Temperature controlled frozen food dispenser

Abstract

An apparatus for dispensing food articles to a food article receiving container that includes a hopper that defines a primary food article storage location configured to hold the food articles, and an accumulator that defines a secondary food article storage location and is positioned adjacent to the primary food article storage location so as to receive food articles held in the primary storage location. The food article receiving container is positioned generally beneath the accumulator so that food articles moving from the accumulator food article storage location land in the food article receiving container. The apparatus also includes a cooling device and a substantially air-tight seal in order to maintain a predetermined temperature range in the primary food article storage location and the accumulator food article storage location. The apparatus may also include a load / weight sensing / measuring assembly in place of or in addition to the cooling device. The load / weight sensing / measuring assembly is configured to weigh the food articles in the primary food article location and generate a weighed signal.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] This invention relates generally to dispensing; more particularly to dispensing food items; and more particularly still to a temperature controlled dispensing unit for dispensing frozen food items. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Frozen french fry dispensers are known in the art. An example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,498 issued to Cahlander et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,847 issued to Cahlander et al; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,918 issued to Cahlander et al. Each of the foregoing patents discloses a french fry dispenser that includes a main storage bin, a device for moving the fries from the main storage bin into a secondary location, a structure for holding the fries in the secondary location, and a complex apparatus for moving empty cooking baskets into position under the secondary storage location. [0003] While the disclosed food dispenser in the Cahlander patents automates the process of dispensing frozen articles and has been successful in the...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] The invention generally relates to a food dispensing apparatus and method that maintains food articles within a predetermined temperature range prior to dispensing of the food articles. One aspect of the invention relates to an apparatus for dispensing food articles to a food article receiving container that includes a hopper that defines a primary food article storage location configured to hold the food articles, and an accumulator that defines an secondary food article storage location (which may be referred to throughout the specification and claims as an “accumulator food article storage location”) and is positioned adjacent to the primary food article storage location so as to receive food articles held in the

Problems solved by technology

First, the complex apparatus used for automatically moving the plurality of baskets into position under the secondary position is often not needed and / or desired by the end-user.

Further, in such instances, providing such a device introduces unnecessarily complex and expensive equipment into the dispenser.

Second, the manner in which the disclosed apparatus determines the weight of the articles to dispense does not provide highly accurate results (e.g., dispensing by time and by volume may be non-linear based in part upon the articles dispensed).

However, such a load cell can be an expensive piece of equipment that adds more expense into the food dispenser apparatus.

Furthermore, there is no accurate way of determining the amount of product left in the main storage bin.

Third, the device for moving the fries from the main storage bin into the secondary location can become clogged by large clumps of fries, thus causing breakage of the fries.

Fourth, the manner in which the disclosed apparatus dispenses does not have an efficient dispensing rate for various types of food products or articles.

More specifically, the dispensing rate is either too fast, which causes difficulty in stopping at an accurate weight, or too slow, which extends to an unreasonable time for many applications, such as the fast food industry.

A fundamental problem when rapidly dispensing a dense product or product with a large weight per particle is that the product cannot be stopped at an accurate weight, for example, due to the weight of product in flight (i.e., the weight of the product that has not reached the weighing mechanism but that has been dispensed).

Another associated problem is that if the load / weight sensing / measuring assembly operates at a rate appropriate to a denser product, a weighing cycle may be extended to an unreasonable time (e.g., four to six times the cycle for a heavier product).

In many cases, however, the frozen articles to be dispensed from the disclosed apparatus are easily defrosted or thawed, especially when the dispenser is near the cooking area.

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