Multi-Level Compartmentalized Insert for a Food Holding Cabinet Having At Least One Independent Sliding Compartmentalized Tray and Cover for Same
An insert for a food holding cabinet provides multiple, individual food holding compartments, which can be operated as encapsulated environments. The insert is made from an elongated tray formed to have at least one food product holding compartment, which is formed at one end of the elongated tray. A slid-able is configured to be able slide back and forth and formed to have at least one additional food product holding compartment. A slid-able cover is configured to be able to slide in the elongated tray, over the slide-able cover. Multiple individual food holding compartments can be uncovered, one-at-a-time as need for food product arises.
The content of the Applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 13/326,667 filed on Dec. 15, 2011, titled, “Apparatus for Preserving Cooked Food Palatability,” is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The content of the Applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 13/326,607 filed Dec. 15, 2011, titled, “Method of Extending the Time During Which Pre-Cooked Foods Are Kept Palatable,” is also incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDMany fast-food restaurants prepare food items before they are actually ordered and keep them warm until they are ordered by a customer. A pre-cooked, i.e. a pre-prepared, food product can thus be sold and served to the customer in significantly less time than it takes to prepare each food item after it is ordered.
A problem with pre-cooked foods is that they lose their taste or palatability over time. While taste or palatability is subjective, empirical data shows that most people will dislike the taste of a hamburger after it has been “held” or kept in a warming tray for more than about 15 minutes. Fast-food restaurant operators therefore keep pre-cooked foods warm and ready to serve for only a relatively short period of time, typically fifteen to twenty minutes. When that time has elapsed, the pre-cooked food product is disposed of. Extending the holding time of a pre-cooked food product is therefore contrary to the common and accepted practice of fast-food restaurant operators. Nevertheless, a method and apparatus for extending or preserving the palatability of a cooked food product would be an improvement over the prior art.
The insert 10 comprises an elongated and substantially rectangular-shaped tray 12, a slide-able tray 14 that fits inside the elongated tray 12 and, a slide-able cover 16 for the slide-able tray 14. The slide-able cover 16 fits over the slide-able tray 14 and provides a cover for food storage compartments in the slide-able tray 14, which can be opened by sliding the cover 16 forwardly or backwardly relative to the slide-able tray 14.
The elongated tray 12 is so named because it has a length dimension 18 that is much greater than its width dimension 20. It has two elongated, opposing and upright sides 22 and 24. The sides 22, 24 are held in a fixed, spaced-apart relationship to each other by two opposing ends 26, 28, which also form part of the elongated tray 12.
As best seen in
The shape of the food product holding compartments 30, 32 is not critical. Compartments can be disc shaped to receive disc-shaped patties. The compartments need not be disc-shaped however but can have other shapes, e.g., square, rectangular, or triangular. Since the compartments are preferably shaped to correspond to a shape of a food product to be kept in a compartments. The shape of a compartment that is shaped to conform to or be “similar” to the shape of a particular food product is thus known in advance. The compartments' shape is thus preferably predetermined, by which is meant, known in advance.
The compartmentalized insert 10 shown in
Referring now to
Importantly, the rear or second end 17 of the slide-able cover 16 is provided with a downwardly-extending lip or clip 54 having a downwardly-extending length that is less than the thickness 48 of the slide-able tray 14 but nevertheless long enough to ensure that the clip 54 grasps the rear or first end 56 of the slide-able tray 14 when the cover 16 is pulled or pushed forwardly, i.e., toward the first end 26 of the elongated tray 12.
Referring again to
As with the food holding compartments 30, 32 formed in the elongated tray 12, the food holding compartments 66, 68 formed into the slide-able tray 14 are essentially disc-shaped depressions because it is known in advance that the compartments 66, 68 will receive disc-shaped patties and the like. The shapes of the food holding compartments 66, 68 are thus considered herein to be predetermined.
As best seen in
The food holding compartments 30, 32 formed into the elongated tray 14 are fixed in the elongated tray 12 and close to or “proximate” to one end 26 of the elongated tray 12. As best seen in
An “encapsulated environment” is defined in the applicant's co-pending patent application Ser. No. 13/326,667 filed Dec. 15, 2011 entitled “Apparatus For Preserving Cooked Food Palatability.” See also the applicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 13/326,607 filed Dec. 15, 2011 entitled “Method of Extending the Time During Which Pre-Cooked Foods Are Kept Palatable.” The contents of both applications are hereby incorporated by reference in the entireties.
Referring now to
In
In operation, food products kept in the food holding compartments 66 and 68 can be removed from first the two food holding compartments 66 and 68 of the tray 14, one-by-one. Stated another way, a patty in the first compartment 66 can be removed from the first compartment without uncovering a patty in the second compartment 68, simply by sliding the cover 16 half-way toward the second end 38 of the elongated tray 12. A second patty in the second compartment 68 can thus be preserved.
Finally,
The foregoing description is for purposes of illustration. The true scope of the invention is set forth in the following claims.
Claims
1-6. (canceled)
7. A compartmentalized insert for a food holding cabinet comprising:
- an elongated tray having first and second opposing sides, and first and second opposing ends configured to hold the first and second opposing sides in a first fixed, spaced-apart relationship to one another;
- a first food product holding compartment located in the elongated tray between the first and second opposing sides and proximate to the first opposing end;
- a translatable tray located in the elongated tray at an elevation above the first food product holding compartment, the translatable tray having a second food product holding compartment and the translatable tray being configured to translate in the elongated tray.
8. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the translatable tray translates in a longitudinal direction in the elongated tray.
9. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, further comprising:
- a cover located above the translatable tray.
10. The compartmentalized insert of claim 9, wherein the cover is translatable in the elongated tray, independent of the translatable tray.
11. The compartmentalized insert of claim 9, wherein the cover has a length dimension that is substantially equal to a length dimension of the translatable tray.
12. The compartmentalized insert of claim 9, wherein the cover has a width dimension that is greater than a width dimension of the translatable tray.
13. The compartmentalized insert of claim 9, wherein the cover is transparent.
14. The compartmentalized insert of claim 9, wherein the cover comprises first and second opposing ends and a downwardly extending lip at one of the first and second opposing ends of the cover.
15. The compartmentalized insert of claim 14, wherein the cover comprises an upwardly extending lip at the other of the first and second opposing ends of the cover.
16. The compartmentalized insert of claim 15, wherein the downwardly extending lip of the cover abuts a first end of the translatable tray when the cover is located over the second food product holding compartment.
17. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the first food product holding compartment is a disc-shaped depression.
18. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the translatable tray has a length dimension that is less than a length dimension of the elongated tray.
19. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the translatable tray has a height dimension that is less than a height dimension of the elongated tray.
20. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the first food product holding compartment of the elongated tray comprises a depression formed in a substantially horizontal surface that extends from a first opposing side to a second opposing side.
21. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the translatable tray has two food product holding compartments.
22. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein the elongated tray has two food product holding compartments.
23. The compartmentalized insert of claim 7, wherein one of the first and second food product holding compartments is configured to hold a disc-shaped patty.
24. A food holding cabinet comprising the compartmentalized insert of claim 7.
Type: Application
Filed: May 16, 2016
Publication Date: Sep 8, 2016
Inventors: Loren J. Veltrop (Chicago, IL), Mary Morgan (New York, NY)
Application Number: 15/156,241