A system and method for positioning a food product with respect to a print head for printing on a surface thereof. The system is incorporated into a printer. The system has a movable support surface for supporting the food product thereon, the support surface being vertically and horizontally moveable with respect to the print head. A sensor is provided for detecting a position of a surface of the food product positioned on the moveable support surface with respect to the print head. The sensor provides a signal to the printer indicative of a position of the surface of the food product and wherein the moveable support surface is adjustable in response thereto. The sensor is a position sensor configured to detect the position of a top surface of the food product.

A printer and corresponding method of printing an image on a surface of a plurality of food products by providing a system having a printer with an extendable and retractable receiving arm and a rotating food product delivery tray for continuously and automatically providing delivery of unprinted food products which are retracted into the printer, printed on, and returned by the receiving arm to the rotatable delivery tray and the tray further moves to deliver subsequent food products for printing.

A printer housing with an upper portion and a lower portion with a cavity there between and wherein the upper portion and lower portion are connected by one or more hinges such that the housing opens about the hinged connection between the upper portion and the lower portion to expose the cavity there between. The hinged connection allows the upper portion to be lifted up with respect to the lower portion to expose one or more printer components for access through the cavity. One or more hinges secure the upper portion to the lower portion and wherein the one or more hinges are positioned on a same perimeter side of the housing such that the housing opens about one side.

Disclosed are 3D printing equipment, a system, and a method for food design and production, belonging to the field of food technologies. A bipolar microwave heating antenna is disposed, to implement focused heating on a material in an extrusion nozzle. In addition, the bipolar microwave heating antenna breaks through a traditional multi-mode cavity heating method, thereby greatly reducing a volume of a heating cavity and facilitating integration with a desktop 3D printer. A microwave switch is controlled by using an extrusion instruction to achieve synchronization between extrusion and heating, and improve heating uniformity. Through joint operations of a 3D scanner, slicing software, and a 3D printer, processes of model making, slicing, and 3D printing are integrated. The microwave-coupled 3D printing system and equipment for food design and production provided in the present invention can quickly and centrally heat the material in the extrusion nozzle to instantly cure the extruded material, so that the extruded material has high mechanical strength, thereby improving modeling quality of a printed product, and effectively resolving problems of deformation, collapse, and the like of the printed product.

The apparatus having multi-nozzles for making three-dimensional structure according to the present disclosure comprises a supply unit of raw material, the supply unit having a nozzle for supplying at least two raw materials; a seat unit provided under the supply unit, where a container receiving the raw material is seated; a driving unit for moving the supply unit and the seat unit in at least any one of X, Y, and Z directions; a control unit for controlling discharging amount and moving route of the driving unit, based on the desired shape of the structure to be made.

An adjusting and control method for 3D printing precise shape forming of instant recuperation mashed potato relates to the field of new food processing technologies. First, a potato is cleaned, peeled, and sliced to be steamed. Subsequently, the steamed potato slices are pulped until a pulp is smooth and shiny. A colloid is added, and after mixing the pulp with the colloid, the mixture is steamed to cook the potato and fully dissolve the colloid. After the mixture is cooled to room temperature, white chocolate powder is added to the mixture. To implement refined printing of recuperation mashed potato, printing temperature, a moving speed of the nozzle, a discharging speed and so on are selected and determined to perform printing. Precision of a print object may reach more than 95%, and the object does not collapse within 40 min to 60 min after being printed.

In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to the decorating and printing of three-dimensional edible media on a printable base media based on a user selected image. A base can be determined to support and couple the printed 3D edible media based on the user selected image to the printable base media. Using a user interface, the user selected image can be modified and adapted to print based on a 3D printer's capabilities. Maneuvers of either a platform or a printhead of the 3D printer can be tracked for secondary treatments to either the printed 3D edible media or the printable base media.

A cartridge assembly, a cartridge device, a food forming module, and a cooking apparatus capable of using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology to form and cook food are provided. The cooking apparatus includes a main body, a cooking compartment is provided in the main body, and a cartridge assembly is installed in the cooking compartment to be capable of linear motion and rotational motion. The cartridge assembly includes a cartridge body having cartridge mounts formed therein, cartridge cases are mounted on the cartridge mounts, and cartridges are disposed in the cartridge cases and include food ingredients that are accommodated therein.

A control method for improving forming and 3D precise printing performance of a thawed surimi system relates to the field of 3D printing food material preparation technologies. In the present invention, steps including thawing, mixing, grinding, performing, printing, setting, and cooking are performed on frozen surimi. A thawed surimi gel system of the present invention can reduce the printing temperature, and increase the discharging rate and the three-dimensional forming rate. In the present invention, an acid-induced surimi gel is formed by adding linseed gum and glucolactone, and the surimi gel has stable viscosity and fluidity. The surimi slurry is minced and does not easily cause blockage, and discharging is smooth. By means of 3D precise printing technology, the surimi gel system of the present invention may be made into a cold dish of fish product that retains original properties and taste of the surimi product.

A confectionery item for applying an edible temporary tattoo to a person's tongue, including a release medium and an edible substrate configured to be insertable into the person's mouth, the release medium being securable to the substrate and coated with a layer of edible hardener onto which a transfer is printed, wherein the transfer is a representation formed of edible ink printed onto the layer of edible hardener and configured to be transferred to the person's tongue during contact therewith.