JPH0214055B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a serving vehicle having a cold-warming function.

Conventional technology Conventional food delivery trucks, which are mainly used in hospitals, generally only store trays or stacked boxes in which hot and cold foods are arranged or arranged together, and do not have individual heating or cooling functions. Nakatsuta.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned serving van, when trays containing hot and cold foods are stored in it, the food must be delivered as quickly as possible while the foods are kept at the appropriate temperature. It is necessary to distribute food to patients, etc., and therefore, even if it takes a considerable amount of time in a large hospital etc., for the food trucks to reach all the wards and floors.
In wards and floors that are reached late, hot foods become cold.
Chilled foods must be distributed after the temperature has risen to room temperature, and if the food is served as is to maintain the appropriate temperature in the wards, etc. that the food delivery truck first arrives at, there may be inconveniences such as food being served too early in the meal period. was.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned inconveniences by:
To provide a serving car that can place cold food and hot food close to each other on the same tray, and can store such a tray and separate the cold food portion and the hot food portion and store them at appropriate temperatures. This is what we are trying to provide.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a plurality of trays each having recesses for cold food and hot food integrally formed between a central separation edge and both side edges parallel thereto; It consists of a serving car main body having a shelf structure for supporting the plurality of trays, and the serving car main body includes a casing with a door surrounding the shelf structure, and a plurality of casters attached to the bottom back surface of the casing. The shelf structure includes at least one side support bar for guiding and supporting both side edges of the tray in the front-rear direction of the casing, and supporting the center separation edge of the tray from below in the front-rear direction of the casing. and a plurality of cold and hot partition walls arranged corresponding to the both side support beams, each having an upper end surface for guiding the tray, and a lower end surface slidingly contacting or approaching the central separation edge of the lower tray from above. A cold storage device characterized in that either side of the space formed above and below the cold food recess supported by the support beam is communicated with a vertical cold air passage formed from the ceiling surface to the bottom surface of the casing. It consists of a heat-retaining serving truck.

Effect According to the above configuration, as long as cold food is placed or served in the recess for cold food and hot food is placed or served in the recess for hot food in the tray, the former can be handled by storing them in fixed positions in each stage of the serving car. At low temperatures, the latter can be maintained at warm temperatures. That is, if each floor or each ward is equipped with a cooling unit connected to the cold food section of the serving car, the inside of the cold food section can be kept cool, and preferably, the hot food section of the serving car can have a heat retention effect due to the built-in heating function. It becomes possible to continue to maintain the

By changing the size (width) of the recess for cold food and the recess for hot food in the tray, there is no risk of accidentally inserting them into the low temperature side and the high temperature side of the serving car.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention in which a prescribed number of trays are stored in the main body of the serving vehicle and the front door is opened. That is, 1 is a casing forming the main body of the serving vehicle, 2 is a double-opening front door in this case, 3 is a support provided at the middle position of the front, and 4 is a caster on the bottom back surface of the casing. The tray 5 inside the serving car has a relatively narrow recess 5a for cold food.
and a relatively wide hot food recess 5 adjacent thereto.
b, and the central separation edge 5c (Fig. 2) between these recesses 5a and 5b is the upper and lower part of the cold and hot partition walls 6 arranged in large numbers in a vertical plane on both left and right sides of the casing 1, as shown in Fig. 3. Since it is inserted into an adjacent gap, both side edges 5d and 5e are guided and supported by support beams provided on both sides corresponding to the gap of the partition wall, so that it can be taken in and out from the front. When the specified number of trays are stored in the fixed position in this way, as is clear from FIG. On the right side, the cold eating area inside the partition wall 6 and the hot eating area outside the partition wall 6 are substantially insulated by these partition walls 6. Referring again to FIG. 1, a cold air inlet 7a and a cold air outlet 7b are provided on the ceiling surface of the casing 1 at the rear of the support column 3, that is, at a position corresponding to the middle between the left and right cooling sections.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which such a serving truck is transported from a kitchen, temporarily stored in a storage area in each building or on each floor, and a cooling unit 8 is connected to it. As will be described later, the hot food sections on both sides inside the casing 1 are equipped with appropriate heaters and circulation fans on the ceiling or other surrounding walls, so the serving truck can keep the cold food sections cold or recool them in this storage state. It is also possible to keep warm food portions warm or reheat them.

5a to 5c show details of the shelf structure within the casing 1. FIGS. First, in Fig. 5a, a little behind the front door in the casing 1,
A crosspiece mounting frame 9 is provided, and a front vertical portion 9a of this frame 9 is located at an intermediate position between the left and right sides. An angled support crosspiece 10 for supporting and guiding the outer edge of the cold edible portion 5a of the tray 5 is provided between this front vertical portion 9a and a similar vertical support portion (described later) at the rear of the casing. A support bar 11 is provided on the outer vertical part of the frame 9 to support and guide the outer edge of the hot food recess 5b of the tray. The above-mentioned partition wall 6 has these support beams 10,
11 of the central separation edge 5c of the tray 5.
It is supported in a protruding manner from a suitable rear support structure (described later) so as to form a small gap that slidably sandwiches the. A flat space 12 from the vertical support portion 9a of the mounting frame 9 to the rear part of the casing serves as a cool air passage. As a result, the cold air introduced from the cold air inlet 7a in the ceiling of the casing falls vertically in the cold air passage as shown by the arrow 12a as shown in Fig. 5b, reaches the bottom of the casing, and then detours backward. and rises to the cold air outlet 7 in the ceiling of the casing.
During this time, the cold storage spaces above the recesses for cold food in the trays at each stage are cooled.
That is, the outer surface of each cold storage space is completely connected to the cold storage air passage 12.
This is because it communicates with

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5b and 5c, in a relatively upper part of the cold air passage 12,
A container 20 of environmental purification agent is arranged. In this case, the container 20 is detachably attached to the upper part of the second tray 5 from the top on the front support 3 via a suitable support frame, and has a cylindrical opening main body with a number of ventilation holes. The container is fitted with a lid having a cap containing stabilized chlorine dioxide.

Here, "stabilized chlorine dioxide" refers to chlorine dioxide that has been stabilized by a method that has been developed very recently. In other words, chlorine dioxide itself has traditionally been used as a disinfectant (chlorine) due to its strong oxidizing power.
2.5n or more) and preservatives, etc., but its properties are extremely unstable, and it contains sulfur,
If it came into contact with phosphorus or oxides, it would explode and be extremely dangerous, so chlorine dioxide gas itself was rarely produced as a disinfectant, and it was difficult to use. however,
As a result of various studies in related technical fields focusing on its strong sterilization and purification ability, a stabilization method for it was recently developed in the United States (Rio Linda Chemical Company), and it can be easily handled in the required amount anytime and anywhere. "Stabilized chlorine dioxide" can now be obtained in the form of an aqueous solution, an adsorbed powder, or a gel.

Such stabilized chlorine dioxide-containing substances gradually generate chlorine dioxide (ClO ₂ ) gas in the air,
It descends, flows and diffuses due to the cooling air flow in the cold air passage 12 or its own weight, and the top of the frozen food portion 5a of each tray in contact with the cold air passage 12 can be constantly sterilized and purified. This makes it possible to prevent frozen foods from spoiling even when the cooling function is temporarily stopped due to a power outage or the like.

It has been confirmed that chlorine dioxide is harmless to the human body.

As shown in FIGS. 5b and 5c, the depth of the casing is large enough to allow two trays to be sequentially inserted into each stage on both the left and right sides. In this case, the rear end of the partition wall 6 protrudes from the rear inner wall 13, and the front end comes into contact with the front door 2, so as described above, the tray has a recess 5a for cold food and a recess for hot food. 5b is completely insulated from the front to the rear end of the casing, and is in a state of preventing convection. Furthermore, since there is a vertical rim 13a extending from the ceiling surface to the bottom surface at a position corresponding to the partition wall 6 between the rear inner wall 13 and the casing rear end wall 14,
A vertical flat space 15a formed between the rear inner wall 13 and the rear end wall 14 on the hot food side, and a space 15b formed between the back surface of the front door 2 and the front edge of the hot food recess 5b. It can be used as a hot air circulation path.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a fan or blower 16 is disposed at the front end of the casing ceiling at a location corresponding to the hot eating area, and a heater 17 is disposed from the rear waste port of the blower to the rear end of the casing. Ru. Therefore, the blower 16
The hot air that has passed through the heater 17 passes through the hot air passage 15a at the rear end of the casing, reaches the lower end while keeping warm or heating the hot food portions of each stage connected thereto, detours forward, and passes through the hot air passage 15a at the front end. 15b, and circulates from the hot-corrosion section at the top level to the blower intake port 18 that opens on the ceiling surface. The shape and arrangement of the blower 16 and heater 17 in the left-right direction of the casing are as follows.
As shown in the figure, it can be seen that the heaters 17 are arranged in a meandering manner so as to occupy a substantial width of the hot-corrosion area.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the rear inner wall 1 on the hot food section side
3, by arranging a large number of slits 19 for communicating hot air from the hot air passage 15a, hot air can be rectified and guided to each stage.

One embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and cold food and hot food are placed side by side on one tray 5 in the kitchen, and the food is served at each serving station without separating the cold food and hot food. It can be stored as is in the car, and the serving car can transport it as it is to each serving position in each room when necessary, and complete serving by simply taking out one tray one after another.

8a and 8b show the structure of an embodiment in which rails 21 are elastically installed at the upper and lower ends of the cold and hot partition wall 6, so that the central separation edge 5c of the tray 5 is supported almost completely airtight. It shows.
As is clear from FIG. 8a, the upper and lower ends of the partition wall 6 have opening edges 22 narrowed in width at each end surface.
A groove 22 having a rectangular cross section and having grooves a and 22b is formed over almost the entire length. The rail 21 has a main body portion 21a having a semicircular cross section protruding from the upper and lower ends of the partition wall 6, and a pedestal 21b that fits between the opening edges 22a and 22b of the groove 22, and a pillar 21b that fits on both side walls of the groove 22. A plate spring 23 is attached to the back surface of the leg stand 21c.

The rail 21 is always connected to the partition wall 6 by the leaf spring 23.
It is biased in the direction of protruding from the upper and lower ends, and when the tray 5 is not inserted, the downward rail main body 21a and the corresponding upward rail main body 21a are in contact with each other, and when the tray 5 is inserted, It is pressed against the corresponding surface of the central separation edge 5c. Note that since both ends of the main body portion 21a of the rail 21 are chamfered in a sled shape as shown in FIG. 8B, the tray 5 can be inserted without difficulty. In addition, the rail 21 is made of a resin material with good sliding properties, such as 10% glass.
The plate spring 23 is made of, for example, a SUS304 stainless steel plate.
By attaching the rail to the partition wall 6 in this manner, the center separation edge of the inserted tray 5 is almost completely airtightly supported, so that the cold eating part 5a and the hot eating part 5a of the tray 5 are more reliably isolated. become.

FIGS. 9a and 9b show an embodiment in which an electronic heat exchange element is provided inside the serving car instead of the method shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 in which a vacuum unit is installed separately from the serving car main body. In these figures, the electronic heat exchange elements 24 are arranged in a vertical row at the center of the rear end 14, corresponding to each stage of the trays 5. The electronic heat exchange element referred to herein is a semiconductor Peltier element that utilizes heat absorption and heat generation due to current on a semiconductor junction surface, and the heat absorption side 24a
faces the space above the cold food recess 5a of the tray 5, and the heat generating side 24b is exposed outside the serving car casing 1 in this case. Further, in a preferred embodiment, each of the Peltier elements 24 is provided with heat exchange fins, and a blower (both shown in the figure) serves as a source of air by blowing air in front of them and drawing in air from the circumferential side to pass through the fins. (not shown) is provided to generate convection as shown by solid arrows in the figure, thereby effectively cooling each recess for cold food. Naturally, since this embodiment does not use an external cooling unit,
The cold air inlet 7a and the cold air outlet 7b in the ceiling of the casing shown in FIGS.

In addition, when heating (or heating assistance) the hot food side of the tray 5 using the convection mechanism on the heat generation side of the Peltier element exposed on the back surface of the casing, a conduit (see Fig. (not shown) may be added. In addition, the Peltier element is placed in the cold/hot partition wall 6, with its endothermic side facing the tray cold food recess.
By attaching the heat generating side to the hot food concave side of the tray, it is possible to keep the food hot and cold with just this element.Furthermore, there are no obstacles on the back side of the casing, so both the back side and the front side A door similar to the above can be installed to make serving food extremely efficient.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the serving car of the present invention can serve cold food and hot food side by side on the same tray, and if the cold food and hot food are first plated in the kitchen, they can be transferred afterward. Since the food is transported and stored in a substantially sealed serving vehicle, the food can be served in an extremely clean manner without the risk of contamination with germs and the effectiveness of the disinfectant. In addition, if the surrounding wall structure of the casing and the cold and hot partition walls are made of materials with sufficient heat insulation properties, even if the heater is turned off, separated from the cooling unit, or the electricity to the electronic cooling element is cut off, It has various advantages such as being able to serve food with plenty of time since the temperature of the refrigerator and hot storage is maintained for the sufficient time required for serving the food (about 30 minutes to 1 hour).

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the preferred embodiment of the serving car with its front door open, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the tray of the serving car of Fig. 1 together with the food placed therein, and Fig. 3 is the partition. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the wall support structure and the tray inserted state; FIG. 4 is a front perspective view showing the serving vehicle connected to the cooling unit at the storage location; FIG. 5a shows details of other structures inside the serving vehicle. 5b is a side sectional view thereof, FIG. 5c is a plan sectional view thereof, FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the warm air generation and circulation mechanism of the serving car, and FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway front view. Its plan view, FIG. 8a is a partial sectional view showing an embodiment in which airtight support rails are supported by springs at the upper and lower ends of the cold/hot partition wall, FIG. 8b is a partial side view of the rail, and FIG. 9a is a FIG. 9b is a side cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a serving cart equipped with an electronic cooling mechanism, and FIG. 9b is a plan cross-sectional view thereof. 1... Casing, 2... Front door, 3... Front intermediate support, 4... Caster, 5... Tray, 6
...Cold/hot partition wall, 7a...Cold air inlet, 7b...
Cold air outlet, 8... Cooling unit, 9... Crosspiece support frame, 10, 11... Tray support crosspiece, 12... Cool air passage, 13... Rear inner wall, 14... Rear end wall, 1
5a, 15b...Hot air passage, 16...Blower, 1
7...Heater, 18...Blower intake port, 19...
...Warm air slit, 20...Environmental purification agent container, 21
...Rail, 22 ... Groove, 23 ... Leaf spring, 24
...Electronic heat exchange element.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of trays each having recesses for cold food and hot food integrally formed between a central separation edge and both side edges parallel thereto, and a shelf structure for supporting the plurality of trays. and a serving vehicle main body comprising a casing with a door that surrounds the shelf structure, and a plurality of casters attached to the bottom back surface of the casing, and the shelf structure is located on both sides of the tray. at least one stage of both side support bars for guiding and supporting the casing in the front-rear direction, respectively, an upper end surface for supporting the central separation edge of the tray from below and guiding the casing in the front-rear direction, and a lower stage. and a plurality of cold/warm partition walls arranged corresponding to the support bars on both sides, each having a lower end surface that slides into or approaches the central separation edge of the tray in which the tray is located, the cold food partition wall being supported by the support bars. A cold-warming serving truck characterized in that either side of the space formed above and below the recess is communicated with a vertical cool air passage formed from the ceiling surface to the bottom surface of the casing. 2. A cold air inlet and a cold air outlet are provided on the ceiling surface of the casing at the upper end of the vertical cold air passage, and a heat insulator is provided in the ceiling or other wall of the casing that surrounds the hot food concave side of the tray. 2. The cold/warm serving truck according to claim 1, further comprising a heater for heating and a fan for circulating the heat of the heater into the inner space of the casing on the side of the recess for hot food. 3. In the casing, on both sides of the vertical cold air passage, a pair of shelf structures each including support bars on both sides for the cold food and hot food recesses and a cold/warm partition wall are provided so that the cold food recess sides thereof are connected to the cold food air passage. 3. A cold/warm serving cart according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the serving carts are formed symmetrically so as to face each other with a passageway in between. 4 A plurality of electronic heat exchange elements are placed in each casing so that each heat-absorbing surface faces the space above the recess for cold food in each stage of the tray or a space connected thereto, and the heat-radiating surface is shielded from the space. By installing an air circulation fan in relation to the heat absorption surface and the heat radiation surface of the heat exchange element, the ceiling part of the casing cools the cold food recesses of each stage and surrounds the hot food recesses of the tray. 2. The cold/warm serving truck according to claim 1, further comprising warm air generating means for generating convection in the inner space of the casing on the side of the hot food recess in the hot food recess. 5. Claim 4, wherein the hot air generating means comprises an electric heater and a fan.
The cold and warm serving trucks mentioned in the section. 6. Claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the hot air generating means includes a fan disposed in an air circulation path on the heat radiation surface side of the electronic heat exchange element.
Insulated cold and heated serving trucks. 7 Rail locking grooves are provided at the upper and lower ends of the cold and hot partition walls, respectively, and rail legs having a length corresponding to the entire length of the partition wall are housed in these locking grooves and are supported by springs. The top surface of the rail supports the corresponding surfaces of the central separation edge of the tray as the top and bottom surfaces of the partition wall substantially without gaps;
7. The cold/warm serving cart according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that it is adapted to make sliding contact and guide. 8. The cold storage according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that a container housing a substance containing stabilized chlorine dioxide in a ventilated manner is disposed in the vertical cold storage air passage. Insulated meal truck.