US 2023/0389754 A1Published application

Modular system for food assembly

AssigneeHyphen Technologies, Inc.

InventorsBen Lerner, Bradley Hwang, Daniel Fukuba, Stephen Klein

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

One variation a food production system includes: a food preparation surface; a module housing; and a controller. The food preparation surface is located on top of the module housing and defines a receptable configured to receive a food hopper configured to store ingredients for preparation of units of the food product type. The module housing includes: a first food dispensing module configured to dispense a first ingredient; and a second food dispensing module configured to dispense a second ingredient. The module housing further includes a conveyor module to support the rim of a food container beneath the first and second food dispensing modules and transport the food container. The controller can receive a food order; trigger the conveyor module to advance by a distance; and trigger the food dispensing modules to dispense ingredients into the food container.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A food production system comprising:

a food preparation surface at work surface height defining a receptacle configured to receive a of food hopper configured to store ingredients for preparation of units of a food product type;
a first module housing:
supporting the food preparation surface;
defining an autonomous assembly zone extending along a longitudinal assembly axis;
configured to transiently house a first food dispensing module located below the food preparation surface and configured to dispense a first ingredient toward the autonomous assembly zone;
and
configured to transiently house a second food dispensing module located below the food preparation surface, located adjacent the first food dispensing module, and configured to dispense a second ingredient toward the autonomous assembly zone;
comprising a first conveyor module:
arranged within the autonomous assembly zone of the first module housing;
comprising a first conveyor belt extending parallel to and laterally offset behind the longitudinal assembly axis;
comprising a second conveyor belt:
extending parallel to and laterally offset in front of the longitudinal assembly axis;
and
configured to cooperate with the first conveyor belt to support a rim of a food container with a base of the food container extending below the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt;
and
a controller configured to:
receive a food order indicating a first ingredient and a second ingredient;
locate a first region of the food container beneath the first food dispensing module by triggering the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt to advance by a first distance;
trigger the first food dispensing module to dispense the first ingredient into the first region of the food container;
locate a second region of the food container beneath the second food dispensing module by:
triggering the first conveyor belt to advance by a second distance;
and
triggering the second conveyor belt to advance by a third distance;
and
trigger the second food dispensing module to dispense the second ingredient into the second region of the food container.

22 more elements

The food production system of claim [0019]:

wherein the first module housing comprises:
a first inlet door facing the container dispensing module;
further comprising a container dispensing module:
arranged adjacent the first conveyor module;
and
configured to dispense the food container into the first inlet door of the first conveyor module;
and
wherein the controller is further configured to:
trigger the first conveyor belt and the second conveyor belt to advance by the first distance to:
load the food container from the container dispensing module onto the first conveyor and the second conveyor via the first inlet door;
and
transition the food container from the first inlet door to a first position under the first food dispensing module.

9 more elements

The food production system of claim [0019], further comprising:

a first rail arranged under the first conveyor belt and configured to rigidly support a first section of the first conveyor belt in contact with the rim of the food container;
and
a second rail arranged under the second conveyor belt and configured to rigidly support a second section of the second conveyor belt in contact with the rim of the food container.

A method for preparation of a unit of a food product type comprising:

receiving a food order indicating a set of ingredients to be dispensed into a set of regions of a food container comprising the unit of the food product type;
in response to the food order specifying a first ingredient in a first region of the food container:
locating the first region of the food container beneath a first food dispensing module of a first module housing by:
triggering a first conveyor belt of the conveyor module of the first module housing to advance by a first distance;
and
triggering a second conveyor belt of the conveyor module of the first module housing to advance by the first distance;
triggering the first food dispensing module to dispense a first ingredient in the set of ingredients into the first region of the food container;
in response to the food order specifying a second ingredient in a second region of the food container:
locating the second region of the food container beneath a second food dispensing module of the first module housing by:
triggering the first conveyor belt of the conveyor module of the first module housing to advance by a second distance;
and
triggering the second conveyor belt of the conveyor module of the first module housing to advance by a third distance;
and
triggering the second food dispensing module to dispense a second ingredient in the set of ingredients into the second region of the food container.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/205,235Filed 2 Jun 2023
Priority: 2 Jun 2022
Published: 7 Dec 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification3 codes

A47J 44/00
Multi-purpose machines for preparing food with several driving units
A47J 47/01
Kitchen containers, stands or the like, not provided for in other groups of this subclass; Cutting-boards, e.g. for bread: with dispensing devices
A47J
Kitchen equipment

Family

Application63/348,404Us provisional application · filed 2 Jun 2022
Application63/438,721Us provisional application · filed 12 Jan 2023
US 2023/0389754 A1This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key