JPH10179271A - Warm-keeping device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a warm keeping device which can keep warm tableware and the like with cooked food put in a cooking container. SOLUTION: This warm-keeping device is disposed at the top of its main body 1 with a dropping-type storage part 2 into which food containers holding foods are inserted from above, and a heat accumulating part 2 having an electric heater 4 and a heat accumulating material 5 built in is disposed on the bottom of the storage part 2. Also, a storage chamber 10 for storing tableware is formed below the heat accumulating part 3 inside the main body 1, and a blower 9 feeding hot air heated by the heat accumulating part 3 to the storage chamber 10 is installed inside the main body 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat retaining apparatus for retaining foods such as restaurants and foods using a heat storage section containing an electric heater and a heat storage material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a buffet dish of a restaurant or the like, in order to keep the cooked food warm, a storage section for storing a food container in a drop-in manner is provided, and a warmer is arranged at the bottom of the storage section. Used heat retention equipment.

[0003]

This type of thermal insulation device is
Although it is a structure in which a warmer having an electric heater is provided at the bottom of the housing portion in the main body, since the warmer can only heat the food put in the food container housed in the housing, When it is necessary to heat tableware, knives, forks, and other food items in a cold region or the like, it is necessary to separately provide a heat retaining device for this purpose.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a warming device capable of keeping dishes and other meals warm together with food put in a food container. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a heat retaining device of the present invention is provided with a drop-in type storage portion for inserting a food container containing food from above, at an upper portion of a main body, In a heat retention device provided with a heat storage unit having a built-in electric heater and a heat storage material at the bottom of the storage unit, a storage room for storing eating utensils such as tableware is formed below the heat storage unit in the main body. A blower for sending warm air heated by the heat of the heat storage unit is provided in the main body.

Here, fins can be protruded below the bottom plate of the heat storage section, and casters can be attached to the bottom of the main body so as to be movable, and connected to a storage battery and a commercial power supply as a power supply for a blower. And a charger for charging the battery.

[0007]

When using the heat retaining device having such a configuration, first, power is supplied to the electric heater of the heat storage unit to perform a heat generation operation, and the internal heat storage material is heated (preheated) until it reaches a predetermined temperature. Preheating takes some time. During this time, tableware, forks, knives and other meal-related items that need to be heated are stored in the storage room of the main body, and the blower is operated. By the operation of the blower, the warm air heated by the heat of the heat storage unit is sent into the storage room, and the food such as tableware stored in the storage room is heated to an appropriate temperature.

Then, preheating is performed for a predetermined time, or when the temperature of the heat storage unit reaches a predetermined temperature, the power is turned off, and a cooked food container containing food is stored in the storage unit on the heat storage unit to keep the heat. enter. Since the power supply becomes unnecessary when the heat is kept, it is possible to unplug the power cord and move the main body.

[0009] The heat stored in the heat storage section keeps the food in the food container in the storage section well-heated, and also keeps the food items such as tableware stored in the storage room.

As described above, since the heat of the heat storage unit is used to heat the meal, there is no need to provide a separate warmer for the meal, and it is economical, and the meal can be cooked together with the food. Can be kept warm, so that it can be conveniently used for food supply in cold regions.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the heat retaining device. 1
Is a box-shaped main body, and at the upper part of the main body 1 is provided a drop-in type accommodation section 2 for inserting a food container 13 containing the food from above. Further, a heat storage unit 3 is provided below the storage unit 2.

The heat storage section 3 includes a plurality of rod-shaped electric heaters 4 made of a sheathed heater or the like, which are horizontally arranged side by side in a box-shaped heat storage material container. The material 3 is formed by filling. As the heat storage material 5,
Ceramic powder or sand is used, and the heat storage material 5 is filled in a state where the heat storage material 5 is in contact with the electric heater 4 without any gap in the heat storage material container. Natural sand such as river sand may be used for the heat storage material 5, and using natural sand is economical.

An upper plate 6 is covered on the upper part of the box-shaped heat storage unit 3 so as to be hermetically sealed.
Is projected downward. For this reason, by fixing the upper plate 6 on the heat storage unit 3, the fins 7
Even if a gap is formed between the heat storage material 5 and the upper plate 6 after the heat storage material 5 is
Is well maintained through the fins 7. Moreover, the upper plate 6 is reinforced by projecting the fins 7,
The bending strength of the upper plate 6 can be increased and its deformation can be prevented. Further, a thermostat temperature detecting unit (not shown) is provided in the heat storage unit, and the heating temperature of the electric heater 4 is controlled.

The heat storage unit 3 is disposed with the upper plate 6 closely attached to the bottom of the storage unit 2, and conducts heat of the heat storage unit 3 to the storage unit 2 through the upper plate 6. A heat insulating material is attached to the side of the heat storage unit 3, but a metal plate is exposed at the bottom of the heat storage unit 3 for heat conduction to the storage room 10 as described later.

Since the container 2 accommodates a food container 13 for accommodating a food such as a hotel bread, the shape of the container 2 is adapted to the shape of the food container 13. Also, the shape of the heat storage unit 3 can be a shape conforming to the plane shape of the storage unit 2. However, even when the plane shape of the storage unit 2 is circular, the heat storage unit 3 has a different shape so as to be rectangular or square. Is also good. When two or three housing sections are provided on the main body 1, a large heat storage section may be provided which is continuously arranged at the bottom of the plurality of housing sections.

A partition plate 8 is mounted substantially horizontally below the heat storage section 3 via a space serving as a ventilation passage 15, and a storage chamber 10 is formed below the partition plate 8. Openings are formed at both sides and the center of the partition plate 8, and a blower 9 is attached downward at the center. The blower 9 drives the axial fan with a motor, and blows the air in the ventilation path 15 to the center of the storage room 10. For this reason, the air in the storage room 10 enters the ventilation path 15 from the openings on both sides of the partition plate 8, is sucked by the central blower 9, is blown back to the storage room 10, and passes through the ventilation path 15. The circulating air is heated by the heat at the bottom of the heat storage unit 3.

A door 11 is provided on a side wall portion of a storage chamber 10 formed at a lower portion in the main body 1, that is, below the partition plate 8.
In the storage room 10, a tableware basket 14 to be heated and the like are stored.
A heat insulating material is attached to the side wall of the main body 1 including the bottom wall, so that the internal heat retaining property is improved. A caster 12 is attached to the bottom of the main body 1 and is movable.

[0019] The thus configured heat retaining device is used as follows in a lunch room of a restaurant, a school, a hospital, or the like.

First, the electric heater 4 is energized to perform preheating. At the time of this preheating, the temperature inside the heat storage unit 3 is maintained at, for example, about 230 ° C. by the thermostat, and the surface temperature of the upper plate 6 is set at the completion of the preheating. For example, it is about 120 ° C. Preheating takes a certain amount of time. During this time, a tableware basket 14 containing tableware, forks, knives, and other meal-related items that need to be heated is stored in the storage room 10 of the main body 1, and the blower 9
To work. By the operation of the blower 9, the warm air heated by the heat of the heat storage unit 3 is sent into the storage room 10, and the storage room 10
The tableware and other food items stored in the container are heated to an appropriate temperature.

When the preheating for a predetermined time is completed, the food container 13 containing the food is put into the storage section 2, the power is turned off, and the temperature is maintained. When the heat storage is started, the heat from the heat storage unit 3 is satisfactorily conducted to the storage unit 2, so that the food in the food container 13 can be satisfactorily kept warm by the heat from the heat storage unit 3, Food items such as tableware in the tableware basket 14 in the storage room 10 can also be kept at an appropriate temperature.

In addition, since the power supply becomes unnecessary when the temperature is kept warm, the outlet of the power cord can be unplugged, and the main body 1 can be easily moved from the kitchen to the room where the meal is taken.

According to an experiment, the size of the upper plate 6 of the heat storage unit 3 is, for example, 1500 cm ² and a heat storage unit using a sheathed heater of 100 V-800 W is used. When the food was kept warm, the temperature of the food could be maintained at about 80 ° C. even after 3 hours. In addition, the food items such as tableware stored in the storage room 10 could be kept at about 40 ° C.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show another embodiment. The heat retaining device of this embodiment is a heat retaining unit 3 of the heat retaining device configured as described above.
A fin 16 is provided on the lower side of the bottom of the above, and the other configuration is the same as that of the above embodiment. The fins 16 are used as heat storage units 3
The fins 16 are provided so as to protrude into the ventilation path 15 below the bottom of the fins. As shown in FIG. By attaching the fins 16 to the lower side of the bottom of the heat storage unit 3 in this manner, the heat of the heat storage unit 3 can be radiated more in the storage room 10 and the tableware and the like in the storage room 10 can be heated more efficiently. it can.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show still another embodiment. A blower 19 using a once-through fan is used for the heat retention device of this embodiment. Since the cross-flow fan is formed to be long in the axial direction and can suck and blow air of a large area, the blower 19 is installed at the end of the ventilation path 15 and the ventilation path 1
A guide plate or the like is attached so that the air in the space 5 is widely sucked and blown into the lower storage room 10. Further, fins 17 are provided at the bottom of the heat storage unit 3 so as to protrude into the ventilation path 15.

Further, the heat retaining device includes a blower 19
A storage battery 21 is mounted as a power source of the (motor), and a charger 20 for charging the storage battery 21 is mounted. A power cord for connecting a commercial power supply is provided in the charger 20.
Connected with

In such a heat retaining device, in addition to the above-mentioned heat retaining action and effect of the cooked food, the blower 19 is operated by using the storage battery 21 as a power source even during the heat retaining, and the storage room 10 is operated.
The inside can be effectively kept warm.

That is, the heat retention device is placed in a kitchen, a tableware basket 14 containing tableware and the like is stored in the storage room 10, and the electric heater 4 of the heat storage unit 3 is energized to perform preheating for a predetermined time. Then, the cooked food is put into the food container 13 and stored in the storage section 2. In this state, the power cord is unplugged, and the main body 1 is moved from the kitchen to a room where meals are eaten. Thereafter, the heat of the heat is stored in the heat storage unit 3 to keep the food warm. Power can be supplied and the blower 19 can be continuously operated.

As described above, while the blower 19 is operated to keep the inside of the storage room 10 warm, the warming device can be moved from the kitchen to the room where the meal is taken, and the power cord is not connected to the outlet even after the movement. In addition to keeping the food warm,
Insulation of food items can also be performed more effectively.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a heat retention device showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a heat retaining device of another embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a heat retaining device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a connection diagram of a charger, a storage battery, and a blower.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-Main body 2-Housing section 3-Heat storage section 4-Electric heater 5-Heat storage material 9-Blower 10-Storage room

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A drop-in type container for inserting a food container containing food from above is provided at an upper portion of a main body, and a heat storage unit having a built-in electric heater and a heat storage material is provided at a bottom of the container. A storage chamber for storing eating utensils such as tableware is formed below the heat storage unit in the main body, and a blower that sends warm air heated by the heat of the heat storage unit to the storage room. Is provided in the main body. 2. The heat retention device according to claim 1, wherein fins are provided below the bottom plate of the heat storage unit. 3. A caster is mounted on the bottom of the main body so as to be movable, and a storage battery and a charger connected to commercial power and charging the storage battery are mounted on the main body as a power supply for the blower. Item 3. The heat retention device according to item 1 or 2.