Hot shelf assembly

Claim 2

A dispensing device comprising: a base having a generally upwardly facing object supporting surface, a support for positioning the base at an elevation, means movably mounting said base on the support, said base being tiltable from a horizontal position to at least one inclined position, said mounting means including first connecting means secured to the base and second connecting means secured to the support, pivot means pivotally connecting the first connecting means with the second connecting means and lock means for holding the first and second connecting means in at least one selected relative position, means for holding at least one object on the top of said base when in said inclined position, said holding means including one chute, said chute including spaced apart side walls for confining said object therebetween, there being no object supporting surface forming a part of said chute throughout the majority of the length of said side walls, stop means at one end of said chute for preventing said object from escaping from said chute under the influence of gravity, and means carried by said chute and adapted to engage said base to maintain said chute in the desired operative position on said base, and means mounted in said base for varying the temperature thereof.

Claim 3

The device of claim 1 wherein: the lock means includes first detent means for releasably holding the base in selected inclined positions.

Claim 4

The device of claim 1 wherein: said locking means comprises an elongate element selectively insertable in an opening of said first connecting means and, spring means continuously biasing said element towards locking engagement with said opening.

Claim 5

The device of claim 1 including: an arcuate slot in one of said connecting means, a first locking element supported by the other of said connecting means and adapted to travel in said slot, and a second locking element engageable with said first locking element and the connecting means in which said slot is formed for releasably holding said first and second connecting means against relative movement to hold said base in the desired angular position.

Claim 6

The device of claim 1 wherein: said base has a corner portion defining part of the perimeter of said base, and said means carried by said chute comprises a depending flange portion which depends from and extends below the lowest edge of the side walls of said chute, said flange portion being adapted to frictionally engage a portion of said corner portion of said base and removably maintain said chute on said base.

Claim 7

A chute for holding objects on and guiding their path of travel over an inclined supporting surface, said chute comprising a pair of upstanding side walls for confining an object therebetween and defining said path of travel, there being no object supporting surface forming a part of said chute throughout the majority of the length of said side walls, one end of said chute having an upstanding end wall preventing discharging of an object from said chute under the influence of gravity, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of objects into said chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member extending from said side walls and below the lowermost marginal edge portions thereof and depending from the open end of said chute, said depending member being adapted to engage the structure defining said supporting surface to prevent movement of said chute relative to said supporting surface when it is inclined downwardly in the direction toward said end wall.

Claim 8

A chute for holding objects on and guiding their path of travel over an inclined supporting surface, said chute comprising a pair of upstanding side walls for confining an object therebetween and defining said path of travel, there being no object supporting surface forming a part of said chute throughout the majority of the length of said side walls, one end of said chute having an upstanding end wall preventing discharging of an object from said chute under the influence of gravity, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of objects into said chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member extending from said side walls and below the lowermost marginal edge portions thereof and depending from the open end of said chute, said depending member being adapted to engage the structure defining said supporting surface to prevent movement of said chute relative to said supporting surface when it is inclined downwardly in the direction toward said end wall.

Claim 9

The chute of claim 6 wherein: said end wall has a cut-out portion forming a part of the upper edge thereof to facilitate reaching into said chute to remove an object therefrom, the lowermost portion of said upper edge being above the lowermost marginal edge portion of said side walls.

Claim 10

A dispensing device for prepared food items comprising: a base having a flat generally upwardly facing food item supporting surface formed of thermally conductive material, a support for positioning the base at an elevation, pivot means pivotally connecting the base with the support and lock means for holding the base and support in a selected relative position whereby the base is tiltable from a horizontal position to at least one inclined position, means mounted in the base for controlling the temperature thereof, and at least one generally rectangular chute for holding food items on and guiding their path of travel over said supporting surface when it is inclined, each chute including a pair of upstanding side walls for confining food items therebetween and defining their path of travel, one end of each chute having an upstanding end wall preventing discharging of food items from said chute under the influence of gravity, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of food items into the chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member mounted with respect to the lowermost marginal edge portions of the side walls proximate the open end and depending downwardly therefrom, said flange member being adapted to engage the base to prevent movement of said chute relative to said surface when it is inclined downwardly in a direction towards the end wall, wherein the lowermost edges of the end wall and side walls together with the flange member edge nearest the end wall define an opening spanning most of the length of the side walls, and wherein the side walls, end wall and flange member define substantially the entire structure of the chute.

Claim 11

A dispensing device for prepared food items comprising: a base having a flat generally upwardly facing food item supporting surface formed of thermally conductive material, a support for positioning the base at an elevation, pivot means pivotally connecting the base with the support and lock means for holding the base and support in a selected relative position whereby the base is tiltable from a horizontal position to at least one inclined position, means mounted in the base for controlling the temperature thereof, and at least one generally rectangular chute for holding food items on and guiding their path of travel over said supporting surface when it is inclined, each chute including a pair of upstanding side walls for confining food items therebetween and defining their path of travel, one end of each chute having an upstanding end wall preventing discharging of food items from said chute under the influence of gravity, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of food items into the chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member mounted with respect to the lowermost marginal edge portions of the side walls proximate the open end and depending downwardly therefrom, said flange member being adapted to engage the base to prevent movement of said chute relative to said surface when it is inclined downwardly in a direction towards the end wall, wherein the lowermost edges of the end wall and side walls together with the flange member edge nearest the end wall define an opening spanning most of the length of the side walls, and wherein the side walls, end wall and flange member define substantially the entire structure of the chute.

Claim 12

The device of claim 8 wherein at least a portion of the upper edge of the end wall is below the upper edge of the side walls adjacent the end wall, all of said end wall upper edge being above the object supporting surface, thereby facilitating the removal of the food items from the chute while preventing its discharge from the chute due to gravity.

Claim 13

The device of claim 8 including counter means for supporting said support, the counter means having a substantially level surface for supporting food items, wherein sufficient clearance is provided between the counter means and the base such that no food item supported by one of them contacts the other.

Claim 14

The device of claim 8 wherein: the flange member includes a generally flat leg portion attached to the side walls at the lowermost marginal edge portions thereof, and a downwardly projected flange portion fixed to the leg portion, said flange portion being adapted to engage the base.

Claim 15

A dispensing device comprising: a base having a flat generally upwardly facing object supporting surface, support means for positioning the base at an elevation, and at least one generally rectangular chute for holding objects on and guiding their path of travel over said supporting surface, each chute including a pair of upstanding side walls for confining objects therebetween and defining their path of travel over the supporting surface, one end of each chute having an upstanding end wall preventing slidable discharge of objects from said chute, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of objects into the chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member mounted with respect to the lowermost marginal edge portions of the side walls proximate to the open end and depending downwardly therefrom, said flange member being adapted to engage the base to prevent movement of said chute relative to said supporting surface in at least one direction, wherein the lowermost edges of the end wall and side walls together with the flange member edge nearest the end wall define an opening spanning most of the length of the side walls, and wherein the side walls, end wall and flange member define substantially the entire structure of the chute.

Claim 16

A dispensing device comprising: a base having a flat generally upwardly facing object supporting surface, support means for positioning the base at an elevation, and at least one generally rectangular chute for holding objects on and guiding their path of travel over said supporting surface, each chute including a pair of upstanding side walls for confining objects therebetween and defining their path of travel over the supporting surface, one end of each chute having an upstanding end wall preventing slidable discharge of objects from said chute, the other end of said chute being open to facilitate insertion of objects into the chute between said side walls, said chute having a flange member mounted with respect to the lowermost marginal edge portions of the side walls proximate to the open end and depending downwardly therefrom, said flange member being adapted to engage the base to prevent movement of said chute relative to said supporting surface in at least one direction, wherein the lowermost edges of the end wall and side walls together with the flange member edge nearest the end wall define an opening spanning most of the length of the side walls, and wherein the side walls, end wall and flange member define substantially the entire structure of the chute.

Claim 17

The dispensing device of claim 12 including: pivot means pivotally connecting the base with the support means whereby the base is tiltable from a horizontal position to at least one inclined position, and lock means for holding the base in at least one inclined position.

Claim 18

The device of claim 12 wherein: the flange member includes a generally flat leg portion attached to the side walls at the lowermost marginal edge portions thereof, and a downwardly projected flange portion fixed to the leg portion, said flange portion being adapted to engage the base.