Systems and methods of food preparation automation

1. A system of bun holding and toasting:

a bun dispenser comprising:

a bun holding cabinet having a plurality of shelves comprising conveyors in which a plurality of buns, each bun of the plurality comprising a heel, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, pre-sliced from a crown, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, and held in a complete condition, are held in the bun holding cabinet on the shelves; and

a shuttle that translates within at least one axis to align the shuttle with a shelf of the plurality of shelves to receive a bun from the shelf;

a dispensing shelf that receives the bun from the shuttle;

a bun separator on the dispensing shelf, the bun separator configured to apply a force to sides of the bun to separate the crown from the heel;

a toaster that receives the crown of the bun and the heel of the bun from the bun separator, the toaster comprising at least one conveyor belt and at least one heated platen configured to thermally treat the crumb-side of the heel and the crumb-side of the crown, the toaster further comprising a queuing conveyor configured to receive the crown and the heel from the at least one conveyor belt and moves the crown and the heel to a predetermined location;

wherein the bun separator further comprises at least one separator conveyor oriented vertically to the dispensing shelf, wherein the separator conveyor is configured to pull the bun through a restriction formed between the separator conveyor and a wall to impart a lateral force on the sides of the bun to separate the crown from the heel.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the shelves are configured to hold a plurality of rows of buns and each row of buns is arranged in the direction of travel of the conveyors and the bun dispenser receives an instruction of a requested bun and the shuttle operates to translate within at least one axis to align the shuttle with a predetermined bun based upon the instruction.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the shuttle translates in two axes to align the shuttle with at least one row of buns based upon the instruction.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the bun dispenser comprises a plurality of gates, with each gate of the plurality associated with a row of buns, wherein the plurality of gates are operated to permit the predetermined bun advance from the shelf into the shuttle.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the shuttle is part of an elevator and the shuttle translates along a track of the elevator under power from at least one motor.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the holding cabinet comprises two sections of each shelf, each shelf section configured to hold and dispense a different type of bun from the other shelf section and each shelf section comprises a different conveyor, and wherein the shuttle is a first shuttle, and the elevator comprises a second shuttle, the first shuttle translatable along a first channel of the track and the second shuttle translatable along a second channel of the track.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the shuttle comprises a conveyor and the conveyor of the shuttle operates to advance the bun received in the shuttle onto the dispensing shelf.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dispensing shelf is angled towards the toaster.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dispensing shelf comprises a conveyor that moves the bun in a first direction to the bun separator, and the bun separator is configured to apply the compressive force laterally to the sides of the bun relative to the first direction.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the toaster comprises the queuing conveyor and the queuing conveyor is configured to receive the crown and the heel in a predetermined sequential order and the queuing conveyor is configured to operate in response to a signal from at least one sensor to sequentially advance the crown and the heel out of the toaster to an output location.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the toaster comprises at least one flipper arm that extends from a position below the at least one conveyor belt to a position on an opposite side of the at least one heated platen from the at least one conveyor to direct at least one of the crown and the heel onto the queuing conveyor with theft crumb-side of the crown and the crumb-side of the heel facing away from the queuing conveyor.

12. The system of claim 11 , further comprising at least one sensor that detects a position of a toasted bun portion and the toaster operates to dispense a subsequent toasted bun portion from the staging location with the queuing conveyor based upon the signal from the sensor.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bun dispenser and the toaster are part of an automated sandwich preparation system.

14. A method of bun holding and toasting, the method comprising:

receiving a selection of a bread product at the bun dispenser that comprises a bun holding cabinet in which a plurality of buns are held on shelves and each of the shelves comprise conveyors, each bun of the plurality comprising a heel, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, pre-sliced from a crown, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, and held in a complete condition;

operating a shuttle of the bun holding cabinet to translate within at least one axis to align the shuttle with a shelf to receive a bun based upon the selection received at the bun dispenser;

receiving the bun at a dispensing shelf from the shuttle;

separating the crown from the heel with a bun separator, the bun separator comprises at least one separator conveyor oriented vertically to the dispensing shelf by pulling the bun through a restriction formed between the separator conveyor and a wall to impart a lateral force to the sides of the bun;

receiving the bun into separate toasting paths of a toaster from the dispensing shelf;

thermally treating the crumb-side of the heel and the crumb-side of the crown, with the toaster;

receiving the crown and the heel on a queuing conveyor; and

sequentially dispensing the crown and the heel at a predetermined location with the queuing conveyor.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

advancing the bun with the conveyor of the comprising the bun to position the bun on the shuttle; and

advancing the bun from the shuttle to the dispensing shelf with a conveyor associated with the shuttle.

16. Method of claim 15 wherein the dispensing shelf comprises a conveyor and further comprising:

receiving the bun from the shuttle onto the conveyor of the dispensing shelf; and

advancing the bun with the conveyor of the dispensing shelf to the bun separator.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

queuing the toasted crown and heel on the queuing conveyor;

sensing a condition of a dispensing location with at least one sensor; and

based upon the sensed condition, operating the conveyor to dispense a the crown or the heel to the dispensing location.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:

receiving a toasting instruction for the bread product at the toaster; and

adjusting the toaster based upon the toasting instruction.

19. A system of bun holding and toasting comprising:

a bun dispenser comprising:

a bun holding cabinet having a plurality of shelves comprising conveyors in which a plurality of buns, each bun of the plurality comprising a heel, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, pre-sliced from a crown, with a crumb-side opposite an exterior side, and held in a complete condition, are held in the bun holding cabinet on the shelves; and

a shuttle that translates within at least one axis to align the shuttle with a shelf of the plurality of shelves to receive a bun from the shelf;

a dispensing shelf that receives the bun from the shuttle;

a bun separator on the dispensing shelf, the bun separator configured to apply a force to sides of the bun to separate the crown from the heel;

a toaster that receives the crown of the bun and the heel of the bun from the bun separator, the toaster comprising at least one conveyor belt and at least one heated platen configured to thermally treat a crumb-side of the heel and a crumb-side of the crown, the toaster further comprising a queuing conveyor configured to receive the crown and the heel from the at least one conveyor belt and moves the crown and the heel to a predetermined location;

wherein the bun separator further comprises a plurality of fingers, the plurality of fingers configured to rotate about a pivot point to laterally engage the sides of the bun wherein a first finger of the plurality of fingers is configured to engage the crown of the bun and a second finger of the plurality of fingers is configured to engage the heel of the bun and the lateral forces imparted by the plurality of fingers on the bun separates heel from the crown.