This invention relates to an improved field range cabinet wherein the two side walls and the rear wall within which the burner and oven portions of the field range are enclosed are formed into a single removable outer shell element which slidably cooperates with the frame of the range to make the interior of the range more easily accessible for cleaning than has been characteristic of field ranges of the prior art.
Field ranges for the military have customarily comprised a cabinet composed of a frame, a lid attached to the upper back edge of the frame by means of a pair of hinges, a door connectd to the front of the frame by means of a hinge and a pair of folding struts which help to support the opened door in a horizontal position, two side panels permanently attached to the frame, and a rear panel permanently attached to the frame. The frame has horizontal angle irons attached thereto to support a gasoline burner and to support a large cooking or heating vessel or a metallic shelf above the gasoline burner.
In the past a big problem in connection with feeding programs in the Armed Forces has been the cleaning of the interior surfaces of the standard field range. This has been complicated by the fact that there is relatively little space between the angle irons of which the frame is made and the interior surfaces of the walls of the oven portion of the field range. This space is sufficient to permit the volatile materials and spatterings produced in the oven to work their way into the space and be carbonized or polymerized to form tarry deposits on the surfaces. But the space is so small that it is extremely difficult to apply cleaning agents to the deposits and to insert the fingers or brushes or scraping tools therein for the purpose of removing such deposits.
It is an object of the present invention to provide means for simplifying and for speeding up cleaning and for making cleaning of the interior surfaces of field ranges more effective, particularly for accomplishing these objectives in the cleaning of the sidewalls and rear wall of the oven portions of such ranges.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of the invention.