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 method of operation in a food preparation and delivery system, the method comprising:
 analyzing previously delivered orders for food items to predict future orders for food items; and   loading each of a plurality of food items in a respective one of a plurality of ovens for transit to destinations, wherein at least one of the food items loaded is at least one unordered food item that is cached in a respective one of the ovens in anticipation of a new order for the respective at least one of the food items.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein loading each of a plurality of food items in a respective one of a plurality of ovens for transit to destinations includes loading a plurality of food items which have already been ordered into respective ones of the ovens. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 positioning the plurality of ovens in a cargo compartment of at least one vehicle.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 loading the food items into respective ones of the ovens without the food items being touched by a human during the loading of the food items into the respective ovens.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 withdrawing the food items from the respective ones of the ovens without the food items being touched by a human during the withdrawing of the good items from the respective ovens.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 loading the food items into packaging without the food items being touched by a human during the withdrawing of the good items from the respective ovens and the loading the food items into packaging.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 withdrawing the food items from the respective ones of the ovens without the food items being touched by a human during the withdrawing of the good items from the respective ovens.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 loading the food items into packaging without the food items being touched by a human during the withdrawing of the good items from the respective ovens and the loading the food items into packaging.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein loading the food items in the ovens occurs before a respective one of the at least one vehicle is in transit. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising;
 loading the ovens in the respective vehicle after loading the food items in the ovens.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising;
 loading the ovens in a rack.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising;
 loading the rack with the ovens in a respective one of the at least one vehicle.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising;
 loading the rack with the ovens in the respective vehicle after loading the food items in the ovens.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising;
 unloading the respective food item from respective ovens on reaching the destination.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically mechanically transferring, by at least one transfer mechanism, the food item from a respective one of the ovens to a respective package.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the food item from the respective one of the ovens to the respective package in response to a defined time being reached.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the contents of the oven to the respective package 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.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 generating a signal by the at least one controller that causes the at least one transfer mechanism to automatically mechanically transfer the food item of the respective one of the ovens to the respective package in response to a defined time being reached for a set of temperatures at which the respective oven was operated during at least part of a transit of a vehicle based on a dynamically updated estimated transit time to a delivery destination of the contents of the respective oven carried by the vehicle.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 automatically moving an ejector from a retracted configuration toward an extended configuration to move the food item out of a respective one of the ovens without the contents being touched by a human.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 producing the plurality of food items without the food items being touched by a human, and wherein the loading each of a plurality of food items in a respective one of a plurality of ovens occurs without the food items being touched by a human during the producing or the loading of the food items.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 for each of the ovens carried by a vehicle, automatically controlling by at least one controller at least one of a temperature or a cooking time based at least in part on an estimated time to destination for the respective food item to cook the food items in the ovens while the vehicle travels to each destination.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  wherein automatically controlling, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook the respective food items in the respective ovens while the vehicle travels to each of a number of destinations includes, for at least one 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. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  wherein automatically controlling, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook the respective food items in the respective 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. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 21  wherein automatically controlling, at least one of a temperature or a cooking time to cook the respective food items in the respective 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. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 for at least one vehicle that carries a number of the ovens,
 identifying an order for content that matches the content of at least one oven carried by the vehicle for which there is no destination assigned, and 
 updating the respective route the vehicle based at least in part on the order to add a destination for content that matches the content of at least one oven carried by the vehicle for which there was no destination assigned. 
   
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising:
 for the at least one vehicle, the at least one processor dynamically determining the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of at least some of the plurality of destinations to be visited during the route based at least in part on the updated respective route the vehicle is to transit.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 1  wherein analyzing previously delivered orders for food items to predict future orders for food items includes:
 analyzing a plurality of actual previous orders based at least in part on day, time, content type; and 
 assigning to at least one vehicle at least one oven containing a respective food item for which there is no destination assigned based at least in part on the analysis of the plurality of actual previous orders and a predicted demand for a day and time. 
 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a respective revised route for at least one vehicle, the revised routes moving at least one destination from a route to be transited by a first vehicle of the at least one vehicle to a route to be transited by a second vehicle of the at least one of vehicles.   
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28  wherein, for at least the first and the second vehicles, dynamically determining the estimated transit time for the respective vehicle to each of at least some of the plurality of destinations to be visited based at least in part on the revised respective route the respective vehicle is to transit. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28  wherein determining the respective revised route for at least one vehicle is in response to at least one of receipt of a new order or a change in a previously received order which has not yet been delivered. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 28  wherein determining the respective revised route for at least one vehicle is in response to detection of an actual delay in the transit of at least one of the vehicles greater than a defined threshold delay. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 28  wherein determining the respective revised route for at least one vehicle is in response to detection of a predicated delay in the transit of at least one of the vehicles greater than a defined threshold delay based on traffic information. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising:
 determining traffic information in at least almost real-time based at least in part on actual transit times of a plurality of vehicles and location information indicative of a current location of the at least one vehicle.