Cooking apparatus for robotic chef with integrated drive system for multiple cooking spaces

A cooker for preparing a food product, comprising:

• a bottom heater and a top heater defining therebetween an axially controllable cooking space, the cooking space configured for receiving therein an uncooked food product and for cooking the food product therein;
• a prepared food tray adjacent to the cooking space;
• a dragger with a dragging surface that is configured to displace the cooked food product from the cooking space to the prepared food tray;
• and an integrated drive system for controlling both an axial dimension of the cooking space and a horizontal displacement of the dragger,
• wherein the integrated drive system comprises:
• a belt drive;
• a cooking space shaft that is rotatable by the belt drive, and a cooking space clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the cooking space shaft from the belt drive;
• a dragger shaft that is rotatable by the belt drive, and a dragger clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the dragger shaft from the belt drive;
• and
• a controller for controlling operation of the belt drive and the clutches.

A method of preparing a food product, comprising:

• loading an uncooked food product into a cooking space defined by a bottom heater and a top heater;
• axially lowering the top heater relative to the bottom heater to thereby press the uncooked food product;
• cooking the food product by applying heat to the bottom heater and top heater;
• axially raising the top heater relative to the bottom heater;
• and horizontally displacing the food product to a prepared food tray with a dragger;
• wherein the axially lowering, axially raising, and horizontally displacing steps are performed through selective operation of an integrated drive system;
• wherein the integrated drive system comprises a belt drive;
• a plurality of cooking space shafts that are rotatable by the belt drive, and, for each cooking space shaft, a cooking space clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the cooking space shaft from the belt drive;
• a plurality of dragger shafts that are rotatable by the belt drive, and, for each dragger shaft, a dragger clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the dragger shaft from the belt drive;
• and a controller for controlling operation of the belt drive and the clutches;
• and
• the axially lowering and axially raising steps further comprise operating the cooking space shaft with the belt drive while the dragger clutch is disengaged;
• and
• the horizontally displacing step comprises operating the dragger shaft with the belt drive while the cooking space shaft is disengaged.

An integrated drive system for axial and linear movement, comprising:

• a belt drive;
• an axial movement shaft that is rotatable by the belt drive, and an axial movement clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the axial movement shaft from the belt drive;
• a linear movement shaft that is rotatable by the belt drive, and a linear movement clutch for selectively connecting and disconnecting the linear movement shaft from the belt drive;
• and
• a controller for controlling operation of the belt drive and the clutches.