Systems and methods of preparing food products

Abstract

A food preparation and delivery system can include a plurality of cooking units such as ovens, each containing one or more prepared, but partially or completely uncooked, food items. The food items in the cooking units are for delivery to each of a corresponding plurality of consumer delivery destinations. The cooking units are loaded into a cargo compartment of a delivery vehicle for delivery to the plurality of consumer delivery destinations. The cooking conditions within the cooking unit are controlled such the each food item is cooked prior to arrival at the consumer destination location. In at least some embodiments, the estimated delivery time for each consumer destination location can be dynamically updated and the cooking conditions within the cooking unit adjusted.

1 . A portable cooking and delivery system, comprising:
 a vehicle having a cargo compartment;   a number of ovens, each oven having a respective heating element and at least one wall that forms an interior which is thermally insulated from an exterior thereof and which is thermally insulated from the respective interior of each other ones of the ovens;   a packaging rack sized and dimensioned to be received in the cargo compartment of the vehicle, the packaging rack sized and dimensioned to each hold packaging; and   a transfer mechanism operable to mechanically transfer contents of the oven to respective packaging held by the packaging rack without the contents being touched by a human during the transfer from the oven to the respective packaging.   
     
     
         2 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one controller, the at least one controller communicatively coupled to automatically causes the transfer mechanism to mechanically transfer the contents of the oven to the respective packaging held by the packaging rack in response to a defined time being reached for cooking the contents of the oven at a defined temperature as specified by a cooking schedule.   
     
     
         3 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the packaging rack includes a plurality of slots, each slot sized and dimensioned to releasably hold a respective box, the boxes sized and dimensioned to receive the contents of a respective one of the ovens, and the transfer mechanism includes at least one mechanical arm selectively moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration. 
     
     
         4 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a securement structure in the cargo compartment of the vehicle that releasably secures the packaging rack in the cargo compartment.   
     
     
         5 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a securement structure in the cargo compartment of the vehicle that releasably secures the ovens in the cargo compartment.   
     
     
         6 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the transfer mechanism comprises an ejector moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration, wherein movement of the ejector from the retracted configuration to the expanded configuration moves the contents of the oven out of the oven without the contents being touched by a human. 
     
     
         7 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 at least one controller, the at least one controller communicatively coupled to the ejector to cause the ejector to move the contents of the oven out of the oven without the contents being touched by a human in response to reaching a defined cooking time for a set of temperatures at which the respective oven was operated during at least part of a transit of the vehicle based on a dynamically updated estimated transit time to a delivery destination of the contents of the respective oven.   
     
     
         8 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein at least one of the ovens includes an ejector moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration, wherein the ejector is selectively positionable based on a dimension of the contents of the oven to bias the contents of the oven against movement during transit of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The portable cooking and delivery system of  claim 1  wherein the transfer mechanism includes at least one mechanical arm selectively moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration. 
     
     
         10 . A method of operation in a food preparation and delivery system, the method comprising:
 for each of a number of ovens carried by a vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook a number of food items in the ovens while the vehicle travels to each of a number of destinations; and   automatically mechanically transferring, by at least one transfer mechanism, the food items from respective ones of the ovens to respective packaging without human contact with the food items during the transfer of the food items from the respective ovens to the respective packaging.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating a signal, via the at least one controller, that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the respective food items from the respective ovens to the respective package in response to respective ones of a number of defined times being reached.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating a signal, via the at least one controller, that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the respective food items from the respective ovens to the respective package in response to a respective ones of a number of defined times being reached for cooking the food items in the respective ovens at respective ones of a number of defined temperatures as specified by one or more cooking schedules.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 generating a signal, via the at least one controller, that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the respective food items from the respective ovens to the respective package in response to a number of defined times being reached for respective ones of a set of temperatures at which the respective oven was operated during at least part of a transit of the vehicle based on a dynamically updated estimated transit time to a respective delivery destination for the respective food item.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the at least one transfer mechanism includes an ejector moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration, and further comprising:
 moving the ejector from the retracted configuration toward the expanded configuration to move at least one of the food items out of the respective one of the ovens without the food item being touched by a human. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the at least one transfer mechanism includes an ejector moveable between a retracted configuration and an expanded configuration, and further comprising:
 positioning the ejector based on a dimension of at least one of the food items sufficiently to bias the respective food item in the respective oven against movement of the respective food item during transit of the vehicle. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 positioning the plurality of ovens in a cargo compartment of a vehicle.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the number of ovens includes a plurality of ovens, and further comprising:
 loading each of a plurality of food items in a respective one of the plurality of ovens. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 positioning the plurality of ovens in a cargo compartment of a vehicle after loading the food items into respective ones of the oven.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 10  wherein for each of the number of ovens carried by a vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook a number of food items in the ovens while the vehicle travels to each of a number of destinations includes for each of a plurality of ovens carried by the vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time based at least in part on a respective estimated transit time to a respective destination for the respective food item. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 10  wherein for each of the number of ovens carried by a vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook a number of food items in the ovens while the vehicle travels to each of a number of destinations includes for each of a plurality of ovens carried by the vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time based at least in part on a respective dynamically estimated transit time to a respective destination for the respective food item. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 10  wherein for each of the number of ovens carried by a vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook a number of food items in the ovens while the vehicle travels to each of a number of destinations includes for each of a plurality of ovens carried by the vehicle, automatically controlling, via at least one controller, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time based at least in part on a respective dynamically estimated transit time to a respective destination for the respective food item while the vehicle travels to each of at least two destinations which are different from and spaced apart from one another. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 10  wherein automatically mechanically transferring, by at least one transfer mechanism, the contents of the oven to a respective package includes automatically mechanically transferring, by at least one transfer mechanism, the contents of the oven to a respective package held by a packaging rack.