WO2008011922A2

WO2008011922A2 - Trolley for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, with increased loading capacity

Info

Publication number: WO2008011922A2
Application number: PCT/EP2007/003255
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ivan Cattaneo; Diego Cattaneo
Original assignee: Rational Production S.R.L.
Priority date: 2006-07-27
Filing date: 2007-04-12
Publication date: 2008-01-31
Also published as: WO2008011922A3; EP2046163A2; WO2008011922A8; ITMI20060276U1

Abstract

A trolley (1) for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, with increased loading capacity, comprising a box- like body (2) which is substantially shaped like a parallelepiped and is mounted on wheels (3) and in which there is at least one chamber (4, 5) for containing trays or baking pans (6) for the food to be distributed and at least one service compartment (7) which contains at least part of the devices for bringing or keeping the chamber (4, 5) at preset temperatures. The chamber (4, 5) has an access opening which is closed by at least one openable door (8, 9) and is provided on a substantially vertical front face of the box-like body (2). The service compartment (7) is arranged between the wall of the chamber (4, 5) which lies opposite the access opening and a face (2a) of the box-like body (2) which lies opposite the front face.

Description

TROLLEY FOR CARRYING AND DISTRIBUTING MEALS, PARTICULARLY FOR MULTISERVING CATERING, WITH INCREASED LOADING CAPACITY Technical Field The present invention relates to a trolley for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, with increased loading capacity. Background Art

Various types of trolley for carrying and distributing meals in places such as canteens, hospitals, communities or similar locations are known.

Among the various types of commercially available trolley, trolleys for so-called "multiserving" catering are designed to contain baking pans with amounts of food which must be divided into servings during distribution. More particularly, this type of trolley is composed of a box-like body which is substantially shaped like a parallelepiped and is mounted on wheels so that it can be moved easily. In the box-like body, which is usually made of sheet metal, there is at least one chamber for containing the baking pans for the food to be distributed and at least one service compartment which contains the equipment for bringing or keeping such chamber at preset temperatures. Very often, in the box-like body of the trolley there are two chambers, which when the meals are distributed are respectively heated to contain the food to be distributed warm and chilled to contain the cold food. In some types of trolley, even for the chamber which is intended to be heated during the distribution of warm food it is possible to provide cooling, so as to preserve the food during the time that elapses between food preparation and distribution.

The upper face of the box-like body of these trolleys is usually provided as a worktop, which is heated partially or totally and on which the baking pans are deposited, after being taken out of the trolley, in order to divide the food into servings and arrange the food within plates or trays which are supplied to the final consumers.

In order to keep the chambers at the chosen temperature, there are suitable heating means, such as for example electric resistors, and cooling means, such as for example evaporators of refrigeration circuits. Further, inside the chamber that contains the heating means there is generally an impeller, which by causing a circulation of the air within the chamber equalizes the temperature in the various regions of the chamber.

The cooling means, the heating means and the impeller require a series of devices in order to be able to operate, such as for example electric power supply circuits, refrigeration systems, and electric motors, which are placed in a service compartment provided inside the box-like body of the trolley.

In known types of trolley, this service compartment is generally arranged laterally to the opening for accessing the chambers, which is closed by one or two openable doors and is formed on a substantially vertical front face of the box-like body.

Since trolleys of this kind, in order to meet requirements of simplicity in handling, must have standardized measurements which generally provide a width of 80 cm, a length of 140-150 cm, and a worktop height of 90 cm, with the access opening formed on a front face which constitutes one of the two larger vertical faces of the box-like body, the presence of the service compartment limits significantly the capacity of the chamber or chambers which must contain the baking pans for the food. This penalization of the space available for loading the baking pans is even greater when in the trolley there are two chambers and both chambers must be provided with an impeller in order to equalize the temperature within the corresponding chamber. In this case, the need to have two separate motors to operate the two impellers forces the provision of two service compartments, which are arranged laterally with respect to the access opening to the side of the two vertical sides of the access opening.

The presence of the service compartment or compartments clashes with the need to increase as much as possible the space available for the loading capacity of the trolley, to the extent allowed by the standardized dimensions of the trolley. Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to solve this drawback, by providing a trolley for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, having such a structure as to have an increased loading capacity, for an equal external bulk of the trolley, with respect to conventional trolleys.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a trolley which allows a more rational arrangement and an easier assembly as regards the components intended to be accommodated in the service compartment or connected to components arranged in the service compartment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trolley which can be produced at competitive costs.

This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a trolley for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, comprising a box-like body which is substantially shaped like a parallelepiped and is mounted on wheels and in which there is at least one chamber for containing trays or baking pans for the food to be distributed and at least one service compartment which contains at least part of the devices for bringing or keeping said at least one chamber at preset temperatures, said at least one chamber having an access opening which is closed by at least one openable door and is provided on a substantially vertical front face of said box-like body, characterized in that said service compartment is arranged between the wall of said chamber which lies opposite the access opening and a face of said box-like body which lies opposite said front face. Brief Description of the Drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a trolley according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trolley according to the invention, taken from the open front side;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the trolley according to the invention, taken from the rear side; Figure 3 is a side elevation view of the trolley according to the invention;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of Figure 3, taken along the line IV-IV. Ways of carrying out the Invention

With reference to the figures, a trolley according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a box-like body 2, which is substantially shaped like a parallelepiped and is mounted on wheels 3.

Inside the box-like body 2 there is at least one chamber 4, 5, which is intended to accommodate baking pans 6 for containing the food to be distributed and at least one service compartment 7, which contains at least part of the devices required to bring or keep the chamber 4, 5 at preset temperatures.

The chamber 4, 5 has an access opening, which is formed on a substantially vertical front face of the box-like body 2 and is closed by at least one openable door 8, 9.

The front face on which the access opening is formed is preferably one of the two larger vertical faces of the box-like body 2 of the trolley.

According to the invention, the service compartment 7 is arranged between the wall of the chamber 4, 5 which lies opposite the access opening and a face 2a of the box-like body 2 which lies opposite the front face in which the access opening to the chamber 4, 5 is formed.

Preferably, at least two side-by-side chambers 4, 5 are provided in the box-like body 2 and have an access opening which is formed on the front face of the box-like body 2 and is closed by the corresponding openable door 8, 9.

The service compartment 7 occupies substantially all of the space available between the vertical wall 4a, 5a which delimits the chambers 4, 5 on the opposite side with respect to the access opening closed by the door 8,

9 and the face 2a of the box-like body 2 which lies opposite the front face on which the access opening is formed.

Preferably, the chamber 4 is a chamber which is designed to contain the baking pans 6 with food which, at the time of distribution, must be warm and is able to preserve food for the time that elapses between preparation and distribution. For this reason, the chamber 4 is provided internally both with heating means and with cooling means which can be activated selectively and alternatively.

The heating means are constituted by electric resistors 10, which are arranged adjacent to the wall 4a.

The cooling means are constituted by evaporators 11 of a refrigeration circuit, which are also arranged adjacent to the wall 4a.

Inside the chamber 4 there is also an impeller 12, which can be operated in order to equalize the temperature inside the chamber 4. The impeller 12, which has a horizontal axis, is supported by the wall 4a and is connected to the output shaft of an electric motor 13 which is accommodated within the service compartment 7.

The chamber 5 is instead designed to contain food which must be cold at the time of distribution. For this reason, inside the chamber 5 there are cooling means which are constituted by an evaporator 14 of a refrigeration circuit. The evaporator 14 is preferably connected to, or embedded at least partially within, the walls that delimit the chamber 5. The service compartment 7 contains a compressor 15 and a condenser 16 of the refrigeration circuit which is connected to the evaporators 1 1 and 14. Further, inside the service compartment 7 there are the electrical wires and the wiring required for supplying power to the motor 13, the compressor 15 and the electric resistors 10, and other service devices of the known type, which are not described further for the sake of brevity.

The chamber 4 is preferably divided into two side-by-side containment compartments, and each compartment is provided with supporting means which are constituted by lateral shelves 17 for the stacked baking pans 6.

Conveniently, the impeller 12 is arranged astride these two compartments so as to affect, with the moved air stream, the two compartments simultaneously.

For the sake of completeness in description, it should be noted that the upper face of the box-like body 2 forms a substantially horizontal worktop 18, on which it is possible to deposit the baking pans 6 in order to divide the food contained therein into servings. The worktop 18 is topped by a shelf 19 which is supported by appropriately provided vertical columns 20, which rise from the worktop 18. The shelf 19 forms, with its upper face, a supporting surface for the trays or plates intended to contain the food after dividing it into servings.

The shelf 19 can be provided, on its lower face, with means for lighting and/or heating the food arranged on the worktop 18, which are of a known type and are not shown for the sake of simplicity. Although an arrangement of the heating means and of the cooling means as described above is preferred, the trolley according to the invention can have a different arrangement of the heating means and of the cooling means. Thus, for example, the evaporators 1 1 might be omitted if it is not necessary to preserve the food at low temperatures in the period between preparation and distribution and it is possible to provide heating means also in the chamber 5 if it is not necessary to serve cold food. In this case, it is possible to provide an impeller also in the chamber 5 with a corresponding motor which is also arranged in the service compartment 7 or to provide a single impeller which is supported by the walls 4a, 5a, which can also be replaced with a single wall, capable of conveying the stream of air simultaneously into the chambers 4 and 5.

It should be noted that by way of the arrangement of the service compartment 7 to the rear of the chambers 4, 5, for equal external dimensions of the box-like body 2 with respect to trolleys of the traditional type, in the trolley according to the invention an additional space is obtained which can be used to load baking pans.

More particularly, in a traditional trolley having substantially the same external dimensions as the trolley according to the invention, one of the two compartments into which the chamber 4 is divided would be occupied by the service compartment, with a significant limitation of the loading capacity of the trolley.

In practice it has been found that the trolley according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim and objects, since the particular arrangement of the service compartment allows, for an equal overall space occupation of the trolley, a higher loading capacity with respect to trolleys of the traditional type.

Although the trolley according to the invention has been conceived in particular for multiserving catering, i.e., to contain baking pans of food intended to be divided into servings at distribution time, it can also be used for other types of food container, such as for example trays or the like.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Utility Model Application No. MI2006U000276 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A trolley for carrying and distributing meals, particularly for multiserving catering, comprising a box-like body which is substantially shaped like a parallelepiped and is mounted on wheels and in which there is at least one chamber for containing trays or baking pans for the food to be distributed and at least one service compartment which contains at least part of the devices for bringing or keeping said at least one chamber at preset temperatures, said at least one chamber having an access opening which is closed by at least one openable door and is provided on a substantially vertical front face of said box-like body, characterized in that said service compartment is arranged between the wall of said chamber which lies opposite the access opening and a face of said box-like body which lies opposite said front face.

2. The trolley according to claim 1, characterized in that said front face is one of the two larger vertical faces of said box-like body.

3. The trolley according to claims 1 and 2, characterized in that in said box-like body there are at least two facing chambers with access openings which are formed on said front face of the box-like body.

4. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said service compartment occupies substantially all the space between the walls of said two chambers which lie opposite with respect to the access opening and the face of said box-like body which lies opposite with respect to said front face.

5. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that cooling means are arranged in at least one of said two chambers.

6. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that heating means are arranged in at least one of said two chambers.

7. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that cooling means and heating means which can be activated selectively are arranged in at least one of said two chambers.

8. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the compressor and the condenser of a refrigeration circuit are arranged in said service compartment, said cooling means being constituted by an evaporator of said refrigeration circuit.

9. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said heating means comprise electric resistors.

10. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that air circulation means are arranged in at least one of said two chambers.

11. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said air circulation means comprise an impeller which is supported by the wall of a chamber which lies opposite the access opening of said chamber.

12. The trolley according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that one of said chambers is divided into two side-by-side containment compartments, each of which is provided with means for supporting stacked baking pans or trays, said impeller being arranged so as to straddle said two compartments in order to serve both compartments simultaneously.