Apparatus

The invention relates to an apparatus comprising supporting means for grilles and trays, suitable for supporting and containing a food product, for example during a process of preserving, freezing or cooking the product.

Apparatuses are known for temperature conditioning of a food product, for example for the process for the preservation, freezing or cooking of the food product, comprising a chamber arranged for containing the food product to be treated located on shelves, in particular grilles or trays. To support the grilles or trays, and therefore the food products, inside the chamber supporting means is provided comprising profiled sections, suitable for supporting two opposite sides of each grille or each tray. At opposite ends of each profiled section bars are provided arranged substantially orthogonally to the profiled section and provided with holes in which the respective ends of the profiled section are housed. The bars are mounted through removable connecting means, for example screws, to the walls of the chamber.

A drawback of known apparatuses for preserving, freezing or cooking food products is that the supporting means consists of numerous pieces. In fact, a manufacturer of such apparatuses has to dedicate a production line to obtaining the profiled sections, a further production line to obtaining the drilled bars, a respective warehouse and an assembly line of the obtained pieces. This significantly affects the final costs of the entire apparatus . A further drawback of the apparatuses for temperature conditioning of food products of known type is that in gaps existing between the bars and the walls of the chamber impurities and dirt accumulate that risk contaminating the food product introduced into the chamber. Furthermore, the holes present on the bars that are necessary for housing the profiled sections and enabling them to arrange themselves in multiple positions inside the

chamber constitute receptacles for dust and microbes that are difficult for a user to reach during the operations of cleaning of the chamber.

In order to ensure adequate cleaning of the chamber, the user thus has to dismantle the bars from the walls of the chamber, clean the bars in a separate place and refit them after also cleaning the chamber. This entails a complication of the cleaning operations and a prolongation of apparatus maintenance time, during which the apparatus cannot be used. Still another drawback of known apparatuses is that when the food products are arranged in trays these trays cause a process fluid inside the chamber, for example air, not to be able to effectively reach all the trays. This means that the process to which it is desired to subject the food products is not completed on all the food products present in the chamber. In particular, if the process fluid is air, the temperature inside the chamber is not uniform and therefore some food products may be cooled, or heated, according to a sequence of processing temperatures that are rather different from those envisaged, with the risk that the food products may be spoilt and deteriorate.

An object of the invention is to improve supporting means for shelves, grilles or trays in apparatuses for preserving, freezing or cooking food products of known type. A further object is to produce an apparatus for temperature conditioning of food products provided with supporting means that is constructionally simple and which comprises a limited number of pieces. Still another object is to produce an apparatus for temperature conditioning of food products that is easily cleanable without the supporting means of the apparatus having to be dismantled.

A further object of the invention is to produce an apparatus for temperature conditioning of food products that is able to process in a substantially uniform manner the food products contained therein.

In a first aspect of the invention an apparatus is provided comprising a chamber for temperature conditioning of foods, defined by wall means, and supporting means associated with said wall means for positioning contents in said chamber, characterised in that said wall means is shaped in such a way as to define said supporting means.

Owing to this aspect of the invention, it is possible to produce an apparatus wherein the supporting means is obtained according to a significantly simplified production process that is reduced to the production process of the wall means, with consequent diminution of the costs of the apparatus .

Providing for the wall means of the chamber to be shaped in such a way as to define the supporting means enables the number of components of the supporting means to be limited significantly, and furthermore enables the mounting operations to be eliminated along the production line and dismantling operations of the supporting means on the wall means to be eliminated during apparatus-cleaning operations. In an embodiment, the supporting means comprises projecting means that projects from a plane region of said wall means to an inner region of the chamber.

Owing to this embodiment, the chamber is devoid of gap zones or holes in which impurities and dirt can collect and the chamber is easily cleanable.

In an embodiment of the apparatus, the wall means comprises a plurality of walls connected removably together. In a further embodiment, the wall means of the chamber is of metal material, in particular stainless steel. The supporting means can then be obtained through drawing of the wall means.

In a second aspect of the invention, an apparatus is provided comprising a chamber for temperature conditioning of foods defined by wall means, characterised in that said wall means comprises corrugated means that defines in said chamber arrest zones so as to prevent contents of said

chamber from coming into contact with a remaining part of said wall means.

Owing to the corrugated means, between the contents and the remaining part of the wall means a passage is present for a process fluid, such as to ensure that the food contained in the apparatus is affected substantially uniformly by the process fluid.

The invention can be better understood and implemented with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate an embodiment thereof by way of non-limitative example, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of an apparatus comprising a chamber for temperature conditioning of foods;

Figure 2 is a frontal view of a wall of the chamber comprising supporting means provided in the apparatus in

Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a side view of the wall in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an enlarged and fragmentary section of a detail of the wall in Figure 3 ; Figure 5 is a frontal view of a further wall of the chamber comprising corrugation means;

Figure 6 is a plan view of the further wall;

Figure 7 is an enlarged schematic view of a detail of Figure

6; Figure 8 is a plan view of the chamber with which the apparatus in Figure 1 is provided, in a configuration in which supporting means for food is inserted into the chamber .

In Figure 1, there is shown a portion of an apparatus 1 comprising a chamber 2 for temperature conditioning of foods, in particular for refrigerating.

The chamber 2 can also be a chamber for freezing or deepfreezing foods, or can be a heating or cooking chamber.

The apparatus 1 furthermore comprises a frame 11, in which the chamber 2 is obtained, and a recess 4, adjacent to the chamber 2, intended to be occupied by components of a

refrigerating machine that is not shown, for example by an evaporator. To the frame 11 a door is then connected, which is also not shown, that is arranged for closing an opening 5 of the chamber 2. Through the opening 5 a user may access the chamber 2 for depositing or removing the food from the apparatus 1.

In an embodiment that is not shown, the apparatus 1 may comprise more than one door. In particular, the apparatus 1 may comprise two chambers, each of which is provided with a door .

The chamber 2 is defined by wall means 3, comprising the door, a front wall 6, opposite the opening 5, i.e. the door, a first side wall 7 facing a second side wall 8, both arranged substantially orthogonally to the front wall 6 on opposite parts in relation to the front wall 6, a bottom wall 9 facing a top wall 10, both arranged substantially orthogonally to the front wall 6, to the first side wall 8 and to the second side wall 9 on opposite parts in relation to the front wall 6, to the first side wall 8 and to the second side wall 9.

Support feet that are not shown can be connected to the frame 11 in a region nearer the bottom wall 9. The wall means 3 can be of metal material, in particular stainless steel, for example in conformity to standard AISI 304.

Furthermore, the front wall 6, the first side wall 7, the second side wall 8, the bottom wall 9 and the top wall 10 are connected together and/or with the frame 11 in a removable manner. In particular, the front wall 6, the first side wall 7 and the second side wall 8 can be obtained from metal sheets comprising a main extent plane and flaps, folded at approximately 90° with respect to the main extent plane, so that the metal sheets do not have cutting corners. The first side wall 7 and the second side wall 8 are structurally and functionally the same as one another, i.'β.

resulting in rather low production costs and therefore apparatus costs .

Hereinafter the words "side wall" or "side walls" will be used to indicate respectively the first wall 7 and the second side wall 8, considered singularly or together.

With reference to Figures 2 and 3, each side wall 7, 8 comprises supporting means 12 arranged for supportingly receiving a shelf, for example a grille or a tray, on which food or a food product has been placed. The supporting means 12 comprises a plurality of projecting elements 13, substantially parallel to one another, having an elongated shape and extending for a large part of the side wall 7, 8 in a direction that is substantially parallel to the bottom wall 9. Each projecting element 13 projects from a corresponding plane portion 14 of the side wall 7, 8, so that the projecting elements 13 alternate with the plane portions 14.

As shown in Figure 4, the side walls 7, 8 are shaped in such a way as to define the projecting elements 13. In fact, there is substantially no interruption of the side wall 7, 8 passing from a projecting element to the adjacent one through a plane portion 14 present between them. The projecting elements 13 are in fact obtained from a sheet, for example through drawing. The sheet may be approximately 0.8 mm thick.

Owing to the conformation of the side walls 7, 8 the supporting means 12 is integrated into the side walls 7,8 and for supporting grilles and food trays it is not necessary to fit any additional element, for example bars or profiled sections, inside the chamber. Furthermore, the need is eliminated for prior-art apparatuses to dismantle the supporting means for grilles or food trays during the operations of cleaning of the chamber, with considerable time-saving. Each projecting element 13 comprises a saw-tooth profile, i.e. substantially a right triangle profile, defined by a

guiding surface 16 that is substantially flat and orthogonal to the plane portion 14, and by a tilted surface 17 that forms with the guiding surface 16 an angle that is for example near 70°. The distance of the guiding surface 16 from the vertex opposite thereto of the right triangle is for example approximately 32 mm.

The guiding surface 16 and the tilted surface 17 are connected together and to the respective plane portions 14 through curved surfaces 18, having curvature radiuses that are, for example, greater than 3 mm.

The curved surfaces 18 enable the possibility of dirt and impurities getting deposited on the projecting elements to be significantly reduced and furthermore make the side walls 7, 8 easily cleanable. An end 31 and a further end 32 of the projecting elements 13 are .connected respectively to a first end region 33 and a second end region 34 of the side wall 7, 8 by means of surfaces devoid of sharp edges . The first end region 33 and the second end region 34 are parts of the plane portion 14.

The guiding surface 16 that projects from the plane portion, for example by approximately 10 mm, defines a guide for sliding of an edge of the grille, or of the tray, carrying the food product . The side walls 7, 8 are arranged in such a manner that the projecting elements 13 face an inner region of the chamber 2 and, furthermore, that a projecting element on the first side wall 7 faces, and at the same height from the bottom wall 9 of a corresponding projecting element on the second side wall 8.

Thus a tray is positioned inside the chamber 2 on two corresponding facing projecting elements 13 that interact with opposite edges of the tray. The number of the projecting elements 13 defines the maximum number of grilles or trays that can be ^' positioned in the chamber 2 and depends on the distance between the bottom

wall 9 and the top wall 10, i.e. on the length of the side wall 7, 8.

In a part of the side wall 7, 8 nearer the top wall 10, the plane portion 14 comprises a zone 14a having an extent that is greater than the extent of a further zone 14b of the plane portion 14 that is nearer the bottom wall 9. In particular, the projecting element adjacent to the zone 14a is about 287 mm from a side 15a of the side wall 7, 8 and the projecting element adjacent to the further zone 14b is about 74 mm from a further side 15b of the side wall 7, 8 opposite the side 15a. This enables an optional evaporating set to be placed in a zone near the top wall 10 in a possible configuration of the apparatus 1 that is not shown. Furthermore, between a tray arranged on the projecting elements 13 nearer the bottom wall 9 and the bottom wall 9 there remains a space that is sufficiently great for good air circulation.

In the embodiment in Figure 2, the projecting elements 13 are arranged in the centre of the side wall 7, 8 with respect to a direction parallel to the side 15a or to the further side 15b. In fact, the end 31 and the further end 32 of each projecting element 13 are about 50 mm from respective longitudinal sides of the side wall 7, 8, these longitudinal sides delimiting first end region 33 on one side and the second end region 34 on the other.

The projecting elements 13 have a length of approximately 570 mm and a pitch of approximately 55 mm.

This length of the projecting elements 13 enables trays to be housed having a rest edge up to about 650 mm, considering that the projecting elements 13 are about 50 mm from each side of the side wall 7, 8 to which they are orthogonal. The aforementioned dimension of the pitch of the projecting elements 13 enables the possibility to be limited that a tray, having opposite edges of approximately 325 mm resting on two support elements 13 can accidentally overturn. In fact, this tray can rotate, stopping at an end of the

aforementioned edges by a maximum angle of approximately 3.1°, and so the other end of the aforementioned edges can lift up from the projecting elements 13 by about 21 mm, after which the tray meets the projecting elements 13 arranged at an upper level that prevent the tray from rotating further.

With reference to Figures 5 to 8, the front wall 6 is shown, which comprises corrugated means 19. The corrugated means 19 comprises three protrusions 20 that are substantially parallel to one another that extend substantially parallel to the bottom wall 9.

The protrusions 20 project from a further plane portion 21 with a substantially rectangular shape, which also protrudes from a base portion 22 of the front wall 6. The protrusions 20 extend for a large part of the length of the further plane portion 21, which is arranged centrally to the base portion 22 with respect to a direction that is transverse to the front wall 6. A first protrusion 20a is arranged at the centre of the further plane portion 21 and a second protrusion 20b and a third protrusion 20c are arranged on opposite sides with respect to the first protrusion 20a near opposite sides of the further plane portion 21. These protrusions 20 and the further plane portion 21 can be obtained directly in the front wall 6 through cold forging of sheet metal, for example stainless steel. In particular, steel of the AISI 304 type can be used.

In an embodiment that is not shown, the further plane portion 21 may not be present and the protrusions 20 are obtained directly on the base portion 22.

As shown in Figures 6 and 7, the protrusions 20 have a profile substantially having the shape of an isosceles ^' trapezium. Each protrusion 20 comprises a face 23, a cross section of which defines the lesser base of the isosceles trapezium, which section is substantially arranged parallel to the base portion 22 and is connected to the further plane

portion 21 through sides 24, that in the aforementioned cross section, define the sides of the isosceles trapezium. The face 23 and the sides 24 are connected through further curved surfaces 25, having curvature radiuses that are, for example, greater than 3 mm.

With reference to Figure 8, a tray 26 is shown inside the chamber 2 that is supported by the supporting means 12. The faces 23 of the corrugated means 19 define in the chamber 2 arrest zones 27 such as to prevent the tray 26 from coming into contact with the further plane portion 21 and with the base portion 22.

In the remaining part between one protrusion 20 and another, the further plane portion 21 and the sides 24 define a passage 28, substantially in the form of a channel, through which a process fluid, for example air, can pass to reach other trays, arranged on different levels with respect to the tray 26 inside the chamber 2.

Owing to the corrugated means 19, the air can reach different levels of storage of the food and possible stratification of the air between a shelf and the other is thus prevented. In this way, it is possible to obtain a substantially even temperature inside the chamber 2, preventing the food arranged on different shelves from being temperature conditioned differently. As disclosed for the zone 14a of the side wall 7, 8, the base portion 22 comprises a first zone 30a nearer a first side 29a of the front wall 6 parallel and near to the top wall 10, having a greater extent than a second zone 30b opposite the first zone 30a with respect to the further plane portion 21 and nearer a second side 29b parallel and near the bottom wall 9. This enables an optional evaporating battery to be housed in the chamber 2 in a region nearer a second side 29b of the front wall 6.