Apparatus and methods for thawing frozen food items
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
- an enclosure having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a side wall extending between the top and bottom walls and defining a thawing chamber, wherein one of the walls includes an access opening to the thawing chamber;
a first receptacle inside the thawing chamber and configured to hold frozen food items;
a first showerhead adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items held by the first receptacle in the thawing chamber; and
a closure associated with the enclosure and movable between opened and closed positions, the thawing chamber being accessible through the access opening when the closure is in the opened position, and the closure covering the access opening when the closure is in the closed position.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for thawing frozen food items includes an enclosure having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a side wall extending between the top and bottom walls and defining a thawing chamber. One of the walls includes an access opening to the thawing chamber. A closure associated with the enclosure is movable between opened and closed positions wherein the thawing chamber is accessible through the access opening when in the opened position and the closure covers the access opening when in the closed position. A showerhead is adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items held by the receptacle.
54 Citations
39 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
-
an enclosure having a top wall, a bottom wall, and a side wall extending between the top and bottom walls and defining a thawing chamber, wherein one of the walls includes an access opening to the thawing chamber;
a first receptacle inside the thawing chamber and configured to hold frozen food items;
a first showerhead adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items held by the first receptacle in the thawing chamber; and
a closure associated with the enclosure and movable between opened and closed positions, the thawing chamber being accessible through the access opening when the closure is in the opened position, and the closure covering the access opening when the closure is in the closed position. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. An apparatus for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
-
an enclosure defining a thawing chamber with an inlet port and an outlet port;
a first showerhead adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items in the thawing chamber;
a first air-moving device positioned in the inlet port and configured to force air into the thawing chamber and over the frozen food items for exhaust through the outlet port;
a water conduit supplying a stream of the water to the first showerhead; and
a rotatable water wheel drivingly coupled with the first air-moving device, the water wheel communicating with the water conduit so that the stream of the water drives the water wheel for powering the first air-moving device. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. An apparatus for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
-
a plurality of enclosures respectively defining a plurality of thawing chambers;
a plurality of showerheads each adapted to discharge a shower of water, wherein each showerhead is dedicated to one of the thawing chambers; and
a water conduit coupled hydraulically with the plurality of showerheads and adapted to supply a stream of temperature regulated water to each of the showerheads. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. An assembly for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
-
a chamber section having a top wall, a bottom wall, a rear wall extending between the top and bottom walls, a first open end and a second open end, the chamber section further including an access opening;
a first end cap removably coupled to the chamber section to cover the first open end;
a second end cap removably coupled to the chamber section to cover the second open end, the chamber section, first end cap and second end cap collectively forming an enclosure defining a thawing chamber;
a first showerhead adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items inside the thawing chamber; and
a closure removably coupled to the enclosure and movable between opened and closed positions, the thawing chamber being accessible through the access opening when the closure is in the opened position, and the closure covering the access opening when the closure is in the closed position. - View Dependent Claims (33)
-
-
34. A thawing basket for holding frozen food items, comprising:
-
a rigid frame including a flange and a first intermediate support coupled to the flange; and
a wire mesh outer shell coupled to the rigid frame, the outer shell having a cavity for holding frozen food items and an opening for accessing the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
-
-
39. An apparatus for thawing frozen food items, comprising:
-
an enclosure defining a thawing chamber, the enclosure comprising;
a chamber section having a top wall, a bottom wall and a rear wall extending between the top and bottom wall, a first open end and a second open end, the chamber section further including an access opening;
a first end cap removably coupled to the chamber section to cover the first open end; and
a second end cap removably coupled to the chamber section to cover the second open end;
a closure removably coupled to the enclosure and movable between opened and closed positions, the thawing chamber being accessible through the access opening when the closure is in the opened position, and the closure covering the access opening when the closure is in the closed position, wherein the closure is configured for positioning inside the thawing chamber when in the opened position;
a first showerhead spaced from the closure and adapted to discharge a shower of water onto frozen food items inside the thawing chamber; and
a base adapted to support the enclosure, the enclosure being movable relative to the base for coupling the enclosure with the base and uncoupling the enclosure with the base, the bottom wall being spaced from the base when the enclosure is coupled to the base, the base further including a drain opening, wherein the thawing water drains through the drain opening when the shower of water is discharged from the first showerhead.
-
Specification