Article dispensing – With article treatment – With cooling or heating
Patent
1997-07-03
1999-03-09
Noland, Kenneth
Article dispensing
With article treatment
With cooling or heating
219753, A24F 2714
Patent
active
058789103
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a dispensing machine for packaged food products, of the type which before supplying the products processes them in a microwave oven. This machine can be applied, for example, to the sale of popcorn.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
There exist in the market bags containing grains of maize specially adapted for making popcorn in a microwave oven of the household type, simply by placing the bag in the microwave oven for a certain length of time. The bag inflates as the grains of maize expand to form the popcorn.
Known in the art commercially for the supply of recently made bags of popcorn is a dispensing machine with a simple system of gravity feed for the bags to take them into a microwave oven; this oven is provided with a loading door in its upper part and a finished-product expulsion door or hatch in its lower part.
These known machines nevertheless present a number of major disadvantages. On the one hand, the need to have a microwave oven of special construction increases the cost of the machine unacceptably; and on the other hand, the feed system for this dispensing machine is not entirely reliable, and the bags often become stuck or do not reach the oven correctly.
More specifically, on some machines the feed is implemented by means of vertical channels in which the products are stored in the form of a pile; the last of the products from the pile is driven by a piston and falls by gravity towards the oven. Such systems, similar to those used for cigarette machines and the like, are not suitable for products with irregular packaging, such a popcorn bags, for the bag is often poorly positioned in relation to the piston and blockages occur or the pistons fails to push any of the product; moreover, the bags can be oily and not slide correctly along the ramps which take them to the oven, so that these machines end up presenting undesirable operating defects.
The right cooking time for the popcorn depends on several parameters, such as the type and size of maize grain, humidity, ambient and product temperatures, wear of the magnetron, and others. On the known machine described, cooking control is limited to a timer which switches the oven off after a preset time, so that cooking time cannot be varied; this is a major limitation, for it means that some grains do not burst, some bags may even catch fire, etc.
Another disadvantage of this machine is that it permits the supply of only one specific product, while it would be desirable for one machine to be able to supply several different articles, at the choice of the customer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims to resolve the above-mentioned disadvantages by offering a dispensing machine which is reliable in operation, uses a conventional microwave oven and is also versatile, so that it can supply different articles of food.
In accordance with this objective, the packaged food product dispensing machine of the invention comprises a structure which has an associated payment device and contains a microwave oven, a system for supply of the packaged products to the microwave oven, a device for expulsion of the packaged products from the microwave oven, and means of controlling operation. The machine is characterized in that said system for supply of packaged products to the microwave oven includes a storage and dispensing device for the packaged products, a device for collecting said products from the storage and dispensing means, and a device for placing the packaged products in the microwave oven.
The product itself requires no handling, remaining within its package at all times, which ensures optimum hygiene conditions, and it is supplied to the user recently cooked, which means that it does not present the disadvantages of products which are sold some time after they are made, but has excellent taste and consistency characteristics.
A notable advantage of the machine of the invention is its versatility, since it permits the supply of different packaged products, at the choice of the user, such as popcorn w
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Clariana Antonio Bosch
Gibernau Antonio Montserrate
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