Vending-kiosk based systems and methods to vend and/or prepare items, for instance prepared foods

Abstract

Kiosks, components, and methods are disclosed for preparing food to be vended to customers. The kiosk may be part of a multi-modal food distribution system in which the kiosk may operate in one or more various modes, including a kiosk vending mode, a constellation mode, and a cook en route mode to vend hot, prepared food to customers. The kiosks in the system may be configurable to change between each of the different modes depending upon information received by the system. The kiosk may be part of a kiosk-based food preparation system in which the kiosk vends prepared food items to customers. The kiosk may transmit information that may be used to provide replenishment to the kiosk. Such information may include the number of items vended, the number of items and/or supplies remaining, and/or a replenishment signal.

1 . A vending kiosk, comprising:
 at least one interior compartment;   a plurality of vending compartments, each of the vending compartments having a respective interior;   a plurality of customer-facing doors, each of the customer-facing doors movable between a first position which prevents access to the interior of a respective one of the vending compartments from an exterior of the vending kiosk and a second position which allows access to the interior of the respective one of the vending compartments from the exterior of the vending kiosk;   a plurality of service doors, each of the service doors movable between a first position which prevents access to the interior compartment from the interior of a respective one of the vending compartments and a second position which allows access to the interior compartment from the interior of the respective one of the vending compartments;   a first plurality of actuators operable to alternatively latch and unlatch or alternatively open and close respective ones of the customer-facing door;   a second plurality of actuators operable to alternatively latch and unlatch or alternatively open and close respective ones of the service doors; and   at least one processor-based control system, communicatively coupled to control the actuators of the first plurality of actuators and the second plurality of actuators, and which, for each of the vending compartments unlatches the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if the service door of the respective vending compartment is latched or closed.   
     
     
         2 - 3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if an input code is verified. 
     
     
         5 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if detected biometric data has been verified. 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if the respective compartment is at or below a defined temperature that is sufficiently cool for the customer to handle such without causing bodily harm. 
     
     
         8 . The vending kiosk of any of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if a food item in the respective compartment is at or below a defined temperature that is sufficiently cool for the customer to handle such without causing bodily harm. 
     
     
         9 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if all of the interior surfaces of the respective compartment is at or below a defined temperature that is sufficiently cool for the customer to handle such without causing bodily harm. 
     
     
         10 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1  wherein, for each of the vending compartments, the at least one processor-based control system unlatches or opens the customer-facing door of the respective vending compartment only if there is a sufficient clearance for the customer-facing door to open. 
     
     
         11 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a housing; and a number of interior compartments housed in the housing; and an output transport mechanism operable to transfer food items from the interior compartments to the vending compartments via the respective service doors. 
     
     
         12 . The vending kiosk of  claim 11  wherein output transport mechanism comprises at least one input transport elevator. 
     
     
         13 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , and further comprising: a supply door sized and dimensioned to removably receive a supply rack in the housing. 
     
     
         14 . The vending kiosk of  claim 13  wherein the housing has at least one refrigerated portion and at least one compressor, and the supply door provides access to the refrigerated portion for the supply rack. 
     
     
         15 . The vending kiosk of  claim 14 , further comprising: an input transport mechanism operable to transfer food items from the supply rack to the interior compartments. 
     
     
         16 . The vending kiosk of  claim 15  wherein input transport mechanism comprises at least one input transport elevator. 
     
     
         17 . The vending kiosk of  claim 14 , further comprising: a set of thermal insulation that thermally insulates the refrigerated portion from the at least one interior compartment. 
     
     
         18 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a housing, wherein in the at least one interior compartment includes a plurality of interior compartments housed in the housing; and an interior compartment transport mechanism operable to move the interior compartments relative to the vending compartments. 
     
     
         19 . The vending kiosk of  claim 18  wherein the interior compartment transport mechanism is operable to move the interior compartments along a first axis and a second axis, the second axis perpendicular to the first axis. 
     
     
         20 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a number of image sensors positioned to capture images of each food item in at least one position along a path between the at least one interior compartment and a respective one of the vending compartments, inclusive of the interior of the vending compartments, and wherein the at least one processor-based control system receives image data that represents images of the food items. 
     
     
         21 . The vending kiosk of  claim 20  wherein the at least one processor-based control system determines whether there are any foreign objects on or in the food items based on the received image data. 
     
     
         22 . The vending kiosk of  claim 20  wherein the at least one processor-based control system determines whether the food items are finished cooking based on the received image data. 
     
     
         23 . The vending kiosk of  claim 20  wherein the at least one processor-based control system determines whether the food items satisfy at least one quality control condition based on the received image data. 
     
     
         24 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a number of metal sensors positioned to sense each food item in at least one position along a path between the at least one interior compartment and a respective one of the vending compartments, inclusive of the interior of the vending compartments, and wherein the at least one processor-based control system receives data from the metal sensors and determines whether any of the food items contains metal. 
     
     
         25 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a number of temperature sensors positioned to sense a temperature of each food item in at least one position along a path between the at least one interior compartment and a respective one of the vending compartments, inclusive of the interior of the vending compartments, and wherein the at least one processor-based control system receives data from the temperature sensors and determines whether each of the food items is within a specified range of temperatures. 
     
     
         26 - 27 . (canceled) 
     
     
         28 . The vending kiosk of  claim 1 , further comprising: a first plurality of motors or solenoids operable to alternatively open and close respective ones of the customer-facing door; and the at least one processor-based control system is communicatively coupled to control the customer-facing doors by control of the motors or solenoids of the first plurality of motors or solenoids.