INDUCTIVE HEATING APPARATUS WITH MACHINE READABLE DEVICE

摘要

Heating devices and methods which are particularly useful in vending machinesfor hot products. Products such as foods, including beverages, contained inindividualcontainers such as cans are rapidly heated to serving temperature by inductionheatingfor delivery to a customer. Various types of products with different heatingcharacteristics are rapidly heated without deleterious effects on the productby varyingthe power and timing of the inductive heating. The type of product isidentified bymachine-readable indicia on the container which are automatically scannedprior toheating. The containers may be agitated before, during and/or after heating tomix thecontents and distribute heat evenly. The containers are heated in a manner tosafelyheat the product without overheating or causing damage to the container. Apowermanagement protocol turns off non-essential components of the vending machinewhilethe inductive heater is energized to permit the vending machine to operate onastandard 120 VAC, 15 A electrical circuit without overload.