Patent Application
20130313211
This invention relates to a low cost wire chafing stand and method of fabricating an inexpensive wire chafing stand which can be readily stacked in a nested relationship with other wire chafing stands of the same design for compact storage and low cost transportation and which possesses adequate strength and stability to satisfy minimum safety and reliability requirements.
A chafing stand is a device used to support aluminum or steel pans and uses auxiliary fuel heaters preferably supported within the chafing stand for the purpose of maintaining and heating pre-cooked food at a location remote from the kitchen where the food was originally prepared and cooked. The primary factors controlling the selling price of a wire chafing stand are: (a) fabrication cost attributable to labor, (b) the amount of wire rod used in the fabrication of the wire chafing stand and (c) the transportation cost for transporting the fabricated wire chafing stand from the point of manufacture to a distributor or purchaser. The costs attributable to labor can be substantially reduced by automating the fabrication to minimize human involvement. The amount of the wire rod can be minimized by using less wire rod and/or thinner wire rod. Lastly, the cost of transportation may be minimized by transporting a multiplicity of wire chafing stands in a nested relationship and disassembling them after shipment. However, a wire chafing stand must also have sufficient strength and stability to resist tilting and to resist collapsing in response to applied forces imposed when dispensing food from the wire chafing stand. Thus reliability, safety and strength must also be factored into the fabrication design and may offset any advantage realized by simply optimizing the primary factors.
Heretofore, one could minimize transportation cost by nesting the wire chafing stands together during transportation. However, nesting may cause wedging which would make it difficult to separate the wire chafing stands after they are nested together. This problem was addressed and overcome in U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,948 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513, the disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference, by incorporating “offsets” either in the wire legs of the chafing stand or in the rim of the stand during the fabrication of the wire chafing stand.
The cost of fabrication attributable to labor may be optimized by automating the operation such that the plurality of wire legs are welded to each of the rims using automated welding equipment.
Prior art wire chafing stand were designed to resist tilting and to resist collapsing, in response to applied forces imposed when dispensing food from the wire chafing stand, by arranging the wire legs in a substantially U shaped configuration with the wire legs bridging the longer and shorter sides of both the upper and lower rims of the chafer. An alternative wire chafing stand is commercially available which employs straight wire legs extending upright between the upper and lower rims. However, additional wire members, hereinafter “wire or support rods”, are used in this alternative design as support rods between the upper and lower rims to increase stability and to prevent the upper rim from collapsing due to the forces applied by the weight of the metal pans placed in the chafing stand before dispensing food. This arrangement increases the cost of wire rod. Moreover, the wire rod supports are welded between the upper and lower rims approximate the center of the chafer which makes it more difficult to withdraw or insert a canned fuel holder into the chafer.
The wire chafing stand of the subject invention employs an arrangement of wire rods which does not require wire support rods thereby substantially reducing cost. Instead, all of the wire rods function as wire legs without compromising strength or safety. This is accomplished by using an arrangement of wire legs attached only to the lateral sides of the chafing stand in a substantially upright configuration without use of support rods. It has been discovered that if the wire legs are attached to the wire chafing stand on its lateral sides at a location in very close proximity to its longitudinal sides the wire chafing stand can resist tilting of the wire chafing stand and will resist applied forces imposed when dispensing food from the wire chafing stand which without support rods may otherwise cause the stand to collapse. In accordance with the present invention “very close proximity” defines a space or gap of no more than about 1¼″ in dimension from the weld to the centerline of the longitudinal sides and preferably less than about ¾″ in dimension to the centerline of the longitudinal sides.
The wire chafing stand of the present invention consists of at least one rim in a closed configuration having lateral and longitudinal sides, preferably forming a rectangular geometry, and a plurality of wire legs affixed to only the lateral sides of the rim on opposite sides thereof in close proximity to the longitudinal sides so as to form a gap of less than about 1¼″ in dimension to the centerline of the longitudinal sides. For purposes of the present disclosure, the shorter side of the wire chafing stand represents the lateral side and the longitudinal side represents the longer side. In the preferred construction, the wire chafing stand includes an upper rim and a lower rim and a total of four wire legs, arranged in pairs, with a pair of wire legs connected to one lateral side of the upper rim on each opposite side thereof. Each wire leg should extend below the lower rim in a bent configuration to form a base member having a section level with the ground for supporting the wire chafing stand above ground.
The wire legs in each pair are in parallel to one another and in a substantially upright configuration with each leg being tilted in a horizontal direction and welded out of plane so that each leg bridges the upper rim to the lower rim. This accommodates a lower rim with dimensions substantially smaller then the corresponding dimensions of the upper rim.
At least one offset should be located in each wire leg and preferably at a location below the lower rim adjacent the lateral side thereof.
The wire chafing stand of the present invention includes at least one rim having lateral and longitudinal sides in a closed configuration and consists of a plurality of wire legs affixed to only the lateral sides of the rim on opposite sides of the chafing stand with each wire leg located in close proximity to the longitudinal sides thereof such that a gap is formed of no more than about 1¼″ in dimension measured from the point where the wire legs are affixed to the rim to the centerline of the longitudinal sides. Each wire leg should extend from the upper rim to form a base member for supporting the chafing stand above ground level. At least one offset should be located in each wire leg. In the preferred embodiment the wire chafing stand includes an upper and a lower rim with each of the wire legs welded to both the upper and lower rims on only the lateral sides of the chafing stand and with each wire leg being located in a common plane lying at a small angle relative to a vertical plane extending transverse to the lateral sides.
Other advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:
Referring now to the drawings in which
Each wire chafing stand 10 of the present invention comprises an upper rim 11 composed of wire rod steel in a closed geometrical configuration having two lateral sides 12 and 12′ and two longitudinal sides 14 and 14′ adapted for the placement of a chafer containing a food product. The lateral sides 12 and 12′ lie substantially transverse to the longitudinal sides 14 and 14′ to circumscribe an open substantially rectangular surface area geometry. The upper rim 11 is spaced apart from a lower rim 15. The lower rim 15 has geometry substantially identical to the geometry of the upper rim 11 and includes two lateral sides 16 and 16′ and two longitudinal sides 17 and 17′, the dimensions of which are proportionally smaller than the lateral and longitudinal dimensions of the upper rim 11.
Each wire chafing stand 10 further comprises a plurality of wire legs 18 joined, preferably by welding, to both the shorter lateral sides 12 and 12′ of the upper rim 11 and to the shorter lateral sides 16 and 16′ of the lower rim 15 on each opposite side of the chafing stand 10. The plurality of wire legs 18 preferably includes a first pair of wire legs 19 and 20 joined to the lateral side 12 of the upper rim 11 and to the lateral side 16 of the lower rim 15 and a second pair of wire legs 19′ and 20′ joined to the opposite lateral sides 12′, 16′ of the upper and lower rims 11 and 15 respectively. The first pair of wire legs 19 and 20 are welded to the upper rim 11 so that each of the welded connection 21 and 22 lies in close proximity to the longitudinal sides 14 and 14′ on the lateral side 12 of the upper rim 11 such that a gap or space “g” is formed between the welded connections on the lateral sides of the upper rim relative to the longitudinal sides respectively corresponding to a distance of above zero and no more than about 1¼″ in dimension to the centerline of the longitudinal sides and preferably less than ¾″ in dimension. Likewise, the second pair of wire legs 19′ and 20′ are welded to the upper rim 11 on the opposite lateral side 12′ in close proximity to the longitudinal sides 14 and 14′ of the upper rim 11.
Each pair of wire legs 19 and 20 and 19′ and 20′ on each lateral side of the upper rim 11 are preferably interconnected to one another to form handles 23 and 24 to grip the wire chafing stand 10 on each opposite lateral side of the chafing stand 10. The handles 23 and 24 extend outwardly from the welded connections 21, 22 with each of the handles 23, 24 having a straight section 30, 30′ lying parallel to the lateral sides 12, 12′ of the upper rim 11. The handles 23, 24 may be formed independent of the wire legs or without being interconnected thereto.
The pair of wire legs 19, 20 extend from the lateral side 12 of the upper rim 11 to below the lower rim 16 to form base members 25 and 26. Similarly, the pair of wire legs 19′, 20′ extend from the lateral side 12′ to below the lower rim 16′ to form base members 25′ and 26′. The base members 25, 25′ and 26, 26′ the wire chafing stand in an upright position above ground. Each base member 25, 26 and 25′, 26′ on each lateral side is preferably formed by bending the wire legs 19, 20 and 19′, 20′ below the lower rim 16 and 16′, on each lateral side, into a configuration with each base member 25, 26 including two upright wire sections 31, 32 and 37, 38 and each of the base members 25′ and 26′ into two upright wire sections 31′, 32′ and 37′, 38′ respectively. The upright sections 31, 32 of base member 25 are aligned in parallel to one another and the upright sections 37, 38 of base member 26 are aligned in parallel to one another with each upright section 31, 32 and each of the upright sections 37 and 38 being welded a fixed distance apart to the lower rim on the same lateral side. Similarly the upright sections 31′, 32′ of base member 25′ are aligned in parallel to one another and the upright sections 37′, 38′ of base member 26′ are aligned in parallel to one another with each upright section 31′, 32′ and each of the upright sections 37′ and 38′ being welded a fixed distance apart to the lower rim 16′ on the opposite lateral side of the chafing stand 10. Each base member 25 and 26 also has a straight wire section 33 and 39 interconnecting the two upright sections and lying horizontal to the ground. Similarly, each base member 25′ and 26′ on the opposite lateral side of the chafing stand includes a straight wire section 33′ and 39′ interconnecting two upright sections and lying horizontal to the ground. The straight wire sections 33, 39 and 33′, 39′ of each of the base members 25, 26 and 25′, 26′ form the support for the stand to rest upon the ground.
An offset 40 is located in each of the upright sections 31, 32, 37 and 38 on one lateral side of the chafing stand and a similar offset 40′ located in each of the upright sections 31′, 32′, 37′ and 38′ on the opposite lateral side of the chafing stand 10. Each offset may be formed by a bending or crimping operation of the wire leg in which the offset is created to form an indent which will cause a lateral displacement between the longitudinal axis extending through the section of the wire leg above and below the indent. At least one offset is required in each wire leg 18 of the chafing stand 10.
The pair of wire legs 19, 20 and 19′, 20′ are welded to each lateral side 12 and 12′ of the upper rim 11 and to the lateral sides 16, 16′ of the lower rim 15 with the pair of wire legs 19, 20 and the pair of wire legs 19′, 20′ lying in common planes at a common angle “a” as shown in
A plurality of wire connectors 44, 45 and 46 are welded to the lower rim 15 in an arrangement with each of the wire connectors 44, 45 and 46 being bent to form depressed intersecting sections 48 and 49 adapted to support chafing fuel heaters (not shown).
