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WO2017218564A1 - Systèmes et procédés de cuisine automatisée comprenant la gestion et la distibution d'un stock de transporteur à des dispositifs de cuisson - Google Patents

Systèmes et procédés de cuisine automatisée comprenant la gestion et la distibution d'un stock de transporteur à des dispositifs de cuisson Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017218564A1
WO2017218564A1 PCT/US2017/037295 US2017037295W WO2017218564A1 WO 2017218564 A1 WO2017218564 A1 WO 2017218564A1 US 2017037295 W US2017037295 W US 2017037295W WO 2017218564 A1 WO2017218564 A1 WO 2017218564A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
food products
delivery
cooking device
cooking
uncooked food
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US2017/037295
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Melissa M. Hohler
Kendall L. OLINGER
Steven V. Ricca
Thomas M. Smith
Ares Marasligiller
Joshua A. FRANK
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Henny Penny Corp
Original Assignee
Henny Penny Corp
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 Henny Penny Corp filed Critical Henny Penny Corp
Publication of WO2017218564A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017218564A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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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
    • A47J37/00—Baking; Roasting; Grilling; Frying
    • A47J37/12—Deep fat fryers, e.g. for frying fish or chips
    • A47J37/1228—Automatic machines for frying and dispensing metered amounts of food

Definitions

  • This application relates generally to food product delivery, cooking, and ordering apparatuses and methods, such as in the commercial restaurant and kitchen setting. More specifically, the application relates to apparatuses and methods for improving food product production efficiency and speed while substantially reducing space requirements for refrigerated storage and delivery of food products to cooking devices.
  • Restaurants and commercial kitchens often include a variety of systems and stations for storing, preparing, cooking and delivering food products to customers.
  • cooking apparatuses such as fryers are used to cook various food products, e.g., poultry, fish, potato products, and the like.
  • Conventional designs for commercial kitchens require food products to be carried or transported as needed from a climate controlled area to a cooking apparatus, and then from the cooking apparatus to downstream preparation and/or delivery stations.
  • the food products are often stockpiled in a large refrigerated area, requiring a significant amount of storage space within the restaurant.
  • Employees are often responsible for maintaining and organizing all food product within the climate controlled area, which can be a significant burden on the time employees have to work in a given shift.
  • these systems are typically limited in output production of food product by the size of the cooking systems and the lack of adaptability to consumer demand.
  • the fryer may include one or more cooking chambers, e.g., fryer pots or vats, which may be filled with a cooking medium, e.g. , an oil, a liquid shortening, or a meltable- solid shortening.
  • a cooking medium e.g. , an oil, a liquid shortening, or a meltable- solid shortening.
  • Such a fryer also may include a heating element, e.g., an electrical heating element, such as a heating coil, or a gas heating element, such as a gas burner and gas conveying tubes, which heat the cooking medium in the cooking chamber. After the cooking medium reaches a preset cooking temperature, the food products are placed into the cooking medium such that the foods products are cooked in the cooking medium.
  • the food products may be positioned inside a container, e.g. , a wire basket, and submerged in the cooking medium for a predetermined amount of time sufficient to cook the food products.
  • a container e.g. , a wire basket
  • these fryers typically are limited in product throughput based on the space available for receiving baskets or similar containers, and while food products are cooking in the fryer pots or vats, the next batches must wait for the cooking cycle to be done to open space for handling the increased demand.
  • An automated kitchen system for fulfilling customer orders, the system including at least one cooking device and a feed system that automatically feeds uncooked food products into the cooking device without human operator intervention.
  • the cooking device then feeds cooked food products to a preparation and packaging station.
  • the feed system can include delivery pods with vacuum ribbon packaging that can continuous feed the uncooked food products to the cooking devices, and these delivery pods can be reused and replenished every day based on product use of the automated kitchen system.
  • the feed system can include a cooled conveyor stock handling system that routes storage boxes of uncooked food products to delivery chutes where the uncooked food products are released to the cooking devices. Thus, no human contact or action with the supply of uncooked food products is required to operate the cooking devices.
  • an automated kitchen system includes at least one cooking device configured to receive uncooked food products and produce cooked food products.
  • the system also includes a preparation and packaging station that receives the cooked food products from the at least one cooking device such that the cooked food products can be packaged for fulfilling the customer orders, and a feed system operatively coupled to the at least one cooking device.
  • the feed system includes a plurality of delivery pods containing uncooked food products, the delivery pods being configured to automatically feed the uncooked food products into the at least one cooking device without necessitating a human operator intervention.
  • the delivery pods are configured to provide a maximum capacity supply of uncooked food products to the at least one cooking device for at least a period of time greater than a mealtime peak demand period.
  • FIG. 1 is a top perspective schematic view of an automated kitchen system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention, the kitchen system including a plurality of fryers feeding a packaging station island and a service counter of the restaurant.
  • FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the kitchen system of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 3 is a side view of the feed system and fryer in accordance with options that may be used in the automated kitchen system of FIG. 1.
  • FIG. 4 is a front cross sectional view of one of the feed systems shown in FIG. 3, including a stack of delivery pods with vacuum sealed ribbon product packaging therein.
  • FIG. 5 is a top view of ribbon product packaging stored in the feed systems of FIG. 4.
  • FIG. 6 is a top perspective schematic view of an automated kitchen system in accordance with another embodiment of the invention, the kitchen system including a cooled conveyor stock handling system supplying food product to fryers and other cooking devices.
  • FIG. 7A is a partially cut away perspective view of a product storage box being conveyed within the cooled conveyor stock handling system towards a gate mechanism located at a cooking device to be supplied with food product.
  • FIG. 7B is a view similar to FIG. 7A, but with the product storage box being moved over the gate mechanism and into position for dispensing food products into a chute below the gate mechanism.
  • FIG. 7C is a view similar to FIG. 7B, but with an opening plate of the gate mechanism withdrawn backwards to open the product storage box to dispense the food products therein.
  • FIG. 7D is a side cross sectional view of the product storage box, gate mechanism, and cooled conveyor stock handling system of FIG. 7C, revealing the staged discharge of food products from compartments within the product storage box caused by the gate mechanism.
  • FIG. 8 is a perspective partially exploded view of a product storage box similar to the one shown in FIG. 7A, and a movement cart for enabling movement in alternative versions of the cooled conveyor stock handling system.
  • FIG. 9A is a perspective view of a plurality of different product storage boxes in a first arrangement for efficient shipping to a restaurant having the cooled conveyor stock handling system.
  • FIG. 9B is a perspective view of a plurality of different product storage boxes in a second arrangement.
  • FIG. 9C is a perspective view of a plurality of different product storage boxes in a third arrangement.
  • FIG. 9D is a perspective view of a plurality of different product storage boxes in a fourth arrangement.
  • FIG. 10 is a partially cut away perspective view of a product storage box being located at a gate mechanism of a cooled conveyor stock handling system according to another embodiment, the system also including air supply for delivery into the product storage box.
  • FIG. 11 A is a product storage box for holding multiple compartments of food products in accordance with another embodiment, the storage box including a removable bottom panel engaged with a remainder of the storage box.
  • FIG. 1 IB is a partially exploded view of the product storage box after a tear string or tape is removed to release the removable bottom.
  • FIG. 12 is a partially exploded view of a product storage box in accordance with another embodiment, with a removable bottom panel being separated following cutting with a roller- type blade.
  • FIG. 13 is a perspective view of an open bottom of the product storage box of the embodiments above following separation of the removable bottom panel, the product storage box including multiple rows of compartments for holding food products.
  • FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an open bottom of another version of the product storage box of the embodiments above following separation of the removable bottom panel, the product storage box having a row of separated compartments for holding food products.
  • Embodiments of the invention are directed to automated kitchen systems and methods, and in particular, systems and methods configured for improving the operational efficiencies in space and time used for preparing and delivering food products to customers.
  • the automated kitchen system includes multiple stations interconnected and communicating with one another, such that varying demands detected at points of sale can lead to increases in food production rate to handle any spikes or drops in the demand.
  • the storage, cooking, and delivery of food products to cooking devices from cooled storage, and from cooking devices to final prep stations is handled by conveyors and other automatic processes, thereby avoiding the need for significant employee handling or intervention during these stages of the food preparation.
  • the automated kitchen system is configured to provide higher quality food product while increasing the efficiency of use of employee hours while working at the restaurant. Further details of the invention will now be set forth in additional detail as pertains to the delivery pods, product packaging, and conveyor systems for providing uncooked food products to a plurality of cooking devices within the kitchen system.
  • FIGS. 1 through 5 depict an automated kitchen system 10 in accordance with a first embodiment.
  • the automated kitchen system 10 includes at least one cooking device in the form of a multi lane fryer 12 configured to cook a first type of food product (a protein such as a chicken patty, in the example shown), and at least one multi lane fryer 14 configured to cook a second type of food product (a potato product such as French fries, in the example shown).
  • a first type of food product a protein such as a chicken patty, in the example shown
  • a multi lane fryer 14 configured to cook a second type of food product (a potato product such as French fries, in the example shown).
  • Each of these multi lane fryers 12, 14 is a cooking device that is fed food product by refrigerated feed systems 16, containing a plurality of delivery pods 30 with uncooked food product, described in further detail below.
  • the multi lane fryers 12, 14 are also coupled to heated conveyor systems 18 that transport cooked food products to further locations, which may include a packaging station island 20 for the first type of food product as well as a service counter 22 at the front end of the kitchen system 10 for the second type of food product.
  • a packaging station island 20 for the first type of food product as well as a service counter 22 at the front end of the kitchen system 10 for the second type of food product.
  • the service counter 22 and front end of the kitchen system 10 are also where cashier stations 24 are located to define order receiving devices, e.g., they are located to receive and deliver customer orders for the food products.
  • cashier stations 24 and other similar points of sale are in communication with the control systems of the multi lane fryers 12, 14, which allows for increases and decreases in product demand to be automatically compensated for by the cooking equipment within the kitchen.
  • the automated kitchen system 10 may adapt production to the customer demand, specifically by using the controllers of the multi lane fryers 12, 14 to increase food production rates or decrease rates in accordance with the current demand.
  • Order data (as well as other input data) from the cashier stations 24 and other points of sale may be collected and tabulated in real time to determine an ideal level of production for the multi lane fryers 12, 14 and any other connected cooking equipment that may also be used in the kitchen system 10 (not shown in FIG. 1).
  • the cashier stations 24 or some other system controller then sends signals via wireless radio frequency communication or a similar medium to the controllers of the multi lane fryers 12, 14 to change food production rates to match the ideal level currently calculated to be present.
  • the interconnectivity of the elements of the automated kitchen system 10 assures that the system 10 can meet the required production, to thereby avoid significant delays in delivering food orders to the customers. Moreover, the responsiveness of the automated kitchen system 10 mimics a "just-in-time" delivery system without necessitating employee or human interaction and controls to adjust for varying demand levels.
  • each of the multi lane fryers 12, 14 is configured to operate one or more independently- actuatable cooking lanes to increase or decrease the total production rate in accordance with the demands communicated in the closed loop interconnected systems.
  • the multi lane fryers 12, 14 are automatically fed uncooked food products from the delivery pods 30 to meet the demands communicated in the closed loop interconnected systems.
  • the multi lane fryers 12, 14 deliver the cooked food products to the heated conveyor systems 18, which include multiple lanes or conduits leading to the different final prep stations (the packaging station island 20 and the service counter 22). It will be understood that more or fewer conveyor paths than what is shown in FIG. 1 may be included in other embodiments of the kitchen system 10.
  • the heated conveyor systems 18 may define an enclosed temperature-controlled conduit as shown more clearly at the top of FIG. 2, the temperature and/or humidity being controlled to maintain the quality of the food products as they are delivered to the next stations.
  • the delivery pods 30 in this embodiment contain a vacuum sealed ribbon product packaging 32 (also referred to as vacuum ribbon packaging 32) that can be automatically fed from the refrigerated feed systems 16 to cooking devices like the multi lane fryers 12, 14, to thereby keep each lane of the fryers 12, 14 fed with food product to be cooked.
  • uncooked food products 34 may be vacuum sealed between two sheets of sleeve material defining the vacuum ribbon packaging 32. The uncooked food products 34 may be portioned into separate servings or amounts so that batches of food product can be cooked when needed at the fryers 12, 14 based on customer orders and level of demand.
  • the separate servings of batches of uncooked food products 34 are connected to one another in a ribbon-like arrangement for continuous feed into cooking devices such as the fryers 12, 14.
  • cooking devices such as the fryers 12, 14.
  • Alternative product storage boxes and delivery systems for these and other types of cooking devices may also be used as described with respect to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 through 14 below.
  • FIGS. 3 through 5 illustrate some additional features and examples of the refrigerated feed systems 16 and one embodiment of the product packaging used to deliver the uncooked food products into the multi lane fryers 12, 14 or other cooking devices in the kitchen (not shown in the schematic views for the sake of simplicity in illustration).
  • the refrigerated feed systems 16 are in a climate-controlled region 36 of the restaurant on the same level as the fryers 12, 14 or in a sub-basement, depending on the restaurant configuration.
  • a delivery truck provides grouped stacks of delivery pods 30 filled with uncooked food product based on the estimated daily use for the restaurant, and these delivery pods 30 may be arranged so that the stacks are ordered for use throughout the working day.
  • climate control of delivery pods 30 may occur on a singular pod basis, on a multiple pod basis, or on a whole delivery basis. After delivery, pods are stored until the uncooked food products are needed for supplying the cooking devices.
  • the climate controlled storage area 36 may be located anywhere near the automated cooking devices. In some non-limiting embodiments, the climate controlled storage area 36 is on the same floor as the automated cooking loop. In such a case, a transportation track may move food product from the pods 30 to the automated cooking devices. Alternatively, food products stored in vacuum ribbon packaging 32 can be fed directly from the delivery pods 30 into an inlet of the fryers 12, 14 as shown in FIG. 3. In other non-limiting embodiments, the climate controlled storage area 36 is on a different floor than the automated cooking devices, in which case the path of movement for the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 (or the transportation track) is simply longer in length.
  • the uncooked food products stored therein are provided to the restaurant in a state ready for automated feed and use by the cooking devices in the kitchen system 10.
  • This arrangement in FIG. 3 advantageously avoids the need for human touch or interaction with the food product at any stage between unloading from the delivery pod 30 until final prep and packaging following movement of cooked food products through the heated conveyor systems 18 described above.
  • multiple delivery pods 30 may be placed in a connected stack 38 with the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 of each delivery pod 30 connected to one another to form a generally continuous supply in the entire stack 38.
  • stacking three of the delivery pods 30 in a stack 38 allows for 3 hours or more of continuous operation without needing a human operator to manage the supply within the refrigerated feed system 16. That time period is sufficient to make it through a lunch rush or dinner rush period at a restaurant, enabling supply actions to be conducted during off-peak hours or around the time of shift changes for the employees.
  • the delivery pods 30 may be stacked on a cart 40 as shown in FIG.
  • Similar stacks of delivery pods 30 containing potato products can also be used to supply different fryers for 3 hours or more (typically each delivery pod 30 holds about 120 pounds of that type of product).
  • the stacks 38 of connected delivery pods 30 generally contain one type of food product to be supplied to a single cooking device, and each stack 38 or individual delivery pod 30 (when a full stack 38 is not necessary) can be connected to the associated cooking device using transportation tracks or the vacuum ribbon packaging 32, as described briefly above.
  • FIG. 4 The stacking of the continuous vacuum ribbon packaging 32 within the delivery pods 30 is shown in more detail in FIG. 4.
  • twenty four layers of food product within the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 (folded over on itself in layers) can be held within the interior of a delivery pod 30.
  • the movement of the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 may be driven at varying rates using perforated opposing edges 42 of the packaging 32 as shown in FIG. 5.
  • the separation by vacuum sealing of a plurality of rows of uncooked food product 34 (chicken patties), is also shown in this top view of the vacuum ribbon packaging 32, and it will be understood that such separate rows are designed to feed multi lane fryers 12, 14 and similar cooking devices.
  • the two sheets of sleeve material defining the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 may be formed from different types of materials in different embodiments.
  • the sleeve material may be configured to be removed by peeling rollers (not shown) placed adjacent inlets of the cooking devices like the multi lane fryers 12, 14. The peeling rollers release each batch or individual portion of uncooked food product 34 for movement through the cooking device, such as by further internal conveyor devices and the like, and the sleeve material is collected for recycling.
  • other embodiments may form the sleeve material from a constituent part of the cooking medium or oil used in a fryer-type cooking device.
  • the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 simply melts off the uncooked food products 34 upon entry into the cooking device, similar to the outer sleeve of a dishwasher tablet.
  • the melted sleeve material is then routed into the vat of the fryer as an oil supply, for example. It will be appreciated that other methods of removing and handling the sleeve material may be used in still further embodiments.
  • One specific example of different types of food products stored in delivery pods 30 and stacks 38 for a chicken restaurant is now provided for the sake of clarity and explaining one method in which the present invention has been developed for use.
  • One food product to be cooked in such a setting is chicken filets, and these can be organized within the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 in individual filets, such as in sheets of 4 filets by 5 rows. If 24 layers of the sheets are provided in a delivery pod 30, that would provide 480 filets or about 120 pounds of food product, which may be over an hour of maximum capacity supply.
  • the filets are provided in at least a 3 -hour supply before operator intervention is necessary.
  • Smaller size breakfast filets may be packaged in a similar manner, but with each layer having 8 filets by 5 rows, again resulting in about 120 pounds of food product within a delivery pod 30.
  • three pound portions are vacuum sealed together in 2 rows on 6X12 ribbon sheet and stored so as to have 72 pounds per delivery pod 30 (the pods may be smaller in size so as to make larger stacks to fulfill three hours of maximum capacity).
  • individual strip portions are separated in the vacuum ribbon packaging 32 and provided in similar overall quantities as the chicken nuggets.
  • the same restaurant may also use fryers 12, 14 to make French fries and hash browns or other potato products. Such potato products are typically stored in 5 pound portions separated by the vacuum ribbon packaging 32.
  • the potato products may be located in 2 rows of product on the vacuum ribbon packaging 32.
  • a restaurant can achieve maximum production rates in this example of over 450 pounds of chicken products per hour along with over 250 pounds of potato products per hour.
  • the delivery pods 30 are tailored for providing continuous automated stock to cooking devices in automated kitchen systems 10 like the one shown in the Figures, and also for providing approximately the amount of uncooked food products 34 that a restaurant will need on a daily (or other periodic) basis.
  • the delivery pods 30 can be delivered on the morning of or day before the food products are needed for cooking and use.
  • the amount of delivery pods 30 unloaded by the truck into the refrigerated feed system 16 is equivalent to a maximum daily capacity of the restaurant.
  • the delivery pods 30 can then be restocked every day based on what has been used/served the previous day, which is monitored when using the closed loop interconnectivity of the automated kitchen system 10. Restocks could occur more or less frequently as well in other embodiments, such as twice a day. Therefore, a restaurant can be confident that it will always be able to serve customers, even on a maximum daily capacity day, while not requiring detailed management and storage of various products in different stocking amounts.
  • delivery pods 30 of food product may be delivered based on daily production projections that may be generated using other means outside the automated kitchen system 10. Projections may be compiled using data analytics regarding, for example, geographic location, time of delivery, and consumption projections. These projections may be defined differently for different stores receiving product from a supplier, so the product mix and quantities delivered in a group of pods 30 can be configured for individual stores and days of the week at the supplier step. Furthermore, the delivery pods 30 may be in a logistical order when delivered from the truck, according to expected demand. In one example, to facilitate efficient food production, delivery pods 30 containing breakfast food product may be oriented in the delivery truck such that they may be utilized before delivery pods 30 containing lunch food product.
  • the preferred embodiment includes food product in vacuum ribbon packaging 32
  • other types of vacuum packaging or bulk packaging of the food products within the delivery pods 30 may be used in other embodiments of the invention (e.g., for items where automated feed into the cooking device is not yet possible).
  • the feature of the delivery pods 30 being delivered based on daily production projections on a just- in-time basis is maintained, so that the overall workload of employees in managing refrigerated stock is significantly reduced.
  • the delivery pods 30 are therefore a different approach compared to traditional supplier packaging of food products, which typically comes in bulk amounts such as thirty pound boxes of product.
  • the delivery pods 30 can be organized in stacks 38 of the same product as set forth above, and placed into cubes containing the delivery pods 30 for multiple products in a 3X3 grid or the like (3X4 and 3X2 shown in FIG. 1).
  • Each delivery pod 30 may define a cubic foot, which would make a 3X3 grid approximately 3 foot in all directions.
  • the delivery pod 30 may have different dimensions and shapes as well. That is a manageable use of space and limits the total floorplan area needed in a restaurant for climate-controlled storage, particularly in view of the food products being tightly packed in layers as described above. As a result, the large refrigeration bays and freezers in current restaurant designs may be replaced with smaller spaces defining the climate-controlled areas 36 when utilizing the automated kitchen system 10 of this invention.
  • the grids of cube-shaped delivery pods 30 also allow for easy reconfigurations of the product supply provided in a shipment to a restaurant on any day, again, for the purposes of tailoring the supply to the needs of the restaurant. Likewise, if more than three delivery pods 30 in a stack 38 are required to meet a daily demand for a product, the additional delivery pods 30 or stacks 38 can be arranged in a row within the grid to make it easy to access and use the same type of products when the first stack 38 runs out of the product.
  • the daily batch of delivery pods 30 is thus configured to minimize the amount of organization and employee labor needed to manage supply of uncooked food products to the cooking devices in the kitchen.
  • the delivery pods 30 are further designed to be reusable, and as such, when a daily delivery of a batch of pods 30 is dropped off at a restaurant, the supplier's truck can load up the emptied delivery pods 30 for cleaning, sterilization, and reuse.
  • the delivery pods 30 may be formed from a resilient plastic material or a similar material that is capable of withstanding a plurality of shipping, filling, and use cycles. This use of delivery pods 30 eliminates a large amount of packaging waste in the form of cardboard boxes that are typically used to deliver the bulk products to a restaurant. That allows a restaurant to be more cost efficient and space efficient as well.
  • FIGS. 6 through 14 Another embodiment of an automated kitchen system 50 is shown in FIGS. 6 through 14.
  • This embodiment of the kitchen system 50 includes a cooled conveyor stock handling system 52 that may be used in conjunction with or in place of the delivery pods 30 and refrigerated feed systems 16 described in the previous embodiment.
  • a cooled conveyor stock handling system 52 may be used in conjunction with or in place of the delivery pods 30 and refrigerated feed systems 16 described in the previous embodiment.
  • some products may be better handled by delivery in product storage boxes 54 in the cooled conveyor stock handling system 52, while other products (such as those automatically fed to the cooking devices like multi lane fryers 12, 14) are better handled using the delivery pod 30 system of supply.
  • FIGS. 6 and 7 A through 7D the cooled conveyor stock handling system 52 in accordance with one exemplary embodiment is shown in further detail.
  • the stock handling system 52 enables the uncooked product to be conveyed to cooking devices like the fryers 12, 14 without substantially any human operator action or intervention.
  • the overall product movement path is shown schematically as a straight-line path in FIG. 6, as only two fryers 12, 14 are shown.
  • the conveyors and overhead conduits defining the stock handling system 52 can include multiple branches and more terminal ends to feed uncooked food product to a plurality of different types of cooking devices in different kitchens than the one shown.
  • Storage boxes 54 contain frozen or uncooked food product and are loaded from a delivery truck into an inlet end of a conveyor conduit 56.
  • the product boxes 54 then move along rollers 60 or some other conveyor element along a path between the inlet end and an outlet end, which may be located adjacent and/or above a cooking device inlet such as an inlet chute 58 for the fryers 12, 14 described above.
  • the conveyor rollers 60 and the boxes 54 stored on the rollers 60 may be surrounded by the conveyor conduit 56 along an entire path of movement, the conveyor conduit 56 defined by an insulated housing with forced air cooling or some other known refrigeration mechanism.
  • the total length of the conveyor conduit 56 and/or the cooled conveyor stock handling system 52 may be pre-stocked with a day's supply or more of uncooked food product waiting for cooking and preparation.
  • the stock handling system 52 includes a plurality of conveyor conduits 56 built into the upper overhead space of a restaurant or building
  • product storage and delivery to cooking devices can be achieved automatically without necessitating manual loading or movements between a bulk freezer/refrigerator storage space and the working kitchen space. This reduces employee time spent on managing uncooked food product inventory and supply to cooking devices, making the restaurant more efficient overall.
  • the use of the stock handling system 52 with the cooled conveyor conduits 56 automatically enables first in, first out use of food product as a result of the continual movement towards the cooking devices.
  • the food products stay cooled or frozen because of refrigeration provided within the conveyor conduits 56.
  • the forced air cooling may also be supplemented by chilled plate cooling or focused cold air jet cooling in some embodiments.
  • the storage boxes 54 may be marked with barcodes, RFID tags 62, or similar identifiers, and the stock handling system 52 may be configured with scanners to read such identifiers to monitor and control movement of food products through the stock handling system 52.
  • conveyor conduit 56 when the conveyor conduit 56 is made to branch in several locations from a single input end, different food products in different storage boxes 54 may be routed to different conveyor conduits 56 and different cooking devices based on identification with the barcode or RFID tags 62, or the like.
  • the result is to fully automate or substantially fully automate the local storage of food products and movement of those food products to the cooking devices.
  • FIGS. 7A through 7D One example of how the product storage boxes 54 may be unloaded at the terminal end of a conveyor conduit 56 is shown in detailed steps in FIGS. 7A through 7D.
  • the storage boxes 54 may be customized to enable automated discharge of the food product from one or more internal compartments, as well as air flow spaces to assure cooling energy is provided throughout the entirety of the food product stored in the boxes.
  • the boxes 54 include a removable bottom panel 64 that can be opened by a slide gate mechanism 70 at the outlet end.
  • a slide gate mechanism 70 selectively blocks and opens an opening in the conveyor conduit 56 to release different compartments of product to a delivery chute such as the inlet chute 58 or another similar element that guides food product flow to one or more cooking devices.
  • a delivery chute such as the inlet chute 58 or another similar element that guides food product flow to one or more cooking devices.
  • the internal compartments of the storage boxes 54 may be resized and reconfigured to meet the specifications and needs of end users.
  • the food products are shown schematically as waffle fries 72 contained in several separated internal compartments 66 (see FIG. 7D).
  • the release of product from the internal compartments 66 of the storage box 54 is controlled by an opening plate 74 of the slide gate mechanism 70, which is positioned adjacent the bottom of the storage box 54 when the rollers 60 move the storage box 54 above the inlet chute 58.
  • the opening plate 74 includes a lip portion 76 that is engaged by the storage box 54 as it moves in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 7A.
  • the movement is in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7B. That movement forces the lip portion 76 to tear away the removable bottom panel 64 of the storage box 54 as it moves along the length of the storage box 54 (because the storage box 54 is retained in the desired position by a locking device or some equivalent, as will be understood in the art).
  • the opening plate 74 therefore exposes one internal compartment 66 at a time to dump the food product 72 held in the internal compartments 66 into the inlet chute 58 and to the cooking device.
  • the storage box 54 can be further moved by the conveyor rollers 60 to discharge the used storage box 54 from the conveyor conduit 56.
  • the storage box 54 can then be recycled.
  • the next product storage box 54 can then be rolled into position, and the process repeated. Accordingly, separated batches of food product can be discharged automatically into cooking devices using the slide gate mechanism 70 as set forth in FIGS. 7 A through 7D.
  • a delivery chute such as the inlet chute 58 in accordance with this embodiment may be designed with angling and flow path to provide smooth movement of compartment contents to a conveyor or cooking device, without sudden drops or impacts that could damage the food products.
  • the delivery chute includes a vibrator or other agitation device which can pulse or vibrate the walls of the chute to break up any clumps of food product and keep a steady flow moving to an exit of the chute.
  • the delivery chute can be cooled or provided with a double-wall construction to isolate food product in the delivery chute from ambient heat typically present around cooking devices.
  • the delivery chute exit edge (rolled or smooth edge) and distance or gap from the conveyor is sized to assure a desired flow rate of food product onto the conveyor without jamming product or damaging product.
  • the conveyor movement helps with the steady continuous unloading of food product in the delivery chute.
  • the chute can be reconfigured to handle different types of food product, and the delivery chute can be easily disassembled for cleaning in a dishwasher or similar cleaning device.
  • each storage box 54 and each compartment 66 is released and delivered to cooking devices as needed, without significant employee or operator interaction.
  • FIG. 8 One alternative version of the product storage box 54 is shown in FIG. 8, in which a rolling cart 80 is added to the bottom end thereof to move the storage box 54 through the stock handling system 52.
  • the slide gate mechanism 70 would need to be modified to work around the rolling cart 80 in such a circumstance, or the rolling cart 80 could be moved out of the way before the removable bottom panel 64 is torn away from a remainder of the storage box 54.
  • Other variations of how the storage boxes 54 can be moved through the conveyor conduits 56 are possible in further embodiments.
  • FIGS. 9A through 9D several different configurations and shapes of product boxes 54 are shown grouped together for transport, such as would be delivered by the delivery truck to the restaurant.
  • the stock handling system 52 may be configured to handle these different form factors and shapes of product storage boxes 54, or an employee may need to load different types of the boxes into different conduits. It will be appreciated that wide variations in the shape and size of internal compartments 66 can be provided in these different configurations, so as to meet the needs of supplying different types of food products to different types of cooking devices used in commercial kitchens.
  • the storage boxes 54 and the compartments 66 therein may have a number of different configurations to enable these functions.
  • product-holding compartments could be separated by plastic air-filled chambers in one embodiment, the air insulating the food product in adjacent compartments from one another while also protecting from food product damage when sudden movements are encountered by enabling some "give" or movement flexibility to the sidewalls of the compartments.
  • the separation of the food product into compartments avoids the formation of large clumps of stuck together product, while also making it easier to keep the food product at a desired temperature and avoid effects like slack.
  • the walls of the compartments may be configured to collapse or move after unloading of one adjacent compartment, so as to ready the next compartment for unloading or releasing all the food product therein without problems.
  • FIG. 10 one variation of the unloading process at the outlet end of the conveyor conduit 56 is shown.
  • a slide gate mechanism 70 is used to open the removable bottom panel 64 of a storage box 54, but the compartments discharge food product, such as waffle fries 72 onto a conveyor 82 that leads to one or more cooking devices.
  • the delivery chute may be modified or removed in other embodiments.
  • FIG. 10 also shows an input air supply 84 that may be connected to the internal compartments 66 of the storage box 54 to assist with cooling, discharge of food products, and/or collapsing a box when emptied and ready for removal/recycling.
  • the system is designed to unload one box and one compartment at a time into a cooking device, and the same can be repeated at many cooking devices to handle supply for most, if not all, the cooking devices in a restaurant.
  • FIGS. 11A through 14 Additional embodiments of the product storage box 90, 100 are shown in FIGS. 11A through 14. These are customized compartmented containers that are configured to be low cost, disposable, easy to use, and easy to collapse after use for recycling.
  • the interior of the storage box contains multiple internal compartments 66 once again, thereby to hold batches of food product that may be irregularly shaped, for example.
  • an outer periphery at the bottom of the storage box 90 is surrounded with tamperproof tape 92 or a pull string to confirm that the food product in the storage box 90 has not been tampered with after being loaded into the compartments 66 at an initial centralized packaging site.
  • the tape 92 and/or a portion of the side of the product box is configured to be torn off by an operator or an automated mechanism (like the slide gate mechanism 70 described above, or a roller-type blade 94 as shown in FIG. 12) to reveal the separate compartments 66 filled with food product.
  • an automated mechanism like the slide gate mechanism 70 described above, or a roller-type blade 94 as shown in FIG. 12
  • the removable bottom panel 64 can be separated from a remainder of the storage boxes 90, 100 in various manners in different embodiments of the stock handling system 52, as shown in these Figures.
  • the internal compartments 66 may be separated with open spaces and/or air filled containers 96 that separate the compartments for the reasons described above.
  • the internal compartments 66 are configured to remain sealed until a pull-off tear strip 102 is actuated, such as by pulling a string 104 attached to the pull-off tear strip 102. Once again, this actuation of product release can be easily automated for each compartment 66 of the storage box 90, 100.
  • An air line may be provided in a similar manner as described above to flow pressurized air into the compartments as they are emptied to assure that no food product remains lodged or stuck in the compartment.
  • the storage box is ready for crushing and recycling (in versions with inner air filled chambers 96, a second cord (also shown by strings 104) may be provided on those chambers 96 to burst all of these chambers and allow for complete flattening of the used storage box for recycling.
  • the outer portion of the storage box may include a temperature tag to identify when the storage box and food product has been improperly stored outside a climate-controlled environment, and/or other human readable markings.
  • the storage boxes of these embodiments and the cooled conveyor stock handling system 52 enables use of customized containers which can be designed to be less than 50 pounds when fully loaded with product, thereby enabling easy loading from a delivery truck.
  • the operator labor is largely removed from the product movement and loading process, which means the operators can focus on other tasks in the restaurant, especially during periods of high customer demand for food product output.
  • the boxes and system are configured to keep product at climate-controlled conditions and without misfeeds or clumping together which could require operator intervention. Therefore, high quality food preparation is enabled with less labor and more efficiency when using these elements of the automated kitchen system, even when dealing with different types and/or irregular shapes of food products.
  • both the delivery pods and the stock handling system help limit the operator workload associated with stock management and supply of cooking devices, including in some cases removing operator work entirely until a final prep stage for cooked food products.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Food Science & Technology (AREA)
  • Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
  • General Preparation And Processing Of Foods (AREA)
  • Frying-Pans Or Fryers (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un système de cuisine automatisé (10, 50) permettant de prendre en charge les commandes de clients, le système (10, 50) comprenant au moins un dispositif de cuisson (12, 14) et un système d'alimentation (16) qui alimente automatiquement le dispositif de cuisson (12, 14) en produits alimentaires non cuits (34) sans intervention humaine de l'opérateur. Le dispositif de cuisson (12, 14) fournit ensuite des produits alimentaires cuits à une station de préparation et d'emballage (20). Le système d'alimentation (16) peut comprendre des modules de distribution (30) dotés d'un emballage de ruban sous vide (32) qui peut acheminer en continu les produits alimentaires non cuits (34) vers les dispositifs de cuisson (12, 14), et lesdits modules de distribution (30) peuvent être réutilisés et réapprovisionnées chaque jour en fonction de l'utilisation du produit du système de cuisine automatisée (10, 50). En variante, le système d'alimentation (16) peut comprendre un système de gestion de stock de transporteur refroidi (52) qui achemine des boîtes de stockage (54) de produits alimentaires non cuits (72) vers des goulottes de distribution (58) par lesquelles les produits alimentaires non cuits (72) sont libérés vers les dispositifs de cuisson (12, 14). Ainsi, aucun contact humain ni aucune action humaine avec l'alimentation en produits alimentaires non cuits (34, 72) n'est nécessaire pour faire fonctionner les dispositifs de cuisson (12, 14).
PCT/US2017/037295 2016-06-13 2017-06-13 Systèmes et procédés de cuisine automatisée comprenant la gestion et la distibution d'un stock de transporteur à des dispositifs de cuisson Ceased WO2017218564A1 (fr)

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US201662349526P 2016-06-13 2016-06-13
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US62/434,793 2016-12-15

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PCT/US2017/037295 Ceased WO2017218564A1 (fr) 2016-06-13 2017-06-13 Systèmes et procédés de cuisine automatisée comprenant la gestion et la distibution d'un stock de transporteur à des dispositifs de cuisson

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WO2022236227A1 (fr) * 2021-05-01 2022-11-10 Miso Robotics, Inc. Système de bac automatisé pour recevoir des aliments dans un espace de travail de cuisine robotisée et procédés associés
US12135533B2 (en) 2021-06-03 2024-11-05 Miso Robotics, Inc. Automated kitchen system for assisting human worker prepare food

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