U.S. patent application number 09/933374 was filed with the patent office on 2003-02-20 for short stack wire chafing stand.
Invention is credited to Skvorecz, Robert.
Application Number | 20030034318 09/933374 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25463824 |
Filed Date | 2003-02-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030034318 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Skvorecz, Robert |
February 20, 2003 |
SHORT STACK WIRE CHAFING STAND
Abstract
The wire chafing stand of the present invention includes a rim
of wire steel in a substantially rectangular configuration, lateral
sides and a longitudinal axis extending from the lateral sides, at
least two wire legs and a wire connecting assembly. In the
preferred embodiment, the wire stand has only two wire legs lying
in planes transverse to the longitudinal axis with each wire leg
having two upright sections affixed to the longitudinal side of the
rim.
Inventors: |
Skvorecz, Robert;
(Patterson, NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Anderson, Kill & Olick P.C.
1251 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10020
US
|
Family ID: |
25463824 |
Appl. No.: |
09/933374 |
Filed: |
August 20, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/181.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47J 36/2477
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
211/181.1 |
International
Class: |
A47F 005/14 |
Claims
What we claim is:
1. A wire chafing stand comprising a frame formed of steel wire rod
comprising a single rim configured in any desired geometry having
lateral sides and a longitudinal axis extending from said lateral
sides and two wire legs lying in planes transverse to said
longitudinal axis with each wire leg having two upright segments
affixed to the rim at a location substantially adjacent the lateral
sides and a bottom section interconnecting the upright segments for
supporting the stand on a level surface and further comprising a
wire connecting assembly bridging the bottom section of each wire
leg for supporting a plurality of chafing fuel heaters.
2. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rim is
substantially rectangular in geometry and includes longitudinal
sides to which each wire leg is connected.
3. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein each of said
two upright segments include an offset at a location adjacent the
point of interconnection to the longitudinal sides of the rim.
4. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein the bottom
section of each wire leg comprises a pair of flat segments and a
raised section located intermediate the flat segments.
5. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 4 wherein said wire
connecting assembly bridges each raised section of each wire
leg.
6. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein said wire
connecting assembly comprises wire rods with at least one depressed
portion for forming a holder for a chafing fuel heater and straight
wire rod members on opposite sides of said depressed portion for
supporting the chafing fuel heater in the depressed portion.
7. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 6 wherein said wire
rods form only a single depressed portion of substantial length in
the direction parallel to the longitudinal side of the rim
sufficient to hold at least two chafing fuel heaters in said single
depressed portion.
8. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 6 wherein said wire
rods form at least two depressed portions adjacent one another for
holding individual chafing heaters in each of the depressed
portions.
9. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein the lateral
sides of said rim include an integrated handle for manually holding
the stand.
10. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein each of the
upright segments of said wire legs lie at an inclined angle
relative to said bottom section.
11. A wire chafing stand as defined in claim 2 wherein each of the
upright segments of said wire legs lie substantially perpendicular
to said bottom section.
12. A wire chafing stand comprising a rim of wire steel which forms
a closed geometrical configuration circumscribing a given surface
area and at two wire legs for supporting said stand at opposite
ends thereof with each wire leg having upright sections terminating
at a free end affixed to said rim with an offset adjacent each free
end to facilitate the nesting of a multiplicity of stands into one
another without significant wedging and further comprising a wire
connecting assembly for supporting a plurality of chafing fuel
heaters with the wire connecting assembly including wire rods
extending longitudinally and containing at least one depressed
portion for forming a holder for chafing fuel heaters and straight
wire rod members lying parallel to said wire rods opposite said
depressed portion(s) for supporting the chafing fuel heaters in the
depressed portion(s).
Description
FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates to an improved 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
transportation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A wire chafing stand is a device used to support aluminum
pans and auxiliary fuel heaters for maintaining and heating
pre-cooked food at a remote location from the kitchen where the
food was originally prepared and cooked. The cost of transportation
from the point of manufacture to the distributor and/or to the
retailer is a critical economic factor in the pricing of the wire
chafing stand.
[0003] The chafing stand is designed as an open structure
preferably of wire rod steel having predetermined physical
dimensions as needed to hold, support and heat a chafing dish when
placed thereon. Although the chafing stand has little weight its
physical dimensions occupy substantial volume. Accordingly, to
minimize the cost of shipping and transportation the chafing stand
must be designed to permit a multiple number of stands to be nested
together in a compact arrangement in which the nested stands are
readily separated from one another for independent usage. Each
stand must also function to support a plurality of chafing fuel
heaters for heating a chafing dish on the chafing stand. To
minimize the cost of manufacture the wire chafing stand should be
designed for minimal human handling and provisions for the chafing
fuel heaters should be integral to the design of the stand.
[0004] A commercially available chafing stand is described by
applicant in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513 the disclosure of which is
herein incorporated by reference. This chafing stand includes a
separate upper and lower wire rim interconnected by means of
symmetrically positioned wire legs at each corner of the stand
which in combination with the upper and lower rim construction
provides the structural support for the stand. The lower rim is
designed to include a plurality of holders for chafing fuel
heaters.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] The wire chafing stand of the present invention is
preferably constructed using only one wire rim and has at least two
supporting legs extending therefrom. This significantly reduces the
cost of manufacture relative to the stand described in U.S. Pat.
No. 5,921,513. When the design is limited to two legs, each should
extend from the rim on opposite lateral sides of the stand in a
configuration which keeps the stand level with the ground and
provides ample structural support for the stand. The rim may have
any desired geometry although a rectangular geometry is preferred.
The lateral sides of the rim may have handles for manually lifting
the chafer from the chafing stand. These handles may be integrally
formed as part of the lateral sides of the rim or separately welded
thereto. A wire holder connector assembly is used to bridge the
legs for supporting chafing fuel heaters. An alternate embodiment
of the present invention employs two wire rims similar in
construction to the stand described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513 but
with an improved lower rim design for supporting multiple holders
of chafing fuel heaters.
[0006] The preferred wire chafing stand embodiment of the present
invention comprises a single rim of generally rectangular
configuration having two lateral sides and two wire legs. Each wire
leg is in a configuration forming two upstanding sections and a
bottom section. The bottom section may be further divided into a
plurality of segments including, e.g., two flat segments and a
raised segment. The bottom section keeps the stand level with the
ground. The stand also includes a wire holder connector assembly
which is preferably connected to the raised section of each wire
leg to support a plurality of chafing fuel heaters. The wire legs
are preferably welded to the rim near the lateral sides of the
stand and preferably include an offset adjacent the interconnection
of the wire leg to the rim to facilitate the nesting of multiple
stands in tandem so as to minimize space for shipping and
transporting multiple chafing stands. The offset in each leg
laterally displaces the leg relative to the point of attachment
with the rim so that the wire legs in one chafing stand can nest a
substantial distance within another chafing stand with the rim of
each stand in close proximity without causing significant wedging
to occur.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] 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:
[0008] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the
chafing stand of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 is an end view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG.
1;
[0010] FIG. 3 is a front view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIG.
1;
[0011] FIG.4 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the
chafing stand of FIG. 1;
[0012] FIG. 5 is an end view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG.
4;
[0013] FIG. 6 is a front view taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG.
4;
[0014] FIG. 7 is an isometric view of yet another embodiment of the
chafing stand of FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 8 is a plan view of the lower rim shown in FIG. 7;
[0016] FIG. 9 is a plan view of another embodiment of the lower rim
shown in FIG. 7;
[0017] FIG. 10 is an isometric view of yet another embodiment of
the chafing stand of FIG. 1;
[0018] FIG. 11 is a view of the combination handle and wire leg of
FIG. 10;
[0019] FIG. 12 is a partial view of the wire leg arrangement of the
wire chafing stand in FIG. 1 showing another embodiment of a wire
holder connector assembly in accordance with the present
invention;
[0020] FIG. 13 is a cross sectional end view of the stand of FIG. 1
taken along the lines 13-13 of FIG. 12; and
[0021] FIG. 14 is a cross sectional front view of the stand of FIG.
1 taken along the lines 14-14. of FIG. 12.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] Referring now in detail to FIG. 1-3 representing a preferred
embodiment of the chafing stand 10 of the present invention. The
stand 10 includes only a single rim 12 of generally rectangular
geometry, a handle 14 integrally formed on each opposite lateral
side of the rim 12 and two wire legs 15 extending from the rim 12.
The rim 12 is preferably formed of a single continuous wire with
the handles 14 formed in one operation. The construction of the
chafing stand 10 with only a single rim and two wire legs on
opposite sides thereof permits the legs to be moved relatively
deeper when stacking a plurality of stands 10 together thereby
allowing a greater number of stands to be stacked within a given
space for storage and transportation relative to the number of
stands having the construction shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513.
This creates a shorter stack of stands in a given vertical
height.
[0023] The two wire legs 15 are welded to the rim 12 on the
opposite longitudinal sides 13 of the stand 10 at points 16a, 16b,
16c and 16d and may be placed relatively close to each lateral side
17. Each wire leg 15 has two upstanding side sections 18
interconnected by a bottom section 19. The upstanding side sections
18 may be tapered to lie at an inclined angle relative to the
bottom section 19 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 or may be perpendicular
thereto as shown in the embodiment of FIGS. 9 and 11. The bottom
section 19 may be formed of three segments 20, 21 and 22 as shown
more clearly in FIG. 2 with the outer segments 20 and 22 being
level and in alignment relative to one another for placement level
with the ground and with the intermediate segment 21 raised to an
elevated level. A wire holder connector assembly 24 bridges each
raised segment 21 and is of a configuration to support a plurality
of chafing fuel heaters 25 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The wire
holder connector assembly 24 includes two parallel wire rod
connectors 26 each having a configuration with two depressed
sections 27 in which the chafing fuel heaters 25 are mounted and
two straight wires 28 in parallel alignment with the connectors 26
with one wire 28 located on each opposite side of a wire connector
26 to hold the chafing fuel heaters 25 secure within the depressed
sections 27.
[0024] To facilitate nesting between a multiple number of wire
stands 10 each wire leg 15 has an offset 30 located in the
upstanding section 18 just below the welded interconnections
16a-16d. The offsets 30 may be formed by a bending or crimping
operation or by stamping each leg 15 in a press to indent the wire
leg 15 to cause a lateral displacement at each interconnection of
the wire leg 15 and the rim 12. The offsets 30 enable the wire legs
15 in one wire chafing stand 10 to readily nest within another wire
chafing stand 10 so that the rim 12 of each stand will lie in
relative close proximity without wedging. As such each of the
nested wire stand 10 may be easily separated from one another. The
leg sections 18 preferably taper inwardly as the wire legs 15
extend downwardly from the rim 12 to the bottom section 19 although
they may be parallel as shown in FIG. 9 and 11.
[0025] Another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 4-6
which relies only on the taper of the side sections 18 of each wire
leg 15 to facilitate nesting of multiple stands 10. The wire legs
15 in this embodiment do not include offsets 30. Accordingly, the
ability to nest a multiple number of chafing stands 10 for this
embodiment is primarily dependent upon the degree of taper of the
side sections 18 for the rims 12 to nest close together. Although
the stands 10 in this embodiment will not nest as well as in the
embodiment of FIGS. 1-3 this embodiment is much less expensive to
manufacture. In all of the embodiments, the handles 14 may be
separately welded to the rim 12 to further simplify manufacturing
and a wire holder connector assembly 32 may be used having two wire
connectors 33 with each having only one depressed portion 34 to
hold chafing fuel heaters 25. Moreover, only two straight wires 35
are needed on opposite sides of the connectors 33 to provide
support for the chafing fuel heaters 25 when placed in the
depressed portion 34. The two straight wires 36 are placed in
parallel alignment with the connectors 33 with one wire 36 located
on each opposite side of a wire connector 33 to hold the chafing
fuel heaters 25 secure within the depressed sections 24.
[0026] Another embodiment of the present invention employs the wire
holder connector assembly 24 of FIG. 1 with a chafing stand 40 as
shown in FIG. 7 and is otherwise similar in construction to the
arrangement taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,513. The wire chafing
stand 40 includes both an upper rim 42, a lower rim 43 and a
plurality of wire legs 44 which extend below the lower rim 43 to
support the stand 40 on ground level. The wire holder connector
assembly 24 is identical to its counterpart in the embodiment of
FIG. 1 for supporting a plurality of chafing fuel heaters 25.
Alternatively, the wire holder connector assembly 32 as shown in
FIG. 4 may be used with the chafing stand 40 connected to the lower
rim 43 as shown in FIG. 8.
[0027] Yet another embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS.
9-11 in which a chafing stand 50 is shown having an upper rim 52
and a lower rim 53 interconnected to one another using only two
wire legs 54. Each of the wire legs 54 is formed from a single
continuous wire rod in a configuration forming a lower flat bottom
section 55 extending below the lower rim 53 to support the stand 50
at ground level and two upright substantially vertical sections 56
and 57 which are interconnected by a wire rod member 58 in a U
shaped configuration to function as a handle for the chafing stand
50. One of the wire legs 54 is separately shown in an enlarged view
in FIG. 11. The stand 50 includes a wire holder connector assembly
24 as shown in FIG. 10 connected to the lower rim 53 of the stand
50. The wire holder connector assembly 24 is identical to its
counterpart wire holder connector assembly as shown in the
embodiment of FIG. 1 for supporting a plurality of chafing fuel
heaters 25. Alternatively, a wire holder connector assembly 32 as
shown in the embodiment of FIG. 8 may be used with the chafing
stand 50.
[0028] FIGS. 12-14 is another alternate embodiment of a wire holder
connector assembly 60 for supporting a plurality of chafing fuel
heaters 25 employing only one wire rod connector 61 to bridge the
raised segments 21 of two wire legs 15 as in the embodiment of FIG.
1 and a plurality of ring like members 62 welded to the connector
61 and bent to form a cup like shape which will support chafing
fuel heaters 25 as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. This embodiment of the
wire holder connector assembly 60 may be substituted for the wire
holder connector assembly in any of the other chafer stand
embodiments of the present invention.
* * * * *