Patent Application
20100199696
The invention relates to the display of perishable food products in open-front, refrigerated display cases in a manner to efficiently cool the food products while minimizing the loss of refrigerated air.
Food products such as deli meats, salad greens, etc. are frequently displayed in open front refrigerated display cases that enable the customer to access and remove products without requiring doors to be opened and closed. A typical form of such a display case is illustrated in the Weikel et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,560. That patent illustrates a vertically oriented cabinet having bottom top and back walls, and an open front. A plurality of levels of displayed products are mounted from the back wall, in the illustrated display case, by means of peg hooks. Refrigerated air is directed behind the back wall by means of a suitable fan, and outlets are provided in the back wall to allow the refrigerated air to flow out of the back wall and toward the displayed products.
If the refrigerated air issuing forwardly from the back wall of the display case is not properly guided, it will tend, because of its higher density, to flow downward before reaching some of the displayed product items located near the front of the display case. To deal with this problem, it is known to provide various forms of baffles to keep the refrigerated air from flowing downward before it reaches outer portions of the product display. In some cases, where the display case incorporates shelving on which the products are displayed, the shelves themselves serve as the necessary baffles. In other cases, such as in the above mentioned Weikel et al. '560 patent, where peg hooks or the like are used to display the product, separate means, such as baffles need to be provided.
Other arrangements for providing baffles are shown in, for example, the Garfinkle U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,402,897 and 5,788,089.
Known arrangements for providing air-directing baffles in refrigerated display cases have various shortcomings, which makes their use difficult or inconvenient. Frequently, arrangements such as twisted wires are utilized to hold the baffles in position, which tends to make their installation cumbersome and inconvenient. More importantly, it makes periodic removal of the baffles for cleaning very inconvenient, such that the important chore of maintaining clean baffles, in order to have clean, attractive and sanitary displays, is likely to be done on a relatively infrequent basis.
The invention is directed to a novel and improved form of air baffle structure for open front refrigerated display cases. The new baffle structure is adapted to be mounted on a horizontally disposed product display bar, typically of square or rectangular cross section, mounted at the back of the display case. The display bars each mount a plurality of product display trays which extend forwardly from the display bars and are arranged to receive products for display. In a preferred but non-limiting form of the invention, the product display trays are in the form of wire-bottom trays provided with pusher means for maintaining the product at the front of the display. The new baffle structure comprises in part a baffle support, preferably formed of wire, which is mounted on the same display bar as the product display tray with which it is associated and extends forwardly, typically underneath the display tray.
The baffle support, which can be of generally horizontally disposed U-shaped configuration, is provided at its inner ends with vertically extending portions fixed to mounting clips of generally inverted U-shaped configuration for mounting of the baffle support on the display bar. A baffle plate, which can be of flat, plastic construction, is carried by the baffle support. To particular advantage, the back edge portion of the baffle plate has positioning elements which cooperate with the vertically extending portions of the baffle support to engage and position the baffle on its support. The baffle plate is of sufficient width to extend under several product display trays. For a typical display case, having an internal width of four feet, the baffle structures may advantageously be provided in units of two-foot width, such that a pair of baffle structures mounted side-by-side can provide effective baffling for the entire width of the display.
For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, and to the accompanying drawings.
Referring now the drawings, and initially to
In the illustrated structure, the back wall 15 mounts spaced pairs of vertical rails 21 (
The illustrated form of display tray, shown in more detail in
In accordance with the invention, a novel form of air baffle structure is provided, which is easily mounted on the display bars 24 and closely associated with the display trays 25 (in whatever form) to guide the flow of refrigerated air forwardly in the display case 10, so that proper cooling of the outermost product packages is assured. The illustrated form of baffle structure comprises a baffle support 28 arranged to underlie and support a baffle plate 29. The baffle support 28 advantageously is formed primarily of wire of a suitable size (e.g., 0.212-0.187 inch) formed generally in the shape of a rearwardly opening horizontal “U”.
In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the baffle plate 29 is formed of a suitable plastic, for example, a PVC sheet material of about 0.050 thickness. The baffle plate preferably is of clear plastic, but may also be of black or other opaque or translucent material. Advantageously, the baffle plate has a substantial width, for example, twenty-four inches to correspond with the space between vertical rails 21. The baffle width is not a critical feature, but optimally will be of a width that is easy for store personnel to handle yet wide enough to minimize the number of baffle plates that are required to be handled during installation and cleaning. In the illustrated arrangement, the baffle plate 29 has a length such as to approach, but preferably not extend beyond the front of the display trays 25. Ideally, the baffle plate 29 is positioned close to the bottoms of the trays 25 and slightly recessed from the outer ends thereof so as to be substantially inconspicuous to the customer.
In the illustrated and preferred form of the invention, the U-shaped wire support 28 is comprised of a pair of outwardly extending side elements 30, 31 which are spaced apart a distance less than the width of the baffle plate 29. The side elements 30, 31 are joined at their outer ends by an outer element 32 that is positioned somewhat inward from the outer edge 33 of the baffle plate. The innermost ends of the side elements 30, 31 are bent upwardly, as indicated at 34, 35 in
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the width of the U-shaped baffle support 28 is about sixteen inches, for supporting a twenty-four inch baffle plate, leaving an overhang margin of about four inches at each side. A similar overhang may be provided at the front. In this respect, however, since the trays 25 may be provided in a variety of lengths, the baffle plates 29 also are advantageously provided in corresponding lengths, such that the outer edges 33 of the baffle plates are, insofar as practicable, positioned relatively close to but behind the front edges of the trays 25, so as to be somewhat concealed.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the baffle plates 29 are provided at their back edges with forwardly extending slits (or narrow slots) 39 which extend forwardly for about two inches and join with elongated openings 40. The openings 40 are of a width approximately that of the upwardly extending wire elements 34, 35. To best advantage, the openings 40 may have a width just slightly less than that of the wire portions 34, 35, so as to lightly grip the wire portions.
After installation of the baffle support 28 on the display bar 24, the baffle plate 29 is installed by laying it on top of the support 28 and pressing it rearwardly. At the rearmost ends of the slits 39, the back edge of the baffle plate is provided with V-shaped entry notches that facilitate locating the baffle plate relative to the vertically extending wire portions 34, 35. Once the wire portions are seated in the V-shaped notches 41, the installer presses rearwardly against the baffle plate to force the wire portions 34, 35 into the slits 39 and, eventually, into the wider openings 40, substantially as shown in
In the arrangement shown in
One of the important advantages of the baffle structure of the invention is that the baffle plates may be easily removed from and replaced in the displays. The baffles can be removed by simply gripping the projecting outer edge portions of the baffle plates and pulling outwardly, causing the wire upright portions 34, 35 to slide rearward through the slits 39 to fully release the plates. This can be done easily with the product display trays 25 in place. Likewise, to reinstall the baffle plates, they are simply slid rearwardly along the upper surfaces of the supports 28 until the notches 41 align with the wire elements 34, 35, after which additional rearward pressure is applied to the baffle plate to seat the wires in the openings 40. The thus-facilitated removal and replacement procedure enables the baffles to be frequently cleaned and sanitized so that food product displays can be easily maintained in a pristine condition, attractive to prospective purchasers. In this respect, it will be understood that the baffle plates tend to collect miscellaneous debris, which becomes unsightly after a time. Additionally, the chilled atmosphere of the open front displays can foster the development of mold, which becomes extremely unsightly and unsanitary if not adequately cleaned. With known types of baffles, the removal and replacement is sufficiently inconvenient that store personnel tend to ignore or postpone the desired cleaning routines, leading to unattractive and unsanitary displays of the food products.
In the specifically illustrated form of the invention, where the product display trays 25 are provided with open bottom structures formed of a few wire elements, there are minimal surfaces for the development of mold growth. This, combined with the ease of cleaning of the baffles 29 as described, provides optimal conditions for the open front display of refrigerated food products.
It will be understood that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein illustrated and described is intended to be representative only, as various changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/151,904, filed Feb. 12, 2009, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61151904 | Feb 2009 | US |
