A food cutting assembly a loop that has a circular shape. The loop includes a plurality of sections telescopically coupled together to allow a diameter of the loop to be selectively adjusted. The sections are comprised of a resiliently flexible material. A spanning member is attached to an inner surface of the loop and traverses a diameter of the loop. The spanning member includes a middle section and a pair of end sections. Each of the end sections extends into and is slidably extendable outwardly of the middle section. The middle section and the end sections each have a bottom surface comprising a cutting member.

A food cutting assembly a loop that has a circular shape. The loop includes a plurality of sections telescopically coupled together to allow a diameter of the loop to be selectively adjusted. The sections are comprised of a resiliently flexible material. A spanning member is attached to an inner surface of the loop and traverses a diameter of the loop. The spanning member includes a middle section and a pair of end sections. Each of the end sections extends into and is slidably extendable outwardly of the middle section. The middle section and the end sections each have a bottom surface comprising a cutting member.

A vending machine system for loading and dispensing pre-baked unpackaged food including a fixed cartridge disposed in a refrigerator of a vending machine, and a transport cartridge adapted to removably attach to the fixed cartridge, the transport cartridge operable for holding trays of unpackaged food and loading the trays of unpackaged food from the transport cartridge into the fixed cartridge, wherein, when the transport cartridge is removably attached to the fixed cartridge, a front opening of the transport cartridge aligns with a front opening of the fixed cartridge, and wherein the rack of the transport cartridge aligns with the conveyor system of the fixed cartridge such that trays of unpackaged food within the transport cartridge can simultaneously be transitioned from the rack to the conveyor system.

A vehicle-based, automated pizza-making system including a two-piece pizza pan conveyed between pizza-making components on a series of pan drive rails. The two-piece pizza pan can include a base and a removable ring for containing the unfinished pizza and toppings. The rails can include timing belts for conveying the two-piece pizza pan through the system with improved positional control and accuracy.

A cake cutting device, including a main body including a plurality of outer blades disposed on a perimeter of the main body, a plurality of inner blades perpendicularly disposed away from at least one pair of the plurality of outer blades, and a plurality of cake forming apertures disposed between the plurality of outer blades and the plurality of inner blades to form a size and a shape of slices of the cake therein, a cutting assembly disposed on at least a portion of a bottom surface of the main body to cut a cake in response to contacting the cake, and a plurality of handles removably connected to at least a portion of the main body to facilitate gripping thereof.

A cake cutting device, including a main body including a plurality of outer blades disposed on a perimeter of the main body, a plurality of inner blades perpendicularly disposed away from at least one pair of the plurality of outer blades, and a plurality of cake forming apertures disposed between the plurality of outer blades and the plurality of inner blades to form a size and a shape of slices of the cake therein, a cutting assembly disposed on at least a portion of a bottom surface of the main body to cut a cake in response to contacting the cake, and a plurality of handles removably connected to at least a portion of the main body to facilitate gripping thereof.

A bun separator separates pre-sliced buns into portions. A bun feeder receives a pre-sliced bun having a plurality of portions and moves the pre-sliced bun along a first feed path. An obstruction is arranged relative to the first feed path and engages at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the pre-sliced bun. An actuator operates to selectively engage at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the pre-sliced bun against the obstruction to separate the least one portion of the pre-sliced bun and transfer the at least one portion to a second feed path.

A bun separator separates pre-sliced buns into portions. A bun feeder receives a pre-sliced bun having a plurality of portions and moves the pre-sliced bun along a first feed path. An obstruction is arranged relative to the first feed path and engages at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the pre-sliced bun. An actuator operates to selectively engage at least one portion of the plurality of portions of the pre-sliced bun against the obstruction to separate the least one portion of the pre-sliced bun and transfer the at least one portion to a second feed path.

A vending machine system for loading and dispensing pre-baked unpackaged food including a fixed cartridge disposed in a refrigerator of a vending machine, and a transport cartridge adapted to removably attach to the fixed cartridge, the transport cartridge operable for holding trays of unpackaged food and loading the trays of unpackaged food from the transport cartridge into the fixed cartridge, wherein, when the transport cartridge is removably attached to the fixed cartridge, a front opening of the transport cartridge aligns with a front opening of the fixed cartridge, and wherein the rack of the transport cartridge aligns with the conveyor system of the fixed cartridge such that trays of unpackaged food within the transport cartridge can simultaneously be transitioned from the rack to the conveyor system.

A system may include a chute, a plurality of hoppers, a bun-advancing system, a blade, and a bun-stopper system. The plurality of hoppers are attached to the chute and include outlets in communication with a channel of the chute. The bun-advancing system is configured to move a food product from one of the hoppers to the channel of the chute. The blade may be disposed in the channel and may be configured to reciprocate relative to the chute. The bun-stopper system may include an actuator and a stopper. The stopper may be disposed vertically above the blade. The actuator may be configured to move the stopper between an extended position where the stopper extends into the channel to prevent the food product from contacting the blade and a retracted position where the stopper is retracted from the channel to allow the food product to move into contact with the blade.