Rotary food server

A rotary food server for storing food in a chilled condition includes a dish rotatably mounted on a stationary base and having central and peripheral pockets for removably receiving food storage trays having removable lids. Coolant housings containing a chilled-retaining substance are refrigerator prior to use and then placed beneath and at the sides of the trays to chill food stored in the trays. In an alternative embodiment, a lower housing rotatably mounted on a stationary base has a cavity therein filled with a cooling medium such as a mixture of ice and water. Mounting of an upper housing on the lower housing causes cavities formed in the upper housing to displace the cooling medium to the sides as well as the bottoms thereof to chill food stored within the cavities.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

There are no related applications.

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A “MICROFICHE APPENDIX”

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a rotary food server and, in particular, to such a device capable of storing food in a chilled condition.

(2) History of the Prior Art

In outdoor home cooking, for example, such as is associated with barbeque prepared food, it is common to accompany the food with salad items such as lettuce, sliced tomato, and condiments which diners serve to themselves, often from a series of salad bowls and similar receptacles. The storage and service of the accompanying foods in open bottles is the source of many all too familiar problems. Health concerns are important in hot weather if the accompanying ingredients are left out at ambient temperature because bacteria can multiply to population levels which pose risks of stomach upset and worse if left too long in the heat. The taste and appearance of foods such as lettuce and potato salad can deteriorate at an outdoor picnic or barbeque if these foods are simply left out in bowls for people to help themselves from. Also, if uncovered bowls are used, it may not be long before food becomes contaminated by unwanted falling of materials into the uncovered bowls or by unwanted insects such as ants and wasps. Also, there can be lack of convenience at the meal table if the accompanying foods are served in too many bowls which require excessive passing back and forth and clutter the dining table area unacceptably.

One approach to improving outdoor food service has been to use rotary food containers, of the lazy susan type, for the fixings that often accompany outdoor dining such as lettuce, tomato, potato salad, condiments and so forth. To keep out contaminants and unwanted insects, a lazy susan may also be combined with containers for these types of food which have removable lids on them. One example of a lazy susan type food server was shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 260,469. While this type of structure may provide some improvements over using an uncovered salad bowl, in terms of convenience and hygiene, the problems associated with failing to keep the food adequately chilled are not ameliorated in its approach.

The advantage, however, of keeping the salad type foods in a chilled condition have been recognized and have led to proposals for use of a chill retaining gel material incorporated into the structure of an outdoor serving tray or dish. One such prior product is a chill retention food service tray disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,419. The '419 patent discloses a service tray which is generally circular and has a rim and a central boss and a number of spokes extending radially in the form of walls which divide the tray into a number of peripherally spaced regions in which differing foods can be placed and served. The '419 patent disclosed using regions of at least the base wall and some upstanding vertical walls of a food service tray for gel material which can be refrigerated before food is served from the pocket regions of the tray. While there is no reason to question the operability of the device of the '419 patent, it does not provide a lazy susan type serving approach under which the foods necessary can be contained within a single convenient server. It seems, so far as the present inventor is aware, that previous efforts to devise a practical rotary server that can keep food such as lettuce, sliced tomato and potato salad chilled in an outdoor dining situation, cover against insects and other pollution, and easily selectable by a diner, have gone largely unsatisfied, notwithstanding the large number of prior patents that can be found showing earlier proposals for lazy susan types of items.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a rotary food server for storing food in a chilled condition and serving it to a user.

A food server, in accordance with the present invention, includes a horizontal base on which is a dish mounted for rotation about a vertical axis. The dish has a central boss and an outer rim and is divided by a number of dividing walls into a series of generally pie-shaped pockets, each of which can receive a correspondingly-shaped, pie-shaped food tray. Each food tray has a movable and detachable lid. The separate trays provide for storage of a different food within each tray on the dish, for example, lettuce in one, tomatoes in another and so on.

The walls of each tray can each include a hollow region containing chill retention gel material so that the food within that tray is kept in a cool condition as long as the gel remains chilled.

Thus, food within each tray is stored in a chilled condition. Food within any selected tray may be served by rotating the dish to move the selected tray into proximity where the desirous user raises the lid to extract the contents.

A further significant aspect of the invention is that the lids are detachable and the trays are differently sized to enable them to be stacked together in nested relation, after the lids have been removed. The masted trays can be placed together in the freezer section of the refrigerator to chill the retention material in advance of use of the device.

In a further aspect, the rotary server has a central boss with a well within it to receive a cup for holding condiments. Coolant housings which surround the cup are refrigerated, along with the trays, before the food server is to be used. After the cup has been filled with food, such as condiments, the coldness of the chill retention material in the coolant housings keeps the condiments chilled. The coolant housings also assist in chilling the trays at their inner ends where they close to the housings.

In an alternative embodiment of a food server according to the invention, a one-piece dish is mounted on a horizontal base for rotation about a vertical axis. The dish has an outer rim and forms a lower housing. A one-piece upper housing has a plurality of cavities therein which define food trays. Each of the food trays is covered by a hinged lid which is detachable. One of the food trays is formed by a cup shaped cavity at the center of the circular upper housing. The remaining cavities, which are generally pie-shaped extend around the upper housing outside of the cup shaped cavity and form pie-shaped food trays.

The cup shaped food tray and the pie-shaped food trays are maintained in a chilled condition by first filling the lower housing with a mixture of water and ice to a desired level. When the upper housing is then mounted in the lower housing, the mixture of water and ice is displaced and rises along the sides of the food tray forming cavities to chill the cavities and thereby food which is stored therein.

This summary is not intended to be exhaustive of all features of the invention which is fully set forth in the following detailed description encountered by the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A rotary food server, according to one embodiment of the invention, is illustrated inFIG. 1with the part shown in an exploded condition. The rotary server is intended to serve food, which may typically be the type of food associated with outdoor barbecue meals, such as lettuce, sliced tomato, sliced cucumber, pickles and condiments. The server can also be used for indoor types of food, such as popcorn, chips, nachos. These examples are not meant to be limiting but merely exemplary and the term “food” is to be given its broadest ordinary meaning. The food server, as will be described, can be partially disassembled between uses to separate out certain parts that contain a chill retention material such as, for example, the material popularly known as Blue Ice. These parts, which include trays for the food, can be stored in the freezer section of the household refrigerator. When the time comes for use, the parts are rinsed and the trays are filled with the desired foods so that the chill retention material can maintain them in a chilled condition for lengthy periods of time and use of the food server at a picnic or barbecue.

Considering the exploded parts in more detail, the food server includes and rests upon a stationary base2. The base is ring-shaped and has a U-shaped channel4extending peripherally in its upper surface. The base supports a dish6, also generally circular, for rotation about a central vertical axis shown by the central dotted line inFIG. 1. The dish6has a bottom wall8that has a bowl race10fixedly secured to its underside. The race10rests within the channel4in the base and has a plurality of caged ball bearings14(FIG. 3) which support the dish for rotation on the base about the central vertical axis.

The dish6has a peripheral circular rim16extending upwardly and outwardly from the bottom wall8. As shown inFIG. 1, the rim16has a lower portion of relatively smaller radius than the upper region, with the two connected by an intermediate horizontal region. In the center of the dish6, a boss18resembling a truncated cone, extends outwardly and inwardly from the base wall8. The peripheral wall surface of the boss18and the facing peripheral wall surface of the rim16define an annular channel within the dish6, which is divided into a series of peripherally extending pockets20by a series of dividing walls22. The dividing walls22extend between the lower region of the rim16and a lower reach of the boss18, extending radially in closely spaced paths.

The reason for the pockets20is to receive and seat a plurality of food containing trays24(FIGS. 1–4). The trays24are differently sized to be able to accommodate foods picking up different volumes and acquiring different quantities. For example, one of the largest of the trays24may be used for storing the lettuce which, because of its leafy quality and the relatively large volume that it takes up, requires a relatively large allotment of the total storage space available. Another relatively large one of the trays24may be used for potato salad. Conversely, the smaller ones of the trays may be chosen for foods which are eaten in more sparing quantities and have a higher density, such as chopped onion. What particular foods are placed in particular trays will, of course, be a matter of individual choice depending on the nature of the foods chosen for a particular meal by a user. Because the trays24are differently sized, the various pockets20will be differently sized correspondingly. To facilitate ease of placement of the trays24within the pockets20, each pocket can be marked, on the base wall or on the bar, with a particular letter or number, and the tray can be correspondingly marked with the same identifying letter or number. The outward sloping of the rim16and the inward sloping of the boss18facilitate ease of placement of the trays24within the pockets20.

Each tray24, as shown inFIG. 3, has a bottom wall26, inner and outer end walls28and29shaped to abut and extend along the rim and sidewalls30which, in their lower regions, abut the end walls22defining the particular pocket20in which the tray is placed. In the preferred embodiment, the trays are made of a suitable moldable plastic of the type typically used for food containers, such as molded polyethylene or molded polypropylene. The corners where the various walls meet are rounded into each other to provide radiused edges.

To close each tray24at its open upper end, a complementary shaped lid32is hinged to the upper end of the inner wall28of the tray. The lid32, in the lowered condition shown inFIG. 3, helps to keep the interior of the tray cool and keeps out dirt, pollutants, insects and other undesirables. In the preferred embodiment, the lid32is made of a transparent rigid plastic having good scratch resistance and resistant to breakability, such as polycarbonate plastic. In its central outer region, the lid32is provided with a protruding finger lip to assist the user in raising the lid.

Referring to the illustration of half of one of the lids32provided inFIG. 5, each lid is provided with two split sockets34projecting from the underside of the lid adjacent its inner extremity. Each socket34has a central opening36and a notch38facing rearwardly and extending for a minor segment of the opening36. The opening36is sized to rotatably fit around one of two axles40which project in aligned space relationship from the rear of the inner wall28of the tray adjacent its upper end by conventional supporting structure. The socket34permits the lid to be raised from the lowered position shown inFIG. 3to a raised position shown inFIG. 4and returned, by finger pressure applied to the finger lip. Each socket34is initially snap pivoted onto its associated axle40by forcing the notch against the axle40until the plastic is resiliently forced apart sufficiently for the axle40to enter the opening36. This snap-fit relationship is reversed by a manual pressure applied to the lid32to detach the lid32from the tray24when desired.

An important aspect of the invention resides in features intended to provide a chilled environment for storage of the foods within the trays24. One of these features resides in coolant housings42(FIGS. 1 and 3), which are shaped to fit within the pockets20beneath the trays24, in the form of thin hollow segment-shaped containers. These containers are filled through openings in the top of the container which are subsequently sealed, with a chill-retaining substance. This substance, in the preferred embodiment, is a gel of the type used in medical ice packs for cold therapy under the name Blue Ice and other trademarks. Another material for the chill retention substance may, for example, be the gel disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,419. The desirable properties of the gel are that it has a high thermal capacity, it retains its cooled condition for at least a few hours, enough to have a picnic, and that it may be repeatedly refrigerated and allowed to rise to a cool temperature without deteriorating. Moreover, its coefficient of expansion is sufficiently limited that it will not rupture the walls of the container42within which it is confined, during repeated cycles of refrigeration and use. As visible inFIG. 3, the chill-retaining substance is in the interior of coolant housing42in close proximity to the bottom wall26of the associated tray24for thermal transfer between the food and the interior of the tray and the chill-retaining substance.

Another feature of the chill-retaining capability of the invention resides in thermal transfer through the sidewalls30of each tray. For this purpose, each of the pairs of walls22receives a vertical dividing wall46, shown inFIG. 1, which is also an enclosed container for the chill-containing substance. Each of these dividing walls46, at its lower end, is received between the adjacent walls22and extends upwardly to the full extent of the interior of the associated trays24on either side of it.

To chill the trays24and the coolant housings42, the trays24are lifted out of the dish. Then the user removes the coolant housings42and the vertical walls46, all of which contain the chill-retaining substance, and place them in the freezer section of a refrigerator so that they may be chilled to freezing temperature. When the time comes for use of the rotary server, the coolant housings42or the walls46are taken from the refrigerator and reinstalled in the dish, together with the trays24. In this condition, the trays are now ready to receive food where it will be maintained in a chilled condition for a prolonged time because of thermal transfer through the base wall and the sidewalls of each tray24to the chill-retaining substance.

Alternatively, the chill-retention substance can be housed directly within hollow regions in the sidewalls and bottom walls of the tray24itself. In such arrangement, the tray is conducted as an inner tray and a complemental outer tray, joined together along their peripheral edges, defining an interior space between them. The chill-retaining substance is placed, during manufacture, in this interior space between the inner and outer sidewalls in each tray rather than in separate enclosures as described above.

Although the chill-retaining substance, has been described as comprising a gel, such substance can instead comprise a mixture of ice and water.

A further aspect of the invention resides in a separate chilled compartment for condiments. Referring toFIGS. 1 and 3, the previously mentioned boss18includes a central well50extending downwardly and centrally in the center of the bar. The well50is defined by a molded sidewall region formed as a cylinder having a closed lower end and an open upper end which blends integrally into the sidewall defining the remainder of the boss18. The well50receives free curved hollow segmental coolant housings which surround a removable cup54. The coolant housings52also contain the chill-containing substance and also chilled for use in the refrigerator as described for the other chilled sections. The cup54is divided by an interior wall into two chambers56and58. For example, the user may choose to put tomato catsup in one and mustard in the other. The cup54has its own lid60to assist in retaining the contents in a chilled condition and keep out pollutants and insects.

Another aspect of the invention resides in making the trays nestable once the lids have been detached. Accordingly, they are sized and shaped to stack together in a nested relation so that the trays may be placed together in the freezer.

Another aspect of the invention resides in structure which allows the lids32of adjacent trays24to be raised without interference with each other. It will be appreciated that, with the lids32in the closed condition, they are below a horizontal condition in which the peripheral edges of adjacent lids32are closest together. To avoid a condition in which the simultaneous raising of the lids32of two adjacent trays24could cause the lids32to interfere as they reach the horizontal condition of the plane, the dividing walls46are made sufficiently wide in the peripheral direction that they ensure sufficient spacing between the lids32of the adjacent trays24to avoid interference between adjacent lids32as they are raised through the horizontal plane.

The rotary food server shown inFIGS. 1–5provides various advantages over conventional food servers as described. However, it would be advantageous to provide an alternative embodiment having other features which may be attractive. For one thing, it may be desirable for some applications to avoid having to refrigerate a substantial number of coolant housings prior to use of the food server. Also, it may be desirable for certain applications to have a food server of relatively simple design and having only a few parts to contend with.

An alternative arrangement of a rotary food server62is shown and described hereafter in connection withFIGS. 6 and 7.FIG. 6is an exploded perspective view showing the food server62, andFIG. 7is a side view in cross-section of a portion of the food server62.

The rotary food server62includes a horizontal, stationary base64having an upwardly extending spindle66at a central portion thereof. An outer peripheral portion of the base64has a U-shaped channel68. Rollers70are mounted at spaced locations about the U-shaped channel68.

A lower housing72of circular configuration is rotatably mounted on the stationary base64by a receptacle74at the center of a bottom wall76thereof. The receptacle74receives the spindle66of the stationary base64therein so that the lower housing72may rotate about a vertical axis relative to the base64. An outer portion of the bottom wall76engages the rollers70of the base64to facilitate such rotational movement of the lower housing72.

The lower housing72has an outer peripheral rim78of circular configuration extending upwardly from an outer periphery of the bottom wall76. The peripheral rim78forms a cavity80within the lower housing72. A fill line82located part way up the height of the peripheral rim78extends circumstantially around the inside of the peripheral rim78. The lower housing72is preferably of one-piece construction, such as by being molded of plastic material.

The food server62includes an upper housing84of generally circular configuration and having a peripheral rim86extending downwardly from the outer edge thereof. The upper housing84may be mounted on the lower housing72, with the peripheral rim86of the upper housing84engaging the peripheral rim78of the lower housing72to provide a snap fit, as shown inFIG. 7.

The upper housing84has a generally cup-shaped central cavity88therein. The central cavity88has a generally cylindrical sidewall90extending upwardly from a bottom wall92thereof. A partition94divides the central cavity88into separate compartments96and98. The upper housing84also includes a plurality of peripheral cavities100extending radially outwardly from the central cavity88to regions adjacent to the peripheral rim86of the upper housing84. Each of the peripheral cavities100has a pair of sidewalls102and104at the opposite sides thereof, a sidewall106at the front thereof and a sidewall108at the back thereof. A circular central pocket110extends between the cylindrical sidewall90of the central cavity88and the sidewalls108at the backs of the peripheral cavities100. The upper housing84also includes a plurality of peripheral pockets112, each of which extends radially outwardly from the circular central pocket110between a different adjacent pair of the peripheral cavities100. Each peripheral pocket112has opposite sides defined by the sidewalls102and104of an adjacent pair of the peripheral cavities100.

Each of the peripheral cavities100is generally pie-shaped and forms a tray for food. A plurality of hinged lids114are removably mounted on the upper housing84so as to cover the cavities100. Only one such lid114is shown inFIGS. 6 and 7for simplicity of illustration. The central cavity88is covered by a hinged lid116which is removably mounted on the upper housing84. Like the lower housing72, the upper housing84is preferably of one-piece construction, and may be molded of plastic material. The removable lids114and116are added separately.

In order to chill the cavities88and100and the food stored within such cavities, a cooling medium is poured into the cavity80of the lower housing72up to the fill line82. The cooling medium may comprise any fluid-like substance capable of imparting a cooling effect, but preferably comprises a mixture of water and ice. Chilled water can also be used, although the presence of ice tends to keep the water cool longer as its melt. With the cavity80filled to the fill line82by the water and ice mixture, the upper housing84is then mounted on the lower housing72where the peripheral rim86snap fits over the peripheral rim78. As the upper housing84is mounted over the lower housing72, the central cavity88and the peripheral cavities100which extend downwardly from the peripheral rim78of the lower housing72extend into and displace the water and ice mixture within the cavity80in the lower housing72. The water level rises from the fill line82to a displaced level118shown inFIG. 7. With the water and ice mixture at the displaced level118, the bottom wall92and substantial portions of the cylindrical sidewall90of the central cavity88are exposed to the water and ice mixture, as shown inFIG. 7. This imparts a substantial cooling effect to the central cavity88and to the compartments96and98therein. At the same time, the water and ice contact a bottom wall120of each of the peripheral cavities100as well as substantial portions of the sidewalls102,104,106and108thereof, as shown inFIG. 7. This also imparts a substantial cooling effect to the peripheral cavities100.

Because of the one-piece molded construction of the upper housing84, the undersides of the central cavity88and the peripheral cavities100are exposed to the water and ice mixture when the upper housing84is mounted on the lower housing72. In addition to exposing the bottom walls120of the peripheral cavities100and the bottom wall92of the central cavity88to the water and ice mixture, the mixture is dispersed upwardly into the circular central pocket110surrounding the central cavity88and the peripheral pockets112separating the adjacent peripheral cavities100. This enables substantial portions of the sidewall90of the central cavity88and the sidewalls102,104,106and108of the peripheral cavities100to be exposed to the water and ice mixture and chilled thereby. In this fashion, substantial cooling is imparted to the central cavity88and the peripheral cavities100by the water and ice mixture. Because the cavity80in the lower housing72is enclosed by the upper housing84, the ice tends to melt slowly, and the water remains cold for a substantial period of time. However, should it become necessary to replace the water and ice mixture, it is a simple matter to remove the upper housing84from the lower housing72because of the snap fit therebetween. The water and melted ice within the cavity80of the lower housing72is then discarded and replaced with a fresh mixture, before again mounting the upper housing84onto the lower housing72.

Although the invention has been described with respect to preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that insubstantial variations in the embodiments disclosed may be made by one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the invention set forth in the claims thereof.