SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPENSING TOPPINGS

• US 20140154384A1
• Filed: 06/06/2013
• Published: 06/05/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Creator, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Momentum Machines Company
• Inventors: Vardakostas, Alexandros, Frehn, Steven, McDonald, John Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 9,386,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 426/531
• CPC Class Codes: A21C 15/002 Apparatus for spreading granular material on, or sweeping or coating the surface of baked articles of pieces of dough A21C9/04; for confectionary A23G3/28
• CPC Class Codes: A21C 9/04 Apparatus for spreading granular material on, or sweeping or coating the surfaces of, pieces or sheets of dough coating baked articles A21C15/002
• CPC Class Codes: A23P 20/20 Making of laminated, multi-layered, stuffed or hollow foodstuffs, e.g. by wrapping in preformed edible dough sheets or in edible food containers
• CPC Class Codes: A23V 2002/00 Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0078 Food articles which need to be processed for dispensing in a hot or cooked condition, e.g. popcorn, nuts

Abstract

One variation of a method for dispensing toppings onto topping vehicles includes: indexing a first topping vehicle to a first position adjacent a first topping module, the first topping module comprising a first hopper containing a first topping of a first topping type; indexing a second topping vehicle to a second position adjacent a second topping module comprising a second hopper containing a second topping of a second topping type; retracting a first blade of the first topping module; advancing the first blade through the first topping; retracting a first retaining plate to dispense a topping slice from the first topping onto the first topping vehicle according to a first topping order for the first topping vehicle specifying the first topping type, the first retaining plate offset from the first blade opposite the first hopper; advancing the first retaining plate; and indexing the first topping vehicle to the second position.

Claims

1. A system for dispensing toppings onto a topping vehicle, comprising:

first topping module comprising a first hopper configured to dispense a first topping of a first topping type, a first blade adjacent a discharge end of the first hopper and configured to slice a topping serving from the first topping, and a first retaining plate offset from and adjacent the first blade opposite the first hopper;

second topping module comprising a second hopper configured to dispense a second topping of a second topping type, a second blade adjacent a discharge end of the second hopper and configured to slice a topping serving from the second topping, and a second retaining plate offset from and adjacent the second blade opposite the second hopper;

a conveyor configured to advance the topping vehicle from a first position adjacent the first topping module to a second position adjacent the second topping module; and

a carriage configured to retract and advance the first blade and the first retaining plate to dispense a topping serving from the first topping onto the topping vehicle in the first position and to retract and advance the second blade and the second retaining plate to dispense a topping serving from the second topping onto the topping vehicle in the second position.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the conveyor is configured to advance the topping vehicle that comprises a half of a hamburger bun from the first position to the second position, and wherein the first hopper comprises a cross-section configured to accept the first topping that comprises one of a whole pickle, a whole tomato, a whole onion, and a head of lettuce.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the conveyor is configured to advance a second topping vehicle adjacent and preceding the topping vehicle, wherein the carriage is configured to selectively and sequentially retract and advance the first blade, the first retaining plate, the second blade, and the second retaining plate to substantially simultaneously dispense the topping serving from the first topping onto the topping vehicle in the first position and a topping serving from the second topping onto the second topping vehicle in the second position according to a topping order associated with the topping vehicle and a second topping order associated with the second topping vehicle

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first hopper is configured to gravity feed the first topping onto the first retaining plate in an advanced position, the first blade offset from the first retaining plate by a preset topping thickness for the first topping type.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first topping module comprises a hopper magazine configured to support the first hopper and a preceding hopper configured to dispense a topping of the first topping type, and wherein the hopper magazine is configured to advance the first hopper into a dispense position over the first blade in response to exhaustion of the preceding hopper.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first topping module further comprises a chute arranged between the first blade and the discharge end of the first hopper, the chute defining an axial length less than an axial length of the first hopper, the magazine configured to axially align the preceding hopper with the chute and to axially align the first hopper with the chute in sequence.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the first blade is transiently coupled to a cutting plate defining a perforated region, wherein the perforated region is adjacent the first topping when the cutting plate is fully advanced through the first topping.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the blade defines a serrated cutting edge.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the carriage is configured to select the first blade in a fully-advanced position, retract the first blade into a fully-retracted position, advance the first blade into a fully-advanced position, disengage the first blade, select the retaining plate in a fully-advanced position, retract the retaining plate into a fully-retracted position to dispense the topping serving from the first topping onto the topping vehicle, advance the retaining plate into a fully-advanced position, and disengage the retaining plate.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the carriage comprises a beam, a first selection actuator coupled to the beam and configured to selectively engage the first blade and the first retaining plate, a second selection actuator coupled to the beam and configured to selectively engage the second blade and the second retaining plate, and an actuator configured to advance and to retract the beam.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises a flexible guide that supports the topping vehicle and guides the topping serving from the first topping onto the topping in the first position.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising a processor configured to control selection of the first blade and the first retaining plate by the carriage according to a topping order specifying the first topping type for the topping vehicle.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a carriage sensor and a conveyor sensor coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to control a position of the carriage according to an output of the carriage sensor and to control a position of the conveyor according to an output of the conveyor sensor.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor controls the carriage to selectively dispense the topping serving from the first topping module configured to dispense pickle onto the topping vehicle in the first position, to selectively dispense the topping serving from the second topping module configured to dispense tomato onto the topping vehicle in the second position, to selectively dispense a topping serving from a third topping module configured to dispense onion onto the topping vehicle in a third position, and to selectively dispense a topping serving from a fourth topping module configured to dispense lettuce onto the topping vehicle in a fourth position according to the topping order.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor correlates a current draw of an electric actuator advancing the carriage with a sharpness of the first blade, and wherein the processor triggers an alarm in response to a determined blade sharpness below a threshold blade sharpness.

16. A method for dispensing toppings onto topping vehicles, comprising:

indexing a first topping vehicle to a first position adjacent a first topping module, the first topping module comprising a first hopper containing a first topping of a first topping type;

indexing a second topping vehicle to a second position adjacent a second topping module, the second topping module comprising a second hopper containing a second topping of a second topping type;

retracting a first blade of the first topping module;

advancing the first blade through the first topping;

retracting a first retaining plate to dispense a topping slice from the first topping onto the first topping vehicle according to a first topping order for the first topping vehicle specifying the first topping type, the first retaining plate offset from the first blade opposite the first hopper;

advancing the first retaining plate; and

indexing the first topping vehicle to the second position.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising receiving the first topping order via a computer network, the first topping order submitted by a patron through a mobile computing device.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising indexing the first topping vehicle to a third position adjacent a third topping module, the first topping vehicle without a topping slice from the second topping, according to the topping order for the first topping vehicle that excludes the second topping type.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein retracting the first blade comprises simultaneously retracting the first blade and retracting a second blade of the second topping module, wherein advancing the first blade comprises simultaneously advancing the first blade and advancing the second blade through the second topping, wherein retracting the first retaining plate comprises simultaneously retracting the first retaining plate and retracting a second retaining plate to dispense a topping slice from the second topping onto the second topping vehicle according to a second topping order for the second topping vehicle specifying the second topping type, and wherein advancing the first retaining plate comprises simultaneously advancing the first retaining plate and advancing the second retaining plate, the second topping order specifying a combination of topping types different from the first topping order.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising, in response to exhaustion of the first hopper, indexing a succeeding hopper into a dispensing position adjacent the first blade, the succeeding hopper configured to dispense a topping of the first topping type.