GB2209329A - Hot food machine - Google Patents

Abstract

A hot food machine comprises a freezer compartment 12 disposed vertically above an independently operable microwave oven 10. A door 14 is provided in the base of the freezer compartment 12 to permit food items to drop into the oven 10 and storage colums are disposed within the freezer compartment 12 for storing items of food for heating in the microwave oven 10. Selection means act to withdraw an item from the storage columns and cause the selected item to drop through the door 14 into the interior of the microwave oven 10. The columns may rotate about a central vertical axis, or be on a horizontal chain conveyor; or trays of food may be on a chain conveyor passing round horizontal shafts. <IMAGE>

Description

HOT FOOD MACHINE The present invention relates to a hot food machine which comprises a freezer compartment for storing items of frozen food, means for selecting an item from the freezer compartment, means for transferring the selected item from the freezer compartment to an oven, preferably a microwave oven, and means for enabling the item heated in the oven to be collected from a dispensing aperture.

The invention is particularly concerned with a machine which may find application in a domestic or small office environment.

Vending machines are known which sell hot food by transferring frozen food items from a freezer compartment to a microwave oven. The microwave oven can only be used to heat items from the freezer compartment and conversely the freezer only houses items to be heated in the microwave oven. Such a machine clearly does not lend itself for use in homes.

According to the present invention, there is provided a hot food machine which comprises a freezer compartment disposed vertically above an independently operable microwave oven, a door in the base of the freezer compartment to permit food items to drop into the oven, storage means disposed within the freezer compartment for storing items of food for heating in the microwave oven, and means for withdrawing an item from the storage means and causing the selected item to drop through the door into the interior of the microwave oven.

Preferably, the storage means consist of columns in which the food items are stacked and the freezer compartment further includes space around the storage columns for storage of food items not to be dispensed automatically.

Conveniently, the columns are movable to be positioned above the door opening and a food item is displaced from a column by movement of the column past a stationary abutment pin. The abutment pin may be moved from an inoperative position to an operative position by the opening of the door.

The columns may be arranged for rotation about a vertical axis or they may be mounted on chain conveyer in order to make better use of the storage space available within the freezer compartment.

Advantageously, the means for selecting an article from the freezer compartment also serves to operate the oven for a period of time related to the selected item.

During operation of the preferred embodiment of the invention, a user makes a selection from one of the items available within the freezer compartment. The appropriate column for the selected item is brought around into the vicinity of the door and the latter is opened at the same time raising the release pin into a position for engagement with the item stored in the column. The item is dislodged from the column as the latter moves past the release pin and falls through the door into the oven. After closing of the door, the oven is energised to heat the food item for the correct time and thereafter the item may be removed, ready for immediate consumption.

The invention will now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section through a machine of the invention, Figure 2 shows the two parts of the door separating the freezer compartment from the oven, Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the freezer compartment, Figure 4 is a similar horizontal section through the freezer compartment of an alternative embodiment of the invention, Figure 5 is a detail of the embodiment of Figure 4 drawn to an enlarged scale, Figure 6 is a vertical section similar to that of Figure 1 through a further embodiment, Figure 7 is vertical section through the storage section of the embodiment of Figure 6, Figure 8 is a horizontal section through the storage compartment of the embodiment of Figure 6, Figure 9 is a vertical section similar to that of Figure 1 through a still further embodiment of the invention, and Figure 10 is horizontal section through the storage section of the embodiment of Figure 9.

Figure 1 shows a machine which comprises a microwave oven 10 disposed beneath a freezer compartment 12 and connected to the freezer compartment 12 by a door 14.

The door 14 is better shown in Figure 2 and consists of two circular plates 14a and 14b which can rotate relative to one another. The lower plate 14b is stationary in the freezer compartment and has a hole 20b permanently aligned with an opening in the freezer housing and in the oven housing. The lower plate 14b is also formed with an arcuate ramp 16 for an abutment pin 18 which is mounted in the upper plate 14a.

The upper plate 14a is rotatable and has a hole 20a which may be aligned with the hole 20b to provide an opening between the freezer compartment and the oven or may be rotated to obturate the opening and isolate the freezer compartment 12 from the oven 10. When the holes 20a and 20b are not aligned, the abutment pin is retracted into the upper plate 14a but as the upper plate is rotated to open the connecting door, the pin 18 rides up the ramp 16 anc projects from the upper plate into the freezer compartment.

Disposed within the freezer compartment 12 is a set of vertical columns 22 which can be moved around to align any one of the columns 22 with the door opening. The columns 22 are intended to stack food items such as hamburgers or pizzas and have sides for retaining the items and a base for supporting the stack of items.

The sides of the columns are cut away adjacent the lowermost item so that this item may be made to slide laterally out of the column 22. It is the interaction of the columns 22 with the abutment pin 18 which is responsible to withdrawing an item from one of the columns 22 and allowing it to drop into the oven 10.

The door 14 is opened after the desired column 22 has been positioned just above the opening. As the columns 22 are rotated in unison, the pin 18 prevents movement of the lowermost food item in the column 22 aligned with the door opening and as the column 22 moves away from the door opening, this item is withdrawn from the column 22 and eventually drops into the oven 10. At this point, the upper plate 14a is again rotated to close the opening and retract the abutment pin 18.

It will be noted that the volume swept by the columns 22 in the freezer compartment does not occupy the whole of the compartment and the same freezer may be used for the storage of items 32 not to be dispensed automatically.

The microwave oven 10, apart from the door opening, is conventional and can be programmed manually in the same manner as any conventional oven and can be used for normal domestic purposes independently of the freezer compartment. However, the two independent units can be made to function together whenever it is desired to select an item from the columns 22 and heat this item immediately. In this case, a single button (not shown) on the freezer compartment enable selection of the appropriate column 22. The columns are rotated and when the correct column is aligned with the opening, the door 14 is operated so that a selected food item drops into the oven 10 in the manner previously described and the door 14 is closed. At this time, the oven is turned on automatically. If desired the power and time settings for the selected item may be preprogrammed so that no further action should be required from the user at this stage.

The embodiment shown in Figures 4 and 5 is essentially the same as that of the previous Figures except that in place of columns rotatable about a central axis, the columns 22 are here arranged on a chain conveyer, the connection between a column 22 and one of the chain links 30 being better seen in Figure 5. This embodiment permits more efficient usage of the freezer compartment which usually has a rectangular section.

In the embodiment of Figures 6, 7 and 8, instead of being stacked in vertical columns, the food items are supported in horizontal trays 610 which can be moved vertically by a chain conveyer 612 having horizontal shafts 614. Articles are removed from the lowermost tray 610 by means of a pin on a chain 616 disposed on the base of the freezer compartment.

A retractable door 618 is arranged to one side of the trays 610. One side of the door 618 is guided in vertical grooves in the side wall of the freezer compartment and its opposite side is guided in grooves in the base of the freezer compartment. Thus, upon actuation of a jack 620 connected to the first side of the door 618, the door tilts and slides to uncover the opening connecting the freezer compartment to the microwave oven.

Each of the trays 610 can hold three food items of the same kind, arranged side by side. The different trays can however hold different food items, thereby permitting a wide selection items to be made by the user. Upon selection of a particular food item, the chain conveyer is driven to bring the appropriate tray to the bottom of the freezer compartment. The door 618 is opened and the chain 616 is driven to cause a pin projecting from the chain 616 to pass through the tray 610 so as to displace all the food items carried by the tray 610 until the one nearest the door drops into the microwave oven. The door 618 is then closed and the chain 616 is driven in the reverse direction so as to park the pin in a position where it does not interfere with the movement of the conveyer.

The arrangement of Figures 9 and 10 comprises columns 910 connected to a central drive shaft 912 by spokes 914. The opening 916 between the oven and the freezer compartment is covered by a sliding door 918 operated by a plunger 920. Withdrawal of a food item from a column 910 is carried out by a pin on a chain 922 mounted on sprockets 924 driven by a motor 926.

In this embodiment, the columns 910 each contain one type of food item and the appropriate column is positioned opposite the motor 926 under the control of the user. The plunger 920 then opens the door to the oven and the chain 922 is driven to push the lowermost food item out of the column 910.

In a still further embodiment, not illustrated, the food items may be stacked in stationary columns arranged in the freezer compartment in a rectangular array when viewed from above. Individual chains may be associated with each row of columns containing the same type of food item to displace one item into an elongate opening which extends across the width of the array.

In the latter embodiment, the chains for the different row may be mounted on sprockets all mounted on common drive shafts and electrically actuated clutches may be used to couple the sprockets selectively for rotation with the drive shafts.

In all the described embodiments, the cooking or heating time of the microwave may be set automatically depending upon the item selected and an acoustic signal may be emitted to indicate that the heating cycle has ended.

While most households have need for only one microwave oven, it is often felt desirable to have more then one freezer. Therefore, though it is important that the microwave oven should be capable of use independently of the freezer, the converse is not essential. If the freezer compartment is not intended to meet the full needs of the household, then it can be relatively small and the combined freezer and microwave oven can fit within a conventional kitchen cabinet of oven housing cabinet. It is also possible for the hot food machine to include a refrigerator and the whole combination may be housed within a conventional kitchen cabinet.

Claims (9)

1. A hot food machine comprising a freezer compartment disposed vertically above an independently operable microwave oven, a door in the base of the freezer compartment to permit food items to drop into the oven, storage means disposed within the freezer compartment for storing items of food for heating in the microwave oven, and means for withdrawing an item from the storage means and causing the selected item to drop through the door into the interior of the microwave oven.

2. A machine as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the storage means consist of columns in which the food items are stacked and the freezer compartment further includes space around the storage columns for storage of food items not to be dispensed automatically.

3. A machine as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the columns are movable to be positioned above the door opening and a food item is displaced from a column by movement of the column past a stationary abutment pin.

4. A machine as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the abutment pin may be moved from an inoperative position to an operative position by the opening of the door.

5. A machine as claimed in Claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the columns are arranged within the freezer compartment for movement about a vertical axis.

6. A machine as claimed in Claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the columns are mounted on chain conveyer.

7. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the means for selecting an article from the freezer compartment also serves to operate the oven for a period of time related to the selected item of food.

8. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the door between the freezer compartment and the oven comprises a stationary plate having an arcuate ramp and a hole aligned with the opening connecting the freezer compartment to the oven and a rotatable plate having a second hole alignable with the hole in the first plate and an abutment pin engaging the ramp and being moved from a retracted position to a projecting position by the ramp during relative rotation of the two plates.

9. A hot food machine constructed, arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein describes: with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.