HIGH DENSITY UNIVERSAL HOLDING CABINET

• US 20110253698A1
• Filed: 04/16/2010
• Published: 10/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Restaurant Technologies Incorporated (Goldman Sachs Group Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Frymaster LLC (Ali Holding Srl)
• Inventors: Theodos, Michael Andrew, Cox, Joshua Michael, Ketterman, Marie Antoinette
• Granted Patent: US 8,558,142 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/385
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 39/006 for either storing and preparing or for preparing food on serving trays, e.g. heating, thawing, preserving
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A universal food holding cabinet for keeping precooked food warm. The food holding cabinet includes a plurality of row assemblies that each includes first and second spaced apart heater plates to form a food holding cavity. A bezel extends across an edge of the upper heating plate of a row assembly and an edge of the lower heating plate of an adjacent row assembly. The bezel includes an air duct for cooling components associated with displays carried by the bezel. The bezel is fastened to the upper heater plate and the lower heating plate with an interlock that helps to mitigate oil migration among the row assemblies.

Claims

1. A food holding cabinet for keeping pre-cooked food warm comprising:

a support structure that supports a plurality of row assemblies, wherein each of said row assemblies comprises a first heater assembly spaced from a second heater assembly to form a food holding cavity; and

a bezel that covers an edge of the first heater assembly of a first one of said row assemblies and the second heater assembly of a second one of said row assemblies.

2. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, wherein each of said row assemblies further comprises a layer of insulation that surrounds said first and second heater assemblies, thereby inhibiting heat transfer between said first and second heater assemblies of adjacent ones of said row assemblies.

3. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, wherein said bezel is a first bezel, and further comprising a second bezel that covers an edge of the first heater assembly of said second row assembly and the second heater assembly of a third one of said row assemblies.

4. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, wherein said bezel is formed with a material selected from the group consisting of:

plastic, metal and a combination thereof.

5. The food holding cabinet of claim 4, wherein said bezel is formed of plastic, and further comprising one or more buttons that are heat staked in said bezel so that loading from manual operation of said buttons is distributed along said bezel.

6. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, wherein said bezel is connected by an interlock to the first heater assembly of said first row assembly and the second heater assembly of said second row assembly, and wherein said interlock provides a seal that mitigates oil migration.

7. The food holding cabinet of claim 6, wherein each of said first and second heater assemblies comprises a heater disposed on a heater plate, and wherein said bezel is fastened by said interlock to an edge of the first heater plate of the first heater assembly of a first one of said row assemblies and to an edge of the second heater plate of the second heater assembly of a second one of said row assemblies.

8. The food holding cabinet of claim 7, wherein said interlock comprises first and second portions of said bezel that mate with a corresponding first portion of the first heater plate of the first heater assembly of said first row assembly and to a corresponding first portion of the second heater plate of the second heater assembly of said second row assembly, respectively.

9. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, further comprising a cooling system that comprises a plurality of fans that draw in air via at least one entry port and a duct system that guides said air in a path that includes each of said row assemblies and at least one exit port, and wherein said duct system guides said air from first and second ones of said row assemblies to first and second ones of said first fans, respectively.

10. The food holding cabinet of claim 9, wherein said bezel is a first bezel, and further comprising a second bezel that covers an edge of the first heater assembly of said second row assembly and the second heater assembly of a third one of said row assemblies, and separate channels disposed behind said first and second bezels through which said air flows to cool at least one component disposed in said channels.

11. The food holding cabinet of claim 10, wherein said duct system comprises a first duct and a second duct that are in fluid communication with said first and second row assemblies, respectively, for flow of said air drawn by said first and second fans, respectively.

12. The food holding cabinet of claim 11, wherein said duct system is structured for said second fan to draw air from said first row assembly in the event of failure of said first fan.

13. The food holding cabinet of claim 12, wherein at least said first duct comprises an opening through which said second fan draws air from said first row assembly in said event of failure of said first fan.

14. The food holding cabinet of claim 12, further comprising a third one of said fans that also draws air from said first row assembly, and wherein said first and third fans are in fluid communication with opposite edges of said first row assembly, respectively.

15. The food holding cabinet of claim 1, wherein said support structure comprises first and second unitary side panels that support said row assemblies.

16. The food holding cabinet of claim 15, wherein said first unitary side panel carries a duct structure that guides cooling air to a plurality of fans.

17. The food holding cabinet of claim 16, wherein said duct structure comprises one or more baffles that provide separate paths for airflow from different ones of said row assemblies or from opposite edges of one of said row assemblies drawn by said plurality of fans.

18. A method of assembling a food holding cabinet comprising:

assembling a plurality of row assemblies, wherein each of said row assemblies comprises a first heater assembly spaced from a second heater assembly to form a food holding cavity;

fastening first and second unitary side panels to opposite edge portions of a base; and

fastening said plurality of row assemblies to said first and second unitary side panels.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

fastening a plurality of bezels to said row assemblies, wherein at least one of said bezels covers an edge of the first heater assembly of a first one of said row assemblies and the second heater assembly of a second one of said row assemblies.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein each of said bezels is attached to said edges with an interlock, and wherein said interlock provides a seal that mitigates oil migration.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein each of said bezels is attached to said edges with an interlock by a snap in action.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

disposing on said first unitary side panel a duct structure that guides cooling air to a plurality of fans.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said duct structure comprises one or more baffles that provide separate paths for airflow from different ones of said row assemblies or from opposite edges of one of said row assemblies drawn by said plurality of fans.

24. A method of cooling components of a food holding cabinet comprising:

drawing cooling air with a plurality of fans through a plurality of row assemblies of said food holding cabinet, wherein each of said row assemblies comprises at least one of said components, which is exposed to said cooling air; and

guiding said cooling air between said row assemblies and said fans via a plurality of separate paths.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising providing one or more baffles to form said separate paths.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein a first fan and a second fan of said plurality of fans draws said cooling air from at least a first one and a second one of said row assemblies via first and second ones of said separate paths, respectively, and wherein one of said baffles has an opening through which said first fan draws air from said second row assembly should said second fan fail.