Abstract:
A low cost mobile but commercial grade kitchen is provided for use by military and disaster relief personnel in the field and, importantly, in forwardly deployed positions. The expeditionary palletized kitchen system (EPKS) is designed to fit within the interior of a standard TRICON box to facilitate transport with standard military shipping vehicles and equipment. The EPKS has folding side members that open the structure to allow more room for food preparation and serving. All equipment needed to prepare and feed a large number of troops or disaster victims is contained within the folding walls once folded and secured for shipment.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This application claims priority to pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/500,423 filed Jun. 23, 2011. 
     
    
       [0002]    The present invention generally relates to a mobile food service preparation system and, more particularly, to a complete and self-contained mobile kitchen system designed to fit into a standard TRICON cube for military use and disaster relief. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The standard source for most food consumed by forwardly deployed (sometimes referred to as frontline) troops has been for many years the meal ready to eat (MRE), which is notable for convenience but not for quality. Although the U.S. military does have kitchen facilities in many overseas camps, advanced facilities capable of producing high quality food for forward troops are very rare. Advanced kitchens that produce high-quality food and do so under proper sanitary conditions are even rarer. Moreover, forward deployment of advanced kitchen systems is difficult for many reasons such that MREs are often the only available source of food for troops in the field. Studies have shown, however, that a well-fed soldier performs better in his duties. 
         [0004]    Current mobile kitchen systems used by the U.S. military may employ advanced kitchen equipment such as commercial stoves and ovens but those systems require customized shipping containers and equipment to handle the non-standard containers. The same is true for National Guard troops and others involved in disaster relief where food preparation is needed in areas without adequate roads, supplies, and electrical power. More specifically, the U.S. military and National Guard generally use a standard shipping container known as a TRICON box, which is a reinforced metal container approximately eight foot high, eight foot wide, and six and a half foot long. Three of these TRICON shipping boxes are normally laced together to form a single twenty foot shipping container. Non-standard sized boxes cause tremendous problems for shipping in the military because special arrangements must be made and custom shipping attachments must be used to ship any items that will not fit into a TRICON box. This customization makes current mobile kitchens very expensive to manufacture. 
         [0005]    Current mobile kitchen systems also have other deficiencies. One of the primary deficiencies is that current mobile kitchens are fully enclosed in a very small space because they do not employ an open design. Rather these systems use an enclosed-space architecture that fits all equipment and food preparation personnel into the enclosed space. The confines of such a small, enclosed space present many issues. For example, the small space in current closed designs is far less efficient so that the number of troops capable of being fed by the current design is lower than could be wished. In other words, the small space makes preparing food much more difficult in current systems because food preparation personnel simply do not have sufficient space to move around during food preparation. This in turn means that large numbers of troops are harder to feed with current designs. 
         [0006]    The small enclosed space also presents problems with heating and cooling the interior of that space. This means that additional HVAC equipment must be included in current designs to heat and cool the interior of current systems. This additional equipment further complicates the issue of space, further necessitating customized containers. The additional HVAC equipment also presents tremendous problems with supplying the additional electricity needed for current systems because frontline generators are expensive, hard to deploy, and in high demand. Current systems commonly require two-208 VAC, 3-phase, 100 Amp supplies to operate. The requirement for the full 200 Amp supply is often problematic. 
         [0007]    Another deficiency in the prior art is the lack of satisfactory sanitation equipment for use in food preparation. Current systems typically have less than adequate sanitation systems using only burner-type water heating for all sanitation needs to clean food and utensils. Often sterilization is impossible so that the potential for spreading disease increases with use of current systems. 
         [0008]    What is needed is a fully functional and sanitary mobile kitchen system that can feed a large number of military troops on the front lines that will fit into the confines of a standard TRICON box. What is also needed is a mobile kitchen that is less expensive than current customized systems. What is also needed is a mobile kitchen that will allow more floor space to provide more room for food preparation personnel while preparing food. What is also needed is a mobile kitchen that will use less electricity, while still using standard electrical power supplies commonly used by the military. What is also needed is a mobile kitchen that is easy to deploy in a frontline position. What is also needed is a sanitation system in the mobile kitchen to ensure sanitary preparation of all food in the mobile kitchen even in the harshest frontline conditions. 
         [0009]    An object of a present invention is to provide a mobile kitchen system designed to meet these deficiencies in the prior art. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The present invention accomplishes the foregoing objects by providing an Expeditionary Palletized Kitchen System (EPKS). In one aspect of the invention an EPKS is provided in the form of a complete system designed for shipping in a standard TRICON box comprising a plurality of folding side members connected to a substantially horizontal floor member with respective hinge members, a plurality of detachable leveling members comprising a rolling caster and a vertical leveling mechanism, a plurality of commercial grade kitchen appliances for use in preparation of a large number of quality meals, where the plurality of commercial grade kitchen appliances is carried by the horizontal floor member and contained within the plurality of folding side members once folded in an upright position. In another aspect of the invention the EPKS further comprises a multi-level sanitation system to ensure that food preparation in the field is performed under sanitary conditions. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]    The invention will be more readily understood with reference to the following specification in conjunction with the drawings herein: 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is an side view of the Expeditionary Palletized Kitchen System deployed. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an overhead view of the Expeditionary Palletized Kitchen System deployed. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  is an overhead view of the Expeditionary Palletized Kitchen System packed for shipment. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  is a side view of the Expeditionary Palletized Kitchen System packed for rolling deployment or storage. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0016]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , an EPKS  10  is illustrated for providing a mobile, pallet-mounted, commercial grade kitchen system for use on the front lines by military personnel or disaster relief personnel according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The EPKS  10  comprises a variety of commercial grade appliances so that high quality food preparation may be accomplished for a large number of combat personnel or disaster victims. In this embodiment, the EPKS may feed approximately 150 personnel three meals a day. In another embodiment (not pictured) the EPKS may be upsized to feed as many as 600 personnel three meals a day by linking three EPKSs of the type illustrated into a single unit. 
         [0017]    A commercial grade convection oven  12  is included as may be expected in any high output kitchen. Additional appliances such as slow cooker  14 , steam oven  16 , steam kettle  18 , and griddle  20  are also included. A refrigerator  22  is included below griddle  20 . All utensils needed (not pictures) fit into provided storage spaces adjacent to the appliances. 
         [0018]    A high quality and multi-level sanitation system  24  is also included to ensure that preparation of foods in harsh environments is not compromised to introduce bacteria and other disease causing pathogens. Sanitation unit  24  includes in this application three sinks  24 A,  24 B, and  24 C for complete sterilization of all cooking implements and certain food products during preparation. The EPKS includes a hot water heater (not pictured) that provides hot water to each of the sinks. Typically the hot water provided by the heater may be at only 105 degrees, which is not enough to properly sanitize food and utensils. Sanitation system  24  may therefore include an additional submersion heater (not pictured) and transfer pump (not pictured) to move water heated at different levels between the sinks for proper sterilization of food and utensils. For example, sink  24 C may contain 180 degree water, where that water may be heated to that high level by a submersion heater in sink  24 C. Sink  24 B may in turn use water at 160 degrees and sink  24 A may use water heated at 140 degrees. This is accomplished by using the transfer pump to move water between the three sinks, typically from the hotter sink to the cooler sink for different sterilization applications in each sink. This process and capability also aid in water conservation, which is always a major concern in forward deployment. 
         [0019]    Another aspect of this embodiment is the large and substantially horizontal floor member  30  available to the cook or chef, which provides floor space that is increased by virtue of the folding side members or walls  32 A,  32 B, and  32 C. These folding side members enclose the EPKS during transport and unfold in the manner shown in  FIG. 1  to provide a larger floor surface area for food preparation and serving. 
         [0020]    Hinge members  42 A,  42 B, and  42 C are provided to connect the folding side members to the floor member  30 , thereby allowing each folding wall member to be unfolded as illustrated. In another embodiment of the invention, one or more of these folding wall members may be detachable instead of foldable, negating the need for hinges in such an application. Expansion members  34 A and  34 B may be deployed as shown to increase the floor space and serving space further. It is possible to store expansion members inside of EPKS once the folding members are raised for shipment. It is also possible to enclose the expansion members in the space provided within the interior of the folding members as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0021]    The additional floor space is useful for many reasons as would be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art. In this illustration, the additional floor space also allows the use of buffet-style tables  40 A,  40 B and  40 C to serve prepared food to military personnel. All of this space is, however, generally designed to fit into a standard military tent or shelter space. This is an important benefit of the present invention because, although the EPKS provides much greater floor space for food preparation and serving, the EPKS is also sized to properly fit beneath current military tents and shelters. 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an overhead view of the EPKS is illustrated. The large floor space is illustrated to show how foldable wall members  32 A,  32 B, and  32 C are used to increase the floor space of floor member  30 . This combination increases the overall floor space available to food preparation personnel for preparation and serving. In this embodiment, the total floor space is approximately 45 square feet. Additional expansion members  34 A and  34 B are also included as shown to increase floor space and serving space. In a preferred embodiment, section  34 A is stored during transport inside an enclosure within section  32 A and section  34 B fits inside a space within the enclosure of section  32 C. Each of the appliances are also visible in this illustration, so that slow cooker and warmer  14 , steam oven  16 , steam kettle  18 , griddle  20  and sanitation system  24  are illustrated in one of many workable positions for normal use. Locking mechanism slots  50 A and  50 B are illustrated to show where the locking mechanisms engage once folding portions  32 A and  32 C are folded for shipping. 
         [0023]    Although not pictured in these illustrations, a preferred embodiment of the EPKS operates with one 100 Amp electrical supply connector and one 60 Amp connector, both of which are preferably MIL spec class L water tight standard connectors. Current mobile kitchens used by the military generally require two 100 Amp electrical supplies because of the HVAC and other equipment needed to operate in a closed platform and generally draw near the maximum capacity of those two supplies. This 30 percent lower energy demand in the EPKS is possible because of the omission of HVAC and other systems not needed in the EPKS, an important improvement provided by the invention because frontline electrical generation is a rare commodity. These and other features allow the EPKS to be constructed for approximately 20 percent lower cost than current systems. 
         [0024]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an overhead view of the EPKS is illustrated in its folded position ready for rolling into a TRICON box or for rolling into a deployable position in the field. EPKS  10  contains four wheels  60 A,  60 B,  60 C and  60 D. Each of these wheels is attached to a leveling mechanism containing handle  62  for raising and lowering the respective wheel to balance each corner of the EPKS while deployed. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  also illustrates one configuration for packing the components included in the EPKS for shipping. From this prospective, slow cooker and warmer  14  is now moved to a different position in front of steam oven  16 . Sanitation unit  24  is now rolled into a position in front of griddle  20  and steam kettle  18  so that each of the appliances fit into the space provided between the walls  32 A,  32 B and  32 C. Each of these walls is in turn held in place by a locking mechanism such as that illustrated in  52 B. 
         [0026]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a side perspective view of the EPKS folded for shipment is illustrated. From this perspective, folding side members  32 A,  32 B and  32 C are clearly visible in their folded and locked positions. Back wall  36 —which in this embodiment is not a hinged, foldable wall—is also illustrated and more clearly viewed from this prospective. The combination of folding walls  32 A,  32 B, and  32 C and back wall  36  form a square cube shape for the EPKS to fit into a standard TRICON box. Each of these walls and the floor is preferably constructed of aluminum. 
         [0027]    Expansion member  34 A is also visible in the illustration of this embodiment. Here one can see that expansion member  34 A is stored within an interior space of folding member  32 A. Expansion member  34 B (not pictured) would be similarly stored within an interior space of folding member  32 C. 
         [0028]    Another aspect of this embodiment is the inclusion of shipping wheels  60 —here wheels  60 B,  60 C, and  60 D are visible—so that the EPKS can be rolled into place. These wheels also form part of a leveling system comprising four detachable leveling members, one for each corner of the EPKS, so that a user may raise or lower each corner by turning handle  62 , which raises or lowers leveling arm  64  and wheel  60 . An entire detachable leveling member comprises upright arm  66 , horizontal arm  68 , adjustable leveling arm  64 , adjustment handle  62 , and wheel  60 . 
         [0029]    These four, wheeled leveling mechanisms are each detachable. In the embodiment of  FIG. 4 , each leveling mechanism is attached to the floor  30  by inserting a distal end of upright arm  66  into a standard hitch insert provided within floor  30 . Here three leveling mechanisms are visibly attached, while the fourth is attached but not visible from this angle. Once attached and deployed for rolling or leveling, handles  62  are used to raise and lower wheels  60  with respect to the ground beneath the EPKS to level any respective corner of the EPKS. When not in use, each leveling mechanism is detached and stored within the interior of the EPKS so that the exterior of the EPKS fits correctly within a standard TRICON box. 
         [0030]    While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, modifications and variations may be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It should be understood, therefore, that other aspects of the invention are possible and that various aspects of the embodiments offered may be interchanged in whole or in part. Furthermore, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the foregoing description is by way of example only and is not intended to limit the invention as further described in the following claims.