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(11) | EP 1 801 525 A2 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | A door-frame and cabinet-side front frame group for refrigerator cabinets |
| (57) A door-frame and cabinet-side front frame group for refrigerator cabinets, comprising
two complementary bodies, one being a front-frame (1) and another being a door-frame
(200) and both being generally conformed in a frame-shape, which are destined to be
associated to an access opening of a refrigerator cabinet in order to provide the
cabinet with at least a door (2), where the front-frame (1) and the door-frame (200)
are constituted by first elements which are at least partly made of metal and which
are clad with second elements made of an insulating material.
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[0001] The invention relates generally to the field of display and sale of goods in general, in particular perishable products, typically foodstuffs.
[0002] As is known, in the above-cited sector the use of refrigerated displays is now very widespread, with displays we shall hereinafter term as cabinets, which usually contain shelves, baskets and the like where the on-sale products are arranged.
[0003] At least a wall of the display cabinets exhibits at least an access opening which is closed by at least a door, advantageously hinged to the cabinet structure.
[0004] The door comprises at least a transparent pane which is usually extended over the whole surface development thereof, with the exception of the perimeter strip.
[0007] In similar known-type refrigeration cabinets, the at least an access opening is normally delimited by a body which is generally configured as a frame, and which hereinafter we shall call the cabinet front-frame, and the at least a door includes a complementary body, also frame-shaped, which we shall hereinafter term the door-frame and which bears the transparent pane which is usually constituted by one or more normally tempered glass panes.
[0008] The prior art describes the use of metal elements to realise the door-frame and the front-frame, generally aluminium, known and preferred for its good heat conductivity properties; the reason for this specification will better emerge herein below.
[0009] In particular, the elements exhibit a relatively complex transversal section which comprises, among other things, a hollow portion which has the function of affording a seating for installation of a means for heating, typically an electrical resistance.
[0010] The electrical resistance is for heating the door frame and/or front-frame in order to prevent unwanted condensation from forming, such as frost or droplets of water.
[0011] To prevent the formation of condensation the applicant is aware that the prior art teaches the use of two electrical resistances, one associated to the front-frame and the other installed on the door-frame.
[0012] As mentioned, the door-frame and the front-frame are made of metal, generally aluminium, with the aim of giving the cabinet the necessary mechanical properties while keeping the transversal dimensions thereof as contained as possible. Additionally, each metal frame, incorporating a respective electrical resistance, is also a good heat conductor, heating completely and therefore spreading heat also to extraneous parts and zones where the heat is used for preventing formation of condensation.
[0013] In fact, in order to create the desired effect, i.e. preventing formation of condensation, a quantity of heat is required which is generally much greater than necessary, and therefore much more expensive (also with regard to conservation of energy).
[0014] Obviously the greater electrical consumption reflects on the general running costs of the retail establishment furnished with cabinets of the present type; these additional running costs are clearly ultimately borne by the consumer.
[0015] The main aim of the present invention is to make available a product which obviates the above-specified drawbacks.
[0016] A further aim of the invention is to attain the above-mentioned objective while providing a constructionally simple solution which is also rational, reliable, sturdy and economical.
[0017] These aims are achieved with a door-frame and cabinet-side front frame group for refrigerator cabinets exhibiting the characteristics indicated in the main claim appended hereto.
[0018] Advantageous and preferred embodiments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.
[0019] In the general sense, the group of the invention is of the type indicated in the preamble, i.e. it comprises two complementary generally frame-shaped bodies which are destined to be associated to a refrigeration cabinet with the aim of providing the cabinet with at least one door having a transparent pane. The invention teaches that at least one or the two bodies of the group comprises a heat-insulating material.
[0020] Preferably the rest of the group, obviously excluding the additional parts and accessories such as the parts for sealing the door, are made of a metal, for example aluminium.
[0021] As for the mentioned heat-insulating or refractory material, it is preferably constituted by a synthetic material, typically polyvinyl chloride, i.e. PVC.
[0022] Thanks to the above-described solution the problems indicated in the preamble hereto are all obviated. In cold-compartment non-freezer refrigerators destined to work at temperatures from 0 to 5° Celsius, it has been found that the use of the insulating material in at least one of the two bodies of the group prevents the formation of the condensation without any need to include means for heating. This leads not only to a saving in energy, but also to a constructional saving inasmuch as the means for heating are no longer used.
[0023] In freezer refrigerators, however, destined to work at temperatures below zero, where heater elements are required, the usually refractory material prevents at least a good part of the heat emanating from the means for heating (typically an electrical resistance) from reaching the whole unit, as it spreads only around the immediate vicinity of the means for heating about the transparent pane.
[0024] A considerable energy saving therefore can be achieved, thus rising to the challenge of energy conservation, while also offering economic advantages in relation to the running costs of the retail outlet using cabinets according to the invention, which advantages are passed on to the consumer in terms of product prices.
[0025] Further, thanks to the proposed solution of the invention, a further advantage is obtained, consisting in the lower cost of manufacturing the door-frame and front-frame group.
[0026] In fact, thanks to the smaller heat dispersion a single electrical resistance can be equipped, which will for example be associated to the front-frame on the unit body, with a consequent elimination of any electrical resistance up to now installed on the door-frame and a consequent saving on instalment costs and relative cabling.
[0027] The characteristics and constructional advantages of the invention will emerge from the detailed description that follows, made with reference to the appended figures of the drawings, which illustrate purely by way of nonlimiting example a special and preferred embodiment of the invention.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the group of the invention;
Figure 2 is section II-II of figure 1, in enlarged scale;
Figure 3 is section III-III of figure 1 in enlarged scale;
Figure 4 is an enlarged-scale view of section IV-IV of figure 1.
[0028] Looking in particular at figure 1 of the drawings, it can be seen that the group of the invention, denoted in its entirety by number 99, comprises a frame-conformed body, hereinafter referred-to as the front-frame 1, which in the illustrated example exhibits a rectangular shape having a horizontal development.
[0029] The sides 10 of the front-frame 1 are constituted by a shaped element, visible in section in figures 2 and 4, made of a heat-insulating material such as PVC. Seen in section, the sides 10 comprise a flat frame 12 which is parallel to the lie plane of the front-frame 1 and projects externally of the opening occupied there-by, and a channel 100 which is open facing the flat frame 12 and is partially surrounded by stiffening grooves.
[0030] The channel 100 and respective stiffening grooves are made in a single piece with the flat frame 12.
[0031] The front-frame 1 is destined to be installed in a tailored joint afforded in the wall of a refrigerator cabinet, which is not illustrated for the sake of simplicity, by use of adequate fastening means such as screws inserted in through-holes 11 (figures 2 and 4) afforded in the frame 12; the upper and lower horizontal sides of the frame 12 terminate in a perpendicular rim 120 which extends along the entire lengths thereof (see figure 4).
[0032] In the illustrated embodiment, the opening defined by the front-frame 1 is subdivided into four identical spaces (see figure 1) by three identical intermediate uprights 13 which are comprised between the terminal uprights of the front-frame 1 and which connect the upper and lower horizontal sides thereof.
[0034] Naturally the number of the spaces is of no importance to the present invention; neither is their arrangement, i.e. they could be vertically arranged rather than side-by-side as illustrated, in which case the front-frame 1 would be vertically-developing.
[0035] The terminal and intermediate uprights each bear a posterior lamp 33 (figures 2-4), and the spaces defined by the uprights are each singly closed by a door 2, which in the illustrated example opens towards the right (figure 1).
[0036] As is clearly illustrated in figure 3, each single intermediate upright 13 is constituted by an element having a generally complex transversal section, and is symmetrical with respect to a vertical plane perpendicular to the lie plane of the front-frame 1.
[0037] In particular, the uprights 13 are group assemblies, and comprise an internal element, or core 131, to which an external surrounding element, or jacket 132, is firmly mounted, for example by means of overmoulding.
[0038] The internal element 131 has structural functions, and is made of metal, in the illustrated embodiment aluminium.
[0039] The external element 132 lends the upright 13 properties of heat insulation, and is preferably made of the same material as the front-frame 1, i.e. PVC.
[0040] On the side thereof facing the doors 2, the uprights 13 each have a channel 130 (see figure 3) developing along the entire length thereof, which is similar to the channel 100 of the sides 10 of the front-frame 1.
[0041] Small channels 44 are afforded along the free edge of the external side of the channel 100 and along the free edges of the opposite sides of the channel 130, which small channels 44 have a longitudinal mouth facing towards the doors 2.
[0042] The small channels 44 function as seatings for receiving and housing the respective electrical resistances 55.
[0043] The small channels 44 are closed by metal plates 66 which close the channels 100 and 130; the magnetic strips 88 incorporated in the sealing gasket 77, which runs along the external peripheral lines of the internal surfaces of the doors 2, come to rest against the metal plates 66.
[0044] Each single door 2 comprises a frame-shaped body, or frame 200, and exhibits a space which is occupied by a transparent pane 20, which in the present embodiment is constituted by three parallel toughened glass panes which are separated from one another by two air chambers advantageously sealedly closed and dry-sealed.
[0045] The sides of the frame 200 are singly constituted by a metal element 21 having a relatively complex transversal section and being asymmetrical (see figures 2-4). The metal element 21 comprises two chambers running the whole length of the element 21 and being separated by a wall, and is externally clad, for example by means of overmoulding, by an external enveloping element 22 made of PVC.
[0046] Finally, a channel is afforded on the surface of the element 22 facing the front-frame 1, in which channel the seal gasket 77 is engaged via a snap-fit using a special foot 177.
[0047] The worth and advantages of the invention clearly emerge from the preceding description and from an examination of the accompanying figures of the drawings.
[0048] As mentioned above, with the door frame/front frame 1-200 group of the present invention, the desired effect of preventing formation of condensation is achieved with a much lower electrical energy consumption than that of known-type and similar groups.
[0049] Specific comparison testing on existing refrigerator cabinets of similar type and capacity has proved the above statement. This testing has shown that cabinets equipped according to the teachings of the present invention have a lower electric consumption by at least 50% in comparison with cabinets belonging to the prior art.
1. A door-frame and cabinet-side front-frame group for refrigerator cabinets, comprising
two complementary bodies, one being a front-frame (1) and another being a door-frame
(200) and both being generally conformed in a frame-shape, which are destined to be
associated to an access opening of a refrigerator cabinet in order to provide the
cabinet with at least a door (2), characterised in that the front-frame (1) and the door-frame (200) are constituted by first elements which
are at least partly made of metal and which are clad with second elements made of
an insulating material.
2. The group of claim 1, characterised in that sides (10) of the front-frame (1) are constituted by an element made completely of
a heat-insulating material, comprising a frame (12) which is parallel to a plane of
the front-frame (1) and a channel which is open in a direction facing the frame (12).
3. The group of claim 2, characterised in that a space delimited by the front-frame (1) is separated into at least two parts by
an upright (13) having a constant transversal section, the upright (13) being composite
and comprising an internal metal element clad by an external element made of a heat-insulating
material.
4. The group of claim 1, characterised in that the sides (10) of the door-frame (200) constituting the at least a door are singly
constituted by a metal first internal element, to which an external second element
is associated, the second element being made of a heat-insulating material.
5. The group of any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the heat-insulating material is a synthetic material.
6. The group of claim 5, characterised in that the synthetic material is PVC.
7. The group of claim 1, characterised in that the door-frame and/or the front-frame exhibit seatings for housing electrical means
for heating (55).
8. The group of claim 7, characterised in that the seatings are afforded in the heat-insulating elements.
9. The group of claim 8, characterised in that the means for heating comprise an electrical resistance which is installed on-board
one or another of the door-frame and the front-frame, in a channel afforded in the
door-frame and front-frame, which channel is made of a heat-insulating material.
10. The group of channel 1, characterised in that the door exhibits a transparent pane.