阅读说明：本技术 一种供餐设备及其供餐、调度方法 (Food supply equipment and food supply and scheduling method thereof ) 是由 冯光道 于 2021-06-16 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种供餐设备及其供餐、调度方法,所述设备包括冷藏贮存区装置、加热流水线、供餐区装置和控制系统,所述冷藏贮存区装置冷藏贮存预置有食物的餐盒；所述加热流水线接收从冷藏贮存区装置送出的餐盒,在传送所述餐盒的过程中按照与其品种对应的加热流程对其加热；所述供餐区装置与所述加热流水线相连接,接收并暂存所述加热流水线加热后传送出的餐盒,根据供餐指令将暂存的餐盒传送到取餐口；所述控制系统控制所述冷藏贮存区装置、加热流水线和供餐区装置实现从冷藏贮存区装置输出所述餐盒、在加热流水线对所述餐盒加热和在供餐区装置暂存所述餐盒并投递到取餐口。本发明能够大规模、高效率地供餐,且无需人员值守。(The invention relates to a meal supply device and a meal supply and scheduling method thereof, wherein the meal supply device comprises a refrigerating storage area device, a heating production line, a meal supply area device and a control system, wherein the refrigerating storage area device is used for refrigerating and storing meal boxes with preset foods; the heating production line receives the lunch boxes sent out from the refrigerating storage area device and heats the lunch boxes according to the heating flow corresponding to the varieties of the lunch boxes in the process of conveying the lunch boxes; the meal supply area device is connected with the heating assembly line, receives and temporarily stores meal boxes conveyed out after being heated by the heating assembly line, and conveys the temporarily stored meal boxes to the meal taking port according to meal supply instructions; the control system controls the refrigerating storage area device, the heating assembly line and the meal supply area device to realize that the lunch boxes are output from the refrigerating storage area device, heated by the heating assembly line and temporarily stored in the meal supply area device and delivered to the meal taking port. The invention can supply food in large scale and high efficiency without the need of personnel on duty.)

1. A catering apparatus, comprising: a refrigerating storage area device, a heating production line, a meal supply area device and a control system,

wherein the refrigerated storage area device is configured to refrigerate and store lunch boxes pre-filled with food;

the heating production line is connected with the refrigerating storage area device and is configured to receive the lunch boxes sent out from the refrigerating storage area device and heat the lunch boxes according to the heating flow corresponding to the varieties of the lunch boxes in the process of conveying the lunch boxes;

the meal supply area device is connected with the heating assembly line, is configured to receive and temporarily store meal boxes conveyed out after being heated by the heating assembly line, and conveys the temporarily stored meal boxes to the meal taking port according to meal supply instructions;

the control system controls the refrigerating storage area device, the heating assembly line and the meal supply area device to realize that the lunch boxes are output from the refrigerating storage area device, heated by the heating assembly line and temporarily stored in the meal supply area device and delivered to the meal taking port.

2. The food service apparatus of claim 1, wherein the refrigerated storage area device comprises at least a deposit drum provided with a meal box support structure and a drive mechanism configured to place a plurality of meal boxes from top to bottom in the meal box support structure, the drive mechanism driving the meal box support structure to release the meal boxes.

3. The eating facility as defined in claim 2, wherein the refrigerated storage area means stores one or more items of food, at least two serving drums for each item of food.

4. The eating facility as defined in claim 1, wherein the heating assembly line includes at least a heating zone including a plurality of heating means spaced apart in sequence for heating the meal box received from the refrigerated storage device during transfer thereof to the serving area device.

5. The eating facility as defined in claim 4, wherein said heating device is a microwave emitting device, a light wave emitting device or a steam heating device.

6. The catering assembly according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of heating lines are each directly connected to a delivery port of the refrigerated storage area unit; or the lunch box conveying device also comprises a first conveying device and a plurality of first pushing mechanisms, wherein the first conveying device is connected between the refrigerating storage area device and the plurality of heating production lines, one first pushing mechanism is arranged corresponding to the first conveying device of each heating production line, and the lunch boxes on the first conveying device are pushed into the corresponding heating production lines according to instructions.

7. The eating facility as defined in claim 6, further comprising a second conveyor and a second pushing mechanism, the second conveyor being connected between the plurality of heating lines and the eating area means; and arranging a second pushing mechanism corresponding to the second conveying device of each meal supply area device, and pushing the meal boxes on the second conveying devices into the corresponding meal supply area devices according to the instructions.

8. The catering assembly according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the catering area arrangement comprises:

one or more temporary storage bins arranged in the temporary storage area, wherein the temporary storage bins temporarily store a plurality of lunch boxes in a first-in first-out sequence; and

and the meal supply conveying device is connected with the temporary storage bin, is configured to receive the meal boxes released by the temporary storage bin and conveys the meal boxes to the meal taking port.

9. The meal delivery apparatus of claim 8, wherein the meal delivery devices are multiple, further comprising a gate selection delivery device and multiple gate selection pushing mechanisms, the gate selection delivery device is connected between the buffer and the meal delivery devices, and the gate selection pushing mechanisms push the meal boxes delivered by the gate selection delivery device into the corresponding meal delivery devices.

10. The catering assembly according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of meal taking ports are arranged adjacently or separately.

11. The catering assembly according to claim 9, further comprising:

a first waste bin disposed at an end of the second conveyor configured to reclaim food that has not been completely heated by a heating line; and

a second reject bin disposed at an end of the gate conveyor configured to recycle food items that are out of date in a buffer.

12. The eating facility as defined in claim 1, wherein the meal box is provided with food information.

13. The catering assembly according to claim 1, wherein the control system comprises:

the refrigerating module is configured to manage lunch box information in the refrigerating storage area device and output the lunch boxes of the foods of the corresponding variety to the heating assembly line of the corresponding variety when receiving the shipment instruction according to the shipment strategy;

the heating module is configured to heat the input meal boxes in a pipeline manner and output the meal boxes to the temporary storage bins of corresponding varieties;

the meal taking module is configured to obtain order information of a meal taking user when the user takes meals, and output corresponding meal boxes to a meal taking port of the meal taking user from the temporary storage bins of corresponding varieties according to the food varieties and the quantity in the order information; and

the cloud interaction module is connected with the cloud server and configured to interact information with the cloud server, the information at least comprises user order information for taking food locally, and the order information at least comprises food taking information, food varieties and quantity.

14. The eating facility as defined in claim 13, wherein the refrigeration module includes:

a stock monitoring unit configured to monitor a food storage amount of each item, and issue a replenishment notice when the food storage amount is lower than a threshold, wherein the replenishment notice comprises the food item, a replenishment amount, and a location; and

the shipment control unit is configured to output the lunch boxes in order of the storage time of the lunch boxes from long to short.

15. The catering device of claim 13, wherein the meal fetching module comprises:

the user interface unit is configured to at least acquire meal taking operation information of a meal user and display meal taking related information;

the order acquisition unit is connected with the user interface unit and determines a corresponding order according to the meal taking operation information; and

and the data processing unit is connected with the order acquisition unit and the user interface unit and sends a delivery instruction to the refrigeration module or a food supply instruction to the food supply area device according to the determined order.

16. The catering assembly according to claim 15, wherein the user interface unit includes:

a first meal fetching user identification device configured to identify meal fetching information of a first meal fetching user performing a meal fetching operation;

the second meal taking user identification device is configured to identify a second meal taking user who does not perform the meal taking operation and acquire identity information of the second meal taking user; and

a display screen configured to display one or more of food item, quantity, and production process information.

17. The food serving apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the first food taking user identification device is a first image acquisition device, and the food taking information is a two-dimensional code or user facial feature information; correspondingly, the data processing unit determines a corresponding order through the two-dimensional code and the facial feature information of the user.

18. The catering assembly of claim 16, wherein the second meal consumer identification device is a second image capture device configured to capture a preset range of images and identify therefrom a second meal consumer awaiting meal serving and facial feature information thereof; correspondingly, the data processing unit determines a corresponding order through the facial feature information.

19. The eating facility as defined in claim 16, wherein the second meal consumer identifying means comprises:

a wireless connection module configured to wirelessly connect user terminals within a preset range; and

and the interactive response module is configured to send a meal taking confirmation message through a user interface on the user terminal, and after the user confirms the meal taking, the user identity information or the order information is acquired.

20. The food service apparatus of claim 13, further comprising an alarm module, wherein the food taking module, the heating module and the refrigerating module are connected with the alarm module, and in response to a failure of the equipment of the refrigerating storage area device, the heating pipeline and/or the food service area device for processing the first food item in the alarm information, the refrigerating module controls the output of the lunch box of the first food item in the refrigerating storage area device from the shipment port of the second or third food item, the heating module controls the heating pipeline for heating the second or third food item to heat according to the heating flow of the first food item, and/or the standby temporary storage bin replaces the failure temporary storage bin.

21. A catering method applied to the catering equipment according to any of claims 1-20, comprising:

the method comprises the steps of responding to a meal taking operation carried out by a first meal taking user to obtain order information of the first meal taking user;

responding to a temporary storage queue to meet the requirements of the variety and the quantity of the first meal taking user's order, outputting meal boxes of corresponding variety and quantity from the temporary storage queue, and delivering the meal boxes to a meal taking port where the first meal taking user is located;

determining the food variety and quantity needing to be processed latest in response to the temporary storage queue not meeting the variety or quantity requirement of the first meal taking user's order; and

and outputting the lunch boxes of the corresponding variety and quantity from the refrigerating storage area device according to the determined food variety and quantity, heating the lunch boxes by the heating production line of the corresponding variety, and delivering the lunch boxes to the meal taking port of the first meal taking user through the temporary storage bin.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

determining whether a second meal taking user waiting for meal taking operation exists at a meal taking port where the first meal taking user is located; and

responding to the current existence of a second meal taking user, and acquiring order information of the second meal taking user; and outputting the meal boxes corresponding to the food varieties and the quantity from the cold storage area device according to the food varieties and the quantity in the second meal taking user order, heating the meal boxes by the heating production lines corresponding to the varieties, and temporarily storing the meal boxes into the temporary storage queue of the corresponding food varieties in the temporary storage area.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the determining whether the second meal fetching user and the queuing order of the meal fetching ports of the second meal fetching user exist is performed by collecting images within a certain range of the meal fetching ports of the first meal fetching user; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

connecting the user terminals within a preset range;

sending a meal taking confirmation message through a user interface on a user terminal; and

and responding to the positive reply of the user to the meal taking confirmation message, and determining that the user is a second meal taking user.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein the meal fetching information is a two-dimensional code or facial feature information of a meal fetching user.

25. The method of claim 21, further comprising: responding to a food processing instruction calculated by cloud big data, outputting lunch boxes of corresponding varieties and quantity from the refrigerating storage area device according to the food varieties and quantity specified in the instruction, heating by the heating production line, and temporarily storing in the corresponding temporary storage bin.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising: after the first meal taking user takes the meal box from the meal taking opening where the first meal taking user is located, the food information on the meal box is checked.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein the meal-taking information corresponds to one order or a plurality of orders; one or more food varieties are correspondingly taken, and one or more adjacent meal taking openings are correspondingly taken;

or the meal taking information corresponds to one sub-order in one order, the corresponding food variety to be taken is one, and the corresponding meal taking opening is one.

28. A meal delivery scheduling method, comprising:

acquiring order information of a user, wherein the order information at least comprises user personal information, food information, meal taking place information and meal taking information;

communicating with one or more food supply devices located at different places, sending order information to the one or more food supply devices according to the food taking place, and receiving food taking record information from the food supply devices; and

and responding to a replenishment request from the food supply equipment, and sending a replenishment notice to replenish the food supply equipment.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the order information sent by the user through the application terminal is received through communication with the application terminal.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein a meal pick-up information corresponds to an order or orders, or to a sub-order in an order.

Technical Field

The invention relates to an unmanned selling system, in particular to a food supply device for providing hot food and a food supply and scheduling method thereof.

Background

How to rapidly supply high-quality catering to large-scale people becomes a real social demand and a difficult problem. The method for supplying catering to large-scale people by traditional catering is that a large amount of manpower and material resources are usually piled up in a fixed place, so that the method needs a place, is time-consuming and labor-consuming, provides a novel catering mode in a population concentration place, can reduce workers and improve catering efficiency, thereby effectively reducing the crowd gathering degree and becoming the urgent need for the current catering industry. Secondly, Chinese food is reputed to the world by various food varieties, excellent quality, color, aroma, taste and appearance, and the quick and mass supply of the high-quality food is more difficult, and the social demand can not be met obviously by referring to the current food supply mode.

Disclosure of Invention

Aiming at the technical problems in the prior art, the invention provides a food supply device and a food supply and scheduling method thereof, which are used for supplying food in a large scale and high efficiency without the need of personnel on duty.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a food serving apparatus, comprising: the food box refrigeration system comprises a refrigeration storage area device, a heating production line, a meal supply area device and a control system, wherein the refrigeration storage area device is configured to refrigerate and store meal boxes with preset foods; the heating production line is connected with the refrigerating storage area device and is configured to receive the lunch boxes sent out from the refrigerating storage area device and heat the lunch boxes according to the heating flow corresponding to the varieties of the lunch boxes in the process of conveying the lunch boxes; the meal supply area device is connected with the heating assembly line, is configured to receive and temporarily store meal boxes conveyed out after being heated by the heating assembly line, and conveys the temporarily stored meal boxes to the meal taking port according to meal supply instructions; the control system controls the refrigerating storage area device, the heating assembly line and the meal supply area device to output the meal boxes from the refrigerating storage area device, heat the meal boxes in the heating assembly line and temporarily store the meal boxes in the meal supply area device and deliver the meal boxes to the meal taking port.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention further provides a food serving method of a food serving apparatus, comprising the steps of:

the method comprises the steps of responding to a meal taking operation carried out by a first meal taking user to obtain order information of the first meal taking user;

responding to the temporary storage queue to meet the requirements of the variety and the quantity of the order, outputting lunch boxes of corresponding variety and quantity from the temporary storage queue, and delivering the lunch boxes to the meal taking port of the first meal taking user;

responding to the temporary storage queue not meeting the variety or quantity requirement of the order, and determining the variety and quantity of the food needing to be processed latest; and

and outputting the lunch boxes with the corresponding variety and quantity from the refrigerating storage area device according to the determined food variety and quantity, heating the lunch boxes through a heating production line, and delivering the lunch boxes to the meal taking port of the first meal taking user through the temporary storage bin.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention further provides a meal delivery scheduling method, including the following steps:

acquiring order information of a user, wherein the order information at least comprises user personal information, food information, meal taking place information and meal taking information;

communicating with one or more food supply devices located at different places, sending order information to the one or more food supply devices according to the food taking place, and receiving food taking record information from the food supply devices; and

and sending a replenishment notice in response to the replenishment request from the food supply equipment.

The invention adopts the modes of cloud meal ordering and local meal taking, thereby saving the time of on-site meal ordering in the traditional catering industry; the food provided by the invention is made into semi-finished cooked food or finished cooked food in a processing place, and after the processing is finished, the food is quickly frozen, the temperature of the food is reduced to a refrigeration temperature in a short time and the food is placed into a lunch box, so that the moisture on the surface of the food is effectively locked; the cold storage area device is provided with food lunch boxes by cold chain transportation and stored in local meal supply equipment, when a user takes meals, the food lunch boxes are heated according to a heating flow corresponding to the types of the foods, the heating speed is high and continuous, so that a large batch of foods can be processed in a short time, and the taste of the foods when the new preparation is finished can be recovered. The food supply equipment runs stably, and does not influence food supply during replenishment, fault maintenance and the like. The food supply mode is various, the user can conveniently take the food, and the food supply speed requirement can be met.

Drawings

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a meal delivery pattern provided in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram of a meal delivery apparatus provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2B is a schematic view of a connection structure of the refrigerating storage area device and the heating assembly line in the catering equipment according to the embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2C is a schematic view of a connection structure of a heating water line and a dining area device in the dining equipment according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2D is a schematic view of a connection structure of a heating water line and a dining area device in the dining equipment according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a cartridge within a refrigerated storage area unit according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a temporary storage bin according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a meal delivery according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof and in which is shown by way of illustration specific embodiments of the application. In the drawings, like numerals describe substantially similar components throughout the different views. Various specific embodiments of the present application are described in sufficient detail below to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings of the present application. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical or electrical changes may be made to the embodiments of the present application.

The invention provides unmanned meal supply equipment capable of quickly supplying meals, and restaurants, kitchens and service workers which are required to be relied on by traditional meals are omitted. The present invention provides a food delivery mode of centralized production and multi-place distribution, as shown in fig. 1, food is produced and prepared at a food processing site, food is sold on the internet, and sold food is delivered by unmanned food delivery equipment at a plurality of food delivery places. First, food is produced and prepared at a food processing site, and the just prepared food (finished or semi-finished) is quickly frozen to a refrigeration temperature and filled into a standard meal box. The chilled temperature meal boxes are then dispensed by cold chain logistics to the unmanned catering facility at the distribution site. The unmanned food service equipment is internally provided with a cold storage area device which can store a large amount of food to be sold (which is placed in a standard meal box). The user can order the food through the food ordering application installed on the mobile terminal of the user, and the food taking place is determined during food ordering. When the user gets the meal from the unmanned meal supply equipment at the meal supply place selected by the user, the unmanned meal supply equipment supplies the meal according to the meal ordering order of the user. The unmanned meal supply equipment provided by the invention has the advantages that the meal delivery speed is high, the flow speed of meal taking personnel is comprehensively considered, the average meal supply speed can reach 2-5 seconds per user, the average supply speed of one meal taking port is 720 plus 1800 portions per hour, and one or more meal taking ports can be arranged on one unmanned meal supply equipment according to the scale requirement. Therefore, the invention can provide food to the public in a large scale under the condition of extremely small floor area, and the phenomenon of crowd gathering can not occur. The food processing mode adopted by the invention can furthest keep the original flavor of the food, and can provide the quality of the ready-made food while fast catering. The present invention will be described in detail below in terms of both structure and control.

Fig. 2A is a schematic structural diagram of a dining equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the catering assembly 100 includes a refrigerated storage area 110, a heating line 120, a catering area 130 and a control system 140 (not shown), all of which are provided in a single or separate housing. The cold storage area device 110 is a food fresh-keeping and cold storage warehouse, and a refrigeration module is arranged in the cold storage area device to provide a 1-7 ℃ food fresh-keeping and cold storage space. Which includes a storage port 111, a delivery port 112, and storage area 113 and delivery conveyor 114. The storage area 113 is an inner space of a fresh food storage warehouse in which the lunch boxes 200 in which food is previously stored are stored in a refrigerated manner. The output conveyor 114 is used for receiving the lunch boxes and conveying the lunch boxes to the corresponding output port 112. In one embodiment, to facilitate controlled shipment, a plurality of storage drums 115 are provided in the storage area 113. As shown in fig. 3, each of the depositing and transporting drums 115 includes a cylindrical housing, which is provided with a meal box supporting structure 1152 for placing the meal box 200 therein from the top down, and a driving mechanism 1151 for driving the meal box supporting structure 1152 so as to release the meal box to the output conveyor 114 and then to the output port 112. In this embodiment, the refrigerated storage area 110 has two outlets 112 and two delivery conveyors 114 in common, and two storage tubes 115 correspond to one delivery conveyor 114 and one outlet 112, although multiple storage tubes 115 may correspond to one delivery conveyor 114 and one outlet 112. In order to facilitate the heating process of different food items, in the present embodiment, each of the outlets 112 outputs one food item, and the plurality of depositing drums 115 corresponding to the same outlet store the same food item. Because the food of the same variety has at least two storage and delivery cylinders, the replenishment can be carried out at the same time of delivery. For example, when a meal box needs to be output from the output port, a corresponding storage and delivery cylinder can be used for outputting the meal box, and meanwhile, a replenishment worker can replenish another storage and delivery cylinder, so that the output can not be influenced during replenishment. The storage and delivery cylinder is of an integral structure and can be independently stored and delivered. When cooked food is cooled to fresh-keeping temperature, the cooked food is placed into a warm and fresh food box, then the food box is placed into a storage and delivery cylinder integrating driving, storage and delivery, and is transported to the place where the food supply equipment is located through a cold chain, and a storage port of a refrigerating storage area device is opened, so that the storage and delivery cylinder can be placed into a storage area, and the food replenishment is rapid. In the invention, each storage and delivery cylinder is provided with an independent electronic tag which stores the built-in food information of the storage and delivery cylinder, such as storage cylinder ID information, food varieties and quantity, and the storage cylinder can update the quantity at any time according to the release condition of the built-in lunch box and communicate with the control system 140 to send the updated tag content data to the control system, thereby facilitating the control system to know the stock of the equipment. In a better embodiment, the outer surface of each lunch box is provided with built-in food information in a printing and pasting mode, wherein the built-in food information comprises the type and the quantity of food. The food information can be characters and can be two-dimensional codes, so that a user can check whether the food in the taken meal box is ordered or not without opening the meal box after taking the meal.

The heating line 120 includes a heating inlet 121, a heating outlet 122, a heating zone 123, and a heating conveyor 124. In fig. 2A, the heating conveyor 124 is directly connected to a discharge opening 112, and receives the lunch box 200 discharged from the discharge opening 112, so that the lunch box 200 enters the heating area 123 through the heating inlet 121. Of course, as shown in fig. 2B, a first conveyor 250 and a plurality of first pushing mechanisms 251 may be disposed between the refrigerated storage area device 210 and the plurality of heating lines 220, the first conveyor 250 is connected between the output port 211 of the refrigerated storage area device and the plurality of heating lines, one first pushing mechanism 251 is disposed above the first conveyor 250 corresponding to each heating inlet, and the lunch boxes on the first conveyor 250 are pushed into the corresponding heating lines 220 according to instructions. Wherein the heating conveyor belt 224 of the heating line 220 is perpendicular to the first conveyor belt 250, and the first pushing mechanism 251 is located above the first conveyor belt 250 and opposite to the heating conveyor belt 224. When the lunch box 200b to be heated by the heating line 220b reaches the position of the first pushing mechanism 251b, the first pushing mechanism 251b pushes forward to push the lunch box 200b into the heating conveyor belt 224c of the heating line 220 b. The lunch box 200b is then sent to the heating zone by the heating conveyor 224b to be heated. The pushing mechanism in this embodiment may be a push rod, a conveyor belt with a push pawl in one direction, or a rotating coil spring.

The heating area 123 is sequentially provided with a plurality of heating devices 125, such as microwave heating heads, along the direction of the conveyor belt, so that the meal box 200 is heated when passing through the heating devices 125, and the food in the meal box 200 can be sufficiently and properly heated by setting the speed and length of the conveyor belt 124 and the number of the heating devices 125. Through tests, different types of food are provided with different conveying speeds and heating powers, so that different heating processes are adopted for different foods, and the original flavor and taste of each food can be kept to the maximum extent. The heated lunch box is discharged through the heating outlet 122. The heating zone in the heating assembly line is provided with an independent shell, and the heating device arranged in the heating zone is provided with a corresponding sealing device, a radiation protection device and the like.

The meal delivery area device 130 includes a meal delivery inlet 131, a meal taking port 132, a plurality of temporary storage bins 1331 located in the temporary storage area 133, and a meal delivery conveyor 134, in this embodiment, there are two temporary storage areas 133, each temporary storage area corresponds to a meal delivery inlet 131, and the meal delivery inlet 131 corresponds to the heating outlet 122, so as to receive meal boxes 200 sent out through the heating outlet 122. In fig. 2A, each meal supplying inlet 131 is directly connected to one heating outlet 122, that is, meal boxes coming out of the heating outlet 122 directly enter the meal supplying inlet 131 and enter the corresponding temporary storage area 133. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 4, the buffer 133 includes a temporary storage 1331, and the meal boxes 200 are sequentially stacked in the temporary storage 1331, and the side wall thereof is provided with a continuous descending mechanism or a one-way barrier-free ascending and descending conveyor belt, and the lower part thereof is provided with a release structure 1332, as shown in fig. 4, the meal boxes 200 are released from the temporary storage 1331 to the meal supply conveyor 134 through the release structure 1332, and then the meal boxes 200 are conveyed to the meal taking port 132 for being taken by the meal taking user. Although the lunch boxes in the temporary storage bin are vertically stacked in fig. 4, it should be understood that the temporary storage bin 1331 can be horizontally disposed according to the design and arrangement of the whole structure, and the lunch boxes therein are arranged in a first-in first-out order to form a queue. The service area device 130 or the temporary storage 1331 has an independent housing, and a thermostatic control device is provided inside to control the temperature of the service area device 130 or the temporary storage 1331 to be maintained at a constant preset temperature, so as to keep the heated lunch boxes warm.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 2C, a second conveyor 350 is further disposed between the heating lines 320a, 320b and the serving area devices, and second pushing mechanisms 351a, 351b are disposed above the second conveyor 350 at the corresponding serving entrance. The lunch boxes output from the heating lines 320a and 320b enter the second conveyor belt 350 after being guided, and when the lunch boxes reach the corresponding meal supply inlets, the second pushing mechanisms 351a and 351b push the lunch boxes to the meal supply inlets of the temporary storage area. In this embodiment, each temporary storage area is provided with a temporary storage bin 333a, 333b corresponding to a meal feeding inlet (not shown) through a vertical conveying passage, each temporary storage bin is a structure capable of stacking a plurality of lunch boxes in sequence, and a release structure is provided at the lower end of the temporary storage bin, as shown in fig. 4. The release structures at the lower parts of the temporary storage bins 333a, 333b in this embodiment correspond to the meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334b, and the meal taking ports 332a, 332b are at the ends of the meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334 b. In this embodiment, the releasing structure at the lower part of the temporary storage bins 333a, 333b releases the lunch boxes therein onto the corresponding meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334b, and then transfers the lunch boxes 200 to the end of the conveyor, and the lunch boxes are pushed to the meal taking ports 332a, 332b by the pushing mechanisms 3321a, 3321b at the end, and taken by the meal taking users waiting there.

In another embodiment, as shown in fig. 2D, a gate conveyor 3332 is added between the temporary storage bin and the meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334b, and a gate pushing mechanism 3333 is provided above the gate conveyor 3332 corresponding to the meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334 b. In this embodiment, the releasing structure under the temporary storage bins 333a, 333b in this embodiment corresponds to the door selecting conveyor 3332, the releasing structure under the temporary storage bins 333a, 333b releases the lunch boxes therein to the door selecting conveyor 3332, when the lunch boxes are transferred to the corresponding meal supplying conveyor 334a or 334b, the corresponding door selecting pushing mechanism 3333 pushes the lunch boxes into the corresponding meal supplying conveyor 334a or 334b, and then transfers the lunch boxes 200 to the end of the conveyor, and the lunch boxes are pushed to different meal taking ports 332a, 332b by the pushing mechanisms 3321a, 3321b at the end, and are taken by the meal taking users waiting there.

According to the meal delivery control flow of the control system, the positions of the meal taking ports can be flexibly set, as shown in fig. 2A and 2C, each meal taking port provides food of a specific variety, the meal taking ports shown in fig. 2A are far away from each other, and when a user orders two different varieties of food, the user needs to take meals in different times. As shown in fig. 2C, the two meal taking ports 332a and 332b are adjacent to each other, so that the user can take the ordered food of different varieties from the two meal taking ports at a time. As shown in fig. 2D, although the apparatus has two meal taking ports 332a, 332b, since the gate selecting conveyor 3332 is added between the temporary storage and the meal supplying conveyors 334a, 334b, different kinds of food can be provided in one meal taking port, and thus, a meal can be taken in one meal taking port regardless of whether the user orders several kinds of food.

In some embodiments, a recycling port (not shown) is further included, which is connected to a waste bin for recycling the lunch boxes returned by the user or not needed by the user.

The main control elements of the control system 140 in this embodiment are disposed in an electric cabinet, and are installed in a position where the whole apparatus is easy to install and overhaul. The refrigerated storage area, heating area and serving area devices are provided with various actuators and sensors, which are connected to the control system 140. The actuators are, for example, motors for controlling the respective conveyor belts, driving mechanisms for controlling the deposit drum 115 to release the lunch boxes, pneumatic or hydraulic valves for controlling the opening and closing of doors at the entrance and exit of the respective zones, pneumatic or hydraulic valves for controlling the operation of the respective pushing mechanisms, and the like. The sensing element is, for example, a travel switch, a counter, a photoelectric sensor, etc. for determining the position of the meal box. The control system 140 sends instructions to the execution elements according to the flow by using the signals of the sensing elements, thereby completing the shipment, heating and delivery of the food-preset lunch boxes.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, the control system 140 of the meal serving device includes a meal taking module 141, a cloud interaction module 144, a refrigerating module 142, and a heating module 143. The cloud interaction module 144 is connected to the cloud server, and interacts information with the cloud server. The cloud interaction module 144 may receive a user order for locally taking a meal and specific information thereof from the cloud server, where the order information at least includes meal taking information (such as a two-dimensional code, a character string, a user face image, and the like), a food variety, and user personal information (such as a user face image, a phone number, and the like). The cloud interaction module 144 may also receive local replenished information, such as replenished varieties, amounts, from the cloud server. In another aspect, the cloud interaction module 144 may also send information to the cloud server, for example, when the refrigeration module sends a replenishment notice, the cloud interaction module 144 sends a replenishment request to the cloud server, where the replenishment request includes a location, a variety and a quantity. For another example, when the meal supply device fails, the cloud interaction module 144 sends an alarm or repair message to the cloud server.

The meal taking module 141 can obtain the order information of the meal taking user, and output the corresponding meal boxes from the temporary storage queue of the corresponding variety to the meal taking port of the meal taking user according to the food varieties and the quantity in the order information. In one embodiment, the meal fetching module includes a user interface unit 1411, an order taking unit 1412, and a data processing unit 1413.

Wherein the user interface unit 1411 comprises a first meal consumer identification device 14111, a second meal consumer identification device 14112 and a display screen 14113. The first meal fetching user identification device 14111 identifies a first meal fetching user, that is, a user who has performed a meal fetching operation, by identifying meal fetching information obtained from the user at the time of generating the order. In one embodiment, the meal fetching information is, for example, a two-dimensional code, a character string, facial feature information of a user, and the first meal fetching user identification device 14111 is an image acquisition device, that is, a first camera, and when the first meal fetching user performs a code scanning and meal fetching operation, the first meal fetching user identification device 14111 acquires an image of the two-dimensional code, the character string, and the like displayed in the user terminal, and obtains an order number or a specific character string corresponding to the two-dimensional code through image identification. Or when the user does not carry the user terminal, the facial features of the user can be collected to be used as meal taking information.

The second meal fetching user identifying device 14112 is, for example, an image capturing device, i.e., a second camera, and captures an image of a user waiting for fetching a meal after the first meal fetching user who has performed the meal fetching operation. After adjustment, the system has a certain acquisition range (such as a range of 10 people in line from a meal taking port), so that images in the range are acquired, and facial feature information of faces of users in line and line is obtained through scene and face recognition, and the facial feature information is used as personal information for determining orders. In another embodiment, the second meal taking user identification device 14112 includes, for example, a wireless connection module and an interactive response module, the wireless connection module is used for connecting to a user terminal within a preset range, the interactive response module is used for interacting with the user to determine whether to take a meal, and if the user needs to take a meal, the user ID or the user terminal device ID is used as personal information so that the order can be determined.

The order obtaining unit 1412 may determine specific order information by querying an internally stored user order for taking a local meal according to the meal taking information or the identified personal information. In one embodiment, the order obtaining unit 1412 obtains corresponding order information, such as food type, quantity, etc., and sends it to the data processing unit 1413, and sends the order information of the current meal taken to the display screen 14113 for display. For the meal taking user, after the meal taking user scans the code at the meal taking opening, the food variety and the food quantity on the order can be seen from the display screen. For example, "small steamed buns, 2 parts", or "steamed buns, 1 part". In another embodiment, after the order obtaining unit 1412 obtains the order, the order number is sent to the data processing unit 1413, the data processing unit 1413 obtains the order specific information, and sends the corresponding display information to the display screen 14113.

After obtaining the food type and quantity of an order, the data processing unit 1413 queries the processing records stored inside, and if the order is produced and temporarily stored in the temporary storage area, sends an instruction to the temporary storage bin storing the food type and the meal delivery conveyor belt in the temporary storage area, and at this time, the release structure of the temporary storage bin works to release the meal boxes of a corresponding quantity to the meal delivery conveyor belt, and the meal delivery conveyor belt delivers the meal boxes to the meal taking port. If the data processing unit determines that the order is not produced at present after the processing records are inquired, and the temporary storage bin of the corresponding variety is inquired to know that the temporary storage bin of the corresponding variety is empty and no food lunch box of the corresponding variety exists, a shipment instruction is sent to the refrigerating module. The refrigerating module outputs the meal boxes in the order. And sending a heating instruction to the heating module to start heating, and outputting to a meal taking port through the temporary storage bin. Besides the variety and quantity of food, the display screen can also display the information of the production process. Such as "shipment … …", "heating … …", "delivery … …", "please eat", etc., and may also include some political terms, such as "please wait", "welcome next time", etc.

The refrigeration module 142 includes at least a charge monitoring unit 1421 and a shipment control unit 1422. The reserve monitoring unit 1421 monitors the amount of food storage for each variety. The food in the invention is arranged in the meal box, the meal boxes are positioned in the storage cylinders, each storage cylinder is provided with an electronic tag, and the electronic tags store information including food varieties, the number of the meal boxes, manufacturing time, warehousing time and the like in the meal boxes in the storage cylinders. When the storage cylinder enters the warehouse, the storage cylinder reports the tag data to the storage amount monitoring unit 1421, and when the number of lunch boxes in the storage cylinder changes, the storage cylinder updates the number of the stored lunch boxes, communicates with the storage amount monitoring unit 1421, and reports the latest tag data. The stock amount monitoring unit 1421 compares the number of lunch boxes in each storage tub with a preset stock amount threshold, and sends a replenishment notice when the number of lunch boxes is lower than the preset stock amount threshold, and continuously monitors the number of lunch boxes and updates the replenishment amount when the replenishment is not performed. The shipment control unit 1422 outputs the lunch boxes of the corresponding variety of foods to the heating line of the corresponding variety when receiving the shipment instruction according to the shipment policy. In one embodiment, the shipping instructions include food item types and meal box quantities. The shipment control unit 1422 determines the number of storage cylinders corresponding to the food items in the shipment instruction and the storage time, determines the storage cylinder with the longest storage time as the storage cylinder currently requiring shipment according to the sequence of the storage time of the meal boxes from long to short, and sends a release instruction to the storage cylinder, where the instruction includes the number of meal boxes. Meanwhile, the shipment control unit 1422 outputs driving information to a driving motor of a shipment conveyor in the cold storage area device, so that the driving motor drives the shipment conveyor to rotate. After the storage barrel receives the command, the lunch boxes are released onto the delivery conveyor belt according to the quantity in the release command, and when the lunch boxes reach the delivery port, the cold storage module sends a door opening command to open the bin door of the delivery port and deliver the lunch boxes. In addition, when there is no shipment, the shipment control unit 1422 controls the storage tub for each item farthest from the shipment port to release the lunch boxes, and controls the shipment conveyor to run to discharge the lunch boxes to the shipment port, thereby preparing for shipment. At this time, if the shipment control unit 1422 receives the shipment command, the door driving device of the shipment port is first driven to open the bin door, and the shipment conveyor is then started to deliver the required number of lunch boxes. In one embodiment, the heating conveyor of the heating line is directly connected to the refrigerated storage area unit outlet and is directed to the heating conveyor as the containers are removed from the outlet. The door of the outlet is closed after the lunch box is output.

When receiving the heating instruction of the meal taking module 141, the heating module 143 generates driving information to the motor of the heating conveyor belt, so that the motor drives the heating conveyor belt to rotate. After receiving the lunch box from the refrigerating storage area device, the lunch box reaches the heating inlet under the conveying of the heating conveyor belt, the door of the heating inlet is controlled to be opened by the heating module, and the lunch box enters the heating area. The heating module 143 controls the heating device of the heating zone to operate according to a preset heating pattern. The heating mode comprises the running speed of the conveyor belt, the starting and stopping of each heating source, the power of the heating device and the like. When the lunch box is conveyed to the heating outlet, the door of the heating outlet is controlled to be opened by the heating module, and the heated lunch box is sent out. In one embodiment, the heating production line is correspondingly connected with the temporary storage area of the meal supply area device, and the meal boxes sent out by the heating conveyor belt enter the corresponding temporary storage bin through the meal supply inlet. The temporary storage bin maintains a temporary storage queue in which the meal boxes are arranged in a first-in first-out order.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to another embodiment of the present invention. The control system 140a includes a first camera 1411a for scanning a meal code, a second camera 1412a for acquiring a queued image, a display 1413a, a central processing unit 142a, a radio frequency receiver 143a and a memory 144a, a communication module 145a, and the like. The first camera 1411a, the second camera 1412a and the display screen 14113a are located at the meal taking port, for example, the meal taking port is a window opened on the device, the first camera 1411a and the display screen 1413a are arranged at a position of one person's height above or beside the window, and the second camera 1412a is used for collecting queuing of meal taking users at the meal taking port, so that the second camera 1412a can be located at any suitable position of the device shell and has a certain shooting range. In this embodiment, the central processing unit 142a is configured to complete functions of the order obtaining unit, the data processing unit, the refrigeration module, the heating module, the cloud interaction module, and the like, and includes one or more industrial controllers and peripheral circuits thereof. The industrial controller is, for example, a single chip microcomputer, a PLC control and the like. The radio frequency receiver 143a is used for receiving the data of the storage cylinder electronic tag, and the central processing unit 142a monitors the inventory of the device and sends a replenishment request to the cloud when necessary. The central processing unit 142a includes an I/O interface for inputting/outputting signals, for example, outputting drive information of the drive motor of each conveyor belt, outputting an instruction of the temporary storage bin release mechanism, outputting an opening/closing instruction of each door to the door drive mechanism, and receiving signals from each sensor and the counter. Such as a sensor located at the cold storage area device outlet, a sensor located at the heating inlet, outlet, a counter located at the temporary storage bin release mechanism, etc. The central processing unit 142a communicates with the cloud via the communication module 145a, receives information from the cloud, and sends information to the cloud when needed. The memory 144a is used for storing order information of local food taking, local processing record information, storage amount of food and the like acquired from the cloud.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a control system according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. The basic structure of the meal supply equipment in this embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment, except that the control system 140b of the meal supply equipment adopts the wireless connection module 1412b and the interactive response module 1414b to replace the second camera 1412a as the second meal taking user identification device. The wireless connection module 1412b is, for example, a bluetooth module, a WiFi module, etc., and can establish a communication connection with the user terminals within a preset range. For example, the wireless connection module 1412b searches for a user terminal within a preset range according to the user terminal ID of the meal fetching user stored inside, establishes a connection with the user terminal having the same ID as the user terminal ID of the meal fetching user once searched, and notifies the interactive response module 1414 b. The interactive response module 1414b is a module of APP on the user terminal, and after receiving the notification sent by the wireless connection module 1412b, sends a meal-taking confirmation message through the user interface on the user terminal, and when sending the confirmation message, in order to remind the user, a reminding audio or a voice message may be sent when sending a text message. After the user confirms to take a meal, the user terminal ID or the user ID in the meal ordering APP is sent to the central processing unit 142 b. The central processing unit 142b searches the order information of the meal-taking user stored in the memory according to the user terminal ID or the user ID in the meal-ordering APP, so as to determine the order information corresponding to the user, that is, the food variety and quantity, so as to carry out shipment, heating and temporary storage according to the previous embodiment, and after the user scans the meal-taking code, the food in the order is output from the temporary storage bin to the meal-taking port where the user is located. The rest of the process is the same as the previous embodiment, and is not described herein again.

The cloud server can predict the time that the user may take the meal through big data calculation, and sends a food processing instruction to the meal supply equipment, wherein the instruction comprises food varieties and quantity. The cpu 142a, 142b receives the command through the communication module 145a, 145b, outputs the lunch boxes of the corresponding type and quantity from the cold storage area device according to the type and quantity of the food specified in the command, heats the lunch boxes through the heating line, and temporarily stores the lunch boxes in the corresponding temporary storage bin. By predicting the meal taking time, the meal taking time is made in advance before the meal is taken by the user and is stored in the temporary storage bin, so that the meal can be supplied to the user more quickly.

The meal supplying equipment of the invention supplies meal according to the number of the meals, each meal of food is stored in one meal box, for example, one meal of food is an adult number, if the meal is supplied with steamed stuffed buns, the number of the steamed stuffed buns in one meal box is 8; if the dumplings are served, 10 dumplings are served in one dumpling box. When ordering, the user orders the order according to the share through the ordering system. The meal ordering system comprises a cloud server and a meal ordering application terminal (see fig. 1), wherein a user can download the meal ordering application terminal (APP) to a mobile phone; or setting a two-dimensional code for accessing the applet on the catering equipment, and accessing the ordering application terminal by the user in a social media applet mode through code scanning; or ordering and placing orders through a WEB website. The generated order at least comprises user personal information (such as a face image, a telephone number and a device ID of a user terminal), food information (such as variety and quantity), meal taking place information and meal taking information (such as a two-dimensional code). And after the user successfully places an order and confirms, the user receives the meal taking two-dimensional code. The user can go to the meal supply equipment of the selected place to fetch the meal by means of the meal fetching two-dimensional code or fetch the meal through facial recognition. The cloud server is communicated with the plurality of food supply devices located in different places, and order information is sent to the plurality of food supply devices according to the food taking place. The meal taking information is mainly used for meal taking operation, so that when a user determines that meal is taken at a certain place during meal ordering, the meal taking two-dimensional code is generated along with an order. In other embodiments, when the user places an order, if the user does not determine when and where to take the meal, the meal taking information is not generated in the order information at this time, the meal taking information is generated again until the user determines to take the meal on the application terminal, and the meal ordering system adds the information to the order information, namely the meal taking information is not generated by the system after the user determines to take the meal, so that the advantage that one user can replace other users with meal taking. For example, a colleague in the same office may order a meal by the same person instead of a meal. For the meal supply equipment which can only provide one variety of food at one meal taking port, the system generates one meal taking information for each variety in one order, namely, in one order, the food of each variety corresponds to one sub-order. Or one order can be taken at different places, a sub-order is generated corresponding to one place, and meal taking information is generated correspondingly.

As shown in fig. 8, which is a flowchart of a food supplying method of a food supplying apparatus according to the present embodiment, the control system shown in fig. 6 is taken as an example to describe as follows:

step S10a, determine whether meal fetching information is received. That is, whether the first camera 1411a acquires the meal fetching code, if not, the method returns to step S10a to continue monitoring whether the meal fetching information is received. If the meal fetching code has been received, step S101a and step S111a are executed. Of course, when the user determines to take a meal and does not carry the user mobile terminal, the face of the user can be scanned by the first camera 1411a, and the face feature information of the user can be used as meal taking information by recognizing the face of the user.

Step S101a, querying order data stored inside according to the meal code or the user facial feature information, so as to obtain a corresponding order.

In step S102a, the processing record is queried. The central processing unit 142a records the shipment instructions in sequence to generate a processing record list each time the shipment instructions are sent, receives signals sent by the sensors and the counting in the production process, and determines the current production state of the order, and the state can be recorded in the processing record list in sequence and can also be displayed on the display screen. The list of processing records is shown in table 1 below, for example:

TABLE 1

Order number

Shipment of goods

Heating of

Temporary storage

Number of

Get meal

Temporary storage time

Total number of temporary storage

Dx000203

01-completion of

01-completion of

01-completion of

2

Complete the process

1 minute (1)

15

Dx000103

02-completion

02-completion

02-completion

1

In process of proceeding

4 is divided into

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

Dx000353

01-completion of

01-completion of

01-completion of

2

Unfinished

1 minute (1)

Dx000236

01-completion of

01-completion of

01-completion of

1

Unfinished

1 minute (1)

Dx000307

02-completion

02-completion

02-completion

1

Unfinished

30 seconds

Dx000356

02-completion

02-in progress

Unfinished

2

Unfinished

0

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

……

Wherein the numbers 01, 02 in the table in the shipment, heating, and buffer columns represent the numbers of the cold storage area unit, the heating line, and the buffer bin, for example, 01, 02 in the shipment represents the shipment port number of the cold storage area unit, 01, 02 in the heating column represents the number of the heating line, and 01, 02 in the buffer column represents the number of the buffer bin.

Step S103a, determining whether there is a good in the buffer, as shown in the above table, it can be determined from the above table that there are 15 copies in the current buffer, and the current meal fetching user fetches 1 copy, so that the current stock is enough for the current meal fetching user to fetch meal, and then step S106a is executed to output 1 meal box to the meal fetching port. That is, the central processing unit 142a sends an instruction to the release mechanism of the temporary storage bin, outputs driving information to the driving motor of the meal delivery conveyor belt, and sends an instruction to the driving mechanism (motor, pneumatic valve or hydraulic valve) of the pushing mechanism when the central processing unit receives a signal sent by the meal taking port sensor, so as to push the pushing mechanism forward, and send the meal box to the meal taking port.

If there is no or insufficient inventory in the current buffer, step S104a is executed to sequentially issue processing instructions, including an inventory instruction to the cold storage device, a heating instruction to the heating line, a release instruction to the buffer bin, and so on.

And step S105a, discharging, heating and entering a temporary storage bin. And the central processing unit sends corresponding instructions and driving information according to the flow to complete the processing process. For example, according to the current state in the refrigerated storage area device, or sending information to the door driving mechanism of the delivery port, and then sending driving information to the motor of the delivery conveyor belt, so as to output the number of the lunch boxes corresponding to the order. Or send a command to the storage drum which releases a corresponding number of cutlery boxes to the delivery conveyor. After the meal boxes are shipped from the refrigerated storage area unit, heated in the heating line, and arrive at the buffer bin, the step S106 is executed in a warming step 106a, thereby completing the serving for the meal taker.

After receiving the meal fetching code, the method further comprises the following steps:

step S111a, acquiring image data of the meal taking port, that is, the second camera 1412a acquires an image within the collection range of the meal taking port, and sending the image to the central processing unit 142 a.

Step S112a, determine the order of the queued user. The central processing unit 142a processes the image of the meal taking port, and extracts facial features of the face of the queued user from the image. The central processor 142a compares the facial features of each queued user with the facial features of the users in the order, so as to determine the order of each queued user, and further determine the total number of lunch boxes to be provided.

In step S113a, the processing record is queried.

Step S114a, determine whether the order of the queued user is produced, whether there are enough lunch boxes in the current buffer, if yes, go back to step S10a, if not, in step S115a, determine the variety and quantity to be produced, and in step S116a, issue a shipment instruction, including the variety and quantity to be produced. In step S117a, the shipment is dispatched according to the shipment instruction, heated, and entered into the buffer area. And then returns to step S10 a.

The invention is produced for the queuing user while one meal taking user scans the code to take the meal, so that when the next user takes the meal, the corresponding meal box can be immediately taken out from the temporary storage bin for serving, and the meal taking speed can reach less than 2 seconds per part. A large number of users can thus be served in a short time. The user can take the meal and scatter the meal respectively, so that the crowd gathering during dining is avoided.

Embodiment 1 of meal fetching procedure

Taking the meal supply device shown in fig. 2A as an example, the meal supply device has two heating pipelines, two temporary storage bins and two meal taking ports. Each outlet of the cold storage area device 110 outputs one food item, each heating line heats one food item, and each temporary storage bin stores one food item. Each meal taking port provides one variety of food. According to the teaching of fig. 2A, more kinds of food can be provided by sequentially adding the corresponding cold storage area device shipment port, heating assembly line, temporary storage bin and meal taking port.

For the meal taking device in this embodiment, the meal ordering system in the cloud generates different meal taking codes for different types of food in the same order. For example, when the user has two steamed stuffed buns and one steamed dumpling in their order, the system generates two corresponding meal taking codes for the user, so the user needs to scan the two meal taking ports to take meals. Although the user needs to scan the code for multiple times, the meal delivery efficiency of the device can be improved.

Meal fetching flow example two

Taking the meal supply equipment shown in fig. 2C as an example, the meal supply equipment comprises two heating assembly lines, two temporary storage bins and two adjacent meal taking ports, wherein each heating assembly line heats one variety of food, and one temporary storage bin stores one variety of food. Correspondingly, the meal taking openings 332a and 332b respectively provide different varieties of food for the same user. For example, the food taking port 332a provides a steamed stuffed bun and the food taking port 332b provides a steamed dumpling. When two steamed dumplings and one steamed dumpling are respectively arranged in the order of the current meal taking user, only one meal taking code is generated. When the user scans the code to take the meal, the central processing unit controls the temporary storage bin 333a to release two steamed dumpling meal boxes, and controls the temporary storage bin 333b to release one steamed dumpling meal box, and the meal boxes are respectively conveyed to the tail ends through the respective meal supply conveyor belts 334a and 334b, and the meal boxes are pushed to the respective meal taking ports 332a and 332b by the tail end pushing mechanisms 3321a and 3321 b. Because the two meal taking openings are adjacent, the user can take different ordered foods at one time, and convenience is brought to the user.

Meal fetching flow example three

Taking the meal delivery facility shown in fig. 2D as an example, the door selection conveyor 3332 is added between the temporary storage and the meal delivery conveyors 334a, 334b, so that different kinds of food in a user's order can be delivered to a meal taking port. For example, when the order of the meal taking user comprises two steamed stuffed buns and one steamed dumpling, the meal taking user only generates one meal taking code. When a user scans a code to fetch food, the central processing unit controls the temporary storage bin 333a to release two steamed bun meal boxes to the gate selection conveyor belt 3332, controls the temporary storage bin 333b to release one steamed dumpling meal box to the gate selection conveyor belt 3332, when the user scans the code, the food fetching port is the food fetching port 332a, the gate selection pushing mechanism 3333 of the corresponding food supplying conveyor belt 334a respectively pushes the two steamed bun meal boxes and the steamed dumpling meal boxes into the corresponding food supplying conveyor belt 334a, and when the two steamed bun meal boxes and the steamed dumpling meal boxes are conveyed to the tail end of the food supplying conveyor belt 334a, the pushing mechanism 3321a respectively pushes the three meal boxes to the food fetching port 332a for the user to fetch the three meal boxes. When the user orders different varieties of foods, the foods do not need to be fetched at different food fetching openings, so that the food taking machine is more convenient for the user and more humanized.

As can be seen from the meal supplying apparatus shown in fig. 2A-2D and the foregoing meal supplying and fetching processes, each variety of food is outputted from the cold storage area device, heated by the heating assembly line, and then temporarily stored in the corresponding temporary storage bin. In order to reduce the influence of equipment failure on food supply, in another embodiment of the present invention, as shown in the schematic block diagram of the control system shown in fig. 9, the control system 140 further includes an alarm module 145, which monitors whether each execution mechanism and sensing element normally operate according to the control of other modules in the control system during the operation of the equipment, and sends out alarm information when an abnormality occurs, and sends the alarm information to the cloud via the cloud interaction module 144. For example, when the meal fetching module 141 sends a shipment instruction for a certain food item, the cold storage module drives the shipment door driving mechanism of the shipment opening corresponding to the food item to open the shipment opening according to the instruction, and then receives a signal from the heating entrance door sensor. However, after the driving information of the cargo door driving mechanism is outputted, the heating entrance door sensor is not received, and the subsequent sensor signals are not received, so that it can be judged that the door driving mechanism of the cargo outlet of the refrigerated storage area device is out of order. Further, the alarm module 145 may also determine an alarm level according to a current fault, for example, a fault that the current meal supply is affected by a failure of shipment from the cold storage area device, a failure of heating, a failure of releasing meal boxes in the temporary storage bin, or a failure of stopping work of a certain section of conveyor belt, etc., and set the alarm level of the fault as an emergency, report the alarm level to the cloud end in real time, and allow a worker to go to the location of the equipment for maintenance. When any one of the faults of incapability of shipment, incapability of heating, incapability of conveying and the like occurs in the current processing flow line, the food supply line cannot supply food due to the faults, at the moment, the food supply line can be stopped from being used, and other food supply lines are used for supplying food.

Taking the meal supplying apparatus shown in fig. 2D as an example, when the temporary storage bin 333a fails and cannot release the meal boxes onto the door selecting conveyor 3332, at this time, none of the meal boxes stored in the temporary storage bin 333a can be released, at this time, the data processing unit in the meal fetching module 141 starts the standby temporary storage bin 333c, all the meal boxes currently stored in the temporary storage bin 333a are stored in the temporary storage bin 333c, and at the same time, the meal boxes in the temporary storage bin 333a cannot be released after being reprocessed. The user can be normally served even if the temporary storage 333a malfunctions.

Taking the meal supply equipment shown in fig. 2B as an example, if the outlet port No. 01 of the refrigerated storage area device fails and the outlet port door cannot be opened, the refrigerating module controls the lunch boxes of the variety to be sent out from the outlet port No. 02 of the refrigerated storage area device and sent to the original heating production line No. 01 for heating, and the subsequent processing process is not changed.

Taking the meal supply equipment shown in fig. 2B as an example, if the No. 01 heating assembly line fails and cannot be heated according to the normal heating process, the meal box to be input into the No. 01 heating assembly line can be conveyed to the No. 02 heating assembly line after the current meal box in the No. 02 heating assembly line is heated, and the meal box is heated according to the heating process of the original No. 01 heating assembly line. And then according to the meal supply requirement, heating is continued on the No. 02 heating production line according to the No. 01 heating process, or heating is changed into the heating process which returns.

When equipment failure in the processing flow of a variety causes that a meal can not be taken at a meal taking port, fault information is displayed through a display screen of the meal taking port so as to remind a user not to take the meal at the meal taking port.

In another aspect, the catering assembly of the invention further comprises a waste bin for recycling food that is out of date or incompletely processed. As shown in fig. 2D, a reject bin 360 is provided at the end of the gate conveyor 3332 and at the end of the second conveyor run 350.

Correspondingly, the control system of the present invention further includes a waste recycling control module, as shown in the schematic block diagram of the control system shown in fig. 9, the waste recycling control module 146 is configured to monitor whether the condition for forming the waste is satisfied, and recycle the lunch boxes satisfying the condition for forming the waste in response to the condition for forming the waste being satisfied. The waste recycling control module 146 is connected to the refrigerating module 142, monitors the storage time of the lunch boxes in the refrigerating storage area device, and when the storage time of the lunch boxes in a certain storage cylinder exceeds a threshold (for example, 3 days), sends information to the cloud through the cloud interaction module 144, and reports the storage cylinder ID with the expired storage time, the storage amount, the variety and other information, so that the cloud can send a worker to the location of the equipment to take back the information after knowing the expired information, or take back the information by a restocker during restocking. Similarly, the waste recycling control module 146 is connected to the meal fetching module 141 to monitor whether the temporary storage time of the heated meal boxes in the temporary storage bin exceeds a threshold (e.g. 10 minutes). When the temporary storage time of the heated lunch boxes in the lunch box exceeds the threshold value, the temporary storage bin where the lunch boxes are located is controlled to release the lunch boxes to the door selecting conveyor belt 3332, the door selecting conveyor belt 3332 is started to convey the lunch boxes to the tail end, and the lunch boxes fall into the waste bin 360. In some embodiments, a shutter 3334 that can be opened and closed is disposed beside the door selecting and pushing mechanism 3333. When the meal box is not expired, the baffle plate is closed to block the passage to the waste bin 360 and enter the corresponding meal delivery conveyor belt under the pushing of the pushing mechanism 3333. When the lunch box is expired, the baffle 3334 is opened, and the lunch box passes through the door selecting conveyor 3332 and falls into the waste bin 360. The waste recycling control module 146 is connected to the heating module 143, and when it detects that the heating line does not complete heating, the food which is not complete heating is also completely wasted. Such as termination of heating upon an unexpected power outage during heating. At this time, after the power is turned on again, the lunch boxes which are not heated in the heating area are sent out by the heating conveyor belt, and after entering the second conveyor belt 350, the baffle plate at the position is opened to send the lunch boxes into the waste bin 360. The lunch boxes in the waste bin 360 are taken out for recycling by the replenishment worker by opening the side door in order to replenish the food, or by regular recycling.

In other embodiments, the meal box for placing the food is provided with food information, such as a label or a two-dimensional code, which records the type and amount of the food in the meal box. Correspondingly, the meal supply equipment is provided with a recovery port and a corresponding waste bin. When a user takes the meal, whether the order is met or not can be judged through the food information printed or pasted on the surface of the lunch box, and if the order is not met, the lunch box can be placed into a recycling port and enters a waste bin. And the meal ordering system determines the situation, the meal ordering system generates meal taking information for the user again, and the user can take the meal again.

In conclusion, the food supply equipment provided by the invention can supply a large amount of food quickly, the taste of the provided food is good, and the user can order and take the food conveniently.

The above embodiments are provided only for illustrating the present invention and not for limiting the present invention, and those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention, and therefore, all equivalent technical solutions should fall within the scope of the present invention.