Food heater with front-facing lift-out rollers
OwnerKristen A. Brennan, Karl R. Heinze +2inventors
InventorsKristen A. Brennan, Karl R. Heinze, Nilesh J. Darji, Nenad Vidojevic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Food heaters with front-facing lift-out rollers are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a food heater can pivot between a first position (e.g., a cooking position) and a second position (e.g., a cleaning position) with the use of a lift system. In some embodiments, the food heater can include rollers that are supported by an integrated support structure of a drip tray when in the first position. In some embodiments, the rollers extend toward a user and can be removed in a direction toward the user when in the second position.
Claims20
A food heater, comprising:
- a base;
- a drive unit mounted to the base, wherein the drive unit is pivotable between a first position relative to the base and a second position relative to the base;
- a plurality of rollers rotatably coupled to the drive unit, wherein individual ones of the rollers extend along a longitudinal axis, wherein the longitudinal axes of the rollers are parallel to one another, wherein the drive unit is configured to rotate the rollers about the corresponding longitudinal axes when the rollers are in the first position, and wherein the rollers are configured to be manually removable from the drive unit when the rollers are in the second position;
- and
- a control panel mounted to the drive unit and positioned to face in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axes.
A food heater, comprising:
- a base;
- a drive unit mounted to the base, wherein the drive unit is pivotable between a first position relative to the base and a second position relative to the base;
- a plurality of rollers coupled to the drive unit, wherein individual ones of the rollers extend along a longitudinal axis, wherein the longitudinal axes of the rollers are parallel to one another, wherein the drive unit is configured to rotate the rollers about the longitudinal axes when the rollers are in the first position, and wherein the rollers are configured to be manually removed from the drive unit when the rollers are in the second position;
- a drip tray configured to be positioned between the base and the plurality of rollers;
- and
- a support structure positioned over the drip tray and configured to support the rollers in the first position.
A food heater, comprising:
- a base;
- a drive unit mounted to the base, wherein the drive unit is pivotable between a first position relative to the base and a second position relative to the base;
- a plurality of rollers rotatably coupled to the drive unit, wherein individual ones of the rollers extend along a longitudinal axis, wherein the longitudinal axes of the rollers are parallel to one another, wherein the drive unit is configured to rotate the rollers about the longitudinal axes when the rollers are in the first position, and wherein the rollers are configured to be manually removed from the drive unit when the rollers are in the second position;
- and
- a lift system mounted to the base, wherein the lift system is configured to be actuated to move the drive unit between the first and second positions, and wherein the lift system includes:
- a handle pivotable between a rest position and a lift position;
- and
- a lift bracket operably coupled between the drive unit and the handle,
- wherein the drive unit is in the first position when the handle is in the rest position, and wherein actuating the handle pivots the lift bracket such that the drive unit is in the second position when the handle is in the lift position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.