Holding or cooking oven
First Claim
1. In combination with plurality of trays, each having a bottom wall and side and end walls attached to the bottom wall and extending upwardly to an upper rim to provide an upwardly opening interior for holding a food, an oven for transferring heat to the interiors of the trays and the foods in such interiors, said oven comprising:
- a cabinet;
a plurality of tray-receiving members in the cabinet, each tray-receiving member having a generally horizontal cross wall and side walls connected to and extending generally vertically from the horizontal cross wall to provide a generally U-shaped cross section, each tray-receiving member being open at its ends, the trays being in at least some of the tray-receiving members such that the side walls of the trays are along the side walls of the tray-receiving members in which they are located, the side walls of the tray-receiving members serving to isolate the interiors of the trays from each other so that the flavors of foods in different trays do not transfer; and
an electric heating element positioned in the cabinet to direct heat into the trays in the tray-receiving members.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An oven for maintaining cooked foods at temperatures suitable for serving the foods or even for cooking foods has a cabinet containing multiple heat sinks of channel-shaped configuration. The ends of the heat sinks open out of the cabinet, so that any heat sink may receive a tray of food from either the front or back of the cabinet. The interior surface of the heat sinks generally conform to the cross-sectional shapes of the trays, so that the heat sinks lie along the bottoms and sides of the trays. The heat sinks have a heating elements extended along their sides and bottoms for elevating the temperature of the heat sinks and directing heat into the trays within the heat sinks. In addition, each heat sink also contains a cover which may close the top of the tray in the heat sink and thereby retard the escape of moisture from the tray or may vent the interior of the tray.
43 Citations
15 Claims
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1. In combination with plurality of trays, each having a bottom wall and side and end walls attached to the bottom wall and extending upwardly to an upper rim to provide an upwardly opening interior for holding a food, an oven for transferring heat to the interiors of the trays and the foods in such interiors, said oven comprising:
- a cabinet;
a plurality of tray-receiving members in the cabinet, each tray-receiving member having a generally horizontal cross wall and side walls connected to and extending generally vertically from the horizontal cross wall to provide a generally U-shaped cross section, each tray-receiving member being open at its ends, the trays being in at least some of the tray-receiving members such that the side walls of the trays are along the side walls of the tray-receiving members in which they are located, the side walls of the tray-receiving members serving to isolate the interiors of the trays from each other so that the flavors of foods in different trays do not transfer; and
an electric heating element positioned in the cabinet to direct heat into the trays in the tray-receiving members. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
- a cabinet;
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9. In combination with a plurality of trays, each having a bottom wall and side and end walls attached to the bottom wall and extending upwardly to a laterally directed lip to provide an upwardly opening interior for holding food, an oven for transferring heat to the interiors of the trays and the foods in such interiors, said oven comprising:
- a cabinet;
first and second members within the cabinet to define open-ended enclosures for receiving the trays, each first member being generally U-shaped in cross-section and including a horizontal cross wall and side walls extending generally vertically from the horizontal cross wall, the second member providing a cross wall that extends generally horizontally between the side walls of at least one first member and is spaced from the horizontal cross wall of the first member to complete an enclosure in which one of the trays is located, whereby the trays in different enclosures are isolated from each other and flavors do not transfer laterally within the oven from the food in one tray to the foods in other trays; and
a heating element located along one of the horizontal cross walls at each enclosure for heating a tray in the enclosure. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
- a cabinet;
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15. The combination comprising:
- a cabinet;
a plurality of heat sinks in the cabinet, each heat sink being formed from a good conductor of heat and having a bottom wall and side walls that extend upwardly from the bottom wall and together with the bottom wall define a cavity having ends, at least one of which opens out of the heat sink;
a heating element on each heat sink for elevating the temperature of the heat sink, each heating element being controlled individually for controlling the temperature of its heat sink; and
at least one food container located in the cavity of one of the heat sinks, the food container having a bottom wall that is located along the bottom wall of the heat sink, side walls that extend upwardly from the container bottom wall and are located along the side walls of the heat sink, and end walls that extend upwardly from the container bottom wall and connect the container side walls, whereby heat from the heat sink is transferred to the food container.
- a cabinet;
Specification