GB2230944A - Display unit for food - Google Patents

Abstract

A display unit for food having an open front for selection of food on display, comprises means (15) for establishing an air curtain across the open front, and channelling (19, 27) for air flow to establish the air curtain, and a rear wall (7) which is movable for access to the display unit from the rear and which incorporates at least part of the channelling for the air flow. The rear wall may be in one piece with a top of the unit which is pivotable at the front edge of the top and counterbalanced by a weight 43. A front rail 49 may carry lighting 51. Shelves 1 may be provided. Refrigeration unit 13 and circulation fan 15 provides a chilled air curtain. The top and rear wall assembly may be constructed of a composite material comprising metal sheeting, e.g. aluminium, insulation material, e.g. rigid foam material, and a ducting of lightweight plastics, e.g. one or more layers of twin-skin polycarbonate bonded back to back, the layers of the composite being bonded together. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: Display unit for food DESCRIPTION The present invention relates to a display unit for food.

Many catering establishments seek to display prepared food, such as sandwiches, salads, desserts, ready for convenient take-up by the consumer on a self service basis. The difficulty is presenting such food in an attractive way whilst at the same time facilitating ready access for the consumer removing food and for the vendor filling the unit, and without exposing the food to contamination or adversely affecting the display life.

Plastic display units with raisable see through front screen flaps are known, but suffer from the disadvantage that they do not display the food to best advantage and the need to open flaps is awkward for the consumer.

An open fronted display unit has been proposed which aims to provide for a more pleasing presentation whilst aiming to improve display life by providing chilling at a lowermost shelf of the unit. There can be a significant temperature gradient between the upper and lower shelves also often exaccerbated by the presence of lights in the unit. A further disadvantage is that the unit has to be filled from the front, and furthermore there is no means of restricting contamination entering the unit.

It is known to have substantial open fronted display counters in shops for - storage and display of frozen or chilled products and to provide for circulation of chilled air around the unit so as to avoid unacceptable temperature gradients notwithstanding the fact that the unit is open at the front. This is achieved by generating an air curtain between the upper and lower boundary of the open front.

This dictates use of insulated materials for the cabinet and ducting to lead to an outlet along the top edge. Such an air curtain is generally considered an acceptable way of avoiding contamination, but suffers from the disadvantage that the unit still has to be filled from the front which is undesirable.

One immediate solution would be to provide doors in the back of the unit to allow access and consideration has been given to that, but this seems to present two problems. Firstly ,'the requirement to provide necessary insulation making the doors bulky and heavy using known techniques and gives the problem of having to reroute channelling for the air flow to ends of the unit which is undesirable from aesthetic considerations or further increasing the bulk of the doors. In addition, a side hinged door provides an obtstruction when open usually in areas affording restricted access and more over, dictates an upright construction to the back if the doors are not to be even more difficult to operate.

In considering the above we have arrived at a construction of display. unit which we believe overcomes the problems and provides an advantageous display unit, and a useful composition structure for'use in same.

According to one aspect of the present invention then, there is provided a display unit for food having an open front for selection of food on display, means for establishing an air curtain, usually chilled, across the open front, and channelling for air flow to an outlet to establish the air curtain, the unit further comprising a rear wall which has at least a part which is movable for access to the display from the rear and wherein the movable part incorporates at least part of the channeling for the air flow.

Because access to the rear of such display counters is invariably restricted making a side hinged door or doors to the rear wall inconvenient, a particularly convenient arrangement results where the rear wall or at least part thereof moves upwardly. That may be in a pure lifting or upward sliding action or as a pivoting or hinging action. We much prefer a hinged arrangement which may be as a flap of/or to the rear wall, or more particularly and conveniently with the rear wall in one piece with a top of the display unit; in which case it is particularly convenient for such a top and rear wall assembly to be pivoted at or towards the front edge of the top.

We propose that the unit has end frame parts between which the rear wall and top is located, preferably with said assembly pivoted to the end frame.

The end frame can take any convenient configuration, although a generally C-shaped part can usefully provide a foot part for support on surface or counter part, an upstanding leg and a top arm providing the pivot support. That C-frame may then be left open or -fitted with a sheet of solid, transparent or translucent material as preferred according to desired applications.

Shelf units may be supported from any end fill panels.

In our preferred embodiment using a one piece top and rear wall assembly (probably fabricated from individual sections to give desired configurations) the channelling is incorporated solely therein to lead from a duct along the rear edge of the unit to an outlet at or adjacent the front edge of the top part.

Constructing such an assembly in a manner which provides for required air flow and insulation and is light in weight and relatively inexpensive has caused us to arrive at another aspect of the invention namely a composite material comprising a sandwich of light metal sheeting, insulation material and a ducting of light weight plastics which are secured together (preferably bonded).

Aluminium is preferred for the metal sheeting which it is preferred to form one side and for which 14 gauge has been found satisfactory. For the insulation, preferably sandwiched between the other layers we prefer rigid foam material and for the ducting channelled plastics, such as twin skin, polycarbonate, for which several layers may be bonded together back to back. If desired or required a finish layer may be applied to the other exposed surface. The resulting composite is of light weight and yet extremely robust.

The aspects of the present invention will now be described further, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which+ Figure 1 is an end view of a counter display apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing further detail of the embodiment of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-section through a panel construction, such as on D-D of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a display unit especially for prepared food for self service, providing display shelves 1, on which food is displayed, and affording ready access thereto through an open front 3. The shelves 1 are conveniently carried between respective end panels 5, for which glass is preferred, fitted within a respective end frame 7 generally C-shaped to opposite ends of the display unit.

In the illustration, the display unit is shown in association with a counter unit 9 which may take any convenient form. The display unit has a lower shelf 11 beneath which is disposed a refrigeration unit 13 and a circulation fan 15 in a base part for establishing the chilled air curtain, and shown within a casing to the bottom of the display unit, but could be in the counter unit and communicating therewith by appropriate ducting.

The display unit provides channelling for air flow controlled by the fan and refrigeration unit, with an inlet at 17, and passageway 19 to a duct or junction box 21 which is aligned with channelling 27 to panelling 25 of the display unit.

More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment, the panelling extends between the end frames 7 and provides a rear wall and top to the display unit. In order to provide required channelling, insulation and strength with light weight, the panelling comprises a composite of aluminium sheeting 29 say 14 gauge formed to the desired shape for the external surface, a 15 mm thick sheet of insulation material 31, and a plurality of passageways 33, preferably made up from twin skin polycarbonate or other plastics material. The passageways 33 lead to an outlet 35 adjacent the front edge of the top. The composite construction is shown in more detail in Figure 3. The layers are bonded together. Also shown is an inner decorative layer 39, preferably mirrored perspex bonded in place. The material of the channelling and the insulation can be readily built up in the desired shape by forming the aluminium into that shape.

To facilitate access to the unit for filling the shelves, the panelling is pivotally secured to the end frame about axis 41. Such an arrangement has the advnatage that the panelling does not present any obstruction when raised and does not inhibit use of the unit by consumers. A counterbalance weight 43 is provided to ease operation. A lifting handle is shown at 45. A mangnetic gasket is provided at 47 to provide a seal between the base part and the movable panelling. Also shown is a front rail 49 interconnecting the end, frames and carrying lighting 51, which may be either spotlights (edge Halogen) or fluorescent strip lights.

Claims (16)

1. A display unit for food having a open front for selection of food on display, means for establishing an air curtain across the open front, and channelling for air flow to establish the air curtain, the unit further comprising a rear wall which has at least a part which is movable for access to the display from the rear and wherein the movable part incorporates at least part of the channelling for the air flow.

2. A display unit as claimed in claim 1 wherein part of the channelling is provided by a passageway in a base part and leading between an inlet and is adjacent the front of the unit and a duct at or adjacent the rear of the unit.

3. A display unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least part of the rear wall moves upwardly.

4. A display unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least part of the rear wall moves by a pivoting or hinging action.

5. A display unit as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rear wall is in one piece with a top of the display unit and the assembly is pivoted at or towards the front edge of the top.

6. A display unit according to claim 5, wherein the assembly of the rear wall and top is located and pivoted between two end frame parts.

7. A display unit according to any one of claims 4, 5 or 6 wherein the movable part is counterbalanced.

8. A display unit as claimed in claim 6 or 7, wherein the end frame parts are C-shaped providing a foot post for support, an upstanding leg and a top arm providing pivot support.

9. A display unit as claimed in any one of claims 6, 7 or 8, wherein the end frame parts are fitted with end fill panels able to support shelf units.

10. A display unit as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 9 where the channelling for the air flow in the top and rear wall assembly leads between the duct at the rear edge of the unit and an outlet at the front edge of the top part.

11. A display unit as claimed in claim 10 in which a magnetic gasket is provided between the duct at the rear edge of the unit and the channelling to the rear wall.

12. A display unit as claimed in claim 10 or 11, wherein the channelling in the top and rear wall assembly is made up from plastics ducting.

13. A display unit as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 12 wherein the top and rear wall assembly is constructed of a composite material comprising light metal sheeting, insulation material and the ducting secured together.

14. A display unit as claimed in claim 12 or 13 in which the plastics ducting is made up from one or more layers of twin skin polycarbonate.

15. A display unit constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

16. A composite material comprising a sandwich of metal sheeting, insulation material and a ducting of lightweight plastics which are secured together.