Food service cart with a heating system, and trays and casseroles for such a food service cart

摘要

A heating system heats casseroles placed on trays on a passenger plane. The heating system includes heating plates vertically arranged at regular intervals to receive the casseroles between adjacent heating plates to heat each casserole from above and from beneath. The heating plate includes a ceramic plate, a heating element buried in the ceramic plate, electrodes projecting from the ceramic plate, and a reinforcing frame. The heating plate is attached to the inner surface of a side wall of a cabinet. The junction of the heating plate and the side wall is sealed in a water-tight manner. The heating system is connected to a power supply by connecting a receptacle connector fixedly provided on the cabinet, and a plug connector elastically supported on a fixed part of the galley of the passenger airplane so as to be vertically, horizontally and axially movable. When the receptacle connector is pressed against the plug connector, the plug connector is brought automatically into alignment with the receptacle connector. A tray is provided with a partition rib partitioning off a part of the surface of the tray to make a heating portion for receiving a casserole thereon. The casserole is surrounded closely by the partition rib and portions of a peripheral rib so that the heat of the casserole is not released outside. A casserole has a pan and a top formed of a heat-transmissive, transparent plastic.