Title:
Circulative catering table
United States Patent 3895691
Abstract:
A circulative table especially suitable for use in self-service catering business. The circulative table includes a base frame structure having inner and outer side walls defining therebetween a circulative passage and having a fixed fringe table. An endless plate conveyor is mounted in the circulative passage of the base frame structure for circulating food or dishes for selection by customers who are standing or sitting on chairs in front of the fixed fringe table. The circulative catering table further includes a cover plate and a number of sterilizing lamps mounted overhead the endless plate conveyor for maintaining the served food and dished in sanitary conditions free from dusts, putrefaction and the like.
Application Number:
05/433043
Publication Date:
07/22/1975
Other Classes:
198/576, 198/852
International Classes:
A47F9/00; A47G23/08; B65G17/06; B65G17/22; E04H3/04; A47F9/00; A47G23/00; B65G17/00; B65G17/06; E04H3/02; (IPC1-7): E04H3/04
Field of Search:
186/1R,1D 198
Primary Examiner:
Werner, Frank E.
Claims:
What is claimed is
1. A circulative catering table comprising:
2. A circulative catering table as defined in claim 1, further comprising a number of sterilizing lamps mounted on the underside of said cover plate for maintaining in a sanitary state the served meals which are under circulation on said endless conveyer.
3. A circulative catering table as defined in claim 1, wherein said covering plate is formed from a glass sheet and is retained in a framework.
4. A circulative catering table as defined in claim 1, wherein said driving means further comprises a driving motor; a reducer having the input shaft thereof connected to the output shaft of said driving motor and an output shaft connected to a worm gear which is held in meshing engagement with a worm wheel fixedly supported on said vertical shaft of said chain driving sprocket wheel.
5. A circulative catering table as defined in claim 1, wherein said driving means further comprises a geared motor and a transmission chain interconnecting said geared motor and said vertical shaft of said chain driving sprocket wheel for transmitting translational movement.
Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is related to my copending application, Ser. No. 433,056 filed on Jan. 14, 1974.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a catering equipment, and more particularly to a circulative table particularly useful in self-service catering.
Briefly, the present invention concerns a circulating catering table apparatus which is provided with an endless conveyer for transferring dishes or meals thereon inside and along a circular fixed table to allow customers who are standing or sitting outside the fixed circular table to select a desired dish or dishes among those which are circulated by the conveyer.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a circulative catering table of the type mentioned above, which can serve dishes or meals with high efficiency.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a circulative catering table of the nature as mentioned above, which has provisions for maintaining served dishes or meals in sterilized conditions.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a circulative catering table which is simple in construction and easy to maintain in sanitary conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In one preferred form of the invention, the circulative catering table comprises a basic frame structure having inner and outer side walls defining therebetween an endless circulating path of travel; a fixed fringe table provided around the circumference of said outer wall of said basic frame structure; an endless conveyer mounted in said endless circulating path for circulatively transferring meals therealong; a driving means mounted on said basic frame structure and associated with said endless conveyer for imparting translational movement thereto; a cover plate mounted overhead said circulating path of travel and supported on said inner side wall of said basic frame structure by means of a number of posts in parallel spaced relationship with a meal-transferring surface of said endless conveyer.
The endless circulating path of travel may be formed in a generally rectangular shape or circular shape whichever may be desired. It is preferred to form the cover plate overhead the circulating path from a transparent material such as transparent glass sheet and retain the same in a frame using suitable structural material.
In another preferred form of the invention, the circulative catering table further comprises a cooking table located at a suitable position within a space defined by the circulating path of travel and a number of sterilizing lamps mounted on the underside of the cover plate for maintaining in a sanitary state the served meals which are circulated by the endless conveyer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show by way of example a preferred embodiment of the invention and in which:
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the circulating catering table according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view, partly in section, of the catering table shown in FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing crescent plate members constituting a circulating endless conveyer;
FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing one crescent plate member as detached from an endless conveyer chain for the convenience of explanation;
FIGS. 5 and 6 are diagramatic perspective views showing driving means for the endless conveyer.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the accompanying drawings and first to FIGS. 1 through 4, the circulative catering table of the invention comprises a base frame structure or construction 1 of a rectangular or circular shape in plan view. The base frame structure 1 includes inner and outer side walls 3 and 4 which define therebetween a circular endless path of travel. In this circular endless path of travel, there is mounted an endless conveyer 2 for transferring dishes or meals in one direction therealong. A relatively narrow circular fixed fringe table 5 is mounted substantially horizontally on the outer side wall 4 close to the upper end thereof. The fixed fringe table 5 is projected outwardly from the circumference of the outer side wall 4 to surround the circulating path of travel in which the afore-mentioned endless conveyer is running. A cooking table 6 is provided a suitable position within the boundary defined by the inner side wall 3 of the base frame structure 1. The inner and outer wall 3 and 4 of the base frame structure 1 have a passage 7 of a suitable size to provide an access to the inner side of the table.
As shown particularly in FIGS. 3 and 4, the endless conveyer 2 which runs in and along the circulating passage on top of the frame 1 is constituted by a series of crescent plates 8 each having a swivel arm 9 extending downwardly from the underside thereof. These crescent plates 8 are pivotally supported on a strand of an endless chain which is formed from a plurality of chain units 11 each connected with adjacent ones by means of pin links 12. The pin links 12 are each provided with a vertical bore for receiving and supporting the swivel arm 9 of the crescent plate 8. The crescent plates 8 which are aligned end to end as shown in FIG. 3 can swivel on the chain 10. The side wings of the crescent plates 8 are slidingly supported on horizontal racks 13 which are formed by folding the upper ends of the inner and outer side walls 3 and 4 inwardly angularly, the crescent plates 8 being thus in horizontal alignment with each other to provide a substantially continuous plane surface on the circulating path of travel.
The afore-mentioned endless chain 10 is applied around and meshed with teeth of a horizontally disposed sprocket wheel 15 at each corner of the table. The sprocket wheels 15 are each supported on a vertical shaft 14 and one sprocket wheel 15 is connected to and rotatingly driven from a driving mechanism 16 which is mounted at a suitable position on the base frame structure 1. The driving mechanism 16 is arranged, for example, such that rotation of a driving motor is transmitted through a transmission or a reducer 18 to a worm gear 19, as shown in FIG. 5, which is in meshing engagement with a worm wheel 20 fixedly mounted on the afore-mentioned vertical shaft 14 of the sprocket wheel 15. Alternatively, the vertical shaft 14 may be imparted with rotation by means of a geared motor 21 which is connected thereto by a transmission chain 22.
Overhead the endless circulating conveyer 2, there is provided a roof-shaped cover plate 23 which is formed, preferably, from a transparent material such as a transparent glass sheet retained in a framework including angular corner frames 25. The transparent cover plate 23 is mounted on the inner side wall 3 of the base frame structure 1 by means of a number of posts 24 of an inverted L-shape in parallel spaced relationship to the endless conveyer 2. The cover plate 23 which is coextensive with the endless conveyer 2 has mounted on the underside thereof a number of sterilizing lamps 26 end to end in the longitudinal direction, for sterilizing the meals or dishes which are circulatively transferred on the endless conveyer 2. Preferably, a glass refrigerating box 27 is placed on the cover plate 23 in a position in front of the cooking table 6 for storing and displaying food stuff or material to be cooked or served.
With the circulative catering table construction of the invention as described hereinabove, a cook stations inside the circulating endless conveyer 2 for cooking food on the cooking table 6 and placing cooked dishes or meals one by one on the moving conveyer 2 so that customers can stand or sit on chairs in front of the fixed circular fringe table 5 and take or choose a desired dish among those which are circulatively transferred by the endless conveyer 2. The circulative catering table of the invention can thus contribute to laborsaving to a considerable degree and makes it possible to serve a variety of dishes with a high efficiency. It will be understood that, coupled with the cover plate 23, the provision of the sterilizing lamps 26 overhead the dish transferring circular endless conveyer 2 serves to maintain the dishes or meals in sanitary conditions against dusts and putrefaction.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents which may be resorted to are understood to be falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.