Device for institutional distribution of meals
First Claim
1. A device for storing and packaging prepared foods on transportable trays having a first part adapted to be covered by a removable insulative cloche for foods intended to be eaten hot, comprising:
- a closed enclosure delimited by a thermally insulative peripheral wall having an access door and shaped to contain and to support said trays with their insulative cloche,a refrigerator unit adapted to maintain said enclosure at an appropriate refrigeration temperature for storage of said food,a heat source housed in said inside face of said cloche and/or said first part of said tray and adapted selectively to heat the interior space between said cloche and said tray and said food that it contains, andtransmission means for transmitting to said heat source energy from an external energy supply provided with control means to assure programmed heating of said interior space and said food that it contains shortly before said food is eaten,wherein the dimensions and the shape of said enclosure are such that it can contain and support only one or two meal trays with their insulative cloche, constituting an individual meal refrigering and heating unit placed in the immediate proximity of the user so as to be directly accessible by said user at meal times.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Meals are placed on individual trays in an institutional kitchen. The individual trays have a first part carrying the meal portion intended to be eaten hot and covered with a thermally insulative cloche and a second part carrying the meal portion intended to be eaten cold. The individual trays are transported in a thermally insulated enclosure to the places where the meals are to be eaten, where they are distributed into local individual units having a thermally insulated enclosure. Each individual unit includes retractable contact terminals operated by an electromagnet and contacting external terminals on the cloche which are in turn electrically connected to an electrical heating element of the cloche. Accordingly, by supplying power to the contact terminals, the meal portions intended to be eaten hot and placed under the cloches are selectively heated. The device is relatively inexpensive and facilitates meal handlings in compliance with hygiene conditions.
72 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for storing and packaging prepared foods on transportable trays having a first part adapted to be covered by a removable insulative cloche for foods intended to be eaten hot, comprising:
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a closed enclosure delimited by a thermally insulative peripheral wall having an access door and shaped to contain and to support said trays with their insulative cloche, a refrigerator unit adapted to maintain said enclosure at an appropriate refrigeration temperature for storage of said food, a heat source housed in said inside face of said cloche and/or said first part of said tray and adapted selectively to heat the interior space between said cloche and said tray and said food that it contains, and transmission means for transmitting to said heat source energy from an external energy supply provided with control means to assure programmed heating of said interior space and said food that it contains shortly before said food is eaten, wherein the dimensions and the shape of said enclosure are such that it can contain and support only one or two meal trays with their insulative cloche, constituting an individual meal refrigering and heating unit placed in the immediate proximity of the user so as to be directly accessible by said user at meal times. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification