Title: Banquet food serving apparatus

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Claims: What is claimed is:

1. Banquet food serving apparatus comprising:

a. a hollow tubular housing closed at one end and having sufficient volume to contain a substantial quantity of food serving plates in a plurality of vertical stacks, said housing being adapted to be supported at said closed end thereof with its axis extending vertically;

b. a turntable mounted within said housing at the closed end thereof for rotation about said vertical axis of said housing;

c. a plurality of support means mounted on said turntable, each of said support means being adapted to support a vertical stack of food serving plates within said housing and including means for selectively moving the one of said vertical stacks of food serving plates supported thereby along said vertical axis of said housing; and

d. drive means for rotating said turntable about said vertical axis of said housing.

2. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said support means includes a support arm mounted on a vertically extending rod and said means for selectively moving said vertical stack comprises means for moving said support arm along said vertically extending rod to maintain the uppermost food serving plate of said vertical stack in a given plane regardless of the number of food serving plates in said stack.

3. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including means for positioning cooked food in bulk adjacent said hollow tubular housing.

4. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of said support means includes a tubular member dimensioned to receive one of said vertical stacks of food serving plates and having a slot through the sidewall thereof extending parallel to the axis thereof, said slot being adapted to receive said support arm therethrough.

5. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said support arm of each of said support means is mounted on said vertically extending rod by means of a hub having an aperture receiving said rod therehthrough in sliding engagement therewith and means are provided for urging said support arm of each of said support means to move along the axis of the vertically extending rod associated therewith.

6. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said aperture of said hub of said support arm of each of said support means is internally threaded, said vertically extending rod associated therewith is externally threaded with the internal threads of said hub engagement with the external threads of said rod and said means for urging said support arm to move along the axis of said vertically extending rod associated therewith comprises means for rotating said vertically extending rod about the axis thereof.

7. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein said drive means for rotating said turntable about said vertical axis of said housing comprises a drive motor mechanically coupled to said turntable to rotate said turntable at a constant low speed.

8. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein said means for rotating said vertically extending rod of each of said support means comprises a pinion gear coupled to said vertically extending rod and rack gear means adapted to be brought into operative relation with said pinion gear during a portion of said rotation of said turntable about the axis of said housing.

9. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein said turntable includes an apertured plate in vertically spaced relation thereto, said tubular member of each of said support means being received through a different aperture in said apertured plate, and said vertically extending rod of each of said support means has one of its ends journaled to said turntable and the other of its ends journaled to said apertured plate.

10. Banquet food serving apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein said tubular housing has a square cross-section of given dimension, said turntable is circular having a diameter a few inches smaller in length than said given dimension of said square cross-section of said tubular housing and said means for positioning cooked food in bulk adjacent said tubular housing comprises three mobile units each positioning a different kind of cooked food in bulk at a different one of the sides of said square cross-section of said tubular housing.

Other info:

Inventors: Angst, Edy P. (Carson City, NV, US)

Application Number: 783211
Filing Date: 1977-03-31
Publication_date: 1978-08-22
Assignee:
Primary Class(es): 312/305 108/22, 312/71, 312/351.11, 312/351.7
Other Classes:
US Patent Ref:

RE28311	Jan, 1975	Cummings	312/71.
399197	Mar, 1889	Hawkins	312/71.
406555	Jul, 1889	Zettler	312/305.
2401417	Jun, 1946	Engle	312/305.
2447072	Aug, 1948	Jones	108/22.
2736628	Feb, 1956	Fadde, Jr.	312/305.
3053600	Sep, 1962	Holloway	312/71.
3190453	Jun, 1965	Shelley	312/71.
3357760	Dec, 1967	Shelley et al.	312/71.
3437057	Apr, 1969	Wulff	108/22.
3503346	Mar, 1970	Chan	108/22.

Other Refs:
Primary Examiner: Downey, Kenneth
Assistant Examiner: Sakran, Victor N.
Attorney: Phillips, Moore, Weissenberger, Lempio & Majestic