DEVICE AND METHOD FOR HEATING FOODSTUFFS

Abstract: The invention relates to a device and method for heating foodstuffs. Packaged foodstuffs are taken out of storage means (19) by the user, are removed from the packaging and are placed in the heater means (2). The user switches on the heater means, which are provided with release means which interact with payment means (20), and heating is enabled only after payment has been made.

Description: Device and method for heating foodstuffs The invention relates to a device according to the preamble of Claim 1. The drawback of the known device is that it is difficult to check that the foodstuffs which are to be heated have been paid for before they are heated. The object of the invention is to avoid this drawback, and to this end the device is designed according to the characterizing clause of Claim 1. In this way, it is easy to monitor use of the heater means. According to a refinement, the device is designed according to Claim 2. By recording identification data concerning foodstuffs which have been paid for, monitoring can be achieved in a simple manner . According to one embodiment, the device is designed according to Claim 3. In this way, the desired monitoring can be carried out automatically and in a simple manner, for example by the user starting heating by causing a data carrier, such as a receipt, to be read in. According to one embodiment, the device is designed according to Claim 7. This ensures that the foodstuffs are always heated correctly and as quickly as possible. The invention also comprises a method according to Claim 8 or 9. By means of this method the users are easily able to heat up the food that they have ordered at the desired moment, preventing misuse. The invention will be explained below with reference to a number of exemplary embodiments and with the aid of a drawing. The drawing comprises various figures, in which Figure 1 diagrammatically shows a plan view of a first exemplary embodiment of a device for selling hot foodstuffs, Figure 2 shows a diagrammatic front view of the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 diagrammatically shows a first embodiment of a packaging for foodstuffs which are to be sold, Figure 4 diagrammatically shows a second embodiment of a packaging for foodstuffs which are to be sold, Figure 5 diagrammatically shows a third embodiment of a packaging for foodstuffs which are to be sold, and Figure 6 diagrammatically shows a plan view of a second exemplary embodiment of a device for selling hot foodstuffs . In the various exemplary embodiments, wherever possible the same reference numerals are always employed for corresponding components. Figures 1 and 2 show a dispensing cabinet 1 with a door 4. In the door 4, there is a selection panel 12. Using this selection panel 12, a user selects a specific packaged snack which, after payment, he can remove from a dispensing opening 5. The dispensing cabinet 1 includes, in a known way, conveyor and dispensing means which take the selected packaged snack out of a storage rack and convey it to the dispensing opening 5. In the dispensing cabinet 1, the packaged snacks are stored in refrigerated or possibly frozen form. The door of the dispensing cabinet 1 includes means with which it is possible to pay in a known way. The sum which is to be paid is shown in a window 11. For electronic payment, a card reader 10 is provided with number keys 9 for inputting a personal identification number. For cash payment, there is a coin-insertion slot and a coin-ejection slot 8. Two heating appliances 2 are positioned next to the dispensing cabinet 1. These heating appliances 2 are designed to heat up various types of snacks, such as chips, croquettes, pizza slices and the like. It is also possible to heat pancakes, Belgian waffles, nuts and, if appropriate, fishfingers. In order to be able to heat the various types of snacks in an appetizing way, the foodstuffs which are to be heated undergo various operations in an oven chamber which can be closed off by an oven door 3, these operations optionally taking place in succession or simultaneously. High-frequency radiation can be generated using a microwave oven in order to heat the foodstuffs. Heating may also be carried out using infrared radiation or circulating hot air. For optimum heating, the foodstuffs are taken out of the packaging and placed separately in the oven chamber, for example on a dish. In order to prevent the foodstuffs from burning onto the dish and to ensure that they are heated or browned uniformly, the dish can move, so that the foodstuffs move along it. An example of a device of this nature is described in patent application WO 9711628, Hoeberigs, the disclosure of which is deemed to be incorporated. To provide optimum heating of various types of snacks, the foodstuffs have to be heated in a way which is characteristic to the snack in question and a specific quantity thereof, and to this end heating programmes are stored in the control unit of the heating appliance 2. The duration and intensity of the various heating processes in the heating appliance 2 are recorded in the heating programmes by means of instructions. To select a specific heating programme which is associated with a specific quantity of foodstuffs of a specific type, a heating code 14, cf. Figure 3, is input to the control unit of the heating appliance 2 with the aid of a reader component 7, and the heating appliance is then switched on using a button 6. In one embodiment of the heating appliance 2, sensors (not shown) are arranged in the oven chamber in order to measure the temperature, the atmospheric humidity, the colour of the foodstuffs and/or the concentration of specific gases. This data which is determined by the sensor (s) can be incorporated into the heating programme of the heating appliance 2. An example in which simple use is made of sensors is the act of measuring the temperature in the oven chamber. If the heating appliance has been in use a number of times in succession, the oven chamber is still warm from the previous instance and therefore reaches the designated temperature more quickly. The temperature of the oven chamber is measured and is incorporated into the time for which the foodstuff is heated. As an alternative to measuring the temperature, in another exemplary embodiment it would also be possible for the control unit to store the time which has elapsed since the heating appliance 2 was last used. In another embodiment, the heating appliance 2 is provided with a second heating source, such as a heated plate. After foodstuffs have been taken out of the packaging and placed in the oven chamber, the packaging, with sauce remaining in it, is placed on the second heating source. In this way, the sauce is heated at the same time as the foodstuffs, on the second heating source. The second heat source may be permanently hot or, if appropriate, may be activated with reference to the heating programme. In one embodiment, the empty packaging, optionally containing sauce, is pushed fully into a designated opening in the heating appliance 2, in which case the heating appliance contains means with which it is possible to read the heating code which has been applied to the packaging. In addition to the bar code mentioned above, the heating code may also be applied in other ways, for example by means of notches, holes or recesses in the packaging. The opening into which the packaging is to be introduced may, if appropriate, be provided with the abovementioned means for heating sauce. Figure 3 shows a packaging 13 containing foodstuffs, with a first compartment 15 for the foodstuffs. A heating code 14 is printed on the packaging. After a user has made his selection on the selection panel 12 and the sum shown in the window 11 has been paid, for example by electronic means, by the user inserting his chip card into the card reader 10 and, if appropriate, inputting his personal identification number on the number keys 9, he can remove the packaging 13 from the dispensing opening 5. He opens the first compartment 15 of the packaging 13 and places the foodstuffs in the oven chamber of the heating appliance 2, and then closes the oven door 3. He then places the rest of the packaging 13, bearing the heating code 14, into the reader component 7 and starts the heating appliance 2 using the button 6. Then, the foodstuffs are heated in accordance with a heating programme which is specified by the heating code 14. Once the heating appliance 2 has finished, the heated foodstuffs can be removed from the oven chamber and placed on a plate. If appropriate, for this purpose the heating appliance 2 may be provided with additional features which make it easier to remove the foodstuffs. Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the packaging 13. The packaging 13 now also has a second compartment 16 for foodstuffs. Sauces which, once they have been heated, can be poured over the hot foodstuffs may be stored in this second compartment. This figure also shows how the heating code 14 may be provided with a devaluation means 17. This devaluation means 17 is placed in the bar code reader 10 after the heating programme has been started. This prevents double or incorrect use of the heating code 14. Figure 5 shows a third embodiment of the packaging 13. On the packaging, there is a label 18 bearing the heating code 14. This packaging can be used in the device which is shown in Figure 6. In this exemplary embodiment, the packagings 13 containing foodstuffs are stored in freely accessible form in the refrigerator or freezer cabinet 19. The user selects a packaging containing foodstuff and pays for it at a cash desk 20. The cash desk 20 is connected to a control system 21 which activates an output component 22. After payment has been made, a label 18 bearing the heating code 14 comes out of the output component 22, and this label is stuck onto the packaging 13. After the user has placed the foodstuffs in the oven and has input the heating code 14 into the reader component 7, the heating appliance 2 can be started in accordance with the heating code 14. In another embodiment, the output component 22 releases, instead of the label 18 which is stuck onto the packaging 13, a small card which is provided with a bar code or a coded magnetic strip, which is placed into the reader component 7 of the heating appliance 2. If appropriate, the card can be taken away by the reader component 7, so that it cannot be used twice. In another embodiment, which is possible with the arrangement shown in Figure 6, all the packagings 13 stored in the refrigerator are each provided with a unique identification number. After payment has been made at the cash desk 20, this number is cleared in the control unit 21 and, if appropriate, coupled to a heating programme. As soon as the reader component 7 reads this unique number, it is checked, via the connection denoted by the dot-dashed line, whether these foodstuffs have been paid for and which heating programme should be used. Then, the heating appliance 2 will be started on the basis of this heating programme. In addition to the exemplary embodiments shown above, numerous variants are possible, such as for example other types of information carriers and information readers, such as magnetic strips, instead of a bar code reader. It is also possible to use other known methods to check whether or not payment has been made. If appropriate, an electronically activatable label may be attached to the packaging, which label is activated or deactivated when payment is made, while the reader component 7 in the heating appliance 2 is designed in such a manner that it is able to detect this procedure having taken place.

Claims: Claims 1. Device for heating foodstuffs, comprising storage means (19), which are accessible to users, for storing foodstuffs (13), which are suitable for consumption and are packaged, heater means (2), which are accessible to users, for the automatic heating of foodstuffs which have been taken out of the packaging, which heater means are positioned separately from the storage means and can be switched on by the user- control means for controlling the heater means with the aid of a heating programme, and payment means (20) for recording the payment for the packaged foodstuffs, characterized in that the control means comprise release means for preventing or allowing the heating programme to be switched on, in order to heat foodstuffs which have been placed in the heater means by the user, which release means interact with the payment means. 2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the release means comprise memory means for storing identification data concerning the foodstuffs which the payment means (20) have allowed to be heated. 3. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the release means comprise an input component (7) for inputting data, such as a keyboard or a reader, and means for comparing the input data with the identification data stored in the memory means. 4. Device according to one of Claims 2 or 3, characterized in that the payment means (20) can be coupled to the memory means. 5. Device according to one of Claims 2-4, characterized in that the payment means (20) can be coupled to means (22) for making a carrier (18) bearing identification data concerning the foodstuffs which have been paid for. 6. Device according to Claim 5, characterized in that the payment means (20) are provided with input means, such as a reader, for detecting the type of foodstuffs which are to be paid for, and means are provided for recording the choice of a heating programme for the foodstuffs in the carrier (18). 7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, in which the heater means comprise a heating chamber, characterized in that the control means are coupled to means for establishing the temperature of the heating chamber, such as a temperature sensor, and comprise means for selecting the heating programme on the basis of the temperature established. 8. Device according to Claim 7, characterized in that the means for establishing the temperature comprise a clock for establishing the time which has elapsed since the heater means were switched off. 9. Method for heating foodstuffs in heater means according to a heating programme, in which the user takes the foodstuffs out of the storage means, removes them from the packaging and places them in the heater means, characterized in that the heating programme can be started after it has been established that the foodstuffs which have been placed in the heater means have been paid for. 10. Method according to Claim 9, characterized in that, when a package bearing foodstuffs is paid for, this package is identified or identification means are emitted, this identification is recorded in the heater means for comparison with identifications of foodstuffs which have been placed in the heater means by users.

Inventors: AURIK ERKIK ARNOLDUS, OOSTERLING PIETER ADRIAAN, AURIK, ERKIK, ARNOLDUS, OOSTERLING, PIETER, ADRIAAN
Applicants: AURIK ERKIK ARNOLDUS, OOSTERLING PIETER ADRIAAN, PROLION BV, AURIK, ERKIK, ARNOLDUS, OOSTERLING, PIETER, ADRIAAN, PROLION B.V.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: G07F9
IPC codes: G07F9