Food service material dispensers, systems, and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10667628-B2
Application number	US-201916686261-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 18, 2019
Priority date	Dec 12, 2017
Publication date	Jun 2, 2020
Grant date	Jun 2, 2020

Abstract

Systems for providing on-demand food service material printing for food service are provided herein. A food service material dispenser comprises a roll holder configured to hold a roll of food service material, one or more rollers, and a motor configured to operate to translate the food service material along a path within the dispenser. The dispenser includes a cutting arrangement configured to perform a cut of the food service material to form the sheet of food service material that defines a size associated with a food service order. The dispenser also includes a printer configured to print at least one of order information or personalization information on the food service material that is based on the associated food service order. The dispenser further includes a chute configured to dispense the sheet of food service material, which includes the at least one of order information or personalization information printed thereon.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A food service material dispenser for dispensing a sheet of food service material, the food service material dispenser comprising:
a roll holder configured to hold a roll of food service material;
at least one roller positioned along a dispensing pathway of the dispenser;
a motor configured to operate the at least one roller to cause movement of a leading edge of the roll of food service material along the dispensing pathway;
a cutting arrangement positioned along the dispensing pathway downstream of the roll holder and configured to cut the food service material to form the sheet of food service material;
a printer positioned along the dispensing pathway downstream of the roll holder and configured to print at least one of order information or personalization information on the food service material, wherein the at least one of order information or personalization information is based on a food service order associated with the sheet of food service material;
a chute positioned relative to the dispensing pathway downstream of both the cutting arrangement and the printer; and
a controller configured to cause dispensing of the sheet of food service material along the dispensing pathway and out of the chute, wherein the dispensed sheet of food service material includes the at least one of order information or personalization information printed thereon.

2. The food service material dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the personalization information is related to a customer of the food service order associated with the sheet of food service material.

3. The food service material dispenser of claim 2 , wherein the personalization information for the customer is based on at least one of an order history of the customer, a customer profile for the customer, one or more stored preferences of the customer, social media data regarding the customer, or purchase or trend data regarding the customer.

4. The food service material dispenser of claim 2 , wherein the personalization information is based on at least one of data provided with the food service order, a customer card used for purchase of the food service order, a loyalty card used in conjunction with the food service order, data obtained from a user device that was used in conjunction with the food service order, or a local promotion.

5. The food service material dispenser of claim 2 , wherein the personalization information includes an advertisement that is generated based on the personalization information of the customer.

6. The food service material dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the cutting arrangement is configured to cut the food service material at one of a plurality of lengths or widths to form the sheet of food service material such that the sheet of food service material has dimensions that are specific to the food service order.

7. The food service material dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to receive dispensing instructions from a remote device and, in response, cause operation of one or more components of the dispenser to cause dispensing of the sheet of food service material.

8. The food service material dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
determine, based on the food service order, the order information or the personalization information to print on the food service material; and
cause the printer to operate to print the determined order information or personalization information on the food service material.

9. The food service material dispenser of claim 1 , wherein the food service order includes at least one or more custom order characteristics that are specific to the food service order, wherein the printer is configured to print the order information to include the one or more custom order characteristics on the food service material such that it is readable to a food order serviceperson during preparation of the food order.

10. The food service material dispenser of claim 9 , wherein the printer is configured to print order information and personalization information on the food service material, wherein the order information that includes the one or more custom order characteristics is printed in a backwards direction on a same surface of the food service material as the personalization information, and wherein the food service material is at least partially translucent to enable the food order serviceperson to read the order information that includes the one or more custom order characteristics.

11. The food service material dispenser of claim 9 , wherein the printer is configured to print order information and personalization information on the food service material, wherein the order information that includes the one or more custom order characteristics is printed on a first surface of the food service material, wherein the personalization information is printed on a second surface of the food service material, and wherein the first surface is opposite the second surface.

12. A system for causing dispensing of a sheet of food service material for use in creating a food service order, the system comprising:
a food request module configured to receive a request for food service for a customer, wherein the request for food service includes the food service order; and
a food service material dispenser for dispensing the sheet of food service material, the food service material dispenser comprising:
a communication element configured to communicate with a remote computing device;

a roll holder configured to hold a roll of food service material;
at least one roller positioned along a dispensing pathway of the dispenser;
a motor configured to operate the at least one roller to cause movement of a leading edge of the roll of food service material along the dispensing pathway;
a cutting arrangement positioned along the dispensing pathway downstream of the roll holder and configured to cut the food service material to form the sheet of food service material;
a printer positioned along the dispensing pathway downstream of the roll holder and configured to print at least one of order information or personalization information on the food service material; wherein the at least one of order information or personalization information is based on a food service order associated with the sheet of food service material;
a chute positioned relative to the dispensing pathway downstream of both the cutting arrangement and the printer; and
a controller configured to cause dispensing of the sheet of food service material along the dispensing pathway and out of the chute, wherein the dispensed sheet of food service material includes the at least one of order information or personalization information printed thereon.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the personalization information is related to the customer of the food service order associated with the sheet of food service material.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the personalization information for the customer is based on at least one of an order history of the customer, a customer profile for the customer, one or more stored preferences of the customer, social media data regarding the customer, or purchase or trend data regarding the customer.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the personalization information is based on at least one of data provided with the food service order, a customer card used for purchase of the food service order, a loyalty card used in conjunction with the food service order, data obtained from a user device that was used in conjunction with the food service order, or a local promot

Assignees

• Gpcp Ip Holdings Llc

Inventors

• Auda Michelle Lynn
• Huffaker Daniel
• Cross Brandon Seth
• Geddes Daniel James
• Wilson Lenox Gregory
• Borke Brian Scott
• Morgan Jason Aaron
• Kennedy Jeffery Burle

Classifications

• G07F17/0064

  for processing of food articles (cooking vessels A47J37/00) · CPC title

• B41J11/663

  Controlling cutting, cutting resulting in special shapes of the cutting line, e.g. controlling cutting positions, e.g. for cutting in the immediate vicinity of a printed image · CPC title

• G07F13/10

  with associated dispensing of containers, e.g. cups or other articles · CPC title

• H04N1/00676

  Cutting · CPC title

• G06Q50/12

  Hotels or restaurants · CPC title