GB1575757A

GB1575757A - Sales cabinets

Info

Publication number: GB1575757A
Application number: GB641277A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Linde GmbH
Current assignee: Linde GmbH
Priority date: 1976-02-19
Filing date: 1977-02-16
Publication date: 1980-09-24
Also published as: DE2606779C3; FR2341289A1; DE2606779A1; IT1076898B; FR2341289B1; ES456004A1; DE2606779B2

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO SALES CABINETS (71) We, LINDE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT, a German Company, of Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 21, D-62, Wiesbaden, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to sales cabinets.

Refrigerated sales cabinets are provided with non-refrigerated auxiliary structures, in order, for instance, to provide larger goodsdisplay areas. In the case of one such cabinet the auxiliary structure has supports that are fixed to the cabinet in the region of its end walls. Shelves on which goods are to be placed can be arranged between the supports in different shelf-arrays.

A sales cabinet in which the supports for the auxiliary structure are arranged at the end walls of the chest, render packing and delivery of the cabinet relatively expensive, since the chest and auxiliary display structure must be packed and despatched separately from one another. Furthermore, since such cabinets can be of varying dimensions, the shelves correspondingly must be produced individually to corresponding dimensions. In this connection, it is a particularly costintensive factor that even short shelves must have the same cross-section as the longest shelves in order to preserve a uniform appearance.

An object of the present invention is to provide a vending cabinet with an auxiliary display structure at a favourable cost.

According to the invention there is provided a sales cabinet comprising: a main storage chest having two opposed side walls; means for refrigerating the main storage chest; a support structure extending between the side walls intermediate the ends of the chest supported by a pair of supports on respective side walls; and an auxiliary display structure supported by said support structure in a position such that at least a display part thereof is outside the refrigeration zone of the chest.

Preferably, there is provided a plurality of pairs of said supports.

The pairs of supports may be evenly spaced between the ends of the chest.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying schematic drawing, in which : Figure 1 is a sectioned end view of a sales cabinet having an auxiliary display structure; Figure 2 is an exploded view illustrating means for connecting a pedestal to a support post, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a shelf comprising two sections.

Figure 1 illustrates in cross-section a sales cabinet having a display structure. The cabinet has the form of a refrigerated chest comprising a casing 1, refrigerating and aircooling apparatus 2, means 3 for creating a forced screen of cooling air, and a container insert 4 in which goods, such as perishable goods, for sale may be placed. Channels for the cooling air are provided between the container insert 4 and the casing 1. Arranged in pairs along the length of the casing 1 adjacent the bottom of the container insert 4, i.e. adjacent the floor zone of the interior space 5 of the cabinet, are supports 6 these supports being intended to support the auxiliary display structure in a manner hereinafter described. The container insert 4 may also be carried and secured by the supports 6.In this way there is provided means for attaching to the casing 1 both the auxiliary display structure and the insert 4.

As will be seen from Figure 1, the auxiliary display structure is supported by a pedestal 7 having a generally T-shaped cross-section.

The crossbar of the T is intended to lie across the casing 1 in the manner illustrated, with the stem of the T extending vertically upwards. The ends of the said crossbar located adjacent respective supports 6 are shaped to conform with said supports.

Arranged on the stem of the pedestal 7 is a support post 8 which conveniently fits over one end of said stem so as to form an extension thereof. The pedestal 7 is connected rigidly to the supports 6 by means of bolts.

The insert 4 can be secured to the casing 1 through the supports 6 together with the pedestal 7. The pedestal 7 is advantageously made from rectangular tubing. In the erected state of the auxiliary display structure the support post 8 carries shelves 10 and 11 via brackets 9. The intervals between the respective supports 6 in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cabinet are of uniform length, this length being a predetermined and fixed measurement. A convenient spacing is one measuring 125 cm. The length of the shelves 10 and 11 is advantageously shorter than the length of the cabinet by the distance between two adjacent supports 6, i.e.

by one said length. The distance between the first support and the end wall of the cabinet advantageously amounts to the distance between two adjacent supports, or one said length.

The shelves 10' and 11' shown in broken line indicate the position of the shelves in the cabinet during its transportation. As will be understood from the following description, the selves are provided with openings conforming to the cross-sectional shape of the support posts 8, so that the shelves can be slid up and down on the posts. When the shelves are lowered for transportation purposes, packing material 12 may be placed therebetween. When delivering the cabinet, the pedestal 7 may be already fixed on the supports 6, with the support posts 8 removed from the stem of the pedestal and placed in the interior space 5. As shown in Figure 1, the end of the pedestal 7 remote from the crossbar thereof extends at most to the upper edge of the cabinet.To erect the auxiliary display structure it is only necessary to mount the support post, and for the shelves 10' and 11' to be raised up and fixed by means of the brackets 9.

Figure 2 is an exploded view showing how a support post 8 can be connected to the pedestal 7. The support post 8 has arranged therein uniform holes 13 for receiving the brackets 9. As shown, the stem of the pedestal 7 has a portion of reduced cross-section 14 over which the post 8, which is made from a rectangular, hollow profile section is placed so as to abut the step formed by the portion of smaller size. The support post 8 can be connected rigidly to the pedestal 7 with the aid of bolts 15 through the portion 14. It is also possible to fit other structures in place of the support posts 8. In this way numerous possiblMies for arrangement are offered to the display staff.The provision of heating means, such as a dewpoint heating device, in the vicinity of the upper edge of the cabinet on or in the pedestal 7, for instance in the portion 14, will prevent freezing or the deposition of condensation water at the level of the access opening of the cabinet. The heating means can be installed beforehand and can be connected with a power source through plug contacts, for example on or in the supports 6. Additionally, it is also possible to reduce the cross-section of the post 8 at that end thereof which is to enter the pedestal 7.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a shelf 10 having three cut-outs or openings therein, the size and shape of these openings corresponding to the cross-sectional size and shape of the post 8. In the illustrated embodiment, the shelf comprise two sections, one of which is longer than the other. The longer section, has two openings therein, while the shorter section 18, has one. Conveniently, the sections are provided with means which enables them to be securely joined together. The uniform spacing between the openings 16 corresponds to one said length 19. The distance between the centre of an opening of the longer section 17 and an end face adjacent to said opening is equal to one-half of said length. This also applies to the distance between the centre of the opening in the shorter section 18 and its end faces.Thus, when the sections are joined together, the shelf will have uniformly disposed openings therein.

Consequently the shelves can have any desired length, corresponding to a wholenumber multiple of a definition dimension.

The shortest shelf, namely a shelf comprising solely a single short shelf section 18 will have a length equal to said predetermined fixed length 19.

Thus the cabinet has a minimum of individual parts for the auxiliary display structure. The individual parts of the structure can be prefabricated and stored at advantageous cost.

Although the auxiliary display structure has been described with reference to a single pedestal, it will be understood that a multiplicity of pedestals may be provided, each having a multiplicity of support posts, brackets, shelves, etc.

The arrangement of the supports enables the auxiliary display structure to be readily and securely erected. The auxiliary display structure may have more than two supports, since the structure does not rely on supports arranged in the region of the end walls. The shelves can be laid individually, according to the distance between two neighbouring supports. Erection of the structure is readily effected while any subsequent re arrangement of the display structure or its removal can be carried out in a simple manner at any time.

The pedestal may have a T-shaped crosssection, wherewith the stem of the T is of such length that, with the pedestal supported on its supports, the end of the stem remote from the crossbar of the T will extend no further than the upper edge of the chest, thus enabling a dismantled auxiliary structure to be accommodated in the chest for packaging and transporting purposes.

Each shelf conveniently has at least three openings and may comprise at least two detachable sections, one of which may have two openings therein and the other section one, these sections having means whereby they can be detachably connected end-toend, and the openings being so arranged as to be evenly spaced along the shelf when the two shelf-sections are joined together. The shelf may have any desired length. It can, however, be produced at a favourable cost, since it exhibits at most two different component elements. The shelf section having two openings therein will be exactly twice as long as the other shelf-section. Thus stock holding is considerably simplified. All the individual parts of the structure can be prefabricated, with advantages in cost.

The auxiliary display structure is rapidly and simply erected when the support post is socketed onto the free end of the pedestal.

Assembly of a shelf onto the display structure is simply effected when the support post is perforated and the shelf is provided with means whereby it can be fixed onto the support post by means of a bracket arranged to enter said perforation, to secure the bracket to the post.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A sales cabinet comprising: a main storage chest having two opposed side walls; means for refrigerating the main storage chest; a support structure extending between the side walls intermediate the ends of the chest supported by a pair of supports on respective side walls; and an auxiliary display structure supported by said support structure in a position such that at least a display part thereof is outside the refrigeration zone of the chest.

2. A cabinet according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a plurality of pairs of said supports.

3. A cabinet as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pairs of supports are evenly spaced between the ends of the chest.

4. A cabinet as claimed in claim 3, wherein the distance between the first support in a row of supports and an adjacent end wall of the cabinet is equal to the distance between two adjacent supports in said row.

5. A cabinet as claimed in claim 1,2,3 or 4 wherein said support structure comprises a pedestal and supports said auxiliary display structure which comprises a support post, a shelf-supporting bracket and a shelf, said support post having means for attaching it to the pedestal and said shelf having openings therein whose cross-sectional shape corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the support post.

6. A cabinet as claimed in claim 5, wherein the length of the shelf is equal to the length of the chest less an amount corresponding to the distance between two adjacent supports.

7. A cabinet as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, in which the shelf of the auxiliary display structure comprises two separate sections, of which one section is longer than the other and has two openings arranged therein, and the other shorter section has one opening, and wherein the two sections are provided with means whereby they can be joined end-to-end to form a single shelf.

8. A cabinet as claimed in claim 7, wherein the distance between the centre of an opening in the longer or the shorter shelf section and an end surface adjacent said opening is equal to half the distance between two adjacent supports.

9. A cabinet as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein the pedestal is of T-shape cross-section, and wherein the stem of the T is of such length that when the pedestal rests on the supports, said stem reaches no higher than the upper edge of the chest.

10. A cabinet as claimed in claim 9, wherein said stem has at the end thereof remote from the crossbar of the "T" a portion of reduced cross-section so as to provide a peripherally extending step, over which portion of reduced cross-section one end of the support post can pass to seat against said step.

11. A cabinet as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 10, wherein the support post is provided with means for attaching the shelfsupporting bracket thereto.

12. A cabinet as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which a heating device is provided adjacent the upper edge of the chest to prevent the formation of ice or condensation on said auxiliary display structure.

13. A sales cabinet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the drawing forming part of this specification.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. arrangement of the display structure or its removal can be carried out in a simple manner at any time. The pedestal may have a T-shaped crosssection, wherewith the stem of the T is of such length that, with the pedestal supported on its supports, the end of the stem remote from the crossbar of the T will extend no further than the upper edge of the chest, thus enabling a dismantled auxiliary structure to be accommodated in the chest for packaging and transporting purposes. Each shelf conveniently has at least three openings and may comprise at least two detachable sections, one of which may have two openings therein and the other section one, these sections having means whereby they can be detachably connected end-toend, and the openings being so arranged as to be evenly spaced along the shelf when the two shelf-sections are joined together. The shelf may have any desired length. It can, however, be produced at a favourable cost, since it exhibits at most two different component elements. The shelf section having two openings therein will be exactly twice as long as the other shelf-section. Thus stock holding is considerably simplified. All the individual parts of the structure can be prefabricated, with advantages in cost. The auxiliary display structure is rapidly and simply erected when the support post is socketed onto the free end of the pedestal. Assembly of a shelf onto the display structure is simply effected when the support post is perforated and the shelf is provided with means whereby it can be fixed onto the support post by means of a bracket arranged to enter said perforation, to secure the bracket to the post. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A sales cabinet comprising: a main storage chest having two opposed side walls; means for refrigerating the main storage chest; a support structure extending between the side walls intermediate the ends of the chest supported by a pair of supports on respective side walls; and an auxiliary display structure supported by said support structure in a position such that at least a display part thereof is outside the refrigeration zone of the chest.