CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/125,130, filed 14 December 2020, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

Technical Field

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to the automated dispensing of individual food items, and more particularly relates to the automated dispensing of specific quantities of food items, such as food items in a nugget format, for on-site cooking at the location where these food items are bought and sometimes consumed by a customer.

Background

[0003] Individual food items are often pre-cooked and processed prior to being provided to restaurants, such as fast food restaurants, where the final cooking of the food items is completed immediately prior to being served to a customer. For example, food items can be cut or shaped into individual pieces, coated with one or more outer layers, and/or otherwise processed so that the restaurant employees only need to cook the items for a relatively brief period of time before they are ready to be served to the customer. This type of system helps to standardize the quantity and quality of cooked products that are provided to a consumer.

[0004] Chicken nuggets are particularly popular food items that are provided in such a manner. In an exemplary process, chicken meat is formed into individual shapes or nuggets, after which they are covered with one or more coating layers. The coated nuggets are then sent to a fryer where they are at least partially cooked, but are typically not completely cooked. The nuggets are then frozen, bagged, boxed, and shipped to the restaurant. During these processes, the nuggets will be counted and prepackaged into bags that must be opened on-site before cooking the nuggets. Once a restaurant receives the frozen bags of nuggets, they will typically remain frozen until immediately prior to the final cooking process

[0005] In order to streamline the process and eliminate the need to open individual bags of nuggets for each order, there is a need to provide a system that can be used on-site at restaurants for counting food items, such as chicken nuggets, and automatically dispensing them into containers used in cooking equipment (e.g., a deep fryer) immediately prior to cooking. There is further a need for such a system to be capable of providing different batch sizes with minimal involvement by the food service employee. Such a system will desirably be capable of maintaining the bulk food items in a frozen state, particularly during off-peak periods when there is minimal demand for the food items.

Summary

[0006] This disclosure relates generally to the dispensing of relatively small quantities of food items that are provided in a relatively large bulk quantity. More specifically, this disclosure relates to automated dispensing of food items such as frozen chicken nuggets or other frozen food items, where the items being dispensed are sold or packaged by number, weight, or by volume. The machine may be set to dispense one or more numbers of pre-selected quantities of items.

[0007] In an aspect of this disclosure, a dispenser is described that includes an upper portion with a hopper comprising an upper hopper end and a lower hopper end, a receiving area spaced from and positioned below the lower hopper end, and a dispensing roller positioned above the receiving area and extending across at least a portion of a width of the lower hopper end. The dispensing roller includes at least one elongated opening extending across a dispensing roller width and a rotation axis extending through the dispensing roller along the dispensing roller width.

[0008] The upper portion of the dispenser may further include a frame defining an inner area in which the hopper is at least partially positioned. At least one elongated opening of the dispensing roller comprises at least one pocket, and the pocket(s) may extend inwardly from an outer cylindrical surface of the dispensing roller toward the rotation axis. Each of the pockets will generally be sized to accommodate a predetermined number of items dispensed from the lower hopper end. [0009] At least one elongated opening of the dispensing roller may be defined as at least one gap between adjacent vanes extending outwardly from an outer cylindrical surface of the dispensing roller. The vanes can be attached to the outer cylindrical surface with at least one fastener and/or an adhesive or other attachment feature. Each of the elongated openings of the dispensing roller may be the same size and spaced from each other around an outer cylindrical surface of the dispensing roller, or at least one of the elongated openings of the dispensing roller can be a different size from at least one of the other elongated openings of the dispensing roller.

[0010] The dispenser may further include tapered walls for the hopper that extend from the upper hopper end to the lower hopper end, and the receiving area may include at least one shelf spaced below the dispensing roller. At least one container may be positionable on the shelf, wherein the container comprises an upper opening positioned below the dispensing roller.

[0011] The upper portion of the dispenser may further have a freezer system at least partially surrounding the hopper. The dispenser may also include controls for controlling rotation of the dispensing roller to selectively position the at least one elongated opening below the lower hopper end to receive a predetermined number of items as they are dispensed from the lower hopper, and then to selectively position the at least one elongated opening so that the items fall from the elongated opening and into at least one container of the receiving area.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] The present disclosure will be further described with reference to the appended Figures, wherein like structure is referred to by like numerals throughout the several views, and wherein;

[0013] Figure 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a nugget dispenser;

[0014] Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of an exemplary dispensing roller of a nugget dispenser; [0015] Figure 3 is a top view of a hopper with a dispensing roller positioned therein;

[0016] Figure 4 is a schematic side view of an exemplary embodiment of a nugget dispenser, with its dispensing roller in a neutral position;

[0017] Figure 5 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4, with its dispensing roller in a first demand position;

[0018] Figure 6 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4 as its dispensing roller is moving from the first demand position to a first dispensing position;

[0019] Figure 7 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4, with its dispensing roller in a first dispensing position;

[0020] Figure 8 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4 as it has moved from its position of Figure 7 back to its neutral position;

[0021] Figure 9 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4, with its dispensing roller in a second demand position;

[0022] Figure 10 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4 as its dispensing roller is moving from the second demand position to a second dispensing position;

[0023] Figure 11 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4, with its dispensing roller in the second dispensing position;

[0024] Figure 12 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 4 as it has moved from its position of Figure 11 back to its neutral position;

[0025] Figure 13 is a schematic side view of another exemplary embodiment of a nugget dispenser, with its dispensing roller in a neutral position;

[0026] Figure 14 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 13, with nuggets dispensed into one pocket of a dispensing roller; [0027] Figure 15 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 13, with nuggets dispensed into one additional pocket of the dispensing roller as compared to the dispenser configuration of Figure 14;

[0028] Figure 16 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 13 after two of the pockets of the dispensing roller have deposited nuggets into a basket and after additional nuggets have been loaded into other pockets of the dispensing roller;

[0029] Figure 17 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 13 in the position shown in Figure 16 but with the basket empty and ready to accept dispensed nuggets; and

[0030] Figure 18 is a schematic side view of the nugget dispenser of Figure 13 after one of the pockets of the dispensing roller has dispensed nuggets into a basket and after additional nuggets have been loaded into other pockets of the dispensing roller.

Detailed Description

[0031] Referring now to the Figures, wherein the components are labeled with like numerals throughout the several Figures, and initially to Figure 1, an exemplary embodiment of a dispenser 10 for use with food items (e.g., frozen food items) is illustrated. Dispenser 10 generally includes an upper portion 12 positioned above a food-receiving area 14 that includes one or more removable food baskets 16 that can be loaded with a specific number of food products and then transported to a cooking area for cooking. It is noted that the discussion herein primarily refers to the dispensing of nuggets, such as chicken nuggets; however, it is understood that the systems, equipment, and methods described herein are equally applicable to other types of food items, such as vegetable nuggets, fruit pieces, vegetable pieces, and the like.

[0032] In more particularity, the upper portion 12 includes a first side wall 18 spaced from a second side wall 20 and a back wall 22 extending between the side walls 18, 20. The upper portion 12 may further include a moveable door 24 that is moveable from an open position (as shown) to a closed position in which it will provide a front wall to the upper portion 12. The upper portion 12 further includes a top wall or lid 26 that can be fixed relative to a top edge of each of the first and second side walls 18, 20, the back wall 22, and the door or front wall 24. The top wall 26 can optionally be hinged or otherwise attached to one or more of these wall of the upper frame, or can be removable and replaceable relative to these walls. These walls generally define an inner area 28 of the upper portion 12.

[0033] Referring additionally to Figures 2 and 3, the upper portion 12 further includes a hopper 30 positioned within the inner area of the upper portion 12. The hopper includes an upper end 32 that communicates with the inner area 28 and a lower end 34 through which food items can be dispensed. The hopper 30 can be generally angled or tapered from the upper end 32 down to the lower end 34 so that food items loaded into the upper end 32 will move downward toward the lower end 34 simply by gravity. Thus, the lower end 34 will generally have an opening that is smaller than the opening at the upper end 32. It is further understood that other attachments or components may be added to the hopper 30 to direct the flow of food items, such as a tube or other structure, for example.

[0034] In order to dispense food items in a controlled or counted manner in accordance with the present disclosure, the dispenser 10 further includes a dispensing roller 40 that is positioned generally adjacent to the lower end 34 of the hopper 30 or at least partially within the lower end 34 of the hopper 30. Dispensing roller 40 may extend across the entire width of the hopper 30 or may only extend across a portion of the width of the hopper 30. Dispensing roller 40 is rotatable about a generally central axis that extends through the width of the roller 40. It is further understood that a single dispensing roller 40 may be used or that multiple dispensing rollers can be arranged across the width of the hopper 30.

[0035] As is best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, one exemplary embodiment of dispensing roller 40 includes a central core 42 that is generally cylindrical in shape and has an outer cylindrical surface 44. Multiple extensions or vanes 46 extend outwardly from the outer cylindrical surface 44 along its width, wherein the vane configuration can vary depending on the desired volume of food items that are to be held in pockets 48 that are formed between adjacent vanes 46. That is, the surfaces of adjacent vanes 46 that are facing each other are spaced to define a pocket volume that will hold a certain number of food items. Thus, height of the vanes 46 will also need to be tall enough to provide such a pocket volume. For one example, adjacent vanes 46 are spaced from each other to provide a pocket volume that will hold twelve chicken nuggets.

[0036] The illustrated vanes 46 are attached to the central core 42 with fasteners 50 that extend through holes 52 along the height of the vanes 46. The number of fasteners 50 used is selected to be sufficient for secure attachment of the vanes 46 to the central core 42. However, a wide variety of different attachment methods may be used, such as attaching the vanes 46 to the outer cylindrical surface 44 with adhesives, welding, or the like, or the vanes 46 can be molded as an integral portion of the dispensing roller 40. The central core 42 can be made of the same or different material as the vanes 46, wherein the components may be made of metal, plastic, or combinations thereof, for example.

[0037] The vanes 46 can be evenly spaced from each other around the outer cylindrical surface 44 or can be irregularly spaced around the outer cylindrical surface 44, as desired to meet the requirements of the end user. In particular, the vanes 46 will be spaced at the same distance from each other around the outer cylindrical surface 44 when it is desired to dispense the same number of food items into each of the pockets 48 around the outer cylindrical surface 44, but the vanes 46 will be spaced at different distances from each other around the outer cylindrical surface 44 when different numbers of food items will be dispensed into particular pockets 48 around the outer cylindrical surface 44.

[0038] The dispensing roller 40 may be hollow through the central core 42, as shown, and may optionally further include caps (not shown) on one or both ends of the central core 42. Alternatively, the central core 42 can instead be solid through some or all of its length.

[0039] While the above discussion refers to four walls arranged relative to each other to define part of the outer shell of the upper portion 12, it is understood that the upper portion 12 can instead include more or less than four walls, and can be arranged in a configuration that is not rectangular, such as tubular or irregular, and can vary in shape from the top to the bottom of the upper portion. It is further understood that the upper portion 12 may include a front wall 24 that is not hinged to be a moveable door, but instead is a fixed member of the upper portion 12 that makes up its rectangular structure. In such a configuration, the top wall or lid can instead be moveable to access the interior area of the upper portion 12 and the upper end 32 of the hopper into which the food items are loaded. In addition, the top wall or lid 26 may have a number of different configurations than that illustrated, including having a different size, shape, and/or attachment configuration to one or more of the walls of the upper portion 12.

[0040] The food receiving area 14 is spaced below the lower end 34 of the hopper and may include one or more removable baskets 16 or other food receptacles resting on a shelf 50. In an embodiment, the baskets 16 may be wire mesh baskets that are sized and shaped to fit directly into a deep fryer to cook the food items contained therein. Each basket 16 includes a top opening 52 that is large enough to accept the food items that fall from the lower end 34 of the hopper 30.

[0041] The embodiment of dispenser 10 shown in Figure 1 illustrates multiple wheels 54 on the bottom of the shelf 50 that provide mobility for moving the dispenser 10 to different locations. However, such wheels 56 are optional, as it is understood that the entire dispenser 10 may be mounted on a wall or other structure to keep the area beneath it open for cleaning, for example.

[0042] The dispenser 10 further includes a freezer system (not shown) adjacent to the hopper 30. Such a freezer system can surround or partially surround the hopper 30, for example, and is provided to maintain the food items placed in the hopper 30 at a desired temperature prior to being dispensed into the baskets 16. The use of such a freezer system will be particularly beneficial in cases where the food items are provided in a bulk bag that contains many serving portions of those food items so that the entire bag can be emptied into the upper end 32 of the hopper without concern about the food items thawing prior to being dispensed.

[0043] Figures 4 through 12 are schematic views of an exemplary sequence of operational steps for a dispenser 110, which may have a similar configuration to the dispenser 10 shown and described relative to Figure 1, for example. Dispenser 110 includes an upper portion 112 positioned above a food-receiving area 114 that includes a removable food basket 116 that can be loaded with a specific number of food products and then transported to a cooking area for cooking. The upper portion 112 further includes a hopper 130 with an upper end 132 that is generally open to accept food items and a lower end 134 through which food items can be dispensed, such as into a food basket 116.

[0044] In order to dispense food items in a controlled or counted manner in accordance with the present disclosure, the dispenser 110 further includes a dispensing roller 140 that is positioned generally adjacent to the lower end 134 of the hopper 130. Dispensing roller 140 may extend across the entire width of the hopper 130 or may only extend across a portion of the width of the hopper 130. It is further understood that a single dispensing roller 140 may be used or that multiple dispensing rollers can be arranged across the width of the hopper 130. The dispenser 110 may further include a freezer system 160 adjacent to the hopper 130. Such a freezer system 160 can surround or partially surround the hopper 130, for example, and is provided to maintain the food items placed in the hopper 130 at a desired temperature prior to being dispensed into the basket 116.

[0045] Dispensing roller 140 may include multiple vanes with pockets between adjacent vanes, as described above relative to dispensing roller 40; however, this schematic illustration of a dispenser 110 with a dispensing roller 140 includes a member 142 having a generally cylindrical outer surface 144. Multiple pockets 148, 150 are formed that extend inwardly from the outer cylindrical surface 144 along its width, wherein each pocket is sized to hold a particular volume of food items. The pocket configuration can vary depending on the desired volume of food items that are to be held in each pocket 148, 150.

[0046] In this exemplary embodiment, the pocket 148 of dispensing roller 140 is designed to hold twelve nuggets, while the adjacent pocket 150 is designed to hold twenty-four nuggets. With such a system, the dispenser 110 is provided with a control panel or other control mechanism with which a user will interact to select which of the serving sizes of nuggets needs to be dispensed to the basket 116 by the dispensing roller 140. Such a selection and dispensing of nuggets of one exemplary sequence of steps starts with the dispensing roller 140 in a neutral or waiting position of Figure 4, with the pockets 148, 150 in a position in which their respective upper openings face generally downward. However, any position of the dispensing roller 140 in which the pockets 148, 150 are not directly below the lower end 134 of the hopper 130 may be considered to be a neutral position of the dispensing roller 140.

[0047] In this exemplary dispensing sequence, the user selects a serving size of twenty-four nuggets when the dispensing roller 140 is in the neutral position of Figure 4 so that the dispensing roller 140 rotates in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Figure 5 until the pocket 150 is positioned directly below the lower end 134 of the hopper 130,. Although it is possible for the dispensing roller to instead be rotated in a clockwise direction, such a rotation with this arrangement of pockets 148, 150 requires additional rotation of the dispensing roller (i.e., more than 180 degrees), and also allows the open end of the pocket 148 to pass below the lower end 134 of the hopper 130 prior to the pocket 150 reaching that position such that one or more nuggets may undesirably fall into the pocket 148 during this rotation.

[0048] Because the capacity of the pocket 150 is twenty-four nuggets, when the pocket 150 is in its correct location under the lower end 134 of the hopper, twenty-four nuggets will fall from the lower end 134 of the hopper 130 and fill the pocket 150. This position of the dispensing roller 140 is referred to herein as a “first demand position” of this roller.

[0049] After the proper number of nuggets is positioned in the pocket 150, the dispensing roller 140 rotates in a clockwise direction, as shown in Figure 6, until the pocket 150 is positioned above the basket 116. Because the pocket 150 has an open end, the nuggets will fall into the basket 116, as is illustrated in Figure 7. This position is referred to herein as a “first dispensing position” of the dispensing roller 140. The basket 116 can then be removed and replaced with an empty basket 116, which can either be the same basket that had contained the nuggets or a different basket. The dispensing roller 140 can then be rotated slightly in the counterclockwise direction to be back in the neutral position shown in Figure 8.

[0050] This same dispensing roller 140 can then be used repeatedly for dispensing twenty-four nuggets, or can follow a similar sequence of exemplary sequence of steps to dispense twelve nuggets. Such a sequence starts with the dispensing roller 140 in a neutral or waiting position of Figure 8, with the pockets 148, 150 in a position in which their respective upper openings face generally downward. The user then selects a serving size of twelve nuggets when the dispensing roller 140 is in the neutral position of Figure 8 so that the dispensing roller 140 rotates in a clockwise direction until the pocket 148 is positioned directly below the lower end 134 of the hopper 130, as shown in Figure 9. Although it is possible for the dispensing roller to instead be rotated in a counterclockwise direction, such a rotation with this arrangement of pockets 148, 150 requires additional rotation of the dispensing roller (i.e., more than 180 degrees), and also allows the open end of the pocket 150 to pass below the lower end 134 of the hopper 130 prior to the pocket 148 reaching that position such that one or more nuggets may undesirably fall into the pocket 150 during this rotation.

[0051] Because the capacity of the pocket 148 is twelve nuggets, when the pocket 148 is in its correct location under the lower end 134 of the hopper, twelve nuggets will fall from the lower end 134 of the hopper 130 and fill the pocket 148. This position of the dispensing roller 140 is referred to herein as a “second demand position” of this roller.

[0052] After the proper number of nuggets is positioned in the pocket 148, the dispensing roller rotates in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Figure 10, until the pocket 148 is positioned above the basket 116. Because the pocket 148 has an open end, the nuggets will fall into the basket 116, as is illustrated in Figure 11. This position is referred to herein as a “second dispensing position” of the dispensing roller 140. The basket 116 can then be removed and replaced with an empty basket 116, which can either be the same basket that had contained the nuggets or a different basket. The dispensing roller 140 can then be rotated slightly in the clockwise direction to be back in the neutral position shown in Figure 12.

[0053] Referring now to Figures 13-18, a dispensing roller 240 may include multiple vanes with pockets between adjacent vanes, as described above relative to dispensing roller 40; however, this schematic illustration of a dispenser 210 with a dispensing roller 240 includes a member 242 having a generally cylindrical outer surface 244. Multiple pockets 248a through 248f are formed that extend inwardly from the outer cylindrical surface 244 along its width, wherein the pockets are all generally the same size to hold the same volume of food items. [0054] In this exemplary embodiment, each pocket 248a through 248f of dispensing roller 240 is designed to hold twelve nuggets. With such a system, the dispenser 210 is provided with a control panel or other control mechanism with which a user will interact to select which of the serving sizes of nuggets needs to be dispensed to the basket 216 by the dispensing roller 240. Such a selection and dispensing of nuggets of one exemplary sequence of steps starts with the dispensing roller 240 in a neutral or waiting position of Figure 13, with each of the pockets in a position in which their respective upper openings are not directly below the lower end 234 of the hopper 230. With this embodiment, a user can a multiple of twelve nuggets for dispensing into the basket 216

[0055] In this exemplary dispensing sequence, the user selects a serving size of twenty-four nuggets when the dispensing roller 240 is in the neutral position of Figure 13 so that the dispensing roller 240 rotates in a counterclockwise direction until one of the pockets 248a is positioned directly below the lower end 234 of the hopper 230, as shown in Figure 14. In this embodiment, the dispensing roller 240 rotates in the same direction throughout the steps; however, that direction could be clockwise throughout the dispensing sequence rather than the illustrated and described counterclockwise direction.

[0056] Because the capacity of each pocket 248a through 248f is twelve nuggets, when each of these pockets is in its correct location under the lower end 234 of the hopper 230, twelve nuggets will fall from the lower end 234 of the hopper 230 and fill the pocket. In this illustrated embodiment, after the proper number of nuggets is positioned in the pocket 248a, the dispensing roller 240 continues to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as shown in Figure 15, until an adjacent pocket 248b is positioned under the lower end 234 of the hopper 230. Again, because the capacity of this pocket 248b is also twelve nuggets, this number of nuggets will also fall from the lower end 234 of the hopper 230 to also fill this pocket 248b. At this point, two pockets 248a and 248b will each be loaded with twelve nuggets.

[0057] This sequence of filling pockets and rotating the dispensing roller can be repeated as many times necessary, depending on the demand for food items. In this illustration, the dispensing roller 240 with the filled pockets 248a and 248b will continue to be rotated in a counterclockwise direction until first pocket 248a is positioned above the basket 216 and then second pocket 248b is positioned above the basket 216. That is, because the pockets 248a and 248b each have an open end, the nuggets will fall first from pocket 248a into the basket 216 and then will fall from pocket 248b into the basket 216, as is illustrated in Figure 16. The basket 216 with twenty-four nuggets can then be removed and replaced with an empty basket 216, which can either be the same basket that had contained the nuggets or a different basket. As is also shown in Figure 16, when the dispensing roller 240 was rotating counterclockwise to deposit the nuggets from pockets 248a and 248b into the basket 216, the pockets 248c, 248d, and 248e were filled with nuggets as they passed under the lower end 234 of the hopper 230. Figure 17 illustrates a “holding” step in which the dispensing roller 240 is not moving and no nuggets are therefore being deposited into the basket 216.

[0058] Next, Figure 18 illustrates the use of this dispenser 210 to deposit only twelve nuggets into the basket after such an option is selected by the user. As shown, the dispensing roller 240 was rotated in the counterclockwise direction so that neither of the pockets 248a or 248b are positioned above the basket 216 but so that the pocket 248c is positioned above the basket and the nuggets that were held in this pocket 248c are deposited into the basket 216. If twenty-four nuggets were instead selected as the size for this order, the dispensing roller 240 will be rotated further in the clockwise direction until the pocket 248d is also emptied into the basket 216. Such a sequence of demanding a certain number of nuggets, filling a corresponding number of pockets, and rotating the dispensing roller until the desired number of nuggets is dispensed into a basket can be repeated as often as necessary to fill customer orders.

[0059] The present invention has now been described with reference to several embodiments thereof. The entire disclosure of any patent or patent application identified herein is hereby incorporated by reference. The foregoing detailed description and examples have been given for clarity of understanding only. No unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes can be made in the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the structures described herein, but only by the structures described by the language of the claims and the equivalents of those structures.