Inductive heating apparatus with machine readable device

Abstract

Heating devices and methods which are particularly useful in vending machines for hot products. Products such as foods, including beverages, contained in individual containers such as cans are rapidly heated to serving temperature by induction heating for delivery to a customer. Various types of products with different heating characteristics are rapidly heated without deleterious effects on the product by varying the power and timing of the inductive heating. The type of product is identified by machine-readable indicia on the container which are automatically scanned prior to heating. The containers may be agitated before, during and/or after heating to mix the contents and distribute heat evenly. The containers are heated in a manner to safely heat the product without overheating or causing damage to the container. A power management protocol turns off non-essential components of the vending machine while the inductive heater is energized to permit the vending machine to operate on a standard 120 VAC, 15 A electrical circuit without overload.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary vending machine of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the overall operation of the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inductive heating device used in the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the inductive heating device of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic drawing showing the major components of the vending machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a food container with indicia and the indicia scanner of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for a power management feature of the vending machine of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the indicia, weight and temperature sensing functions of the vending machine of FIG. 1.

Claims

1. An apparatus for vending a heated food contained in a food container comprising: a vending housing;a machine indicia-reading device in the vending housing for reading, at a first location, machine-readable indicia on a selected food container that is indicative of the type of food contained therein; anda heating device for heating a selected food container.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising: a first pathway from the first location to the heating device; anda second pathway from the first location to a holding bin;wherein the selected container is routed along the first pathway if the indicia corresponds to the selected food type and is routed along the second pathway if the indicia does not correspond to the selected food type.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 further comprising a controller and a selectively operable member movable between first and second positions and controlled by said controller, the first position causing the selected container to follow the first pathway and the second position causing the selected container to follow the second pathway.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the controller is a programmed electronic controller.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the selectively operable member comprises a selectively movable door.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising means for weighing a selected food container.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the weighing device is located at the heating device.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising a container delivery pathway from the heating device to a customer retrieval area and a discard pathway from the heating device to a holding bin.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising means for routing the selected container along the delivery pathway if the weight of the selected container is at least a minimum weight and means for routing the selected container along the discard pathway if the selected container is not at least a minimum weight.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said means for routing the selected container along the delivery pathway comprises a controller and a selectively operable member movable between first and second positions and controlled by said controller, the first position causing a container to follow the delivery pathway and the second position causing a container to follow the discard pathway.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the controller is a programmed electronic controller.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the selectively operable member comprises a selectively movable door.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a selectively operable member, controlled by the controller, to cause a container located in a heating location in the heating device to travel into the dispensing pathway.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the selectively movable member is a door.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the selected container moves by gravity from the heating location to the dispensing pathway.

16. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said means for weighing is associated with the selectively movable member.

17. The apparatus of claim 13 further comprising a device for agitating the food in the selected container when located at the heating device.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the device for agitating comprises a piezoelectric crystal transducer.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said device for agitating comprises an ultrasound generator.

20. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heating device comprises an induction heating device.

21. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a storage area in the vending housing for storing a plurality of food container and a device for selecting a food container from the storage area and for causing the selected container to enter the first pathway.