ITMI20120204A1 - AUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR ALIMENTARY FOODSTUFFS. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

Attached to a patent application for INDUSTRIAL INVENTION entitled â € œAUTOMATIC DISTRIBUTOR FOR FOOD PRODUCTS ALSO

HEATABLE.â €

The present invention relates to an automatic vending machine for food products which can also be heated.

The automatic vending machines for food products, including those that can be heated, are able to heat (or cook) the selected product before supplying it to the consumer, in such a way as to allow better usability to the consumer of the product itself. In fact, as is known, inside the vending machine the products are stored at a storage temperature which is usually lower than the optimal consumption temperature of the product.

In the automatic vending machines for food products, also heatable, of the known art, a microwave oven is usually provided with a cooking chamber, a magnetron capable of generating a flow of microwaves and a wave guide coupled to the magnetron and the cooking chamber. to guide the flow of microwaves generated by it and introduce it into the cooking chamber. The cooking chamber, made of microwave-reflecting material, is equipped with a product loading / unloading opening and is mounted in such a way as to rotate from a reception position to a cooking position and from this to a position of I unload.

In the receiving position, the cooking chamber has its own opening facing upwards, that is to say facing the portion of the dispenser suitable for housing the products to be dispensed. When a product is selected, the latter falls into the cooking chamber through the opening and the cooking chamber rotates into the cooking position in which the opening is positioned laterally and is closed by an element made of reflective material. microwave so as to define a closed cooking cavity. In this configuration, the magnetron is activated and the product is heated / cooked. At the end of cooking, the cooking chamber rotates further until the opening is positioned at the bottom and the product is discharged into the withdrawal area of the vending machine.

An example of an automatic vending machine of the type briefly described above is given in document WO 2008/141746.

Although the automatic dispensers for food products, including those that can be heated, described above allow the actual dispensing of products heated or cooked at an optimal temperature for ready consumption and even though this dispensing takes place in a short time or in any case completely acceptable, these dispensers have some drawbacks.

In fact, the heating and cooking carried out by them are not always satisfactory.

This drawback occurs since a portion of the product is placed directly in contact with at least one wall of the cooking chamber, preventing the microwaves from intercepting this portion of the product and therefore from heating or cooking it.

Furthermore, in known distributors, when it is not necessary to heat or cook the selected product (since for example it is already at the optimal drinking temperature) it is still necessary to wait for the time necessary for the product to transit from the cooking chamber before € ™ product delivery.

Again, in the case mentioned above it is necessary to inhibit the operation of the oven during the transit of the product (to avoid heating it), with consequent complication of the vending machine management software.

Finally, it is necessary to guarantee the tightness of the microwave oven to avoid dangerous microwave emissions from the oven, with consequent design complications and production costs of the dispenser.

In this context, the technical task underlying the present invention is to propose automatic vending machines for food products that can also be heated which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of the known art.

In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic vending machine for food products, also heatable, capable of heating and cooking the products in a uniform manner.

A further object of the present invention is to propose an automatic vending machine for food products, including those that can be heated, which allows rapid dispensing of the selected product if the latter does not require heating or cooking.

Another object of the present invention is to make available an automatic vending machine for food products, including those that can be heated, having low production costs.

The specified technical task and the specified purposes are substantially achieved by an automatic vending machine for food products, including those that can be heated, comprising the technical characteristics set out in one or more of the appended claims.

Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the indicative, and therefore non-limiting, description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of an automatic vending machine for food products, including those that can be heated, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

- figure 1 is a perspective view of an automatic vending machine for food products, also heatable, in accordance with the present invention, with some parts removed to better highlight others;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a detail of the vending machine of Figure 1 in a first operating condition;

- figure 3 is a perspective view of the detail of figure 2 in a second operating condition;

- figure 4 is a perspective view of the detail of figure 2 in a third operating condition; And

- figure 5 is a schematic representation of a further detail of the distributor of figure 1.

With reference to the accompanying figures, an automatic vending machine for food products, also heated in accordance with the present invention, has been indicated as a whole with the number 1.

The dispenser 1 comprises a frame 2 preferably equipped with a transparent panel 3, for example of glass or polymeric material, to allow a user to view the products that can be dispensed by the dispenser. The transparent panel 3 can be mounted in a front frame 4 hinged to the frame 2.

Inside the frame 2 there is a storage area 5 to tidily house a plurality of products to be dispensed.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the storage area 5 comprises a plurality of trays 6 (of which only one is shown in figure 1) preferably housed in the upper part of the frame 2. These trays 6 are arranged one above the other and are visible through the transparent panel 3.

An extraction member 7 extracts a selected product from the storage area 5.

In particular, a product extraction member 7 is associated with each tray 6.

These extraction members comprise a plurality of spirals 8 rotated by one or more motors (not shown). The products to be dispensed are housed between the coils of the spirals 8, so that the rotation of the coils causes the products to advance until they are no longer supported by the tray 6 and fall towards the bottom of the frame 2.

In particular, the selected product is released by the extraction member 7 into a passage channel 9 which is defined by the space existing between the trays 6 and the transparent panel 3.

Downstream of the passage channel 9, that is to say in the lower part of the frame 2, there is a pickup drawer 10 to allow the user to pick up the selected product.

The distributor 1 also comprises an oven 11 operatively placed upstream of the withdrawal drawer 10 and downstream of the storage area 5 to heat or cook a heatable product delivered from the storage area 5.

The oven 11 comprises an opening 12 for the inlet of the product to be heated and the outlet of the heated product (Figures 2 and 4).

Advantageously, the oven 11 is an infrared oven, that is to say an oven equipped with a source 11a of infrared radiation (for example one or more infrared lamps).

The oven 11 comprises a heating chamber 13 facing through the opening 12 to the passage channel 9. The infrared radiation source 11a is preferably placed inside the heating chamber 13 on the opposite side with respect to the opening 12.

The walls of the heating chamber 13 are made or coated with a material reflecting infrared radiation, for example these walls are made or coated with aluminum. The element intended to close the opening 12 of the oven 11 (described further on) is also made or coated with a material reflecting infrared radiation.

Advantageously, the distributor 1 comprises a member 14 for loading and unloading the furnace 11 which is movable between an interception position in which it interferes with and engages the passage channel 9 (Figure 2) to intercept a product passing through the passage channel 9, a position of loading of the furnace 11 in which it closes the opening 12 of the furnace 11 and does not engage and does not interfere with the passage channel 9 (figure 3) and a release position in which it engages and partially interferes with the passage channel 9 (figure 4) to release the heated product towards the pickup drawer 10.

It should be noted that â € œdoes not interfere and does not bindâ € in the present description and in the subsequent claims the fact that the loading and unloading member 14 is placed outside the sliding channel 9. In other words, when the loading and unloading organ 14 does not interfere with and does not engage the sliding channel 9, the latter having continuity of passage for the products from the storage area 5 to the withdrawal drawer 10.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the loading and unloading member 14 comprises a door 15 movable between the interception, loading and release positions.

The door 15, in the interception position, substantially completely occludes the passage channel 9 (Figure 2).

Furthermore, the door 15, in the loading position, completely closes the opening 12 of the oven 11 (Figure 3).

Preferably, the door 15 has dimensions substantially equal to the transversal dimension of the passage channel 9 measured at the furnace 11 and substantially equal to the dimensions of the opening 12 of the furnace 11.

In other words, the opening 12 of the furnace 11 and the transversal dimension of the passage channel 9 measured at the furnace 11 are substantially identical to each other and identical to the dimension of the door 15.

The distributor 1 also comprises a movement device 16 for moving the loading and unloading member 14, and in particular for moving the door 15.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the handling device 16 comprises a motor 16a placed below the oven 11. The motor 16a is connected to a kinematic mechanism, in particular a lever system 16b, which engages the door 15 on the opposite side with respect to the surface thereof intended to close the opening 12 of the oven 11 allowing the door to be moved between the aforementioned operating positions.

The movement of the loading and unloading organ 14 is controlled by a command and control unit 17 (figure 5).

According to a possible operating sequence, the vending machine 1 comprises a selector 18 (schematised in Figures 1 and 5) for selecting the product to be dispensed. The selector 18, when the user chooses a product, generates a choice signal SS representative of the selected product and sends the same to the command and control unit 17.

Upon receipt of the choice signal SS, the command and control unit 17 generates an activation signal SA and sends the same to the handling device 16 and to the furnace 11.

It should be noted that this activation signal SA is generated only in the case in which the selected product needs to be heated or cooked; otherwise, the command and control unit 17 does not generate the activation signal SA.

The activation of the infrared oven 11 takes place upon receipt of a further activation signal SA2 generated and sent to the oven 11 by the command and control unit 17.

This further activation signal SA2 is generated upon receipt of a passage signal SP generated by a sensor 19, for example a photocell, placed along the passage channel 9 and upstream of the loading and unloading member 14.

The sensor 19 is sensitive to the passage of a product along the passage channel 9. The further activation signal SA2 is also sent to the handling device 16 to bring the loading and unloading member 14 to the loading position.

It should be noted that the loading and unloading organ 14, in the rest condition of the vending machine, occupies the loading position. In other words, between one product dispensing and the next, the door 15 is in the loading position, closing the opening 12 of the oven 11 and leaving the passage channel 9 free.

When a product that needs to be heated or cooked is selected, the activation signal SA activates the handling device bringing the loading and unloading organ 14 to the interception position and pre-alarms the oven 11. Upon receipt of the further signal SA2 activation, the loading and unloading device moves to the loading position, closing the oven opening 11 and the oven starts.

On completion of heating or cooking, the handling device brings the loading and unloading member 14 to the unloading position.

To allow optimal heating or cooking of the product, the dispenser 1 comprises a collection basket 20 for the product to be heated which is part of the loading and unloading organ 14.

Advantageously, the collection basket 20 comprises reticular walls 21 suitable for supporting the product during heating.

In particular, the collection basket 20 comprises walls 21 consisting of preferably metal elements with a mesh or grid shape.

The dimensions of the meshes of the grate are much greater, preferably at least 10 times, than the wavelength of the radiation emitted by the oven 11.

The collection basket 20 is constrained to the door 15 in correspondence with its surface intended to be directly facing the heating chamber of the oven 11 when the loading and unloading member 14 is in the loading position.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the collection basket 20 comprises a first wall 21a constrained to the door 15, a second wall 21b which extends away from an edge of the first wall 21a, a shoulder wall 21c which extends substantially parallel to the first wall 21a starting from an edge of the second wall 21b opposite the edge of connection with the first wall 21a.

Two further side walls 21d (of which only one is illustrated in the accompanying figures), preferably trapezoidal, join together the free edges of the walls 21a, 21b, 21c described above.

Advantageously, the walls 21 of the collection basket 20 are not in direct contact with the loading and unloading organ 14, so as to prevent the product to be heated from resting on a continuous surface and therefore not being hit by radiation. infrared.

In this regard, the collection basket 20 is constrained to the loading member 14 by means of spacer elements 22 (partially illustrated in figure 2).

In particular, the collection basket 20 is constrained through the first wall 21a to the door 15 by means of the aforementioned spacer 22 which, in the illustrated embodiment, consists of a pair of profiled elements having a â € œCâ € section.

Note that the collection basket 20, when inserted into the heating chamber of the furnace 11, that is to say when the loading and unloading device is in the loading position, does not contact the walls of the heating chamber, to allow a correct and uniform cooking or heating of the food product.

From what has been described above it emerges that the automatic vending machine for food products, also heatable, of the present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the known art.

In fact, the collection basket allows the products to be heated and cooked evenly, since it avoids contact of the product to be heated or cooked with any continuous surface of the oven.

Furthermore, the loading and unloading device allows a direct and immediate delivery of a product that does not require heat treatment, since it does not intercept this product.

Furthermore, the infrared oven allows to reduce production costs due to the scarce need for sealing elements or shielding elements capable of controlling the propagation of radiation inside or outside the vending machine.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS 1. Automatic dispenser for food products, including those that can be heated, comprising: a storage area (5) to tidily house a plurality of products to be dispensed; a pick-up drawer (10) located below said storage area (5) to pick up a selected product; an extraction member (7) for extracting a selected product from said storage area (5) and sending it towards said withdrawal drawer (10); a passage channel (9), in which said extraction member (7) releases a selected product, placed between said storage area (5) and said withdrawal drawer (10); an oven (11) operatively placed upstream of said withdrawal drawer (10) and downstream of said storage area (5) to heat or cook a heatable product, said oven (11) comprising an opening (12) for the inlet and outlet of said product to be heated; characterized in that it comprises a member (14) for loading and unloading the furnace (11) which is movable between an interception position in which it interferes with and engages said passage channel (9) to intercept a product passing through said passage channel (9) , a loading position of the furnace (11) in which it closes the opening (12) of the furnace (11) and does not engage and does not interfere with the passage channel (9) and a release position in which it partially engages and interferes with said passage channel (9) to release the heated product towards said pick-up drawer (10). Distributor according to claim 1, wherein said loading and unloading member (14) comprises a door (15) movable between said interception, loading and release positions; said door (15) in said interception position substantially completely occluding said passage channel (9). Distributor according to claim 2, wherein said oven (11) comprises a heating chamber (13) facing through said opening (12) to said passage channel (9); said door (15) in said loading position completely closing said opening (12). Distributor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said loading and unloading member (14), in the rest condition of the distributor, occupies said loading position. 5. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising a handling device (16) for moving said loading and unloading member (14); said handling device (16) receiving an activation signal (SA) according to the selected product. 6. Device according to any one of the preceding claims comprising a selector (18) for selecting the product to be dispensed; said selector (18) generating a choice signal (SS) representative of the selected product and sending the same to a command and control unit (17). 7. Device according to claims 5 and 6, wherein said command and control unit (17) generates said activation signal (SA) and sends the same to said movement device (16) upon receipt of said signal (SS) choice in case the selected product requires heating; said command and control unit (17) not generating said activation signal (SA) if the selected product does not require heating. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said loading and unloading member (14) comprises a collecting basket (20) for the product to be heated; said collection basket (20) comprising reticular walls adapted to support the product during heating. 9. Device according to claims 2 and 8, in which said collection basket (20) is constrained to said door (15) to be moved between said interception, loading and release positions. 10. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said oven (11) is an infrared oven.