Oh, patents! Zume Pizza Inc.

Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Zume Pizza Inc., has pioneered the cobotic production line where humans and robots work together, to prepare and deliver, piping hot, just-out-of-the-oven pizza pies, in Zume-patented, 100% compostable containers. The robots at the Zume Pizza Inc., hub all have names. Pepe is the tomato sauce dispensing robot. Marta is the tomato sauce spreading robot, while humans are still adding toppings and adjusting the robotic imperfections, in 22 seconds flat. A third 6-axis robotic arm called Bruno, then transfers the uncooked pizzas, from the conveyor belt to the ovens. Finally, Leonardo the cutter bot, slices the pizza pies into 8 even slices. 

Beyond Pepe, Marta, Bruno and Leonardo, collaborating with humans on the Zume pizza cobotic assembly line, Zume Pizza Inc., has also pioneered, bake-on-the-way pizza delivery trucks, equipped with patented payload ovens. Zume Pizza Inc., pizza pies are thus optionally fired en route, according to distance and optimized delivery routes, using a dynamic fulfillment queue, and a proprietary mobile delivery network. Thus, when Zume Pizza Inc., pies are delivered, using the bake-on-the-way Zume UPS-size delivery trucks, the pies are indeed delivered straight from the oven to the customer. Just-out-of-the-oven delivery resolves by the same token all prior art issues of food alteration due to delays in delivery (i.e.; soggy pizza crusts) 

The Zume Pizza Inc., cobotic production assembly line invention is recited in the following patent application family: 

• TW201740340 (A) - On-demand robotic food assembly and related systems, devices and methods
• US2017290345 (A1) - On-demand robotic food assembly and related systems, devices and methods
• WO2017177041 (A2) - On-demand robotic food assembly and related systems, devices and methods

In particular, the US patent application discloses a cobotic food assembly line with one or more robots, cooperating with humans to fulfill orders for the preparation and packaging of food items. The food can be optionally loaded into ovens mounted on racks. In turn, the oven payload can be transferred to delivery vehicles where the food is cooked on the way. 

In particular, the US patent application discloses sensors operating to detect the movement and position of the food, on the one or more conveyor belts; motors controlling the conveyor belts, and controllers driving the robotic arm tools. For example, the patent application specifically describes the controllers driving Marta’s spiral movements invoked in spreading sauce on the pizza pies, or the controllers driving Pepe’s sauce dispensing, on the flattened pizza dough. 

The US patent application discloses additional robots. In particular, the US patent application discloses one or more cheese-dispensing robots. The one or more cheese-dispensing robots may each dispense different sorts of cheeses (e.g.; one robot for mozzarella, one for goat cheese), or one robot can selectively retrieve different sorts of cheeses. The cheese dispensing robots can measure the quantities of cheese dispensed, and be equipped with various end-of-arm tools, such as spoons or rakes, to spread or deposit the cheese on the flattened pizza dough. 

Likewise, the US patent application also discloses one or more toppings robots, which can each dispense one topping. Alternatively, one robot can retrieve different sorts of the toppings, divided into meat toppings (e.g.; Canadian bacon, pepperoni or ham), and non-meat toppings (e.g.; mushrooms, peppers or olives). Likewise, the toppings robot may also have various end-of-arm tools, such as facing digits, a scoop, a rake or suction, designed to dispense a topping on the flattened pizza dough. 

Various additional sorts of dispensing end-tools are also described, such as nozzles (for viscous items like cream cheese), slicers (for meats like salami or ham), graters (for cheese), rotating blades for cutting slices of tomato, onion or carrots. A rotating carousel is also described, equipped with several containers which might be used to dispense various sorts of toppings onto the flattened pizza dough, traveling on the conveyor belt.

The additional robots disclosed also comprise one or more packaging robots, and one or more cutter robots. One packaging robot is designed to retrieve packaging (i.e. a tray or a bottom plate with a domed cover) from a stack, and move it onto a conveyor where a transfer conveyor will place the cooked or partially cooked pizza pie with toppings. The cutter robot, aka Leonardo, is designed with blades to cut the pies, in cooperation with the packaging tray or bottom plate with cutting grooves and a rim, preventing the pie from slipping or sliding, when the pizza is being cut. The cutter robot is housed inside a cover with side walls and a front window, enabling the operator to adjust the position of the incoming, partially packaged, pizzas under the robot's blades.  Finally, after Leonardo the cutter bot has cut the pizza, another packaging bot is described. The second packaging bot is designed to close the packaging, bringing down the domed upper part so that it latches with the packaging bottom plate or tray. 

The US patent application also discloses scrapers or wipers, made of metal or silicone rubber, designed to remove debris from the conveyor belt, towards the end of the conveyor. 

The US patent application further describes the front-end computer server, processing customer orders, which include topping specifications, delivery address and ID. In turn, the front end computer communicates with the assembly line controllers, and other components of the workflow, such as screens used by humans, the robots and the ovens, in view of coordinating, ordering, and sequencing the assembly of food items. 

The US patent application describes the ovens and the racks or grills which can withstand the heat of the ovens, on a cooking conveyor belt, designed to convey the “cheesed”, “sauced” and “topped” pizza doughs through and out of the ovens. The description of the ovens includes specification of the temperature of the ovens, and speed of the conveyors, according to the specifics of the pizza (crust type, toppings, desirable or requested amount of charring), and the means of controlling temperature and speed, using a processor, or an operator, depending on the implementation.  

Thus, each component and aspect of the cobotic food assembly line, and its various possible implementations are recited, notably in the US patent application. 

The abstract of the US patent application is included below, together with the patent Figure 2A of the cobotic pizza assembly line, showing the layout of the assembly hub. Images of the marketed robots Pepe, Marta and Bruno, already operating at the Zume Pizza Inc., cobotic assembly line, are included above. 

An on-demand robotic food assembly line can include one or more conveyors and one or more robots, operable to assemble food items in response to received orders for food items, and one or more ovens operable to, for example, partially cook assembled food items. The on-demand robotic food assembly line can optionally package the assembled and partially cooked food items in packaging, and optionally load the packaged partially cooked food items into portable cooking units (e.g., ovens) that are optionally loaded into racks that are, in turn, optionally loaded into delivery vehicles, where the food items are individually cooked under controlled conditions while en route to consumer destinations, such the cooking of each food item is completed just prior to arrival at the consumer destination location. A dynamic fulfillment queue for control of assembly is maintained based at least in part on estimated transit time for orders. [Abstract US2017290345 (A1)]

Reference
Zume Pizza Inc. 
https://zumepizza.com/