Food dispensing device and method
First Claim
1. An automated dispensing device for dispensing a quantity of food pieces to be cooked comprising:
- a freezer;
a food magazine located in the freezer for containing a plurality of bulk food pieces to be dispensed,a secondary container located within the freezer for containing a plurality of food pieces dispensed from the food magazine;
said food magazine having dual rotatable spiral flights, said spiral flights having a spacing of a size and shape to allow only one individual food piece to be placed in the spacing between adjacent flight segments and being rotatable to dispense individual pieces of food one piece at a time from the plurality of bulk food pieces contained in the food magazine into the secondary container;
a device for determining the quantity of food pieces contained in the secondary container and for terminating the dispensing of individual pieces of food from said food magazine when a predetermined quantity of food pieces is sensed in the secondary container; and
a device for rotating the secondary container sufficiently so that food pieces contained therein are dumped to a location outside of the freezer.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An automated food processing system and method is provided that allows food to be dispensed, fried and packaged in a suitable container, which may be an individual portion-sized container. In one embodiment, the system includes separate automated modules for dispensing, frying and packaging the food. In one embodiment, an automated dispensing device dispenses a predetermined portion of food from a food dispensing magazine located in a freezer. Food is dispensed from the magazine to a secondary container located within the freezer for containing a plurality of pieces dispensed from the food magazine. A device is provided for determining the number of food pieces in the container located in the secondary container and for dumping the secondary container so that food pieces contained in the secondary container are dumped to a location outside of the freezer.
221 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An automated dispensing device for dispensing a quantity of food pieces to be cooked comprising:
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a freezer; a food magazine located in the freezer for containing a plurality of bulk food pieces to be dispensed, a secondary container located within the freezer for containing a plurality of food pieces dispensed from the food magazine; said food magazine having dual rotatable spiral flights, said spiral flights having a spacing of a size and shape to allow only one individual food piece to be placed in the spacing between adjacent flight segments and being rotatable to dispense individual pieces of food one piece at a time from the plurality of bulk food pieces contained in the food magazine into the secondary container; a device for determining the quantity of food pieces contained in the secondary container and for terminating the dispensing of individual pieces of food from said food magazine when a predetermined quantity of food pieces is sensed in the secondary container; and a device for rotating the secondary container sufficiently so that food pieces contained therein are dumped to a location outside of the freezer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An automated method of dispensing a quantity of individual food pieces to be cooked comprising:
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storing food pieces in bulk in a food magazine located in a freezer; providing dual rotatable spiral flights in the food magazine, the flights having a spacing of a size and shape to allow only one individual food piece to be placed in the spacing between adjacent flight segments; rotating the spiral flights to dispense individual pieces of food contained between adjacent flight segments one piece at a time from the plurality of bulk food pieces contained in the food magazine to a conveyor located in the freezer; conveying the food pieces on the conveyor to a secondary container located in the freezer; monitoring the amount of food pieces conveyed to the secondary container; terminating further conveying of the food pieces to the secondary container when a desired amount of food pieces are determined to be present in the secondary container as determined by said monitoring; and rotating the secondary container sufficiently to dump its contents and dispense said desired amount of said food pieces from the secondary container and out of the freezer. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
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Specification