US3729243A

US3729243A - Merchandising cabinet

Info

Publication number: US3729243A
Application number: US00150279A
Authority: US
Inventors: D Musgrave; P Mcclain
Original assignee: UMC Industries Inc
Current assignee: Crane Co; White Consolidated Industries Inc
Priority date: 1971-06-07
Filing date: 1971-06-07
Publication date: 1973-04-24
Anticipated expiration: 1990-04-24
Also published as: CA970022A

Abstract

A merchandising cabinet, e.g., an ice cream dipping cabinet, having a transparent window means and a curved transparent lid closing the upper front and top of the cabinet and permitting the contents of the cabinet to be viewed by both the customer and the server with the lid opened or closed. The window means extends the length of the cabinet and comprises a front window extending upwardly at the upper front of the cabinet and a top window extending back from the top of the front window to a position above and forward of the top of the back cabinet wall providing an opening for access to the containers by the server. The curved transparent lid is slidably mounted on curved track means at its ends for sliding movement between a closed position in which the lid blocks the opening and an open position in which a customer may view the containers through the window means and the lid.

Description

United States Patent 1 Musgrave et al.

[s41 MERCHANDISING CABINET [75] Inventors: Donald A. Musgrave; Paul S. Mc-

Clain, both of Conway, Ark.

73 Assignee: UMC' Industries, Inc., New York,

22 Filed: June7, 1971 21 App1.No.: 150,279

[52] U.S. Cl ..3l2/l16, 312/138 R, 312/296 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47f 3/04 [58] Field of Search ..312/1 14, 116, 138 R, 312/296, 350

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,534,488 12/1950 Weber ..3l2/l38 R X 1,499,365 7/1924 Gustus ..3l2/116 981,486 l/1911 Shaner ..312/138R 2,438,972 4/1948 -H0ffman..... ...3l2/l38 R X 2,492,695 12/1949 Henderson 3l2/l 16 UX Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Attorney-Koenig, Senniger, Powers Leavitt 57 ABSTRACT A merchandising cabinet, e.g., an ice cream dipping cabinet, having a transparent window means and a curved transparent lid closing the upper front and top of the cabinet and permitting the contents of the cabinet to be viewed by both the customer and the server with the lid opened or closed. The window means extends the length of the cabinet and comprises a front window extending upwardly at the upper front of the cabinet and a top Window extending back from the top of the front window to a position above and forward of the top of theback cabinet wall providing an opening for access to the containers by the server. The curved transparent lid is slidably mounted on curved track means at its ends for sliding movement between a closed position in which the lid blocks the opening and an open position in which a customer may view the containers through the window means and the lid.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures SSSSSSSSSSSS bl Patented April 24, 1972.

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG.4

Patented A ril 24, 1973 3,729,243

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MERCHANDIZING CABINET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to merchandising cabinets, and more particularly to a refrigerated cabinet for storing and displaying containers of ice cream, or novelty ice cream items and the like, from which ice cream may be hand dipped or from which the ice cream novelties or the like may be dispensed.

This invention is particularly concerned with an ice cream dipping cabinet having a transparent lid permitting both the customer and the server to view the ice cream within the cabinet with the lid closed or open. Heretofore, such prior art dipping cabinets have primarily utilized three types of transparent lids: (A) lids hinged at the front of the cabinet and rotatable upwardly toward the customer; (B) lids mounted one above the other on tracks which extend lengthwise of the cabinet for horizontal sliding movement of the lids endwise of the cabinet; and (C) inclined lids comprising the rear portion of a transparent hood assembly with the inclined lid pivotally attached to the cabinet for being rotated toward the front of the cabinet to provide access to the cabinet. The principal disadvantages of the above-mentioned lids are that the hinged lids (A) in their open position project substantially above the cabinet blocking the exchange of money and merchandise between the server and the customer and interfering with access to the merchandise in the cabinet by the server; the horizontal track mounted lids (B) inherently prevent access to some portions of the compartment since one of the lids must be moved above or below the other to provide access to the cabinet; and the pivoted inclined lids (C) must be manually held against slamming closed or open as the lid is swung between its open and its closed position; they require excessive cabinet height to allow clearance for the pivoting of the lid, and a framing arrangement with end panels to ac commodate the pivoting of the lid substantially interfering with and reducing the customer's view of the product; and the lids are difficult to handle when removed from the cabinet for cleaning.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the several objects of this invention may be noted the provision of an improved refrigerated merchandising cabinet adapted to store and display merchandise to be dispensed therefrom (e.g., containers of ice cream to be hand dipped) having window means and a lid permitting both the customer and the server to view the merchandise in the cabinet with the lid open or closed; the provision of such a cabinet having a lid which when open is out of the way and does not block the exchange of money or merchandise between the server and the customer or access to the merchandise by the server; the provision of such a cabinet having a lid which when open permits access to any container in the cabinet; the provision of such a cabinet in which the framing means mounting the lid and window means is such as to permit a clear view of the merchandise in the cabinet; and the provision of such a cabinet having a lid which is easily removable from the cabinet for cleaning purposes.

In general, a merchandising cabinet of this invention, particularly a cabinet for containers of ice cream to be hand dipped, has a front wall which faces toward the customer, a back wall which faces toward the server and end walls. The walls define a compartment for the containers. The end walls have upper portions which extend upwardly above the upper edges of the front and back walls. The cabinet has fixed window means extending between the upper portions of the end walls toward the front of the cabinet extending upwardly from the upper edge of the front wall and back in the direction of the back wall. The window means has an upper rear edge spaced above and forward of the upper edge of the back wall to provide an opening for access to the containers from the back of the cabinet. The cabinet includes means for closing this opening com prising at least one transparent curved lid and curved track means engaging the end portions of the lid for guiding the lid for sliding arcuate movement between a closed position in which the rear edge of the lid is adjacent the upper edge of the back wall and the front portion of the lid is below and adjacent the upper rear edge of the window means, and an open position in which the rear edge of the lid is below and adjacent the upper rear edge of the window means and the front edge of the lid is below the window means and adjacent the front of the cabinet thereby permitting the customer to view the containers from the front of the cabinet when the lid is in its open position.

Other objects and features will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, a merchandising cabinet made in accordance with this invention, indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 1, and more particularly a cabinet adapted to store and display containers (not shown) of ice cream or other merchandise (e.g., ice cream novelties or other frozen foods), is shown to have a front wall 3 facing toward a customer (its left side as shown in FIG. 2), a back wall 5 facing toward a server, and end walls 7. The walls define a compartment generally indicated at 9 for the ice cream containers, and it will be understood that the cabinet includes means (not shown) for refrigerating this compartment. The end walls 7 have upper portions indicated at 7a which extend up above the upper edges 1 l and 13, respectively, of the front and back wall. The cabinet includes fixed window means generally indicated at 15, extending the length of the cabinet between the upper portions 7a of the end walls toward the front of the cabinet, and extending upwardly from the upper edge 11 of the front wall and .back in the direction toward the back wall. The upperrear edge 17 of the window means is spaced above the level of and forward of the upper edge 13 of the back wall to provide an opening for access to the merchandise from the back of the cabinet. The opening 0 may be closed by means indicated generally at 19, shown as comprising two curved transparent lids each designated 21. Each curved lid is mounted on curved track means, generally indicated at 23, supporting the end portions of the lid for guiding the lid for arcuate sliding movement (as indicated by the arrow in FIGS. 2 and 3) between a closed position (the position of the righthand lid in FIG. 1 and as shown in FIG. 2) in which the rear edge of the lid is adjacent the upper edge 13 of the back wall and the front portion of the lid is below and adjacent the upper rear edge 17 of the window means, and an open position (the position of the left-hand lid in FIG. 1 and as shown in FIG. 3) in which the rear edge of the lid is adjacent and below the upper rear edge 17 of the window means and the front edge of the lid is below the upper part of the window means adjacent the front portion of the cabinet. With the lid in its open position, the customer may view the containers within compartment 9 by looking through both the window means and the transparent lid.

More particularly, each of the front, back and end walls 3, 5 and 7 is thermally insulated as indicated at in FIGS. 2 and 3, and has an inside panel or liner constituted by a respective wall of a receptacle indicated generally at 27. This receptacle, which is of'rectangular shape in plan and open at the top, has a bottom (not shown) and front, back and end walls which constitute the stated inside panels of the walls 3, 5 and 7. The receptacle 27, which may be referred to as a tub liner, may be formed of sheet metal, for example. It constitutes the compartment 9 for the containers of ice cream. An insert 29, which may be molded in one piece of fiberglas-reinforced plastic, for example, extends between the upper portions 7a of the walls 7 of the cabinet. This insert includes end panels 31 which are disposed on the inside of portions 7a as liners therefor. Extending between these end panels 31 at the lower front thereof is a sill 33 for-the top of the front wall 3, and extending between these panels at the back thereof is a sill 35 for the top of the back wall 5. The lower edge of the insert 29 and the upper edge of the tub liner 27 are joined together by an extruded strip 37 of resilient plastic having low thermal conductivity disposed between the edges of the insert and the tub liner to reduce the flow of heat from the relatively warm insert to the refrigerated tub liner. The strip has a flat inner face 39 providing for a relatively flush interface between insert 29 and tub liner 27 and beads 40 extending through the last-said interface engaging the back sides of the insert and the tub liner for holding the strip in place. A protective cover 41 (made of stainless steel, for example) is applied to the sill 35.

The window means 15 comprises a front window pane 43 extending upwardly and inclined slightly rearwardly from the top of the front wall 3, and a top window pane 45 extending horizontally rearwardly from the top of the front window pane 43. This top window pane 45 may be used as a serving counter on which money or merchandise may be placed during the sale. The front window pane has its lower edge sealed in a channel-section glazing' strip 47 which extends along a front horizontal portion of the sill 33 at the top of the front wall 3, and has its upper edge sealed in a channel 49 of a double-channel glazing strip 51 extending between the upper portions of the cabinet end walls 7 at the top and front thereof. Its ends are sealed in glazing channels 53 on the panels 31 on the inside of portions 7a. The top window pane 45 has its front edge sealed in the second channel 55 of the glazing strip 51. Its rear edge bears on top of a fluorescent lamp housing 57 extending between the upper portions 70 of the end walls 7 of the cabinet at the top thereof, this housing being centered slightly in front of the median endwise plane of the cabinet, and is held down and sealed by a strip 59. Its ends are sealed in glazing channels 61 on the panels 31.

The opening 0 is between the top 13 of the back wall 5 of the cabinet and the back of the housing 57. Each curved lid 21 is slidable on its respective track means between the closed position (FIG. 2) in which it extends on an arc from the top of the back wall 5 to a point just below the back portion of the housing 57 and the open position (FIG. 3) in which it extends on an are from a point just below the back of the housing 57 to a point adjacent the front window pane 43 somewhat above the mid-point of the height of pane 43. Each of the end panels 31 of the insert 29 is formed with an arcuate ledge 63 constituting end supports of the track means 23, this ledge curving forwardly and upwardly on an arc of a circle from a forwardly and upwardly facing inclined face 65 of the top 13 of the back wall 5 of the cabinet below the housing 57 and then curving downwardly to the stated point adjacent the front window pane 43. Seated on each of these arcugite ledges 63 and extending throughout the length of the ledge with the same curvature is a lock plate 67 of such width as to project inwardly beyond the inner edge of the ledge. Seated on each plate 67 is a rail 69 which may be a suitable plastic extrusion of channel shape in section having upwardly extending inside and outside

flanges

71 and 73 with the outside flange higher than the inside flange.'Each of the two lids 21 has its outer end margin bearing slidably on the inside flange 71 of the respective rail, and restrained against outward endwise movement by the outer flange 73. The inner end of each lid bears on the flange 71 of a similar curved rail 69 mounted on a curved bridge member 75 of the cabinet extending from the top of the back wall 5 to a point forward of the housing centrally of the length of the cabinet. As appears in FIG. 4, this curved bridge member is generally of cruciform cross section, having ledge portions 77 on opposite sides supporting the rails 69 for the inner ends of the two lids 21. It is suitably supported from the housing 57 by the bracket as in dicated at 79 in FIG. 3.

At its rear edge, each lid 21 carries means for releasably retaining it on its respective track means,

this means permitting easy removal of the lid when so desired for cleaning or other purposes. As shown best in FIGS. 4 and 5, this means comprises an elongate channel 81 secured on the rear margin of the lid extending its full length. Extending down from this channel is a web 83 formed at its lower margin with a partcylindrical lock bolt housing 85. This slot in this partcylindrical housing is indicated at 87. A lock bolt 89 is slidable endwise in housing 85 at the outer end thereof between an extended locking position, wherein it extends out of the end of the housing underneath the respective lock plate 67, and a retracted position withdrawn into the housing 85 clear of the lock plate 67. A similar lock bolt 89 is slidable endwise in the housing 85 at the inner end thereof between an extended locking position wherein it extends out of the end of the housing underneath the respective ledge portion 77 of the bridge 75, this ledge portion thus serving as a lock plate similarly to 67. Each bolt has a finger 91 engageable in a notch 93 extending down from the slot 87 for holding the bolt in its extended locking position, and is adapted to be moved endwise by swinging the finger up into the slot 87.

A handle 95 extends up from the channel 81, and an elongate resilient tubular sealing and bumper member 97 is provided on the back of the channel extending the full length thereof engageable with the inclined face 65 of the sill 35 of the back wall 5 when the lid is closed. The fully open position of the lid 21 is determined by engagement of its handle 95 with a resilient tubular bumper member 99 mounted on the lower rear part of the housing 57 extending through its length. Formed integrally with this bumper member is a flexible resilient sealing lip 101 which is inherently biased down into sealing engagement with the top surface of the lid.

Members

97 and 99 may be extruded members of suitable plastic material.

Either of the two lids 21 may be easily moved from its closed to its open position for access to the compartment 9 by pushing on the handle 95 to slide the lid forward on its rails 69, the lid being held down on the rails by the disposition of the lock bolts 89 underneath the lock plate 67 and ledge 77. The lid is generally slid forward to its full open position determined by engagement of the handle 95 with the bumper member 99, which cushions its arrest. The lid 21 is easily closed by taking hold of the handle 95 and pulling it back to slide the lid back to the point where the sealing and bumper member 97 engages the inclined face 65 of the top 13 of the back wall 5. This provides a seal at the back of the lid, and resilient lip 101 provides a seal at the front of the lid. Engagement of the lid 21 with the rails 69 provides seals at the ends of the lid. Either lid may be easily removed from the cabinet by moving it to its open position, and sliding the lock bolts 89 to their retracted positions. The lid is then moved to its closed position, the back edge of the lid is lifted vertically clear of the top of the back wall 5, and the lid is then readily moved rearward out of the cabinet.

While a cabinet with two lids is shown, it will of course be understood that the principles of the invention are applicable to a cabinet with one lid (as would generally be the case with shorter cabinets). in a cabinet with a single lid, bridge 75 is omitted and the lid extends from one end wall 7 to the other.

Furthermore, it will be understood that windows (not shown) could be provided in the upper end walls 7a for viewing of the merchandise within the cabinet from its ends as well as from its front and back walls.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

l. A merchandising cabinet, particularly for containers of ice cream to be hand dipped, having a front wall, a back wall, and end walls, said walls being thermally insulated and defining a compartment for the containers, said end walls having upper portions extending upwardly above the upper edges of the front and back walls, fixed window means extending endwise between the upper portions of the end walls at the front of the cabinet and extending upwardly from the upper edge of the front wall and back in the direction of the back wall and having its upper rear edge spaced above the level of and forward of the top of the back wall to provide an opening for access to the compartment from the back of the cabinet, and means for closing said opening comprising at least one transparent curved lid, and curved track means supporting the lid at its end and guiding the lid for arcuate sliding movement between a closed position in which the lid extends forward and upward on an arc from the top of the back wall to a point below and adjacent the upper rear edge of said window means and an open position in which the lid extends forward and downward on an are from a point below and adjacent the upper rear edge of the window to a point adjacent the front of the cabinet in back of and below said window means, whereby a customer standing at the front of the cabinet may view the containers through the window means when the lid is closed and through .the window means and the lid when the lid is open, the curved track means at each end of the lid consisting of a single track only so that the lid is adapted to be removed by lifting it and moving it rearward out of the cabinet.

2. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 1 having means providing a seal between the front portion of the lid and the upper rear edge of the window means when the lid is closed, and means providing a seal between the rear of the lid and the top of the back wall when the lid is closed, the front seal means comprising a flexible resilient sealing lip extending endwise of the cabinet adjacent the upper rear edge of the window means resiliently engaging the upper surface of the lid, the latter being in sliding sealing engagement with the lip.

3. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 1 having means for releasably retaining the .lid on said track means, said retaining means including means on the lid extending underneath said track means and being retractable from underneath said track means when the lid is'opened.

4. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 3 wherein said lid-retaining means comprises a pair of lock plates projecting inwardly from said track means, and a pair oflock bolts carried by the lid at its rear edge and below the lid movable between a locking position extending underneath the lock plates and a retracted position clear of the lock plates.

5. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 1, wherein-said window means comprises a first window pane extending up from the top of said front wall and a second window pane extending back from the top of the first pane, having a fluorescent lamp housing ,extending between the end walls at the top thereof and located in a plane intermediate the front and back walls, the top pane extending back to said lamp housing, and having means providing a seal between the lamp housing and the front portion of the lid, and means providing a seal between the rear of the lid and the top of the back wall when the lid is closed.

6. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim wherein said front seal means comprises a flexible resilient sealing lip extending lengthwise of said lamp housing and downwardly therefrom, the lid being in sliding sealing engagement with the lip.

7. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 5 wherein the rear seal means comprises a resilient sealing and bumper member at the rear edge of the lid engageable with the upper edge of the back wall when the lid is closed, and having a handle extending up from the rear of the lid engageable with a bumper on the rear of the lamp housing when the lid is opened.

8. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 7 having a molded plastic insert for the top of the cabinet comprising end panels which are disposed on the inside of the end walls and portions extending between the end panels capping the front and back walls, said end panels being formed with arcuate ledges, and each said track comprising a rail on the respective said arcuate ledge.

9. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 8 having two lids side-by-side, the inner ends of the lids being slidable on curved rails on abridge extending forward from the back wall at the center of length of the cabinet.

10. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 9 having means for releasably retaining each lid on its respective rails comprising lock plates on the ledges and bridge and locking bolt means carried by each lid at its rear edge and below the lid movable between an extended locking position underneath the lock plates and a retracted position clear of the lock plates.

Claims

1. A merchandising cabinet, particularly for containers of ice cream to be hand dipped, having a front wall, a back wall, and end walls, said walls being thermally insulated and defining a compartment for the containers, said end walls having upper portions extending upwardly above the upper edges of the front and back walls, fixed window means extending endwise between the upper portions of the end walls at the front of the cabinet and extending upwardly from the upper edge of the front wall and back in the direction of the back wall and having its upper rear edge spaced above the level of and forward of the top of the back wall to provide an opening for access to the compartment from the back of the cabinet, and means for closing said opening comprising at least one transparent curved lid, and curved track means supporting the lid at its end and guiding the lid for arcuate sliding movement between a closed position in which the lid extends forward and upward on an arc from the top of the back wall to a point below and adjacent the upper rear edge of said window means and an open position in which the lid extends forward and downward on an arc from a point below and adjacent the upper rear edge of the window to a point adjacent the front of the cabinet in back of and below said window means, whereby a customer standing at the front of the cabinet may view the containers through the window means when the lid is Closed and through the window means and the lid when the lid is open, the curved track means at each end of the lid consisting of a single track only so that the lid is adapted to be removed by lifting it and moving it rearward out of the cabinet.

3. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 1 having means for releasably retaining the lid on said track means, said retaining means including means on the lid extending underneath said track means and being retractable from underneath said track means when the lid is opened.

4. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 3 wherein said lid-retaining means comprises a pair of lock plates projecting inwardly from said track means, and a pair of lock bolts carried by the lid at its rear edge and below the lid movable between a locking position extending underneath the lock plates and a retracted position clear of the lock plates.

5. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said window means comprises a first window pane extending up from the top of said front wall and a second window pane extending back from the top of the first pane, having a fluorescent lamp housing extending between the end walls at the top thereof and located in a plane intermediate the front and back walls, the top pane extending back to said lamp housing, and having means providing a seal between the lamp housing and the front portion of the lid, and means providing a seal between the rear of the lid and the top of the back wall when the lid is closed.

6. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 5 wherein said front seal means comprises a flexible resilient sealing lip extending lengthwise of said lamp housing and downwardly therefrom, the lid being in sliding sealing engagement with the lip.

9. A merchandising cabinet as set forth in claim 8 having two lids side-by-side, the inner ends of the lids being slidable on curved rails on a bridge extending forward from the back wall at the center of length of the cabinet.