Heated air curtain warmer

Abstract

A heated air curtain warmer that has a plurality of loops wherein each loop has a duct and a fan corresponding to a heating element, wherein each fan provides an air flow wherein a portion of the airflow of each fan is divided between a portion that provides an air curtain and a portion that flows over and around the stored products that are to be heated. Each loop has a corresponding food storage container for storage of food products. A control system for controlling the temperature of each loop wherein each loop is associated with a zone wherein said control system provides a uniform temperature for the zone such that each zone is maintained at a predetermined temperature such that the control system controls the temperature of each heating element, fan and duct combination independent of but in concert with the others to provide a predetermined and uniform temperature of each zone of the apparatus. Preferably, the number of loops is 3 and the number of food storage containers is 2 and the associated number of zones is 2 wherein each zone is maintained at a distinct temperature.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A heated air curtain warmer comprising:
 at least one food storage container;   a plurality of loops, associated with said at least one food storage container, with each loop having a duct, a corresponding heating element and a corresponding fan wherein each fan provides a heated airflow wherein a portion of each airflow provided by each said fan is divided between a portion of each airflow that provides an air curtain and a portion of the airflow that flows over and around the stored products that are to be heated is responsible for maintaining a uniform temperature of each at least one food storage container;   a control system to control the temperature of each loop independent of but in concert with other loops to provide a predetermined and uniform temperature of each at least on food storage container.   
     
     
         2 . The heated air curtain warmer of  claim 1  wherein each at least one food storage container has a single opening accessible through an air curtain by which the stored food in each at least one food storage container wherein said stored food is moved from the interior of each at lest one food storage container to the exterior of said warmer. 
     
     
         3 . The heated air curtain warmer of  claim 1  where each at least one food storage container has at least one support surface inside each at least one food storage container to support the food items that are to be stored in each at least one food storage container. 
     
     
         4 . The heated air curtain warmer of  claim 1  wherein the number of food storage containers is two. 
     
     
         5 . The heated air curtain warmer of  claim 1  wherein the number of loops is three.