Patent ID: 6745675
Filing Date: 2004-06-08
Classification: A47J,Y10S

Abstract:
A device for storing and heating foods on a meal tray, the device comprising:an insulated enclosure having an interior space for receiving a tray accessible via a front passage and divided into a rear compartment and a front compartment that communicate with each other via an intermediate passage, a cooling device adapted to maintain an appropriate storage temperature in the interior space in the insulated enclosure for receiving a tray, a heating device adapted to generate a heat energy in a heating space in the front compartment or the rear compartment, a front closure flap and an intermediate closure flap, that are mechanically coupled together to move between (i) a closed position in which the front closure flap the front passage and the intermediate closure flap closes the intermediate passage above the meal tray to provide thermal insulation, and (ii) an open position in which the front closure flap and intermediate closure flap are retracted to allow the meal tray and the foods on it to move back and forth, wherein the front closure flap and the intermediate closure flap are rigidly connected together by two longitudinal lateral arms that are mounted in the interior space for receiving a tray on two colinear transverse pivots, the two flaps and the two arms together forming a rigid assenbly that tilts between an open position and a closed position.