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US-12617587-B2 - Material dispensing device

US12617587B2US 12617587 B2US12617587 B2US 12617587B2US-12617587-B2

Abstract

The technology provides a material dispensing device and a method of dispensing metered amounts of materials from collapsible material containers.

Inventors

  • Moshe Aknin
  • Dor JACOBI
  • Yogev NAIIM
  • Oded Shoseyov

Assignees

  • SAVOREAT LTD.
  • YISSUM RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT COMPANY OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM LTD

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20220317

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . A material dispensing device comprising: a horizontal mounting plate configured to receive on its surface a collapsible cartridge containing a material, a longitudinally moving cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable for compressing said collapsible cartridge against the mounting plate, the longitudinally moving cartridge compressing assembly comprising: a longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder mounted over Raid mounting plate at a distance being substantially equal to a thickness of a material-free cartridge; a first forward and a backward drive motor coupled to said longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder such that when the drive motor is actuated to a forward direction the longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder moves in a forward direction over the collapsible material-containing cartridge, thereby compressing the collapsible cartridge and displacing the material from a first region within the collapsible cartridge to a second region within the collapsible cartridge, wherein the distance between the first and second regions is defined by a distance moved by the longitudinally moving roller of revolving cylinder, and when the motor is actuated to a reverse direction the longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder retracts in a direction over the compressed portion of the cartridge, and a material dispensing assembly configured and operable to downwardly press said collapsible cartridge, to thereby dispense a metered amount of a material contained in the cartridge through a material outlet, the material dispensing assembly positioned at an angle to said mounting plate and at a position aligned with a material outlet of said cartridge, the material dispensing assembly comprising a pressing rod; a second forward and a backward drive motor coupled to said pressing rod such that the drive motor is actuated to a forward direction the rod moves in a downward direction pressing the collapsible material-containing cartridge, thereby compressing the collapsible cartridge and dispensing an amount of the material through the material outlet, and when the motor is actuated to a reverse direction the rod retracts in a direction away from the cartridge.
  2. 2 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the material outlet is positioned at an opposite face of the cartridge relative to a surface of the cartridge on which the dispensing assembly presses.
  3. 3 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder is mounted over said mounting plate at a contact distance from said mounting plate.
  4. 4 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the longitudinally moving roller or revolving cylinder is mounted on one end of said mounting plate and positioned to compress the material-filled cartridge towards a second end of said mounting plate.
  5. 5 . The device according to claim 1 , wherein the first region is further away from the material outlet and the second region of the collapsible cartridge is closer to the material outlet.
  6. 6 . The device according to claim 1 , being a refrigerated device.
  7. 7 . A system comprising one or more material dispensing devices, each material dispensing device comprising a horizontal mounting plate configured to receive on its surface a collapsible cartridge containing a material, a longitudinally moving cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable for compressing said collapsible cartridge against the mounting plate, and a material dispensing assembly configured and operable to downwardly press said collapsible cartridge, to thereby dispense a metered amount of a material contained in the cartridge through a material outlet, and further comprising a cutting tool configured and operable to release a metered amount of the material from each respective cartridge outlet.
  8. 8 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein each of said one or more devices is individually addressable or individually operated to dispense a different material, a different amount of the material, dispense a material together or before or after or in an alternating fashion with another same or different material dispensed from a different device.
  9. 9 . The system according to claim 7 , being a 3D printing or manufacturing unit or a digital printing unit.
  10. 10 . The system according to 7 , further comprising a material mixing unit, a product assembly unit and a product cooking unit.
  11. 11 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein the cutting tool is a movable cutting surface or an extended movable wire, thread or rod movable below the outlet in a direction substantially perpendicular to the flow path of the material from the cartridge outlet.
  12. 12 . A method of forming a food product, the method comprising: in a system comprising a plurality of devices, each device comprising a mounting plate provided with a collapsible material-containing cartridge having a material outlet and further comprising a movable recipient surface configured to receive a metered amount of the material from the material outlet of each dispensing device, dispensing material from a first device onto the recipient surface by compressing the collapsible material-containing cartridge in said first device to displace a material in said cartridge to a region of the material outlet, and downwardly pressing on the material above the material outlet to cause dispensing of a metered amount of the material via the outlet; moving the recipient surface from beneath an outlet of the first device to an outlet of a second device, and dispensing a metered amount of material from the second device; and repeating the foregoing steps until all desired ingredients of the food product from the devices are dispensed onto the recipient surface.
  13. 13 . The system according to claim 7 , further comprising a movable recipient surface configured to be moved to beneath receive a metered amount of the material from the material outlet of each dispensing device.
  14. 14 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein, in each material dispensing device, the material outlet is positioned at an opposite face of the cartridge relative to a surface of the cartridge on which the dispensing assembly presses.
  15. 15 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein, in each material dispensing device, the cartridge compressing assembly comprises a longitudinally moving element mounted over said mounting plate and being at a contact distance from said mounting plate.
  16. 16 . The system according to claim 15 , wherein the contact distance is a distance that is substantially equal to a thickness of the material-free cartridge or to a thickness of a region of the cartridge that is free or empty of the material.
  17. 17 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein, in each material dispensing device, the longitudinally moving element is mounted on one end of said mounting plate and positioned to compress the material-filled cartridge towards a second end of said mounting plate.
  18. 18 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein, in each material dispensing device, the longitudinally moving element is a roller, a longitudinally moving piston, or a pushing surface, or a revolving cylinder.
  19. 19 . The system according to claim 7 , wherein, in each material dispensing device, the longitudinally moving element is configured and operable to move at a forward direction, over the collapsible material-containing cartridge, thereby compressing the collapsible cartridge and displacing an amount of the material from a first region being further away from the material outlet to a second region of the collapsible cartridge being closer to the material outlet.
  20. 20 . The system according to claim 19 , wherein the longitudinally moving element is configured and operable to retract and move at the opposite reverse direction, over the compressed portion of the cartridge.

Description

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD The invention generally contemplates a material dispensing device for use in dispensing metered material amounts from closed compressible containers. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are numerous devices which have been developed for dispensing materials from collapsible containers. While these devices have been used in industrial and small-scale processes, they were found inefficient in dispensing the full amount contained in the collapsible container and more importantly found inaccurate for delivering metered amounts of materials. GENERAL DESCRIPTION The technology developed by the inventors of the invention disclosed herein aims at providing an efficient, easy to use and accurate means for dispensing small, metered amounts of materials from collapsible or compressible containers. The dispensing devices of the invention have been found useful not only in dispensing metered amounts of materials, in amounts ranging from several milliliters or several hundred milliliters, but more specifically in dispensing materials that are typically more difficult to dispense in accurate mounts. Such materials may be viscous materials typically used in the food industry as well as materials which flowability is intimately affected by temperature. The dispensing unit of the invention is generally configured to dispense materials from horizontally oriented 3-dimensionally structured, at times asymmetric cartridges by utilizing a longitudinally or horizontally movable pressing roller and a vertically movable dispensing rod, operable separate or in sequence, to dispense finely tuned or predetermined amounts of the material from the cartridge. By moving the pressing roller, a predefined distance from its resting position, while applying compression force onto the cartridge or while pressing the cartridge and its content, a predefined material amount may be movable from one volume region of the cartridge to another. Similarly, by downwardly moving the dispensing rod onto the cartridge comprising the amount, at a region above the cartridge outlet, a predefined amount of the material may be dispensed onto a receiving surface positioned below the device. Thus, devices, systems and methods of the invention are particularly suitable for manufacturing patty-like food products from viscous, fibrous or otherwise thick materials or material compositions. In a first of its aspects the invention provides a device comprising a mounting plate configured to receive (on its surface) a collapsible cartridge containing a material (e.g., the cartridge being positioned parallel to the plate),a longitudinally moving cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable for compressing said collapsible cartridge (against the mounting plate), andoptionally a material dispensing assembly configured and operable to downwardly press said collapsible cartridge, e.g., to dispense a metered amount of a material contained in the cartridge through a material outlet positioned at an opposite face of the cartridge. The invention further provides a device comprising a mounting plate configured to receive (on its surface) a collapsible material-containing cartridge (e.g., that is positioned parallel to the plate),a longitudinally moving cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable for compressing said collapsible material-containing cartridge (against the mounting plate), andoptionally a material dispensing assembly configured and operable to downwardly press said collapsible material-containing cartridge to dispense a metered amount of a material contained in the cartridge through a material outlet positioned at an opposite face of the cartridge. Also provided is a device comprising a mounting plate configured to receive a collapsible material-containing cartridge,a longitudinally movable cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable to transit from one position along the mounting plate to another position along the plate and press said cartridge against the mounting plate, thereby causing displacement of a material contained in the cartridge from one region of the cartridge to another, anda material dispensing assembly configured and operable to downwardly press said collapsible material-containing cartridge to dispense or to cause dispensing of a metered amount of the material via the at least one material outlet. In another aspect, there is provided a device (e.g., a dispensing device) for supplying a metered amount of a material from a collapsible cartridge having at least one material outlet, the device comprising a mounting plate configured to receive a collapsible material-containing (or non-compressed) cartridge,a longitudinally movable cartridge compressing assembly configured and operable for compressing said collapsible material-containing (or non-compressed) cartridge (against the mounting plate), to thereby cause displacement of the material from one region of the cartridge to another, anda material dispen