Technical field

The invention relates to a doner kebab cutting robot that developed for cutting doner without any human intervention, and which keeps the distance between the heater and doner for achieving a homogenous cooking, adjustable cutting speed, and which offers a dimensional advantage.

State of the Art

Doner or doner kebab is a dish unique to Turkish cuisine, which consists of pieces of meat seasoned with tallow and local spices cooked on a skewer and hung upright in front of a wood fire. In general, after the meat is arranged on the skewer, the cook places the skewer in front of a heater/cooker and gradually turns the skewer and cuts the cooked meat into thin pieces when it is being cooked. In traditional method, the cook cuts the meat pieces with a long and thin doner blade. In this method, the expertise of the cook has a direct effect upon product quality. Manual cutting with doner blade requires to pay attention to thickness of the meat pieces. Locally, the thickness of meat pieces varies but in general, the meat pieces are preferred to be not too thick. Electric doner cutters have been developed to facilitate the doner cutting process and increase product quality thereof. However, these cutters are being controlled by the cook and the rotation of the doner skewer is performed manually. High or low turning speed of the doner prevents homogeneous cooking, and since the blade is controlled manually, the doner kebab pieces cut are also different in thickness.

Currently, doner cutting robots with different features have been developed with the aim of eliminating the problems encountered during the cutting and cooking process, and increasing the quality of the doner in this way. These robots basically perform the cooking and cutting of the doner. The control of the fully automatic doner cutting robots (rotary cutting machines) used today is made with PIC (peripheral interface control element), which makes it unable to use them industrially. In these doner cutting robots, stepper motors are generally used to move the doner arm up and down. These stepper motors make a lot of noise while running and wear off during the up-down movement. Heater mechanism of the relevant doner cutting robots is moved manually. Manual movement of the heater mechanism prevents homogeneous cooking by causing the distance between the skewer with doner and the heater to change at every turn. The thickness of the meat pieces cut from doner changes, decreasing the product quality. The cutting speed cannot be adjusted in the said doner cutting robots, there is no interruption feature and the width cannot also be adjusted. Another disadvantage of the present doner cutting robots is that they occupy a lot of space.

Many studies have been carried out and new products have been developed today with the aim of eliminating the disadvantages of doner cutting robots used in the current technique. One of these studies is the invention according to the utility model application numbered TR2021/00426 and titled “Doner Cutting Robot”. This invention relates to a doner cutting robot that allows cutting and cooking of doner without human intervention, characterized in that it consists of vertical axis mechanism making 360o circular movement, vertical axis motor providing driving power for circular movement of vertical axis mechanism, planetary gearbox placed at the output shaft end of vertical axis motor, first blade mechanism that makes up-down, forward-backward and angular movements depending on the doner by being associated with the vertical axis mechanism, the second blade mechanism that moves back and forth with respect to the doner, the rotating holding tube that allows the doner to be placed on the chassis, the locking apparatus that provides the fixation of the doner by bearing the lower part of the doner kebab, and a heater mechanism which rotates by means of the heater motor and reductor.

Another relevant study is the invention according to the utility model application numbered TR 2017/18684, titled “Advances in Fully Automatic Doner Cutting Robot”. The invention is a doner cutting robot, characterized in that it consists of a doner cutting robot with a rotation mechanism that provides rotation around its own axis by means of a motor connected to its chassis, at least one skewer for doner meat and a carriage trolley with rotation gear connected to said rotation mechanism in order to rotate the skewer around its own axis by being positioned on the skewer.

Another relevant study is the invention according to the utility model application numbered TR 2017/03909, titled “Fully Automatic Doner Cutting Robot”. Doner cutting robot according to the invention basically consists of a main board containing PIC microprocessor with software that transmits information from laser, position sensors and temperature sensors and sends commands for simultaneous movement of heater, spindle, cutting arm and the connected blade in this direction.

Another relevant study is the invention according to the patent application numbered WO2019TR50243 and titled “Full Automatic Doner Kebab Cutting Robot”. The invention relates to an automatic doner cutting robot that consists of position sensors that detect the positions of the motor in order to introduce the rotational movements of the first motor providing the vertical movement of the cutter bar on the second axis to the processor, a second motor providing the horizontal movement of the cutter bar on the third axis, a motor providing the movement of the cutting blade, a rod in the first axis, a motor providing the rotational movement of the doner kebab skewer in the fourth axis, at least one scanner and/or a heater that moves synchronized in this direction by sending commands transmitted by the scanner and/or laser - which detects the starting point, height and diameter of the doner kebab -, control system (PLC / PIC) position sensors and temperature sensors attached, cutting bar and cutting blade to which doner skewer is attached.

Another relevant study is the invention according to the patent application numbered WO2019TR50244 and titled “Fully Automatic Doner Kebab Cutting Robot”. The invention relates to a doner cutting robot that includes laser (optional), position sensors (optional) and temperature sensors (optional) to transmit information and accordingly allow simultaneous movement of the blade, heater, rotary blade and cutting arm. With the software (PIC / PLC) control system, the robot adapts to food health, complies with doner cutting standards and increases the safety of personnel by minimizing the manual control of the doner cutting process. Doner cutting robot with a rotating mechanism, which is rotated around its axis with the motor connected to the chassis and positioned on at least one skewer on which the doner meat is attached, rotates around its own axis with the rotating wheel.

In conclusion, the existence of the need for a doner kebab cutting robot, which eliminates the disadvantages of the current technique, and the inadequacy of the existing solutions have made it necessary to make a development in the relevant technical field.

Brief Description of the Invention

Present invention relates to a doner kebab cutting robot designed for cutting doner without any human intervention, and which keeps the distance between the heater and doner for achieving a homogenous cooking with adjustable cutting speed, and which offers a dimensional advantage, meeting the above-mentioned requirements, eliminating all the disadvantages and bringing some additional advantages.

Based on the state of the art, the aim of the invention is to ensure that the doner cutting robot developed facilitates its control by operating with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), simplifies the product and can be controlled remotely through mobile applications. The aim of the invention is to prevent the noise nuisance and prolong the trouble-free operation time by moving the doner arm of the doner kebab cutting robot by the servo motor.

Another aim of the invention is to provide a structure that occupies less space and offers advantages in terms of dimensions, thanks to the redesign of the sub-chassis in the doner kebab cutting robot and the placement of the electrical panel in this sub-chassis.

Another aim of the invention is to ensure that the cooking rate is homogenized and the need for manual control is eliminated by achieving a stable distance between the doner and the heater in the doner cutting robot.

Another aim of the invention is to predetermine the thickness of the doner cut in each rotation of the doner in the doner cutting robot, achieving equal cuts both in terms of cooking and cutting thanks to the heater mechanism that moves closer to the doner meat in synchronization with the cutting rounds.

Another aim of the invention is to determine the desired doner thickness before or during the cutting process, thanks to the control panel on the doner cutting robot, allowing the doner blade to cut the doner at the desired thickness each time and the heater to approach the doner as much as the coded/cut doner thickness.

Another aim of the invention is to enable the cutting speed, cutting thickness, rotational speed and similar settings to be aligned before or during the cutting process, thanks to the control panel attached on the doner kebab robot.

Another aim of the invention is to ensure that the doner kebab blade and the arm carrying the doner kebab blade are stopped and the cutting process is interrupted, so that no wasted cuts are made, thanks to the independent control of the doner kebab cutting robot heater and PLC.

Another aim of the invention is to ensure that the doner can be cut in the desired width instead of the predetermined limited width, by means of the width adjustment feature of the doner cutting robot.

Structural features and characteristics of the invention and all its advantages will be understood more clearly with the figures provided hereinbelow and the detailed description provided with reference to these figures; for this reason, the evaluation of the invention should be made by taking these figures and detailed descriptions into consideration.

Brief Description of the Figures The invention should be evaluated together with the figures described below for a better understanding of its embodiment and advantages set forth with its attachments thereof.

Figure 1 is the schematic overview of the doner cutting robot,

Figure 2 is the front-schematic overview of the doner cutting robot,

Figure-3 is the schematic overview of the disassembled sub-chassis.

List of the Reference Numbers

100. Doner cutting robot

101 . Doner cutting blade

102. Carrier wing

103. PLC system

104. Skewer

105. Heater

106. Sub-chassis

107. Distribution board

108. Control unit

109. Fan system

110. Motor rotating the skewer

111. Servo motor

112. X-motor

113. X ball screw

114. Cable channel

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description of the invention, the doner cutting robot (100) developed for cooking and cutting the doner according to the invention without any human intervention, keeping the distance between the heater (105) and doner kebab constant for a homogeneous cooking, enabling the adjustment of the cutting speed, and offering an advantage in terms of dimensions, is explained to serve only as an example for a better understanding of the relevant subject and in a way that does not create any limiting effect. Doner cutting robot (100) demonstrated in the Figure 1 has been developed for the purpose of automatically cutting the meat on the skewer (104) during the rotation. The aforementioned doner cutting robot (100) works with the PLC system (103) in the control unit (108), making its control easier than the robots/machines used in the previous art, and ensuring a simple use remote control due to its being compatible with the mobile application. The mentioned PLC system (103) controls the doner cutting blade (101), the carrier wing (102) and the skewer (104) and ensures that the doner cutting robot (100) operates in line with all parameters entered in the control unit (108) such as cutting width, cutting thickness, cutting speed. Another feature of the said doner cutting robot (100) is that the carrier wing (102) is controlled by a servo motor (111) instead of a stepper motor. Hence, both operating noise is reduced and operating time is increased. The inclusion of the distribution board (107) in the sub-chassis (106) reduced the total volume and provided a dimensional advantage in the aforementioned doner cutting robot (100) One of the key factors of the aforementioned doner cutting robot (100) is that it ensures a stable distance between doner and heater (105) during the cutting and cooking processes. Keeping a constant distance between the heater (105) and doner kebab provides the same cooking rate and eliminates the need for a manual user. The thickness of the doner cut in each rotation is predetermined, and consequently, each time a cutting round is completed, the heater (105) approaches the doner equidistantly. When the user enters the desired doner thickness value in the control unit (108) on the doner cutting robot (100) before cutting, the doner cutting blade (101) cuts the doner in the determined thickness, and as the doner is cut, the heater (105) moves and is automatically brought closer to the skewer (104) at doner cut rate.

The control unit (108) is mounted on the side of the mentioned doner cutting robot (100), on which the parameters required for the order such as cutting width, cutting thickness, cutting speed are entered, and which consists a pause mode to prevent wasted cutting and to pause the cutting process when requested. The sub-chassis (106) is mounted bottom the aforementioned doner cutting robot (100) that carries the components needed for the operation of the system. The skewer (104) that carries and rotates the doner kebab is positioned on the upper part of the aforementioned sub-chassis (106). At the back of the said doner cutting robot (100), the heater (105) is positioned to cook the doner mounted on the skewer (104). The carrier wing (102), which moves up and down along the skewer (104) and carries the doner cutting blade (102), is positioned on the front part of the doner cutting robot (100) demonstrated in Figure-2 There is a doner cutting blade (101) positioned on the said carrier wing (102) and which cuts the doner by moving up and down with the carrier wing (102) on the Z axis. The sub-chassis (106) shown in the Figure-3 consists of a distribution board (107) that provides the power and feed needed by the doner cutting robot (100); fan system (109) for cooling said distribution board (107); the motor (110) rotating the skewer (104), X-motor (112) which aligns the distance between the heater (105) and the doner; X ball screw (113) transmitting the drive received from the X-motor (112) to the carrier wing (102); and the cable channel (114) that carries all the cables of the doner cutting robot (100) and is movable thanks to mobile equipment. In addition, at the lowest part of the section where the said control unit (108) is located, there is a servo motor (111) that moves the carrier wing (102) up and down in the Z axis.

In order to operate the relevant doner cutting robot (100), the desired doner parameters should be coded on the control unit (108). Then, the PLC system (103) will ensure the operation of the entire system of the doner cutting robot (100) in the light of these parameters. The carrier wing (102) moves up and down in the Z axis and ensures that the doner cutting blade (101) cuts the doner in the desired width and thickness. Doner kebab skewer (104) rotates around itself by the motor (110) rotating the skewer, ensuring an even cook. The heater (105) is drawn towards the doner via X-motor (112) and X ball screw (113) in parallel with the cut meat amount.