GB2191528A

GB2191528A - Door for display cabinets

Info

Publication number: GB2191528A
Application number: GB8612362A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Michael Coysten
Original assignee: BRITISH MUSEUM
Current assignee: BRITISH MUSEUM
Priority date: 1986-05-21
Filing date: 1986-05-21
Publication date: 1987-12-16
Also published as: GB2191528B; GB8612362D0

Abstract

The bar 12 which supports the door of a display cabinet for lateral sliding movement is itself supported by bars 2 which permit the door to be pulled forward. The bars are supported between a set of pinch rollers (5-7, Fig. 1 not shown), to reduce wear and jamming. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A support device for a display cabinet This invention relates to a support device for supporting a panel such as a door or window.

The support device has been specifically designed to facilitate opening of a display cabinet, the side walls and door of which are constructed almost entirely of glass panels.

Such glass display cabinets are provided with upper and lower frames which support the glass panels, adjacent edges of which may be mitred or butted. Such cabinets do not have handles, hinges or metal struts, since these can detract from the view of the exhibit inside the cabinet. It is usual for several of these cabinets to be put together without leaving significant gaps between individual cabinets. As a result of their construction, the cabinets cannot be opened using a traditional hinged door or sliding mechanism, but instead the door must be moved bodily towards or at right angles to its plane and then slid sideways in either direction.

One known method of gaining entry into a display cabinet, to change the exhibit for example, is to mount one or more rolling bars supporting the panel or door in two spaced sleeves for sliding movement transverse to the plane of the door or panel. At one end of the rolling bar several rollers are mounted for rotation about axes parallel to the axis of the rolling bar. A support holding the lower edge of a glass panel which forms the door of the cabinet is supported on the rollers and by moving the rolling bar forward, the door is moved forward out of the plane of the front of the cabinet, where it is free to slide to one side thereby giving access to the cabinet.

The above method suffers from the disadvantage that when the door is opened, its weight causes the rolling bar to move out of alignment and this causes excessive wear with resultant jamming of the entire mechanism. Furthermore, this design with its series of exposed rollers is unsightly.

The present invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage by mounting the or each rolling bar between pinch rollers which not only provide greater support for the rolling bar but also improve the feed and guiding of the rolling bar(s), this reducing wear and the possibility of jamming.

According to the present invention we provide a support device for a panel, said device comprising at least one rolling bar for supporting the panel for movement perpendicular to its plane wherein the or each rolling bar is supported between pinch rollers.

Thus the panel can be moved between an open position and a closed position for access purposes.

Preferably the pinch rollers are mounted in a housing and the rolling bar passes through apertures at each end of the housing, so that the housing and pinch rollers together support the rolling bar. Preferably the apertures are lined with nylon bushes.

~~ Frthermore, it is preferable for the pinch rollers to be formed with a central arcuate groove which locates the rolling bar centrally about the pinch roller housing and fits snugly around at least part of the rolling bar.

The rolling bar is preferably provided with a stop plate on its internal end to limit its outward opening movement.

Also according to the present invention, we provide a display cabinet having a plurality of glass walls and a movable access door supported by at least two spaced support devices as described above which may be moulded on or welded to the base frame members of the cabinet, the access door having a glass panel mounted in a sash rail, which is slidably supported on a transverse bar which is attached to the ends of the rolling bars of the support devices remote from the stop plate to extend at right angles to the rolling bars.Preferably, the said sash rail has a groove in its upper face to receive the glass panel, and a further compartment beneath the groove, and rollers are mounted within the compartment for rolling engagement with the bar, which is also located within the compartment, with its two or more supporting rolling bars protruding through a longitudinal slot in a wall of the cabinet.

A preferred embodiment of support device according to the invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:~ Figure 1 is a scrap view showing a section through the opening device mounted on a frame of a display cabinet.

Figure 2 is a section taken along the line Il-Il in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a door, slid open, and revealing the interaction between the bar and sash rail.

Referring to Figures 1 and 3 of the drawings, part of a display cabinet is illustrated having a door D formed of a panel of glass 10 supported by a sash rail 9. The door is supported by two supporting devices 1 which are mounted on a lower frame member F of the display cabinet or showcase. In practice at least two such devices 1 would usually be provided at the base of a door together with a further supportlopening mechanism at the top of the door. The upper mechanism could comprise a rolling bar mechanism, guide rail and glazing member as described herein, or any other mechanism may be used, acting to locate the top of the panel only since there is little weight to be supported by it.

Each door supporting device comprises a cylindrical rolling bar 2 slidably mounted in a dustproof housing 4, welded to the frame member F and supported between two lower pinch rollers 5 and 7 and an upper roller 6 which are mounted in the side walls of the housing 4 (see Figure 2), in a triangular configuration (see Figure 1). The rollers 5, 6, 7 are each formed with a central arcuate groove 20 having a curvature such that the rollers 5,6,7 fit snugly about all or part of the rolling bar 2 to support it laterally. Nylon bushes 13 and 14 are provided in thefront and rear walls of the housing41 further to support the rolling bar 2 and to keep dust out.This arrangement confines the rolling bars laterally and vertically and furthermore, the rollers 5,6,7 ensure smooth running of the rolling bar 2 without jamming and as a result wear is almost nonexistent.

The rolling bars 2 are formed from tempered steel rods of approximately 1.5 cm or other appropriate dimension in diameter and are of sufficient strength to bear the weight of a front wall of the display cabinet. A bar 12 is attached to the external ends of the rolling bar 2 and stop plates 15 are fitted to their internal ends to limit movement of the rolling bars 2.

The sash rail 9 has a groove 8 in an upper face to receive the glass panel 10 and a series of rollers 11 is mounted internally along the entire length of the sash rail 9 beneath the glass receiving grooves in a compartment 18. These rollers 11 rest on the upper face of the bar 12. The rolling bars 2 extends through a small slot 17 in the wall of the compartment 18.

To open the display cabinet described above, the cabinet is unlocked and the rolling bars 2 are moved by hand so that the stop plate 15 abuts the rear wall of the housing 4. The display case door panel 10 is now no longer prevented from moving by the side walls of the cabinet (see Figure 3) and can then be slid to one side or the other over the bar 12 by means of the rollers 11. It is prevented from sliding off the bar by a suitable stop.

It will be understood that the foregoing has been described only by way of example, and modifications in detail can be made within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A support device for a panel comprising at least one rolling bar for supporting the panel for movement perpendicular to its plane wherein the or each rolling bar is supported between pinch rollers.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the pinch rollers are mounted in a housing and the rolling bar passes through apertures in each end of the housing.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2 wherein the apertures are lined with nylon bushes through which the rolling bar passes.

4. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the pinch rollers are provided with a central arcuate groove which fits snugly around at least part of the rolling bar.

5. A device as claimed in any preceding claim wherein there are at least three pinch rollers and at least two of said rollers support said rolling bar from beneath.

6. A device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the rolling bar is provided with a stop plate on its internal end.

7. A display cabinet comprising a plurality of glass walls and a moveable access door supported by at least two support devices as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the access door has a glass panel mounted in a sash rail which is slidably supported on a transverse bar which is attached perpendicularly to the ends of the rolling bars remote from the stop plates.

8. A display cabinet as claimed in claim 7 wherein the sash rail has a groove in its upper face to receive the glass panel, and a further compartment beneath the groove, and wherein rollers are mounted within the compartment for rolling engagement with the transverse bar, which is also located within the compartment.

9. A support device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A display cabinet substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.