Solid Dispenser
In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes a solid dispenser comprising a dispensing element and a housing. The dispensing element includes a plurality of blades extending from a cylindrical base. In one example embodiment, the blades are separated by 90 degrees to form channels from an upper opening in the housing to a lower opening in the housing. A hopper for storing items to be dispensed may be configured on one side of the dispenser, and a trap for controlling the flow of dispensed items may be configured on the other side of the dispenser. In one embodiment, the dispenser is controlled by motors coupled to a server as part of a fully automated cloud controlled robotic food preparation system, where each dispenser may accurately deliver different quantities of ingredients for different orders.
1 . An apparatus comprising:
a hopper to hold ingredients; and
a dispenser unit coupled below the hopper to receive the ingredients through an opening in the hopper, the dispenser unit comprising a housing and a dispenser element, the dispenser element coupled rotationally about a horizontal axis, the dispenser element having a first and second channels about the horizontal axis,
wherein the dispenser element and the hopper couple such that the first and second channels may be selectively rotated dispense ingredients.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a trap coupled below the dispenser unit, the trap comprising a flap having a first position and a second position, wherein in the first position the flap prevents ingredients from the dispenser unit from passing through the trap, and in a second position the flap produces an opening allowing ingredients from the dispenser unit to pass through the trap.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second channels are formed from four blades emanating from a cylindrical base about the horizontal axis, wherein the blades emanate at 90 degrees from each other along the length of the cylindrical base, and wherein two adjacent blades of the four blades form the first channel and the other two adjacent blades of the four blades form the second channel.
4 . The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the first and second channels curve along the horizontal axis such that the first and second channels shift by 90 degrees from a proximate end to a distal end of the dispenser element.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first channel may be selectively rotated between first and second degrees into a first position to produce a first opening between the first channel and the opening in the hopper, and in accordance therewith, a first amount of the ingredients enter the first channel.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the second channel may be selectively rotated into a second position to produce a second opening between the second channel and the opening in the hopper, and in accordance therewith, a second amount of the ingredients enter the second channel.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the dispenser element is rotated so that the first and second openings are approximately the same.
8 . The apparatus of claim 6 wherein a rotation to generate the first or second openings is determined by a predetermined calibration factor corresponding to at least a size of the first or second channels, a desired amount of the ingredients, and a cut size of the ingredients.
9 . The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the first and second channels may be selectively rotated into a third position allowing the first amount of ingredients to fall out of the first channel, and wherein the first and second channels may be selectively rotated into a fourth position allowing the second amount of ingredients to fall out of the second channel.
10 . The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the first amount of ingredients is an incremental amount, and wherein the dispenser element rotates between a plurality of positions for a predetermined number of cycles to provide a final amount of the ingredients.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a scale to measure a weight of dispensed ingredients, wherein a value measured by the scale is used to recalculate a number of cycles of rotation to dispense a final amount of the ingredients.
12 . An apparatus comprising:
a housing having upper opening for receiving ingredients to be dispensed and a lower opening for dispensing the ingredients; and
a dispenser element comprising four blades configured 90 degrees from each other around a central cylinder and curved along a length of the cylinder by a 90 degrees to create a first channel and a second channel between the upper opening and lower opening,
wherein the blades are rotated between first and second positions to control the flow of ingredients from the upper opening through the first and second channels and to the lower opening.
13 . The apparatus of claim 12 wherein, for a first size of ingredients, the cylinder has a first diameter and the blades have a first radial length, and wherein for a second size of ingredients greater than the first size of ingredients, the cylinder has a second diameter and the blades have a second radial length, and wherein the first diameter is greater than the second diameter and the first radial length is less than the second radial length.
14 . The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:
a hopper coupled to the upper opening; and
a trap coupled to the lower opening.
15 . The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising a first motor coupled to rotate the dispenser element and produce the flow of ingredients.
16 . The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising:
a controller coupled to control the first motor;
a second motor coupled to a trap and further coupled to the controller to open and close the trap; and
a server coupled to the controller,
wherein in response to a command from the server to the controller to dispense, the controller configures the motor to open the trap, and wherein the controller closes the trap prior to responding to the server that the dispense operation is completed.
17 . The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising:
a receptacle positioned below the trap to receive the ingredients exiting the trap; and
a scale coupled to the receptacle to measure a weight of the ingredients located within the receptacle.
18 . The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the scale provides a feedback signal to the controller such that the dispenser element responds to the weight of ingredients within the receptacle to deliver a weight of ingredients specified in an instruction received by the controller from a server.
19 . The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the controller provides a feedback signal to the server such that the server responds to the weight of ingredients within the receptacle to configure the controller to dispense an updated weight of ingredients.
20 . The apparatus of claim 16 wherein an initial calibration factor is loaded from the server to the controller to set a rotation value and a cycle value to deliver the desired weight of the items.