Automatic rice dispenser

Abstract

This invention discloses an automatic rice dispensing machine, belonging to the technical field of central kitchen equipment. It includes a frame and a chain lifting device. At least two lunchbox conveyor chains are arranged side-by-side between the front and rear ends of the frame. Above the lunchbox conveyor chains are rice mold devices and rice storage bins. The rice mold devices have rice hoppers arranged side-by-side and corresponding to the lunchbox conveyor chains. Each rice hopper is equipped with a rice quantity detection sensor. At least two sets of rice-scooping mechanisms are arranged between the rice hoppers and the rice storage bins, each set of mechanisms matching one rice hopper. The chain lifting device is used to lift the rice pot and flip the rice in the rice pot into the rice storage bin. The rice is poured into the rice storage bin by the chain lifting device, and then loosened and delivered by at least two independently controlled rice-scooping mechanisms. Each rice-scooping mechanism determines whether to scoop rice into the corresponding rice hopper based on the signal from the rice quantity detection sensor installed in the corresponding rice hopper, thereby ensuring that each rice hopper has sufficient rice effectively distributed to the lunchboxes according to the predetermined amount.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of central kitchen equipment technology, and in particular to an automatic meal dispensing machine. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of the fast food industry, the demand for boxed meals is increasing daily for catering services such as corporate employee meals, student nutrition meals, airline catering, and railway catering. In order to cope with the production of large quantities of boxed meals, various types of meal dispensing machines are circulating in the market.

[0003] Currently, existing automatic rice dispensing machines often employ double or multiple rice molds to improve dispensing efficiency, meaning one machine can dispense two or more portions of rice at a time. However, these machines typically only have one rice-scooping mechanism. See Chinese Invention Publication Patent No. CN112009732A, published on December 1, 2020, which discloses a rice dispensing machine. This machine specifically includes: a frame and a chain lifting device, a loosening bucket, a rice dispensing device, and an automatic box-dropping device mounted on the frame. The specific implementation method and appendix are described in the specification. Figure 1 It can be seen that there is only one rice-scooping mechanism in the rice-scooping bucket.

[0004] In the existing technical solution, the rice-scooping mechanism determines whether to scoop rice based on the rice quantity detection sensor set in the rice mold device. However, the rice capacity of the rice mold device below the rice-scooping mechanism is different, and the height is not uniform and is random. Therefore, two situations are likely to occur: (1) If the rice-scooping mechanism scoops rice based on the rice quantity detection sensor of the rice mold device with low rice capacity, it will cause the rice mold device with high rice capacity to become clogged; (2) If the rice-scooping mechanism scoops rice based on the rice quantity detection sensor of the rice mold device with high rice capacity, it will cause the rice mold device with low rice capacity to have less rice. In other words, there is only one rice-scooping mechanism, and the operation of the rice-scooping mechanism is synchronous. It cannot make a real judgment on the rice capacity in each rice mold device. The rice-scooping machine often has the phenomenon of less rice or clogged rice, which loses the development purpose of quantitative rice distribution and improving efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology, the present invention provides an automatic rice dispensing machine, which solves the technical problem that the existing rice dispensing machine has only one dispensing mechanism, making it difficult to make an accurate judgment on the amount of rice in each rice mold device, resulting in insufficient rice or rice blockage, and failing to achieve quantitative rice dispensing.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by this invention to solve its technical problem is: an automatic rice dispensing machine, including a frame and a chain lifting device, characterized in that: at least two rice box conveyor chains are arranged in parallel between the front and rear ends of the frame, the rear end and front end of the frame are the rice box insertion end and the rice box output end, respectively, a rice mold device and a rice storage bucket are arranged above the rice box conveyor chains, the rice mold device has rice hoppers arranged in parallel and corresponding to the rice box conveyor chains, each rice hopper is equipped with a rice quantity detection sensor, at least two sets of rice scooping mechanisms are arranged between the rice hoppers and the rice storage bucket, each set of rice scooping mechanisms is matched with one rice hopper, the rice storage bucket is located above the rice scooping mechanism, the upper and lower ends of the rice storage bucket are open, and the chain lifting device is located beside the rice storage bucket for lifting the rice pot and turning the rice in the rice pot into the rice storage bucket.

[0007] As a further improvement to the above solution, the meal mold device includes a base plate fixed on the frame, the base plate being perpendicular to the conveying direction of the meal box conveyor chain, and at least two protective rings spaced apart on the base plate.

[0008] As a further improvement to the above solution, a support plate is provided above the protective ring. The support plate is set at a distance from the protective ring. The rice hopper is located on the support plate. Each end of the support plate is provided with a partition. A cutting groove is opened on the side of the two partitions that are close to each other. A rice separating plate is movable between the two cutting grooves. After the rice falls from the rice hopper into the protective ring, it is blocked from flowing out by the rice separating plate.

[0009] As a further improvement to the above solution, the shape of the protective ring and the shape of the rice outlet of the rice hopper are consistent with the shape of the lunch box.

[0010] As a further improvement to the above solution, the rice hopper has rice quantity detection windows on both the front and rear sides along the conveying direction of the lunchbox conveyor chain.

[0011] As a further improvement to the above solution, the rice-scraping mechanism is provided in two sets. Each set of rice-scraping mechanisms includes a rice-loosening frame, several spiked clubs, and a drive motor. The rice-loosening frame has a rice-loosening chamber that is connected at both the top and bottom. The spiked clubs pass through the rice-loosening chambers and are connected to the front and rear ends of the rice-loosening frame. One end of the spiked clubs is connected to the drive motor through a gear.

[0012] As a further improvement to the above solution, the several spiked clubs are staggered and installed along the conveying direction of the lunchbox conveyor chain. Each spiked club includes a rotating shaft and four sets of rice-loosening blades evenly distributed on the rotating shaft. The axial direction of the four sets of rice-loosening blades is cross-shaped. Each set of rice-loosening blades is provided with rice-loosening teeth, and the rice-loosening teeth on adjacent rice-loosening blades are staggered.

[0013] As a further improvement to the above solution, the drive motor is installed on the front and rear sides of the rice frame. The gear connected to the shaft closest to the drive motor is the driving gear, which is connected to the main shaft of the drive motor. The gears connected to the shafts on the other spiked clubs are the driven gears.

[0014] As a further improvement to the above solution, the rotating shaft and the gear are connected by a key, the main shaft of the drive motor is a hollow shaft, a hollow section of the main shaft is sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft, the end of the main shaft is symmetrically provided with teeth, and the drive wheel is provided with a slotted hole that cooperates with the two teeth.

[0015] As a further improvement to the above solution, the inner cavity of the rice storage bucket is provided with two sets of mutually perpendicular rice cutting boards. The two sets of rice cutting boards are respectively installed in the inner cavity through connecting rods, and the ends of the connecting rods are respectively fixed to the inner wall of the rice storage bucket.

[0016] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: Rice is poured into the rice storage bin by a chain lifting device, and then loosened and delivered by at least two independently controlled rice-scooping mechanisms. Each rice-scooping mechanism accurately determines whether rice needs to be scooped into the corresponding rice bin based on the rice quantity detection sensor signal installed in the corresponding rice bin, thereby ensuring that each rice bin has sufficient rice to be effectively distributed to the rice box according to the predetermined amount, achieving the purpose of quantitative rice distribution and improving rice distribution efficiency. This solves the technical problem of existing rice distribution machines having only one rice-scooping mechanism, which makes it difficult to accurately determine the rice capacity in each rice mold device, resulting in insufficient rice or rice blockage. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 This is a left view of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a right view of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 This is a top view of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 This is a perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 6 for Figure 5 Enlarged view of point A in the middle;

[0023] Figure 7 This is a side view of the rice mold device, rice scooping mechanism, and rice storage bucket in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 8 This is a front view of the rice mold device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 9 This is a rear view of the rice mold device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 10 for Figure 9 Enlarged view of point B in the middle;

[0027] Figure 11 This is a perspective view of the rice mold device in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 12 This is a perspective view of the rice mold device in an embodiment of the present invention from another angle;

[0029] Figure 13 This is a top view of the two sets of rice-cooking mechanisms in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 14 This is a perspective view of two sets of rice-cooking mechanisms in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 15 This is a perspective view of a set of rice-scooping mechanisms in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0032] Figure 16 This is a side view of the spiked club in a set of rice-eating mechanisms according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 17 This is a perspective view of a set of rice-eating mechanisms according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Figure 18 This is a perspective view of the drive wheel in a rice-scraping mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 19 This is a perspective view of the drive motor spindle in a rice-scraping mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0036] Figure 20 This is a top view of the rice storage bucket and rice cutting board in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0037] Figure 21 This is a perspective view of the rice storage bucket and rice cutting board in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0038] Figure 22 This is a perspective view of the chain lifting device in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] In the picture:

[0040] 10. Frame; 11. Chain lifting device; 12. Lunch box conveyor chain; 13. Loading end; 14. Output end;

[0041] 15. Rice mold device; 151. Rice hopper; 152. Base plate; 153. Protective ring; 154. Support plate; 155. Spacer; 156. Cutting groove; 157. Rice dividing plate; 158. Rice quantity detection window.

[0042] 16. Rice storage bucket;

[0043] 17. Rice scooping mechanism; 171. Rice scooping frame; 172. Edge guard; 173. Spike; 1731. Rotating shaft; 1732. Rice scooping blade; 1733. Rice scooping tooth; 174. Drive motor; 175. Rice scooping chamber; 176. Drive wheel; 1761. Groove hole; 177. Main shaft; 1771. Gear; 178. Driven wheel;

[0044] 18. Rice cooker;

[0045] 19. Rice cutting board; 20. Connecting rod; 21. Pulley; 22. Flat surface; 23. Support plate. Detailed Implementation

[0046] The specific embodiments of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that these descriptions are for the purpose of aiding understanding the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation thereof. Furthermore, the technical features involved in the various embodiments of the present invention described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0047] As attached Figure 1-22 As shown, the present invention provides an automatic rice dispensing machine, including a frame 10 and a chain lifting device 11. At least two rice box conveyor chains 12 are arranged in parallel between the front and rear ends of the frame 10. The rear end and front end of the frame 10 are the rice box insertion end 13 and the output end 14, respectively. A rice mold device 15 and a rice storage bucket 16 are arranged above the rice box conveyor chains 12. The rice mold device 15 has rice hoppers 151 arranged in parallel and corresponding to the rice box conveyor chains 12. Each rice hopper 151 is equipped with a rice quantity detection sensor. At least two sets of rice scooping mechanisms 17 are arranged between the rice hoppers 151 and the rice storage bucket 16. Each set of rice scooping mechanisms 17 is matched with a rice hopper 151. The rice storage bucket 16 is located above the rice scooping mechanisms 17. Both the upper and lower ends of the rice storage bucket 16 are open. The chain lifting device 11 is located next to the rice storage bucket 16 and is used to lift the rice pot 18 and turn the rice in the rice pot 18 into the rice storage bucket 16.

[0048] Rice is poured into the rice storage bin 16 via a chain lifting device 11. At least two independently controlled rice-scooping mechanisms 17 loosen and deliver the rice. Each rice-scooping mechanism 17 determines whether rice needs to be scooped into the corresponding rice bin 151 based on the rice quantity detection sensor signal installed in the corresponding rice bin 151. This ensures that each rice bin 151 has sufficient rice to be effectively distributed to the rice box according to the predetermined amount, achieving the purpose of quantitative rice distribution and improving rice distribution efficiency. This solves the technical problem of existing rice distribution machines having only one rice-scooping mechanism 17, which makes it difficult to make an accurate judgment on the rice capacity in each rice mold device 15, resulting in insufficient rice or rice blockage.

[0049] As a further preferred embodiment, the rice mold device 15 includes a base plate 152 fixed on the frame 10. The base plate 152 is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the lunch box conveyor chain 12, and at least two protective rings 153 are spaced apart on the base plate 152. The protective rings 153 help to reduce the distance that the rice needs to fall from the rice hopper 151 into the lunch box, preventing the rice from spilling. On the other hand, they also play a shaping role. The rice is released from the rice hopper 151 and then constrained by the shape of the protective rings 153, so that the rice retains the shape of the protective rings 153 when it falls into the lunch box.

[0050] As a further preferred embodiment, the shape of the protective ring 153 and the shape of the rice bowl 151's outlet are consistent with the shape of the lunch box. In this embodiment, both the protective ring 153 and the rice bowl 151's outlet are oblong-shaped.

[0051] As a further preferred embodiment, a support plate 154 is provided above the protective ring 153, and the support plate 154 is set at a distance from the protective ring 153. The rice hopper 151 is located on the support plate 154. Each end of the support plate 154 has a partition strip 155, and a cutting groove 156 is opened on the side of the two partition strips 155 that are close to each other. A rice-dividing plate 157 is movable between the two cutting grooves 156. After rice falls from the rice hopper 151 into the protective ring 153, it is blocked from flowing out further by the rice-dividing plate 157. Specifically, the rice-dividing plate 157 is driven by a driving element to slide within the cutting groove 156. The driving element can be a motor or a driving cylinder. The rice-dividing action of the rice-dividing plate 157 can be realized by connecting the extended end of the driving cylinder to the rice-dividing plate 157. During rice division, the rice-dividing plate blocks the outlet of the rice hopper 151, thereby preventing the rice in the rice hopper 151 from falling further.

[0052] As a further preferred embodiment, the rice hopper 151 has rice quantity detection windows 158 on both the front and rear sides along the conveying direction of the lunchbox conveyor chain 12. A rice quantity detection sensor is installed in each rice quantity detection window 158. It should be noted that each rice hopper 151 is equipped with an individually controlled rice quantity detection sensor, which is used to detect the amount of rice in the corresponding rice hopper 151 and then feed back a signal to the rice scooping mechanism 17, thereby realizing the control of a single rice hopper 151, a single rice quantity detection sensor, and a single rice scooping mechanism 17.

[0053] As a further preferred embodiment, the rice-scooping mechanism 17 is provided in two sets. Each set of rice-scooping mechanisms 17 includes a rice-loosening frame 171, a number of spiked clubs 173, and a drive motor 174. The rice-loosening frame 171 has a rice-loosening chamber 175 that is connected at both the upper and lower ends. The spiked clubs 173 pass through the rice-loosening chambers 175 and are connected to the front and rear ends of the rice-loosening frame 171. One end of the spiked clubs 173 is connected to the drive motor 174 through a gear.

[0054] As a further preferred embodiment, the top perimeter of the rice-loosening frame 171 is provided with outwardly extending guard edges 172, and the guard edges 172 of the two sets of rice-scooping mechanisms 17 are closely fitted together to prevent rice from flowing out of the gaps. The two rice-loosening chambers 175 are matched with the rice-dispensing ports of the rice storage bucket 16.

[0055] As a further preferred embodiment, several spikes 173 are staggered and installed along the conveying direction of the lunchbox conveyor chain 12 to match the conveying direction of the rice hopper 151 and the lunchbox, making the rice fall more accurately. Each spike 173 includes a rotating shaft 1731 and four sets of rice-loosening blades 1732 evenly distributed on the rotating shaft 1731. The axial direction of the four sets of rice-loosening blades 1732 is cross-shaped, and each set of rice-loosening blades 1732 is provided with rice-loosening teeth 1733. The rice-loosening teeth 1733 on adjacent rice-loosening blades 1732 are staggered to make the rice looser more thoroughly and improve the user's eating experience. When the spiked club 173 rotates, it can loosen the rice at the bottom of the rice storage bucket 16 and at the same time, it can also convey rice into the rice hopper 151. When the drive motor 174 stops operating, the spiked club 173 can, to a certain extent, prevent the rice in the rice storage bucket 16 from falling downwards, thus preventing the rice from piling up tightly at the bottom of the rice storage bucket 16 and forming rice clumps, which would result in the rice not being fluffy enough.

[0056] As a further preferred embodiment, the drive motors 174 are installed on the front and rear sides of the rice container 171, that is, the two drive motors 174 are arranged along the conveying direction of the rice container conveyor chain 12, which improves the compactness of the overall structure and makes the layout of the entire mechanism more reasonable. The shaft 1731 closest to the drive motor 174 is connected to the drive wheel 176, which is connected to the main shaft 177 of the drive motor 174. The gears connected to the shafts 1731 on the other spiked clubs 173 are driven wheels 178. When the drive motor 174 is working, it drives the main shaft 177 to rotate, which drives the drive wheel 176 to rotate. The drive wheel 176 meshes with the driven wheel 178, thereby realizing the rotation of the spiked clubs 173.

[0057] As a further preferred embodiment, the rotating shaft 1731 is keyed to the gear, and the main shaft 177 of the drive motor 174 is a hollow shaft. A hollow section of the main shaft 177 is fitted onto the end of the rotating shaft 1731, and the end of the main shaft 177 is symmetrically provided with teeth 1771. The drive wheel 176 is provided with slotted holes 1761 that mate with the two teeth 1771. The mating connection between the teeth 1771 and the slotted holes 1761 enables the rice-scooping mechanism 17 to have a quick assembly and disassembly function, facilitating the installation, disassembly, and cleaning of the rice-scooping mechanism 17 components.

[0058] As a further preferred embodiment, the inner cavity of the rice storage bin 16 is provided with two sets of mutually perpendicular rice cutting plates 19. The two sets of rice cutting plates 19 are respectively installed in the inner cavity via connecting rods 20, and the ends of the connecting rods 20 are respectively fixed to the inner wall of the rice storage bin 16. The rice cutting plates 19 are provided to facilitate the even distribution of rice in the rice storage bin 16, improve the rice loosening effect of the rice spreading mechanism 17, and work together with the rice spreading mechanism 17 to ensure that each rice container 151 has sufficient rice to be effectively distributed on the lunch box according to the predetermined amount, thus promoting the technical effect of quantitative rice distribution.

[0059] As a further preferred embodiment, the bottom surface of the rice storage bucket 16 is symmetrically provided with two sets of pulleys 21, and a plane 22 for the pulleys 21 to move is provided in the frame 10. The pulleys 21 facilitate manual removal and placement of the rice storage bucket 16, improve the practicality of the rice storage bucket 16, and make its application range wider.

[0060] As a further preferred embodiment, support plates 23 are fixedly distributed on both the left and right sides of the lunchbox conveyor chain 12, as can be seen in [reference]. Figure 6 As shown, the support plate 23 facilitates the smooth transport of the lunchbox.

[0061] In this embodiment, the chain lifting device 11 used is a common technique in the art, used to lift the rice cooker 18 and flip the rice in the rice cooker 18 into the rice storage bin 16. See Chinese Invention Publication Patent, application publication number CN112009732A, application publication date December 1, 2020, which discloses a rice dispensing machine, which will not be described in detail here. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the rice cooker 18 used is a rice container with a heat preservation function.

[0062] The embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. For those skilled in the art, various changes, modifications, substitutions, and variations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and these variations still fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automatic meal dispensing machine, comprising a frame (10) and a chain lifting device (11), characterized in that: At least two lunchbox conveyor chains (12) are arranged side by side between the front and rear ends of the frame (10). The rear end and front end of the frame (10) are the lunchbox insertion end (13) and the output end (14), respectively. A rice mold device (15) and a rice storage bin (16) are arranged above the lunchbox conveyor chains (12). The rice mold device (15) has rice hoppers (151) arranged side by side and corresponding to the lunchbox conveyor chains (12). Each rice hopper (151) is equipped with a rice quantity detection sensor. At least two sets of rice-scooping mechanisms (17) are provided between the rice hopper (151) and the rice storage bucket (16). Each set of rice-scooping mechanisms (17) is matched with the rice hopper (151). The rice storage bucket (16) is located above the rice-scooping mechanism (17). Both the upper and lower ends of the rice storage bucket (16) are open. The chain lifting device (11) is located on the side of the rice storage bucket (16) to lift the rice cooker (18) and turn the rice in the rice cooker (18) over and pour it into the rice storage bucket (16). The rice-scooping mechanism (17) is provided in two sets. Each set of rice-scooping mechanism (17) includes a rice-loosening frame (171), several spikes (173), and a drive motor (174). The rice-loosening frame (171) has a rice-loosening chamber (175) that is connected at both the top and bottom. The spikes (173) pass through the rice-loosening chamber (175) and are connected to the front and rear ends of the rice-loosening frame (171). One end of the spikes (173) is connected to the drive motor (174) through a gear. The aforementioned spikes (173) are staggered and installed along the conveying direction of the lunchbox conveyor chain (12). Each spike (173) includes a rotating shaft (1731) and four sets of rice-loosening blades (1732) evenly distributed on the rotating shaft (1731). The axial direction of the four sets of rice-loosening blades (1732) is cross-shaped. Each set of rice-loosening blades (1732) is provided with rice-loosening teeth (1733), and the rice-loosening teeth (1733) on adjacent rice-loosening blades (1732) are staggered. The inner cavity of the rice storage bucket (16) is provided with two sets of mutually perpendicular rice cutting boards (19). The two sets of rice cutting boards (19) are respectively installed in the inner cavity through connecting rods (20), and the ends of the connecting rods (20) are respectively fixed to the inner wall of the rice storage bucket (16).

2. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The meal mold device (15) includes a base plate (152) fixed on the frame (10). The base plate (152) is perpendicular to the conveying direction of the meal box conveyor chain (12). At least two protective rings (153) are provided on the base plate (152) at intervals.

3. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 2, characterized in that: A support plate (154) is provided above the protective ring (153). The support plate (154) and the protective ring (153) are set at a distance. The rice hopper (151) is located on the support plate (154). The two ends of the support plate (154) are respectively provided with partition strips (155). The two partition strips (155) are respectively opened with cutting grooves (156) on the side that is close to each other. A rice dividing plate (157) is movable between the two cutting grooves (156). After the rice falls from the rice hopper (151) into the protective ring (153), the rice is blocked from flowing out by the rice dividing plate (157).

4. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 3, characterized in that: The shape of the protective ring (153) and the shape of the rice outlet of the rice hopper (151) are consistent with the shape of the lunch box.

5. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 4, characterized in that: The rice container (151) has rice quantity detection windows (158) on both the front and rear sides along the conveying direction of the rice container conveyor chain (12).

6. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 1, characterized in that: The drive motor (174) is installed on the front and rear sides of the rice frame (171). The shaft (1731) closest to the drive motor (174) is connected to the drive wheel (176). The drive wheel (176) is connected to the main shaft (177) of the drive motor (174). The gear connected to the shaft (1731) on the other spiked clubs (173) is the driven wheel (178).

7. The automatic meal dispensing machine according to claim 6, characterized in that: The rotating shaft (1731) is keyed to the gear. The main shaft (177) of the drive motor (174) is a hollow shaft. A hollow section of the main shaft (177) is sleeved on the end of the rotating shaft (1731). The end of the main shaft (177) is symmetrically provided with serrations (1771). The drive wheel (176) is provided with a slotted hole (1761) that cooperates with the two serrations (1771).

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