GB2209332A - Vending machine for hot food - Google Patents

Abstract

A vending machine comprises a freezer compartment 12 for storing items of frozen food, a mechanism for selecting a food item from the freezer compartment, a trolley 16 for transferring the selected item from the freezer compartment 12 to an oven 14 from which the heated item is sent to a dispensing aperture. The freezer compartment 12 includes a two dimensional array 20 of horizontal elongate storage trays each capable of storing items of food, and the selecting mechanism comprises a pusher member which is movable relative to the array 20 of trays and is capable of being extended when aligned with a desired tray to displace one item from the tray onto the trolley 16. The trays may be in a polar array, the pusher being rotatably mounted on a rod passing up the centre of the array. <IMAGE>

Description

VENDING MACHINE The present invention relates to a hot food vending machine which comprises a freezer compartment for storing items of frozen foot, means for selecting an item from the freezer compartment, means for transferring the selected item from the freezer compartment to an oven, preferably a microwave oven, and means for enabling the item heated in the oven to be collected from a dispensing aperture.

In the design of such a vending machine, it is important to minimise the size of a machine for a given storage capacity of frozen food items and it is also important to minimise the number of moving parts and actuators required to select an item from the freezer compartment.

Various prior art proposals have been made but they do not successfully meet the above requirements and result in machines which are expensive to manufacture, unreliable in operation or are not economically viable by virtue of the limited number or range of items that can be dispensed.

According to the present invention, there is provided a vending machine which comprises a freezer compartment for storing items of frozen food, means for selecting an item from the freezer compartment, means for transferring the selected item from the freezer compartment to an oven and means for enabling the item heated in the oven to be collected from a dispensing aperture, wherein the freezer compartment includes a two dimensional array of horizontal elongate storage trays each capable of storing items of food, and the selecting means comprises a pusher member which is movable relative to the array of trays and when aligned with a desired tray is capable of displacing one item from the tray onto the transferring means.

The array may be a cartesian array, i . e . one where the trays are arranged in rows and columns or a polar array which consists of columns of trays arranged about the circumference of a circle. In the former case, the pusher member is mounted for movement in two mutually perpendicular direction parallel the plane of the face of the array whereas and in the latter case, the pusher member may be arranged on a central column for movement vertically and for rotation about the axis of the column.

The pusher member may be hydraulic or electro-mechanical in operation. As a further option, there have been proposed recently materials with form memory that can undergo significant extension upon passage of an electrical current through them and such materials are particularly well suited to this task in view of their inherent reliability.

The simplicity of construction of the machine makes for inexpensive manufacture and only three actuators are required in total, two to position the pusher member alongside the desired tray and another to operate the pusher member to displace a food item from the tray.

Here, the term actuator is being used broadly to encompasses any device for causing movement, for example a motor, a solenoid, or a jack.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a schematic front view of a vending machine in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a front of the freezer compartment of the machine in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view of the freezer compartment shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a plan view of the freezer compartment of a second embodiment of the invention, Figure 5 is a view similar to that of Figure 2 of a further embodiment of the invention, Figure 6 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 1 showing an embodiment having two freezer compartments.

The vending machine shown in Figure 1 comprises an oven compartment 10 and a freezer compartment 12. The oven compartment 12 contains an oven 14 which may be raised and lowered and is connected to the freezer compartment by a door which is open when the oven 14 is raised and is closed when the oven 14 is lowered. A trolley 16 mounted on a rail 18 can move between the two compartments 10 and 12 through the connecting door and acts to transport food items from the freezer compartment 12 to the oven compartment 10. Packaged food is stored in the freezer compartment 12 on an array 20 of horizontal trays which will be described in more detail below.

In use, a user selects an item by depressing buttons (not shown) on the front of the vending machine and paying the correct price for the item. The payment can be effected by using coins, paper currency, a credit card, a token or in any other suitable manner. The item selection and method of payment are not germane to the invention and will not therefore be described in detail.

The trolley 16 moves to the freezer compartment 12 and the selected food item is made to drop from one of the trays of the array onto the trolley 16. The trolley next transports the food item through the connecting door into the oven compartment 12, whereupon the oven 14 is lowered on to the trolley 16 and is energised to heat the food item by microwave energy. After heating for sufficient time to defrost and cook, or at least heat, the food item, the oven 14 is raised and the top platform of the trolley is tilted up to tip the heated food item into a dispensing chute for collection by the user.

The above description of the whole vending machine is given only by way of background to assist in better understanding of the invention. The invention is primarily concerned with the method of storage of the food items to achieve a high storage density and with a simple selection mechanism employing few moving parts for displacing a food item from the storage trays onto the transport trolley 16.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, the array in which the food items are stored comprises horizontal trays 40 arranged in vertical rows and horizontal columns. Each tray 40 is sufficiently deep to support several food items of the same type, one behind the other. Different types of food item may, if desired, be carried by the different trays.

The mechanism for selecting a food item from the array of trays comprises a pusher member 50 mounted for sliding movement along a slide bar 52 which in turn can move up and down vertical columns 54. Any suitable mechanism can be employed to slide the bar 52 up and down the columns and the pusher member 50 along the bar 52. For example, the slide bar 52 can be moved by screw jacks or hydraulics. In the illustrated embodiment, the slide bar is movable along the columns 54 by means of a chain 51 passing around a motor driven sprocket 53 stationarily mounted in the base of the freezer compartment. The pusher member 50 can be moved by means of a motor 55 and a cable 56 passing over stationary guide pulleys 58. The pusher member 50 can in this way be aligned with any one of the trays 40.

The pusher member 50 may be actuated hydraulically, electricalZy or mechanically. The illustrated pusher member 50 comprises telescoped parts and when actuated it is extended as required to push one item off the tray 40 so that it may drop onto the trolley 16. An extendible pusher member functioning in the same manner may be formed from a material having form memory, such materials being known which undergo very significant prolongation when an electrical current is passed through them.

The advantage of the storage system as described is that very few moving parts are required and only three motors are needed (one for each degree of motion of the pusher member 50). Consequently, the machine can be constructed inexpensively and is reliable in operation.

The embodiment of Figures 2 and 3 enables very efficient usage of the available space in the freezer compartment 12 as the food items are stacked in a three dimensional array. Furthermore, as many items can be sold as there are trays 40 in the array, thereby permitting a wide range of goods to be sold. Of course, several trays can be used for the same food item if required.

The embodiment illustrated in Figure 7 is essentially the same as that of Figures 1, 2 and 3, the essential difference being that two freezer compartment 12, 12' are provided to enable a still wider range of products to be sold.

Such modular extension of the vending machine is made possible by virtue of the fact that the trolley can move from the oven compartment into either of the freezer compartments. The second freezer compartment 12' can be added after initial installation of the vending machine upon demand.

The second freezer compartment 12' is essentially a mirror image of the first and need not therefore be described further. If the oven compartment is adaptable to accept one or two freezer compartments, then the door leading to the second freezer compartment may be blanked off if not used.

The food items are always pushed off the same face of the array of trays and it is possible to provide guide plates parallel to the columns which ensure that any displaced item lands correctly on the trolley 16.

The embodiment of Figure 4 differs from the previous embodiments in that the though the trays are still arranged in columns, the trays 40' in the same horizontal plane as one another form rings rather than rows. Put differently, the food items are disposed in a polar array rather than a cartesian array.

The pusher member 60 can in this case move up and down a single column 62 and can rotate about the axis of the column 62 into alignment with any one of the trays 40'.

When so aligned, the pusher member 60 can'be extended to push a food item 64 off the tray 40' for collection by the trolley 16.

In Figures 5 and 6 the pusher member is a moving pin mounted on a chain rather that being an extendible member as described in the previous embodiments. A slide bar 52 is disposed behind the array of trays and is movable vertically on columns 54. Movement of the slide bar 52 is effected by means of a motor 80 driving a belt or chain transmission 82 housed in hollow rectangular column 84. The pusher member consists of a cantilever arm 90 carrying a chain 92 which is driven by a motor 96 supported by the slide bar 52. A pin 94 projects from the chain 92 and can pass through a slot in the bottom surface of the trays 40 to engage the food items carried by the trays. In this case, because the cantilever arm 90 is not retractable, the trays 40 must be spaced apart to allow movement of the arm to desired tray.

In Figures 5 and 6, the gap between adjacent columns and rows of trays 40 are sufficientiy wide to accommodate the movement of the cantilever arm 90 but there need only be one vertical gap in between the columns. It is also alternatively possible for the pin 94 to enter the trays 40 from the side rather than from beneath and in this case there need only be a single horizontal gap between the rows of trays to permit movement of the pusher member to any desired tray.

Claims (9)

1. A vending machine comprising a freezer compartment for storing items of frozen food, means for selecting an item from the freezer compartment, means for transferring the selected item from the freezer compartment to an oven and means for enabling the item heated in the oven to be collected from a dispensing aperture, wherein the freezer compartment includes a two dimensional array of horizontal elongate storage trays each capable of storing items of food, and the selecting means comprises a pusher member which is movable relative to the array of trays and when aligned with a desired tray is capable of displacing one item from the tray onto the transferring means.

2. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the array is a cartesian array, in which the trays are arranged in rows and columns.

3. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the pusher member is mounted for movement in two mutually perpendicular direction parallel the plane of the face of the array.

4. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the array is a polar array comprising columns of trays arranged about the circumference of a circle.

5. A vending machine as claimed in Claim 4, wherein the pusher member is arranged on a central column for movement vertically and for rotation about the axis of the column.

6. A vending machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pusher member is hydraulic or electro-mechanical in operation.

7. A vending machine as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the pusher member is made from a material having form memory and undergoing significant extension upon passage of an electrical current therethrough.

8. A vending machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the pusher member is fully retractable from the trays.

9. A vending machine constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.