Three dimentional induction rethermalizing station and control system
AssigneeThe Vollrath Company, L.L.C.
InventorsPeter Roever, Yang Wang, John Wojcik
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rethermalizing station includes a well defined by an exterior wall, a food pan configured to be inserted into the well and to hold a food item, a first induction coil surrounding the exterior wall of the well, the first induction coil configured to warm the food item via inductive heating of the food pan, a first temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the food pan, and a control unit coupled to the first induction coil and the first temperature sensor, the control unit configured to control the first induction coil in response to the temperature of the food pan detected by the first temperature sensor such that temperature of the food pan is maintained at a targeted temperature.
Claims13
A rethermalizing station for rethermalizing or warming food items, the rethermalizing station comprising:
- a well defined by an exterior wall;
- a food pan configured to be inserted into the well and to hold a food item;
- a first induction coil surrounding the exterior wall of the well, the first induction coil configured to warm the food item via inductive heating of the food pan;
- a first temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the food pan;
- a second induction coil positioned below a bottom surface of the well, the second induction coil electrically coupled in series with the first induction coil and configured to warm the food item via inductive heating of the food pan;
- and
- a control unit coupled to the first induction coil and the first temperature sensor, the control unit configured to control the first induction coil in response to the temperature of the food pan detected by the first temperature sensor such that temperature of the food pan is maintained at a targeted temperature, wherein the control unit is coupled to the second induction coil and configured to control the second induction coil in response to the temperature of the food pan detected by the first temperature sensor such that temperature of the food pan is maintained at the targeted temperature;
- wherein the first induction coil includes a first number of turns and the second induction coil includes a second number of turns less than the first number of turns.
A rethermalizing station for rethermalizing or warming food items, the rethermalizing station comprising:
- a well defined by an exterior wall;
- a food pan configured to be inserted into the well and to hold a food item;
- a first induction coil surrounding the exterior wall of the well, the first induction coil configured to warm the food item via inductive heating of the food pan;
- a first temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the food pan;
- a second temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the food pan at an elevation different than the first temperature sensor, the second temperature sensor coupled to the control unit;
- an indicator to indicate a need for user attention to the food item;
- and
- a control unit coupled to the first induction coil and the first temperature sensor, the control unit configured to control the first induction coil in response to the temperature of the food pan detected by the first temperature sensor such that temperature of the food pan is maintained at a targeted temperature, wherein the control unit is further configured to determine a temperature difference between the temperature of the food item detected by the first temperature sensor and the temperature of the food item detected by the second temperature sensor and to turn on the indicator when the detected temperature difference exceeds a targeted temperature difference, thereby indicating the need for user attention to the food item.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.