Title of Invention

A DEVICE FOR THE TRANSPORT AND THE INTERMEDIATE STORAGE OF COOKED FOOD AND SET-DISH MEALS

Abstract The device consists of a box-like, uprightly arranged container (1) with wheels (2, 3) and at ieast one front door (4,5) able to be pivoted open. The container (1) may be closed by the front door (4, 5) in an airtight manner. It comprises at least one air valve to the outside which may be closed and opened as well as a means for measuring and storing as well as for the display of the temperature and the pressure in the inside of the closed container, which may be read from the outside. The data may be read out on a PC as diagrams over a time period of at least 14 days via an interface. The prepared meals are first cooled to 2°C to 4°C and then are set under a vacuum in the container. In this manner they remain fresh for up to 14 days. (Figure 2)
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A device for the transport and Intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals
[0001] This invention relates to a device for the transport and the intermediate storage of already, almost or completely cooked food or ready set-dish meals. The catering for a large number of persons, be it in hotel and restaurant businesses, in homes of all types, but also in military and company canteens, in railway carriages and also ships is becoming more and more demanding. The consumers specifically desire more and more natural, gently cooked and low-fat meals which furthermore are to be as fresh as possible, and are to be served best of all only on porcelain plates and with high quality cutlery. Unit meals served of cheap, disposable plastic plates with disposable plastic cutlery do not satisfy these demands. Kitchen businesses which constantly prepare a large number of high quality set-dish plates or a la carte meals may now indeed fulfil these requirements, but the task is very demanding with regard to logistics and it is quite difficult for everything to be ready at the correct time, and finally to be able to serve the meals to the guest as fresh and as hot as possible. The more food portions need to be rapidly distributed, the more difficult is becomes to complete the preparation of the food at the right moment in time and to serve it to all those being served who wish to eat hot and freshly cooked meals. It is indeed the case that if large banquets are to be held, or are targe number of people in a restricted space are to be catered for, one reaches limits with conventional cooking and heat retaining methods. Either the freshness of the food portions suffers, or the naturalness of the meals, or their packaging does not confonn to the desired quality requirements. Thus for example the food portions for catering In aircraft are prepared and (deep) frozen in the form of set-dish meals on plastic containers with a see-through lid or removable aluminium foils. Due to the large energy requirement, the food portions are heated even before the start of the aircraft to 150°C and then shortly trefore being served the meals are heated for a short time in the on-board hot-air oven to 250°C for a short time during the flight. The steam is produced in the aircraft with the help of water contained in the meals, which has the effect that these meals are often excessively dried out. This technology and its technical limits also limit the selection of meals. On long haul flights the food portions are not only brought along for the departure flight but also for the return flight, wherein a safety reserve of various set-dish meals is always brought along since the number and composition of the passengers on the return flight is not known before the departure flight. All meals however which are not consumed on the return flight end up as pigs

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swill. As a rule is not possible to use them again for human consumption due to their lacl^ of freshness.
[0002] According to the so-called cook-and-chill method, firstly large quantities of the same meals are cooked in a production kitchen for large quantities of food portions. The food is subsequently portioned in catering standardised dishes and is cooled down from 170°C to +3°C within 90 minutes in a shock refrigerator. This is to reduce the formation of bacteria. The meals prepared in this manner, cooled to 1°C to 4°C, may be kept for five days. Prepared in the correct manner they may be compared to freshly prepared food.
[0003] According to the so-called cuission-sous-vide method, the prepared raw products are evacuated in special cooking bags and are cooked in these. All aroma substances are retained byway of this method. No foreign matter may penetrate these. Here too the meals are cooled in a shock-like manner. They may be used without concem for up to 21 days without preservatives.
[0004] The above mentioned methods however are not completely convincing with regard to many aspects. With the cook-and-chill method one operates only with the shock cooling which only permits a limited, safe storage capability of approx. 3 days. In practise however a significantly longer storage capability is very desirable. With the cuission-sous-vide method on the other hand although a longer storage capability is ensured, the expense of packaging the individual meals in each case in airtight bags and of evacuating them individually however is very great. The removal from the packaging and preparation required for use on the other hand is very large and a lot of waste material occurs.
[0005] A device is known from WO99/04e76 which consists of a plate of porcelain as well as a cover which lies on the edge of the plate in a sealing manner, for example in the fonn of a bell of deep-drawn, transparent plastic. The bell comprises a one-way valve through which the air content of the joined-together parts may be evacuated. The associated serving tray comprises prefonned recesses for accommodating at least one plate in a manner secure from slippage. The plates further comprise loose insert containers which are likewise manufactured of porcelain and may be applied into the plate in an exactly fitting complementary manner in various ways so that the surface of the plate is divided into several container regions which are subdivided from one another and the individual insert containers are held on the plate in a manner such that the are secure from slipping. With such a device, a ready prepared set-dish meal cooled to approx. 2°C to 4°C may be stored up to 14 days, and when required may be

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heated and served within a few minutes. Since however a cover having a iarge stability is required for each individual plate, one requires a corresponding amount of space. With the transparent plastic suggested in WO 99/04676, the transparency to light aiso has an unfavourable effect of the durability of the set-dish meals. Finaliy the covers may not withstand an unlimited amount of evacuation and in time suffer from breakage so that they lose their sealedness.
[0006] It would generally be desirable to be able to freshly serve set-dish meals, for example in hospitals, homes or large hotels so that the consumer also feels that he is being served as if he were to take his meal in a small gourmet restaurant. A system is demanded in order to be able to render the meals as durable as possible vwth an as large as possible quality with little effort. The meals should be able to be transported and stored without much additional hand manipulation and finally should be able to be prepared and served for direct consumption as rapidly and as simply as possible.
[0007] It is therefore the object of the present invention to create a device for the intermediate storage and transport of cooked food and set-dish meals by way of which the food ready for preparation or in the already prepared condition keeps considerably longer than in conventional containers for such food or set-dish meals, and which furthermore permits a simple transport and intermediate storage of the food and set-dish meals. The above mentioned problems of conventional transport and intennediate storage systems are to be solved with these devices. The device should be able to be used constantly and pennit the transport and intermediate storage of food and set-dish meals with a great reliability with regard to maintaining freshness.
[0008] This object is achieved by a device for the transport and intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals, consisting of a box-like, uprightly an-anged container with wheels and with a front door capable of being pivoted open, which is characterised in that the container may be closed in an airtight manner by the front door and comprises at least one air valve to the outside which may be closed and opened, as well as a means for measuring and storing as well as for displaying the temperature and the pressure in the inside of the closed container such that they may be read from the outside, over a time period of at leastl 4 days,
[0009] The device is described in detail and its function and handling is explained by way of the subsequent drawings.
There are shown in

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Figure 1: the device in a perspective totai view with closed doors;
Figure 2: the device according to Figure 1 with opened doors;
Figure 3 an exploded drawing of the device in which ail essentially components may be seen;
Figure 4 the base plate of the device;
Figure 5 the intermediate plate of the device for a container with two front doors arranged above one another;
Figure 6 the intemiediate plate of the device for a container with a single front door;
Figure 7 the lid plate of the device with the box constructed thereon, with a display;
Figure 8 the one-piece constnjction element which fornis the side walls and the rear walls of the container or a container storey, in a perspective view, with the frame profiles placed onto the front edges;
Figure 9 a schematic representation of the basic connection circuit of the rneans for measuring, storing and outputting the measurement datg and displaying these on a display.
[0010] Figure 1 shows the device in a perspective total view. It is the case of a box-like container 1 which is placed upright and stands on wheels 2, 3, wherein the rear wheels 3 advantageously have a fixed track to the container 1, whilst the front wheels 2 are free-running wheels whose track direction may thus be pivoted by 360°. With such a usual travelling mechanism the container 1 may be pushed very easily and may be manoeuvred into corners and gaps. The container 1 at its front side is equipped with at least one pivotable door. In the shown example it comprises two container compartments 48, 49 which are arranged above one another which in each case may be closed with a pivotable front door 4, 5. In the same manner the container may also be divided into three or even more container compartments. The peculiarity of this container 1 is the fact that the front doors 4, 5 may be closed in an airtight manner and the container 1 itself is designed in a universally airtight manner, and further that it comprises at least one air valve 6 to the outside which may be dosed and opened. In the shown example two valves 6 are provided on a rear side via which the air in the inside of the two container compartments 48,49 may be pumped out when the doors 4,

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5 are closed, so that an almost full vacuum prevails in the inside of the container compartments 48, 49. A further valve 7 serves for venting the container and thus for breal [0011] Figure 2 shows the container 1 with opened front doors 4, 5. If the container has two separate front doors 4, 5 arranged above one another at its disposal, Its inside too is correspondingly separated into two container compartments 48, 49 arranged above one another. Each door 4, 5 may be closed separately in an airtight manner In that in the closed condition it is pressed onto a peripheral njbber seal. Each container part 48, 49 may therefore be set separately under a vacuum and vented again and may be separately opened and closed.
[0012] Figure 3 shows an exploded drawing of the various components of the device. In the example shown here the container 1 consists of a base plate 10, of an intermediate plate 11, of a lid plate 12, as well as two wall elements 13,14 which here are identical and are U-shaped in a plan view. These in each case form the left side wall 15, the oppositely lying right side wall 16 and the associated rear wall 17 running between these at a right angle, of a container compartment 48, 49 or container storey. The container 1 is then designed such that these components 10-14 may come to lie over one another (ike a sandwich and the intermediately lying elements 13, 11, 14 are clamped in between the base plate 10 and the lid plate 12 and are tensloned with these. For this purpose, the base plate 10 which consists of solid material comprises a

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milled recess which is U-shaped in a plan view, here in the shape of a U-shaped groove 18 into which the U-shaped wall element 13 fits with its lower edge. In the same manner an equal U-shaped groove is taken out of the lower side of the intermediate plate 11. The upper edge of the lower wall element 13 fits into the groove which is not visible here. Again a U-shaped groove 19 for accommodating the lower edge of the upper U-shaped wall element 14 is taken out on the upper side of the intermediate plate 11. And finally a U-shaped groove is likewise milled out of the lid plate 12 on its lower side, into which the upper edge of the upper wall element 14 fits. The base plate 10 on its front side comprises a projection 20 which lies somewhat deeper than the upper side of the base plate. The projection 20 extends around the right front edge (comer) of the base plate and here comprises a bore 21 which is envisaged to accommodate a hinge pin. A groove 22 is milled out of the front side of the base plate above the projection 20, into which the horizontal section of a peripheral rubber seal may be inserted. If one observes the intermediate plate 11, then one recognises that a similar projection 23 is here also worked from the solid material, which likewise comprises a bore 24 for a hinge pin. On the intermediate plate 11 on the front side however, not only is a groove 25 milled out above the projection, but a further groove 26 is also milled out of the front side below the prajection. These grooves 22, 25, 26 are envisaged for accommodating the horizontal section of the peripheral rubber seals for the con^sponding doors. The vertical sections of the peripheral rubber seals mn along the front edges of the wall elements 13, 14 in grooves which are present here which are shown in more detail in Figure 8. The lid plate 12 corresponds In principle to the base plate 22, it is merely a min-or image of the latter. Its projection 27 extends however also around the right front edge (corner) and is flush with the upper side of the lid plate 12. A groove which here may not be seen is milled out of the front side of the lid plate 12"below the projection, just as the groove 22 in the base plate 10. In the base plate 10 two threaded bores 28, 29 are in each case arranged near to the ends of the U-shaped groove 18 so that these threaded bores 28, 29 lead through the base of the groove 18, 19 Into the material of the base plate 11. Corresponding bores 30, 31 pass through the end regions of the two limbs of the U-shaped wall element 13 at a small distance to the front edge. The wall element 13 may therefore accommodate two threaded rods which extend in the inside of this element along its front edges. Exactly the same applies to the U-shaped wall element 14 of the upper container compartment 48. The intermediate plate 11 likewise comprises bores at the same location, but continuous bores 32, 33. Continuous bores 34,35 are likewise present in the lower side of the lid plate 12, but stepped bores which however may not be seen here. Before placing the individual components onto one another, the grooves 18, 19 on the base plate 10 and intermediate plate 11 as well as the corresponding grooves on lower side of the intermediate plate 11 and the lid plate 12 which may not be seen are filled with a special sealing mass. Afterwards the wall

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element 13 Is placed onto the base plate 10 and then the Intennediate plate 11 is placed onto this. Aftenwards the upper wall element 15 is placed onto the intermediate plate and the lid plate 12 is finally placed onto the upper edge of this upper wall element. Now, from above, threaded rods may be introduced through all components up to into the threaded bores 28, 29 in the base plate 10. These threaded rods may be fixedly tensioned from the upper side of the lid plate 12, so that the elements may be pressed together in a close-fitting manner and airtight connections arise. It is to be understood that the intennediate plate 11 may be omitted, or also a container which is not so high may be constructed. Such a container then merely comprises a single front door. Otherwise it has the same features and may be applied In a practically equal manner, even if this Is not so variable. A further valve 36 is installed at the front in the middle of the intermediate plate 11, in order to either separate the two container compartments 4d, 49 in an airtight manner or to create a pressure compensation between them. At the top on the upper side of the lid plate 12 there is assembled a device 8 with electronics which comprises a display 37 for displaying the measured values in the inside of the container compartments 48,49, specifically the temperature and the pressure, and, as the case may be, also the humidity over time. The associated front doors 4, 5 are drawn in front of the container compartments 48, 49. These are abutted on the projections 20, 23, 27 by way of strong bolts 38, 39,40.
[0013] Figure 4 shows the base plate 10 in an enlarged representation. It consists of a solid material, for example of aluminium since It must be light and very stable with regard to defomnation. It is indeed the case that the base plate should also have an as low as possible thermal conductivity. However with the aluminium here, a certain amount of compromise Is made. It is also conceivable for other materials to be used which have similar values with regard to the deformation stability and weight, and at the same time have Improved heat insulation values. In the shown example an aluminium solid material plate is used and by way of milling from the solid material a projection 20 is shaped which extends around the right front edge of the base plate 10. A bore 21 is provided for accommodating a hinge pin for the front door of the container 1. A U-shaped groove 18 is milled out of the material of the base plate 10 from above. As already described, this is envisaged for accommodating the lower edge of a U-shaped wall element. Threaded bores 28, 29 are incorporated into the base plate 10 near to the front ends of the U-shaped groove, which are envisaged for accommodating and for tensioning the threaded rods. In the front side of the base plate 10 above the projection 20 one recognises the groove 22 for the seal for sealing off the front door. The travelling mechanism is assembled on the lower side of the base plate 10. Here, this consists of two rear wheels 3 with a fixedly aligned track and two front wheels 2 which may be freely steered.

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[0014] Figure 5 shows the intermediate plate 11 for a container with two front doors arranged above one another. This consists of the same material as the base plate and at its front side a projection 23 extends to the front and araund the right front edge. In each case a U-shaped groove 10 is milled out of the upper side as weii as out of the lower side of the intermediate piate 11 and is envisaged to accommodate the wali elements. Near to the front ends of these grooves 19 these are connected via continuous bores 32, 33 which are envisaged for accommodating the threaded rods for tensioning the components with one another. On the front side above as well as below the projection 23 one may recognise in each case a groove 25, 26 which in each case serve for accommodating the seals for sealing the front doors.
[0015] Figures shows the left front edge (corner) of a modified intermediate plate 11. it is the case of the design of the intermediate piate for a device with only a singie container door. In this case specifically no projection is required which separates the two doors from one another, but the door extends over the free space of the openings of both container compartments 48, 49. These container compartments above and below the intemiediate plate 11 are not mutually sealed since this does not make any sense. For opening the common door the pressure in both container compartments 48, 49 must in any case be increased to the pressure of the sun'oundings. The door is sealed on this modilied intermediate plate 11 only via the vertically running sealing sections 41 which are inserted into correspondingly small grooves.
[0016] Figure 7 shows the lid plate 12 of the device with the box 8 constructed thereupon, with a display 37 on the front side. The temperature and the prevailing pressure in the inside of the container may be read off at any time on this display, as the case may be also the humidity in the inside of the container. In another display mode which the electronics selectively permits, one may read off the history, that is to say the course of the temperature and pressure as well as possibly the humidity during the past, up to 14 days. The means 8 has an inteh'ace at its disposal so that all stored data may be read on a PC and may be printed out from the PC. A sliding door 42 is an-anged on the rear side of the means 8 or its shell. The pressure valve 7 with the actuation lever 9 is an^nged behind this sliding door, via which the inside of the container may be vented. For this reason the valve is arranged somewhat hidden so that unauthorised persons due to a too easy access, or kitchen workers, for reasons of undue care, are not able to admit air Into an already evacuated container.
[0017] Figure 8 shows a one-piece construction element which forms the side walls 15, 16 and the rear wall 17 of the container 1 or of a container storey 48, 49, in a

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perspective view. Frame profiles 43, 44 are pushed over the edges to 1111& construction element. The frame profiles 43, 44 each comprise a groove 45, 46 into which a peripheral rubber seal may be applied which as the case may be extends into the grooves 22, 25, 26. These frame profiles 43, 44 are sealingly adhered to the front edges of the constmction element. The frame profile 43 which is arranged on the left in the dravwng runs into a continuation which serves for closing the door with a non-positive fit. For this, the door Is provided with a closure mechanism which builds up and maintains large closure forces. One may recognise bores 30, 31 on the upper side of the construction element through which the threaded rods are led for tensioning the individual components. The construction element itself consists of a highly stiff lightweight constnjction material. For example a sandwich plate with a foamed core and aluminium plates glued thereon on both sides is suitable. Such plates for example are used in the construction of floors in aircraft. Or a plate of an aluminium honeycomb stnjcture or a laminate of several layers of such structure plates may be suitable, which are glued on both sides to heat-insulating plastic plates. The side wall and the rear wall of the constnjction element indeed need to accommodate large forces if the inside of the container is evacuated and here a pressure of only about 10 mbar to 30 mbar prevails. At the same time the walls should let through as little heat as possible. On the inner side of the construction element the side walls are equipped with tray rests 47. These may be manufactured of aluminium or of a plastic and be adhered to the inner side of the side wall. These tray rests 47 form a row of earner strips arranged above one another, on which the tray may be pushed.
[0018] The door or the doors 4, 5 in the case of two or more doors are abutted with strong hinge pins 38, 39,40 on the base plate 10, the intermediate plate 11 and the lid plate 12. On the free side the doors 4, 5 may be pressed in a close fitting manner onto the seals with lever locks or thread closures, on which the doors bear with their inner side. The closures must be designed such that after the closure of the doors, the inside of the container is sealed to the outside in an airtight manner.
[0019] Figure 9 shows a schematic representation of the principle circuit of the means for measuring and storing the measurement data and for displaying these in a display. The means pemiits at least the measurement of the temperature and of the pressure in the inside of the container. In the design shown here they may however also measure the humidity in the inside of the container. For this a probe or sensor is provided in each case, that is to say a temperature sensor 51, a humidity sensor 52 and a pressure sensor 53. These deliver electrical signals to a microprocessor 50 which is connected to a write-read memory RAM (random access memory) 54. This is supplied with current by a 3 Volt lithium battery 55. It obtains data from an electronic clock 56 and from an

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EPROM IDENT (erasable programmable read only memory) 59, in which an identification code is allocated to each charge which is placed into the container. This input to the EPROM IDENT 59 is effected via the operating keys or buttons. The data is delivered to the microprocessor 50 and is processed with those from the RAM 54. Via the driver unit 57 they reach the display 37 for the display. The data may not only be read out via the display 37 but also via a communication interface (RS 232) 60. Instead of or parallel to such a cable-supported communication port there is yet provided an infra-red interface 62, 63 by way of which the data may be transmitted to a PC without cable. As already mentioned, an identification code is allocated to each charge or meals, and this code may be inputted via the button 58. From now on the temperature, the humidity and the pressure in the inside of the now closed container is continuously measured and the data is stored. At any moment the up-to-date measurement data may be displayed in the display 37 so that one may check at any point in time as to what the temperature and the pressure as well as the humidity in the inside of the container is. These values may be displayed In the display 37 also in its temporal course. Shown in the schematic diagram is the display of a temperature of 1.5 °C and a pressure of 15 mbar. This data may furthemnore be read out via the communication interfaces, be it via the RS 232 Interface 60 or via the infra-red interfaces 62,63 for the input and output, and be processed in a PC into suitable diagrams and printed out. It is thus possible to also later identify each food charge stored or transported in the container and to follow up on its history. With shortcomings in quality one may prove as to whether the pressure, the temperature or the humidity in the inside of the container were within the prescribed band width during the keepage time, The temperature in the ideal case should constantly be between 2°C and 4°C and the pressure should not increase above 20 mbar. The humidity should lie between 30% and 90% relative air humidity. Tolerances may be prescribed within which the quality of the stored and transported meals over a certain period of time may be ensured.
[0020] The use of this device is now carried out as follows, wherein one may differentiate as to whether it accommodates readily prepared set-dish meals or also as a food carrier with various contents. Thus for example it may contain several food carriers for soup, for meat, for vegetable and for starchy products such as pasta, potatoes or rice. In any case the foods are almost completely cooked and aftenwards are rapidly cooled to2°Cto4°C. Assoon as the shock cooling has been completed, the meals are put into this device. A recording Is made at a PC for each charge. Each charge is provided with a run code which is stored in a microchip which is intrinsic to the device. From now on, the temperature, the pressure and the humidity may be continuously measured and the data is constantly stored. The door is then closed and the container is set under a vacuum in that the air is pumped from its inside via the air

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valve by way of an external air pump, until the vacuum has reached at least a pressure of 10 mbar to 30 mbar. The charge may now be intermediately stored over 10 to 14 days without the stored food suffering any reduction In quality. If the meals are then finally required, one firstly checks as to whether the temperature and the pressure are still In order before removal of the food, the container is then vented by actuating the lever 9 of the valve below the lid and the door may then be opened and the food removed. These are then left standing for about 15 minutes so that they may be able to take In air and in particular oxygen. In the case of ready made set-dish meals these may then be merely placed In a steam heater (steamer) and they are ready to serve within a few seconds. In the case of food earners which contain various meal contents, either the complete food carrier within the contents Is heated in the steam heater and afterwards the contents are served separately, or the hot ingredients are serves on a piate, heated In the steamer and subsequently immediately served.



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Patent claims
1. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals, consisting of a box-like, uprightly arranged container (1) with wheels (2,3) and with at least one front door (4, 5) able to be pivoted open, characterised in that the container (1) may be closed in an airtight manner by the front door (4.5) and comprises at least one air valve (6) to the outside which may be closed and opened, as well as a means (8) for measuring and storing as well as for displaying the temperature and the pressure in the inside of the closed container (1) such that they may be read off from the outside, as diagrams over a time period of at least 14 days,
2. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to claim 1, characterised in that the container base is a single material plate (10) on whose lower side the wheels (2, 3) are assernbled, and that the rear wall (17) as well as the two side walls (15,16) connecting thereto form a one-piece component (13, 14) U-shaped in a plan view, which is sealingly positioned in a groove (18) in the container base (10), and a container lid (12) by way of milled recesses on its lower side fits in an unmovable manner onto the upper edges of the side walls (15, 16) and of the rear wall (17) and sealingly covers the clear space of the U-shaped component (14), as well as that the container base (10), the side walls (5, 16, 17) and the container lid (12) at the edges which face the open side of the container (1) carry a peripheral, seamless rubber seal so that the container (1) may be closed in a sealed manner by way of pulling the front door (4,5) shut.
3. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the vertical rear wall (17) and the vertical side walls (15, 16) of the container (1) consists of a laminated lightweight construction material.
4. A device for the transport and intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the vertical rear wall (17) and the vertical side walls (15,16) of the container (1) consist of one piece of a foamed core which on both sides is coated with aluminium plates.
5. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the container (1) in height is divided into two storeys (48, 49) in that the vertical rear

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wall (17) and the vertical side walls (15, 16) are interrupted by an intermedial base (11) of a material plate (11) on whose lower and upper side the walls are positioned in grooves (18,19) which are milled in here.
6. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the container (1) in height is divided into three storeys in that the vertical rear wall (17) and the vertical side walls (15,16) are internjpted by two intermediate bases (11) of a material plate on whose lower and upper side the walls (15, 16, 17) are positioned in grooves (18,19) which are milled in here.
7. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that in each case a frame-U-profile (43, 44) is sealingly placed over those edges of the two side walls (15, 16) which face the front door (4, 5), and a groove (45, 46) for inserting a rubber seal is milled on the upper side of the profile, wherein at least the one frame-U-profile in the assembled position on the outer side comprises a continuation extending to the front, for closing the front door (4, 5) shut.
8. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the base plate (10) is manufactured by milled recesses from the solid material in that on its upper side it comprises a milled groove (18) for accommodating the side walls (15, 16) and the rear wall (17), as well on the front side, a recess milled out from above, so that a projection (20) is formed on the lower side of the base plate (10) which is flush with the lower side and which extends around a front edge (corner) of the base plate (10) and comprises a bore (21) for the hinge pins (32) of the front door (5), and that the front side of the base plate (10) formed above the projection (20) comprises a milled out groove (22) for accommodating a rubber seal, further that the lid plate (22) is shaped identically in a mirror-imaged manner, and that the one-piece intermediate plate (11) has the shape of an imaginary lid plate (12) and of an imaginary base plate (10) applied thereon in an exactly fitting manner, wherein the projection of the imaginary lid plate at the same time forms that of the imaginary base plate, wherein the upper front door (4) comes to lie above this (23) and the lower front door (5) below this.
9. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the

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base plate (10) and lid plate (12) as well as in the case of an intermediate plate (11) this too, are manufactured of solid aluminium material.
10. A device for the transport and intermediate storage of cooked food and set-dish meals according to one of the preceding claims, characterised In that a box (8) with a display (37) as well as operating keys or buttons is arranged on the lid plate (12), in which the means with electronics for measuring and storing as well as for the extemally readable display of the temperature and of the pressure in the inside of the closed container over a time period of at least 14 days is accommodated.

11. A device for the transport and the intermediate storage of cooked food substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.



Documents:

1124-CHENP-2004 AMANDED CLAIMS 07-10-2009.pdf

1124-CHENP-2004 OTHER DOCUMENT 07-10-2009.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 abstract.jpg

1124-chenp-2004 abstract.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 claims.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 correspondence-others.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 correspondence-po.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 description (complete).pdf

1124-chenp-2004 drawings.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form 2.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form 3.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form-1.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form-18.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form-3.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 form-5.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 others.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 pct.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 petition.pdf

1124-chenp-2004 power of attorney.pdf


Patent Number 240730
Indian Patent Application Number 1124/CHENP/2004
PG Journal Number 23/2010
Publication Date 04-Jun-2010
Grant Date 26-May-2010
Date of Filing 20-May-2004
Name of Patentee TECHNIKUS AG
Applicant Address AEULESTRASSE 5, FL-9490 VADUZ, LIECHTENSTEIN
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 SCHELLENBERG, WALTER BETTACKERSTRASSE 6, CH-8152 GLATTBRUGG
PCT International Classification Number A47J39/00
PCT International Application Number PCT/CH02/00635
PCT International Filing date 2002-11-22
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 2164/01 2001-11-23 Switzerland