Food holding cabinet assembly
First Claim
1. A food holding cabinet assembly for holding pre-processed food products comprising:
- a steamer assembly capable of containing a water reservoir;
first heater means for heating water in the water reservoir and maintaining the water in the water reservoir at a first substantially fixed temperature;
a cabinet housing coupled to said steamer assembly and having air circulated therein;
second heater means for heating air passing through the cabinet housing and maintaining the air in the cabinet housing at a second substantially fixed temperature so as to maintain a substantially fixed relative humidity within said cabinet housing;
a plurality of compartments arranged in said housing with each compartment having an openable and closeable drawer; and
a carrier insert adapted to be removably supported in each of said drawers, each said carrier insert capable of holding a plurality of said pre-processed food so that said pre-processed food products in said carrier inserts are conditioned at the substantially fixed relative humidity of said food cabinet housing so as to maintain the product appearance of the pre-processed food products.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A holding cabinet assembly for holding pre-processed food products and a process for maintaining the product appearance of a pre-processed food product for a predetermined amount of time includes a steamer assembly capable of containing heated water which is maintained at a first substantially fixed temperature and a cabinet housing coupled to the steamer assembly and having air circulated therein with the air in the cabinet housing being maintained at a second substantially fixed temperature. As a result of controlling and maintaining the temperature of the water in the steamer assembly and air in the food cabinet housing, the relative humidity of the food cabinet housing is maintained at a substantially fixed value. In this holding cabinet assembly, a plurality of compartments are arranged in the housing with each compartment including an openable and closeable drawer. A carrier insert is adapted to be removably supported in each of the drawers. Each of the carrier inserts is capable of holding a plurality of the pre-processed food products whereby the food products in the carrier inserts can be conditioned at the fixed relative humidity of the food cabinet housing. In addition, a control indicator is provided for controlling and sequencing the removal of pre-processed food products from each compartment before the expiration of a predetermined amount of time.
41 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A food holding cabinet assembly for holding pre-processed food products comprising:
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a steamer assembly capable of containing a water reservoir;
first heater means for heating water in the water reservoir and maintaining the water in the water reservoir at a first substantially fixed temperature;
a cabinet housing coupled to said steamer assembly and having air circulated therein;
second heater means for heating air passing through the cabinet housing and maintaining the air in the cabinet housing at a second substantially fixed temperature so as to maintain a substantially fixed relative humidity within said cabinet housing;
a plurality of compartments arranged in said housing with each compartment having an openable and closeable drawer; and
a carrier insert adapted to be removably supported in each of said drawers, each said carrier insert capable of holding a plurality of said pre-processed food so that said pre-processed food products in said carrier inserts are conditioned at the substantially fixed relative humidity of said food cabinet housing so as to maintain the product appearance of the pre-processed food products. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A process for maintaining the product appearance of a pre-processed food product for a predetermined amount of time comprising the steps of:
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a) heating water in a water reservoir of a steamer assembly to a first substantially fixed temperature and maintaining the water in the water reservoir at said first substantially fixed temperature;
b) coupling a food cabinet housing having a plurality of compartments to the steamer assembly;
c) heating air passing through said food cabinet housing to a second substantially fixed temperature and maintaining the air in said food cabinet housing at said second fixed temperature so as to control and maintain a fixed relative humidity within said food cabinet housing;
d) movably guiding a plurality of drawers each in a corresponding one of said plurality of compartments;
e) placing pre-processed food products in a plurality of carrier inserts;
f) selectively opening each drawer of the plurality of drawers;
g) removably supporting each of said carrier inserts containing pre-processed food products in a corresponding opened drawer of said plurality of drawers;
h) closing each of said drawers removably supporting said carrier insert so that said pre-processed food products in said carrier inserts are conditioned at the fixed relative humidity of said food cabinet housing for up to the predetermined amount of time so as to maintain the product appearance of the pre-processed food products; and
i) controlling and sequencing the removal of the pre-processed food products from each compartment before the expiration of the predetermined amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 43)
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35. A food holding cabinet assembly for holding pre-processed food products comprising:
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a food holding cabinet including a plurality of compartments maintained at a fixed relative humidity with each compartment including an openable and closeable drawer; and
a plurality of carrier inserts adapted to be removably supported in a corresponding one of said drawers, each said carrier insert capable of holding a plurality of said pre-processed food products whereby the pre-processed food products are subjected to said fixed relative humidity of said food holding cabinet so as to maintain the physical characteristics of the pre-processing for a predetermined amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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44. A food holding cabinet assembly for holding pre-processed food products comprising:
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a steamer assembly including a water reservoir which is maintained at a first substantially fixed temperature;
a cabinet housing mounted on said steamer assembly and having air circulated therein, said air in said cabinet housing being maintained at a second substantially fixed temperature so as to maintain a substantially fixed relative humidity within said cabinet housing;
coupling means for coupling said cabinet housing to said steamer assembly; and
a plurality of compartments arranged in said housing with each compartment including a separately openable/closeable drawer with each said drawer capable of storing a plurality of pre-processed food products therein so that said pre-processed food products in said drawers are conditioned at the substantially fixed relative humidity of said cabinet housing so as to maintain the product appearance of said pre-processed food products. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46)
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47. A process for maintaining the product appearance of a pre-processed food product for a predetermined amount of time comprising the steps of
a) heating water in a water reservoir of steamer assembly to a first fixed temperature and maintaining the water in the steamer assembly at said first substantially fixed temperature; -
b) placing a food cabinet housing having a plurality of compartments in a position so that the steam generated in said steamer assembly passes into said cabinet housing;
c) heating air passing through said food cabinet housing to a second fixed temperature and maintaining the air in said food cabinet housing at a second substantially fixed temperature so as to control and maintain a fixed relative humidity within said food cabinet housing;
d) movably guiding each of a plurality of drawers in a respective one of said plurality of compartments so that each drawer can be independently opened/closed with respect to the other drawers;
e) independently opening each of said drawers and placing pre-processed food products in said opened drawer;
f) closing said opened drawer into said respective compartment so as to store pre-processed food products in said respective compartment;
g) conditioning the pre-processed food products at the fixed relative humidity of said food cabinet housing up to a predetermined amount of time so as to maintain the product appearance of the pre-processed food products; and
h) independently opening one of said drawers and removing the conditioned pre-processed food products from its respective compartment prior to the expiration of the predetermined amount of time. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification