Chilled food counter and method for making

Abstract

A food counter useful in displaying ready-to-eat foods is constructed to have a chilled top for providing an aesthetic frost layer and for maintaining the food products at a desired temperature. Removable barriers and fixtures are used during pouring procedure using liquid mastic and removed once the mastic has cured, thus eliminating the need for costly metal forming of the counter. Fabricating one food counter includes providing a planar member having an opening therein sized for receiving a food receptacle, securing a fixture to the member for a masking the opening, placing a refrigeration line proximate a lower surface of the top member sufficient for frosting the upper surface thereof during refrigerant fluid flow through the line, applying a thermally resistant material onto the lower surface for covering the refrigerating line, and removing the fixture prior to assembling the member with a pan assembly.

That which is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of fabricating a food counter useful in displaying food products in a refrigerated environment, the fabricating comprising the steps of: 
 providing a top member having a plurality of openings therein sized for receiving food receptacles, the top member defined by an upper surface and a lower surface;    positioning the top member with the lower surface facing generally upward for receiving a liquid to be poured thereon;    placing a refrigeration line, onto the lower surface and extending the refrigeration line around the plurality of openings within the top member sufficient for frosting the upper surface when refrigeration fluid is carried therein during the displaying of the food products;    cleaning the top member;    securing a first fixture to a second fixture for each of the plurality of openings while capturing an edge portion of the top member for masking each opening;    extending a barrier strip along the periphery of the top member, the barrier strip and fixtures forming channels carrying the refrigeration line;    leveling the top member;    pouring a filler material into the channels for covering the refrigeration line;    hardening the filler material;    removing the plurality of fixtures and barrier strip after the curing step; and    providing a pan assembly dimensioned for mating with the top member;    attaching the lower surface of the top member to a pan assembly, the top member having the refrigeration line secured to the lower surface thereof within the filler material.    
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the top member providing step comprises the steps of providing a planar steel member having a plurality of openings of varying shapes therein.  
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 2 , further comprising the step of providing a raised section within the top member, the raised section having a plurality of openings therein.  
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the refrigeration line placing step includes the step of securing the refrigeration line to the lower surface.  
     
     
         5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the barrier strip extending step comprises removably securing a polyethylene barrier strip entirely around the periphery of the top member along the lower surface thereof.  
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the filler material pouring step comprises the steps of mixing a component encapsulating compounds for providing a liquid filler material capable of curing to a hardened state.  
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 6 , wherein the filler material comprises mastic curable from a liquid state to a hardened state.  
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the first and second fixture securing step comprises the step of bolting the first fixture to the second fixture with the portion of the top member proximate the periphery of the opening being biased therebetween.  
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , the pan assembly providing step comprises the steps of: 
 providing a pan liner;    placing an insulating material around a surface of the pan liner; and    securing a pan wrapper to the pan liner, wherein the insulating material is carried therebetween.    
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of fixing a plurality of posts extending from the lower surface to the pan assembly.  
     
     
         11 . A method of fabricating a food counter useful in displaying food products in a frosted environment, the fabricating comprising the steps of: 
 providing a top member having a plurality of openings therein sized for receiving food receptacles;    securing a fixture to the top member at each of the plurality of openings for a masking thereof;    placing a refrigeration line onto a lower surface of the top member sufficient for frosting the upper surface thereof during refrigerant fluid flow through the line;    applying a thermally resistant material onto the lower surface for covering the refrigerating line;    removing the fixture from each of the plurality of openings; and    attaching the lower surface of the top member to a pan assembly.    
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 11 , thermally resistant applying step comprises the steps of: 
 mixing a component encapsulating compounds for providing a liquid filler material capable of curing to a hardened state;    leveling the top member with the lower surface facing upward;    pouring the filler material onto the lower surface; and    allowing the filler material to the hardened state.    
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , wherein the fixture securing step comprises the step of securing a first fixture to a second fixture for each of the plurality of openings while capturing an edge portion of the top member defining each opening.  
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , further comprising the step of extending a barrier strip along the periphery of the top member, the barrier strip and fixtures forming channels carrying the refrigeration line therein.  
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising the step of securing the refrigeration line to the lower surface prior to the thermally resistive material applying step.  
     
     
         16 . A method of fabricating a food counter useful in displaying food products in a frosted environment, the fabricating comprising the steps of: 
 providing a planar member having an opening therein sized for receiving a food receptacle;    securing a fixture to the member for a masking the opening;    placing a refrigeration line proximate a lower surface of the top member sufficient for frosting the upper surface thereof during refrigerant fluid flow through the line;    applying a thermally resistant material onto the lower surface for covering the refrigerating line; and    removing the fixture.    
     
     
         17 . The method according to  claim 16 , wherein the material applying step comprises the step of applying a mastic.  
     
     
         18 . The method according to  claim 17 , wherein the mastic applying step comprises the steps of: 
 mixing component encapsulating compounds for providing a liquid filler material capable of curing to a hardened state;    leveling the member with the lower surface facing upward;    pouring the filler material onto the lower surface; and    allowing the filler material to harden.    
     
     
         19 . The method according to  claim 16  wherein the fixture securing step comprises the step of securing a first fixture to a second fixture to the member for the masking thereof.  
     
     
         20 . The method according to  claim 19 , wherein the first and second fixture securing step comprises the step of bolting the first fixture to the second fixture with a portion of the member proximate the periphery of the opening being biased therebetween.  
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 16 , further comprising the step of extending a barrier strip along the periphery of the member, the barrier strip and fixture forming a channel carrying the refrigeration line therein, wherein the fixture removing step includes removing the barrier strip.  
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 16 , further comprising the step of attaching the member to a pan assembly.  
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 22 , wherein the pan assembly attaching step comprises the steps of: 
 providing a pan liner;    placing an insulating material around a surface of the pan liner;    securing a pan wrapper to the pan liner, wherein the insulating material is carried therebetween; and    attaching the pan liner and wrapper combination to the member.