in the feeder roller (2a] when the feeder roller (2a] is moved back to its home position.
  • extracting blade or product removal blade (3] is attached adjacent to the feeder roller (2a] and is close proximity to the surface of the heater plate (104]
  • product removal blade (3] in the feeder roller assembly (2] is used to remove the cooked food substance (150] or product from the heater plate (104], where the extracting blade (3] is designed with a curve shape and angular flipping action to extract and roll the cooked food product.
  • FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of a semi-solid liquid filing position of the feeder roller assembly (2] with respect to the semi-solid liquid tank (1], in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • the semi solid liquid tank (1] with an air-tight lid (la] is designed as easily removable, which can be refrigerated with the batter stored in it. After inserting the tank (with batter) into the cooking apparatus, the tank (1) is closed by the air tight cap (la), which prevents excess filling and over flow of the semi-solid liquid substance during filling of the semi-solid liquid substance into the feeder roller (2a).
  • the semi solid liquid tank (1) is detachably fixed at a top end of the vertical supporting frame.
  • the tank (1] and the feeder roller assembly (2] are detachable from the cooking apparatus for easy cleaning purpose, i.e. the semi-solid liquid tank (1], the feeder roller (2a] and the extracting blade (3] are designed to be individually detachable for storing, cleaning and maintenance.
  • the feeder roller (2a] is provided with a slot (2b] that is being positioned at a spring-loaded shut off valve (lb] in the extreme bottom edge of the tank (1] to automatically collect a desired or required quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the tank by means of gravitational force.
  • the semi-solid liquid substance is filled into the feeder roller (2a) only at the top end position of lateral movement, where the filling of semi-solid liquid substance into the feeder roller (2a) is happened by the principle like inverted bottle dispenser mechanism, i.e.
  • the one way shut valve (lb) is provided at the bottom of the tank (1), where this valve (lb) can be operated by the feeder roller assembly (2) to fill and maintain the required quantity of semi-solid liquid substance (batter) into the feeder roller (2a).
  • the feeder roller (2a) is positioned at the lower extended region of the tank (1) and is placed below the tank in such a way the spring-loaded shut off valve (lb) is being operated by the feeder roller (2 a) by means of pressing operation, and the slot (2b) of the feeder roller (2a) is positioned to receive the semi-solid liquid substance (150) from the bottom opening of the tank (1).
  • the feeder roller (2a) operates the tank valve (lb) to collect the required semi solid liquid substance (150) in the collecting area of the feeder roller slot (2b) from the bottom opening of the tank (1), whereas at the feeding position, the bottom opening of the tank (1) is automatically get closed by the spring operation of the tank valve (lb) when it is not operated by the feeder roller (2a) in order to avoid the excess liquid filling into the feeder slot
  • the feeder roller (2a) is rotated towards the heater plate (104) by the rotary rack and pinion mechanism (2c) to dispense the semi-solid liquid substance (150) from the slot (2b) onto the heater plate (104] and simultaneously the tank valve (lb] is get closed to restrict excess filling of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the feeder slot (2b]
  • the feeder roller (2a] After feeding the required semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104], the feeder roller (2a] is set back to its home position by the rack and pinion mechanism (2c], i.e. the feeder roller (2a] is rotated back to its home position once the desired semi-solid liquid substance (150] to be cooked is dispensed from the feeder slot (2b] to the heater plate (104]
  • This feeder roller assembly (2] in the cooking apparatus (100] is capable of providing uniformly dispensing and evenly distributing the semi-solid liquid substance (150] along with even added minute particles (as per specified design size] of ingredients chopping (such as vegetables, onion, leaves]
  • the tank (1] and the feeder roller slot (2b] are also specially designed to be partitioned into a plurality of chambers each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] in it, i.e. designed for future partition feeding chambers, as like the similar components shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B respectively.
  • different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] can be poured into the tank (1] and into the slot (2b] in the feeder roller (2a], which results in that different flavors can be cooked as a single food substance or product, especially for kid’s attraction.
  • the cooking apparatus of this first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention can also comprise an oil tank assembly that is detachably attached to the outer side of the vertical supporting frame (101].
  • the oil tank assembly is composed of an oil container (123], an oil pump (124] and a tube (125] for oil flow, where this oil tank assembly can be easily attached and detached from the cooking apparatus (100] as per the user requirement.
  • the pump (124] is operated to pump the oil from the oil container (123] to spill the oil into the semi-solid liquid substance (150] dispensed by the feeder roller (2a] with the help of oil flow tube (125], where this oil spillage process takes place when the semi-solid liquid tank (110] moves from top position to bottom position.
  • the oil tank assembly is operated to uniformly spill a desired quantity of oil from the oil container (123] to the cooking semi-solid liquid substance (150] through an oil flow tube (125] while moving the feeder roller assembly (2] along with the feeder roller (2a] on the heater plate (104] from the home position to the feeding position.
  • FIGS. 6A to 6G show working principles and sequences of the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a first and most preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Working principle of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] Initially, the feeder roller assembly (2) with the cleaned extracting blade (3) is fitted into the cooking apparatus (100] The lid or cap (la] is removed from the tank to fill the semi-solid liquid into the tank. Then, the tank (1] is closed with the airtight lid (la) and fitted into the vertical supporting frame (101] of the cooking apparatus (100] The cooking apparatus (100] is powered on by pressing a start button and is initially operated to pre-check the movement to ensure the cooking operation sequence and to make the complete position ready.
  • the heaters of the heater plate (104] is switched-ON, where the required temperature is set for cooking using a temperature controller (not shown] as well as the number of food substances or products (150] to be dispensed is selected using a rotary knob (not shown]
  • the required quantity of semi-solid liquid substance (150) is dispensed into the feeder roller (2a) of the gravity feeding system (2) from the semi-solid liquid tank (1) by operating the one-way shut valve (lb) at the bottom of the tank (1).
  • the gravity feeding roller assembly (2) comes to home position from the top end position and is placed just below the feeding starting position of the heater plate (104).
  • the gravity feeding roller assembly (2) is moved upward to the feeding starting position by rotating the feeder roller (2a) to the feeding position to start the printing process. Then, the printing of the cooking product starts by moving the gravity feeding roller assembly (2) downwards till the bottom position of the heater plate (104).
  • the roast level of the cooking product can be selected accordingly by selecting a temperature control knob being provided in the cooking apparatus (100), whereas the position angle of the cooking apparatus (100) is varied to accordingly vary and maintain the thickness of the product to be cooked.
  • the feeder roller (2a) is set back to its home or filling position by rotating the feeder roller (2a) using the rack and pinion mechanism (2c).
  • the required gap of lOmm approximately is created between the gravity feeding roller assembly (2) and the heater plate (104) when the feeding roller assembly (2) is moved upward to its home or top end position. Now the product can be cooked in the heater plate (104) at the set temperature for set time.
  • the feeder roller assembly (2) goes back to the normal stage (no gap between the heater plate (104) and the gravity feeding assembly (2). [00106] Now the gravity feeding roller assembly (2) is set back to the home position to collect the semi-solid liquid substance for next product. After collecting the semi-solid liquid substance, the feeder roller (2a) can start spreading the second product in the heater plate (104) and simultaneously the extracting blade (3) can start dispensing the first product cooked at the hot plate (104), i.e. the specialty of this feeding roller assembly (2) can do two processes at a single time.
  • the feeding roller assembly (2) is engaged to the semi-solid liquid tank (1) by moving it in the upward direction and once the feeding roller assembly (2) is engaged, the semi-solid liquid substance is filled into the feeder roller (2a) by opening the valve (la) of the semi-solid liquid tank (1) and simultaneously the scrubber blade (2e) present in the tank cleans the dried batter which is formed on the edges of the feeder roller (2a).
  • the semi solid liquid substance can be spreaded evenly over the heater plate (104) due to the gravitational force.
  • This gravity feeder roller assembly (2) is specialized to collect excess semi-solid liquid (than it is required for high viscosity semi- solid) and print the required quantity in the heater plate (104) and the remaining semi solid remains the feeder roller (2a), which can be taken back and used for next simultaneous process.
  • the filling is done using the inverted bottle filling method which is on each filling it fills only the required quantity of semi solid to the roller (2a) not the exact measured dispensing on every filling (for e.g.
  • 250 ml can be maintained in the feeder roller (2a) for every process and on 1 st process 120 ml is used and balance 130 ml can be fdled for 2 nd process and on 2 nd process 150 ml is used balance 100ml can be fdled for 3 rd process).
  • the feeder roller assembly (2) is operated through the sliding wedges (4) to move downwards by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114), i.e. initially the feeder roller assembly (2) locked with the sliding wedges (4) is routed in the lower track of the guiding rails (122a) and parallely the rack and pinion mechanism (2c) is operated to rotate the feeder roller (2a) towards the heater plate (104) to its feeding position in order to dispense the semi-solid liquid substance (150) to be cooked as the food product in the heater plate (104).
  • the feeder roller (2a) remains in the same position and due to the gravitational force, the semi-solid liquid substance (150) from the slot (2b) of the feeder roller (2a) is evenly spread over the heater plate (104) by moving the feeder roller assembly (2) from top to bottom of the heater plate (104).
  • the feeder roller assembly (2) is downwardly moved till the bottom of the heater plate (104) and the feeder roller (2a) is simultaneously rotated at the feeding position towards the heater plate (104) for automatic dispense of the semi solid liquid substance (150) from the feeder slot (2b) due to gravitational force, which uniformly spreads the semi-solid liquid substance (150) to be cooked on the heater plate (104), where the remaining semi-solid liquid substance (150) can be stored back in the feeder roller slot (2b).
  • the feeder roller assembly (2) locked into the sliding wedges (4) is routed from the lower guiding rails (122a) into the upper guiding rails (122b) by means of the one way opening valves or flips (122c) to create a space or gap required between the feeder roller assembly (2] and the heater plate (104], and parallely the rack and pinion mechanism (2c] is operated to rotate the feeder roller (2a] away from the heater plate (104] back to its home or filling position.
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] locked with the sliding wedges (4] is routed in the upper track of the guiding rails (122b] to move the feeder roller assembly (2] back to its filling position with respect to the tank (1] fixed at the top of the cooking apparatus (100] for collecting the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the feeder slot (2b] for the next process.
  • the food product shape and thickness can be controlled by the feeding roller through the gravitational force. Further, the roast level is selected accordingly by selecting a temperature control knob (not shown], where the food product can be cooked in the heater plate (104] at the set temperature for set time.
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is moved to the filling position to fill the semi-solid liquid from the fixed tank (1] to do the next simultaneous process.
  • the main advantage of this concept is to handle the large variants of viscosity of liquids. Further, the feeder roller assembly (2] starts moving downwards to do the next process.
  • the product removal blade (3] starts to remove the printed product which is already in the heater plate (104] and the feeder roller (2a] is rotated to dispense the second semi-solid liquid substance (150] at the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller assembly (2] is actuated to move from top to bottom direction with respect to the heater plate (104] for subsequent feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the feeder roller (2a] on the heater plate (104] and simultaneously the extracting blade (3] placed in front of the feeder roller (2a] extracts and rolls the cooked substance from the heater plate (104], which is being collected at the collecting tray (126] provided at the bottom end of the cooking apparatus (100] Both the cooking and extracting process is done simultaneously to reduce the product preparation time.
  • the above process can be done simultaneously till before feeding the last food product.
  • the product removal blade is set to extract the last cooked product from the heater plate (104), and at this process, there is no more feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance (150) from the feeder roller (2a) over the heater plate (104).
  • all the cooked food products removed from the heater plate (104) can be collected in the product collection tray (126), where the process can be repeated simultaneously up to the selected quantity of cooking product set in the cooking apparatus (100).
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (1), the gravity feeding roller assembly (2), the product extracting blade (3) and the waste collecting tray (126) are detached and removed for cleaning purposes.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank is specialized to store the liquid that remains in the tank back in the refrigerator till it gets over, i.e. for future application.
  • the present automatic cooking apparatus (100) is used in two modes, i.e. automatic mode and manual mode.
  • automatic mode the cooking apparatus (100) is vertically or slantingly positioned with the help of foldable positioning leg (103) and used for cooking any kind of semi-solid liquid substance (150) being dispensed from the feeder roller assembly (2). Further, the cooking apparatus (100) can also be wall mounted or used as table top in the vertical position.
  • manual mode the cooking apparatus (100) is horizontally placed on the table without the feeder roller assembly (2), which enables the cooking apparatus (100) to be used as normal heater plate (104) to cook chapatti, breads, etc.
  • FIG. 7A shows a schematic overall view of an automatic cooking apparatus (100) in a vertical plane.
  • the present invention relates to an automatic, cost-effective and dynamic cooking apparatus (100) that is capable of being vertical and inclined at varying angles to assist in uniform collection and spreading of the ingredients in either of automatic or manual mode.
  • the use of semi-solid liquid tank (110) mechanism facilitates varying the thickness of product while enabling collection and feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance (150) at the same time.
  • the present invention envisages an automatic cooking apparatus (100) for dispensing and cooking a semi-solid liquid substance (150) (dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc. amongst others, etc] into cooked food substance like dosa, omelete, crepe, etc.
  • a semi-solid liquid substance 150
  • dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc. amongst others, etc into cooked food substance like dosa, omelete, crepe, etc.
  • the automatic cooking apparatus broadly comprises of a vertical supporting frame or structure (101], a semi-solid liquid tank assembly (107], a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism, a heater or hot plate (104], a cooked substance collecting tray (126] and a foldable leg (103]
  • the entire mechanism is fixed to the vertical supporting frame (101] enclosed and covered by an outer cover (102], where the vertical supporting frame (101] is formed with guiding rails (122, 122a, 122b] engraved on the outer side surface of the frame.
  • This vertical supporting frame (101] is preferably a metal frame divided into right and left side sub-frames (119].
  • the heater plate (104] is placed and fixed between the right and left side sub-frames (119] of the vertical supporting frame (101], where the heater plate (104] is being connected to a heating system (not shown] to heat the heater plate (104] for cooking the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the vertical supporting frame (101] is enclosed with a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism (114] and provided with a foldable positioning leg (103], where the foldable positioning leg (103] is attached at the rear bottom side of the frame, which aids the cooking apparatus (100] to stand in a vertical direction.
  • This foldable positioning leg (103] is adjustable to different positions to stand the cooking apparatus (100] in an inclined or sloping position as well, as shown in Fig. IB, which shows a schematic overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] in an angled vertical plane, in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the cooking apparatus (100] is vertically or slantingly positioned using the foldable positioning leg (103] for automatic feeding and cooking of the semi-solid liquid substance, and is horizontally placed for manual cooking of any food substance (150] such as chapathi, roti, dosa, etc, as shown in Fig. 1C, which shows a schematic overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] in a horizontal plane, in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • each side support frame (119] is engraved with guiding rails at its outer surface side for up and down movement of the slider (105] within the track of guiding rails, and also auxiliary guiding side support with rails are attached to each side support frame (119] for flipping movement of an extracting blade (113].
  • the cooking apparatus (100] is composed of sliders (105] to slide on guiding shafts (120] each placed adjacent to the outer side of the support frame and connected to the support frame.
  • the cooking apparatus (100] comprises a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism (114] provided with winding pulleys (115] (either single pulley or multiple pulleys] fixed to each of the support frames (119], where these winding pulleys (115] are connected by rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables (121] for operating and actuating the sliders (105] to move up and down in the rails (122, 122a, 122b], as shown in FIGS.
  • FIGS. 13A to 13C show a schematic view of different rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable routing arrangements in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism (114] of the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • Each winding pulley (115] is connected using a connecting shaft (117] which is actuated by a motor (116] fixed to at least one of the side support frames (119], where the motor (116] is a low RPM blade motor (116].
  • the connecting shaft (117] is fixed with at least one gear (118] wheel which is operatively coupled to the motor shaft for operating and rotating the winding pulleys (115] with the help of motor (116].
  • the rotational output from the motor (116] is utilized to rotate the pulley, which thereby achieves winding and unwinding of rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or rope (121] to make the slider (105] to move upwards and downwards in the vertical cooking apparatus (100]
  • Each slider (105] is arranged to be coupled with a rack and pinion assembly (111c], which is placed in parallel to the side support frames (119] and the heater plate (104], into which the entire tank assembly (107] is detachably connected for the movement and feeding operation, as shown in FIG. 8, which shows a schematic overall view of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] with a tank assembly (107], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the slider (105] is provided with a latch (llld] to activate rotating mechanism by means of the rack and pinion assembly (111c].
  • FIGS. 9A and 9B respectively show a right and sectional side view of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] without the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the slider (105] is coupled to the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114], i.e. the rotating motion from the winding pulley (115] is converted and transferred into the slider (105] for lateral up and down movement of the slider.
  • the slider (105] is connected to the tank assembly (107] through the rack and pinion assembly in such a way that the slider (105] is operated to slide within main guiding rail tracks in the side support frame, which aids forward and backward movement of the tank assembly (107] with the movement of the slider, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 141, which show detailed operational sequences of upward and downward movements of a slider in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the tank assembly (107] is attached to the slider (105], which is assembled to guide within the guiding shaft (120] for tracking and controlling the movement of the slider, which in turn controls the up and down movement of the tank assembly (107], as shown in FIG. 10, which shows an internal view of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] without an outer cover (102], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the guiding rails (122] in the support frame is provided to route and guide the slider for upward and downward movement, i.e. the semi solid liquid substance (150] is dispensed into the heater plate (104] with the downward movement of the tank assembly (107] by means of latch (llld] at one end that is operated to move the rack and pinion arrangement (111c] for rotating a feeder roller in the tank assembly into its feeding position.
  • the latch (11 Id] at other end is operated to move the rack and pinion arrangement (111c] for rotating the feeder roller in the tank assembly back into its home position, which makes the slider to be moved forward to move the tank assembly (107] in forward direction in order to create a space or gap required between the tank assembly (107] and the heater plate (104] with the help of special design of feeder roller in the tank assembly.
  • the required gap between the tank assembly (107] and the heater plate (104] facilitates to prevent spoilage or damage to the semi-solid liquid substance (150] already spread for cooking in the heater plate (104], when the tank assembly (107] is retraced and moved in the upward direction to reach its home position.
  • the movement of slider (105] in the guiding tracks can be carried out with the help of flips being provided in the guiding rails at its track ends, where the flips are implemented as one way valve.
  • FIG. 11 shows a schematic view of a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism of the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism is operated by the motor (116] and the slider or slider block (105] fixed to it for downward and upward movement of the tank assembly (107] with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • the tank assembly (107] is downwardly moved from top to bottom position by the slider (105] to uniformly spread the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104]
  • the slider (105] lifts the tank assembly (107] back to its home position, as shown in FIG.
  • FIGS. 14A to 141 show detailed operational sequences of upward and downward movements of a slider in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] is specially designed to move the tank assembly (107] in the heater plate (104] from top to bottom position with the help of the motor (116].
  • the function of this mechanism can be achieved using low rpm motor (116] with high torque, where this rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] facilitates rapid movement with low rpm motor (116] with less noise and no vibration.
  • the present cooking apparatus (100] is implemented using a single rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] routed by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables in the winding pulleys (115] operated by a single motor (116] and thereby the overall cooking apparatus (100] is cost efficient.
  • the same speed and same direction movement of both sliders (105] can be achieved by connecting 1 st and 3 rd routing of the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable with the sliders (105], where multiple positioning and routings can be achieved using the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or roping system, as shown in FIGS. 13 A to 13 C show a schematic view of different rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable routing arrangements in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable driving mechanism of the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 15 shows a detailed view of a tank assembly (107] of the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank assembly (107] is primarily composed of a semi solid liquid tank (110], a feeder roller or feeding mechanism (111], a scrubber blade (112] and an extracting blade (113] or product removal blade.
  • the semi solid liquid tank (110] is designed as easily removable, which can be refrigerated with the batter stored in it.
  • the tank assembly (107] is detachably coupled to the slider (105] through the rack and pinion assembly, where the tank assembly (107] is operated by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] for downward and upward movement of the tank assembly (107] with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (110] is arranged with a space to receive and store semi-solid liquid substance (150] such as dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc, as shown in FIG. 16, which shows a sectional view of semi-solid liquid filling position of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the tank is covered by a cap and is provided with an inner bottom opening for dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the tank into the feeder roller (111]
  • a feeding system consisting of feeder roller and other feeding mechanism are hereby collectively referred as feeder roller throughout the specification only for the convenient and easy understanding purpose but not by the way of any limitations to it
  • FIGS. 17A to 17C show a sectional view of different positions of a unique design of feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the feeder roller (111] is provided with a slot (111a] that is fixed and positioned at the bottom opening (110b] of the tank (110] to automatically collect a desired or required quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the tank by means of gravitational force.
  • the feeder roller (111] is hinged into a lower extended region of the tank and is placed below the tank in such a way the slot of the feeder roller (111] is positioned to receive the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the bottom opening of the tank.
  • the feeder roller (111] is coupled to the rack and pinion assembly and angularly rotated between home/filling and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • FIGS. 18A and 18B show a detailed view of a slot in the feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the feeder roller (111] is designed in a Z-shaped circular form in such a way that the feeder roller (111] creates a gap between the feeder roller and the heater plate surface while rotating the feeder roller to the home or filling position.
  • the slot (111a] in the feeder roller (111] is designed with a sufficient semi-solid liquid collecting area to collect the semi solid liquid substance (150] from the tank.
  • the slot (111a] is filled with the semi solid liquid from the tank using the gravitation force with less wastage.
  • the feeder roller (111] After filling the semi solid liquid in the feeder roller (111], the feeder roller (111] is angularly rotated by the rotary mechanism (rack and pinion mechanism] (111c] to apply (pour] the semi solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104]
  • rack and pinion mechanism a rack and pinion (111c] are arranged in the feeder roller (111] for rotary movement of the feeder roller (111] to be rotated between the home or filing position and the feeding position, as shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B, which show a detailed view of a rack and pinion mechanism in the feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the feeder roller (111] collects the required semi solid liquid substance (150] from the bottom opening inlet (110b] of the tank at the home or filling position, whereas the bottom opening inlet (110b] of the tank is get closed by the circumference of the feeder roller at the feeding position to avoid the excess liquid filling into the feeder slot as well as the slot outlet gets open to pour the semi solid liquid substance (150] into the surface of the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller (111] is rotated by the rotary mechanism between the home position and the feeding position through latches provided at both ends of the side support frame in line with the size of the heater plate.
  • the feeder roller (111] collects the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into its slot (111a] from the bottom opening (110b] of the tank.
  • the feeder roller (111] dispenses the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the slot onto the heater plate (104] and simultaneously closes the tank bottom opening to restrict excess filling of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the feeder slot (111a].
  • the feeder roller (111] After feeding the required semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104], the feeder roller (111] is set back to its home position by means of latch (11 Id] to activate the rack and pinion mechanism, i.e. the feeder roller (111] is rotated back to its home position once the desired semi-solid liquid substance (150] to be cooked is dispensed from the feeder slot to the heater plate (104]
  • This tank and feeder roller arrangement in the cooking apparatus (100] is capable of providing uniformly dispensing and evenly distributing the semi-solid liquid substance (150] along with even added minute particles (as per specified design size] of ingredients chopping (such as vegetables, onion, leaves]
  • the scrubber blade (112] is detachably snap-locked and fixed to the side of the tank, where the scrubber blade (112] is spring loaded and linearly movable with respect to the feeder roller (111]
  • the scrubber blade (112] is placed in proximity to the outer circumference of the feeder roller (111] at its slot region (111a] in such a way that the edge of the scrubber blade (112] is in close contact with the slot area of the feeder roller (111]
  • the feeder roller (111] and the scrubber blade (112] are detachable from the batter tank (110] for easy cleaning purpose, i.e. the semi-solid liquid tank (110], the feeder roller (111] and the scrubber blade (112] are individually detachable from the tank assembly (107] for storing, cleaning and maintenance.
  • the purpose of scrubber blade (112] is used to remove the dried semi solid liquid which remains in the edge of the feeder roller (111] formed during the cooking process to avoid mixing of these dried batter into the fresh batter when it is applied onto the heater plate (104], as shown in FIGS. 23A to 23C, which show a detailed view of various operational movements of a scrubber blade (112] in the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the scrubber blade (112] process takes place at the time of feeder roller (111] sets back to the home position from the feeding position.
  • FIGS. 20A and 20B respectively shows exploded and assembled views of an extracting blade (113] in the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the extracting blade or product removal blade (113] is hinged through a guide pin (113a] between the feeder roller (111] and the heater plate (104] to flip the extracting blade (113] towards the heater plate (104]
  • the purpose of product removal blade (113] in the tank assembly (107] is used to remove the cooked food substance (150] or product from the heater plate (104], where the extracting blade (113] is designed with a curve shape to extract and roll the cooked food product.
  • the extracting blade (113] mainly operates with a spring mechanism to flip the blade towards the heater plate (104] using the guide pin (113a] routed and travelling in the guiding track rails (109] formed in the auxiliary guiding support (108]
  • the extracting blade (113] is operated by a spring mechanism to extract the cooked substance (150] from the heater plate (104] when the tank assembly (107] is moved downwards for subsequent dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the entire mechanism of extracting blade (113] and guide pin (113a] are used in the form of an optional mechanism only for the convenient and easy understanding purpose but not by the way of any limitations to it, where it is also designed to be used in the form of a fixed blade without departing the scope of the present invention.
  • the tank (110] and the feeder roller slot (111a] are partitioned into a plurality of chambers (110c, 111b] each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] in it, i.e. the semi solid liquid tank (110] the feeder slot (111a] can also be designed for future partition feeding chambers (111b], as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B respectively show a detailed view of partitions in the semi solid liquid storage tank and the feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 21 shows a detailed view of an oil tank assembly (107] in the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is detachably attached to the outer side of the vertical supporting frame (101].
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is composed of an oil container (123], an oil pump (124] and a tube (125] for oil flow, where this oil tank assembly (107] can be easily attached and detached from the cooking apparatus (100] as per the user requirement.
  • the pump (124] is operated to pump the oil from the oil container (123] to spill the oil into the semi-solid liquid substance (150] dispensed by the feeder roller (111] with the help of oil flow tube (125], where this oil spillage process takes place when the semi solid liquid tank (110] moves from top position to bottom position.
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is arranged with an oil container (123] and is operated to uniformly spill a desired quantity of oil from the oil container (123] to the cooking semi-solid liquid substance (150] through an oil flow tube (125] while moving the tank assembly (107] along with the feeder roller (111] on the heater plate (104] from the home position to the feeding position.
  • FIGS. 24A to 24J show working principles and sequences of various functional movements of the tank assembly (107] in the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a primary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • Working principle of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] Initially, the detachable scrubber blade (112] and the feeder roller (111] are fixed with the tank in the tank assembly (107] The cap is removed from the tank to fill the semi-solid liquid into the tank, and then the tank assembly (107] is fixed into the vertical supporting frame (101] of the cooking apparatus (100] The cooking apparatus (100] is powered on by pressing a start button and is initially operated to pre-check the movement to ensure the cooking operation sequence and to make the complete position ready.
  • the heaters of the heater plate (104] is switched-ON, where the required temperature is set for cooking using a temperature controller (not shown] as well as the number of food substances or products (150] to be dispensed is selected using a rotary knob (not shown]
  • the tank assembly (107] is downwardly moved till the bottom of the heater plate (104] and the feeder roller (111] is simultaneously rotated at the feeding position towards the heater plate (104] for automatic dispense of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the feeder slot due to gravitational force, which uniformly spreads the semi-solid liquid substance (150] to be cooked on the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller (111] is set back to its home position (filling position] by operating the latch at other end to activate the rack and pinion mechanism and collects the semi-solid liquid substance (150] for the next process.
  • the food product shape and thickness can be controlled by the feeding roller through the gravitational force.
  • the roast level is selected accordingly by selecting a temperature control knob (not shown], where the food product can be cooked in the heater plate (104] at the set temperature for set time.
  • the specialty of this gravity feeder roller (111] is to collect more than the required amount of semi-solid liquid from the tank to cook the required quantity of food product over the heater plate (104], where the remaining semi solid liquid substance (150] can be stored back in the feeder roller (111] Then, the feeder roller (111] is moved and rotated to the filling position to fill the semi-solid liquid from the tank to do the next simultaneous process.
  • the main advantage of this concept is to handle the large variants of viscosity of liquids.
  • the tank starts moving downwards to do the next process.
  • the product removal blade starts to remove the printed product which is already in the heater plate (104] and the feeder roller (111] starts to dispense the second semi-solid liquid substance (150] at the heater plate (104]
  • the tank assembly (107] is actuated in backward direction at the home position to be in close proximity to the heater plate (104] for subsequent feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the feeder roller (111] on the heater plate (104] and simultaneously the extracting blade (113] is flipped to extract the cooked substance (150]from the heater plate (104] to a collecting tray (126] Both the cooking and extracting process is done simultaneously to reduce the product preparation time.
  • the present automatic cooking apparatus (100] is used in two modes, i.e. automatic mode and manual mode.
  • automatic mode the cooking apparatus (100] is vertically or slantingly positioned with the help of foldable positioning leg (103] and used for cooking any kind of semi-solid liquid substance (150] being dispensed from the tank through the feeder roller (111] Further, the cooking apparatus (100] can also be wall mounted or used as table top in the vertical position.
  • manual mode the cooking apparatus (100] is horizontally placed on the table without the batter tank assembly (107], which enables the cooking apparatus (100] to be used as normal heater plate (104] to cook chapatti, breads, etc.
  • FIGS. 25A and 25B show exploded and assembled view of a slider with wedge in the automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • each slider (105] is arranged with a wedge (106] into which the entire tank assembly (107] is connected and snap-fitted for the feeding operation.
  • the tank is locked with spring tension to the wedge (106] by means of a snap lock (110a] locked into snap hole formed in the wedge (106] in each slider (105], i.e. the tank is pushed towards the heater plate (104], where the snap lock (110a] is pushed to detach the tank (110] from the wedge (106] [00143]
  • the slider (105] is coupled to the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable in the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114], i.e. the rotating motion from the winding pulley (115] is converted and transferred into the slider (105] for lateral up and down movement of the slider.
  • the wedge (106] is slidably fixed to the slider, where the wedge (106] slides within the slider
  • FIGS. 26A and 26B show a detailed view of the wedge movement within the slider, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the tank assembly (107] is attached to the wedge (106] as fixed support in a spring loaded manner.
  • the slider (105] is assembled with the wedge
  • the wedge guiding pin (106a] is positioned and placed within the guiding rails (122] engraved in the side support frame (119] for tracking and controlling the movement of the wedge, which in turn controls the forward and backward movement of the tank assembly (107]
  • the guiding rails (122] in the support frame each comprise two tracks, i.e. upper and lower tracks (122b, 122a], the guiding pin (106a] of the wedge (106] in the slider (105] is routed in the lower track (122a] while dispensing the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104] with the downward movement of the tank assembly (107] by means of wedge movement
  • the wedge guiding pin (106a] is automatically routed and lifted up to the upper track (122b] of the guiding rails (122], which makes the wedge (106] to be moved forward to move the tank assembly (107] in forward direction in order to create a space or gap required between the tank assembly (107] and the heater plate (104], as shown in FIG.
  • 26C which shows a detailed view of movement of a wedge guiding pin in the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the required gap between the tank assembly (107] and the heater plate (104] facilitates to prevent spoilage or damage to the semi-solid liquid substance (150] already spread for cooking in the heater plate (104], when the tank assembly (107] is retraced and moved in the upward direction to reach its home position.
  • the guiding pin of the wedge (106] in the slider (105] is routed in the upper track for the upward movement of the tank assembly (107] by means of wedge movement
  • the movement of guiding pin of the wedge (106] in the upper and lower tracks can be carried out with the help of flips being provided in the guiding rails at its track ends, where the flips are implemented as one way valve.
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable drive mechanism is operated by the motor (116] and the slider or slider block (105] fixed to it for downward and upward movement of the tank assembly (107] with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • the tank assembly (107] is downwardly moved from top to bottom position by the slider (105] to uniformly spread the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104], whereas at anticlockwise direction of the motor (116], the slider (105] lifts the tank assembly (107] back to its home position, as shown in FIG. 12.
  • FIGS. 27A to 27H show detailed sequences of upward and downward movements of the slider (105] along with wedge (106] in the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] is specially designed to move the tank assembly (107] in the heater plate (104] from top to bottom position with the help of the motor (116].
  • the function of this mechanism can be achieved using low rpm motor (116] with high torque, where this rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] facilitates rapid movement with low rpm motor (116] with less noise and no vibration.
  • the present cooking apparatus (100] is implemented using a single rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] routed by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cables in the winding pulleys (115] operated by a single motor (116] and thereby the overall cooking apparatus (100] is cost efficient.
  • the same speed and same direction movement of both sliders (105] can be achieved by connecting 1 st and 3 rd routing of the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable with the sliders (105], where multiple positioning and routings can be achieved using the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable or roping system, as shown in FIGS. 25A and 25B.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank assembly (107] is primarily composed of a semi solid liquid tank (110], a feeder roller (111], a scrubber blade (112] and an extracting blade (113] or product removal blade.
  • the semi solid liquid tank (110] is designed as easily removable, which can be refrigerated with the batter stored in it.
  • the tank assembly (107] is detachably snapped into the slider wedge (106] through its tank insertion snap lock (110a], where the tank assembly (107] is operated by the rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism (114] for downward and upward movement of the tank assembly (107] with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (110] is arranged with a space to receive and store semi-solid liquid substance (150] such as dosa batter, egg batter, crepe batter, etc, as shown in FIG. 28, which shows a sectional view of semi-solid liquid filling position of the tank assembly, in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the tank is covered by a cap and is provided with an inner bottom opening for dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the tank into the feeder roller (111]
  • FIGS. 29A to 29C show a sectional view of different positions of another unique design of feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the feeder roller (111] is provided with a slot (111a] that is fixed and positioned at the bottom opening (110b] of the tank (110] to automatically collect a desired or required quantity of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the tank by means of gravitational force.
  • the feeder roller (111] is hinged into a lower extended region of the tank and is placed below the tank in such a way the slot of the feeder roller (111] is positioned to receive the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the bottom opening of the tank.
  • the feeder roller (111] is hinged and angularly rotated between home and feeding positions with respect to the heater plate (104]
  • FIGS. 30A and 30B show a detailed view of a slot in the feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the slot (111a] in the feeder roller (111] is designed with a sufficient semi-solid liquid collecting area to collect the semi solid liquid substance (150] from the tank.
  • the slot (111a] is filled with the semi solid liquid from the tank using the gravitation force with less wastage.
  • the feeder roller (111] After filling the semi solid liquid in the feeder roller (111], the feeder roller (111] is rotated by a rotary mechanism (rack and pinion mechanism] (111c] for 70 to 90 certain degree to apply (pour] the semi solid liquid substance (150]into the heater plate (104], where 90 degree is home position and 70 degree is feeding position.
  • rack and pinion mechanism a spring loaded rack and pinion (111c] are arranged in the feeder roller (111] for its auto return purpose, where the rack is routed and tracked in the auxiliary support guiding rails for rotary movement of the feeder roller (111] to be rotated between the home position and the feeding position, as shown in FIGS. 31A and 3 IB, which show a detailed view of a rack and pinion mechanism in the feeder roller (111] of the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the feeder roller (111] collects the required semi solid liquid substance (150] and the bottom opening inlet (110b] of the tank is get closed at 70 degree to avoid the excess liquid filling into the feeder slot as well as the slot outlet gets open to pour the semi solid liquid substance (150] into the surface of the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller (111] is rotated by the rotary mechanism between the home position at 70 degree and the feeding position at 90 degree.
  • the feeder roller (111] collects the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into its slot (111a] from the bottom opening (110b] of the tank.
  • the feeder roller (111] dispenses the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the slot onto the heater plate (104] and simultaneously closes the tank bottom opening to restrict excess filling of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the feeder slot (111a].
  • the feeder roller (111] After feeding the required semi-solid liquid substance (150] into the heater plate (104], the feeder roller (111] is set back to its home position by means of a spring/cam mechanism, i.e. the feeder roller (111] is rotated back to its home position by a spring/cam mechanism once the desired semi-solid liquid substance (150] to be cooked is dispensed from the feeder slot to the heater plate (104]
  • This tank and feeder roller arrangement in the cooking apparatus (100] is capable of providing uniformly dispensing and evenly distributing the semi-solid liquid substance (150] along with even added minute particles (as per specified design size] of ingredients chopping (such as vegetables, onion, leaves]
  • the scrubber blade (112] is detachably snap-locked and fixed to the side of the tank, where the scrubber blade (112] is spring loaded and linearly movable with respect to the feeder roller (111]
  • the scrubber blade (112] is placed in proximity to the outer circumference of the feeder roller (111] at its slot region (111a] in such a way that the edge of the scrubber blade (112] is in close contact with the slot area of the feeder roller (111]
  • the feeder roller (111] and the scrubber blade (112] are detachable from the batter tank (110] for easy cleaning purpose, i.e.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (110], the feeder roller (111] and the scrubber blade (112] are individually detachable from the tank assembly (107] for storing, cleaning and maintenance.
  • the purpose of scrubber blade (112] is used to remove the dried semi solid liquid which remains in the edge of the feeder roller (111] formed during the cooking process to avoid mixing of these dried batter into the fresh batter when it is applied onto the heater plate (104], as shown in FIGS. 32A to 32D, which show a detailed view of various operational movements of a scrubber blade (112] in the tank assembly (107], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the scrubber blade (112] process takes place at the time of feeder roller (111] sets back to the home position from the feeding position.
  • the scrubber blade (112] is in contact with the outer circumference of the feeder roller (111] to remove the residue of dried semi-solid liquid substance (150] in the feeder roller (111] when the feeder roller (111] is moved back to its home position.
  • the extracting blade or product removal blade (113] is hinged through a guide pin (113a] between the feeder roller (111] and the heater plate (104] to flip the extracting blade (113] towards the heater plate (104]
  • the purpose of product removal blade (113] in the tank assembly (107] is used to remove the cooked food substance (150] or product from the heater plate (104], where the extracting blade (113] is designed with a curve shape to extract and roll the cooked food product.
  • the extracting blade (113] mainly operates with a spring mechanism to flip the blade towards the heater plate (104] using the guide pin (113a] routed and travelling in the guiding track rails (109] formed in the auxiliary guiding support (108]
  • the extracting blade (113] is operated by a spring mechanism to extract the cooked substance (150] from the heater plate (104] when the tank assembly (107] is moved downwards for subsequent dispensing of the semi-solid liquid substance.
  • the tank (110] and the feeder roller slot (111a] are partitioned into a plurality of chambers (110c, 111b] each to collect different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] in it, i.e. the semi solid liquid tank (110] the feeder slot (111a] can also be designed for future partition feeding chambers (111b], as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B.
  • the partition in the semi solid liquid tank (110] and the feeder roller slot (111a] different flavors of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] can be poured into the tank and into the slot in the feeder roller (111], which results in that different flavors can be cooked as a single food substance or product (150], especially for kid’s attraction.
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is detachably attached to the outer side of the vertical supporting frame (101]
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is composed of an oil container (123], an oil pump (124] and a tube (125] for oil flow, where this oil tank assembly (107] can be easily attached and detached from the cooking apparatus (100] as per the user requirement.
  • the pump (124] is operated to pump the oil from the oil container (123] to spill the oil into the semi-solid liquid substance (150] dispensed by the feeder roller (111] with the help of oil flow tube (125], where this oil spillage process takes place when the semi solid liquid tank (110] moves from top position to bottom position.
  • the oil tank assembly (107] is arranged with an oil container (123] and is operated to uniformly spill a desired quantity of oil from the oil container (123] to the cooking semi-solid liquid substance (150] through an oil flow tube (125] while moving the tank assembly (107] along with the feeder roller (111] on the heater plate (104] from the home position to the feeding position.
  • FIGS. 33A to 33K show working principles and sequences of various functional movements of the tank assembly (107] in the automatic cooking apparatus (100], in accordance with a secondary design aspect of second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • Working principle of the automatic cooking apparatus (100] Initially, the detachable scrubber blade (112] and the feeder roller (111] are fixed with the tank in the tank assembly (107] The cap is removed from the tank to fill the semi-solid liquid into the tank, and then the tank assembly (107] is fixed into the vertical supporting frame (101] of the cooking apparatus (100] The cooking apparatus (100] is powered on by pressing a start button and is initially operated to pre-check the movement to ensure the cooking operation sequence and to make the complete position ready.
  • the heaters of the heater plate (104] is switched-ON, where the required temperature is set for cooking using a temperature controller (not shown] as well as the number of food substances or products (150] to be dispensed is selected using a rotary knob (not shown]
  • the tank assembly (107] is downwardly moved till the bottom of the heater plate (104] and the feeder roller (111] is simultaneously rotated at the feeding position towards the heater plate (104] for automatic dispense of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the feeder slot due to gravitational force, which uniformly spreads the semi-solid liquid substance (150] to be cooked on the heater plate (104]
  • the feeder roller (111] is set back to its home position (filling position] and collects the semi-solid liquid substance (150] for the next process.
  • the food product shape and thickness can be controlled by the feeding roller through the gravitational force.
  • the roast level is selected accordingly by selecting a temperature control knob (not shown], where the food product can be cooked in the heater plate (104] at the set temperature for set time.
  • the specialty of this gravity feeder roller (111] is to collect more than the required amount of semi-solid liquid from the tank to cook the required quantity of food product over the heater plate (104], where the remaining semi solid liquid substance (150] can be stored back in the feeder roller (111] Then, the feeder roller (111] is moved and rotated to the filling position to fill the semi-solid liquid from the tank to do the next simultaneous process.
  • the main advantage of this concept is to handle the large variants of viscosity of liquids.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (110] moves forward to create a required gap between the heater plate (104] and the semi-solid liquid tank (110] (approx. 8.5 mm].
  • the tank assembly (107] moves backward to its home position (bottom position to top position] for doing next simultaneous process, by this time the product removal blade gets flipped just before the home position and gets ready to remove the product from the heater plate (104]
  • the tank starts moving downwards to do the next process.
  • the product removal blade starts to remove the printed product which is already in the heater plate (104] and the feeder roller (111] starts to dispense the second semi-solid liquid substance (150] at the heater plate (104]
  • the tank assembly (107] is actuated in backward direction at the home position to be in close proximity to the heater plate (104] for subsequent feeding of the semi-solid liquid substance (150] from the feeder roller (111] on the heater plate (104] and simultaneously the extracting blade (113] is flipped to extract the cooked substance (150] from the heater plate (104] to a collecting tray (126] Both the cooking and extracting process is done simultaneously to reduce the product preparation time.
  • the above process can be done simultaneously till before feeding the last food product.
  • the product removal blade is set back a level below the home position (product cooking initial point] and the blade gets flipped, the product gets removed from the heater plate (104]
  • the product collection tray 126
  • all the semi-solid liquid tank (110], the feeder roller (111], the scrubber blade (112], the extracting blade (113] and the product collection tray are detached and removed for cleaning purposes. Further, the semi-solid liquid tank (110] with the remaining semi-solid liquid substance (150] can be stored back in the refrigerator for future application.
  • the present automatic cooking apparatus (100] is used in two modes, i.e. automatic mode and manual mode.
  • automatic mode the cooking apparatus (100] is vertically or slantingly positioned with the help of foldable positioning leg (103] and used for cooking any kind of semi-solid liquid substance (150] being dispensed from the tank through the feeder roller (111] Further, the cooking apparatus (100] can also be wall mounted or used as table top in the vertical position.
  • manual mode the cooking apparatus (100] is horizontally placed on the table without the batter tank assembly (107], which enables the cooking apparatus (100] to be used as normal heater plate (104] to cook chapatti, breads, etc.
  • FIG. 34 shows another exemplary illustration of an automatic cooking apparatus, in accordance with a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
  • the present invention envisages a cooking apparatus (100] that broadly comprises of a semi-solid liquid tank (10], a feeder motor (15], an easily removable and washable feeder blade (20], a feeder blade driving system (25], a hot plate (30], an auto cleaning blade (35], a product as well as waste collecting tray (40], and a foldable leg (45] that enables the cooking apparatus (100] to change positions as per the requirement
  • the feeder blade are first washed, cleaned and fitted into the apparatus (100]
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (10] is filled with adequate proportion of required semi solid material, and is configured to operate as semi solid material feeding component of the apparatus (100]
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (10] broadly includes a liquid container (10a] and a feeder roller (10b] that further includes a feeder motor (15] and at one slot (10c]
  • the feeder roller (10b] is configured to connect with the feeder motor (15].
  • This feeder roller setup is removable from semi-solid liquid tank (10] for easy cleaning purposes.
  • a space (10c] is defined in the feeder roller (10b] as a slot which can be replaceable with a measuring cup to vary the thickness of the final product to be prepared.
  • the selected measuring cup is filled with the semi-solid liquid material fed from the tank (10] using the gravitational force with minimal scope of wastage.
  • the unique design of this measuring cup makes it suitable for easy replacement with other kinds of quantity measuring cups.
  • the feeder roller (10b] is removable and interchangeable for varying the quantity of semi-solid liquid material to be used. This is achieved by varying the slot depth, width and slot details as discussed in aforementioned paragraph.
  • the feeder roller (10b] After filling the semi-solid liquid in the measuring cup, the feeder roller (10b] is configured to be rotated by the feeder motor (15] to almost 180 degree to pour the semi-solid liquid material on to the hot plate (30]
  • the semi-solid liquid collecting position and feeding position from the tank (10] is depicted in Fig. 36A.
  • the feeder roller (10b] is then set back to its home position automatically using a spring mechanism or a motor after pouring the semi-solid liquid material on to the hot plate (30] to repeat the process.
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (10] is provided with an opening (10d] at its bottom region in such a way the slot (10c] of the feeder roller (10b] is appropriately positioned with respect to the opening (10d] at the bottom region of the tank (10] while rotating the feeder roller (10b] into the feeding position for dispensing the semi-solid material into the hot plate (30] [00170]
  • the apparatus (100] collects and feeds the semi-solid liquid material in single direction by way of the single rotation of the feeder roller (10b] by means of single direction feeder motor (15].
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (10] and feeder roller (10b] can also be designed to include plurality of partition feedings (10e] as in Fig. 36B. Even minute particles of ingredients chopping (such as vegetables, onion, leaves] can be added which will be evenly distributed by uniform dispensing.
  • the speed of semi-solid liquid motor (15] is adjusted to select the thickness of semi-solid liquid material to be dispensed into the feeding system via a thickness selection knob.
  • the temperature control knob is deployed to select and adjust the roast level required in the final product.
  • the gravity feeder blade (20] is configured to perform the exact measurement of semi-solid liquid material, and distribute the exact filling for the required quantity acceptable for different kinds and variety of products.
  • the product is cooked on the hot plate (30] at the set temperature for a predetermined time. Once the material is uniformly spread, the remaining semi solid liquid on the feeder blade (20] will be automatically cleaned by auto cleaning blade (35] and the remaining material is collected by the collecting tray (40]
  • a rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable pulley driven feeder blade driving system (25] is designed to move the feeder blade (20] on the hot plate (30] from top to bottom position with the help of the feeder blade motor (26]
  • the function of this mechanism can be achieved using low rpm feeder blade motor (26] with high torque. Consequently, the feeder blade motor (26] creates no vibration and no sound and achieves the desired function with the help of single or multiple pulley/ pulleys (27] connected with said motor (26]
  • the present disclosure simply makes use of a single rack & pinion/ timer belt/ cable mechanism to overcome these challenges. Accordingly, during the clockwise direction of the motor (26], the guiding block (28] moves from top to bottom position to spread the semi-solid liquid material, and in the anticlockwise direction the guiding block (28] takes the feeder blade (20] to back to its home position, as shown in Fig. 37 to Figs. 38A-38C collectively.
  • the feeder blade (20] will set back to the home position to receive the semi-solid liquid for next cycle which may prepare the same final product or some other kind of product.
  • the semi-solid liquid it will start spreading the desired ingredients on the hot plate (30], and at the same time start dispensing the previously prepared product which was still left on the hot plate (30]
  • the final product is then collected by the collecting tray (40] The process is repeated simultaneously up to the selected quantity.
  • the feeder blade (20], collecting tray (40], the auto cleaning blade (35] can be cleaned at cleaning area (35a]
  • the semi-solid liquid tank (10] is configured to hold the material in a condition that allows it to be stored back in the refrigerator for subsequent use.
  • Both of the working embodiments of present disclosure provides for two working modes of the apparatus, namely automatic mode and the manual mode.
  • the automatic mode can be used for cooking any kind of semi-solid liquid food like dosa, omelet, crepe etc.
  • the apparatus (100] is configured to be positioned in varying directions aka vertical, slant, or any desired inclination using the flexible foldable leg (45]
  • the apparatus (100] can even be wall mounted or used as table top. However, in the manual mode, the machine can only be placed horizontally on the table.
  • the apparatus (100] functions merely as a normal hotplate (30]
  • the feeder blade (20] is designed in such a way so as to make it easily attachable and detachable from the cooking apparatus.
  • the feeder blade (20] is configured to collect the semi-solid liquid material from the feeder roller (10b] and spread the material evenly on the hot plate (30] in accordance with the thickness and roast levels provided by the user. This even semi-solid liquid spreading is done using the gravitational force which is controlled by the movement of feeder blade (20] and varying positioning angles of the cooking apparatus (100]
  • the function of the auto cleaning blade (35] is to collect the dry semi solid liquid in the feeder blade (20] at its tip after spreading.
  • the specialty of this auto cleaning blade (35] is to remove the dried semi-solid liquid from the feeder blade (20] for uniform spreading of said semi-solid liquid material.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Baking, Grill, Roasting (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un appareil automatique de distribution et de cuisson (100], qui comprend une plaque chauffante (104] placée entre les châssis de support latéraux d'un châssis vertical. Une cuve de liquide semi-solide (1] est fixée au sommet du châssis vertical pour stocker la substance liquide semi-solide. Un ensemble d'alimentation (2] est fixé aux bords coulissants (4] sur les châssis de support latéraux pour le mouvement vers le bas et vers le haut de l'ensemble d'alimentation. L'ensemble d'alimentation comprend un mécanisme d'alimentation (2a] ayant une fente (2b] pour recueillir la substance liquide semi-solide depuis la cuve, et une lame d'extraction (3] placée adjacente au mécanisme d'alimentation pour extraire le produit cuit de la plaque chauffante. L'ensemble d'alimentation est déplacé vers le bas sur la plaque chauffante et le mécanisme d'alimentation est simultanément tourné vers la plaque chauffante depuis sa position initiale vers sa position d'alimentation pour la distribution automatique de la substance liquide semi-solide depuis la fente d'alimentation dû à la force de gravité. Ainsi, un tel appareil de cuisson est susceptible d'atteindre une distribution uniforme et de commander la substance de cuisson d'une manière facile et économique à l'aide de la force de gravité.
PCT/IN2019/050240 2018-04-22 2019-03-25 Appareil automatique de distribution et de cuisson et procédé associé WO2019207592A1 (fr)

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IN201841015208 2018-04-22

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Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2021229601A1 (fr) * 2020-05-11 2021-11-18 Priya Senthilnathan Madhura Appareil de cuisson automatique en forme de disque, et son procédé de fonctionnement

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2021229601A1 (fr) * 2020-05-11 2021-11-18 Priya Senthilnathan Madhura Appareil de cuisson automatique en forme de disque, et son procédé de fonctionnement

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