KR20010071246A - Portioning device for portioning pieces of food and for transferring food into a heated cooking area - Google Patents

Abstract

A portioning device for portioning pieces of food and for transferring food into a heated cooking area. The portioning device has an insulated housing to ensure thermal insulation from the cooking area. The insulated housing has at least one closing slider which is located in the bottom of said housing and seals off a transfer opening when in a closed position. A weigher fitted with a funnel is arranged inside the insulated housing and receives pieces of food. The funnel of the weigher consists of two halves that can swing apart. Both halves can swing apart when a given weight of food pieces inside the funnel has been reached, whereby an exit opening that is associated with a transfer opening is formed. When the two halves of the weigher funnel swing apart, a catch element belonging to the closing slider is impinged upon by one of said halves. The closing slider can move into an open position, freeing the transfer opening so that the food can be transferred into the cooking area. The two halves of the weigher funnel swing back together again when the food has been transferred and the closing slider can automatically return to a closed position.

Description

PORTIONING DEVICE FOR PORTIONING PIECES OF FOOD AND FOR TRANSFERRING FOOD INTO A HEATED COOKING AREA}

In the known meter or splitting device (EP 0 608 463 B1), raw or pre-fried sticky potato pieces are transferred from the freezing container into a container placed on the meter surface. The meter has an opening at the bottom. When the potato pieces in the container reach a preset weight, the container is pulled away from the meter that is parallel to the surface and transferred to the fryer through the filling opening, resulting in the potato sticks to fall into the fryer closely. have. Vending machines for French fries and known meters or splitting apparatuses known from EP 0 608 463 B1 generally have certain food outputs. However, the splitting device can be improved in terms of reliability and accuracy. Moreover, in the known dividing apparatus and the known vending machine, there was no means for effectively isolating or insulating the dividing apparatus or the storage container from the cooking chamber or the fryer. In other words, heat from the fryer could be transferred to the splitting device and also to the freezer storage container. Moreover, in the known apparatus, it was relatively easy for hot steam or hot gas from a cooking chamber or a fryer to enter the dividing apparatus and then reach a freezing storage container. This can damage the quality and freshness of frozen food pieces. Hot steam or gas may also form unwanted deposits in the splitting device or cause poor corrosion, which can impair the splitter's performance.

The present invention is therefore based on the technical task of proposing a splitting device according to the preamble of the claims, in which the cooking compartment is effectively isolated and thermally insulated while meeting all the requirements for the reliability and accuracy of distribution.

The present invention relates to a splitting device for distributing food portions and transferring them to a heatable cooking compartment. "Food pieces" according to the invention in particular mean raw or pre-fried sticky potato pieces which are fried in a cooking chamber to form French fries. "Food pieces" also especially mean pieces of meat, preferably poultry, for example, breaded and advantageously fried. The "heatable cooking chamber" according to the present invention more particularly means a cooking chamber for deep frying in which a deep-fryer container and a frying oil are arranged. The deep fryer and oil can be heated to the appropriate temperature to fry the pieces of food. Advantageously, the food pieces are introduced one by one and / or in batches, preferably from the freezer compartment, into the partitioning device and then transferred to the heatable cooking compartment or to the frying compartment. Preferably, the food pieces are kept deep frozen in the storage container. The splitting device according to the invention is particularly preferably used in vending machines for fried food pieces such as French fries. One such device is known, for example, from EP 0 608 463 B1.

1 is a front cross-sectional view of a vending machine for fried food, showing a splitting device, a storage container, and a cooking chamber according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the dividing apparatus according to the present invention in FIG. 1.

3 is a plan view of the dividing apparatus according to the present invention seen in the direction of arrow A. FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view B-B of the dividing apparatus according to the present invention.

In order to solve this technical problem, the present invention provides a partitioning device for distributing food into pieces and transporting the food to a heatable cooking chamber,

The splitting device has an insulating casing which provides thermal insulation to the cooking chamber, near the bottom of the insulating casing, which is provided with at least one closing valve for closing the transfer opening when in the closed position,

In the insulating casing is placed a meter with a hopper for receiving food pieces and the hopper has two halves which can be rotated apart,

If a preset weight of food is received in the hopper, the two halves can be rotated apart to form a discharge opening associated with the transfer opening,

When the hopper halves are rotated apart, the cam element of the closing valve is actuated by the hopper halves and the closing valve is movable to an open position that exposes the transfer opening for transferring food to the cooking chamber,

After the food has been delivered, the two halves can be rotated to be together and the closing valve can be automatically returned to its closed position.

The food pieces are preferably fed from the freezer to the splitting device. The storage container is advantageously provided with a suitable refrigeration unit. The food pieces are poured into the meter hopper of the splitting device with the top open. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the food pieces are fed to the hopper one by one and / or in batch by an automatic feeding device. The automatic feeding device is advantageously arranged in a storage container, and the storage container preferably has a supply opening disposed above the hopper. According to the present invention, the feeding device may have a suitable configuration to isolate the food pieces.

The insulating casing of the splitting device has at least a side wall in addition to the bottom. According to the invention, since the lower and sidewalls of the insulating casing have a sufficient thickness and / or are made of a suitable insulating material, heat from the cooking compartment, especially the cooking compartment for deep frying, is not transferred to the splitting device and particularly preferably for food freezing It is not delivered to the storeroom. In the lower part of the insulating casing a central opening for food delivery is formed which can be closed by at least one closing valve. According to the invention, at least one closing valve is configured as an insulating element to provide sufficient thermal insulation for the cooking chamber, in particular the cooking chamber for deep frying. Preferably, at least one closing valve is made of a thermally insulating and temperature resistant plastic such as polyethylene. In addition, according to the invention, the at least one closing valve is made of a material suitable for food or withstand food.

Pieces of food accepted by the hopper are automatically weighed in the meter. To this end, the hopper has been properly suspended from the device. Preferably, the two hopper halves are each suspended in a pivot on the meter. According to one embodiment of the invention, the meter may be a mechanical meter having a movable weight and an equilibrium weight set manually. According to another embodiment of the invention, the meter is electronic. When the dividing device according to the invention is activated, the automatic feeding device arranged in the storage container is preferably operated to continue its operation until the pieces of food received in the hopper have reached a preset weight. Of course, the desired weight of each food piece on a mechanical or electronic meter is set in a known manner.

In a preferred embodiment of particular importance for the present invention, the hopper has a raised roof shape with a ridge towards the conveying opening, at least in its lower region. In this embodiment, when the hopper halves are substantially mirror symmetric in the lower region of the hopper, the raised roof hopper halves can be rotated away from the (virtual) vertical plane extending through the ridge. Preferably, after the food received in the hopper reaches a predetermined weight, the hopper half is operated by at least one open lever to rotate away from the two hopper halves. In a preferred embodiment, two opening levers are provided, which can engage the hopper half from two opposite sides. Preferably, the two levers respectively engage the top rim area of the two sides of the hopper. In a preferred embodiment of particular importance for the present invention, after the food received in the hopper reaches the set weight, the two hopper halves are rotated apart by the eccentric control means. Preferably, after the food is conveyed through the conveying opening, the two hopper halves are rotated back together by the force of the tension spring. Advantageously in embodiments with eccentric control means, the eccentric shaft is connected to the drive motor and has at least one eccentric pin which interacts with the at least one open lever.

Preferably, at least one closing valve is biased by the compression spring and held in its closed position. In other words, it is advantageous for the at least one closing valve to be automatically returnable to its closed position by the compression spring. According to a preferred embodiment of particular importance for the invention, each of the two closing valves in contact in the closed position is provided with at least one cam element, and when the hopper halves rotate away, the cam element of each closing valve It is actuated by an associated hopper half to move the closing valve to the open position. Thus, in this embodiment, the two closing valves are movable in opposite directions during the movement to the closed position. Preferably, the two closing valves contact each other in the middle of the conveying opening. Advantageously, with the provision of suitable locking means, each closing valve which is advantageously deflected by the compression spring is not pushed beyond the aforementioned central contact area. Of course, the cam elements of the closing valve are not in contact with the hopper or hopper halves until the hopper halves are rotated apart.

Also according to the invention, the at least one closing valve consists of a closing flap pivotable about the pivot, which also has a corresponding cam element actuated by the hopper halves. Thus, "close valve" in one embodiment of the present invention also means a closed flap.

In a preferred embodiment, which is particularly important for the present invention, an intermediate partition covering the cooking compartment, in particular the cooking compartment for deep frying, is provided for food under the transfer opening, until the hopper halves are rotated together and at least one closing valve. Food is not transported from the middle partition to the cooking compartment until is returned to the closed position.

For this purpose, the intermediate partition is advantageously in the form of a sliding plate which is preferably movable to a retracted position so that the pieces of food can fall into the cooking compartment. According to the invention, the intermediate partition also consists of two sliding plates that can be pushed apart. The middle partition may also consist of a hinged flap, which pivots to allow food pieces to fall into the cooking compartment. The middle partition may also consist of two hinged flaps that rotate away.

According to the invention, the splitting device is inserted into an automated vending machine substantially all of which is preferred for fried products such as french fries. Advantageously, an open-loop or closed-loop control device is provided, which controls the individual configuration of the vending machine in an open or closed loop. Preferably, a microcomputer and suitable software are connected. Particularly preferably, the feeding device for feeding the food pieces to the splitting device is operated automatically. The feeding device is advantageously provided in a frozen storage container for food pieces. In a preferred embodiment, the feeding device operates according to the weight measured by the meter of food received in the hopper. Of course, the hopper halves are automatically rotated apart according to the measured weight when the at least one closing valve is activated. The intermediate partition, which is preferably provided, is advantageously placed in its closed position after at least one closing valve has retracted.

The invention is based on the discovery that the splitting device according to the invention can distribute food pieces very effectively and accurately. Another result that appears in addition to the dispensing is that the splitting device and in particular the food storage container can be effectively and reliably isolated from the cooking chamber, especially the cooking chamber for deep frying. In addition to surprisingly effective dispensing, the dividing device according to the invention also serves as an isolation configuration between the hot and cold regions. "Cryogenic region" means more particularly a frozen storage container for food pieces. The meter hopper according to the invention also serves to achieve a dual purpose. That is, the meter hopper is used to weigh the pieces of food poured into it on the one hand and to open the at least one closing valve on the other hand. In short, the splitting device according to the invention has significant advantages. The device of the present invention operates without errors and without mechanical limitations. The device of the invention can also be produced and assembled at a relatively low cost.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawings, which merely show the illustrated embodiment.

Figure 1 shows a vending machine, especially for fried foods such as French fries, which is a partitioning device 1 according to the invention and a storage container for food pieces placed on the partitioning device 1. (2) is provided. In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, a cooking chamber 3 is arranged below the dividing apparatus 1, in the form of a deep-fried cooking chamber, and equipped with a container for deep frying 4. Of course, the frying vessel 4 is filled with frying oil. In the storage container 2, it is advantageous for the food pieces to be frozen or frozen. Preferably, the storage container 2 is equipped with an automatic feeding device 5 for feeding the pieces of food one by one or in a batch to the dividing device 1. For example, the feeding device 5 has a slide (not shown) for transferring food pieces to the dividing device 1. According to the invention, the feeding device 5 is received in the meter hopper 6 and operated or operated according to the weight of the food measured in the divider 1.

The dividing apparatus 1 has an insulating casing 7 for thermal insulation to the cooking chamber 3. In an exemplary embodiment, the insulating casing 7 has a wall 8 and a bottom 9. Of course, the wall 8 and the lower part 9 have a suitable thickness and / or consist of a suitable insulating material for thermally insulating the dividing apparatus 1 and the storage container 2 from the cooking chamber 3. In the examples and preferred embodiments of the present invention, two closing valves 10 are provided near the lower part 9 of the insulating casing, which are shown in the closed position in the figure and close the conveying opening 11 and have. According to the invention, the closing valve 9 is also made of a heat insulating material, which is preferably a heat insulating plastic such as polyethylene.

The meter 12 is arranged in the insulating casing 7 and the hopper 6 is connected to it. In an embodiment, the meter 12 is a mechanical meter 12 with an adjustable movable weight 13 and counter-weight 14. According to the invention, the meter 12 may be electronic. Of course, the hopper 6 is open at the upper end toward the storage container 2. The hopper 6 has two hopper halves 15, 16 that can be rotated apart. The halves 15, 16 are suspended from two pivot axes 17, 18 on the meter 12. In the preferred embodiment of the invention and in the example of the figures, the hopper 6 has a raised roof shape and has a ridge 19 facing towards the conveying opening 11. The halves 15, 16 of the raised roof-shaped hopper are pivotally disposed away from the (virtual) vertical plane passing through the ridge 19 to lie substantially in a mirror symmetrical arrangement in the lower region of the hopper 6 do. Preferably and in the illustrated embodiment, the halves 15, 16 are connected to each other via circular disc disk joints 21 on the two sides 20 of the hopper. One half 15 has a circular fan-shaped recess 22 and the other half 16 has a circular fan-shaped connecting element 23. Preferably, the halves 15, 16 are rotated apart and then a secure connection is made between the circular fan recess 22 and the connecting element 23.

After the food received in the hopper 6 reaches a predetermined weight, it is advantageous that the switch 24 for operating the meter 12 is operated such that the hopper halves 15 and 16 are rotated apart. The switch 24 advantageously operates the motor 25 which drives the eccentric shaft 26. Preferably and in the illustrated embodiment of the figure, the two hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated apart by the eccentric control means and then rotated together after the food has been conveyed through the opening 11. . In the embodiment illustrated for this purpose, two eccentric pins 27 are connected to the eccentric shaft 26. Advantageously and in the illustrated embodiment, each eccentric pin 27 engages in an associated slot 28 of the opening lever 29. During metering, the two opening levers 29 do not contact the hopper 6. However, after the eccentric control means are actuated, the levers 29 act on the top edge of the side 20 of the hopper half 15, with the result that the hopper halves are rotated apart. 2 also shows a limit switch 30 for causing or stopping the opening operation of the eccentric shaft 26. The hopper halves 15, 16 are returned by the eccentric control means to the closed position as shown in the figure, in which the open lever does not contact the hopper 6.

In the preferred embodiment and the example of the figure, when the hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated apart, the two closing valves 10 are moved to the open position. To this end, each closing valve 10 has a cam element 31 actuated by its respective hopper halves 15, 16 when the hopper halves are rotated apart. Of course, the hopper 6 does not contact the cam element 31 or the closing valve 10 until the hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated apart. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the ridge 19 is advantageously arranged in the center of the intermediate space defined by the cam element 31. Since each closing valve 10 is connected with a compression spring 32, the closing valve 10 is deflected by the compression spring and held in the closed position. Advantageously and in the illustrated embodiment, two closing valves in the closed position contact each other at their center across the transfer opening 11. In order to accurately maintain the above-mentioned position of the sealing valve 10 and more particularly to prevent contact with the hopper in the closed position, each closing valve 10 is a closed-slide duct 34. Associated with a locking pin 33 disposed within. In order to ensure effective and accurate operation of the closing valve 10, the valve is provided with an inclined bed guide 35 at the bottom 9 of the insulating casing (FIG. 4).

When the hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated apart and as a result move the closing valves 10 to the open position, the transfer opening 11 is opened and food can fall out of the hopper through the transfer opening 11. Preferably and in the illustrated embodiment, an intermediate partition 36 covering the cooking chamber 3 or cooking chamber for deep frying is provided below the conveying opening 11. Preferably and in the illustrated embodiment, the intermediate partition 36 is in the form of a sliding plate. As soon as the food is placed on the middle partition 36 and the hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated together again and the closing valve 10 is returned to the closed position by the pressure spring 36, the food is placed in the middle partition. It may be transferred from the 36 to the cooking chamber (3). To this end, advantageously and in the illustrated embodiment, the slide plate is simply moved to a retracted position. The intermediate partition 36 is a particularly effective way to isolate the dividing apparatus 1 and the storage container 2 from the cooking compartment 3.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a splitting device for dispensing food pieces and transferring them to a heatable cooking compartment, which is applicable to the industrial field of vending machines for fried foods such as vending machines for French fries.

Claims (8)

In the splitting device for distributing food pieces and transferring them to the heatable cooking chamber 3, The dividing device 1 has an insulating casing 7 which provides thermal insulation to the cooking chamber 3, near the lower portion 9 of the insulating casing 7 when it is in the closed position. Is provided with at least one closing valve (10) for closing Within the insulating casing 7 a meter 12 with a hopper 6 for receiving the food pieces is arranged and the hopper 6 has two halves 15, 16 which can be rotated apart. Equipped, Once a predetermined weight of food is received in the hopper 6, the two halves 15, 16 can be rotated apart to form a discharge opening associated with the transfer opening 11, When the hopper halves 15, 16 are rotated apart, the cam element 31 of the closing valve 10 is actuated by the hopper halves 15, 16 and the closing valve 10 is operated by the food. Can be moved to an open position that exposes the transfer opening 11 for transferring the cooking chamber 3 to the cooking chamber 3, After the food has been delivered, the two halves (15,16) can be rotated to be together and the closing valve (10) can be automatically returned to its closed position. The method of claim 1, The food pieces are fed one by one and / or collectively into the hopper (6) by means of an automatic feeding device (5). The method according to claim 1 or 2, Said hopper (6) is at least in its lower region, characterized in that it is a raised roof shape having a ridge (19) towards the conveying opening (11). The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, After the food received in the hopper 6 has reached a preset weight, the hopper half 15, by at least one open lever 29, for rotating the two hopper halves 15, 16 apart. 16) is operated. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, Splitting device, characterized in that the two hopper halves (15,16) are rotated apart by eccentric control means after the food received in the hopper (6) reaches a preset weight. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, At least one closing valve (10) is biased by a compression spring and held in its closed position. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The two closing valves in contact in the closed position are each provided with at least one cam element 31, the cam element 31 of each closing valve 10 when the hopper halves 15, 16 rotate away. Is operated by the associated hopper half (15, 16) to move the closing valve (10) to the open position. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, An intermediate partition 36 covering the cooking compartment 3 is provided for the food under the transfer opening 11, the hopper halves 15, 16 being rotated together and the at least one closing valve ( Divisioning device, characterized in that the food is not transferred from the middle partition to the cooking compartment (3) until 10) returns to the closed position.