This application claims the benefit of, and priority to Spanish Patent Application Number 201431923 filed on Dec. 23, 2014 entitled, “CLOSING MECHANISM FOR REFRIGERATED DISPLAY CABINETS”, the content of which is relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Object of the Invention
The invention relates to a closing mechanism for refrigerated display cabinets that enables greater ease of aperture and versatility of arrangement thereof.
2. Background of the Invention
Refrigerated display cabinets having, at least, one movable section, normally the front section, as the rear of the display cabinet is occupied by display counters and work elements.
This movable section usually has a pay t having straight, inclined or curved configuration that projects over the product arrangement area to protect it, prevent the loss of BTUs, facilitate the delivery of the products to customers and improve the observation of the products, said section normally being fully or partially made of transparent material, such as laminated or tempered glass. The aperture of the movable section makes it possible to perform various tasks, such as cleaning, replacement of products or maintenance and is divided into three systems: aperture towards the operator rotating from the base, upward aperture with different types of grips and the more modern fixed lateral sweep aperture.
In this last system, said movable section comprises a closing mechanism having fixation elements fixed movably to the body of the display cabinet. This mechanism comprises parallel supporting connecting rods articulated by one end to the body of the display cabinet and by the other to a lower upright belonging to the movable section. Said connecting rods have rotary motion in a substantially horizontal plane that instils a curved sweeping movement on the movable section in the horizontal plane with simultaneous frontal and lateral displacement, and the consequent aperture of the display cabinet, in the closed position of the movable section, the connecting rods are aligned and disposed between the upright and the body of the display cabinet and, in the open position, the connecting rods adopt a substantially parallel position during rotation thereof.
This configuration of the mechanism has various drawbacks, namely:
In display cabinets perpendicularly adjacent to a wall, the mechanism must be configured so that the movable section opens in a position opposite the wall, leaving a very small space between the open section and the wall that impedes the performance of tasks in the interior of the display cabinet.
The movable section is right/left-handed, i.e. it always opens in the same lateral direction, which limits versatility of aperture combined with other movable sections located on either side, belonging to the same display cabinet or to others.
Horizontal parts cannot be disposed on the closing section, as the curved lateral sweep from the start of the aperture of the movable section would interfere with the horizontal parts of the adjacent fixed sections, impeding aperture. This represents a major drawback consisting of the absence of horizontal parts or surfaces on which to rest the sold product while delivering it, obliging the seller and customer to adopt forced postures and strain themselves, or to install false horizontal surfaces.
Neither do configurations involving aperture towards the operator, rotation from the base and upward aperture, allow convenient access to the display cabinet to perform any of the aforementioned tasks.
The closing mechanism for refrigerated display cabinets has a simple configuration that remediates the aforementioned drawbacks.
The mechanism is therefore implemented in a display cabinet of the type comprising a movable closing section, said mechanism being disposed relating said movable section with the body of the display cabinet to open and close it, understanding ‘body of the display cabinet’ to be the rest thereof and/or its fixed accessories. Also, said movable section has a part that projects over the product display area, normally fully or partially materialised in transparent material.
In accordance with the invention, the mechanism comprises means with independent frontal displacement means and independent lateral displacement means indifferently on either side, understanding independent displacement means to mean that the lateral movement, of the lateral displacement means does not imply the longitudinal movement of the frontal displacement means and vice versa, firstly allowing the frontal extraction of the movable section followed by the lateral displacement thereof, without interfering with other adjacent display cabinets. With this configuration, the projected part of the movable section may incorporate horizontal sections that serve as a support on which to deliver the sold product or collect payment thereof.
The closing mechanism (1) for refrigerated display cabinets (2) of the invention is configured in a display cabinet (2) of tie type implementing a movable closing section (3), said mechanism (1) being: disposed relating said movable section (3) with the body (4) of the display cabinet (2) to open and close it, as shown in
In accordance with the invention, the mechanism (1) comprises independent frontal displacement means and independent lateral displacement means on either side indifferently for the movable section (3). This makes it possible to open said movable section (3) as shown in the sequences configured by
In the non-limiting example shown in the figures, the frontal displacement means are supported by the body (4) of the display cabinet (2) (see
If the movable section (3) is very heavy, the installation of rolling supports, not shown, has additionally been envisaged, such as directionally rotating wheels that can be implemented directly on the movable section (3) and/or on the lateral displacement means and/or on the frontal displacement means.
Lastly, the installation of travel stops (7) for limiting the travel of the independent lateral displacement means and/or the independent frontal displacement means has been envisaged. The figures show the travel stops (7) for limiting the travel of the independent lateral displacement means.
Having sufficiently described the nature of the invention and the manner in which to put it into practice, it is hereby stated that the indications mentioned above and represented in the attached drawings are susceptible to changes in detail, provided that they do not alter the basic principle.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201431923 | Dec 2014 | ES | national |