Standex International Corporation

Sara Cofield Hurt

John W Westbrooks, Jr

Anthony C Grotefeld

Joseph D Miller

A bedside rethermalization unit maintains food items placed on meal serving trays, including hot food items to be served at an elevated temperature, in a refrigerated state and rethermalizes hot food items at a desired time prior to meal serving. The unit is preferably in the form of a cart with castered wheels to enhance mobility. The cart includes a cabinet having an upper tray storage compartment for storing and rethermalizing a single day's worth of meals for a single individual, and a lower tray storage compartment for storage of soiled trays and eating utensils. Both compartments are refrigerated. A divider physically and atmospherically isolates the upper and lower tray storage compartments to inhibit contamination of uneaten meals in the upper compartment by soiled trays placed in the lower compartment. Rethermalization of hot food items in the upper compartment may be achieved by convection, conduction, induction, radiant heating, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, the upper tray storage compartment is further divided into a rethermalization compartment, defined by a thermal barrier, with one or more heating elements for rethermalizing hot food items positioned on the meal serving trays. A control panel positioned at the front of the cart provides an indication when the meal is ready to be served.

Bedside rethermalization unit

A rethermalization system for heating refrigerated food on trays, maintaining the food in a refrigerated condition until heated, and heating some of the food to a desired temperature at a serving time while maintaining the rest of the food in a refrigerated condition. The system has a cart which docks inside a refrigerator. The cart has shelves on which trays of food reside. In the shelves there are heaters. The operator programs the system using an intricate series of commands at an operator interface. A first controller interprets the commands and sends the program to a second controller. The second controller controls the heating cycle of the heaters. A current sensor is provided to sense whether there is current to the heaters. The second controller polls the current sensor and compares the findings to what is called for in the program. The second controller sends a status signal, based on the comparison, to the first controller, which provides a response, based on the comparison, to the operator interface.

Rethermalization system

An improved thermal curtain for separating a food service cart into hot and cold regions is disclosed. The thermal curtain is composed of composite foam structural elements which have enhanced insulating capability, toughness and the ability to provide structural support for food service trays placed thereon. The thermal curtain is composed of a plurality of vertically superposed tray support/thermal barrier sections which attach to a support bracket which further attaches to the back of the food service cart. The upper portion of the support/barrier is adapted to provide a tray support and conforms to the design of the food service tray to minimize migration of heated or cold air to the opposite compartment. The lower edge of the support/barrier section is composed of a blade seal floating in a retention channel which allows vertical movement of the seal. When a tray is inserted, the blade seal travels upward so that the tray may be inserted and the lower edge of the blade seal contacts the upper edge of the tray. When a tray is removed, the blade seal lowers into contact with the upper edge of the next lower support/barrier to form a thermal seal.

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Nashville, TN, United States of America

Sara Cofield Hurt