Food transport system

Abstract

The present invention provides a food transport system comprising a conveyor including a controller that controls the movement of plates of food around the conveyor and determines the circulation time of each plate of food, a food heater and food cooler. The controller automatically diverts individual plates of food to the food heater if they require reheating and automatically diverts individual plates of food to the food cooler if they require cooling.

1 . A food transport system, comprising: 
 a conveyor including a plurality of mounting stations for mounting individual plates of food;    a controller that controls the movement of food around the conveyor; and    a temperature sensor that senses the temperature of the individual plates of food;    wherein the controller includes a temperature monitor that checks whether individual plate of food fall within a predetermined temperature range.    
     
     
         2 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller diverts individual plates of food to a food heater if they have a temperature that is below the predetermined temperature range.  
     
     
         3 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller diverts individual plates of food to a food cooler if they have a temperature that is above the predetermined temperature range.  
     
     
         4 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , further comprising a unique machine-readable identifier disposed on each plate of food.  
     
     
         5 . The food transport system of  claim 4 , further comprising a unique machine-readable identifier disposed on each mounting station.  
     
     
         6 . The food transport system of  claim 5 , further comprising one or more scanners for reading the machine-readable identifiers.  
     
     
         7 . The food transport system of  claim 2 , wherein the food heater is a steam heater.  
     
     
         8 . The food transport system of  claim 2 , wherein the food heater is chosen from the group consisting of microwave ovens, heat lamps and roasters.  
     
     
         9 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises a setting device, wherein the setting device is used to set the type of food to be served on individual plates and mounting bases.  
     
     
         10 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller further comprises a detecting means that detects plates of food having circulation times that exceed a predetermined time limit.  
     
     
         11 . The food transport system of  claim 10 , wherein plates of food having circulation times that exceed the predetermined time limit are diverted onto a trash conveyor.  
     
     
         12 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein each mounting station includes a visual marker that indicates the type of food to be served thereon.  
     
     
         13 . The food transport system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller outputs information concerning the types of food that requires replenishing to a monitor located in a food preparation area.  
     
     
         14 . The food transport system of  claim 2 , wherein the food heater includes a front door and a rear door, which are dimensioned for the passage of individual plates of food.  
     
     
         15 . The food transport system of  claim 14 , wherein opening and closing of the front and rear doors is controlled automatically by the controller.  
     
     
         16 . A food transport system, comprising: 
 a conveyor;    a plurality of individual plates of food positioned along the conveyor;    a controller that controls the movement of food around the conveyor; and    wherein the controller includes a detecting means that determines the circulation time of each plate of food.    
     
     
         17 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , wherein the controller diverts individual plates of food to a food heater if they have a circulation time that exceeds a predetermined heating circulation time limit.  
     
     
         18 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , wherein the controller diverts individual plates of food to a food cooler if they have a circulation time that exceeds a predetermined cooling circulation time limit.  
     
     
         19 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , wherein the controller diverts individual plates of food to a trash area if they have a circulation time that exceeds a predetermined overall circulation time limit.  
     
     
         20 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , further comprising a unique machine-readable identifier disposed on each plate of food.  
     
     
         21 . The food transport system of  claim 20 , further comprising one or more scanners for reading the machine-readable identifiers.  
     
     
         22 . The food transport system of  claim 17 , wherein the food heater is a steam heater.  
     
     
         23 . The food transport system of  claim 17 , wherein the food heater is chosen from the group consisting of microwave ovens, heat lamps and roasters.  
     
     
         24 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , wherein the controller further comprises a setting device, wherein the setting device is used to set the type of food to be served on individual plates.  
     
     
         25 . The food transport system of  claim 16 , wherein the controller outputs information concerning the types of food that requires replenishing to a monitor located in a food preparation area.  
     
     
         26 . The food transport system of  claim 17 , wherein the food heater includes a front door and a rear door, which are dimensioned for the passage of individual plates of food.  
     
     
         27 . The food transport system of  claim 26 , wherein opening and closing of the front and rear doors is controlled automatically by the controller.