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US 4,232,789 AGranted
Food serving tray for use in a food preparation unit
AssigneeAnchor Hocking Corporation
InventorDonald A. Springer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeAnchor Hocking Corporation
InventorDonald A. Springer
Estimating the term…
The invention relates to a food serving tray for use with apparatus for preparing wholesome meals for patients in hospitals, rest home residents, airline passengers, prisoners and the like. The tray has a plurality of dish size openings extending through the tray. Each dish size opening includes a raised circumferential bead for supporting a dish having a circumferential notch around the lower portion of the dish. The tray has a raised edge along the tray perimeter and tray guiding notches are formed in one side of the raised edge around the tray perimeter for guiding the tray along suitable tracks of a heater shelf rack. The tray can include a series of dish or food supporting indents in the tray surface. Half-size trays are also included in the invention with tray guiding notches in opposing sides of the raised edge around the tray.
In a tray for use in a food preparation unit having a plurality of pairs of cantilevered support arms with a heater shelf secured to each pair of support arms and with the tray slidably positioned on each heater shelf, the tray comprising a generally flat element with a generally planar upper surface and with a leading wall and an oppositely disposed trailing wall and a pair of side walls opposite each other and intermediate said leading wall and said trailing wall, the improvement being said tray having at least one dish size opening extending through said element whereby a dish to be heated may be inserted therein and rest upon a heater on the heater shelf disposed beneath said tray, a raised edge around the perimeter of said upper surface along at least said leading wall and said trailing wall, and a pair of notches extending completely across said raised edge along said leading wall thereof and spaced inwardly from said side walls whereby said tray may be slid on the heater shelf and the pair of cantilevered support arms for the heater shelf thereabove may be disposed in said notches.
In a tray for use in a food preparation unit having a plurality of pairs of cantilevered support arms with a heater shelf secured to each pair of support arms and with the tray slidably positioned on each heater shelf, the tray comprising a generally flat element with a generally planar upper surface and with a leading wall and an oppositely disposed trailing wall and a pair of side walls opposite each other and intermediate said leading wall and said trailing wall, the improvement being said tray having at least one dish size opening extending through said element whereby a dish to be heated may be inserted therein and rest upon a heater on the heater shelf disposed beneath said tray, a dish supporting indent disposed adjacent each side wall, each dish supporting indent comprising a depression extending below said walls and having a rounded shoulder disposed toward the rounded shoulder of the other depression in the general area of said leading wall, and each depression further having a side edge extending from its rounded shoulder parallel to said side wall and disposed toward the side edge of the other depression whereby said depressions are disposed laterally beyond the cantilevered support arm for its heater shelf.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.