Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~7~
1 FIELD OF THE INVENI~ION
______________________
The present invention relates to a dispensing device
which is particularly suitable for dispensing food and
which can be warmed for heating the food in the device
prior to dispensing.
BACKGRO~ND_OF_THE_INVENTION
In order to serve food to a large number of people
at both private functions and public restaurants, a chef
will generally cook the food well in advance of the
expected crowd and then store the food to be s0rved
later. When the food is brought out it is served using
utensils such as spatulas and forks which require later
cleaning. Sometimes the utensils may be laid aside where
they are difficult to find, requiring that the food be
served by hand.
In order to make food such as meat hors d'oeuvres
accessible for serving, they are usually placed on a
large platter or open topped dish. If a top is fitted
over the platter or dish, it must be lifted to gain
access to the food. This can often be awkward
particularly when the individual serving the food is
carrying other items such as the utensils mentioned
above. Without the cover the food is much more difficult
to keep heated and is open to contaminating agents which
is a particular problem in most restaurants.
The present invention provides a dispensing device
comprising a bowl portion for receiving articles to be
dispensed, at least one sweeping member rotatable in the
bowl portion, a handle exteriorly of the bowl portion for
rotating the sweeping member, a ramp through the bowl
~7~
1 portion and an opening in the bowl portion to the ramp.
The sweeping member is adapted to sweep across the ramp
opening which is located at a gravity feed position in
the bowl such that as the sweeping member swe ps across
the ramp opening, articles which are swept with the
sweeping member gravitate towards the ramp opening where
they drop on to the ramp and are guided outwardly through
the bowl portion.
According to an aspect of the invention the device
is adapted for food dispensing. It is provided with a
cover and is heated from beneath for heating of the food
in the dispensing device. However, even when the cover
is used there is no need to lift the cover in order to
dispense the food so that only one hand is needed to
operate the dispenser while the other hand is free to
carry the food after it is dispensed.
BRIEF DISCUSSION OF THE DRAWINGS
----------------------------_ ___
The above as well as other advantages and features
of the present invention will be described in more detail
according to the preferred embodiments of the present
invention wherein:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form
of a food dispenser according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a view looking down on the bowl portion
of the dispenser of Figure 1 with the top removed from
the bowl portion;
Figure 3 is a section along the lines of 3.3 of
Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a section along the lines 4.4 of Figure
2; and,
1 Figure 5 is a side view of a further preferred
embodiment of the dispenser accordiny to the present
invention having a bowl portion similar to that shown in
Figure 1 with an increased capacity cover.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION ACCORDING TO THE PREFER~ED
EMBODIMENTS_OF THE THE PRESENT_INVENTION ___
The di~pensing arrangement shown in Figures 1
through ~ and generally indicated at 1 comprises a lower
bowl portion 3 and an upper cover 21 for co~ering the
bowl portion. Bowl portion 3 includes handles 20 for
carrying the bowl portion while cover 21 includes a
handle 23 for lifting the cover off the bowl portion.
These handles are prefrably made from non-heat conductive
material allowing the unit to be handled while it is
heated for warming food in the unit.
Referring more specifically to Figures 2 through 4,
bowl 3 which has a concave inner surface is provided
interiorly with a plurality of food sweeping vanes 5, 5A
and 5B. These vanes all extend outwardly into the bowl
portion from a central column 7. This column is rotated
through a bevel gear arrangement 17 by means of rotatable
handle 15 interconnected with the gear arrangement
through shaft 19. Therefore, as handle 15 is turned on
the outside of the bowl portion the food sweeping members
are rotated within the bowl.
The bowl is additionall~ provided with a ramp 13
which extends downwardly through the bowl to the exterior
thereof. Provided within the bowl is a ramp opening 11
immediately above the upper inner end of the ramp. This
ramp opening is located at a relatively low point within
1 the concave bowl so that it is in a gravity feed position.
The rotatable food sweeping vanes 5, 5A and 5B are
all interconnected with one another at their outer edges
through a ring member 9 which strengthens the vanes so
that they will not flex within the bowl as they are being
rotated. The vanes are further contoured along their
lower edges to mate with the concave shape of the bowl.
This ensures that the vanes will not sweep over or jam
with any food in the device.
The device is best suited for use with rounded foods
such as meatballs and the like which have a tendency to
roll in the bowl to the ramp opening although the concave
shape of the bowl does cause other non-rounded shaped
food to also slide to the ramp opening. Figure 2 shows
the device when loaded with such s~nall meatballs. The
device is operated by rotating handle 15 which causes the
food sweeping vanes to sweep across ramp opening 11. The
meatballs which are being swept by the vanes gravitate to
the ramp opening. For example, as is shown in Figure 2,
vane 5A which is sweeping across the ramp openinng is
pushing two meatballs one of which has rolled to a
position immediately above ramp opening 11 where it drops
downwardly through the opening onto the ramp and
outwardly of the device where a plate may be located for
receiving the food.
From the operation of the device as described above
it will be seen that no utenci]s are required to move the
food from the food dispensing device to the plate.
Furthermore, the cover is maintained in place atop the
device while the food is being dispensed.
~ 7~
1 In the Figure 5 arrangement. the lower bowl portion
which is identical to that described in respect to
Figures 1 through 4 is fitted with a cover generally
indicated at 31. This cover comprises a seating section
33 adapted to seat atop the bowl portion as well as an
upper food loading region 35. This food loading region
is separated from the cover portion 33 and the bowl 3 by
a restricted opening 37 in the cover. This restricted
opening provides a controlled feed rate from the upper
food loading region to the bowl which is again gravity
fed as the food falls down into the bowl. Furthermore,
as can be seen from Figure 5, the upper food loading
region substantially increases the capacity of the unit.
A particularly advantageous feature of the bowl
portion is that it is adapted to receive means for
heating the bowl to keep the food in the howl warm.
According to the embodiments shown in the drawings, the
base of the bowl portion is rounded and sized to fit atop
a standard electrical heating plate 41. The bowl could
however be heated by other means such as a fondue flame
kept at a relatively low heat beneath the bowl which is
of a flame resistant material.
As will be appreciated, the two embodiments of the
device shown in the drawings are both quite portable.
They can be used for private parties or at public
restaurants. In either case the devices are extremely
useful in both warming and dispensing the food without
any handling of the food. As will be appreciated, the
device could be made in a much larger size having the
same mechanical features. Such a larger unit would be
~7~
1 less portable and more for use as a fixture in a
restaurant environment.
Although the device has been described in
association with the dispensing of food it will be
appreciated that other items could also be dispensed
using the device. Furthermore, it will be understood by
those skilled in the art that variations of the described
embodiments may be made thereto without departing from
the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended
claims.
