One-way double-station food cooking vending machine

Abstract

The utility model relates to a one-way double-station food cooking vending machine which comprises a food storage space and a food cooking space which are separated in a cabinet body through a transverse partition plate, a supporting frame is arranged at one end of the food storage space, a lunch box transferring space is arranged at the other end of the food storage space, a lunch box transferring structure is arranged in the lunch box transferring space, and a lunch box input hole is formed in the middle of the transverse partition plate. The food cooking space is provided with two food cooking structures located on the left side and the right side of the lunch box input hole, two lunch box longitudinal moving structures and a lunch box shifting structure for transferring lunch boxes conveyed from the lunch box input hole to the food cooking structures, and a food output chamber is arranged in front of the food cooking structures. The utility model aims to provide the one-way double-station food cooking vending machine which is good in safety during food taking, and solves the problem of poor safety caused by the fact that food taking and heating of existing equipment are located in the same room.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to food cooking and processing appliances, and more particularly to a unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine. Background Technology

[0002] To improve dining convenience, the applicant designed a food vending machine, with publication number CN112716256A and title "A Steamed Food Machine," for use in food preparation and vending. The vending machine includes storage channels for storing meal boxes, typically with multiple boxes arranged in a row within each channel. Existing storage channels require a robotic arm to reach in and retrieve the boxes, necessitating significant vertical space for the arm to operate, resulting in a large overall footprint. Furthermore, existing food preparation vending machines cook food using steam or an electric stove. While steam cooking allows for slow cooking and stirring after boiling to improve texture, the long boiling time leads to low processing efficiency. Electric stoves address the slow boiling time issue but do not allow for slow cooking with stirring to improve texture. For foods that require water to be added just before cooking, a separate water-adding and lid-breaking structure needs to be designed to puncture the lid and add water. Then, during the heating and cooking process, a steam input pipe is inserted through the punctured lid hole to introduce steam for heating. This method not only results in a longer food preparation time, but also causes serious air leakage due to the mismatch between the steam input pipe and the lid hole. In this case, it is necessary to add a lid over the lid hole and extract the steam to remove the overflowing steam, making the equipment structure complex. When transferring the food containers from the food input port to the heating station, they are transferred by a robotic arm, which not only occupies a lot of height space (leading to a reduction in the equipment's storage capacity), but also causes food containers to fall off, resulting in poor safety and reliability. In dual-station heating, the heating and output of food containers are located in the same space, resulting in poor safety when picking up the food. Utility Model Content

[0003] The first objective of this invention is to provide a unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine with good safety during food collection, which solves the problem of poor safety in existing equipment where food collection and heating are located in the same room.

[0004] The second objective of this invention is to provide a reliable unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine for transferring food containers to the heating mechanism, which solves the problems of existing equipment that uses a robotic arm to lift food containers for transfer, resulting in excessive space occupation and poor reliability.

[0005] The third objective of this invention is to provide a unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine that can rapidly heat food while maintaining its texture, thus solving the problem that existing equipment cannot simultaneously achieve rapid heating and maintain texture.

[0006] The fourth objective of this invention is to provide a unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine that integrates lid-breaking water addition and steam heating, thereby solving the problems of existing machines that use different structures for lid-breaking water addition and steam heating, resulting in complex equipment and the need for additional structures to exhaust steam during heating.

[0007] The fifth objective of this invention is to provide a one-way, dual-station food preparation and vending machine that cleans by inputting steam through a cleaning cup, thus solving the problem of poor cleaning effect in existing cleaning machines that use a steam input pipe to output steam for cleaning.

[0008] The above technical problems are solved by the following technical solution: a unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine, including a cabinet, the cabinet being separated into a food storage space and a food preparation space above the storage space by a horizontal partition. One end of the food storage space in the front-to-back direction is provided with several support frames distributed vertically, and the other end is provided with a food container transfer space. The food container transfer space is provided with a platform, a platform translation structure for driving the platform to move left and right, and a platform lifting structure for driving the platform translation structure to rise and fall. Several vertical partitions are provided on the support frames, and storage channels for storing food containers are formed between adjacent vertical partitions. A food container input hole is provided in the middle of the horizontal partition. The food preparation space is provided with two food preparation structures located on the left and right sides of the food container input hole, two food container longitudinal movement structures, and a food container transfer structure for transferring food containers from the food container input hole to the food preparation structures. A food output chamber is provided in front of the food preparation structures. The two food container longitudinal movement structures are used to transfer food containers located at the two food preparation structures to the two food output chambers one-to-one. The food containers move in one direction, eliminating the need for queuing or yielding due to overlapping traffic. They feature two heating structures for rapid food cooking. Heating and dispensing the containers are completed in separate rooms, ensuring safety.

[0009] Preferably, the storage channel is equipped with a conveyor belt for supporting the lunch boxes stored within the channel, and the conveyor belt transports the lunch boxes toward the lunch box transfer space. This increases the capacity of the food storage space. In use, the lunch boxes are output from the storage channel via the conveyor belt, which is equivalent to using a robotic arm to input the lunch boxes into the storage channel, saving vertical space and making the vending machine more compact and space-saving.

[0010] Preferably, the longitudinal partition has several ventilation holes that extend laterally through it. This allows for good ventilation when the food container is used in a refrigerated space, enabling it to cool down sufficiently.

[0011] Preferably, there are two conveyor belts, which are distributed laterally. This ensures that the food containers can still be conveyed even if one belt fails, reducing the likelihood of conveying failure due to belt malfunction.

[0012] Preferably, the conveyor belt includes a main drive shaft, a driven drive shaft, a drive motor for supporting the annular flat belt, and a drive motor for driving the main drive shaft to rotate. Both the main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft pass through the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft drives the driven drive shaft via the annular flat belt. The annular flat belt has ventilation holes extending through its thickness. This design allows for good ventilation when used in a refrigerated space, enabling the food container to begin cooling sufficiently.

[0013] Preferably, the conveyor belt includes a belt bracket, a main drive shaft, a driven drive shaft, an annular flat belt, and a drive motor for rotating the main drive shaft. Both the main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft pass through the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft drives the driven drive shaft via the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft are rotatably connected to both ends of the platform bracket. The belt bracket passes through the annular flat belt and supports the flat conveyor belt. The conveyor belt can directly form the bottom wall of the storage channel to carry goods without collapsing.

[0014] Preferably, the drive motor is located at the end of the storage channel furthest from the unloading end. This layout is reasonable.

[0015] Preferably, the belt bracket has a notch at one end of the storage channel's unloading end, and connecting grooves are provided on the two transverse walls of the notch. These connecting grooves penetrate the end face of the belt bracket at the storage channel's unloading end. The drive shaft has shaft ends at both ends, with each shaft end correspondingly inserted into one of the connecting grooves on the two transverse walls of the notch. This design facilitates disassembly of the drive shaft and subsequent maintenance.

[0016] Preferably, the drive shaft is rotatably connected to the shaft head. This reduces wear.

[0017] Preferably, the support frame includes two longitudinally distributed crossbeams. The upper surface of each crossbeam has a bolt connection groove extending laterally. Connecting strips cover the crossbeams, and each connecting strip has several bolt through holes aligned with the bolt connection grooves. The conveyor belt includes a belt bracket, a main drive shaft, a driven drive shaft, an annular flat belt, and a drive motor that drives the main drive shaft. Both the main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft pass through the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft drives the driven drive shaft via the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft are rotatably connected to... At both ends of the platform bracket, the belt bracket passes through and supports the flat conveyor belt within the annular flat belt. The lower end of the vertical partition has a connecting seat plate with several bolt holes. Vertical partition connecting bolts pass through these holes sequentially and are then connected in bolt grooves to fix the vertical partition to the crossbeam. Similarly, the belt bracket has several belt frame bolt holes. Conveyor belt connecting bolts pass through these holes sequentially and are then connected in bolt grooves to fix the belt frame to the crossbeam. The fixing of each component is reliable and convenient.

[0018] Preferably, both the vertical partition connecting bolts and the conveyor belt connecting bolts are self-tapping screws, and both are threaded into the bolt connection grooves. This facilitates easy fixing.

[0019] Preferably, the lunchbox shifting structure includes a longitudinal lever and a lever translation structure that drives the longitudinal lever to move left and right. The longitudinal lever is located between the two food cooking structures, and the longitudinal lever and the two food cooking structures are aligned in a straight line. When the lunchbox is shifted to the right, the longitudinal lever first stops on the left side of the lunchbox input hole. After the lunchbox exits from the lunchbox input hole, it is located on the right side of the lever, and then the lever translation structure drives the lunchbox to move to the right. Similarly, when the lunchbox is shifted to the left, the longitudinal lever first stops on the right side of the lunchbox input hole. After the lunchbox exits from the lunchbox input hole, it is located on the left side of the lever, and then the lever translation structure drives the lunchbox to move to the left. When both heating structures cook food simultaneously, the lever only needs to move left once and then right once, without the need for lever reset. This allows the design of a single lunchbox shifting structure for dual heating structures, reducing the movement required for reset of the lunchbox structure. In other words, one shifting action of the lunchbox is the reset action for the next action. This achieves the second objective of the invention.

[0020] Preferably, the food container input port is located between the two food output chambers, the food container transfer space is located at the front end of the food storage space, and the platform includes a frame and several support rollers rotatably connected to the steps to support the food containers. The support rollers extend in the left-right direction. The platform also includes pulleys at the ends of the support rollers, a belt connecting the pulleys together, and a belt drive motor for driving the belt. This reduces the waiting time for unloading the food container.

[0021] Preferably, the front side of the platform is provided with a baffle to prevent the lunchboxes from falling off the platform. This improves the reliability of lunchbox transfer.

[0022] Preferably, the device also includes two guide rods arranged in a V-shape above the partition. The narrower end of the two guide rods is located above the food container input hole, and the wider end is located between the two food cooking structures. This allows for convenient and reliable transfer of the food container.

[0023] Preferably, when the support rollers convey the lunchbox to its limit position between the guide rods, the center of the lunchbox is located between the two guide rods. This improves the reliability of transferring the lunchbox.

[0024] Preferably, the guide rod has an outwardly bent elbow at one end of the guide rod located at the lunchbox inlet. This allows the lunchbox to be easily and reliably inserted between the two guide rods even when the spacing between the guide rods is small.

[0025] Preferably, the longitudinal lever has bends on both sides of the end facing the lunchbox input hole, and the other end is connected to the lever translation structure. This provides reliability when adjusting the lunchbox.

[0026] Preferably, the food cooking structure includes an electric furnace and a steam heating structure. The electric furnace serves as a support platform for the food container when the steam heating structure heats the food. The steam heating structure includes a vertically oriented output pipe connected to a steam source at its upper end and an output pipe lifting structure that drives the output pipe to rise and fall. In use, the electric furnace and steam heating occur simultaneously, allowing the food to quickly reach a boil. Then, only steam heating is used to maintain the heating temperature. This improves the speed of food cooking and maintains the food's texture. Electric furnace heating alone is fast but results in poor texture, while steam alone produces good texture but takes a long time to reach a boil. This achieves the third objective of the invention.

[0027] Preferably, the lower end of the output pipe is provided with a pointed tip for piercing the lid of the lunchbox. This allows the lid to be pierced via the steam input pipe during steam heating, eliminating the need for a separate lid-piercing structure and reducing the processing steps. This achieves the fourth objective of the invention.

[0028] Preferably, the lower end face of the output pipe has a downward-facing end portion outlet, and the lower circumferential surface of the output pipe has a circumferential outlet. This improves the uniformity of the steam output chamber and allows the food to tumble through the steam, preventing it from sticking to the bottom of the bowl.

[0029] Preferably, the opening direction of the peripheral outlet is horizontal. This ensures good reliability when using steam to stir food.

[0030] Preferably, the system also includes a piping control structure, a steam generator, and a water source. The piping control structure controls the output pipe to be connected to only one of the steam generator and the water source at any given time. Sharing existing steam pipes with both steam and water supply improves the structural compactness.

[0031] Preferably, a cleaning cup is also included. The pipeline control structure includes a first control valve and a pipeline connector. The pipeline connector has a first interface, a second interface, and a third interface. The first control valve is connected between the first interface and the water source. The output port of the steam generator is connected to the second interface, and the third interface is connected to the input end of the input pipe. In use, the cleaning cup outputs steam or water to clean the protruding pipe, resulting in better reliability during cleaning. This achieves the fifth objective of the invention.

[0032] Preferably, the system also includes a rotating structure for the cleaning cup and the output tube, the rotating structure being used to rotate the output tube above the cleaning cup. In use, the output tube is rotated into the cleaning cup for cleaning.

[0033] Preferably, the steam heating structure further includes a frame, and the output pipe lifting structure includes a vertical guide rod, a lifting seat sleeved on the vertical guide rod, a vertical screw threadedly connected to the lifting seat, and a lifting motor that drives the vertical screw to rotate. The vertical screw is rotatably connected to the frame, and the lifting motor and the vertical guide rod are fixed to the frame. The output pipe rotating structure includes a rotary motor mounted on the lifting seat and a swing arm connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor. The output pipe is connected to the swing arm.

[0034] Preferably, the cleaning cup has an annular cavity extending circumferentially within its peripheral wall. The annular cavity has an inlet and several outlets penetrating the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning cup. The outlets are distributed circumferentially within the cleaning cup. The cleaning cup is equipped with a drain pipe, and the inlet is connected to the outlet of a steam generator via a second control valve.

[0035] Preferably, the cleaning cup includes an upper section and a lower section. The upper end of the lower section has an outwardly flanged edge, and the upper surface of the outwardly flanged edge has a lower annular groove. The lower annular groove has several lower grooves penetrating the inner circumference of the lower section. The lower end of the upper section has an outwardly flanged edge, and the lower surface of the outwardly flanged edge has an upper annular groove. The upper annular groove has several upper grooves penetrating the inner circumference of the upper section. The outwardly flanged edge of the lower section is sealed and welded together with the outwardly flanged edge of the upper section. The upper and lower annular grooves enclose the annular cavity, and the upper and lower grooves enclose the outlet. The drain pipe is disposed on the bottom wall of the lower section. This design offers good ease of manufacturing the cleaning cup.

[0036] Preferably, the lunchbox longitudinal movement structure includes a transverse push rod located above the electric stove and a transverse push rod translation structure that drives the transverse push rod to move back and forth.

[0037] The utility model has the following advantages: the material direction is unidirectional, eliminating the phenomenon of cross-traffic waiting; two heating structures heat and cook food, allowing two portions of food to be cooked simultaneously; the lunch boxes in the storage channel are output via a conveyor belt, saving the space required for installing a robotic arm and thus increasing the storage capacity of lunch boxes; when transferring lunch boxes, there is no need for a robotic arm to lift them, saving not only the height space of the equipment but also ensuring high reliability; it can quickly heat food to boiling while maintaining its texture; the lid-breaking water addition and steam heating are integrated, resulting in a simple structure that is less prone to leakage; and the cleaning effect is good when cleaning the input pipe (steam heating pipe) of the cleaning cup. Attached Figure Description

[0038] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the present invention;

[0039] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of a food preparation area;

[0040] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the food cooking process;

[0041] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a steam heating structure from one perspective;

[0042] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a steam-heated structure from another perspective;

[0043] Figure 6 Right view of a food cooking structure;

[0044] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the cross-section of the cleaning cup;

[0045] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the support frame;

[0046] Figure 9 for Figure 8 A magnified view of a portion of point A;

[0047] Figure 10 for Figure 9 A magnified view of a portion of point B.

[0048] In the diagram: 1. Support frame; 2. Longitudinal vertical partition; 3. Storage channel; 4. Lunch box; 5. Conveyor belt; 6. Feeding end of conveyor belt towards storage channel; 7. Crossbeam; 8. Longitudinal beam; 9. Bolt connection groove; 10. Connecting strip; 11. Bolt through hole in connecting strip; 12. Vent hole in partition; 13. Connecting seat plate; 14. Bolt through hole in connecting seat plate; 15. Belt bracket; 16. Drive shaft; 17. Annular flat belt; 18. Drive motor; 19. Vent hole in flat belt; 20. Bolt through hole in belt bracket; 21. Connecting groove; 22. End face of belt bracket at the feeding end of storage channel; 3. Shaft head.

[0049] 24. Cabinet body; 25. Horizontal partition; 27. Platform; 26. Platform sliding structure; 28. Food container input hole; 29. ​​Food cooking structure; 30. Food container longitudinal sliding structure; 31. Food container displacement structure; 32. Food output chamber; 33. Horizontal push rod; 34. Horizontal push rod sliding structure; 35. Longitudinal lever; 36. Lever sliding structure; 37. Frame; 38. Support roller; 39. Pulley; 40. Baffle; 41. Guide rod; 42. Guide rod bend; 43. Lever bend; 44. Electric stove. Steam heating structure 45, output pipe 46, output pipe lifting structure 47, pointed end 48, end face outlet 49, circumferential face outlet 50, cleaning cup 51, output pipe rotating structure 72, first control valve 73, second control valve 52, pipe connector 53, first interface 54, second interface 55, third interface 56, fourth interface 57, frame 58, vertical guide rod 59, lifting seat 60, vertical screw 61, lifting motor 62, rotating motor 63, swing arm 64, annular cavity 65, inlet 74, outlet 66, drain pipe 67, upper section 68, lower section 69, lower section outward flange 70, upper section outward flange 71, temperature detection rod 75. Detailed Implementation

[0050] The technical solutions of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present utility model, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present utility model, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are within the protection scope of the present utility model.

[0051] See Figures 1 to 10A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine includes a cabinet 24. The cabinet is separated into a food storage space and a food preparation space above the storage space by a horizontal partition 25. One end of the food storage space has several support racks 1 distributed vertically, and the other end has a food container transfer space. The food container transfer space includes a platform 27, a platform translation structure 26 that drives the platform to move left and right, and a platform lifting structure that drives the platform translation structure to rise and fall. A food container input hole 28 is located in the middle of the horizontal partition. The food preparation space includes two food preparation structures 29 located on the left and right sides of the food container input hole, two food container longitudinal movement structures 30, and a food container transfer structure 31 that transfers food containers from the food container input hole to the food preparation structures. A food output chamber 32 is located in front of the food preparation structures. The food output chamber has an output door at the front and an input door at the rear. The two food container longitudinal movement structures are used to transfer food containers located at the two food preparation structures to the two food output chambers one-to-one. The lunchbox longitudinal movement structure includes a transverse push rod 33 located above the electric stove and a transverse push rod translation structure 34 that drives the transverse push rod to move back and forth.

[0052] The support frame is equipped with several longitudinal vertical partitions 2, and adjacent vertical partitions form storage channels 3 for storing lunch boxes. A conveyor belt 5 is installed within the storage channel to support the lunch boxes 4 stored therein. The conveyor belt transports the lunch boxes 4 towards the unloading end 6 of the storage channel. There are two conveyor belts, which are distributed laterally.

[0053] When in use, the food containers are output from the storage channel via a conveyor belt. This is equivalent to using a robotic arm to input the food containers into the storage channel, which saves vertical space and makes the food vending machine more compact and space-saving.

[0054] The support frame includes two longitudinally distributed crossbeams 23 and several longitudinal beams 7 connecting the crossbeams. The upper surface of each crossbeam has a bolt groove 8 extending laterally. Connecting strips 9 cover the crossbeams, and each connecting strip has several bolt holes 10 aligned with the bolt groove. Several vent holes 11 extend laterally through the longitudinal partition plate. A connecting seat plate 12 is located at the lower end of each partition plate, and it has several bolt holes 13. Vertical partition plate connecting bolts (not shown in any of the figures) pass sequentially through the bolt holes in the connecting seat plate and the connecting strip, and are then connected in the bolt groove to fix the vertical partition plate to the crossbeams. The vertical partition plate connecting bolts are self-tapping screws, threaded into the bolt groove. The conveyor belt includes a belt bracket 14, a main drive shaft, a driven drive shaft 15, an annular flat belt 16, and a drive motor 17 that drives the main drive shaft. Both the main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft pass through the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft drives the driven drive shaft via the annular flat belt. The main drive shaft and the driven drive shaft are rotatably connected to both ends of the platform bracket. The belt bracket passes through the annular flat belt and supports the flat conveyor belt. The annular flat belt has ventilation holes 18 that extend through the belt along its thickness. The drive motor is located at the end of the storage channel furthest from the unloading end. The belt bracket has several belt frame bolt holes 19. Conveyor belt connecting bolts (not shown in any of the figures) pass through the belt frame bolt holes and the connecting strip bolt holes in sequence and are then connected in bolt connection slots to fix the belt frame to the crossbeam. The conveyor belt connecting bolts are self-tapping screws, and all conveyor belt connecting bolts are threaded into the bolt connection slots. The belt bracket has a notch at one end of the storage channel's unloading end. Connecting grooves 20 are provided on the two transverse walls of the notch, passing through the end face 21 of the belt bracket at the unloading end of the storage channel. Shaft heads 22 are provided at both ends of the drive shaft, and the two shaft heads are correspondingly inserted into the connecting grooves on the two transverse walls of the notch. The drive shaft is rotatably connected to the shaft heads.

[0055] The lunchbox shifting structure includes a longitudinal lever 35 and a lever translation structure 36 that drives the longitudinal lever to move left and right. The longitudinal lever is located between the two food cooking structures, and the longitudinal lever, the two food cooking structures, and the longitudinal lever are aligned in a straight line. When the lunchbox is shifted to the right, the longitudinal lever first stops on the left side of the lunchbox input hole. After the lunchbox exits from the lunchbox input hole, it is located on the right side of the lever, and then the lever translation structure drives the lunchbox to move to the right. Similarly, when the lunchbox is shifted to the left, the longitudinal lever first stops on the right side of the lunchbox input hole. After the lunchbox exits from the lunchbox input hole, it is located on the left side of the lever, and then the lever translation structure drives the lunchbox to move to the left. When both heating structures cook food simultaneously, the lever only needs to move left once and then right once, without the need for lever reset. The lunchbox input hole is located between the two food output chambers. The lunchbox transfer space is located at the front of the food storage space. The platform includes a frame 37 and several support rollers 38 rotatably connected to the steps to support the lunchboxes. The support rollers extend in the left-right direction. The platform also includes pulleys 39 at the ends of the support rollers, a belt connecting the pulleys, and a belt drive motor that drives the belt to rotate. When the lunchbox is transferred to the platform, the belt drive motor drives the support rollers to rotate forward. When the platform lifts the lunchbox through the lunchbox inlet into the food cooking space, the belt drive motor drives the support rollers to rotate backward, thus transferring the lunchbox to one side of the longitudinal lever. A baffle 40 is provided on the front side of the platform to prevent the lunchbox from falling off the platform. It also includes two guide rods 41 arranged in a V-shape above the partition. The narrower end of the two guide rods is located above the lunchbox inlet, and the wider end is located between the two food cooking structures. When the support rollers transport the lunchbox to its limit position between the guide rods, the center of the lunchbox is located between the two guide rods. The guide rod has an outwardly bent guide rod elbow 42 at one end of the guide rod located at the lunch box input hole. The longitudinal lever has lever elbows 43 on both the left and right sides of the end facing the lunch box input hole, and the other end is connected to the lever translation structure.

[0056] The food cooking structure includes an electric furnace 44 and a steam heating structure 45. The electric furnace serves as a support platform for the food container during steam heating. The steam heating structure includes a vertically oriented output pipe 46 connected to a steam source at its upper end and an output pipe lifting structure 47 that drives the output pipe to rise and fall. In use, the electric furnace and steam heating occur simultaneously, allowing the food to quickly reach boiling point. Then, only steam heating is used to maintain the heating temperature. The lower end of the output pipe has a pointed tip 48 for piercing the lid of the food container. The lid can be pierced using the steam input pipe during steam heating, eliminating the need for a separate lid-piercing structure. The lower end face of the output pipe has a downward-facing end portion outlet 49, and the lower circumferential surface of the output pipe has a circumferential outlet 50. The opening direction of the circumferential outlet is horizontal. The steam heating structure also includes a pipeline control structure, a steam generator, a water source, a cleaning cup 51, and an output pipe rotation structure 72, which rotates the output pipe above the cleaning cup. The piping control structure ensures that the output pipe is connected to only one of the steam generator and the water source at any given time. Sharing an existing steam pipe with both steam and water improves the structural compactness. The piping control structure includes a first control valve 73, a second control valve 52, and a four-way pipe connector 53. The pipe connector has a first interface 54, a second interface 55, a third interface 56, and a fourth interface 57. The first control valve connects to the first interface and the water source. The output port of the steam generator is connected to the second interface, and the third interface is connected to the input end (upper end) of the input pipe. In use, the output pipe is lowered by the lifting structure to pierce the lid of the food container, then a set amount of water is added, followed by steam to heat the food. After heating, the output pipe moves into a cleaning cup for cleaning.

[0057] The steam heating structure also includes a frame 58. The output pipe lifting structure includes a vertical guide rod 59, a lifting seat 60 sleeved on the vertical guide rod, a vertical screw 61 threadedly connected to the lifting seat, and a lifting motor 62 driving the vertical screw to rotate. The vertical screw is rotatably connected to the frame, and the lifting motor and the vertical guide rod are fixed to the frame. The output pipe rotating structure includes a rotary motor 63 mounted on the lifting seat and a swing arm 64 connected to the output shaft of the rotary motor. The output pipe is connected to the swing arm. A temperature sensing rod 75 is also connected to the lifting seat.

[0058] The cleaning cup has an annular cavity 65 extending circumferentially within its circumferential wall. The annular cavity has an inlet 74 and several outlets 66 penetrating the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning cup. The outlets are distributed circumferentially. The cleaning cup has a drain pipe 67. The inlet is connected to a fourth interface via a second control valve to allow the input of steam and water for cleaning the output pipe. The cleaning cup includes an upper section 68 and a lower section 69. The upper end of the lower section has a lower section outward flange 70. The upper surface of the lower section outward flange has a lower annular groove with several lower grooves penetrating the inner circumferential surface of the lower section. The lower end of the upper section has an upper section outward flange 71. The lower surface of the upper section outward flange has an upper annular groove with several upper grooves penetrating the inner circumferential surface of the upper section. The lower section outward flange is sealed and welded to the upper section outward flange. The upper and lower annular grooves enclose the annular cavity, and the upper and lower grooves enclose the outlets. The drain pipe is located on the bottom wall of the lower section.

[0059] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0060] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine, comprising a cabinet, wherein the cabinet is separated into a food storage space and a food preparation space above the storage space by a horizontal partition. One end of the food storage space is provided with several support frames distributed vertically, and the other end is provided with a food container transfer space. The food container transfer space includes a platform, a platform translation structure for driving the platform to move left and right, and a platform lifting structure for driving the platform translation structure to rise and fall. Several vertical partitions are provided on the support frames, forming storage channels for storing food containers between adjacent vertical partitions. A food container input hole is provided in the middle of the horizontal partition. The food preparation space includes two food preparation structures located on the left and right sides of the food container input hole, two food container longitudinal movement structures, and a food container transfer structure for transferring food containers from the food container input hole to the food preparation structures. A food output chamber is provided in front of the food preparation structures. The two food container longitudinal movement structures are used to transfer food containers located at the two food preparation structures to the two food output chambers one-to-one.

2. The unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The storage channel is equipped with a conveyor belt for supporting the lunch boxes stored in the storage channel, and the conveyor belt transports the lunch boxes toward the lunch box transfer space.

3. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The food container shifting structure includes a longitudinal lever and a lever translation structure that drives the longitudinal lever to move left and right. The longitudinal lever is located between the two food cooking structures, and the longitudinal lever and the two food cooking structures are all on a straight line.

4. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 3, characterized in that, The lunchbox input port is located between the two food output chambers, the lunchbox transfer space is located at the front end of the food storage space, the platform includes a frame and several support rollers rotatably connected to the steps to support the lunchbox, the support rollers extend in the left and right direction, the platform also includes pulleys at the ends of the support rollers, a belt connecting the pulleys together and a belt drive motor for driving the belt to rotate.

5. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, It also includes two guide rods arranged in a figure-eight shape above the partition. The narrower end of the two guide rods is located above the food container input hole, and the wider end is located between the two food cooking structures.

6. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The food cooking structure includes an electric furnace and a steam heating structure. The electric furnace serves as a support platform for the food container when the steam heating structure heats the food. The steam heating structure includes a vertically oriented output pipe connected to a steam source at its upper end and an output pipe lifting structure that drives the output pipe to rise and fall.

7. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 6, characterized in that, It also includes a pipeline control structure, a steam generator, and a water source. The pipeline control structure is used to control that the output pipe is connected to only one of the steam generator and the water source at any given time. The lower end of the output pipe is provided with a pointed tip for piercing the lid of the lunch box.

8. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 7, characterized in that, It also includes a cleaning cup and an output pipe rotation structure, the rotation structure being used to rotate the output pipe above the cleaning cup, the pipeline control structure including a first control valve and a pipeline connector, the pipeline connector having a first interface, a second interface and a third interface, the first control valve being connected between the first interface and the water source, the output port of the steam generator being connected to the second interface, and the third interface being connected to the input end of the input pipe.

9. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 8, characterized in that, The cleaning cup has an annular cavity extending circumferentially within its circumferential wall. The annular cavity has an inlet and several outlets penetrating the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning cup. The outlets are distributed circumferentially within the cleaning cup. The cleaning cup is equipped with a drain pipe. The inlet is connected to the outlet of the steam generator via a second control valve.

10. A unidirectional dual-station food preparation and vending machine according to claim 9, characterized in that, The cleaning cup includes an upper section and a lower section. The upper end of the lower section is provided with a lower section outward flange. The upper surface of the lower section outward flange is provided with a lower annular groove. The lower annular groove is provided with several lower grooves penetrating the inner circumference of the lower section. The lower end of the upper section is provided with an upper section outward flange. The lower surface of the upper section outward flange is provided with an upper annular groove. The upper annular groove is provided with several upper grooves penetrating the inner circumference of the upper section. The lower section outward flange is sealed and welded together with the upper section outward flange. The upper annular groove and the lower annular groove surround the annular cavity. The upper groove and the lower groove surround the outlet. The drain pipe is provided on the bottom wall of the lower section.

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