Abstract:
In order to provide equipment for heating up, keeping hot, cooling and/or keeping cold food and/or beverages comprising at least one cold compartment and/or at least one hot compartment which is usable in a versatile manner, it is proposed that the equipment comprise at least one regenerating device for heating up and/or keeping hot liquid foods, such as soups or sauces for example.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation application of PCT/EP2005/009970 filed Sep. 16, 2005, the entire specification of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF DISCLOSURE  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to regenerating equipment, i.e. equipment for heating up, keeping hot, cooling and/or keeping cold food and/or beverages, which comprises at least one cold compartment for holding food and/or beverages that are to be cooled or kept cold and/or at least one hot compartment for holding food and/or beverages that are to be heated up or kept hot.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Such regenerating equipments are known from the state of the art.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     The object of the present invention is to provide a regenerating equipment of this type which is utilisable in a versatile manner.  
         [0005]     In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved by equipment including the features indicated in the first part of Claim  1  in that, in addition to the at least one cold compartment and/or the at least one hot compartment, the equipment comprises at least one regenerating device for heating up and/or keeping hot liquid foods such as soups or sauces for example.  
         [0006]     Due to the fact that the equipment in accordance with the invention comprises an integrated regenerating device for heating up and/or keeping liquid foods hot, it is possible to regenerate liquid foods, such as soups or sauces for example which are contained in a food container, in the regenerating equipment and to dispense and/or to portion out these liquid foods to customers or guests directly from the regenerating equipment without removing or changing the food container.  
         [0007]     Thereby, simultaneously with the process of dispensing and/or portioning out the liquid foods from the food container accommodated in the regenerating device, other foods and/or beverages can be dispensed and/or portioned out from the cold compartment and/or from the hot compartment of the regenerating equipment.  
         [0008]     In this way, the regenerating equipment in accordance with the invention provides a particularly versatile and efficient arrangement for the regeneration, cooling, storage and distribution of food and/or beverages directly at the point where the food or beverages are given to the customers.  
         [0009]     In particular, in this description and in the attached Claims, a “cold compartment” is also to be understood as meaning a so-called “hot cold compartment” which serves selectively for the cooling of food and/or beverages that are to be cooled or kept cold, or, for heating up the food and/or beverages that are to be heated up or kept hot.  
         [0010]     In particular, in this description and in the attached Claims, a “hot compartment” is also to be understood as meaning a so-called “cold hot compartment” which serves selectively for heating up the food and/or beverages that are to be heated up or kept hot, or, for the cooling of food and/or beverages that are to be cooled or kept cold.  
         [0011]     In a preferred embodiment of the equipment in accordance with the invention, provision is made for the equipment to be moveable, preferably by means of rollers so that the entire equipment can be moved to the desired dispensing point in a simple manner.  
         [0012]     Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment of the invention provision is made for the regenerating device to comprise a receptacle for the insertion of a food container.  
         [0013]     This receptacle can, in particular, be formed as an upwardly open tub.  
         [0014]     In order to connect the tub reliably to the housing of the equipment, provision may be made for the tub to be fixed to a cover plate of the equipment, preferably by means of a bolted connection, soldering and/or welding.  
         [0015]     The regenerating device can be made in a particularly simple and efficient manner from pre-existing and to a large extent standardized components if provision is advantageously made for the receptacle to be in the form of a standardized gastronomic food container having an integrated heating device.  
         [0016]     Preferably thereby, the standardized gastronomic food container, which forms the receptacle of the regenerating device, is formed in such a way that it has the dimensions prescribed for standardized gastronomic containers in accord with the September 1993 version of DIN EN 631-1.  
         [0017]     A receptacle of the regenerating device formed in this manner offers the advantage that it is particularly well suited to accommodate another standardized gastronomic food container which has the dimensions prescribed in the aforementioned standard, without resulting in the creation of too large a dead space between the inner wall of the accommodating container and the external wall of the accommodated container.  
         [0018]     In order to ensure a good transference of heat from the receptacle of the regenerating device to the food container inserted into the receptacle, it is expedient if the receptacle is dimensioned in such a way that the external side wall of a food container inserted into the receptacle, and in particular a standardized gastronomic food container which has the dimensions prescribed for standardized gastronomic containers in accord with the September 1993 version of DIN EN 631-1, rests at least partially against an inner side wall of the receptacle.  
         [0019]     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, provision is made for the receptacle to be provided with a heating device.  
         [0020]     Preferably, the heating device forms at least a part of a base of the receptacle.  
         [0021]     In order to ensure good transference of heat from the heating device to the food container inserted into the receptacle, it is expedient if the regenerating device is formed in such a way that a food container, and in particular a standardized gastronomic food container that is inserted into the receptacle thereof rests directly on the heating device.  
         [0022]     The heating device of the regenerating device can, in particular, be in the form of an electrical resistance heating device.  
         [0023]     However, as an alternative or in addition thereto, provision could also be made for the heating device to be in the form of an inductive heating device for example.  
         [0024]     Claim  12  is directed toward the combination of a regenerating equipment in accordance with the invention and a food container that is adapted to be inserted into the regenerating device of the regenerating equipment.  
         [0025]     In order to implement the heating and heat retaining processes in the regenerating device, it is particularly expedient if the food container comprises a base body having at least one side wall which bounds an interior space of the food container, and at least one heat conducting element which is manufactured separately from the base body and is fixed to the base body.  
         [0026]     Preferably, the heat conductive element forms at least a part of a base of the food container which bounds the interior of the food container in the downward direction.  
         [0027]     For rapid and as loss-free a transmission of heat as possible from a heating device of the regenerating device to the food container inserted into the regenerating device, it is expedient if the heat conducting element of the food container is in direct contact with the heating device of the regenerating device when a food container is inserted into the regenerating device.  
         [0028]     Further features and advantages of the invention form the subject matter of the following description and the sketched illustration of an exemplary embodiment.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0029]      FIG. 1  shows a schematic perspective illustration of a moveable regenerating station including a soup regenerating device;  
         [0030]      FIG. 2 a  schematic front view of the regenerating station in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0031]      FIG. 3 a  schematic side view of the regenerating station in  FIG. 2 , as viewed in the direction of the arrow  3  in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0032]      FIG. 4 a  schematic plan view of the regenerating station in FIGS.  1  to  3 , with the protective cover removed;  
         [0033]      FIG. 5 a  schematic vertical cross sectional view through the regenerating station in  FIG. 4 , along the line  5 - 5  in  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  an enlarged illustration of the region I in  FIG. 5 , wherein a food container is inserted into the soup regenerating device;  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  an illustration corresponding to  FIG. 6 , wherein the food container has been removed from the soup regenerating device;  
         [0036]      FIG. 8 a  schematic side view of a food container with a heat conducting base;  
         [0037]      FIG. 9 a  schematic sectional view through the food container in  FIG. 8  in the region designated by II in  FIG. 8 ; and  
         [0038]      FIG. 10 a  schematic plan view from above of the food container with the heat conducting base depicted in  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
       [0039]     Similar or functionally equivalent elements are designated by the same reference symbols in all of the Figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0040]     A moveable regenerating station  100  bearing the general reference  100  is illustrated in FIGS.  1  to  7  and comprises a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing  102  in which there are arranged a hot compartment  104  having an access door  106 , a cold compartment  108  having an access door  110  and a cooling unit  112  that is located between the hot compartment  104  and the cold compartment  108  and also a control unit  114  incorporating a control panel  116  for the regenerating station  100 .  
         [0041]     The regenerating station  100  comprises a (not illustrated) fan and a heating device by means of which air is adapted to be sucked out of the hot compartment  104 , heated up and then supplied back to the hot compartment  104  in order to heat up food and/or beverages that are present in the hot compartment  104  or keep them hot.  
         [0042]     Furthermore, the cold compartment  108  of the regenerating station  100  is adapted to be cooled by means of the cooling unit  112  in order to cool down food and/or beverages that are present in the cold compartment  108  and/or keep them cold.  
         [0043]     The regenerating station  100  is displaceable over the underlying ground by means of a plurality of, four for example, rollers  117  which are held on the lower surface of the housing  102  such as to rotate about vertical axes.  
         [0044]     The housing  102  of the regenerating station  100  is closed in the upward direction by a cover plate  118 .  
         [0045]     As can best be seen from  FIGS. 4 and 7 , the cover plate  118  is provided approximately centrally thereof with a through opening  120  in which a soup regenerating device  122  of the regenerating station  100  is arranged.  
         [0046]     The soup regenerating device  122  comprises a tub  124  in the form of a standardized gastronomic food container GN 1/2-200 having two long side walls  126 , two short side walls  128 , a peripheral edge region  130  which extends along the upper edge of the side walls  126 ,  128  and adjoins the side walls  126 ,  128  along a bend line  132 , and a substantially horizontal base region  134  which merges into the side walls  126 ,  128  via a curved region  136 .  
         [0047]     A peripheral stacking shoulder  138  is formed in the upper region of the side walls  126 ,  128 .  
         [0048]     As can best be seen from  FIG. 4 , the peripheral edge region  130  of the tub  124  comprises four corner areas  140  which are each provided with a respective embossment  142  in order to make the respective corner area  140  highly stable and protect it from buckling or bending.  
         [0049]     The precise construction of these embossments  142  is described in DE 102 10 897 A1 for example.  
         [0050]     The base region  134  of the tub  124  is provided with a substantially circular base opening  144  into which a substantially cylindrical hot plate  146 , which is provided with a central, concavely curved recess  148  in the upper surface thereof facing the interior of the tub  124 , is inserted in such a manner that it completely closes the base opening  144  of the tub  124  and is supported at its edges by the edge of the base region  134  of the tub  124 .  
         [0051]     The hot plate  146  is connected by purely schematically represented supply lines  150  to a (not illustrated) electrical voltage supply that is arranged in the housing  102  of the regenerating station  100 .  
         [0052]     The edge region  130  of the tub  124  rests upon the edge of the cover plate  118  surrounding the through opening  120  from above and is welded thereto in order to permanently fix the tub  124  to the cover plate  118 .  
         [0053]     The tub  124  and the cover plate  118  are preferably formed from a metallic material, from steel identified by the material number 1.4301 for example.  
         [0054]     As can best be seen from  FIG. 6 , a food container  152  is insertible into the previously described soup regenerating device  122 , whereby said food container may, in particular, be in the form of a standardized gastronomic food container having a heat conductive plate  154  arranged on the base of the food container  152 .  
         [0055]     The food container  152  which is illustrated in detail in FIGS.  8  to  10  comprises a base body  156  having two long side walls  158 , two short side walls  160 , a peripheral edge region  162  which extends along the upper edge of the side walls  158 ,  160  and adjoins the side walls  158 ,  160  along a bending line  164 , and a substantially horizontal base region  166  which merges into the respective side walls  158  and  160  via a curved region  168  of the base body  156 .  
         [0056]     As can best be seen from  FIG. 10 , the peripheral edge region  162  of the food container  152  comprises four corner areas  170  which can each be provided with a respective embossment  172  in order to make the respective corner area  170  highly stable and protect it from buckling or bending.  
         [0057]     The precise construction of these embossments  172  is described in DE 102 10 897 A1 for example.  
         [0058]     The base region  166  of the base body  156  surrounds a substantially rectangular base opening  174  which is formed as a result of cutting out a part of the base of the base body  156  from the base body  156  along the edge  176  of the base opening  174 .  
         [0059]     The base opening  174  is completely covered from below by a heat conducting element in the form of the substantially parallelepiped heat conductive plate  154  whose substantially flat upper surface  178  rests flatly against the lower surface of the base region  166  of the base body  156  surrounding the base opening  174  and is firmly connected to the base body  156  of the food container  152  by welding along a peripheral welding seam extending along the edge  176  of the base opening  174 .  
         [0060]     As can best be seen from  FIG. 9 , the heat conductive plate  154  comprises a central plate  180  consisting of a highly heat conductive metallic material, of aluminium for example, which is provided on the upper surface thereof with a first deposit or coating  182  of a metallic material, a rust-proof steel for example, and in particular, steel identified by the material number 1.4301, and which is provided on the lower surface thereof with a second deposit or coating  184  of a metallic material, and in particular, a rust-proof steel, preferably, the steel identified by the material number 1.4301.  
         [0061]     In addition, the base body  156  of the food container  152  is preferably also made of a metallic material, a rust-proof steel for example, and in particular, is formed from the steel identified by the material number 1.4301.  
         [0062]     The rust-proof chromium-nickel steel identified by the material number 1.4301 has the following composition: 17 to 19.5 weight % Cr; 8 to 10.5 weight % Ni; at most 0.07 weight % C; at most 1.0 weight % Si; at most 2.0 weight % Mn; at most 0.045 weight % P; at most 0.015 weight % S; at most 0.11 weight % N; the remainder being Fe.  
         [0063]     The side walls  158 ,  160  of the base body  156 , the base region  166  of the base body  156  and the upper surface  178  of the heat conductive plate  154  together form the boundaries for the interior  186  of the food container  152  whose volume is such as to hold approximately 40 portions of soup for example.  
         [0064]     In particular, the upper surface  178  of the heat conductive plate  154  within the area of the base opening  174  directly bounds the interior  186  of the food container  152  so that liquid foods contained in the food container  152  are in direct contact with the heat conductive plate  154  and can thus absorb heat directly from the heat conductive plate  154 .  
         [0065]     The material of the heat conductive plate  154  is of high heat conductivity so that it is possible to supply heat rapidly to the liquid foods contained in the food container  152  through the heat conductive plate  154  when the food container  152  is inserted into the tub  124  of the soup regenerating device  122 , as is illustrated in  FIGS. 5 and 6 .  
         [0066]     Hereby, the food container  152  is adapted to be inserted into the tub  124  of the soup regenerating device  122  in such a way that the lower surface  188  of the heat conductive plate  154  rests flatly on the upper surface  190  of the hot plate  146  and the side walls  158 ,  160  of the food container  152  at least partially rest against the side walls  126 ,  128  of the tub  124 , this thereby ensuring particularly good transfer of heat from the hot plate  146  and the tub  124  of the soup regenerating device  122  on the one hand to the heat conductive plate  154  and the base body  156  of the food container  152  on the other.  
         [0067]     The heat output of the hot plate  146 , which contains (not illustrated) electrical resistance heating elements, can be regulated via the control panel  116  by means of a (not illustrated) regulating circuit in such a way that the liquid foods in the food container  152 , which is inserted into the soup regenerating device  122 , adopt a desired temperature.  
         [0068]     The liquid foods, soups or sauces for example that are contained in the food container  152  can thus be warmed up or kept hot in the soup regenerating device  122  of the regenerating station  100 , whereby it is simultaneously possible to directly dispense and portion out food from a food container  152  that is inserted into the soup regenerating device  122  of the regenerating station  100  without the food container  152  having to be removed from the soup regenerating device  122  for the purposes of dispensing the food.  
         [0069]     Whilst dispensing liquid foods from the food container  152 , food can be dispensed simultaneously from the hot compartment  104  and/or cold foods can be dispensed from the cold compartment  108 .  
         [0070]     Furthermore, as can best be seen from  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the regenerating station  100  is also provided with supports  192  which project upwardly from the upper surface of the housing  102  thereof and, together with the cover plate  118 , carry an angular protective cover  194  which shields the upper surface of the housing  102  of the regenerating station  100  and thus, in particular, the soup regenerating device  122  from the rear side of the regenerating station  100  remote from the control panel  116  so that the protective cover  194  can serve, in particular, as a so-called “cough protection means”.