The present embodiments relate to a beverage serving trolley.
Beverage serving trolleys have generally been known for a long time. Typically, a beverage serving trolley is a mobile rack having wheels, a handle and one or more shelfs for beverage bottles. Depending on the individual preferences, beverage serving trolleys with a number of accessories are available. In case the beverage serving trolley is used for more than just presenting beverage bottles, but also, for example, for preparing drinks, additional equipment is necessary which makes beverage serving trolleys often look messy and crowded.
Furthermore, depending on what is being served at a particular occasion, beverage serving trolleys need to be specifically equipped with certain accessories. Therefore, either various different beverage serving trolleys are necessary or an extensive reconstruction of one beverage serving trolley is necessary at each different use.
In order to overcome these drawbacks of the presently available beverage serving trolleys, the present embodiments aim to provide a beverage serving trolley which meets all requirements with minimal modifications, if at all necessary.
To achieve such, the present embodiments provide a beverage serving trolley having a supporting structure, at least one wheel, a presentation basket comprising a basket handle and being configured to receive beverage bottles and ice cubes, and an outer housing.
According to some embodiments, the outer housing includes at least one first side panel and at least one edge profile which cover at least in part at least one side and at least one vertical edge, respectively, of the beverage serving trolley, wherein both the at least one first side panel and the at least one edge profile have the same vertical extension and are mounted to the beverage serving trolley in a way that adjacent first side panels and edge profiles are connected flush with each other at their respective vertical edges with a distance, thus forming a vertical gap of a predetermined width between each other.
Having an outer housing, the beverage serving trolley has a tidy look, since equipment and tools can be stored away from sight within the beverage serving trolley. Furthermore, at the vertical gaps, various accessories can be easily and removably mounted to the beverage serving trolley as intended.
According to some embodiments, the at least one first side panel is a folded metal sheet including a flat portion and at least two fixing portions, wherein the flat portion covers at least part of a side of the beverage serving trolley and at least one of the fixing portions of the at least one first side panel is provided at each vertical edge of the flat portion and is folded inwardly. Also the at least one edge profile is a folded metal sheet including a curved portion and at least two fixing portions, wherein the curved portion covers at least part of a vertical edge of the beverage serving trolley, and at least one of the fixing portions of the at least one edge profile is provided at each vertical edge of the curved portion and is folded inwardly. As such, the beverage serving trolley has a smooth outer appearance which can be cleaned easily and quickly.
According to some embodiments, adjacent fixing portions of the at least one first side panel and the at least one edge profile are coplanar to each other and are connected together with a spacer located between each other, in order to form the vertical gap. This ensures a gap of a predetermined width. As such, standardized accessories can be easily arranged at any height level of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, at least one pair of interconnected fixing portions of one first side panel and one edge profile is additionally connected to the supporting structure. This facilitates the mounting and increases the stability of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, the at least one first side panel includes more than two fixing portions, wherein at least one of the fixing portions is provided at an upper horizontal edge of the flat portion and is folded inwardly, and at least one of the fixing portions is provided at a lower horizontal edge of the flat portion and is folded inwardly. This contributes further to the stability of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, the beverage serving trolley further comprises a horizontally arranged top plate having a flat surface at least at a rim portion thereof, wherein the fixing portions at the upper horizontal edge of the flat portion of the at least one first side panel are coplanar with the flat of the top plate and are connected to the top plate with a spacer in between, in order to form a horizontal gap of a predetermined width between the lower edge of the top plate and the upper horizontal edge of the flat portion. This further facilitates the mounting and increases the stability of the beverage serving trolley. The horizontal gap further provides the possibility to removably mount various accessories also at the horizontal gap.
According to some embodiments, the outer housing further includes a second side panel and an encapsulating housing component both having the same vertical extension and being arranged below the at least one first side panel and the at least one edge profile. As such, the housing of the beverage serving trolley is subdivided in at least two housing components in a vertical direction outside the beverage serving trolley. This provides the possibility to arrange housing components with different functions, like a perforation for ventilation.
According to some embodiments, the second side panel and the encapsulating housing component are connected to each other at both of their vertical edges, thereby horizontally surrounding the complete circumference of the beverage serving trolley. This facilitates the mounting procedure of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, the encapsulating housing is connected to the fixing portion at the lower edge of the flat portion of the at least one first side panel. This increases the stability of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, the encapsulating housing component is flush in a vertical direction with the flat portion of the at least one first side panel and with the curved portion of the at least one edge profile that are arranged above the encapsulating housing component. As such, the beverage serving trolley has a smooth outer appearance which can be cleaned easily and quickly.
According to some embodiments, the encapsulating housing component circumferentially extends over four vertical edges and three sides of the beverage serving trolley, while the second side panel extends over a fourth side of the beverage serving trolley. In particular, the encapsulating housing component extends around the beverage serving trolley from one edge over three sides including also the final edge, thus leaving one side uncovered which is then covered by the second side panel. This facilitates the mounting procedure of the beverage serving trolley.
According to some embodiments, the second side panel is perforated in order to allow circulation of air. Thereby, the heat generated by electronic devices possibly contained in the beverage serving trolley can be dissipated more quickly and the beverage serving trolley is not getting too warm.
According to some embodiments, the beverage serving trolley further has a handle for moving the beverage serving trolley.
The present invention will now be further explained by use of exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Similar or identical elements in the various embodiments are labelled with the same reference numbers. The individual features of all of the described specific embodiments can generally be combined with each other, unless there are compelling technical or logical reasons to the contrary. Terms indicating any kind of orientation or direction like, for example, upwards, upper, downwards, lower, vertical, horizontal, sunken and lift up refer to the beverage serving trolley when standing on the ground, unless explicitly defined in a different manner. The terms “rear” and “front” are to be understood with respect to the direction of movement when the beverage serving trolley (1) is pushed by the handle (13).
In
In the embodiment of
The shelfs 16 are made of metal sheets and are perforated with a plurality of round holes, which reduces weight. The metal sheets are bent upwards or downwards at particular sections of their edges, which increases the stability and may in addition prevent a glass that is put on a shelf 16 from falling down. In the embodiment of
The handle 13 is composed of the handlebar 14 mounted between the two handle brackets 15. The handle brackets 15 are made-up of steel plates as well and are flatly screwed together with the vertical parts 4 of the U-shaped steel plate 3A at the rear side.
Furthermore, between the vertical parts 4 of the rear U-shaped steel plate 3A, an accessory is removably mounted which is the storage box 73. The storage box 73 like any other appropriate accessory can simply be hung in respective hooks or protrusions (not shown) at the vertical parts 4 of both U-shaped steel plates 3A and 3B.
A further accessory, which is however rigidly mounted to the beverage serving trolley 1 between the front U-shaped steel plates 3B, is the tray 74. The mounting brackets of the tray 74 are flatly screwed together with the vertical parts 4 of the U-shaped steel plate 3B, in an analogous manner as the handle brackets 15 are mounted to the rear U-shaped steel plate 3A.
The presentation basket supporting frame 24 has the form of a box with a square ground plate and vertical walls being sufficiently tall to accommodate the presentation basket 40. As shown in
Now, exemplary details of the presentation basket 40 are described, by which it is also referred to
The basket handle 46 is provided at the center of the ground 51 of the presentation basket 40 and projects upwards from there, so that the presentation basket 40 can be carried stably and evenly by one hand. The basket handle 46 includes the elongated basket handlebar 47 and the basket handle bracket 48, which in turn is composed of two bracket columns 48A and the bracket base 48B. Between the bracket columns 48A there is provided the saddle surface 49 on the bracket base 48B. In the present embodiment, the basket handlebar 47 is a separate metal component that is screwed onto the top of each of the bracket columns 48A. The bracket columns 48A and the bracket base 48B, however, form integral parts of the one-piece plastic component of the presentation basket 40. As mentioned above, the presentation basket 40 and the respective opening into which the presentation basket 40 is accommodated (which in this case is established by the presentation basket supporting frame 24) are square from a top view, so that the presentation basket 40 can be inserted in the beverage serving trolley 1, as desired, with the basket handlebar 47 being oriented either in or transverse to the moving direction of the beverage serving trolley 1 when being pushed.
The bracket columns 48A and, respectively, the basket handlebar 47 are designed such that the basket handlebar 47 is located at a level near, but under the level of the upper edge of the presentation basket 40. At the upper inner rim 44 of the presentation basket 40 there is provided the cover accommodating area 45, which is a sunken area onto which a cover (not shown) can be placed. The level up to which the basket handlebar 47 is located is thus as high as possible, but low enough that it does not contact the cover.
At the inner side wall 43 of the presentation basket 40, an outlet 42 with plug is located near the ground 51 so that water in the presentation basket 40 can be conveniently drained.
The presentation basket 40 further includes footstands 50, one at each corner on the underside of the presentation basket 40. In case the presentation basket 40 is taken out of the beverage serving trolley 1, it can be placed with its footstands 50 on a table or a similar surface.
According to a further equipped embodiment of the presentation basket 40 as shown in
The presentation basket 40 further includes the sheet metal tray 53 having a ground 53B and four side walls 53A, which is removably placed into the presentation basket 40 and over the ice packs 52. The sheet metal tray 53 in principle is a metal box with open top and upper edges 53C that are folded outwards, in order to rest on the ice packs 52. The underside of the ground 53B of the sheet metal tray 53 rests on the ground 51 of the presentation basket 40 and includes a cutout 53D for the basket handle 46. The sheet metal tray 53 serves for additional stability of the ice pack assembly and due to its material barely hinders the thermal conduction.
The presentation basket 40 further includes the light module 56. The light module 56 is made-up of two symmetrical parts 56A and 56B. Each symmetrical part 56A and 56B has a connecting element 57 and a flat light emitting element 58. When inserted into the presentation basket 40, the symmetrical parts 56A and 56B of the light module 56 are connected to each other via magnets 57A disposed in the connecting elements 57 in the region of the saddle surface 49 of the bracket base 48B. Each connecting element 57 includes a power button 57B and a battery compartment 57C. Furthermore, a rubber lid 57D is provided at each connecting element 57 which covers a battery capacity indicator 57E and a battery charging port 57F. The rubber lid 57D can be easily removed by the hand in case the batteries must be charged or in case the user wants to check the battery level.
The light emitting element 58 covers the ground 51 of the presentation basket 40 and illuminates beverages placed into the presentation basket 40 from below. The light emitting element 58 is equipped with a frosted plastic plate 59 made of acrylic glass which allows light to pass through. The frosted plastic plate 59 acts as a diffuser that evenly and diffusely distributes light generated by light emitting diodes located at the edges of the frosted plastic plate 59.
Next, the second embodiment of the beverage serving trolley 1 as shown in
The housing of the beverage serving trolley 1 includes first side panels 19 and edge profiles 20 at an upper part of the beverage serving trolley 1 both vertically extending over the door 17 and the drawer 18, and a second side panel 22 and an encapsulating housing component 23 at a lower part, i.e. under the first side panels 19 and edge profiles 20. These housing components are also present in the beverage serving trolley 1 according to the third embodiment as shown in
The edge profiles 20 essentially consist of a folded metal sheet that includes a curved portion 20A that is wrapped around a vertical edge of the beverage serving trolley 1 and is visible from the outside, and two inwardly bent fixing portions 20B. Both the curved portion 20A and the fixing portions 20B vertically extend over the entire edge profile 20. The fixing portions 20B are flat and oriented in a plane perpendicular to the outside surface of the beverage serving trolley 1 at the respective location.
The first side panels 19 also essentially consist of a folded metal sheet. The side panels 19 predominantly have a flat portion 19A and four inwardly bent fixing portions 19B analogue to those of the edge profiles 20. Two of the fixing portions 19B are vertically arranged and are located respectively at the two sides of the flat portion 19A, while the other two fixing portions 19B are horizontally arranged and are located respectively at the upper and lower edges of the flat portion 19A.
Each of the first side panels 19 is connected via its vertically arranged fixing portions 19B to an edge profile 20. The fixing portions 19B and 20B of one first side panel 19 and one edge profile 20, respectively, are thereby oriented coplanar to each other and screwed together by threaded bolts 60 and nuts 61. Further, a spacer 64 is provided between the interconnected fixing portions 19B and 20B and around the used threaded bolts 60 in order to provide and ensure a predetermined vertical gap 21 between the fixing portions 19B and 20B. The vertical gaps 21 are present between each first side panel 19 and edge profile 20 that are connected to each other. In the vertical gaps 21, accessories can be engaged, like the storage box 73 described in connection with the first embodiment. For this purpose, holes like the mounting bore 62B are provided at frequent distances at the fixing portions 19B and 20B of each first side panel 19 and edge profile 20, respectively.
As illustrated in
As shown in
As mentioned above, the housing of the beverage serving trolley 1 according to the second embodiment (
As a further difference from the first embodiment, the beverage serving trolley 1 according to the second and the third embodiment as shown in
The rear wheels 11A with their outer surface are flush with the housing and, therefore, the second side panel 22 and the encapsulating housing component 23 have respective cutouts for the rear wheels 11A. The distance between the front wheels 11B to one another is shorter than that of the rear wheels 11A, so that the front wheels 11B are offset inwards compared with the rear wheels 11A.
The beverage serving trolley 1 according to the second embodiment (
The top plate 30 further has a cutout 34 into which the presentation basket 40 is inserted. At the cutout edge 35, the top plate 30 is sunken in order to provide for a smooth fit of the presentation basket 40, which in turn rests on the sunken cutout edge 35 with its supporting surface 41A at the underside of the upper outer rim 41.
Referring to
For the mounting of the top plate 30, the top plate 30 includes bolts 36 protruding down from the underside of the top plate 30. Each bolt 36 is fastened either only to the respective fixing portion 19B of the first side panel 19, only to a square tube 6 of the supporting structure 2 or to a square tube 6 of the supporting structure 2 with the fixing portion 19B of the first side panel 19 clamped in between.
While the top plate 30 of the second embodiment shown in
The third embodiment of the beverage serving trolley 1 as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2020 200 831.0 | Jan 2020 | DE | national |
This 35 U.S.C. § 371 National Stage Patent application claims priority to PCT Patent Application No. PCT/EP2021/051247, filed Jan. 21, 2021, which claims priority to and benefit of DE Patent Application Serial Number 102020200831.0, filed Jan. 23, 2020, all of which is incorporated by reference herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2021/051247 | 1/21/2021 | WO |