US3026162A

US3026162A - Breath guard

Info

Publication number: US3026162A
Application number: US19315A
Authority: US
Inventors: Waszkiewicz John Anthony
Original assignee: UNITED SHOW CASE CO Inc
Current assignee: UNITED SHOW CASE CO Inc
Priority date: 1960-04-01
Filing date: 1960-04-01
Publication date: 1962-03-20
Anticipated expiration: 1979-03-20

Description

March 20, 1962 J. A. WASZKIEWICZ 3,026,162

BREATH GUARD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1, 1960 rllllh INVENTOR. JOHN QNTHONI WHSZKIEWICZ March 20, 1962 J. A. WASZKIEWICZ 3,026,162

BREATH GUARD Filed April 1, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q a, Q 1 I .IIII

2 Jo A JIa ENTOR.

NY A ZKIEWICZ & 4 T

United States Patent Office 3,026,162 Patented Mar. 26, 1952 3,026,162 BREATH GUARD John Anthony Waszkiewicz, Ridgewood, N.J., assignor to United Show Case Co., Inc., Moonachie, NJ. Filed Apr. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 19,315 9 Claims. (Cl. 312140.4)

My invention relates to food show cases and is directed particularly to improvements in breath guards for such show cases.

The principal object of my invention is to provide an adjustable breath guard mechanism for food display or show cases such as are used in cafeterias and restaurants, wherein the breath guard angle can readily be adjusted to meet the various health and sanitation laws of different cities and states.

Another object of the invention is to provide an adjustable breath guard for food show cases wherein the spacing between the lower edge of the breath guard and the shelf beneath can be varied to allow more or less room, as required for conveniently removing different sizes of pastries, etc.

A more particular object of the invention is to provide a breath guard bracket and support structure of the character described wherein the breath guard is pivotally hinged at each side to said side brackets. Said breath guards are hinged at each side so that the top edge swings inwardly and the bottom edge swings outwardly. Said breath guards are vertically adjustable on opposed support posts of the show case. A lateral abutment frame member is fixed between the support posts and above the brackets in such position and of such shape as to provide various resting positions for various positions of vertical adjustment of the brackets, for the upper edge of the breath guards, whereby to hold the breath guard at various angular positions with respect to the vertical support posts of the show case.

Another object is to provide, in a food show case, a breath guard support mechanism which allows a wide degree of angular adjustment of the breath guard, and which can be set to allow the breath guard to hang vertically on pivotal hinges to act as a hinged access door as may be required in certain instances to meet health regulations.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a breath guard bracket and support mechanism which will be inexpensive to manufacture and install, easy to clean, attractive in appearance and durable in use.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts through the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the food show case having a breath guard embodying the invention,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one of the adjustable brackets comprising the invention,

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross-sectional view through two front posts of the show case illustrated in FIG. 1, showing details of the breath guard and bracket assembly,

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 in the direction of the arrows, illustrating the position of the breath guards when the adjustable supporting brackets are set at one limit position,

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the position of the breath guards when the supporting brackets are set at their other limit position, and

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 and illustrating how the breather guard glass can readily be positioned for easy cleaning of its outer and inner glass surfaces.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several views, 10 in FIG. 1 designates a 6-leg food show case embodying the invention, comprising two sideby-side three-

tier sections

11, 12 each tier of which is provided in front with an elongated, rectangular, metalfrarned glass breath guard 13 adjustably supported between the front legs 14 by mechanism embodying the invention.

The framework of the showe case'ltl comprises front legs 14 and rear legs 15, preferably of a metal such as stainless steel, held in spaced parallel relation by horizontal front and

back spacer members

16, 17 and side spacer members 18 at each tier. Glass shelves 19 are placed upon the

spacer member

16, 17 at each tier, and top and

side glass plates

20, 21 respectively. The back of said show cases are generally open, however on occasions breath guards may be used on the back as well as the front. Means are provided for pivotally supporting the sides of each breath guard 13 between pairs of the front legs 14. To this end, the vertical side portions 22 of the metallic frame '23 of each breath guard 13 are provided with outwardly projecting pivot pins 2-4 spaced from the top at a distance of about one-fifth of the height of the breath guard. The pivot pins 24 are rotatably supported in centrally apertured journal bosses 25 die formed integrally on or otherwise secured to angle brackets 26 adjustably supported with respect to the show case frame legs 14 at each side of breath guard. The angle brackets 26 are shaped to conform to the shape of the frame legs against which they lie, in the example illustrated the shape being right-angular. However other shapes might be used and bracket modified to contour of shape used. Each bracket 26 is provided with a vertical slot 27 (see FIG. 2) through which a wing screw 28 is threaded into its corresponding leg 14 at the inside of the show case to provide vertical adjustment, and to lock breath guard into any desirable position. Each bracket 26 is provided with a vertical scale 29 marked from 1 to 6 or any desired number of markings, in the upward direction, representing the range of adjustment thereof, and each leg 14- has an index line 30 for indicating the bracket height adjustments as calibrated by the numbers on the bracket scales 30. (See FIGS. 4, 5, and 6.)

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the front frame spacers 16 are preferably of rectangular cross-section, and are so positioned that when the brackets 26 for a breath guard 13 are each in their uppermost positions (position number 1 on the scales 36*), the upper edge of the top portion 31 of the breath guard frame 23 abuts the inner lower corner of said frame spacer to hold the breath guard at its greatest angle with respect to the vertical. As the brackets 26 are adjusted evenly to lower positions, the edge of the breath guard frame will move outwardly along the vertical under-surface 32 of the frame spacer 16 to provide various decreased angular positions of the breath plate with the vertical until finally, at position 6, the edge of the breath guard plate will swing clear of the front edge of said spacer under-surface and allow the breath guard to hang vertically (see FIG. 5) to operate a pivoted door in instances where maximum protection is required.

FIG. 6 illustrated how the pivoted breath guards 13 can be swung upwardly in the counter-clockwise direction to rest against the next upper shelf for easy cleaning of the insides of their glass surfaces. The broken-line representation 33 of the breath guard 13 in FIG. 6 illustrates also how it can conveniently be held in a horizontal plane for easy cleaning of the outside glass surface.

While there is described and illustrated herein one form in which my invention can conveniently be embodied in practice, it is to be understood that this embodiment is presented by way of example only, and not in a limiting sense. The invention, in brief, is limited only by the scope and spirit of the following claims.

3 What I claim is: 1. In a breath guard assembly for show cases, the

combination of a show case frame work comprising a pair of vertical front legs, means securing said front legs in spaced parallel relation, a fiat rectangular breath guard, said breath guard having horizontal side frame portions and vertical end frame portions, bracket mechanism pivotally supporting end frame portions of said breath guard between said legs at points intermediate the tops and bottoms of said end frame portions, said bracket mechanism comprising a pair of brackets and means for vertically adjusting said brackets with respect to one each of said legs, and abutment means fixed with respect to said legs and arranged above the pivotal axis of said supporting mechanism for abutment there against of the upper end of said side frame portion of said breath guard for arresting downward swinging only of said breath guard at a certain angular position with respect to the vertical depending upon the vertical adjustment position of said brackets.

2. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said legs-securing means comprises a horizontal spacer member fixed between said legs.

3. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said abutment means is constituted by said horizontal spacer member.

4. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said spacer member is formed with a narrow,

horizontal undersurface against'which said upper side frame portion of said breath guard abuts.

5. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein at the lowermost adjusted position of said brackets, said upper side frame portion of said breath guard swings clear of said under surface to permit vertical pivotal hanging of said breath guard.

6. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said adjustment means comprises a vertical slot in each bracket, and wing screws extending through said slots and threaded into respective ones of said legs.

7. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein said legs are square in cross-section and wherein said brackets are in the form of right-angular members fitting against corner portions of said leg members.

8. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said leg securing means comprises a spacer member, said spacer member acting as a back-stop.

9. A breath guard assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein said legs are contour in cross section and wherein said brackets are in a form to fit said contour of said legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 729,110 Young May 26, 1903 747,189 Knisely Dec. 15, 1903 2,894,604 McMillan July 14, 1959