A food processor with zoned microwave heating and pre-set meal warming functions.

Abstract

A meal machine with zoned microwave heating and pre-set warming functions includes a main body, a refrigerated / frozen storage system, a microwave heating system, a warming system, a transfer mechanism, and a control unit. The refrigerated / frozen storage system has multiple storage locations for accommodating meal containers. The microwave heating system has a heating cavity and multiple magnetron modules, each corresponding to a different heating zone within the heating cavity. The microwave power and heating time of each magnetron module can be set independently. The warming system has multiple warming compartments. The control unit, based on pre-set data, controls the transfer mechanism to move the meal container from the refrigerated / frozen storage system to the microwave heating system, and after heating, moves it to a designated warming compartment, generating or receiving retrieval identification data for the corresponding warming compartment. This allows for automatic zoned heating and warming of the meal container in the designated compartment before retrieval, improving the uniformity of reheating and convenience of retrieval.

Claims

1. A meal machine with zoned microwave heating and timed keep-warm function, comprising: a body; a refrigeration and freezing storage system disposed in the body and having a plurality of storage positions, each storage position for accommodating a meal box; a microwave heating system disposed in the body and having a heating cavity and a plurality of magnetron modules, the plurality of magnetron modules respectively corresponding to a plurality of heating zones of the heating cavity, and the microwave power and heating time of each magnetron module can be set separately; and a keep-warm system disposed in the body and having a plurality of keep-warm compartments, each keep-warm compartment for accommodating the meal box heated by the microwave heating system; A transfer mechanism, disposed on the body, is used to transfer the lunch box from the refrigeration and freezing storage system to the microwave heating system, and to transfer the heated lunch box to one of the designated warming compartments among the plurality of warming compartments; and a control unit, electrically connected to the refrigeration and freezing storage system, the microwave heating system, the warming system and the transfer mechanism, the control unit controlling the transfer mechanism, the plurality of magnetron modules and the designated warming compartment according to a reservation data, and generating or receiving a lunch retrieval identification data corresponding to the designated warming compartment.

2. The food processing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refrigeration and freezing storage system includes a refrigeration zone and a freezing zone, and the plurality of storage locations are respectively located in the refrigeration zone, the freezing zone, or a combination thereof.

3. The food processor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of magnetron modules includes a first magnetron module, a second magnetron module and a third magnetron module, wherein the first magnetron module, the second magnetron module and the third magnetron module each have an independent power setting value and a heating time setting value.

4. The food processor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the microwave heating system further includes a microwave parameter setting interface for displaying and setting the microwave power and heating time of each magnetron module.

5. The food processor as described in claim 1, wherein the control unit stores a plurality of heating parameter groups, each heating parameter group corresponding to a meal item, a placement position of the meal box within the heating cavity, or a food item position within the meal box.

6. The food maker as described in claim 1, wherein each of the warming compartments of the warming system includes a warming module, a compartment door and an electronic lock, and the control unit controls the electronic lock of the designated warming compartment to unlock based on the food identification data.

7. The meal machine as described in claim 6, wherein the meal identification data includes a QR code, and the control unit opens the door of the designated warming compartment after the QR code is scanned and verified.

8. The meal machine as described in claim 6, wherein the warming compartment further includes a food removal detection element, and the control unit stops or reduces the power supply to the warming module of the designated warming compartment after the food removal detection element detects that the meal box has been removed.

9. The meal machine as described in claim 1 further includes a user interface and a back-end management interface, wherein the user interface is used to receive pre-order information or a scheduled meal pickup time, and the back-end management interface is used to set the start time, end time, number of meal boxes, meal items and the specified insulated compartment.

10. The food processor as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refrigeration and freezing storage system, the microwave heating system and the heat preservation system are arranged sequentially along one of the transverse directions of the machine body, and the microwave heating system is located between the refrigeration and freezing storage system and the heat preservation system.

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