Patent Description:
Such a cooling cabinet generally comprises a climate-controlled, cooled interior space which can be closed by means of one or more access doors in order to thus erect a thermodynamic barrier between the cool internal climate in the space and the external climate of the surrounding area. An important application here is that of a cooled display case in a shop and other locations where food products and beverages to be cooled are distributed. Transparent access doors are preferably used here so that the wares to be displayed will be clearly visible from the outside. Known from a previous patent application by applicant is an at least almost wholly transparent access door for such a cooled display case. This known access door comprises essentially a set of plane-parallel plate bodies of a transparent plastic which are glued to each other at their periphery, thus enclosing a thermally insulating cavity. An outer of the two plate bodies is completely flat, while the other plate body comprises a central part which lies offset over a height relative to a peripheral edge part and which transposes via a transition part into the edge part. The thus obtained door panel for an access door is essentially frameless and transparent over a <CIT> discloses a cooling cabinet known in the art. whole surface.

It has been found desirable in practice to equip an access door for a cooling cabinet with a handle device in the form of a handgrip. This is then mounted against the flat outer plate and allows a user to manipulate the door panel between a closed position and an opened position. A drawback of the use of the known handle on the flat outer plate is however that the packing density of the door panels is thereby at least partially lost in that, due to the protruding handle, additional intermediate space must be saved between successive panels in a stack. This is undesirable from a viewpoint of both storage and transport.

The present invention therefore has for its object, among others, to provide an access door for a cooling cabinet which can be equipped with an effective handle device while maintaining packing density.

In order to achieve the intended objective a cooling cabinet of the type described in the preamble has the feature according to the invention that said base member is connected permanently to a free surface of the first plate body, in that said handle device comprises a grip member, having a handle, which can be connected to the base member without tools via a second connection, and in that the base member extends less than said step height above the surface of the first plate body.

The base member of the handle device is here connected permanently to the door panel and thus provides a reliable mounting base for the grip member to be mounted thereon. Because the base member takes a relatively flat form, meaning that a height thereof is smaller than the step of the central part relative to the edge part, the base member is able to nestle between successive panels in a stack of panels. The base member can thus already be arranged beforehand without having an adverse effect on a packing density of such a stack. By finally coupling the grip member to the base member a complete handle device is assembled. The grip members intended therefor can be supplied separately and, if desired, be adapted here to a field of application of the access door and/or the desired corporate identity.

In a preferred embodiment the cooling cabinet according to the invention is characterized in that the first plate body and the second plate body are formed wholly from a transparent plastic, particularly from polymethyl methacrylate, and are glued to each other at the edge part. This material for both plate bodies is not only a highly suitable candidate for the cooling cabinet from a viewpoint of raw material cost price and processability, it furthermore produces door panels which will take a largely frameless form and are relatively light-weight. This makes the product highly suitable for a door closure of a cooled display case.

Acccording to the invention, the base member and the grip member of the handle device are coupled to each other manually, without tools. For this purpose a preferred embodiment of the cooling cabinet according to the invention is characterized in that the base member and the grip member are mutually connected via at least one dovetail connection, comprising a dovetail cavity and a dovetail member receivable therein, which can be slid into each other substantially parallel to the surface and fix the base member and grip member to each other transversely of the surface.

Owing to such a dovetail connection, the two members can be slid into each other in simple manner and thereby enter into the second mutual connection which already combines the two members in each other transversely of the surface. This connection resists a mutual separation under a load directed transversely of the surface, as is mainly to be expected during use of a handle device. A preferred embodiment of the cooling cabinet according to the invention is characterized in that the at least one dovetail connection comprises a number of dovetail connections which are distributed over the base member and grip member in a longitudinal direction. Said load is thereby distributed more uniformly over the two members, which enhances the lifespan and strength of the mutual (second) connection.

A further preferred embodiment of the cooling cabinet is characterized here in that provided between the base member and the grip member are snap means which are able and configured to mutually connect the two members and combine them into the handle device in substantially clearance-free manner. Such a mutual snap connection provides not only for a clearance-free locking of the two members in or on each other, but moreover provides a locking which prevents the two members from then being unintentionally separated from each other. In a further preferred embodiment the cooling cabinet has the feature here that the snap means comprise at least a snap member and a complementary snap cavity, wherein the snap member engages behind a wall of the snap cavity in a mutually connected position, and that a space is provided along which the snap member can be accessed so as to be forced out of the snap cavity. The snap connection, which prevents a separation of the two members of the handle device, can thus if desired be released by forcing the snap member out of the snap cavity so that the two members can then be taken apart.

In a first particular preferred embodiment the cooling cabinet has the feature according to the invention that the access door comprises a sliding panel which is received for sliding in a guide of the cooling cabinet, and that the grip member comprises a shoulder which extends transversely of the first plate body. The shoulder placed transversely of the surface thus provides an engaging surface whereby a force on the panel can be exerted laterally, parallel to the surface, in order to displace the panel in the guide.

In a second particular preferred embodiment the cooling cabinet according to the invention is characterized in that the access door comprises a swing panel which is mounted in the cooling cabinet for pivoting about a pivot axis, and that the grip member comprises a handle which maintains a finger space to the first plate body. The handle can thus be gripped in ergonomic manner so as to exert transversely of the surface a force whereby a rotation about the pivot axis can be imparted to the panel.

The invention will be further elucidated hereinbelow with reference to an exemplary embodiment and an accompanying drawing. In the drawing:.

It is otherwise noted here that the figures are purely schematic and not always drawn to (the same) scale. Some dimensions in particular may be exaggerated to greater or lesser extent for the sake of clarity. Corresponding parts are designated in the figures with the same reference numeral.

<FIG> shows schematically a perspective view of a cooling cabinet according to the present invention. Of the cooling cabinet, only a set of mounting strips <NUM> is drawn in the figure, but the remaining construction is assumed sufficiently known to a person with ordinary skill in the art to not require further elucidation here. In this case the cooling cabinet comprises a door system of four successive door panels <NUM>, although in practice the cooling cabinet can be embodied having from a single door panel to even more than the four door panels <NUM> shown here. Owing to hinges <NUM>, <NUM> provided for this purpose on opposite sides the door panels <NUM> are suspended pitovally about a vertical pivot axis. For this purpose these hinge devices <NUM>, <NUM> are each mounted in a mounting profile <NUM>, which is in turn mounted permanently on the frame <NUM> of the cooling cabinet. Mounting profile <NUM> moreover provides space for a doorstop device which a free side <NUM> of door panel <NUM> comes up against resiliently when it is closed in order to thus impose a defined, mutually identical, closed position on door panels <NUM>.

Such a cooling cabinet can be utilized mainly as vertical cooled display case, as used in many supermarkets and other shops. Owing to the closure by the door system, energy is saved in that the cooled interior space of the climate-controlled cooling cabinet is then no longer in open communication with the surrounding area. The cooling cabinet comprises an interior space over which is usually distributed a number of shelves placed adjacently of and one above the other, wherein the whole space is accessible owing to the outward-swinging doors <NUM>.

The example is based on double-walled door panels <NUM>, see <FIG>, each formed from a first plate body <NUM> and a second plate body <NUM>, enclosing a thermally insulating cavity <NUM>. The two plate bodies <NUM>, <NUM> are formed from a transparent plastic, for which use is made in this example of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) or polycarbonate. A first of the two plate bodies <NUM> is completely flat, while the other of the two plate bodies <NUM> is thermally deformed so that it comprises substantially a central part <NUM> which transposes all around into a deeper-lying edge part <NUM>. The central part <NUM> thus lies offset over a step s relative to the edge part <NUM>, wherein the two part <NUM>, <NUM> transpose gradually into each other via an intermediate area <NUM>. Edge part <NUM> is adhered over a whole periphery of the door panel <NUM> to a corresponding edge part of the first plate body <NUM> by gluing it thereto while exerting an appropriate pressure force. This results in a completely transparent, frameless door panel which counteracts condensation owing to the insulating action of the cavity and provides an unobstructed view of the wares displayed in the cooling cabinet.

Edge part <NUM> of door panel <NUM> moreover provides a stable mounting base for mounting a handle device <NUM>, which enables a user to open and close the relevant door panel.

According to the invention, the handle device comprises a base member <NUM> which is connected permanently to door panel <NUM> via a first connection. This base member <NUM> can for instance already be pre-mounted on the first plate body <NUM> of door panel <NUM> during manufacture of the door panel, and is therein arranged at the position of the offset in the second plate body <NUM>, i.e. at the position of the peripheral edge part <NUM>. The handle device further comprises a grip member <NUM> which is connected to base member <NUM> without tools by means of a second connection.

<FIG> shows an embodiment hereof in detail, wherein a stack of two door panels <NUM> is shown. An as yet uncovered base member <NUM> is nestled in an intermediate space between the two panels <NUM>. For the purpose of illustration the other base member <NUM> is equipped with a grip member <NUM> in the drawing. This grip member <NUM> provides together with a shoulder a handle <NUM> whereby the door panel can be manipulated between a closed position and an opened position. In contrast to base member <NUM>, this grip member <NUM> is in practice first arranged during final assembly of the door panel in the cooling cabinet so that it is not detrimental to a packing density of successive door panels during storage and transport.

It is important here that a height h of base member <NUM> is smaller than the step s between the central part <NUM> of the formed second plate body <NUM> and the edge part <NUM>. This step s creates in the stack, see <FIG>, an intermediate space which in this case provides space for this base member without having an adverse effect on the packing density of the panels <NUM> relative to each other. Grip members <NUM> can be supplied separately and are eventually only mounted on a base member on site.

For this purpose the two members <NUM>, <NUM> provide a mutual dovetail connection which can be realized in simple manner by hand and without additional tools. This is shown in further detail in perspective view in <FIG>. <FIG> shows here the handle device in assembled form, wherein grip member <NUM> with shoulder <NUM> has been slid onto base member <NUM>. Grip member <NUM> and base member <NUM> are shown separately in <FIG>, wherein the base member is directed with a set of dovetail fingers <NUM> toward grip member <NUM>. Grip member <NUM> in turn comprises on its side directed toward base member <NUM> complementary dovetail cavities <NUM> in which the dovetail fingers <NUM> of base member <NUM> are axially receivable and engage therein when the two members <NUM>, <NUM> are slid into each other. As can be seen in the figure, the dovetail connections are uniformly distributed in a longitudinal direction over both member <NUM>, <NUM> of the handle device in order to thus optimally distribute a force transmission therebetween.

The two members <NUM>, <NUM> of the handle device are also both provided with snap means in the form of a set of resilient snap fingers <NUM> on the base member and a set of snap cavities <NUM> in grip member <NUM>. If the two members <NUM>, <NUM> are slid wholly into each other, the fingers <NUM> snap with their outer end behind an edge of the corresponding snap cavity <NUM> and thus lock the above described dovetail connection. The fingers <NUM> remain accessible via a set of openings <NUM> in the cover of the grip member so that, if desired, this snap connection can be released by freeing the outer end of the relevant finger <NUM> from the cavity <NUM> using a tool provided for this purpose, such as a pin. The two members <NUM>, <NUM> of the device can thus optionally be taken apart if desired.

Base member <NUM> can be connected to the flat wall <NUM> of the door panel in diverse ways. Base member <NUM> can thus be mounted by means of screws or be glued to the surface of panel <NUM>. Application of a double-sided adhesive tape <NUM>, of which use is made in this example, is particularly practical in this respect.

Claim 1:
Cooling cabinet comprising a conditioned space with an access door, which access door comprises a first, substantially flat plate body (<NUM>) and a substantially plane-parallel second plate body (<NUM>), which second plate body comprises a central part (<NUM>) which lies offset over a step (<NUM>) height (s) relative to a peripheral edge part (<NUM>) and encloses with the first plate body a cavity (<NUM>), wherein the access door is provided with a handle device (<NUM>) whereby the access door can be manually manipulated between a closed position and an opened position, wherein the handle device (<NUM>) comprises a base member (<NUM>) at the position of the peripheral edge part (<NUM>) of the second plate body (<NUM>), characterized in that said base member (<NUM>) is connected permanently to a free surface of the first plate body (<NUM>), in that said handle device comprises a grip member (<NUM>), having a handle (<NUM>), which can be connected to the base member (<NUM>) without tools via a second connection, and in that the base member (<NUM>) extends less than said step height (s) above the surface of the first plate body (<NUM>).