MACHINE FOR PRODUCING AND DISPENSING LIQUID OR SEMILIQUID FOOD PRODUCTS

• US 20110011887A1
• Filed: 09/14/2007
• Published: 01/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ali Group S.r.l. (Ali Holding Srl)
• Original Assignee: Carpigiani Group - Ali S.P.A.
• Inventors: Zaniboni, Gianni, Lazzarini, Roberto, Cocchi, Gino
• Granted Patent: US 9,125,426 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 222/23
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/22 Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
• CPC Class Codes: A23G 9/28 for portioning or dispensing

Abstract

A machine for producing and dispensing liquid or semiliquid food products, comprising: a holding vat (2) for a liquid base product; a treatment circuit (10) for said liquid base product, to obtain a liquid or semiliquid food product; dispensing means (30) to dispense said food product; one or more actuators (40) acting on said base product, food product and/or parts of said machine (1); one or more sensors (50) for detecting one or more operating parameters (P) of said machine (1). The machine (1) further comprises an interfacing unit (70) preferably provided with a control card operatively associated with at least one of said one or more sensors (50) to receive a respective one of said one or more operating parameters (P) and transmit it to a remote processing unit (80).

Claims

1. A machine for producing and dispensing liquid or semiliquid food products, comprising:

a holding vat (2) for a liquid base product;

a treatment circuit (10) for said liquid base product, so as to obtain a liquid or semiliquid food product;

dispensing means (30) to dispense said food product;

one or more actuators (40) acting on said base product, food product and/or parts of said machine (1);

one or more sensors (50) to detect one or more operating parameters (P) of said machine (1),

wherein it further comprises an interfacing unit (70) operatively associated with at least one of said one or more sensors (50) to receive a respective one of said one or more operating parameters (P) and transmit it to a remote processing unit (80).

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein further comprises a local processing unit (60) connected at least to said sensor (50) and said actuator (40) and designed to supervise operation of the machine (1).

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said interfacing unit (70) comprises a management module (71) operatively associated with said local processing unit (60) in order to receive said respective operating parameter (P), compare it with a reference value and transmit a notification signal (100) to said remote processing unit (80), depending on said comparison.

4. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reference value is defined by previous reading of said respective operating parameter (P).

5. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said management module (71) is designed to carry out a series of sending or transmitting operations, subsequent to the above transmission, to send a series of detected measures of said respective operating parameter (P) to said remote processing unit (80), during a predetermined time interval.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said series of detected measures comprises measures preceding in time sending of said notification signal (100) and/or measures following in time sending of said notification signal (100).

7. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein transmission of said respective operating parameter (P) to said remote processing unit (80) is started at a predetermined time limit.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein transmission of said respective operating parameter (P) to said remote processing unit (80) is started following a situation of failure, malfunction or alarm of the machine (1).

9. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said interfacing unit (70) further comprises a communication module (72) at least for sending said respective parameter (P) and/or notification signal (100) to said remote processing unit (80).

10. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication module (72) can be driven between a rest condition at which it transmits no signals, and an operating condition at which at least it transmits signals.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication module (72) is normally in said rest condition, said communication module (72) being driven to the operating condition by said management module (71) to send said respective operating parameter (P) to said remote processing unit (80).

12. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said interfacing unit (70) is further operatively associated with at least one of said one or more actuators (40) to make the latter receive a local command/adjustment signal (110) as a function of a remote command/adjustment signal (120) sent to said interfacing unit (40) by said remote processing unit (80).

13. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said interfacing unit (70) is operatively associated with at least one of said one or more actuators (40) to make the latter receive a local command/adjustment signal (110) as a function of a remote command/adjustment signal (120) sent to said interfacing unit (40) by said remote processing unit (80) and said management module is associated with said local processing unit (60) to make the latter receive said remote command/adjustment signal (120) and enable said local processing unit (60) to send said local command/adjustment signal (110) to said actuator (40).

14. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said interfacing unit (70) further comprises a memory (73), said management module (71) being associated with said memory (73) to store said remote command/adjustment signal (120), said local processing unit (60) being associated with said memory (73) to read said remote signal (120) and generate said local signal (110), as a function of said remote signal.

15. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said memory (73) is operatively associated with said management module (71) for storage of said operating parameter/s (P) in order to compare them and/or transmit them to said remote processing unit (80).

16. A machine as claimed in claim 13, wherein said communication module (72) is driven from the rest condition to the operating condition by a connection request signal (130) transmitted by said remote processing unit (80), said communication module (72) being able to receive said remote command/adjustment signal (120) when it is in the operating condition.

17. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said respective parameter (P) is representative of one or more of the following magnitudes:

temperature of the base product, of the finished product, or of specific regions within the machine (1);

pressure inside ducts or containers where said products are contained;

levels or amounts of products present at the inside of the machine (1) or dispensed through said dispensing means (30);

percentages in the composition of said products;

currents and/or voltages representative of the different circuits and electric/electronic devices present in the machine (1);

movement speed of the products inside the machine (1) or moving parts of the machine (1);

physical features of the base product and/or finished product;

state variables of members, switches, actuators (40) present in the machine (1).

18. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said respective parameter (P) is representative of a malfunction or alarm condition of said machine (1).

19. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said actuators (40) comprise at least one of the following devices:

devices or members acting on the base product, the finished product, possible intermediate products, in order to vary any of the physical or mechanical, static or dynamic characteristics thereof;

device or member capable of actively operating on any component of said machine (1).

20. A machine as claimed in claim 9, wherein said communication module (72) is a GSM/GPRS modem or an ADSL modem or an ISDN modem or an Ethernet module or a module for connection to a local network, in turn connectable to a network enabling remote connection to said remote processing unit (80).

21. A machine as claimed in claim 12, wherein said remote command/adjustment signal (120) is generated by said remote processing unit (80) as a function of a main signal (140) transmitted by a computer (90) remotely connected to said remote processing unit (80).