Composite heating meal preparation vehicle

Abstract

To perform composite heating of food products and the like stored in a food service cart with a microwave and super-heated vapor to effectively heat the food products and the like in a short time, thereby acquiring food products and the like having excellent taste and texture.SOLUTION: A food service cart 1 includes: a cart 3 in which trays T are disposed in a multi-layer manner; and a food service cart body formed with a cart housing chamber 4 for housing the cart 3 therein. The food service cart body 2 is provided with microwave generating means and super-heated vapor supply means. The microwave generating means heats a food or food material stored in tableware on the tray T and also the food or food material is heated by super-heated vapor.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention mainly relates to a food distribution cart used for providing meals to patients and residents in hospitals, nursing facilities, etc. More specifically, it relates to a composite heating food distribution cart in which two heating means are synergistically combined.

Background Art

[0002] Heating of food by microwaves is widely performed in microwave ovens. Also, there are known food distribution carts as described below.

[0003] That is, it is a food distribution cart composed of a cart capable of accommodating food and drinks, and a station capable of accommodating two of these carts side by side. A microwave generator, which is a heating means described later, is provided on the rear wall of the station.

[0004] That is, the heating means is configured such that a microwave generator is mounted inside the rear wall portion of the station at intervals in the vertical direction, and a hollow box-shaped waveguide for conducting microwaves is provided on the front side of the microwave generator. With the cart accommodated inside the station, the waveguide is positioned below each shelf of the cart. And the waveguide is provided with a microwave irradiation opening on the upper surface, and microwaves are irradiated from the opening toward each shelf of the cart.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] Heating food with microwaves has the advantage of being able to be done in a short time. However, heating with microwaves has the characteristic that, due to the so-called edge runaway phenomenon, heating starts from the end of the object to be heated first. Therefore, it is likely to have uneven heating and also has disadvantages such as high power consumption.

[0007] Also, when reheating rice, main dishes, side dishes, etc. served on various tableware on trays stored in multiple stages in the cart for meal service, like the conventional meal carts described above, each of the above-mentioned foods is likely to become soggy, and there is also a disadvantage that the taste and texture are easily impaired.

[0008] Furthermore, in heating with microwaves, it is difficult to heat evenly and completely the rice, main dishes, side dishes, soups, etc. in each tableware on trays stored in multiple stages in the meal cart. Therefore, in order to eliminate this drawback, like the meal cart described above, it is necessary to arrange waveguide bodies for microwaves in multiple stages corresponding to each stage of the trays. Therefore, there is also a problem that the device structure is complicated and requires a large number of manufacturing processes.

[0009] An object of the present invention is to provide a combined heating meal cart that can heat foods and ingredients in a meal cart in a short time, utilize the characteristics of microwaves that the inside is more easily heated than the outer part of the foods, etc., offset the various disadvantages of the above-mentioned microwave heating, realize useful meal service, and moreover can simplify the structure of the meal cart itself.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0010] The present invention according to claim 1 is a meal cart having a cart in which trays are arranged in multiple stages inside and is movable by casters attached to the bottom, and a meal cart body in which a cart storage chamber for storing the cart is formed inside. In the meal cart body, a microwave generating means and a superheated steam supply means are provided. By the microwave generating means, the foods or ingredients stored in the tableware on the tray are heated, and these foods or ingredients are also heated by superheated steam. and the front side of the cart storage room of the meal delivery cart serves as the cart entrance / exit portion, and the cart entrance / exit portion is made openable and closable by one or a plurality of doors attached to the cart entrance / exit portion. The cart has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape or a substantially cubic shape with openings on the front and rear sides, and for the food or ingredients in the tableware on the tray accommodated in the cart, microwave irradiation and superheated steam supply are performed from the rear wall of the cart storage room by microwave generation means and superheated steam supply meansIt is a combined heating food distribution vehicle characterized by the following.

[0011] In the present invention, "superheated steam" means superheated water vapor.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] As described above, in the combined heating food distribution vehicle according to the present invention, since both heating by microwaves and heating by superheated steam are performed in combination, due to the synergistic effect of these two heatings, there is a special effect that good taste, texture, etc. of the food to be distributed can be obtained.

[0013] More specifically, according to the present invention described above, by irradiation with microwaves, the food, etc. placed in the tableware on the tray is rapidly heated in a short time, and the inside of the food is heated more effectively than the outer part of the food. In addition, by feeding superheated steam, the food, etc. placed in the tableware on the tray can be steamed and heated from its outer part. And in this case, the heating of the food by superheated steam has the advantage of compensating for the drawback of uneven heating by the microwaves.

[0014] In short, according to the combined heating food distribution vehicle according to the present invention, the short-time heating of the food from the inside by microwaves and the steaming heating of the food from the outer part by superheated steam are performed synergistically, and by such an organic integration (synergy effect) of the heating characteristics by microwaves and the heating characteristics by superheated steam, the whole of the food, etc. in the tableware on the tray can be heated efficiently without any gaps and in a short time, and moreover, due to the steaming heating by the superheated steam described above, there is a special practical advantage that the food, etc. with excellent taste and texture can be heated.

[0015] In addition, the combined heating food distribution vehicle according to the present invention can be used not only when reheating the cooked food placed in the tableware on the tray, but also when putting the food materials in each tableware and performing heating and cooking in the food distribution vehicle to provide meals.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0016]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0017] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such embodiments. In this embodiment, front-rear, left-right, and up-down are based on FIG. 2, where "front" refers to the front side direction of the drawing sheet of FIG. 2, and "rear" means the back side direction of the same drawing sheet. Also, "left-right" means the left-right direction of FIG. 2, and "up-down" means the up-down direction of FIG. 2.

[0018] First, regarding the overview of the combined heating meal delivery cart according to this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the meal delivery cart 1 includes a meal delivery cart body 2 having a cart storage room 4 inside which a cart 3 is accommodated. On both side walls 9 and 11 of the cart storage room 4, left and right main body doors 13 are provided in a butterfly-opening manner via a pair of upper and lower hinges 33 attached to this part. In the figure, 10 indicates the entrance / exit part of the cart 3 in the meal delivery cart body 2. Also, in this embodiment, as described above, left and right main body doors 13 are provided in a butterfly-opening manner on both side walls 9 and 11 of the cart storage room 4. However, in the present invention, there may be a case of using a single door that closes the entire entrance / exit part 10 of the cart 3.

[0019] In addition, a cooling device 5 described later is provided above the meal delivery cart body 2, and a sequence control unit 34 for controlling a magnetron MT for generating microwaves, which will be described later, is also provided.

[0020] The cart storage chamber 4, more specifically, includes a ceiling wall 7, a bottom wall 8, both side walls 9 and 11, and a rear wall 12. Wheels 14 are pivotally supported at both front ends of the bottom wall 8, and leg bodies 30 are provided at the front central portion and both rear ends of the bottom wall 8, respectively. Further, openings 17 for the casters 16 of the cart 3 to enter are formed at portions near both sides of the bottom wall 8.

[0021] The cart 3 has no front and rear walls (open at the front and rear sides) and is a box-shaped substantially rectangular parallelepiped with a vertically long overall shape. Its interior serves as a tray storage chamber 40, and a number of partition wall members 15 are arranged vertically in a substantially central portion in the width direction to form partition walls. Trays T are inserted between adjacent partition wall members 15 vertically, and tableware TW containing various foods is placed on the trays T. Note that the cart 3 may be a substantially cube.

[0022] Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, in this embodiment, a pair of left and right panels 12A and 12B are attached to the front surface of the rear wall 12. A number of superheated steam delivery holes 19 through which superheated steam from a superheated steam generator 6 described later discharges are provided in a row vertically near the left edge of the left panel 12A. A number of cold air discharge ports 22A are arranged vertically in the right half of the left panel 12A. A number of cold air suction ports 23A are arranged vertically to the right of the cold air discharge ports 22A. A circular suction port 21 for sucking superheated steam is formed below these cold air discharge ports 22A and cold air suction ports 23A, and a suction fan 26 is provided on the rear side of the circular suction port 21. Note that 25 in the figure indicates a housing duct for the suction fan 26.

[0023] Furthermore, a number of cold air discharge ports 22B are arranged vertically on the right panel 12B of the rear wall 12, and a number of cold air suction ports 23B are arranged vertically to the left of the cold air discharge ports 22B.

[0024] Also, on the rear sides of the pair of left and right panels 12A and 12B on the rear wall 12, cold air supply ducts 27A and 27B corresponding to the above-described cold air discharge ports 22A and 22B are provided, and cold air suction ducts 28A and 28B corresponding to the cold air suction ports 23A and 23B are provided. And the cold air supply ducts 27A and 27B are structured such that cold air is supplied from the cooling device 5 and blows out from the cold air discharge ports 22A and 22B. Also, the suction of cold air by the cold air suction ports 23A and 23B and the steam suction ducts 28A and 28B is performed via a suction fan (not shown) installed on the upper part of the meal delivery cart main body 2.

[0025] And, on the upper, lower, and middle parts of the steam supply duct 24 formed on the rear side of the left panel 12A, coiled heaters 31 for heating the steam generated by the steam generator 6 described later are provided, and a total of six magnetrons MT are arranged respectively between the heaters 31 in the steam supply duct 24 and in the cold air supply duct 27A adjacent to the steam supply duct 24. And, on the panel 12A in front of these six magnetrons MT in total, the above-described waveguide WG is provided.

[0026] Next, regarding the supply structure of superheated steam, a steam generator 6 is installed on the lower rear side of the meal delivery cart main body 2, and the steam generated by the steam generator 6 rises in the steam supply duct 24 via the steam fan 26, and is heated by the heater 31 in the steam supply duct 24 to become superheated steam. The superheated steam is fed into the cart 3 from the superheated steam delivery hole 19 of the left panel 12A, and the superheated steam that has circulated in the cart 3 is sucked in from the circular superheated steam suction port 21 formed at the lower part of the left panel 12A. This suction is performed by a suction fan 26 installed on the rear side of the superheated steam suction port 21, and the sucked superheated steam is recovered to the steam generator 6 side and the steam circulation is configured to be performed. Also, as described above, the steam generator 6 is usually integrally provided with a blower fan (not shown), and the generated steam is sent out by the fan (not shown).

[0027] Next, the microwave irradiation structure will be described. The microwave irradiation is performed by the magnetron MT with the commercially available normal cooling fins FN. The waveguide WG is attached to the front side of each magnetron MT, and the waveguide WG causes the microwave to be reflected and diffused into the tray 3. Also, the fins FN are structured to dissipate heat and be cooled by the cooling fan FA disposed between the magnetrons MT adjacent to each other vertically.

[0028] According to the cart accommodation type meal delivery vehicle 1 configured as described above, the initial heating of the food in each tableware TW on the tray T accommodated in multiple stages in the cart 3 is quickly performed by the waveguide WG of the magnetron MT described above. Thereafter, the finish heating of the food in the tableware TW is performed by the superheated steam generated by the steam generator 6 and the heater 31.

[0029] Also, by attaching a reflector (not shown) made of metal or the like to the inner wall of the cart 3, the microwave irradiated from the waveguide WG of the magnetron MT is reflected and diffused into the cart 3. On the other hand, the superheated steam supplied through the steam generator 6 and the heater 31 is circulated horizontally along the trays T of each stage in the cart 3 through the duct 24. Note that FIG. 5 shows only the magnetron MT and the waveguide WG for the purpose of explanation, and the heater 31 is omitted.

[0030] Also, in the cart 3 of the present embodiment, trays T for 12 meals (24 meals in total) are arranged in two rows in the front-rear direction and in the vertical direction. The microwave for each tray is set to about 300 W, and microwave supply of 7200 W is performed for the total 24 meals. Therefore, the wattage of each of the total six magnetrons MT described above is set to about 1200 W.

Industrial Applicability

[0031] According to the combined heating food delivery cart of the present invention, due to the synergistic effect of heating by microwave and heating by superheated steam, efficient heating of the entire interior and exterior of food and the like can be achieved, and moreover, the taste and texture of the food after both heatings are excellent. Therefore, wide use can be expected.

Explanation of reference numerals

[0032] 1 Food delivery cart 2 Food delivery cart body 3 Cart 4 Cart storage room 5 Cooling device 6 Steam generator 31 Heater MT Magnetron WG Waveguide F Cooling fan T Tray

Claims

Claim 1 A meal delivery cart having a cart with trays arranged in multiple levels inside and being movable by casters attached to the bottom, and a meal delivery cart body having a cart storage chamber for accommodating the cart inside. In the meal delivery cart body, a microwave generating means and a superheated steam supply means are provided. By the microwave generating means, the food or ingredients contained in the tableware on the tray are heated, and these food or ingredients are also heated by superheated steam. The front side of the cart storage chamber of the meal delivery cart is a cart entrance / exit portion, and the cart entrance / exit portion is made openable and closable by one or more doors attached to the cart entrance / exit portion. The cart has an overall substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape or substantially cubic shape with openings on the front and rear sides. For the food or ingredients in the tableware on the tray accommodated in the cart, microwave irradiation and superheated steam supply are performed from the rear wall of the cart storage chamber by the microwave generating means and the superheated steam supply means. A combined heating meal delivery cart.

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