A combination weigher includes: a dispersion unit adapted to radially disperse food products dropped in from above and onto the dispersion unit; a plurality of V-shaped like guide structures extending radially away from a center of the dispersion unit and arranged such that a narrower end of the V-shaped like guide structures face a center point of the dispersion unit; a plurality of hoppers associated to each of the trenches arranged below the outfeed ends of the trenches; and a control unit; and screw feeders arranged in each of the trenches operated by the control unit. The space between adjacent V-shaped like guide structures at a distance R1 defines a buffer zone for radially dispersed food products from the dispersion unit. The screw feeders in the adjacent trenches have opposite orientation and rotate in opposite directions such that upper part of the screw feeders are rotating away from each other.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes a cloud computer system for controlling a plurality of remote devices comprising a cloud server including a cloud based operating system comprising a data model stored in a computer memory. The data model includes commands that may be performed by a plurality of remote devices in a remote system and, for each remote device, one or more operations for triggering processes executed by the remote device. The cloud based operating system generates a set of instructions from the plurality of commands and corresponding operations to control a portion of the remote devices to perform a task.

Concentrate filling system includes a solid loader operable to dispense particles through a dispensing end. The system includes a conveyer operable to receive the dispensed particles at a proximal end and further dispense particles at a distal end. The system includes load cell operable to receive a container that receives the dispensed particles. The system includes an injection pump to dispense fluids into the container. The system includes controller operable to receive data from the load cell indicative of a weight of the particles and/or fluid and send a control signal to the conveyor to adjust the dispensing of the particles and send a control signal to the injection pump. Upon receiving indicative of a predetermined weight of the container, fluid, and particles, the controller is operable to send a control signal to the conveyor and the injection pump to stop dispensing of particles and fluid.

A combination weigher includes: a dispersion unit adapted to radially disperse food products dropped in from above and onto the dispersion unit; a plurality of V-shaped like guide structures extending radially away from a center of the dispersion unit and arranged such that a narrower end of the V-shaped like guide structures face a center point of the dispersion unit; a plurality of hoppers associated to each of the trenches arranged below the outfeed ends of the trenches; and a control unit; and screw feeders arranged in each of the trenches operated by the control unit. The space between adjacent V-shaped like guide structures at a distance R1 defines a buffer zone for radially dispersed food products from the dispersion unit. The screw feeders in the adjacent trenches have opposite orientation and rotate in opposite directions such that upper part of the screw feeders are rotating away from each other.

A device and a method are for weighing capsules having a filling. The device has a weighing unit having a receptacle, a transporter for transporting individual capsules to the weighing unit in a direction of movement, and a stopping device. The receiving section of the receptacle is configured as a friction support and is inclined with respect to a horizontal direction. Upon reaching the weighing unit, the capsule is stopped from moving in the movement direction via the stopping device and is deposited in the receiving section in an inclined manner such that a front end, with regard to the movement direction, of the capsule is located lower down than a rear end of the capsule, and such that the capsule comes to rest on the receptacle in this position and with regard to the direction of movement solely because of static friction. The capsule is then weighed.

This invention relates to a screw feeder adapted to be used in relation with a combination weigher, where the combination weigher comprises a dispersion unit, and a plurality of trenches surrounding the dispersion unit, where each of the plurality of trenches comprise an infeed end and a releasing end where each of the trenches and have a circular sector like shaped bottom portion, where the dispersion unit is adapted to radially disperse food products into the trenches at their receiving ends, where at each trench the received food product is advanced by said screw feeder towards the releasing end, where said screw feeder is made of a material being softer than the material of the trenches and is designed such that it has a polygon cross sectional shape having three or more edges.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes an automated delivery system apparatus comprising a mechanical guide, a movable unit coupled to the guide on a first surface, and an engaging unit configured to couple to a second surface separated from the first surface by a thickness. The engaging unit is configured to engage an item on the second surface. A magnetic binding force between the movable unit and engaging unit moves the engaging unit along a path corresponding to a path of the movable unit. The engaging unit moves an item along a least a portion of the path.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes a granule dispenser comprising a container for holding granulated components, a cap coupled to a bottom of said container, and a stopper. The stopper may be spring loaded against the ridge of said cap. An interface between the stopper and the cap comprises a plurality of protrusions and a plurality of sawtooth forms, wherein the protrusions mate to a base portion between the sawtooth forms in a first position to form a seal between the cap and the stopper, and wherein, when the stopper is rotated, the protrusions engage a sloped portion of the sawtooth forms to create a plurality of openings between the cap and the stopper.

In one embodiment, the present disclosure includes an automated food production kiosk. Embodiments of a kiosk may comprise a robotic system having a reach. A plurality of food ingredient dispensers may be configured around the robotic system. Each dispenser may have a physical interface within a reach of the robotic system to receive an item. One or more physical processing units have a physical interface within the reach of the robotic system to receive the item. The kiosk may prepare food items under control of a local server, a cloud server, or both, for example.

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.