GB1599108A - Meal tray for serving food to be eaten at different temperatures - Google Patents

Description

(54) MEAL TRAY FOR SERVING FOOD TO BE EATEN AT DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES (71) 1, RENÉ GRANDI, of French Nationality, of Quartier Loudon Ruy, 38300 Bourgoin Jallieu, France, do hereby declare the invention for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be described in and by the following statement: The invention concerns a meal tray device for serving food to be eaten at different temperatures.

It is designed to improve the thermal efficiency of the resistors by quicker heating of foods placed on the tray carrying ready-toeat cooked dishes and to enable them to retain the heat transmitted, longer.

Experience has shown that the fact of including cold and hot foods in the carrying tray involved manufacturing complications arising out of its insulation on the one hand, and on the other hand the positioning of the resistor in one sector which formed a thermal bridge, however carefully it was isolated.

Moreover, these integrated resistors wore out more or less quickly, which compelled the user to replace them and dismantle the tray.

The device according to the invention eliminates these drawbacks and makes it possible to use the insulated tray as a stand for a conductor, and to eliminate the fitting of any heating resistor, which improves its thermal properties.

According to the invention I provide a meal tray device for serving food to be eaten at different temperatures including a tray having a plurality of hollow spaces, the contents of at least one of which are to be heated, and a plate to be placed in one such space, wherein the said tray has no electrical heating means forming a permanent part of the tray but contains electrical conductor means embedded therein adjacent the space or each space to be heated and said conductor means has exterior contacts arranged for connection with contacts on said plate that are connected with electrical heating means embedded in said plate.

In the attached drawings, given as a nonlimiting example of one of the forms of embodiment of the invention: Figure 1 shows a longitudinal and cross sectional view of the plate or dish with an incorporated resistor.

Figure 2 shows a hot and cold foodcarrying tray with internal contacts, on a different scale.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the plate in the heating hollow of a modified form of the tray; Figure 4 shows a detail of the contact mounted on the tray.

Figure 5 shows the external contacts on trays which can be used on fixed or mobile cabinets.

The dish or plate Fig. 1 consists of a ceramic container with a bottom 1 and peripheral edges 2 and an internal partition A resistor 4 is embedded in the thickness of ceramic with a protruding contact stud 5, 6.

The tray shown in Figure 2 is made of heat insulating material with an adequately strong outer cover and comprises no incorporated resistors, but has concave or convex contact studs 7, 8, 9, 10 positioned automatically to receive the contacts 5, 6 on the plates or dishes in the heating hollows.

The modified tray shown in Fig. 3 has a heat insulating lining 11, encircled by an outer cover 12 which is also heat insulating and non-conducting electrically is fitted with the wires 13, 14 coupled to external terminals 15, 16 and to external studs 17, 18 corresponding to those on a plate 19.

A heat insulating lid only covers heating hollows 20, 21, in order to isolate them from the non-heated hollows 22, 23 and others.

The external contact studs 16 on the trays may be constructed as shown in Figure 4 and comprise a convex flexible conducting head 25 mounted on an insulated pin 26 with a return spring pushing it away from the contact plate 27. The trays are placed on shelves which carry the contacts 28, these shelves being provided in a storage cabinet.

These studs 25 are arranged on the outer circumference 31, 32, 33, 34 according to the type of cabinet used, but can have standard positions limiting them to the two + and - poles.

These devices can be used in cabinets consisting of a standard refrigerated container to which the interchangeable refrigerating equipment, positioned outside, is connected, whereby the unheated parts of the tray will be refrigerated.

The insides of the refrigerating containers have contact studs for those parts of the trays which are to be heated corresponding with those carried by fixed or trolleymounted cabinets.

The same device can be used for fixed cabinets with refrigerating equipment assembled in an accessible and interchangeable outer box.

The trays are stacked in each compartment.

The essential characteristic is therefore the absence of the heating resistors incorporated in the trays, which makes them lighter while simplifying manufacture and eliminates all possibility of heat transmission, which increases their thermal properties and reduces the cost price considerably.

Nevertheless the shapes, dimensions and arrangement of the various elements may vary as may the materials used to manufacture them, so long as they remain within the scope of the invention as hereinafter

Claims (3)

claimed. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A meal tray device for serving food to be eaten at different temperatures including a tray having a plurality of hollow spaces, the contents of at least one of which are to be heated, and a plate to be placed in one such space, wherein the said tray has no electrical heating means forming a permanent part of the tray but contains electrical conductor means embedded therein adjacent the space or each space to be heated and said conductor means has exterior contacts arranged for connection with a supply of electricity and interior contacts for connection with contacts on said plate that are connected with electrical heating means embedded in said plate.

2. A meal tray device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the tray external contacts have a spring-urged conducting head.

3. A meal tray device as claimed in claim 1 substantially as described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.