Stacking food pan with louvered ventilation means

Details Stacking food pan with louvered ventilation means Stacking food pan with louvered ventilation means

2000-05-03

2001-05-29

Castellano, Stephen (Department: 3727)

Special receptacle or package

Structural features for nesting identical receptacles or...

Having defined means to limit extent of nesting

C220S676000, C220S661000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06237775

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to food service equipment, and more particularly is a stacking food pan with louvered ventilation means.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the food service industry, it is often necessary to leave cold food on display or in refrigerated preparation tables for an extended period of time. Current regulations require that these devices be able to hold the entire food product at a temperature of 41° F. or less. However, the pans that hold the food themselves block air flow to the product, therefore making it difficult to maintain the temperature of the product in the pan at the required 41° F. or less.
The food service industry has addressed this problem in three ways: (1) blowing cooled air across the top of the pan; (2) providing freon lines in the pan receptacel walls; and (3) using divider bars wrapped with freon lines betwen pans. It is difficult to maintain the requireed temperatures by blowing air across the pans, and using freon lines requires periodic defrosting of the serving/preparation tabels.
Historically, the tops of the pans were flush to the surface of the display or preparation tables. To meet the newly instituted requirements, users had to either significantly lower the pans, which is extremely inefficient in ergonomic terms, or they had to lower the temperature of the walls of the preparation/serving tables. Lowering the temperature of the walls led, in many cases, to the freezing of the contents of the pans. Moreover, the reduced wall temperatures caused the tables to require periodic defrosting.
Another problem that plagues users of food pans is the pans' jamming together when stacked. When the pans are stored, they are typically nested one inside another to conserve space. It is not uncommon for the pans to become so tightly wedged together that they are very difficult to separate. This problem has been recognized in the industry for some time, and has led to assorted methods of preventing pans from jamming together when stacked.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a food pan that allows better temperature regulation by improving air flow across the contents of the pan.
It is another object of the present invention to allow owners of existing refrigeration units to comply with current regulations by means of traditional cooling methods.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide food pans that can be stacked together without jamming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a food pan. In order to cause the air flow across the top of the table to be nearer the surface of the contents of the pan, the pan is provided with louvered vents around an upper periphery of the body of the pan. The vents enable tempered air to flow easily across the surface of the contents of the pan so that the contents are maintained at the proper temperature. The louvers extend outward from the body of the pan so that an anti-jamming mechanism is formed when the pans are stacked together. This construction addresses the two chief problems connected to food pans.
An advantage of the present invention is that for a given temperature at the walls of the serving table, the contents of the pan are maintained at a lower temperature than is possible with prior art pans. The increased efficiency of lowering the temperature of the contents of the pan is due to the airflow being directed downward to the surface of the contents.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a plurality of the pans can be stacked together without becoming jammed, so that the individual pans are easily removed from the stack.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the angle of the louver reduces spillage of the contents of the pan.
A still further advantage of the present invention is that due to the presence of the louvered vents, the pans dry more quickly than prior art pans when they are stacked after washing.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the description of the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention as described herein and as illustrated in the drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 1509549 (1924-09-01), Freeland
patent: 2227990 (1941-01-01), Zelt
patent: 2513693 (1950-04-01), Turbyfill
patent: 5700689 (1997-12-01), Wuster
patent: 5866184 (1999-02-01), Gorlich et al.

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