AU2005203136B2 - Display case for goods, in particular, a cooling display case - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract The subject matter of the present invention is a goods display case, particularly a cooling display case. The basic structure of the goods display case consists of a housing (1), an illuminating-device (6), and a cooling-device (3). The illuminating-device (6) is preferably 5 arranged in the region of a goods removal opening (5). The illuminating-device (6) has a light-housing (7) that has a transparent cover (7a) at the front and holding-legs (7b, 7c) at the rear. According to the invention, one of the holding-legs (7c) bears the lighting-means (8) on its front, and a power supply unit (9), for the lighting-means (8), on its back, which means that the power supply unit (9) is located outside of the light-housing (7). 18/07/05,sw5052speci, I -~ .2 b- 7b7 10-.o

Description

P/00/01l Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT ORIGINAL TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: ALDI EINKAUF GMBH & CO. OHG Actual Inventors: ERNST, Peter, of MbnchstraBe 10, 45478 Miilheim/Ruhr, Germany; OCHSENSCHLAGER, Robert, of Lohbecker Berg 9, 45470 Miilheim/Ruhr, Germany Address for Service: CALLINAN LAWRIE, 711 High Street, Kew, Victoria 3101, Australia Invention Title: DISPLAY CASE FOR GOODS, IN PARTICULAR, A COOLING DISPLAY CASE The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- -2 DISPLAY CASE FOR GOODS, IN PARTICULAR, A COOLING DISPLAY CASE Description FIELD OF THE INVENTION 5 The invention relates to a display case for goods, particularly a cooling display case with a housing and with an illuminating-device and a cooling-device; the illuminating-device is preferably arranged in the region of an opening for the removal of goods, and has a light housing with lighting-means arranged therein and with a transparent cover at the front and holding-legs at the rear. 1o BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART Such goods display and cooling cases are generally used for the display and sale of goods that require to be cooled, and are used both in self-service stores and in stores with customer service, such as butcher shops or the like. These display and cooling cases generally have a.-coling tray, which is covered by a floor or bottom shelf for displaying the 15 goods. In the cooling tray, a cooling unit is arranged, together with a blower, serving to produce circulating air flowing over the goods displayed and thus cooling them. There is a continual problem with such goods display and cooling cases, as described in DE 93 18 421 UI, in that the illuminating-device, which is normally a fluorescent tube, develops heat. At the same time, the goods being lit by the illuminating-device are 20 supposed to be kept cool. This leads to energy losses. Therefore, the above-mentioned DE 18 421 U I proposes a wall to guide the cooling-air, with the illuminating element being arranged on or behind said wall. In this way, slight warming up of the air-guiding wall will be utilized to ensure that no water condenses there from the cool air flowing past. Nevertheless, this still leaves the problem that goods in the vicinity of the illuminating 25 device can start to thaw. Moreover, with cooling, the fluorescent tubes normally used no longer operate in their optimal range of maximum emission; but rather, their efficiency and emitted light intensity decrease with decreasing temperature. The illumination provided is therefore not what one would normally expect from a fluorescent tube of the same specification used without cooling.

-3 As a result, goods placed in the vicinity of the fluorescent tube are only inadequately cooled, and harmful condensation can even occur. Moreover, the illumination provided by the fluorescent tubes is not optimal. Here, the invention will provide an overall remedy. The invention is based on the technical problem of how to further develop a goods display 5 case of the above-described kind, so as to provide an illuminating-device intended for the described application, and, in particular, to improve the existing illuminating-devices as regards their emission of light, and heat dissipation. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 10 The present invention provides a goods display case, particularly a cooling display case, including a housing, an illuminating-device, and a cooling-device; said illuminating-device being arranged in the region of a goods removal opening, and said illuminating-device having a light-housing with a lighting-means arranged in it, and with a transparent cover at the front and holding-legs at the rear, wherein the light-housing is substantially triangular 15 in cross-section and is formed by the transparent cover at the front and the holding-legs at the rear, one holding-leg bears on its front the lighting-means arranged inside the light housing, and also bears, on its back, outside of the light-housing, a power supply unit for the lighting-means, and the light-housing is wholly or at least partly open-sided, so that cooling-air can flow through the light-housing. 20 The invention proceeds from the knowledge that actually the illuminating-device has two heat-sources, namely the lighting-means on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the power supply unit necessary for supplying power and energy to said lighting-means. The lighting means concerned is e.g. a fluorescent tube, LED strip, etc, and the power supply unit is arranged outside of the light-housing, being mounted on the back of one of the holding 25 legs. SUMMARY OF OPTIONAL EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION It has also proved beneficial to have the light-housing thermally coupled to the housing of the goods display case, because as a result, the cool air produced by the obligatory cooling device serves to cool not only the goods on the display floor or shelf, but also the housing 30 of the goods display case as a whole experiences cooling Thus, the heat produced in the light-housing by the lighting-means located therein can be removed primarily by direct heat -4 conduction or convection to the housing, the light-housing serving to achieve this because it is thermally coupled to the (cooled) housing of the goods display case. As a result, the excessive temperatures observed in the immediate vicinity of the lighting-means in the prior art are now prevented. 5 In detail, this is achieved, according to the invention, by locating the principal heat source - the power supply unit - outside of the light-housing. Thus, heat cannot build up in the light-housing, because the fluorescent tubes, LED strips, etc, serving as the lighting-means, produce hardly any waste heat. On the other hand, the power supply unit is exposed, on the outside of the light-housing, where it is reached by the cooling-air flowing through the 10 housing of the goods display case, and therefore the heat is carried away. At the same time, the holding-leg on which the power supply unit is mounted ensures that heat will flow to the cooled housing of the goods display case. In addition, due to the arrangement according to the invention, the power supply unit, which is the main heat-source, is the part of the illuminating-device that is located farthest away from the goods. 15 It is preferable that the light-housing be designed to be generally triangular in cross section, with a transparent cover at the front and holding-legs at the rear. The front transparent cover can be a plastic panel, preferably made of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) with or without a coating. Polymethyl methacrylate is, as is known, a thermoplastic which can be made as clear as glass, and has proved extremely weatherproof, and is in general use for 20 lenses, e.g. dispersion lenses. This also explains its use in the context of the present invention. Of course, the transparent front cover can also be tinted. Likewise, other plastics can be used, or a number of plastics in a sandwich structure can be used. The two holding-legs are generally arranged, relative to one another, in a right-angled or obtuse-angled L shape. Generally, the two holding-legs form a single unit, which is made 25 in one go as a suitably L-shaped sheet whose ends are bent at an angle. These angled ends on the holding-legs serve to ensure that the transparent cover or plastic panel is locked in place, because at least one holding-leg, with its angled end, functions as a spring leg, so that the transparent cover can be opened and closed at the front, in order to replace the lighting-means if necessary. 3o One of the holding-legs is designed as a support leg, while the other holding-leg serves as a mounting-leg. One or both of the legs, primarily the support leg, serves to thermally couple -5 the light-housing to the housing of the goods display case, because said leg is directly connected to the housing, which can be achieved by means of a simple screw, rivet, or plug connection. In addition or alternatively, the mounting-leg can be connected to the housing, in order to 5 achieve even more effective direct heat conductance from the light-housing to the housing of the goods display case, which is helped by the fact that both holding-legs are made of metal. As a rule, the mounting-leg bears the lighting-means on its the front and the lighting means' power supply unit on its back. Depending on the type of lighting-means employed, 10 said power supply unit comprises, for example, a voltage transformer unit, a rectifier unit, a starting device, etc. The power supply unit must also include at least one dimmer whereby the electric power supplied to the lighting-means can be adjusted. This is of particular importance, in that it enables the lighting-means, preferably a fluorescent tube, to operate in the optimal temperature range. This range, in the case of 15 fluorescent tubes, is generally above 20 'C. It is therefore also possible to couple the dimmer to a temperature sensor arranged in the interior of the light-housing. To maintain a temperature-range inside the light-housing that is optimal for the particular lighting-means used, the dimmer acts as a closed-loop control system which reduces the power when the temperature is too high and increases it when the temperature is too low. 20 In either case, the dimmer, which of course can also be externally operated, enables the lighting-means to be operated in the optimal temperature range, in which maximum conversion efficiency is achieved. This means that, depending on the temperature of the lighting-means, the ratio of electrical energy input to light-intensity obtained changes and reaches a maximum at the indicated temperatures, resulting in particularly low energy 25 consumption and also ensuring that the lighting-means lasts a long time. Generally, the illuminating-device is entirely concealed behind a screen, in order not to be directly perceived by the customers. This screen is generally located at top front in the goods removal opening, so that the goods can be illuminated from above. In this regard, the plastic panel, arranged obliquely relative to the housing or to a cover provided above the 3o screen or to another shelf for the goods, ensures that the light radiating steadily from the -6 lighting-means travels with the desired oblique deflection and dispersion, so that the goods displayed on the goods shelf can be seen, properly illuminated, over its entire width. In addition, the holding-legs may be provided with reflective coatings on their inner side facing the light-housing, in order to reflect back the beams sent to the "back" relative to the 5 goods. As a result, a goods display case is made available which utilizes an optimized illuminating-device. The illuminating-device is characterized in that an existing lighting means can be used, which is more or less enclosed by the light-housing, which in turn is thermally coupled to the housing of the goods display case. To dissipate the heat that is io necessarily produced inside the light-housing by the lighting-means, the mounting-leg and/or the support leg are connected to the housing so that direct heat-flow can occur. At the same time, it is possible to design the light-housings to be partly or fully open at the side, so that the cooling air circulated by the cooling-device can enter laterally and sweep through them, further increasing the cooling effect. 15 The transparent front covering of the light-housing serves, on the one hand, to protect the lighting-means arranged behind it, and, on the other hand, it insulates the lighting-means thermally from the cooled goods storage region, so that the above-described goods warming effects, which are adverse under certain circumstances, no longer occur. Therein lie the essential advantages of the invention. 20 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in greater detail with regard to one embodiment, shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. I is a. diagrammatic representation of the goods display case according to the present invention, with the illuminating-device; 25 Fig. 2 shows the illuminating-device in a perspective view; and Fig. 3 shows a section through the illuminating-device of Fig. 2.

-7 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In the Figures, a goods display case is shown, which is in the form of a cooling display case. In the drawings, the goods display case has - but is not limited to - one cooling tray 1, which is covered by a goods display floor or bottom shelf 2. In addition, more 5 display shelves 2' are provided further up. In or on the cooling tray 1, a cooling-device 3 is provided, in the form of a refrigerating apparatus with a blower for producing circulating air that flows over the goods and shelves 2, 2'. On the individual shelves 2, 2', individual goods 4 to be cooled are shown, and these can be removed from the display case by a customer, through the respective removal 10 openings 5. In the region of the each removal openings 5, i.e. at the top thereof, an illuminating-device 6 is provided, to show the displayed goods 4 on the shelves 2, 2' in a good light. The illuminating-device 6 of the present invention is a light-housing 7 with a lighting means 8 arranged therein. The lighting-means is a neon tube. Therefore, existing goods 15 display cases without light-housings 7 but with only a lighting-means 8 can be retrofitted with the light-housing 7. Of course, an LED based lighting-means is also encompassed by the present invention. The light-housing 7, as shown in Fig. 3, is essentially triangular in cross section, with a transparent front cover 7a and holding-legs 7b and 7c at the back. Holding-leg 7b serves as 20 a support leg 7b, while holding-leg 7c serves as a mounting-leg 7c. The mounting-leg 7c serves to hold or accommodate the lighting-means 8 and also an associated power supply unit 9. The lighting-means 8 is attached to the front of the mounting-leg 7c, and the power supply unit 9 is mounted on the back of the mounting-leg 7c. Thus, the power supply unit 9 is arranged outside of the light-housing 7, while the 25 lighting-means 8 is located in its interior. Both holding-legs 7b, 7c, namely the support leg 7b and the mounting-leg 7c, are connected to the housing I of the goods display case in the embodiment shown. In detail, the way this is done is that the support leg 7b is connected to an additional goods shelf 2' arranged above the bottom goods shelf 2, while the mounting-leg 7c is connected 30 to a front screen 10. Therefore, any heat produced in the light-housing 7 is conducted away -8 directly by convection: on the one hand via the support leg 7b, to the goods shelf 2'; and on the other hand, via the mounting-leg 7c, to the screen 10 and likewise to the goods shelf 2'. The transparent front cover 7a is a plastic panel made from PMMA, with a coating if necessary. Angled ends 11 provided on both holding-legs 7b and 7c serve to create a spring 5 mounting for the transparent cover 7a. As a result, the transparent cover 7a can be removed forwards, to enable the lighting-means 8 to be replaced. To reattach the transparent cover 7a, said cover is engaged lockingly from behind by the angled ends 11. The holding-legs 7b, 7c are made in one piece and are arranged in an L-shape, at a right angle or obtuse angle to one another. The support leg 7b is longer than the mounting-leg 10 7c. Due to this, and to the fact that the two legs 7b, 7c are approximately at right angles to one another, the transparent cover 7a is at an acute angle ] to the shelf 2'. This angle, 0, is approximately 200 to 500 and preferably 300 to 40*. Thus the white light emitted from the lighting-means 8 is slightly deflected and fanned out by the transparent cover 7a, so that the goods 4 displayed on shelves 2, 2' are illuminated 15 optimally over the entire length of the shelves 2, 2'. In order to increase heat conductance from the light-housing 7 even more, said housing is designed to be open at the sides, so that cooling-air can flow through the light-housing 7 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. This, however, represents only one option. Another important thing is that the power supply unit 8 - outside of the light-housing 7 20 includes a dimmer, by means of which the electric power supplied to the lighting-means 8 can be adjusted in the manner already described above. Where the terms "comprise", "comprises", "comprised" or "comprising" are used in this specification, they are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, 25 integers, steps or components referred to, but not to preclude the presence or addition of one or more other feature, integer, step, component or group thereof. The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not, be taken as an acknowledgment or any form or suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common 30 general knowledge in Australia.

Claims (10)

1. A goods display case, particularly a cooling display case, including: a housing, an illuminating-device, and a cooling-device; said illuminating device being arranged in the region of a goods removal opening, and said 5 illuminating-device having a light-housing with a lighting-means arranged in it, and with a transparent cover at the front and holding-legs at the rear, wherein the light-housing is substantially triangular in cross-section and is formed by the transparent cover at the front and the holding-legs at the rear; one holding-leg bears on its front the lighting-means arranged inside the 10 light-housing, and also bears, on its back, outside of the light-housing, a power supply unit for the lighting-means; and the light-housing is wholly or at least partly open-sided, so that cooling-air can flow through the light-housing. 15

2. A goods display case according to in claim 1, wherein the light-housing is thermally coupled to the housing.

3. A goods display case according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the transparent cover is a plastic panel preferably made of PMMA, with a coating if 20 necessary.

4. A goods display case according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the holding-legs are arranged in an L-shape, at a right angle or obtuse angle to each other. 25

5. A goods display case according to any one of claims I to 4, wherein one holding-leg is designed to be a mounting-leg, and the other holding-leg is designed to be a support-leg. 30

6. A goods display case according to claim 5, wherein the support-leg is connected to the housing. 09/05/1 I.dh-cg 15052 claims.doc,9 -10

7. A goods display case according to either claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the mounting-leg is connected to the housing.

8. A goods display case according to any one of claims I to 7, the power 5 supply unit includes at least one dimmer, to enable adjustment of the electric power supplied to the lighting-means.

9. A goods display case according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the illuminating-device is mounted concealed behind a screen. 10

10. A goods display case according to claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures. 09/05/1 l,dh-cg 15052 claims.doc. 10