FOOD PRINTER WITH MOVEMENT COORDINATES

Abstract

A system for producing a food item includes a plate and a printhead disposed above the plate for extruding an edible printing mass to generate a three-dimensional configuration of printing mass on the plate. A cooking head is disposed above the plate for cooking a three-dimensional configuration of printing mass on the plate. A rotation device rotates the plate and the printhead and/or cooking head relative to one another about an axis of rotation, so as to position the printhead and/or cooking head above different points on the plate located on a circle around the axis of rotation. A radial device varies a radius of the circle. A control unit obtains a recipe for producing a cooked food item and controls the printhead, the cooking head and the radial device in accordance with the recipe to produce the cooked food item.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A system for producing a food item, the system comprising: a plate; a printhead disposed above said plate and configured to extrude an edible printing mass for generating a three-dimensional configuration of the printing mass on said plate; a cooking head disposed above said plate and configured to cook the three-dimensional configuration of the printing mass on said plate; a rotation device configured to rotate said plate and at least one of said printhead or said cooking head relative to one another around an axis of rotation for positioning at least one of said printhead or said cooking head above different points on said plate, said different points lying on a circle around the axis of rotation; a radial device, configured to change a radius of the circle; a spacing device configured to change a transverse distance of at least one of said printhead or said cooking head perpendicular to said plate; and a control unit configured: to establish a recipe for a production of a cooked food item; to activate said printhead, said cooking head and said radial device as a function of the recipe for producing the cooked food item, to simultaneously activate said printhead for extruding a printing mass at a first point on said plate and activate said cooking head for cooking a printing mass at a second point on said plate, and to activate said spacing device as a function of the recipe.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein said radial device includes: a radial guide rail extending parallel to said plate; and at least one radial actuator configured to move at least one of said printhead and said cooking head or said plate along said radial guide rail.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein: said radial guide rail is disposed above said plate and extends transversely above said plate; said at least one radial actuator of said radial device includes a radial actuator configured to move said printhead along said radial guide rail; and said at least one radial actuator of said radial device includes a radial actuator configured to move said cooking head along said radial guide rail.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein: said radial guide rail is disposed below said plate; and said at least one radial actuator of said radial device includes a radial actuator configured to move said plate along said radial guide rail.

20. The system according to claim 16, wherein said radial device includes: at least one longitudinal bar extending parallel to and offset relative to the axis of rotation; and at least one of: a printhead transverse bar extending parallel to said plate, said printhead being attached to said printhead transverse bar, and a rotation actuator configured to rotate said printhead transverse bar around said at least one longitudinal bar for positioning said printhead at different positions above said plate, or a cooking head transverse bar extending parallel to said plate, said cooking head being attached to said cooking head transverse bar, and a rotation actuator configured to rotate said cooking head transverse bar around said at least one longitudinal bar for positioning said cooking head at different positions above said plate.

21. The system according to claim 16, wherein: said plate includes a central area intended for generating the three-dimensional configuration of the printing mass; said central area is surrounded by an edge area of said plate; and said rotation device is configured to drive said plate in said edge area for rotating said plate around the axis of rotation.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein said rotation device includes: a toothed bar extending in said edge area of said plate; a toothed wheel engaging into said toothed bar; and an actuator configured to drive said toothed wheel.

23. The system according to claim 16, wherein: said plate has a shaft on which said plate is rotatably supported; and said rotation device is configured to drive said shaft to turn said plate.

24. The system according to claim 16, wherein said cooking head is configured: to radiate thermal energy onto an upper side of said plate; to radiate laser beams onto said upper side of said plate; and to radiate ultrasound waves onto said upper side of said plate.

25. The system according to claim 16, wherein said spacing device is configured to change a height of at least one of said printhead, said cooking head or said plate.

26. The system according to claim 16, which further comprises: a cooking unit configured to heat said plate from below; said control unit being configured to activate said cooking unit as a function of the recipe.

27. The system according to claim 16, which further comprises a housing enclosing said plate, said printhead, said cooking head, said rotation device and said radial device.

28. The system according to claim 16, wherein the system is a home appliance or a household appliance.

Description

[0026] The invention will be described in greater detail below of the basis of exemplary embodiments presented in the enclosed drawing. In the figures:

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a first example of a system for producing a food item;

[0028] FIG. 2 shows a second example of a system for producing a food item;

[0029] FIG. 3 shows a third example of a system for producing a food item;

[0030] FIG. 4 shows a fourth example of a system for producing a food item;

[0031] FIG. 5 shows a fifth example of a system for producing a food item;

[0032] FIG. 6 shows a sixth example of a system for producing a food item;

[0033] FIG. 7 shows a seventh example of a system for producing a food item;

[0034] FIG. 8 shows an eighth example of a system for producing a food item; and

[0035] FIG. 9 shows a ninth example of a system for producing a food item;

[0036] As stated at the outset, the present document is concerned with the efficient production of a food item in terms of time, space and energy by means of a food printer. In this context FIG. 1 shows a first example of a system 100 for producing a food item 107 (i.e. a food printer). The system 100 has a housing 110, which encloses an inner space 106 and which stands on a base 109. The base 109 can comprise a power supply and/or a control unit (e.g. with a processor) for example. The system 100 can be embodied as a home appliance, in particular as a household appliance, which can be placed with its base 109 on the work surface of a kitchen.

[0037] The system 100 comprises a printhead 102, which is configured to extrude edible printing mass onto a plate 108. A three-dimensional arrangement of printing mass can be created by the printhead 102 on the plate 108. Furthermore the system 100 comprises a cooking head 105, which is configured to cook the three-dimensional arrangement of printing mass on the plate 108. For this purpose the cooking head 105 can have a radiant heat source and/or a laser for example. Thus the cooking head 105 can be configured to cook the three-dimensional arrangement of printing mass from above. As an alternative or in addition the system 100 can have a cooking unit 104, which is configured to cook the three-dimensional arrangement of printing mass from below for example. The cooking unit 104 can be configured to heat up the plate 108 via electromagnetic induction.

[0038] The system 100 uses polar movement coordinates in order to position the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 over different points on the front side of the plate 108. For this purpose the system 100 from FIG. 1 comprises rotation means 103, 113 in order to rotate the plate 108 around an axis of rotation of the plate 108, wherein the axis or rotation runs perpendicular to the plate 108. Through the rotation means 103, 113 the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 can be moved on a circular path above the front side of the plate 108. In the example shown in FIG. 1 the rotation means 103, 113 are arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of rotation. This has the advantage that the cooking unit 104 can be taken relatively close to the underside of the plate 108, in order to heat-up the plate 108 for the cooking process. The rotation means 103, 113 comprise a drive element 103 (e.g. a toothed wheel), which is driven by a motor 113. For example a driven toothed wheel can engage into a circumferential toothed rail or toothed bar on the underside of the plate 108, in order to rotate the plate 108.

[0039] The printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 can be moved using radial means 101, 121, 125 in parallel to the front side of the plate 108, in order to change the radius of the circular path. In the example shown in FIG. 1 the radial means 101, 121 comprise a radial guide rail 101, which runs in parallel to the front side of the plate 108. The printhead 102 can be moved using a printhead actuator 121 along the radial guide rail 101 in order to move the printhead 102 towards the axis of rotation of the plate 108 or away from the axis of rotation of the plate 108. In a similar way the cooking head 105 can be moved using a cooking head actuator 125 along the radial guide rail 101, in order to move the cooking head 106 towards the axis of rotation of the plate 108 or away from the axis of rotation of the plate 108.

[0040] Thus, through the combination of the rotation means 103, 113 and the radial means 101, 121, 125, the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 can be positioned over any given points on the front side of the plate 108. The use of movement means, which make movement along polar coordinates possible, enables the different points on the front side of the plate 108 to be moved to efficiently in terms of space and time.

[0041] The system 100 shown in FIG. 1 also has spacing means 111, 112, which are configured to change the distance between the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105. In the example shown in FIG. 2 the spacing means 111, 112 comprise two spacing guide rails 111 (also referred to in this document as longitudinal bars), which run perpendicular to the base 109 and/or the plate 108. The plate 108 is connected via the rotation means 103, 113 and via a movement mechanism 112 (e.g. via one or more driven toothed wheels) to the spacing guide rails 111 and in this way can be moved upwards or downwards, in order to reduce or to enlarge the distance between the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105.

[0042] The rotation means, the radial means and/or the spacing means can be controlled by the control unit (not shown) of the system 100, in order to drive the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 (typically as a function of a recipe for a food item 107 to be produced) to different positions, in order to extrude printing mass and/or to cook the printing mass on the plate 108.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows a system 100 for producing a food item 107, in which the rotation means 203, 213 are connected via a transverse bar 211 to the movement mechanism 112. The transverse bar 211 can be driven upwards or downwards by the movement mechanism 112 along the spacing guide rails 111, in order to change the distance between the plate 108 and the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105.

[0044] As shown by way of example in FIG. 2, the rotation means 203, 213 can comprise a drive shaft 203, which runs along the axis of rotation of the plate 108 and which is driven by the motor 213, in order to turn the plate 108.

[0045] FIG. 3 shows an example of a system 100 in which the spacing means 111, 312 are designed such that the radial guide rails 101 are driven upwards or downwards via a movement mechanism 312 along the spacing guide rails 111 in order to change the distance between the plate 108 and the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105.

[0046] FIG. 4 shows an example of a system 100, which combines the rotation means 103, 113 from the system 100 from FIG. 1 with the spacing means 111, 312 from FIG. 3.

[0047] FIG. 5 shows an example of a system 100 in which the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105 have a fixed connection to the rail 101. The movement in the radial direction is carried out by a radial guide rail 501, which runs in parallel to the base 109 and which is connected to the base 109. The plate 108 is connected via an actuator 521 to the radial guide rail 501 and can be moved in this way along the radial guide rail 501, in order to position different points on the front side of the plate 108 below the printhead 102 and/or below the cooking head 105. The radial means thus comprise the radial guide rail 501 and the actuator 521.

[0048] In the example shown in FIG. 6 the radial means comprise the transverse bar 211, which is embodied as a radial guide rail, in order to move the plate 108 by means of the actuator 621 in the radial direction. Furthermore the radial guide 211 can be driven upwards or downwards via the movement mechanism 112 along the spacing guide rails 111 in order to change the distance between the plate 108 and the printhead 102 and/or the cooking head 105.

[0049] The system 100 shown in FIG. 7 comprises radial means 701, 721 with which the printhead 102 can be rotated around the spacing guide rail 111, and/or radial means 702, 705 with which the cooking head 105 can be rotated around the spacing guide rail 111. The radial means 701, 721 or 702, 725 comprise a transverse bar 701, 702 in each case, to which the printhead 102 or the cooking head 105 is attached. The respective transverse bar 701, 702 can be rotated around the spacing guide rail 111 by means of the actuators 721, 725. Thus, by rotational movements of the radial means 701, 721 or 702, 725 and the rotation means 203, 213, any given points on the front side of the plate 108 can be moved to (without using translational movements). This can be advantageous in particular in relation to the cabling of the actuators 721, 725 required and in relation to the space required.

[0050] FIG. 8 shows an example in which the radial means 701, 721 for the printhead 102 and the radial means 702, 725 for the cooking head 105 are arranged on different spacing guide rails 111, 811. In this way the freedom of movement for the printhead 102 and for the cooking head 105 can be increased. In this case the distance between the cooking head 105 and the plate 108 can be changed via a movement mechanism 812.

[0051] FIG. 9 shows an example of a system 100 that combines the radial means 701, 721 or 702, 725 from FIG. 8 with the rotation means 103, 113 for rotating the plate 108 from FIG. 1. In this way the use of heating below the floor of the plate can be made possible.

[0052] In this document a system 100 is described that, by moving a printhead 102 and a cooking head 105 along polar coordinates or along cylinder coordinates, makes it possible to produce a food item 107 efficiently in terms of space and time. In particular the printing process and the cooking process can be integrated into a single system 100 in this way, which makes possible the automatic production of ready-cooked food items 107. The rotation means described in this document enable the plate 108 to be continuously rotated if necessary, whereby the printing process and/or the cooking process can be expedited.

[0053] The present invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown. It should be noted in particular that the description and the figures are only intended to illustrate the principle of the proposed system.