| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide heating devices and methods which are particularly useful in vending machines for hot products. <P>SOLUTION: Products such as foods, including beverages, contained in individual containers, such as cans, are heated rapidly to serving temperature by induction heating for delivery to a customer. Various types of products with different heating characteristics are rapidly heated, without deleterious effects on the product by varying the power and timing of the inductive heating. The type of product is identified by a machine-readable mark on the container which are automatically scanned prior to heating. The containers are heated, in a manner of safely heating of the product, without overheating or causing damages to the container. A power management protocol turns off the non-essential components of the vending machine, while the inductive heater is energized to permit the vending machine to operate on a standard 120 VAC, 15 A electrical circuit without overload. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT |
