An automatic pizza processing system and control method

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of automatic processing system and control method of pizza, it is related to food processing machinery equipment technical field.The system includes rack, composite motion receiving platform is set in the middle part of rack, multiple stations cloth unit group is fixed in the receiving platform movement track top, detection unit and control system.Wherein, composite motion receiving platform contains sliding table mechanism, lifting mechanism and rotary tray;Multiple stations cloth unit group integrates sauce spraying mechanism, cheese scattering mechanism and ham cutting mechanism;Detection unit uses size identification sensor to automatically obtain pie bottom diameter and self-adapting addressing.Control system is based on this feedback signal, linkage receiving platform and cloth unit, and through built-in coating compensation algorithm, according to real-time cloth radius dynamic adjustment rotary tray angular velocity or sauce pump extrusion flow, to compensate linear velocity difference, ensure that the sauce covering thickness of each annular region is uniform and edge seamless lap joint.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of food processing machinery and equipment technology, and in particular to an automatic pizza processing system and control method. Background Technology

[0002] In modern catering and food industry pizza production, traditional processing methods rely heavily on manual labor for spreading sauces, sprinkling cheese, and adding toppings such as ham. This highly manual labor-intensive model has several insurmountable technical drawbacks: First, manually spreading sauces is difficult to ensure uniform thickness across different areas and is inefficient; second, manually sprinkling cheese can easily lead to localized accumulation or missed areas, resulting in inconsistent taste and poor product consistency after baking; third, the open-plan work environment cannot meet increasingly stringent food hygiene and safety requirements, and labor costs remain consistently high.

[0003] With the development of industrial automation, pizza sauce or topping equipment has emerged on the market. However, existing semi-automatic equipment generally suffers from the following serious technical bottlenecks: First, the coating trajectory is too simple, usually only capable of simple spraying on pizzas of fixed sizes, unable to automatically identify pizza bases of different sizes (such as 9-inch, 12-inch, etc.) and adaptively adjust the coating trajectory; Second, since pizza sauces are mostly non-Newtonian fluids such as tomato paste, they have obvious thixotropic and sedimentation characteristics. Existing equipment lacks a dynamic rheological compensation mechanism, resulting in the sauce easily settling and clumping after long-term operation or intermittent standby, causing drastic fluctuations in output; Third, during cross-station movement, sauce dripping is very likely to occur at the nozzle, causing equipment contamination or product defects; Fourth, the cheese-spreading station often suffers from poor material feeding due to the "bridging" effect of cheese shreds, and the slicing and placement of ham sausages also lacks precise kinematic linkage with the receiving platform, resulting in a chaotic distribution of ingredients.

[0004] To address the aforementioned technical challenges, there is an urgent need for an automated pizza processing system and control method that features a highly integrated structure, closed-loop detection and dynamic compensation capabilities, and multi-size compatibility and contamination prevention control, in order to meet the high-quality production demands of pizza industrialization, standardization, and continuous production. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The primary objective of this invention is to provide an automated pizza processing system that, through precise mechanical linkage between a composite motion receiving platform and a multi-station fabric spreading unit, combined with an underlying coating compensation algorithm and anti-drip logic, completely solves the technical problems of uneven coating, poor adaptability, and easy dripping and contamination inherent in traditional equipment. Another objective of this invention is to provide a control method highly compatible with the aforementioned system, ensuring consistent fabric spreading under various complex working conditions through dynamic monitoring of the material's state and fluid dynamics compensation.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: an automatic pizza processing system, comprising: a frame, serving as the basic load-bearing structure of the entire system; a composite motion receiving platform, disposed in the middle of the frame, including a slide mechanism for horizontal displacement, a lifting mechanism mounted on the slide mechanism, and a rotating tray driven by the lifting mechanism and possessing a self-rotation function; a multi-station dispensing unit group, fixed above the motion trajectory of the rotating tray, including a sauce spraying mechanism, a cheese sprinkling mechanism, and a ham cutting mechanism; a detection unit, including a size recognition sensor disposed on the outside of the rotating tray; and a control system, electrically connected to the composite motion receiving platform, the multi-station dispensing unit group, and the detection unit, respectively, for controlling the linkage between the slide mechanism, the lifting mechanism, and the rotating tray based on the feedback signal from the size recognition sensor to achieve trajectory-based dispensing of the pizza base at different dispensing stations.

[0007] Furthermore, the composite motion receiving platform also includes: a left and right drive motor for driving the slide mechanism; a right and left drive motor for driving the lifting mechanism to adjust the height of the rotating tray to match different thicknesses of the pie base or adjust the fabric spacing; and a rotation motor, mounted on the lifting mechanism, for driving the rotating tray to rotate in the horizontal plane.

[0008] Furthermore, the sauce spraying mechanism includes: a sauce tank with a stirring and anti-sinking mechanism equipped with a stirring motor; a sauce spraying assembly including a sauce spraying nozzle and a sauce scraper installed via a height adjustment mechanism; and a power assembly including a sauce pump for pumping sauce, a pump drive motor for driving the sauce pump, and a weighing sensor installed at the bottom, wherein the weighing sensor is used to monitor the remaining amount of sauce in real time.

[0009] Furthermore, the cheese-spreading mechanism includes a cheese bucket, a metering screw, and a cheese-discharging hopper. The cheese bucket is equipped with a stirring mechanism, and a cheese discharge transition chamber is located at the bottom of the cheese bucket. A weighing sensor for monitoring the remaining amount of cheese is also located below the cheese bucket. The ham-cutting mechanism includes a ham sausage hopper, a cutting disc, a metering scale, and a discharge port.

[0010] Furthermore, the control system includes: a human-machine interface with a start button, a yellow light / pause button, and an emergency stop button, for presetting process parameters for pizzas of different sizes; and a PLC controller for executing the synchronization logic between process parameters and motion trajectory.

[0011] This invention also provides an automatic pizza processing control method based on the above system. The control system has a built-in coating compensation algorithm. The method includes: Step A: Adaptive addressing: Obtain the pizza base diameter D identified by the detection unit, automatically calculate the total number of rings N required for coating and the maximum coating radius Rmax; Step B: Dynamic coating operation: Control the horizontal slide mechanism to drive the rotating tray to move stepwise from the center of the pizza base to the edge, and control the rotating tray to rotate at each step pause point; During the rotation of the rotating tray, the control system calls the coating compensation algorithm according to the real-time coating radius ri of the current sauce nozzle position, and dynamically outputs the corresponding rotational angular velocity ωi and / or the extrusion flow rate Qi of the sauce pump to compensate for the linear velocity difference caused by the radius change, so that the sauce coverage thickness of each ring area of ​​the pizza base remains uniform; Step C: Finishing and anti-overflow: When the horizontal slide mechanism moves to the outermost ring position where the maximum coating radius Rmax is located, the edge anti-overflow control logic is triggered to complete the coating.

[0012] Further, in step B, the specific logic of the coating compensation algorithm is as follows: under the premise of constant sauce pump extrusion flow rate, the rotational angular velocity ωi of the rotating tray is inversely proportional to the real-time fabric radius ri, with a decreasing relationship; or, under the premise of constant rotating tray angular velocity, the extrusion flow rate Qi of the sauce pump is directly proportional to the real-time fabric radius ri, with a gain relationship.

[0013] Further, in step C, the edge spill prevention control logic is as follows: at a preset advance angle θ when the rotating tray completes a single rotation, a stop command is sent in advance to shut down the sauce pump; using the residual flow of sauce and the mechanical extension effect of the sauce scraper, the sauce is spread outward to the theoretical edge of the pie crust.

[0014] Furthermore, it also includes a workstation switching anti-contamination logic: when the sauce spraying operation is completed, the control system controls the rotor of the sauce pump to reverse a preset number of steps at the moment the slide table starts to move, so that negative pressure is generated inside the sauce spray nozzle.

[0015] Furthermore, the control system performs dynamic compensation based on the material status: it records the settling time during standby, automatically increases the stirring motor speed when the threshold is exceeded, and applies an initial flow compensation coefficient upon restart.

[0016] The beneficial technical effects of this invention are as follows: Breaking away from the "black box" fixed trajectory coating: Through the deep integration of size recognition sensors and coating compensation algorithms, the system can analyze the real-time fabric radius ri in real time. By inversely proportionally attenuating the angular velocity or directly proportionally increasing the pump flow rate, it strictly follows the principles of mass conservation and fluid dynamics to ensure that the amount of sauce adhering per unit area is absolutely uniform, whether in the center or at the edge of the pizza, thus achieving truly high-precision trajectory-based constant thickness coating.

[0017] Effectively overcomes the pain points of non-Newtonian fluid processing: For the thixotropic properties of pizza sauce, an innovative rheological state compensation mechanism based on resting time is introduced. By adaptively increasing the stirring speed and applying the initial flow compensation coefficient, the problem of pumping resistance fluctuation and insufficient initial output caused by the thickening of the sauce due to resting is perfectly solved.

[0018] Preventing cross-contamination between workstations: At the moment the slide moves at high speed across workstations, the underlying PLC logic instantly switches to the rotor reversal command. Utilizing the fluid negative pressure effect in physics, it forcibly overcomes the gravity and capillary action of residual sauce, achieving "physical flow interruption" and ensuring the absolute cleanliness of the unfilled area.

[0019] Efficient integration of mechanical linkage and spatial layout: The translation, lifting and rotation are integrated into a single composite motion receiving platform, which, together with the fixed multi-station material distribution unit above, greatly reduces the equipment footprint and achieves efficient production line production with no missed coating and no accumulation. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0021] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below.

[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall three-dimensional structure of the automatic pizza processing system of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 This is a side view of the composite motion receiving platform mechanism and detection unit of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 This is a front view structural diagram of the sauce spraying mechanism in the multi-station fabric unit group of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the cheese-spreading mechanism in the multi-station fabric unit group of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the ham-cutting mechanism in the multi-station fabric unit group of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the human-machine interface operation panel of the control system of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the hardware logic signal interaction and control topology of the control system of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 8 This is the core main flowchart of the automatic pizza processing control method of the present invention.

[0030] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the logical flow of the coating compensation algorithm (based on real-time dynamic adjustment of fabric radius) in this invention.

[0031] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the logic timing for workstation switching to prevent contamination (negative pressure to prevent dripping) in this invention.

[0032] Figure 11 This is a flowchart of the dynamic compensation (rheological property compensation) logic for material state in this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0033] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative and not intended to limit the invention.

[0034] In the description of this invention, unless otherwise stated, "a plurality of" means two or more; the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "upper," "lower," "left," "right," "inner," "outer," "front end," "rear end," "head," "tail," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," and "outer," etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the invention. Furthermore, the terms "first," "second," "third," etc., are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0035] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art will understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this utility model based on the specific circumstances.

[0036] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and technical effects of this invention clearer, more specific, and more detailed, the invention will be analyzed and described in great detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in-depth analysis of specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the technical logic and implementation path of this invention and are not intended to limit the legal scope of protection of this invention. Without any inventive effort, those skilled in the art, based on the in-depth teachings of this application, are fully capable of applying this technical solution to other similar automated food processing scenarios.

[0037] Part 1: In-depth analysis of the hardware architecture of the automated pizza processing system; refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 This invention provides a fully automated, highly integrated pizza processing system. The system's physical architecture primarily relies on a robust stainless steel frame for spatial layout, with the core load-bearing and motion hub being a composite motion receiving platform located in the middle of the frame.

[0038] (a) Kinematic design of the composite motion receiving platform; The composite motion receiving platform is not a single-dimensional motion mechanism, but a three-degree-of-freedom coordinated motion system integrating the X-axis (horizontal displacement), Z-axis (vertical lifting), and θ-axis (horizontal rotation).

[0039] Specifically, a slide mechanism 1 is installed at the bottom of the system. It typically employs a high-precision ball screw or synchronous belt linear module, and is powered and precisely driven by left and right drive motors 19 (preferably closed-loop stepper motors or servo motors) mounted at one end. The movement of the slide mechanism 1 is defined as "stepping / intermittent motion," meaning it does not move smoothly at a uniform speed, but rather executes a periodic, incremental displacement of "moving a set step distance – pausing – moving again" according to pulse commands from the control system.

[0040] Above the moving slider of the slide mechanism 1, a lifting mechanism 3 is rigidly fixed. The lifting mechanism 3 is powered by a side-mounted up-and-down drive motor 2. By rotating the up-and-down drive motor 2 in both directions, the absolute altitude of the lifting mechanism 3 can be precisely adjusted. The ingenuity of this design lies in the fact that pizza crusts on the market vary greatly in thickness, such as thin and crispy types and deep crusts; through the dynamic compensation of the lifting mechanism 3, the physical distance between the upper surface of the crust and the upper spray nozzle can always be kept at an ideal constant, regardless of the thickness of the crust, thus ensuring that the diffusion diameter of the fluid (sauce) or particles (cheese) during free fall remains constant.

[0041] The top of the lifting mechanism 3 is equipped with a rotary motor 4, whose output shaft is vertically upward and directly connected to the rotating tray 5 or connected via a reducer. The surface of the rotating tray 5 is provided with limiting textures or blocks to prevent the pizza base from slipping. When the slide mechanism 1 is in a pause interval, the rotary motor 4 immediately starts, driving the rotating tray 5 and the pizza base it carries to complete a 360-degree (or preset angle) rotation in the horizontal plane, so that the cloth nozzle stationary above can draw a perfect concentric circle trajectory on the rotating pizza base surface.

[0042] (ii) Detection Unit: Vision and Size Positioning; refer to Figure 2 On the outer support of the rotating tray 5, a size recognition sensor 18 (preferably a high-precision photoelectric diffuse reflection sensor or laser rangefinder sensor) is cantilevered. When an unprocessed disc base is placed on the rotating tray 5 manually or by the front-end assembly line, and the slide mechanism 1 moves into the processing area, the size recognition sensor 18 continuously emits a detection beam downwards. When the beam sweeps across the edge of the disc base, the sensor generates a level transition signal that is fed back to the PLC controller. Combined with the absolute encoder position coordinates of the left and right drive motors 19 at this time, the system can automatically calculate the precise outer diameter D of the current disc base using a geometric algorithm within milliseconds. This completely eliminates the tedious manual selection process on the control panel, achieving fully adaptive processing of "incoming material recognition, immediate calculation after recognition".

[0043] (III) Mechanical and hydrodynamic structure of multi-station fabric distribution unit; Above the frame, along the linear motion trajectory of the slide mechanism 1, three core fabric systems are suspended in the air: a sauce spraying mechanism, a cheese sprinkling mechanism, and a ham slicing mechanism.

[0044] Sauce spraying mechanism (reference) Figure 1 , Figure 3 ); This is the most complex core module for fluid control in this system. At its top is the main storage unit – sauce tank 9. Because pizza sauce (such as thick sauce containing tomato and minced meat) is prone to solid-liquid separation and starch sedimentation, the sauce tank 9 has a horizontally or vertically placed stirring and anti-sinking mechanism, which is continuously driven by an external stirring motor 8, in order to maintain the homogeneity of the sauce and the shear thinning properties (maintaining fluidity) required for non-Newtonian fluids.

[0045] The bottom outlet of the sauce container 9 is tightly connected to the sauce pump 7 via a flange. Considering the high viscosity of the sauce and the possibility of it containing solid particles, the sauce pump 7 is preferably a cam rotor pump or a large-channel gear pump. This pump is powered by a high-torque pump drive motor 6. The cam rotor pump has excellent volumetric efficiency; for every fixed angle rotated by the motor 6, the pump chamber ejects an absolutely equal volume of sauce. This is the physical hardware basis for subsequent coating compensation algorithms (precise flow control).

[0046] At the bottom of the assembly containing the sauce tank 9 and the sauce pump 7, a weighing sensor 20 is rigidly connected. The system collects the gravity value of the entire hopper in real time. When the value is lower than the preset lower limit, the system reminds the user to add material through an audible and visual alarm to prevent the pump from running dry and drawing in air, which could cause coating layer breakage.

[0047] After being pressurized by pump 7, the sauce is delivered through a food-grade hose to a sauce spraying assembly suspended directly above the rotating tray 5. This assembly is connected to the main bridge via a height adjustment mechanism 10 consisting of a lead screw or cylinder to achieve macroscopic initial height calibration. The output end is a sauce spray nozzle 111, which is preferably a flat, duckbill-shaped outlet to increase the coverage width of a single ring. Crucially, immediately behind the sauce spray nozzle 111 (depending on the rotation direction of the rotating tray 5), a sauce scraper 11 with a specific angle of attack and elasticity is mechanically attached. When a strip of sauce of a certain thickness is extruded onto the surface of the pie crust, the sauce scraper 11, following closely behind, uses its own mechanical stretching action to force it flatten, forming a film of extremely uniform thickness, thereby completely avoiding the problem of undercooked baking caused by localized thickening.

[0048] Cheese-sprinkling organization (reference) Figure 1 , Figure 4 ); After the pizza base sauce is applied, the sliding mechanism 1 moves it to the next station. The cheese spreading mechanism includes a cheese bucket 12 in the shape of an inverted cone. Because shredded mozzarella cheese is prone to bridging and blockage under its own weight and slight pressure, the cheese bucket 12 has a built-in stirring mechanism 13 (such as a bridge-breaking fork) driven by an independent motor to continuously break up the internal lumps.

[0049] The cheese barrel 12 has a cheese discharge transition chamber 21 in its discharge area, through which a high-precision metering screw 15 runs horizontally. When the PLC issues a dispensing command, it drives the metering screw 15 to rotate, quantitatively pushing the cheese shreds from the side into the cheese discharge hopper 22, and finally evenly sprinkling them onto the slowly rotating crust directly below like a waterfall. Similarly, to achieve residual monitoring, a weighing sensor 14 specifically for monitoring the residual cheese is also installed under the assembly platform.

[0050] Ham slicing mechanism (reference) Figure 1 , Figure 5 ); The last station is responsible for adding protein additives. Its main body is a horizontally or inclined ham sausage hopper 16, equipped with a pneumatic or electric pusher. The front of the hopper is flush against a high-speed rotating cutting disc 17. The cutting depth of the blades on the disc can be finely adjusted via mechanical clearance, thus defining the absolute thickness of the ham sausage slices. With each rotation of the cutting disc 17, the cut ham slices fall into the outlet 24 below and onto the pizza base. To ensure accurate total weight, a miniature weighing scale 23 is installed below. When the cumulative weight of the fallen ham slices reaches the set formula parameters, the pusher stops advancing, the cutting disc stops, and the layering is complete.

[0051] (iv) The central nervous system of the system: electrical and control networks; refer to Figure 6 and Figure 7 All sensory inputs and limb movements in this system are controlled by a highly integrated control system.

[0052] The front end of the operating interface is a human-machine interface (HMI touchscreen). The HMI interface is designed with an intuitive parameter configuration menu, allowing operators or process engineers to directly input a series of process parameters based on the pizza recipe: such as the basic moving speed of a 9-inch pizza, the baseline sauce flow rate, the cheese weight setting, and the basic speed of the mixing motor. The right side of the panel physically retains the highest priority start button (green light button) 25, the yellow light / pause button 26 for temporary intervention, and the emergency stop button 27 for safety.

[0053] The system uses an industrial-grade PLC controller. For example... Figure 7 As shown in the topology, the PLC receives preset process parameters from the human-machine interface 28; it receives the diameter D signal from the size recognition sensor 18 and the real-time weight feedback from the weighing sensors 20 / 14 and the weighing scale 23; downwards, it performs synchronous displacement interpolation control on the slide mechanism 1 (left and right drive motor 19), the lifting mechanism 3 (up and down drive motor 2), and the rotating tray 5 (rotary motor 4) with a millisecond-level response speed through high-speed pulse and analog signal channels; simultaneously, it outputs PWM or analog voltage to control the sauce pump 7, the stirring motor 8 / 13, the metering screw 15, and the cutting disc 17. It is precisely because of the PLC's powerful multi-axis synchronous computing capability that the soul of this invention—the dynamic compensation algorithm—is supported.

[0054] Part Two: In-depth analysis of control methods and dynamic compensation algorithms; A sophisticated mechanical structure alone cannot solve the problem of fabric uniformity. The core technological barrier of this invention lies in the complex control logic burned into its internal circuitry (see reference). Figures 8 to 11Those skilled in the art will understand that when material is sprayed onto a rotating disk, the linear velocity decreases with the same angular velocity closer to the center and increases with the edge. If a constant output and rotation speed are used to draw a circle from the inside out, the sauce will inevitably accumulate heavily in the central area while remaining thin and watertight at the edges. The control method of this invention completely overcomes this natural physical defect.

[0055] Step A: Adaptive addressing and spatial modeling; When the operator places the tray containing the pie base at the origin and presses the start button 25, the slide mechanism 1 moves inward. During this process, the size recognition sensor 18 cuts the edge of the pie base, and the PLC acquires the pulse difference to directly calculate the diameter of the pie base. Based on safety and process margins (the area around the pizza edge where no sauce is applied), the PLC calculates the maximum fabric radius. (in (For edge margin constant). Next, the system determines the physical width of the sauce after it is extruded from the nozzle 111 and flattened by the sauce scraper 11. Automatically calculates the total number of loops of fabric required. : (in (This takes into account the overlap of adjacent rings in a single effective step distance).

[0056] Step B: Coating compensation algorithm (dynamic coating operation); When the nozzle is positioned at the geometric center of the pie crust (or near the starting radius of the center) At this point, the highly precise "dynamic coating operation" begins. The slide mechanism 1 remains stationary, while the rotary motor 4 drives the rotating tray 5 to rotate one revolution. This process completes the first ring of coating. Subsequently, the slide mechanism 1 advances one step. Reaching the second pause point It rotates once more. This is a step-by-step concentric circle coating. (Reference) Figure 9 During this process, the control system continuously calls the coating compensation algorithm. This is because after each step, the real-time coating radius of the nozzle relative to the center of the circle... Both are increasing, and without intervention, the coating area within the same time frame will increase exponentially. Therefore, the system provides two rigorous physical compensation modes: Compensation Mode 1: Inverse proportional decay of angular velocity under constant extrusion flow rate; If the sauce pump 7 is set to maintain a constant discharge volume flow rate (Unit: ml / s) To ensure a constant volume of sauce adhering to each square centimeter, the relative linear velocity of the nozzle on the surface of the crust must be maintained. Constant. According to the kinematic equations: linear velocity .because It needs to be kept constant as the target value. Therefore, the rotational angular velocity of the rotary motor 4 must be measured. Apply dynamic control formula: That is: as the step makes As the area grows larger, the PLC forces the rotary motor 4 to rotate slower and slower, exhibiting a strictly inverse proportional decay. This ensures that in the larger outer ring, the tray rotates slowly enough to allow the constant flow of sauce sufficient time to fill the increased area.

[0057] Compensation Mode 2: Flow rate proportional gain under constant rotational angular velocity; Under certain operating conditions (e.g., when the disc base is extremely fragile and drastic changes in rotation speed are not permitted), the system is set to maintain a constant angular velocity for the rotating tray 5. At this moment, with Increase, linear velocity It's getting faster and faster. To compensate for the thinning of the coating caused by the increased speed, the output flow rate must be increased. The required instantaneous flow rate... The control formula is proportional to the infinitesimal area swept, and can be transformed into: ( (This refers to the thickness coefficient). That is: as... The PLC increases the frequency of the pump drive motor 6, thereby increasing the extrusion flow rate of the sauce pump. It exhibits a direct linear increase. The further out you go, the more intense the jetting becomes.

[0058] Through the aforementioned extremely rigorous mathematical closed-loop logic, the sauce coverage thickness in each annular area of ​​the pie crust achieves an astonishing uniformity. Even the seamless overlap of the edges can be dynamically fine-tuned by calculating the adjacent step distance, nozzle height, and preset sauce rheological diffusion coefficient, allowing the sauce to blend perfectly under the action of gravity and centrifugal force.

[0059] Step C: Finishing overflow prevention and mechanical extension logic; When the slide mechanism 1 moves to the last step, i.e. the maximum fabric radius When the material is in the "outermost ring position," the linear velocity is highest, making it prone to centrifugal spillage. Therefore, this invention innovatively designs an edge anti-overflow control logic. When the rotating tray 5 is about to complete its final rotation, the PLC does not shut off the sauce pump 7 only after the 360-degree full rotation is complete. Instead, it does so at a preset advance angle before the end point. (For example, in the last 15 to 30 degrees) the system sends a stop command in advance, instantly locking the pump drive motor 6. The brilliance of this design lies in its full utilization of the "residual flow effect" in fluid mechanics. Due to the residual pressure in the hose and the inertia of the non-Newtonian fluid, even after the pump has stopped, a small amount of sauce will still be squeezed out at the nozzle; at the same time, the sauce scraper 11, which follows closely behind, relies on inertia to complete this last step on the rotating tray 5. Within the angular range, the mechanical extension action smoothly spreads this slight excess outwards and gradually tapers to the theoretical boundary of the crust. This completely eliminates the persistent problem of sauce being flung out of the crust and contaminating the tray due to excessive pressure at the final taper.

[0060] Part Three: Discussion of Prevention Mechanisms for Special Working Conditions; Mechanism 1: Workstation switching anti-contamination logic (negative pressure back suction); As described in the background section, after the sauce is applied, the slide mechanism 1 needs to move at high speed to transport the pizza to the next cheese-sprinkling station. During this intense lateral acceleration and deceleration process, if a drop of residual sauce hanging at the sauce nozzle 111 were to drip onto the unsaturated area of ​​the pizza base or onto the machine guide rail, the consequences would be disastrous.

[0061] Therefore, refer to Figure 10 The system incorporates a forced back suction action for timing control. At the same millisecond that the operation at the first station (spraying sauce) ends and the PLC sends a start displacement command to the slide mechanism 1 to "move to the next station", the PLC simultaneously sends a reverse command to the servo driver controlling the sauce pump 7, ordering the rotor to forcibly reverse the rotation by a precise preset number of steps (e.g., reverse 20 pulse equivalents).

[0062] The instantaneous reversal of the cam rotor creates a powerful transient negative pressure zone inside the food hose and nozzle. This upward vacuum suction instantly overcomes gravity and the surface tension of the sauce, forcefully drawing back any remaining sauce that was about to drip into the pipe. Throughout the entire cross-station movement, the nozzle physically interrupts the flow, achieving a zero-contamination transition. Before reaching the next coating start point, the system replenishes this volume via a pre-fill command, without affecting the accuracy of the next coating.

[0063] Mechanism 2: Dynamic compensation based on rheological state (thixotropic overcoming); refer to Figure 11To address the strong thixotropic properties of tomato-based pizza sauce—its internal network structure rapidly recovers and viscosity increases significantly when at rest, while its viscosity decreases upon shearing—this leads to a situation where, if the production line is paused for a few minutes, the first batch of sauce upon restarting is often too viscous to pump out, resulting in a "shortage gap" at the start. To completely overcome this chemorheological challenge, the control system of this invention cleverly incorporates a "time dimension." The system's internal timing module records the material's resting time in real time during each standby or feeding interval. When the resting time Exceeding the set critical threshold (This means the sauce has begun to thicken significantly.) The system first intervenes physically: automatically and forcibly increasing the speed of the stirring motor 8 inside the sauce container 9 to perform high-intensity shearing and disruption, attempting to restore its fluidity. More crucially, the system intervenes algorithmically: when the operator presses the start button again to restart coating, the control system will not simply call up the standard flow parameters. Instead, within the initial set time window (e.g., the first 0.5 seconds), it will adjust the flow rate based on the settling time. An initial flow compensation coefficient was calculated. ( The control signal is applied to the sauce pump 7.

[0064] In other words, during the extremely short initial moment of startup, the sauce pump 7 outputs a much higher thrust and instantaneous flow rate than normal. This "overload" output generates powerful fluid kinetic energy, which decisively overcomes the static frictional resistance fluctuations caused by the thickening sauce within the pipeline. After this time window passes, the pumping resistance returns to normal, and the system seamlessly switches back to the conventional coating algorithm. This hardware-software combined "breakthrough" strategy ensures that regardless of whether the equipment is running continuously at high speed or stopping and starting, the first drop of sauce is always full and precise.

[0065] Part Four: A Complete Overview of the Automated Processing Implementation Plan; To enable those skilled in the art to fully implement this, the following simulates the entire automated processing flow of a standard 12-inch pizza: A raw 12-inch dough base is placed horizontally in the center of the rotating tray 5 of the composite motion receiving platform, either manually or via conveyor belt. After verifying the process recipe on the human-machine interface 28, the operator presses the start button 25.

[0066] Upon receiving the command, the left and right drive motors 19 of the bottom slide mechanism 1 are activated, driving the support platform to smoothly advance deeper along the X-axis. During the advancement, the transverse size recognition sensor 18 emits a laser beam that scans the biscuit base. The PLC instantly calculates the current outer diameter of the biscuit base to be 30.48 cm (12 inches), and from this, calculates that the number of coating rings to be executed is 6. At the same time, the lifting mechanism 3 is automatically set to descend by 5 mm to match the spraying height of the 12-inch thin and crispy biscuit base.

[0067] The platform continues to move until it is precisely aligned with the center point of the spray nozzle above. At this point, the dynamic coating operation begins.

[0068] First ring: The nozzle is located near the center. Rotary motor 4 drives the cake base to rotate at a high angular velocity, sauce pump 7 extrudes sauce at a preset base flow rate, and sauce scraper 11 follows closely, smoothing the sauce into a fan shape. After one revolution, the slide moves outward one step to enter the second ring. At this time, the PLC, based on the coating compensation algorithm, detects the radius... Increase. Then, while ensuring a constant output, the rotation speed of the rotary motor 4 is strictly reduced according to the inverse proportional curve. As the slide moves outward step by step, the pizza rotates slower and slower, and the sauce is smoothly spread layer by layer, circle by circle. The edges of adjacent circles are perfectly blended under the pressure of the scraper, forming a seamless joint. Entering the outermost sixth ring (the finishing ring), the disc rotates to a 345-degree angle (preset advance angle 15 degrees). The PLC issues a "flow interruption command," and the sauce pump 7 stops. In the remaining 15-degree trajectory, thanks to the release of a small amount of residual pressure in the pipe and the strong spreading of the sauce by the scraper 11, the last section of sauce is perfectly spread to the edge of the pizza, and the anti-overflow logic is successfully activated.

[0069] After completing the first station, the sliding mechanism suddenly accelerates to prepare for the next station. At the moment of acceleration, the station switching anti-contamination logic is activated, and the cam rotor instantly reverses 20 steps, sucking the residual sauce at the nozzle back into the pipe, traversing at high speed without a single drop of sauce contaminating the tabletop.

[0070] The pizza is precisely delivered to the cheese-spreading mechanism. The mixing mechanism 13 starts in advance to break up the cheese chunks. Then, the rotary motor 4 starts again, causing the pizza to rotate at a constant speed (or coordinating with the sliding mechanism to perform a specific geometric trajectory). The metering spiral 15 above rotates precisely, evenly sprinkling mozzarella cheese shreds from the cheese dispenser 22 like a fine drizzle. The weighing sensor 14 at the bottom monitors the weight loss in real time; when the sprinkled weight reaches exactly 150 grams, the spiral stops immediately, perfectly completing the topping cycle.

[0071] Finally, the slide delivers the pizza into the deepest part of the ham-slicing mechanism. Here, the cutting disc 17 rotates rapidly, and the cylinder pushes the sausage in the sausage hopper 16 forward. Slices of uniform thickness of ham fall through the discharge port 24 onto the pizza. The weighing scale 23 at the bottom senses the accumulated gravity, and immediately commands the cutting disc to brake and stop the machine once the target is reached.

[0072] Thus, a perfectly standardized pizza processing procedure, from size recognition, high-level dynamic compensation for sauce application, closed-loop weighing and cheese sprinkling, to slicing and topping ham, is completed. The left and right drive motors 19 roar again, retracting the tray carrying the finished pizza at full speed back to the starting point of the safe operating position, awaiting the start of the next cycle.

[0073] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way. Although the present invention has been disclosed above with reference to preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person skilled in the art can make some modifications or alterations to the above-disclosed technical content to create equivalent embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Any simple modifications, equivalent changes, and alterations made to the above embodiments based on the technical essence of the present invention without departing from the scope of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated pizza processing system, characterized in that, include: frame; The composite motion receiving platform is located in the middle of the frame and includes a slide mechanism (1) for horizontal displacement, a lifting mechanism (3) installed on the slide mechanism, and a rotating tray (5) driven by the lifting mechanism and having a self-rotation function. The multi-station fabric unit group is fixed above the movement trajectory of the rotating tray (5) and includes a sauce spraying mechanism, a cheese sprinkling mechanism and a ham cutting mechanism; The detection unit includes a size recognition sensor (18) disposed on the outside of the rotating tray (5). The control system is electrically connected to the composite motion receiving platform, the multi-station fabrication unit group and the detection unit respectively. It is used to realize the trajectory fabrication of pizza dough at different fabrication stations by controlling the linkage of the slide mechanism (1), the lifting mechanism (3) and the rotating tray (5) according to the feedback signal of the size recognition sensor (18).

2. The automatic pizza processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The composite motion receiving platform also includes: The up and down drive motor (2) is used to drive the lifting mechanism (3) to adjust the height of the rotating tray (5) to match the different thicknesses of the pie base or adjust the fabric spacing; A rotary motor (4) is installed on the lifting mechanism (3) to drive the rotating tray (5) to rotate in the horizontal plane.

3. The automatic pizza processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sauce spraying mechanism includes: The sauce container (9) is equipped with a stirring and anti-sinking mechanism with a stirring motor (8); The sauce spraying assembly includes a sauce spray nozzle (111) and a sauce scraper (11) mounted via a height adjustment mechanism. The power unit includes a sauce pump (7) and a weighing sensor (20) for real-time monitoring of the remaining sauce.

4. The automatic pizza processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The cheese-spreading mechanism includes a cheese bucket (12), a metering screw (15), and a cheese-dispensing hopper (22), and the cheese bucket is equipped with a stirring mechanism (13). The ham-cutting mechanism includes a ham sausage hopper (16), a cutting disc (17), and a weighing scale (23).

5. The automatic pizza processing system according to claim 1, characterized in that, The control system includes: The human-machine interface (28) is used to preset the process parameters of pizzas of different sizes, including moving speed, sauce flow rate, amount of ingredients and stirring speed; The PLC controller is used to execute the synchronization logic between the process parameters and the motion trajectory of the composite motion receiving platform.

6. A method for automatic pizza processing control based on the system of claim 1, characterized in that, The control system has a built-in coating compensation algorithm, and the method includes: Step A: Adaptive Addressing: Obtain the diameter of the pie base identified by the detection unit. Automatically calculates the total number of loops of fabric required. and maximum fabric radius ; Step B: Dynamic Coating Operation: The horizontal slide mechanism is controlled to drive the rotating tray to move in steps from the center of the cake base to the edge, and the rotating tray is controlled to rotate at each step pause point; during the rotation of the rotating tray, the control system adjusts the coating radius according to the real-time position of the spray nozzle. The coating compensation algorithm is invoked to dynamically output the corresponding rotational angular velocity. and / or the extrusion flow rate of the sauce pump This is to compensate for the difference in linear velocity caused by the change in radius, so that the thickness of the sauce coverage in each annular area of ​​the crust remains uniform. Step C: Finishing and Overflow Prevention: When the horizontal slide mechanism moves to the maximum fabric radius... When the outermost ring position is reached, the edge anti-overflow control logic is triggered to complete the coating.

7. The control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, In step B, the specific logic of the coating compensation algorithm is as follows: under the premise of constant sauce pump extrusion flow rate, the rotational angular velocity of the rotating tray... With real-time fabric radius The decrease exhibits an inverse proportional function relationship; or, under the premise of a constant rotating tray angular velocity, the extrusion flow rate of the sauce pump... With real-time fabric radius It exhibits a direct proportional gain relationship; and the step distance between two adjacent steps is dynamically calculated based on the currently set height of the spray nozzle and the preset rheological diffusion coefficient of the sauce, so that the edges of the sauce on the two adjacent rings will seamlessly overlap with a preset width under the action of gravity and centrifugal force.

8. The control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, In step C, the edge spill prevention control logic is as follows: when the outermost loop is being fabricated, the control system advances the rotation of the rotating tray by a preset advance angle before the tray completes a single rotation. At this point, a stop command is sent in advance to shut down the sauce pump; using the residual flow of sauce and the mechanical extension of the sauce scraper within the advance angle range, the sauce is spread outward to the theoretical edge of the cake base to prevent the sauce from overflowing the outer edge of the cake base under the action of centrifugal force.

9. The control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, It also includes contamination prevention logic for workstation switching: When the sauce spraying operation is completed, and the horizontal slide mechanism drives the rotating tray to move to the next station where the cheese spreading mechanism is located, the control system controls the rotor of the sauce pump to reverse by a preset number of steps at the moment the slide starts to move, so that negative pressure is generated inside the sauce spray nozzle to prevent residual sauce from dripping into the empty area or the next station during the cross-station movement.

10. The control method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The control system also performs dynamic compensation based on the material status: During standby or coating intervals, the control system records the settling time of the material in the sauce container. When the settling time exceeds a set threshold, the speed of the stirring motor is automatically increased. At the same time, when coating is restarted, the control system calculates and applies an initial flow compensation coefficient based on the settling time within the initial set time window to overcome the fluctuation in pumping resistance caused by the thickening of the sauce due to settling.

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