JP7733384B2 - Automatic cooking equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to automatic cooking equipment, and in particular to automatic cooking equipment that at least stirs and cooks ingredients contained in a cooking container.

In recent years, the food and beverage industry has seen an increase in automation of cooking processes due to various factors, such as securing chefs, maintaining cooking skills, and improving the cooking environment. At the same time, with the development of a rich food culture, there is a demand for automation of a wide variety of dishes using a wide variety of ingredients.
Therefore, conventional automatic cooking equipment is known to include an ingredient holding and distribution module that is located in the upper area of the equipment and distributes multiple types of stored ingredients in the required amounts, a cooking module that is located approximately below the ingredient holding and distribution module and cooks the ingredients, and a transfer module that is located in the intermediate area between the ingredient holding and distribution module and the cooking module and transports the ingredients distributed by the ingredient holding and distribution module to the cooking module (for example, Patent Document 1).

U.S. Pat. No. 10,154,762 (especially Figures 15 and 16)

In the automatic cooking equipment described above, the ingredient holding and dispensing module is located almost above the cooking module, so ingredient holding and dispensing modules storing different ingredients must be arranged horizontally adjacent to each other. As a result, when attempting to stock a wide variety of ingredients for a wide variety of dishes, the overall width of the equipment becomes long and it becomes difficult to transfer ingredients from the ingredient holding and dispensing module to the cooking module. Ultimately, this limits the types of ingredients that can be held by the automatic cooking equipment, making it impossible to cook a wide variety of dishes.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art described above. Specifically, the object of the present invention is to provide automatic cooking equipment that can easily and automatically cook a wide variety of dishes using a wide variety of ingredients.

The invention according to claim 1 is an automatic cooking equipment for cooking ingredients, the automatic cooking equipment for cooking ingredients comprising a storage device having a plurality of ingredient stockers for storing the ingredients and arranged in a rear area of the equipment , a cooking device arranged in a front area of the equipment in front of the storage device and for cooking a dish by stirring and cooking the ingredients, a multi-joint robot arm arranged in an intermediate area between the storage device and the cooking device and holding a transport container for transporting the ingredients from the storage device side to the cooking device side, and a cooking control device for driving and controlling at least the storage device, the cooking device, and the multi-joint robot arm, The ingredients are arranged in an array in the vertical and horizontal directions according to the type of ingredient on the front of the device, and the supply ports of each ingredient storage container and the cooking container of the cooking device are positioned within the movable range of the articulated robot arm. The cooking control device drives and controls the storage device and the articulated robot arm to release the ingredients from the supply ports of the ingredient storage containers into the transport containers, drives and controls the articulated robot arm and the cooking device to feed the ingredients in the transport containers into the cooking containers of the cooking device, and drives and controls the cooking device to stir and cook the ingredients in the cooking containers, thereby solving the above-mentioned problems.

The invention of claim 2 further solves the aforementioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking equipment described in claim 1, tilting the opening of the cooking container toward the articulated robot arm when the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to transfer the ingredients from the transport container to the cooking container of the cooking device, or by orienting the opening of the cooking container vertically upward.

The invention of claim 3 solves the aforementioned problem by, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking equipment described in claim 1 or claim 2, having the cooking control device move the transport container to the supply port of the ingredient stocker using the articulated robot arm, and then having the cooking control device open the supply port of the ingredient stocker.

The invention of claim 4 further solves the aforementioned problem by adding to the configuration of the automatic cooking equipment described in any one of claims 1 to 3 a liquid ingredient supplying device that supplies liquid ingredients to the cooking container of the cooking device, which is attached to a side area of the cooking device.

The invention of claim 5 further solves the aforementioned problem by providing the automatic cooking equipment configuration of claim 4, in addition to the cooking control device driving and controlling the liquid ingredient supply device, the cooking device having a container heating means for heating the cooking container, the liquid ingredient supply device having a storage tank for storing the liquid ingredient, a pump for drawing the liquid ingredient from the storage tank, and a supply hose for supplying the liquid ingredient from the pump to the cooking container of the cooking device, and by providing a notification that the supply hose of the liquid ingredient supply device is being retracted from above the cooking container of the cooking device while the cooking control device is heating the cooking container with the container heating means of the cooking device.

The invention of claim 6 further solves the above-mentioned problem by including, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking equipment described in any one of claims 1 to 5, a cleaning device that cleans at least one of the cooking containers or the transport container of the cooking device.

The invention of claim 7 further solves the aforementioned problem by including, in addition to the configuration of the automatic cooking equipment described in any one of claims 1 to 6, a transport container storage cabinet for storing a large number of unused transport containers in a flat stack, and by positioning the transport container storage cabinet within the movable range of the articulated robot arm.

According to the invention of claim 1, the automatic cooking equipment includes a storage device having a plurality of ingredient stockers in the rear area of the equipment for storing ingredients, a cooking device located in the front area of the equipment in front of the storage device and stirring and cooking the ingredients to prepare a dish, an articulated robot arm located in the intermediate area between the storage device and the cooking device and holding a transport container for transporting ingredients from the storage device side to the cooking device side, and a cooking control device that drives and controls at least the storage device, the cooking device, and the articulated robot arm, and the supply ports of the ingredient stockers are arranged vertically and horizontally on the front of the storage device by type of ingredient, and the ingredient stockers Because each supply port and the cooking container of the cooking device are positioned within the movable range of the articulated robot arm, the articulated robot arm can move vertically to receive ingredients into the transport container even when a wide variety of ingredients are stored in the storage device.The cooking control device then causes the articulated robot arm to receive ingredients discharged from the supply port of the ingredient stocker into the transport container and place the ingredients in the transport container into the cooking container of the cooking device, which then stirs and cooks the ingredients in the cooking container, allowing for the easy automatic cooking of a wide variety of dishes using a wide variety of ingredients.

In addition to the effects of the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 1, the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 2 has the following advantages: when the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to transfer ingredients from a transport container to a cooking container of the cooking device, the cooking control device tilts the opening of the cooking container toward the articulated robot arm, or the cooking control device points the opening of the cooking container vertically upward, making it easier for the articulated robot arm to place the ingredients in the transport container into the cooking container, and therefore the ingredients can be reliably placed in the cooking container when they are placed in the transport container.

The automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 3 achieves the same effects as the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2. After the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to move the transport container to the supply port of the ingredient stocker, the cooking control device opens the supply port of the ingredient stocker. This allows the ingredients to be released into the transport container while the transport container has moved to the supply port of the ingredient stocker, thereby ensuring reliable release of the ingredients from the ingredient stocker into the transport container.

In addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 4, a liquid ingredient supplying device that supplies liquid ingredients to the cooking container of the cooking equipment is attached to the side of the cooking equipment. This allows the ingredients to be seasoned with the liquid ingredients when they are stirred and cooked, making it possible to cook a wider variety of dishes.

The automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 5 has the same effect as the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 4. In addition, while the cooking control device is heating the cooking container with the container heating means of the cooking device, the cooking control device retracts the supply hose of the liquid ingredient supply device from above the cooking container of the cooking device. This prevents the supply hose of the liquid ingredient supply device from being heated by the container heating means, thereby preventing fire from the supply hose of the liquid ingredient supply device.

In addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 5, the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 6 is equipped with a cleaning device that cleans at least one of the cooking containers or transport containers of the cooking device. By cleaning at least one of the cooking containers or transport containers, at least one of the cooking containers or transport containers can be reused without having to be replaced with an unused one, allowing for more efficient automatic cooking of food.

In addition to the effects achieved by the automatic cooking equipment of the invention of claim 7, the transport container storage is located within the movable range of the articulated robot arm, allowing the articulated robot arm to simply replace a used transport container with an unused one, thereby enabling more efficient automatic cooking of food.

1 is a right perspective view of an automatic cooking equipment 100 according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a right side view of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a rear view of the storage device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a right perspective view of the cooking appliance body 122 of the cooking appliance 120 shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the process of adding ingredients to a cooking container. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating pouring liquid ingredients into a cooking container. FIG. A diagram explaining how to arrange food on a plate. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view of an automatic cooking facility 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The automatic cooking equipment of the present invention comprises a storage device having a plurality of ingredient stockers in the rear area of the equipment for storing ingredients, a cooking device located in the front area of the equipment in front of the storage device and stirring and cooking the ingredients to prepare a dish, a multi-joint robot arm located in the intermediate area between the storage device and the cooking device and holding a transport container for transporting ingredients from the storage device side to the cooking device side, and a cooking control device that drives and controls at least the storage device, the cooking device, and the multi-joint robot arm, and the supply ports of the ingredient stockers are arranged vertically and horizontally on the front of the storage device by type of ingredient, and the ingredient stockers are The specific implementation is not limited to any particular system, as long as the supply ports of each car and the cooking container of the cooking device are positioned within the movable range of the articulated robot arm, the cooking control device drives and controls the storage device and articulated robot arm to release ingredients from the supply ports of the ingredient stocker into the transport container, drives and controls the articulated robot arm and cooking device to feed the ingredients in the transport container into the cooking container of the cooking device, and drives and controls the cooking device to stir and cook the ingredients in the cooking container, thereby enabling easy automatic cooking of a wide variety of dishes using a wide variety of ingredients.

For example, the automatic cooking equipment of the present invention is primarily installed in restaurants, but the installation location of the automatic cooking equipment of the present invention is not limited to this and it may also be installed in food courts, businesses, homes, etc.

For example, the ingredients cooked by the automatic cooking equipment of the present invention can be any food ingredient, such as rice, noodles, vegetables, fish, grains, and various seasonings.

For example, the specific arrangement of the supply ports of the ingredient stockers in the storage device of the present invention may be any arrangement as long as they are arranged vertically and horizontally on the front surface of the storage device according to ingredient type. The front surface of the storage device may be tilted slightly forward or backward relative to the installation surface such as the floor, the positions of each supply port may be offset somewhat in the front-to-back direction, or a combination of these arrangements may be used.

For example, the specific locations of the supply ports of each ingredient stocker and the cooking container of the cooking device may be any location as long as they are located within the movable range of the articulated robot arm, and the cooking device may be located directly opposite the storage device, or in front of and to the side of the storage device.

The following describes the automatic cooking equipment 100, a first embodiment of the present invention, with reference to Figures 1 to 11.

<1. Structure of automatic cooking equipment>
The structure of the automatic cooking equipment 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG.
Here, Figure 1 is a right oblique view of the automatic cooking equipment 100 which is a first embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a right side view of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a rear view of the storage device 110 shown in Figure 1, Figure 5 is a right oblique view of the cooking device main body 122 of the cooking device 120 shown in Figure 1, and Figure 6 is a system configuration diagram of the automatic cooking equipment 100 shown in Figure 1.
2 and 3, the door of the refrigerator 111 of the storage device 110 is closed.

First, the automatic cooking equipment 100 is an equipment that automatically cooks food by stirring and cooking ingredients, and is placed entirely on the floor surface F as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 .
The automatic cooking equipment 100 includes a storage device 110 for storing ingredients, a cooking device 120 for cooking dishes by stirring and cooking the ingredients, a liquid ingredient supply device 130 for supplying liquid ingredients to a cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120, and a cleaning device 140 for cleaning the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120.
Furthermore, the automatic cooking equipment 100 is equipped with an articulated robot arm 150 that is positioned in the intermediate area between the storage device 110 and the cooking device 120 and holds a transport container C that transports ingredients from the storage device 110 side to the cooking device 120 side, a plate storage cabinet 160 that stores a large number of unused plates D in a flat pile, a transport container storage cabinet 170 that stores a large number of unused transport containers C in a flat pile, and a cooking control device 180 that performs integrated control of each device of the automatic cooking equipment 100 as shown in Figure 6.

1.1 Storage Device
As shown in FIG. 2, the storage device 110 for storing the ingredients is disposed in the rear area of the facility.
As shown in Figures 1 to 4, this storage device 110 has a rectangular parallelepiped refrigerator 111 placed on the floor F, a plurality of ingredient storage containers 112 for storing ingredients, a hood cover 113 for covering the exposed parts of the ingredient storage containers 112, and a controller 114 for controlling the refrigerator 111 and the ingredient storage containers 112.

As shown in Figure 4, the interior of the refrigerator 111 described above has multiple shelves 111a arranged vertically.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, the ingredient stockers 112 are placed on shelves 111a and arranged in the left-right direction.
Therefore, the ingredients stored in the ingredient stocker 112 are kept refrigerated by the storage device 110.
In this embodiment, each ingredient stocker 112 stores only one type of ingredient.

In addition, the ingredient stocker 112 can be freely pulled out in the front-to-rear direction, and ingredients that need to be replenished can be placed into the ingredient stocker 112 by pulling the ingredient stocker 112 out rearward from the refrigerator 111.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 , the front end side of the ingredient stocker 112 protrudes from the refrigerator 111 when it is housed in the refrigerator 111 .
As shown in FIG. 3, an ingredient stocker 112 protruding from the refrigerator 111 has a supply port 112a at the lower front end thereof which can be opened and closed.
That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the supply ports 112a are arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions on the front surface of the storage device 110 according to the type of ingredient.
The supply ports 112a of each ingredient stocker 112 (that is, all of the supply ports 112a) are arranged within the movable range RA of the articulated robot arm 150, as shown in FIG.

As shown in Figure 1 etc., the hood cover 113 is a member extending in the left-right direction that covers the upper front end of the ingredient stocker 112 that protrudes from the refrigerator 111, and prevents ingredients released from the supply port 112a from adhering to the ingredient stocker 112 directly below the supply port 112a.

The controller 114 controls at least the temperature inside the refrigerator 111 and the opening and closing of the supply port 112a of the ingredient storage container 112.

<1.2. Cooking equipment>
As shown in FIG. 2, the cooking device 120 is disposed in the front area of the facility, in front of the storage device 110.
This cooking device 120 has a plurality of cooking containers 121 which are cylindrical metal containers with a bottom, and cooking device bodies 122 .
The cooking device main body 122 comprises a cooking table 122a placed on the floor surface F, a container holding unit 122b that holds the cooking container 121, a rotating unit 122c that is provided between the cooking table 122a and the container holding unit 122b and raises and lowers the container holding unit 122b relative to the cooking table 122a, and a controller 123 that controls at least the container holding unit 122b and the rotating unit 122c.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cooking table 122a is a rectangular parallelepiped table having four legs, and the horizontal upper surface is flat.
Furthermore, a plate D is placed on the front side of the upper surface of the cooking table 122a, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the container holding unit 122b is pivotally mounted on the counter 122a so as to be able to rise and fall freely in the front-to-rear direction of the counter 122a about a pivot A1.
As shown in Figure 5, the container holding unit 122b also has a base frame 122b1 connected to the rotating unit 122c, a container heating means 122b2 for heating the cooking container 121, a container rotation mechanism 122b3 provided on the base frame 122b1 for rotating the cooking container 121 around a central axis extending in the depth direction of the cooking container 121, a rotation support mechanism 122b4 pivoted to the base frame 122b1 for supporting the rotation of the cooking container 121, and a rotation drive mechanism 122b5 for rotating the rotation support mechanism 122b4 freely in the forward and backward directions of the cooking table 122a relative to the base frame 122b1.

The base frame 122b1 has a fan shape in a side view, and has an inclined surface that slopes forward as shown in FIG.
A vertical surface is formed from the front end of this inclined surface, rising almost perpendicularly to the inclined surface.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the container heating means 122b2 is fitted into the inclined surface of the base frame 122b1.
Here, the container heating means 122b2 has a flat surface that is substantially flush with the inclined surface of the base frame 122b1.
The surface of this container heating means 122b2 faces the outer bottom surface of the cooking container 121 at a distance.
Furthermore, a coil is installed inside the container heating means 122b2, and the container heating means 122b2 heats the cooking container 121 by induction heating.

Furthermore, the aforementioned container rotation mechanism 122b3 is embedded in the base frame 122b1, and as shown in Figure 5, has a cylindrical roller partially exposed from the vertical surface of the base frame 122b1, and a drive motor that rotates this roller.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rotation support mechanism 122b4 is pivotally mounted on the base frame 122b1 so as to be able to rise and fall freely in the front-to-rear direction of the base frame 122b1 around the rotation axis A2.
This rotation support mechanism 122b4 has a worm gear that engages with the rotation drive mechanism 122b5, an annular member into which the cooking container 121 is inserted, a container fall-off prevention section (two pressure rollers that clamp the lower flange 121a of the cooking container 121 shown in Figure 3) that prevents the cooking container 121 from falling off the annular member, and a container eccentricity prevention section (two rollers that abut the outer surface of the cooking container 121) that suppresses eccentricity when the cooking container 121 rotates.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the rotation drive mechanism 122b5 described above has a drive motor attached to the right side surface of the base frame 122b1, and a transmission shaft attached to the tip of the drive motor and rotating together with the drive motor.
As shown in FIG. 5, this transmission shaft is a cylindrical worm having helical teeth formed on its outer periphery to mesh with the worm gear of the rotation support mechanism 122b4.
In addition, in FIG. 5, in which the bottom surface of the base frame 122b1 is spaced apart from the top surface of the cooking table 122a while remaining substantially parallel to it, the transmission shaft extends in the vertical direction.
Therefore, when the drive motor is driven, the transmission shaft rotates, and the power of the drive motor is transmitted to the connecting shaft of the rotation support mechanism 122b4 via the worm gear of the rotation support mechanism 122b4 that is screwed with the transmission shaft.
Therefore, the rotation support mechanism 122b4 rises and falls relative to the base frame 122b1.

As shown in Figure 3, the rotating unit 122c has an actuator 122c1 connected at one end to the cooking table 122a, and a connecting shaft 122c2 connected to the other end of the actuator 122c1 and extending in a direction (left-right direction) perpendicular to the longitudinal direction (front-to-back direction) of the actuator 122c1.
The actuator 122c1 is extendable and contractible in the longitudinal direction.
As shown in FIG. 5, the connecting shaft 122c2 is connected to the left side surface of the base frame 122b1 of the container holding unit 122b.

In the cooking device 120 configured as described above, the controller 123 controls the rotation drive mechanism 122b5 and rotation unit 122c of the container holding unit 122b to change the container holding unit 122b into one of the following positions: an ingredient receiving position in which the cooking container 121 receives ingredients from the transport container C; a cooking position in which the cooking container 121 is tilted forward relative to the cooking counter 122a and rotated by the container rotation mechanism 122b3 to stir the ingredients; a serving position in which the container holding unit 122b is tilted further forward relative to the cooking counter 122a than the cooking position and the cooking container 121 is turned down toward a plate D placed in front of the container holding unit 122b; and a cleaning position in which the rotation support mechanism 122b4 of the container holding unit 122b is tilted backward relative to the base frame 122b1 to clean the cooking container 121 on the rear side of the container holding unit 122b.
In addition, the opening 121b of the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120 is located within the movable range RA of the articulated robot arm 150 in the ingredient receiving posture.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, the pivot axis A1 of the container holding unit 122b relative to the cooking table 122a is positioned forward and spaced apart from the rotation axis A2 of the rotation support mechanism 122b4 of the container holding unit 122b relative to the base frame 122b1 in a side view.
As a result, the front-to-back position of the cooking container 121 in the serving position and the front-to-back position of the cooking container 121 in the cleaning position are farther apart in the front-to-back direction than when the cooking container 121 is rotated relative to the front-to-back direction of the cooking table 122a by a single rotating shaft.Therefore, when cleaning the cooking container 121 in the cleaning position, the cleaning water used to clean the inner surface of the cooking container 121 and the dirt adhering to the inner surface of the cooking container 121 are less likely to splatter onto the plate D, and the cooking container 121 can be cleaned without soiling the food or the plate D on which the food is served.

<1.3. Liquid food supply device>
As shown in FIG. 2, the liquid food supply device 130 is attached to the right side area on the rear side of the cooking device 120.
As shown in Figures 1 to 3, this liquid ingredient supply device 130 has a plurality of storage tanks 131 for storing liquid ingredients (e.g., liquid seasoning, water, soup, etc.), a mounting table 132 on which these storage tanks 131 are placed, a pump 133 for drawing up the liquid ingredients from the storage tanks 131, and a supply hose 134 for supplying the liquid ingredients from this pump 133 to the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120.

One storage tank 131 stores one type of liquid ingredient.
The number of pumps 133 and supply hoses 134 is at least equal to the number of storage tanks 131, and further, in order to improve cooking efficiency, the number is determined taking into account the number of cooking containers 121.
The supply hose 134 is movable in all directions, up and down, front and back, left and right, by a hose moving mechanism (not shown).

1.4. Cleaning device
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cleaning device 140 is disposed adjacent to the rear of the cooking device 120, and an upper surface 141 thereof is inclined forward.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a cylindrical opening 141a is formed in the upper surface 141, and a cleaning nozzle 142 for spraying cleaning water is installed inside this opening 141a.
As shown in FIG. 3, the cleaning device 140 also has an electromagnetic valve 143 that is disposed in a flow path connecting a water supply source (not shown) and the cleaning nozzle 142 to open and close the flow path.

By equipping the automatic cooking equipment 100 with this cleaning device 140, the automatic cooking equipment 100 can reuse the cooking containers 121 after cooking without having to replace them with unused cooking containers 121 each time cooking is performed.

<1.5. Articulated robot arm>
As shown in Figure 3, the articulated robot arm 150 is installed on the floor F and has a five-axis robot arm main body 151 and a container holding mechanism 152 connected to the tip of the robot arm main body 151 to hold the transport container C.
The container holding mechanism 152 has claws 152a for holding the transport container C, and a suction pad (not shown) for generating a negative pressure between the transport container C and the suction pad to suck the transport container C.
Because the articulated robot arm 150 has a container holding mechanism 152, even if the robot arm main body 151 is driven to tilt the transport container C, the transport container C is less likely to fall off the claws 152a of the container holding mechanism 152.

<1.6. Plate storage, transport container storage>
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the plate storage cabinet 160 is attached to the side area of the articulated robot arm 150.
In this dish storage cabinet 160, a large number of unused dishes D are stored in a flat pile.

As shown in Figure 2, the transport container storage facility 170 is attached to the right side area on the front side of the cooking device 120 (i.e., in front of the liquid ingredient supply device 130) and is located within the movable range RA of the articulated robot arm 150.
This transport container storage 170 allows the automatic cooking equipment 100 to automatically cook dishes more efficiently, since the articulated robot arm 150 can simply replace a used transport container C with an unused transport container C to cook the next new dish.

<1.7. Cooking control device>
The cooking control device 180 has at least a storage device control unit 181 that controls the storage device 110, a cooking device control unit 182 that controls the cooking device 120, a liquid ingredient supply device control unit 183 that controls the liquid ingredient supply device 130, a cleaning device control unit 184 that controls the cleaning device 140, and a multi-joint robot arm control unit 185 that controls the multi-joint robot arm 150, as shown in 6.

<2. Automatic cooking using automatic cooking equipment>
Next, automatic cooking using the automatic cooking equipment 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7 to 11.
Figure 7 is a diagram explaining how ingredients are added to a cooking container, Figure 8 is a diagram explaining how liquid ingredients are added to a cooking container, Figure 9 is a diagram explaining how stirring is done, Figure 10 is a diagram explaining how food is served on a plate, and Figure 11 is a diagram explaining how the cooking container is cleaned.
The following procedure is merely an example and is not limited to the following procedure.

<2.1. Removing ingredients>
First, the removal of ingredients will be described with reference to FIG.
When the automatic cooking equipment 100 receives a cooking instruction to cook a specified dish, the cooking control device 180 drives and controls the robot arm main body 151 of the articulated robot arm 150 to grasp an unused transport container C from the transport container storage facility 170.

Next, the cooking control device 180 drives and controls the storage device 110 and the articulated robot arm 150 to release the ingredients from the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112 into the transport container C.

Specifically, the cooking control device 180 drives and controls the robot arm body 151 of the articulated robot arm 150 to move the transport container C to directly below the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112 of the storage device 110, which contains the ingredients required for a specified dish.
As shown in Figure 3, after the transport container C reaches directly below the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112 of the storage device 110 containing the ingredients required for the specified dish, the cooking control device 180 opens the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112 and releases the amount required for the specified dish from the ingredient stocker 112 into the transport container C.
Thereafter, ingredients are repeatedly released from the ingredient stocker 112 into the transport container C until all the ingredients necessary for the specified dish are contained in the transport container C.

In addition, detection of whether the transport container C has reached directly below the supply port 112a of the ingredient storage 112 containing the ingredients required for a specified dish may be based on a transport container detection mechanism provided in the ingredient storage 112, or may be based on the posture and position of the articulated robot arm 150.
Furthermore, the amount of ingredients released from ingredient stocker 112 to transport container C may be determined by the opening time of supply port 112a of ingredient stocker 112, or by an ingredient measuring mechanism and ingredient portioning mechanism provided inside ingredient stocker 112.

<2.2. Putting ingredients into cooking container>
Next, the introduction of ingredients into the cooking container 121 will be described with reference to FIG.
The cooking control device 180 controls the drive of the cooking device 120 and the articulated robot arm 150 to feed the ingredients contained in the transport container C into the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120.

Specifically, the cooking control device 180 causes the cooking device 120 to assume an ingredient receiving position as shown in FIG.
That is, in the ingredient receiving position, the bottom surface of the base frame 122b1 is spaced apart from the upper surface of the cooking table 122a while remaining approximately parallel to it, and the opening 121b of the cooking container 121 is tilted toward the articulated robot arm 150 so as to face the articulated robot arm 150.
In this state, the cooking control device 180 drives and controls the articulated robot arm 150 to move the transport container C to the vicinity of the opening 121b of the cooking container 121 and tilt the transport container C toward the cooking container 121.
As a result, the ingredients contained in the transport container C are poured into the cooking container 122.
Here, since the articulated robot arm 150 has the container gripping mechanism 152, even if the transport container C tilts as shown in FIG. 7, the transport container C will not fall off the articulated robot arm 150.

<2.3. Supply of liquid ingredients to cooking container>
Next, the supply of liquid ingredients to the cooking container 121 will be described with reference to FIG.
The cooking control device 180 drives and controls the cooking device 120 and the articulated robot arm 150 to supply the ingredients contained in the transport container C to the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120.

Specifically, when the ingredients have been added to the cooking container 121, the cooking control device 180 causes the articulated robot arm 150 to place the used transport container C on a container placement stand (not shown), and then causes the arm to grasp an unused transport container C from the transport container storage 170 and remove it from the cooking device 120 as shown in Figure 8.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the supply hose 134 of the liquid food supply device 130 is extended until the tip of the supply hose 134 is positioned directly above the opening 121 b of the cooking vessel 121 .
In this state, the cooking control device 180 drives the pump 133 of the liquid ingredient supply device 130 to supply the liquid ingredient required for the specified dish to the cooking container 121.
When the supply of the liquid ingredient to the cooking container 121 is completed, the cooking control device 180 retracts the supply hose 134 from above the cooking device 120.

<2.4. Stirring cooking>
Next, stirring and cooking ingredients will be described with reference to FIG.
The cooking control device 180 controls the operation of the cooking device 120 to take the cooking posture as shown in FIG. 9, and stirs and cooks the ingredients placed in the cooking container 121 to prepare a predetermined dish.

Specifically, the cooking control device 180 rotates the cooking container 121 around the central axis PC using the container rotation mechanism 122b3 while tilting the cooking container 121 forward relative to the cooking table 122a (i.e., relative to the horizontal plane), thereby stirring the ingredients and liquid ingredients in the cooking container 120.
In this state, by passing electricity through the container heating means 122b2 and applying an alternating current, an alternating magnetic flux is generated in the container heating means 122b2 at the same frequency as the alternating current, and an induced current is generated in the cooking container 121, causing the cooking container 121 to heat up.
In this cooking position, the heating of the cooking container 121 by the container heating means 122b2 does not necessarily have to be performed intermittently, and heating may be started or stopped as appropriate depending on the type of food being cooked.

While the cooking control device 180 is heating the cooking container 121 using the container heating means 122b2 of the cooking device 120, the supply hose 134 of the liquid food supply device 130 is retracted from above the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120.
This prevents the supply hose 134 from being heated by the cooking container 121 heated by the container heating means 122b2, thereby preventing the supply hose 134 from catching fire.

<2.5. Placing food on plates>
Next, the arrangement of food on plates will be described with reference to FIG.
The cooking control device 180 controls the operation of the cooking device 120 to cause it to assume the serving position as shown in FIG. 10 and serve the food in the cooking container 121 onto the plate D.

Specifically, as shown in Figure 10, in the serving position, the cooking control device 180 extends the actuator 122c1 of the rotating unit 122c so that the bottom surface of the base frame 122b1 is tilted relative to the top surface of the cooking table 122a, while keeping the upper flange 121c of the cooking container 121 approximately parallel to the inclined surface of the base frame 122b1.
Therefore, in the serving position, the cooking container 121 is tilted forward relative to the plate D, causing the food in the cooking container 121 to slide down onto the plate D.
At this time, since the lower flange 121a of the cooking container 121 is clamped by the container fall-off prevention portion of the container holding unit 122b, the cooking container 121 will not fall off from the container holding unit 122b.

In addition, in the serving position, the cooking container 121 may or may not be heated by the container heating means 122b2.

2.6. Cleaning cooking vessels
Finally, cleaning of the cooking vessel 121 will be described with reference to FIG.
The cooking control device 180 controls the operation of the cooking device 120 to cause it to assume the cleaning posture as shown in FIG. 11 and causes the cleaning device 140 to clean the cooking vessel 121.

Specifically, as shown in Figure 11, in the cleaning position, the bottom surface of the base frame 122b1 is spaced apart from the cooking table 122a while remaining approximately parallel to it, and the upper flange 121c of the cooking container 121 is kept approximately parallel to the upper surface 141 of the cleaning device 140.
Therefore, in the cleaning posture, the inner bottom surface of cooking container 121 faces opening 141 a of cleaning device 140 .
That is, the opening 121b of the cooking vessel 121 faces downward.

In this state, the cooking control device 180 opens the electromagnetic valve 143 of the cleaning device 140.
As a result, the cleaning water W is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 142 to clean the inner surface of the cooking vessel 121.
Furthermore, since the opening 121b of the cooking container 121 is directed downward, when the inner surface of the cooking container 121 is being washed with the washing water W, dirt adhering to the inner surface of the cooking container 121 flows down together with the washing water, and after the cooking container 121 is washed in the washing position, it is possible to make it difficult for washing water and dirt to remain on the inner surface of the cooking container 121.

In addition, in the cleaning position, the lower flange 121a of the cooking container 121 is clamped by the container fall-off prevention portion of the container holding unit 122b, so the cooking container 121 will not fall off the container holding unit 122b.

3. Effects of the automatic cooking equipment 100
The automatic cooking equipment 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above comprises a storage device 110 having a plurality of ingredient stockers 112 for storing ingredients in a rear area of the equipment, a cooking device 120 that is arranged in a front area of the equipment in front of the storage device 110 and stirs and cooks the ingredients to prepare a dish, an articulated robot arm 150 that is arranged in an intermediate area between the storage device 110 and the cooking device 120 and holds a transport container C that transports ingredients from the storage device side to the cooking device side, and a cooking control device 180 that controls at least the storage device 110, the cooking device 120, and the articulated robot arm 150. The supply ports 112a of the ingredient stockers 112 are arranged in a vertical and horizontal direction on the front of the storage device 110 according to the type of ingredient, and the ingredient stockers 120 are arranged in a vertical and horizontal direction on the front of the storage device 110. Since the supply ports 112a of each ingredient storage 112 and the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120 are positioned within the movable range of the articulated robot arm 150, even if a wide variety of ingredients are stored in the storage device 110, the articulated robot arm 150 can move vertically to receive the ingredients into the transport container C. Therefore, the cooking control device 180 allows the articulated robot arm 150 to receive the ingredients discharged from the supply ports 112a of the ingredient storage 112 into the transport container C and to pour the ingredients in the transport container C into the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120, and the cooking device 120 can then stir and cook the ingredients in the cooking container 121, thereby enabling a wide variety of dishes using a wide variety of ingredients to be cooked easily and automatically.

In addition, when the cooking control device 180 uses the articulated robot arm 150 to transfer ingredients from the transport container C to the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120, the cooking control device 180 tilts the opening of the cooking container 121 toward the articulated robot arm 150, making it easier for the articulated robot arm 150 to place the ingredients in the transport container C into the cooking container 121, thereby ensuring that the ingredients can be reliably placed in the cooking container 121 when they are placed in the transport container C.

In addition, the cooking control device 180 moves the transport container C to the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112 using the articulated robot arm 150, and then opens the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112.This allows the ingredients to be released into the transport container C while the transport container C has moved to the supply port 112a of the ingredient stocker 112, thereby ensuring that the ingredients can be reliably released from the ingredient stocker 112 to the transport container C.

In addition, a liquid ingredient supplying device 130 that supplies liquid ingredients to the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120 is attached to the side of the cooking device 120, so that the ingredients are seasoned with the liquid ingredients when they are stirred and cooked, allowing a wider variety of dishes to be cooked.

While the cooking control device 180 is heating the cooking container 121 using the container heating means 122b2 of the cooking device 120, the cooking control device 180 retracts the supply hose 134 of the liquid ingredient supply device 130 from above the cooking container 121 of the cooking device 120, thereby preventing fire from the supply hose 134 of the liquid ingredient supply device 130.

Next, an automatic cooking equipment 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 12 is a plan view of an automatic cooking facility 200 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

The automatic cooking equipment 200 of the second embodiment is an automatic cooking equipment in which the positions of the cooking device 120, the liquid food supply device 130, the washing device 140, and the dish storage cabinet 160 of the automatic cooking equipment 100 of the first embodiment are changed.
Furthermore, since many elements of the automatic cooking equipment 200 of the second embodiment are common to the automatic cooking equipment 100 of the first embodiment, detailed explanations of common matters will be omitted by replacing the numbers in the 100s with numbers in the 200s.

Therefore, in the automatic cooking equipment 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the cooking device 220 is disposed on the left side of the front area of the equipment, in front of the storage device 110, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 11, the liquid food supply device 230 and the dish storage cabinet 260 are attached to the side of the cooking device 220.
As shown in FIG. 11, the cleaning device 240 is disposed adjacent to the rear side (right side) of the cooking device 220.
As shown in FIG. 11, the articulated robot arm 250 is disposed in an intermediate area RC between the storage device 210 and the cooking device 220.

<Modification>
Although the automatic cooking equipment according to one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the automatic cooking equipment of the present invention is not limited to the automatic cooking equipments 100 and 200 of the above-described embodiment.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the storage device includes a refrigerator, but as long as an ingredient storage unit can be installed, it may also include a freezer, or it may include a storage unit without a refrigeration/freezing unit, or it may include a combination of a refrigerator, freezer, and storage unit.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, one ingredient stocker stores only one type of ingredient, but multiple ingredients may also be stored together in one ingredient stocker.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the cleaning device cleans the cooking container with cleaning water, but the method for cleaning the inner surface of the cooking container is not limited to washing with water.

For example, the container holding unit may have any mechanism for holding and rotating the cooking container as long as it can rotate the cooking container in the depth direction and perform stirring and cooking.
Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the container heating means of the container holding unit heats the cooking container by induced current, but the form of the container heating means is not limited to this and may be any form that can heat the cooking container, for example, a radiant heater that heats the cooking container by heating with an electric heating wire, or a sheath heater.

For example, the cleaning device may clean the transport container in addition to the cooking container of the cooking device.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the automatic cooking equipment automatically removes ingredients, puts the ingredients into the cooking container, supplies liquid ingredients to the cooking container, stirs the ingredients, serves the food on a plate, and cleans the cooking container in response to cooking instructions to cook a specified dish, but it is not necessarily necessary to perform the series of operations automatically.
In other words, the automatic cooking equipment may perform only some of the following functions upon instruction: removing ingredients, supplying ingredients to cooking containers, supplying liquid ingredients to cooking containers, stirring cooking, serving food on plates, and cleaning cooking containers.
The order of the above operations may be changed as appropriate depending on the food being cooked and the installation environment.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the automatic cooking equipment places all of the ingredients needed for a specific dish into a transport container and then pours the ingredients into the cooking container, but it may also be possible to pour the ingredients into the cooking container one by one.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to transfer ingredients from a transport container to a cooking container of the cooking device, the cooking control device tilts the opening of the cooking container toward the articulated robot arm. However, when the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to transfer ingredients from a transport container to a cooking container of the cooking device, the cooking control device may also point the opening of the cooking container vertically upward.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100, 200 Automatic cooking equipment 110 Storage device 111 Refrigerator 111a Shelf 112 Ingredient stocker 112a Supply port 113 Hood 114 Controller 120, 220 Cooking device 121 Cooking container 121a Lower flange 121b Opening 121c Upper flange 122 Cooking device main body 122a Cooking table 122b Container holding unit 122b1 Base frame 122b2 Container heating means 122b3 Container rotation mechanism 122b4 Rotation support mechanism 122b5 Rotation drive mechanism 122c Rotation unit 122c1 Actuator 122c2 Connecting shaft 123 Controllers 130, 230: Liquid food supply device 131; Storage tank 132; Tank mounting base 133; Pump 134; Supply hose 140, 240; Cleaning device 141; Upper surface 141a; Opening 142; Cleaning nozzle 143; Solenoid valve 150, 250; Articulated robot arm 151; Robot arm body 152; Container gripping mechanism 160, 260; Plate storage cabinet 170, 270; Transport container storage cabinet 180; Cooking control device 181; Storage device control unit 182; Cooking device control unit 183; Liquid food supply device control unit 184; Cleaning device control unit 185; Articulated robot arm control unit

C: Transport container D: Plate W: Washing water A1: Pivot A2: Rotation axis PC: Central axis of cooking container RA: Movement range of articulated robot arm RC: Intermediate area

Claims (7)

An automatic cooking equipment for cooking ingredients,
A storage device having a plurality of ingredient stockers for storing the ingredients and arranged in a rear area of the facility ;
a cooking device disposed in a front area of the equipment in front of the storage device and configured to cook the ingredients by stirring;
an articulated robot arm that is disposed in an intermediate area between the storage device and the cooking device and holds a transport container that transports the ingredients from the storage device side to the cooking device side;
a cooking control device that drives and controls at least the storage device, the cooking device, and the articulated robot arm;
The supply ports of the ingredient stockers are arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions on the front surface of the storage device according to the type of ingredient,
a supply port of each ingredient stocker and a cooking container of the cooking device are arranged within a movable range of the articulated robot arm;
The cooking control device drives and controls the storage device and the articulated robot arm to release the ingredients from the supply port of the ingredient stocker into the transport container, drives and controls the articulated robot arm and the cooking device to feed the ingredients in the transport container into the cooking container of the cooking device, and drives and controls the cooking device to stir and cook the ingredients in the cooking container. The automatic cooking equipment of claim 1, characterized in that when the cooking control device uses the articulated robot arm to transfer the ingredients from the transport container to the cooking container of the cooking device, the cooking control device tilts the opening of the cooking container toward the articulated robot arm, or the cooking control device points the opening of the cooking container vertically upward. The automatic cooking equipment described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the cooking control device moves the transport container to the supply port of the ingredient stocker using the articulated robot arm, and then the cooking control device opens the supply port of the ingredient stocker. The automatic cooking equipment according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a liquid ingredient supplying device that supplies liquid ingredients to the cooking container of the cooking device is attached to a side area of the cooking device. The cooking control device drives and controls the liquid ingredient supply device,
The cooking device has a container heating means for heating the cooking container,
The liquid ingredient supply device has a storage tank for storing the liquid ingredient, a pump for drawing up the liquid ingredient from the storage tank, and a supply hose for supplying the liquid ingredient from the pump to a cooking container of the cooking device,
The automatic cooking equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that the cooking control device retracts the supply hose of the liquid ingredient supply device from above the cooking container of the cooking device while the cooking control device heats the cooking container with the container heating means of the cooking device. 6. The automatic cooking equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a washing device for washing at least one of the cooking container of the cooking device and the transport container. Equipped with a transport container storage facility where many unused transport containers are stored flat,
7. The automatic cooking equipment according to claim 1, wherein the transport container storage is arranged within a movable range of the articulated robot arm.