Cooking and cooling transfer apparatus at will for automatic introduction and evacuation of containers which contain foods or products having a variable duration of cooking and cooling
OwnerRene Grandiinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for preparing foods for predeterminable period of time. One embodiment of the apparatus is for cooking; another is for refrigeration. The apparatus includes either a cooking container or a refrigeration container, a conveyor for carrying food products to and from this container, and a robot assembly for removing food products from the conveyor, inserting them into the container, extracting them from the container after the predetermined cooking or refrigeration period, and returning them to the conveyor. The robot assembly is programmable to extract and return these food products after cooking or refrigeration for a predeterminable period of time.
Claims27
An apparatus for cooking and refrigerating a product, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a cooking unit for cooking a product for a first predeterminable period of time, said cooking unit comprising a first treatment container in which treatment comprising said cooking is conducted;
- (b) a refrigeration unit for refrigerating said product for a second predeterminable period of time, said refrigeration unit comprising a second treatment container in which treatment comprising said refrigeration is conducted;
- and
- (c) transportation means for
- (i) delivering said product toward said cooking unit;
- (ii) receiving said product from said cooking unit;
- (iii) delivering said product, received from said cooking unit, toward said refrigeration unit;
- and
- (iv) receiving said product from said refrigeration unit;
- each of said cooking unit and said refrigeration unit further comprising insertion and extraction means for
- removing said product from said transportation means;
- inserting said removed product into its corresponding treatment container for treatment;
- extracting said inserted product from its corresponding treatment container after treatment;
- and
- returning said extracted product to said transportation means;
- said insertion and extraction means being programmable to extract and return said product after treatment for a predeterminable amount of time.
An apparatus for treatment of a plurality of products for predeterminable periods of time, said treatment being selected from the group consisting of cooking and refrigeration, said apparatus comprising:
- (a) a treatment container in which said treatment is conducted;
- (b) an enclosure wherein said treatment container resides, said enclosure defining an aperture;
- (c) a closure means for opening and closing said aperture;
- (d) transportation means for delivering said plurality of products toward and carrying said plurality of products away from said treatment container, said transportation means comprising a first endless belt for carrying a plurality of baskets, each holding a product, past said aperture;
- (e) insertion and extraction means for:
- (i) removing said plurality of baskets from said first endless belt in order of their sequence of appearance before said aperture;
- (ii) inserting said removed plurality of baskets into said treatment container for treatment;
- (iii) extracting said inserted plurality of baskets from said treatment container after treatment;
- and
- (iv) returning said extracted plurality of baskets to said transportation means;
- said insertion and extraction means being programmable to extract and return each of said plurality of baskets, after treatment for an amount of treatment time predeterminable for each of said plurality of products;
- and
- (f) a first actuation means for actuating said closure means, said first actuation means opening said closure means:
- (1) to allow said insertion and extraction means to remove a basket from said first endless belt and to introduce said removed basket into said enclosure;
- and
- (2) to allow said insertion and extraction means to evacuate said basket from said enclosure, and to return said product to said first endless belt;
- wherein said treatment container is for receiving said plurality of baskets side by side, the number of baskets receivable by said treatment container depending upon the size of said apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.