The present invention relates to a working station for use when, preferably manually, filling heated or cooled objects on object carriers, in particular trays, and comprising a support for an object carrier and a holder for the objects to be filled.

Such working stations are used e. g. within the flight catering business where meals are to be arranged on trays and served for passengers during a flight.

WO-A-96/17530 describes a conveyer belt running in a cooled duct in order that a tray on which a meal is being arranged is kept cooled.

In a working station of the kind in question, it is a problem that shelves or trays with objects such as food articles to be arranged on trays must be brought frequently to the working station since such shelves with food must not be without cooling for too long for hygienic reasons.

The object of the present invention is to provide a solution to this problem.

This is obtained by means of a working station where the holder comprises a device to receive, sup- port, raise and lower a row of shelves placed above each other, which device is arranged in an isolated cabinet with a door for insertion of the row of shelves and an opening, preferably in a wall standing opposite the door, through which a shelf can be pulled out to give access to objects being on the shelf.

WO-A-96/15058, Fig. 2 and the description, dis- closes such a device to receive, support, raise and lower a row of shelves arranged above each other, the principle of which device can also be applied in connection with the present invention. This known

device might thus be built into an isolated cabinet of the stated kind and placed at a working station accord- ing to the invention.

Heating and/or cooling means are preferably provided in the cabinet. It is thus assured that objects placed in the cabinet through the door can be kept at a given constant temperature, also for a long time.

The device for receiving shelves can preferably vary the mutual distance between the shelves. Thus, the cabinet can receive a row of shelves, the height of which exceeds the height of the opening above the floor. It should be said that the above-mentioned device known from WO-A-96/15058 possesses this quality.

The holder comprises preferably a shelf-supporting device placed outside the opening in the cabinet and meant to carry a shelf pulled out through the opening in a position which is tilted in relation to horizon- tal. The ergonomics related to the working station are thus improved. The shelf-supporting device can in this connection be a fixed supporting device with a slanting supporting surface or frame or it may be movable, e. g. by means of an air cylinder such that-it receives shelves in a horizontal position and then is tilted, e. g. 10-15°.

The support for an object carrier can be (con- nected to) a running conveyor such as a conveyor belt as known from above WO-A-96/17530.

The invention will now be explained more in detail by means of an example of embodiment with reference to the schematic drawing, where Fig. 1 shows a working station according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a vertical section through one of the cabinets in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 shows a trolley which can be used in connection with the invention, and Fig. 4 a shelf which can be used in connection with the invention.

Fig. 1 shows an object carrier in the form of a tray 1 situated at the working station on a support for the object carrier 1, i. e. a conveyor belt 2, which might be moved from left to right in the figure.

On the conveyor belt 2, other waiting trays la are seen.

Behind the conveyer belt 2, there are provided two cabinets 3, each having an opening 4 through which a shelf 5 is pulled out from the interior of the cabinet 3. On the shelves 5, there are objects 6a, 6b to be arranged on the trays 1, la. The height of the openings 4 above the conveyor belt 2 is sufficient for the trays 1, la when arranged to pass beyond the pulled-out shelves 5.

The cabinets 3 are each provided with isolated walls 8 and, in their backside, with a door 9, through which a vertical row of shelves 5 can be brought into the cabinet, e. g. by means of the trolley 7 shown in Fig. 1 and more detailed in Fig. 4. This trolley is further described in said WO-A-96/15058 incorporated herein with reference and describing a device 10 to receive, carry, raise and lower the row of shelves placed above each other 5 provided inside each of the cabinets 3, as shown in Fig. 2. A shelf 5 of the type known from WO-A-96/15058 is shown in detail in Fig. 4.

As shown in Fig. 2, a cooling surface 11 of a type known per se is provided in the cabinets 3.

Outside the opening 4, there is a support rack 12 for a shelf 5 pulled out from the cabinet 3. The support rack 12 can by means of a pneumatic cylinder

13 swing between a horizontal position and a tilted position as shown, the support rack being hinged to the cabinet by means of a hinge 14.

The working station functions in the way that an operator stands at the conveyor belt 2 facing the tray 1 on the opposite side of the belt 2 in relation to the cabinets 3. By means of a trolley 7, a row of shelves 5 placed above each other is brought into each cabinet 3, such that the objects 6a, 6b being on the shelves 5 are kept at a predetermined, e. g. low, temperature. The shelves 5 are raised or lowered in the cabinets 3 such that a shelf 5 with objects 6a, 6b is on a level with the opening 4 through which it is then pulled out horizontally onto the supporting rack 12, which will subsequently turn to the shown position. The objects 6a, 6b can then be arranged first on the tray 1, subsequently the trays la, and when the shelves 5 are empty, they are swung to a horizontal position by means of the pneumatic cylinder 13 and pushed through the opening 4 into the cabinets 3 again, whereupon the row of shelves 5 is raised or lowered until a new shelf filled by objects is on a level with the opening 4'and so forth until all shelves 5 are emptied. The empty shelves 5 are then removed by means of the trolley 7 and a new row of shelves 5 can be brought into the cabi- nets.