Surface material replacing structure of service cart

Abstract: A service cart comprises a box-shaped body formed of panels, and stores trays mounting tableware in the interior thereof. The side wall comprises a honeycomb panel 12 and a surface material 70, and on the rim portions thereof are mounted rim members 72. The rim member 72 is formed by joining together a first rim member element 73 and a second rim member element 74 being contacted to the outer side of the panel, and a pressing member 75 mounted on the tip of the second rim member 74 removably supports the surface material 70.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a structure for removing and mounting a surface material equipped in a service cart for serving in-flight meals on airplanes. The in-flight meal server called a service cart for serving meals and beverages in a cabin of an airplane is equipped with a box-shaped body for storing trays, a caster mounted on the bottom portion of the body, and a space for positioning bottles and the like on the top portion of the body. On the front and back sides of the body are equipped hinged doors, and on the front and back sides of the upper portion of the body are mounted handles for pushing the server, a service cart according to the preamble of claim 1 is described in NL 10002515. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The side wall surfaces of the box-shaped body are covered with a surface material of a decorative sheet and the like. Such surface material of the service cart may attract the attention of passengers, since it passes the eye level of the seated passengers. Therefore, by displaying an advertisement or a trademark of a company, the company may effectively appeal to the passengers the service of the company. However, the surface material or the rim portion of the body of the service cart may easily be damaged by collision with other equipment, since the cart is used not only in the cabin, but also on land for loading food and the like. Since such damage to the surface attracts the attention of passengers, it is necessary to replace the surface material at once. In the conventional service carts for serving in-flight meals, there were no means to prevent the damage on the surface of the service carts which may cause the passengers to feel unpleasant, but it was difficult to repair such damage to the surface. Therefore, the present device aims at providing a structure enabling easy replacement of the surface material in a service cart for serving in-flight meals. The structure for replacing (removing and mounting) the surface material on the service cart of the present invention comprises a service cart equipped with a box-shaped body for storing trays mounting tableware, hinged doors mounted on the front and back sides of said body, and a caster mounted on the lower portion of said body, wherein the side walls of said body comprises a honeycomb panel, a surface material covering the surface of said honeycomb panel, and rim members mounted on both side rim portions of said honeycomb panel and said surface material, said rim member composed of two members interfitting to one another, and further equipped with a pressing member for pressing the periphery of said surface material. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the service cart for in-flight meals applying the present device; and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at line B-B of FIG. 1. PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the service cart for serving in-flight meals applying the present device, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken at line B-B of FIG. 1. A service cart shown as a whole by the reference number 1 comprises a body 10 formed of a box-shaped panel material, and a caster 20 mounted on the lower portion of the body 10. On the front and back sides of the body 10 are mounted doors 30, which are supported by hinges 32 enabling the opening and closing movement of the door. On the front surface of the door 30 is mounted a knob 34, and the lock of the door could be released by the operation of the knob 34. The space 40 on the upper portion of the body 10 is used as a space for placing the bottles of beverages, ice, glasses and the like. Handles 50 are placed on the front and back sides of the upper portion of the body 10 so as to enable operation of the service cart. The surface of the side walls of the body 10 is covered with a surface material 70. On the surface material are displayed an appropriate design and the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the side wall of the body 10 comprises a honeycomb panel 12 and a surface material 70 covering the surface of the honeycomb panel 12, and on the rim portion thereof is mounted a rim member 72. The rim member 72 is composed of a first rim member element 73 and a second rim member element 74. The rim member 72 is structured so that the second rim member element 74 is removably interfitted to the separately formed first rim member element 73. The first rim member element 73 and the second rim member element 74 are each manufactured by extruding aluminum alloy. On the tip of the second rim member 74 positioned on the outer side of the panel is mounted a pressing member 75 formed of resin. The tip portion 75a of the pressing member 75 holds a function for pressing against the peripheral area of the surface material 70 and to fix the surface material 70 to the surface of the honeycomb panel 12. The pressing member 75 is formed of a resin material having elasticity. Therefore, by inserting a tool between the surface material 70 and the honeycomb panel 12, the surface material 70 could easily be removed without having to remove the rim member 72. As explained above, the present invention provides a service cart to be used in a cabin of an airplane and the like wherein the surface material on the side wall of the cart, which could easily be damaged and could easily attract the attention of passengers, may be replaced easily. Thereby, the cost of components could be reduced effectively. According to the structure, the service cart could always be maintained to an aesthetically high quality at all times, and the improvement of services could be achieved.

Claims: A service cart (1), said service cart comprising a box-shaped body (10) for storing trays mounting tableware, hinged doors (30) mounted on the front and back sides of said body, and a caster (20) mounted on the lower portion of said body, characterised in that the side wall surface of said body comprises a honeycomb panel (12), a surface material (70) covering the surface of said honeycomb panel, and rim members (72) mounted on both edge portions of said honeycomb panel, said rim member being composed of two members (72, 73) interfitting with one another, and further equipped with a surface material replacing structure comprising a pressing member (75) for pressing the periphery of said surface material (70).

Inventors: ODA YUTAKA, SAKU FUMIAKI, ODA, YUTAKA, SAKU, FUMIAKI, Oda, Yutaka, Jamco Corporation, Saku, Fumiaki, Jamco Corporation
Applicants: JAMCO CORP, JAMCO CORPORATION
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A47B31
IPC codes: A47B31, A47B95