Abstract:
A galley cart incorporates a housing defining a cavity and having an opening. A door is hingedly attached to the housing to seal the opening and allow access to the cavity through the opening. A compartment is provided in the cart configured to contain cooling media. An integrated support rail is coupled to the housing within the cavity and configured to at least partially support a tray within the cavity. The support rail has multiple orifices therethrough and the support rail is in flow communication with the compartment.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0001]    1. Field 
         [0002]    Embodiments of the disclosure relate generally to the field of food service carts for airline in-flight food service and more particularly to dual function tray supports including channeling attached to a cooling compartment for cooling gas flow for distributed cooling. 
         [0003]    2. Background 
         [0004]    Galley carts are used on an aircraft to store food and beverages that need to be refrigerated and/or frozen during the duration of a flight. Conventional galley carts include a powered heat exchanger known as a chiller to cool a housing cavity of the cart where the food products are stored. However, the heat exchanger discharges heated air to the environment surrounding the cart and consumes power that can be otherwise be used by the aircraft. Further, additional cabin cooling is needed to counteract the heated air discharged from the heat exchanger. As such, at least some known galley carts use dry ice to cool the housing cavity. However, when the dry ice is placed within the cart, it cools locally and the cooling stratifies along the height of the cart. The dry ice placed within the cart cools locally and then the cooler air settles to the bottom trays. When the cooler air settles, the upper trays can be too warm (i.e. above 40° F.) and the lower trays are freezing (i.e. below 32° F.). To alleviate this problem, fans may be added to the carts to circulate the cool air within the body cavity. However, the fan requires a power source. Alternatively, the dry ice can be placed in the top portion of the cart such that the upper trays are cooled locally by the dry ice and the upper and middle trays are cooled by the cool air flowing past as it settles to the bottom trays. However, over time, the cooling further stratifies such that middle trays are warmer than upper trays and lower trays and/or the upper and middle trays are warmer than bottom trays. This problem can be addressed by fine tuning the amount of dry ice, but the amount can be difficult to determine because of the many factors impacting cooling during a flight and on the ground. 
         [0005]    It is therefore desirable to provide a galley cart with distributed cooling which overcomes the limitations of current galley carts. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    Embodiments disclosed herein provide a container which incorporates a housing defining a cavity and having an opening. A door is hingedly attached to the housing to seal the opening and allow access to the cavity through the opening. A compartment is provided in the container configured to contain cooling media. An integrated support rail is coupled to the housing within the cavity and configured to at least partially support a tray within the cavity. The support rail has multiple orifices therethrough and the support rail is in flow communication with the compartment. 
         [0007]    The embodiments provide a method for cooling a galley cart by providing a cooling compartment in a cart with cooling media. Integrated support rails with piccolo tubes are interconnected with the cooling compartment to distribute cooling gas. Dividers resting on the integrated support rails are engaged with insulating sealing members on a door and an opposite end of the cart to create cooling chambers within the cavity of the cart. Cooling gas flows from the cooling compartment through the piccolo tubes through multiple orifices along the length of the piccolo tubes and into the cooling chambers to cool the chambers. 
         [0008]    The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed can be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present disclosure or may be combined in yet other embodiments further details of which can be seen with reference to the following description and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1A  is an external isometric view of a galley cart with which the present embodiments may be employed; 
           [0010]      FIG. 1B  is an isometric view of the galley cart of  FIG. 1A  with the doors open exposing the interior cavity of the housing of the cart; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an isometric view of the case of the cart with the integrated supports shown in cutaway to view the interior with selected serving trays removed for clarity; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a detailed isometric view of the integrated supports with cooling piccolo tubes; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a side section view of the case; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a side partial section detailed view of the first embodiment with dry ice support compartments; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a side section view of a second embodiment; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a detailed side section view of the second embodiment; 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is an end section view of cooling gas flow circulation from the integrated piccolo tubes; and, 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a flow chart of the method for cooling a galley cart provided by the disclosed embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]    Embodiments disclosed herein provide a storage container for food and beverages for use, in example embodiments, as a galley cart for airline in-flight service. The cart includes tray supports formed from tubes having holes defined through the tubes, called “piccolo tubes” herein. The tubes are in flow communication with a compartment containing dry ice. As the dry ice sublimates, the cold gas is forced from the compartment into the tubes as the pressure within the compartment increases. The size and/or number of holes in each support tube determines how much cold air is ejected into a volume below each support tube. The volumes are defined between adjacent trays within the cart. Different hole configurations (or closing at least some holes) at each selected tray support level can facilitate providing uniform cooling throughout the height of the cart. In one embodiment, the compartment is positioned at the top of the housing. A vertical manifold extends downwardly from the compartment, and the support tubes extend from the vertical manifold. Alternatively, the compartment can be defined within the door of the cart. In such an embodiment, the support tubes are in flow communication with the compartment through an inner surface of the door. The inner surface can include a compressible material that forms a seal against end edges of the trays within the cart when the door is closed. 
         [0020]    Referring to the drawings,  FIGS. 1A and 1B  are isometric views of a galley cart  100  which may be employed in the embodiments disclosed herein. Referring to  FIGS. 1A and 1B  together, in one aspect of this embodiment, the galley cart  100  includes a housing  102  having a shell  140 . In the illustrated embodiment, the shell  140  forms a first side portion  141 , a second side portion  142 , a top portion  143 , and a bottom portion  144  of the case  102 . The galley cart  100  further includes a first door  104   a  positioned toward one end of the housing  102 , and, for certain embodiments, a second door  104   b  positioned toward an opposite end of the case  102 . Each of the doors  104  can further include a plurality of hinges  122  and a latch  124 . The hinges  122  pivotally attach the door shells  120  to the shell  140 . The latch  124  can be configured to releasably engage corresponding receivers  126  attached to the shell  140  when the doors  104  are in closed positions as illustrated in  FIG. 1A . 
         [0021]    By disengaging the latch  124  from the corresponding receiver  126 , the doors  104  can be opened outwardly providing access to an interior cavity  112  of the housing  102  as illustrated in  FIG. 1B . In a further aspect of this embodiment, the interior cavity  112  of the housing  102  includes a plurality of integrated support rails  146  configured to support a plurality of food trays as will be described in greater detail subsequently. Positioning the doors  104  at respective ends of the housing  102  allows flight attendants to conveniently access food stored within the housing  102  from either end of the galley cart  100 . In other embodiments, the second door  104   b  can be omitted if desired. As further illustrated in  FIG. 1B , each of the doors  104  can additionally include a compressible seal  128  configured to seal any gaps that may exist between the doors  104  and corresponding housing apertures  114   a - b  when the doors  104  are closed. Additionally, the doors  104  include a rim  132  which forms a housing  134  (seen in  FIG. 1B ) to be described in greater detail subsequently. Wheels or casters  130  allow the galley cart to be easily maneuvered within the service areas and aisles of the aircraft. Handles  106 , integral with the top portion  143  for the embodiment shown, are provided to be grasped by the flight attendants when maneuvering the galley cart. 
         [0022]    A first embodiment shown in  FIG. 2  demonstrates the shell  140  creating the cavity  112  with the shell top  143  and side  142  shown in cutaway to expose the interior. Integrated support rails  146  are spaced along the walls  141  and  142  of the shell. The integrated support rails  146  include piccolo tubes  200  which provide for integrated cooling gas flow as will be described in greater detail subsequently. As shown in detail in  FIG. 3 , each piccolo tube incorporates multiple orifices  201  spaced on the length of the tube. The orifice diameter is about 0.005 inch to 0.03 inch. Depending on orifice size and number used per piccolo tube, the orifice spacing is about 2 inches to 12 inches. Serving trays  206  (shown in  FIG. 3 ) are supported by the integrated support rails  146  spaced within the cavity  112 . The piccolo tubes  200  are represented for the embodiments shown as cylindrical (circular cross section). However in alternative embodiments the piccolo tubes may be rectangular or any suitable shape in cross section. Placement of the orifices around the circumference (or in the side or bottom of rectangular cross sections) of the piccolo tubes may also be determined based on desired flow patterns as will be described in greater detail subsequently. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the first door  104   a  is shown with the rim  132  received within the cavity  112  through the aperture  114   a  in the end of the shell  140 . The door  104   a,  seen in side section in  FIG. 4 , incorporates an outer plate  202  from which the rim  132  extends. The rim is inset from a periphery of the plate  202  to be closely received into the aperture  114   a.  An insulated sealing member  204  is secured against the rim  132  or in the periphery of the rim  132  supported by a relief The insulating sealing member  204  may be a pliable foam such as Styrofoam or urethane which is resiliently compressible to at least a limited degree. 
         [0023]    The housing  134  in the door  104   a  contains cooling media such as multiple cooling pucks  208  which are supported between the outer plate  202  and insulating sealing member  204 , as will be described in greater detail subsequently, to create a source of chilled gas in the housing  134 . The cooling pucks  208  may be standard dry ice pucks of 5 inch diameter by 1 inch thickness or any suitable dimension. The insulating sealing member  204  incorporates multiple orifices  210  which allow convective flow of chilled gas from the door housing  134  into the piccolo tubes  200  of the integrated support rails  146 . Sizing of the orifices  210  in combination with the piccolo tube diameter and diameter of the orifices  201  may be predetermined to provide a specific convective cooling capacity based on flight duration, puck material and number/configuration of pucks loaded in the door housing  134 . The piccolo tubes  200  have a diameter of about 0.1 inch to 0.4 inch to flow chilled gas from the housing  134  to the orifices  201 . 
         [0024]    As seen in  FIG. 4 , the serving trays  206  are sized to be closely received at a first end against the insulating sealing member  204  and closely received at an opposite end against a second insulating sealing member  205 , slightly compressing the insulating sealing members to act as dividers creating multiple sealed chambers  212  within the cavity  112 . The availability of multiple chambers allows selection of the number and placement of cooling pucks in the door housing  134 . All chambers may be cooled or only selected chambers. For the embodiment show in  FIG. 4 , the second insulating sealing member is supported against an end wall  214 . However, a second door  104   b,  as shown in  FIG. 1B , configured in the same manner as door  104   a  described above may be employed closing the second aperture  114   b.  The insulating sealing members may include grooves or slots  216 , as seen in  FIGS. 4  and.  5 , aligned with the support rails  146  to more closely engage the serving trays  206  or other dividers such as food containers  207 . The engagement of serving trays  206  on each set of integrated support rails  146  by the insulating sealing members  204  and  205  allows as many cooling chambers to be created as there are trays supported by integrated support rails in the cart. 
         [0025]    As seen in detail in  FIG. 5 , the door  104   a  provides the housing  134  to receive the cooling pucks  208  in the first embodiment described with respect to  FIG. 4 . For the embodiment shown, baskets  218  support the cooling pucks in the housing  134 . The baskets for the embodiment shown are a mesh or perforated thermally non-conductive material such as nylon or similar material. A simple L shape allows securing the baskets  218  to the inside surface of the door outer plate  202 . In certain embodiments closing baskets may be employed to securely retain the pucks. For an example embodiment, the insulating sealing member  204  is attached to the door rim  132  using a hinge  223  allowing the insulating sealing member to pivot out of the cavity with the door  104   a  in the open condition to allow insertion of the pucks  208  into the baskets  218 . Additionally, the housing may be segregated by partitions  219  into cooling compartments  217  to limit internal convection within the door housing thereby limiting stratification within the housing itself. For the embodiment shown, the partitions  219  are placed in alignment with selected divider serving trays  206  so the cooling compartments  217  in the door correspond to a select number of cooling chambers  212  in the cavity  112  of the cart. The dividing walls  219  may be fixed or may be removably positioned in slots  221  in the rim  132  and door outer plate  202 . The slots may be aligned to correspond with selected support rails  146 . Orifices  210  align with the entrance to the piccolo tubes  200  for gas flow through the piccolo tubes through orifices  201  into the cooling chambers  212 . 
         [0026]    An alternative embodiment for placement of the dry ice cooling compartment is shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7  wherein a cooling compartment  220  is placed within a top portion of the cavity  112  in the shell  140 . A vertical conduit  222  extends downward from the cooling compartment  220  with nipples  224  or tees connecting into each piccolo tube  200  in the integrated support rails  146 . Cooling gas then flows from cooling compartment  220  through the vertical conduit  222  into the piccolo tubes  200  and through orifices  201  into the cooling chambers  212  as represented by arrows  226 . For the embodiments shown, the vertical conduit  222  may extend downward from the cooling compartment  220  on the side walls  141  and/or  142  at an edge adjacent the door  104   a  or, in alternative embodiments in a central location on the wall intersecting each support rail at a central tee. 
         [0027]    With either embodiment described, flow of cooling gas through the piccolo tubes  200  is introduced through orifices  201  into the cooling chambers  212  between the food trays  206  as shown in  FIG. 8 . Cold gas circulation as represented by arrows  228  provides even distribution of cooling throughout the cooling chambers  212 . Control of gas circulation by partially or fully blocking the orifices  201  may be employed to alter temperatures or chilling duration for the cooling chambers. For example, a nested concentric tube with holes match drilled to the orifices may be rotated coaxially or drawn longitudinally within the piccolo tube to constrict and then obscure the orifices based on the rotation angle or length of draw. Slotting of selected holes within the concentric tube may also allow selective blocking of orifices. 
         [0028]    The embodiments herein provide a method for cooling a galley cart as shown in  FIG. 9 . A cooling compartment in the cart is filled with dry ice or other cooling media, step  900 . Integrated support rails with piccolo tubes interconnected with the cooling compartment distribute cooling gas, step  902 . Insulating sealing members on the door and an opposite end of the cart engage dividers to create cooling chambers within the cavity of the cart, step  904 . Cooling gas flowing from the cooling compartment through the piccolo tubes through multiple orifices along the length of the piccolo tubes and into the cooling chambers cools the chambers, step  906 . The size and number of the orifices may be adjusted to increase or decrease cooling capacity, step  908 . 
         [0029]    Having now described various embodiments of the disclosure in detail as required by the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments disclosed herein. Such modifications are within the scope and intent of the present disclosure as defined in the following claims.