AU628709B2 - Illuminated cabinets - Google Patents

Description

6CH O A 09 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1952 00 ~o 00 9# *a 04 9*00 04 0 @00 Name of Applicant Address of Applicant Actual Inventor Address for Service :JOHN WALTER FERGUSON :193 Prospect Street, North, Queensland, Australia Wynnum 4178, :JOHN WALTER FERGUSON :GRANT ADAMS COMPANY, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, Level 9, National Mutual Centre, 144 Edward Street, BRISBANE. QLD. 4000

AUSTRALIA.

S 0 0004 0 40( *0 C #0 0 00a 0 00 0 0 *000 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR THE INVENTION ENTITLED: .4 H "ILLUMINATk CABINETS" The following statement is a full description of the invention including the best method of performing it known to the applicant.

THIS INVENTION relates to illuminated cabinets.

A well-known type of display cabinet for bakery products has a glass top and front and contains a series of shelves, one above the other, for the goods on sale, the interior of the cabinet being illuminated for the more effective and attractive display of the articles. It has been the usual practice for the illumination to be by means of fluorescent tube mounted under the upper front part of the cabinet and shielded from the front, or, for greater effect, for additional lighting tubes to be mounted under each of the shelves (excepting the bottom one) each throwing light on the goods displayed on the shelf below. Although the 15 illumination and display, in such an arrangement, is very good, it has the disadvantages of being very a0of costly, and in the generation of more heat than is desirable, with likely adverse effect on the goods displayed.

The present invention has been devised with the general object of overcoming or greatly reducing the tsaid present disadvantages by providing for a display It"o cabinet, which may also be for the display of goods other than the bakery products, illumination which is 2 5 particularly effective although relatively simple and inexpensive to make, install and operate.

The invention achieves its object in provisicn ,of a display cabinet whose contents are viewed from, the front through transparent panels comprising: a front lower transparent panel; a front upper transparent panel adjoining the front lower transparent panel along generally parallel edges; and a lighting assembly having a light source, or light sources, which iG, or which are, shielded from i 1 the front and which is, or are, directed to the interior of the cabinet; the the front lower the section whose adjoining edges members; lighting assembly being disposed between and upper transparent panels; lighting assembly including an elongate elongate length extends along the of the front lower and upper transparent tt t t I fI tilt f i fi the elongate section having a first engagement means for engaging the adjoining edge of the front lower transparent panel and a second engagement means for engaging the adjoining edge of the front upper transparent panel; and the elongate section carrying thereon, 15 within the cabinet the light source, or light sources.

'The lower glass panel is preferably inclined rearwardly, from bottom to top, at a small angle to vertical, and the upper glass panel is inclined rearwardly, from bottom to top, at a larger angle to vertical.

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'bi Other features of the invention will become apparent from the following description.

In this specification reference to the following terms is to be taken to include, in addition to their dictionary meanings, the features defined thereagainst except where the particular context in which the term is employed dictates a more specific meaning.

Front transparent panels are to include panels which may be either flat or curved and they may comprise transparent materials such as glass or plastic.

Light source or sources are to include tube sources such as fluorescent tubes and in long cabinets a plurality of tubes might be utilised oriented end to end either closely adjoined or substantially spaced apart.

Alternately, more point-like sources might be employed spaced apart along the length of the cabinet.

Elongate section is a shaped piece which might be formed by a process of extrusion from materials such as plastic, aluminium, etc.

One embodiment of the invention is illustrated, by way of example only, in the accompanying drawings, wherein:- FIG. 1 is an end elevational view of a display cabinet according to the invention; and FIG.2 is a cross-sectional view, to enlarged scale, of the lighting arrangement of the cabinet shown in Fig. 1.

The display cabinet illustrated includes two 15 end frames 10 each built up principally of square-

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section and rectangular-section metal tube and including o, a vertical back leg 11 and vertical shorter front leg 12 rigidly interconnected by horizontal upper and lower panel support members 13 and 14, a top support member extending forwards from the top of the back leg 11, and an oblique shelf carrier member 16 extending obliquely I down from the top support member 15 to the junction of the lower panel support member 14 and the front leg 12.

The two end frames 10 are rigidly interconnected by a number of connecting bars (not shown), at the junctions of the upper and lower panel support members 13 and 14 with tihe back and front legs 11 and 12, and the junction of the back leg 11 and the top support member Brackets 17 extend forwardly from the top of the front legs 12 of both end frames 10 to support a horizontal fascia 18, below which a front panel 19 is fixed to the front legs 12. A horizontal metal channel is also supported by the brackets 17.

Panels (not shown) of sheet material between the top and bottom support members form a storage enclosure 21.

Fixed on the near sides of the oblique shelf carrier members 16 of the two end frames 10 are shelf supports 22 which may be angle members, their upright flanges fixed at or about their middles to the carrier members 16 the shelf supports inclining downwards towards the front. Each opposed pair of these supports receives the ends of a shelf (not shown) which may be of glass, or a section of wire grid of mesh, and stops (not shown) at the front ends of the supports 22 limit the slidable forward movement of the inclined shelves. In addition to the inclined shelves carried by the •9 osupports 22, a horizontal bottom shelf (not shown) is O4e, carried by bottom shelf supports 23 above the top of the S 15 storage enclosure 21.

A counter top 24, of glass or other sheet o°'o material, is mounted on the top support members 15 of o the two end frames The front of the cabinet is composed mainly of a lower front glass panel 25, an upper front glass panel 26 and a lighting assembly 27 between the two glass panels. The panels may be curved or flat. Alternately plastic panels might be used.

The lighting assembly includes a main 25 extrusion 28,. preferably of metal, comprising an acurate web 29 with radially convergent flanges 30 leading to out-turned flanges 31 with small terminal channels 32 <o which accept the edges of a parabolically-curved reflector strip 33.

A fluorescent tube 34 has its end mounting brackets 35 fixed to or passing through a mounting plate 36 the side edges of which are slidably engaged between pairs of ribs 37 protuding from the inside faces of the flanges 30. The electric cable 38 for the fluorescent tube is easily accommodated within the extrusion 28.

If desired a guard strip of fairly thin transparent material indicated by broken line at 39 may have its edges engaged in the channels 32 so that it, with the reflector 33, will enclose the fluorescent tube 34 as a safety measure in case of breakage of the tube.

The bottom edge of the lower front glass panel is seated in the channel 20 supported by the brackets 17 of the two end frames 10. The upper edge of this glass panel, engaged in a channel 40 of resilient material, is clamped to the lower flange 31 of the main extrusion 28 of the lighting assembly by an extruded Jsection clamp strip 41 secured to the main extrusion by o a series of clamp screws 42.

0 1 Struts 43 between the shelf carrier members 16 of the two end frames 10 and the main extrusion 28 of o9 the lighting assembly 27 maintain the lighting assembly, O0 IOO and the lower front glass panel 25, in correct oalignment.

oo The upper front glass panel 26 has its bottom edge, which is engaged in a resilient channel 44, resting on the upper flange 31 of the main extrusion 28 9 *Doe*: and retained against accidental dislodgment by a retaining strip 45 held to the main extrusion 28 by o0 9 screws 46. The upper part of this glass panel rests o 25 upon the oblique front ends of the top support members of the two end frames and against the front edge of the counter top 24.

o: A wear strip (not shown) which may be of 9009 ornamental character, or incorporate advertising or other information, may be releasably mounted on the front of the web 29 of the main extrusion 28, the edges of the strip being slidable engaged with oppositely arranged L-section projections 47.

The cabinet according to the invention will be found to be very well and attractively illuminated by S6 r td I I the simple and inexpensive light source or sources 34, located well away from the goods displayed on the cabinet shelves so that these are not subjected to undue heating. The lighting assembly is particularly well placed for this purpose, and does not signficantly interfere with the clear view of the goods on display.

The cabinet may be closed at its ends by end panels (not shown) which may be of glass of of other sheet material. These end panels may be secured by screws or otherwise to the ends of the main extrusion 28 of the lighting assembly, in which case the struts 43 may not be required. The back of the cabinet will normally be closed by sliding or hinged doors of glass or other suitable material, not shown in the drawings.

S15 The particular embodiment of the invention herein described and illustrated by way of example only I, may, of course, be subject to many modifcations of constructional detail and design. F r example, the front glass panels may be double-glazed or triple-glazed type, the extrusions of the lighting assembly, or some of them, being modified to suit the greater thcikness of the panels. Again, the invention is applicable to cabinets for other purposes than the display of bakery products; for example for the display of glassware, jewellery and so on, with appropraite modifications to the configurations, dimensions and furnishings of the cabinet. Such modifications, which will be readily apparent to persons skilled in the art, are considered to lie within the scope and ambit of the invention.

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Claims (3)

1. 3. A display cabinet as claimed in either one of Claims 1 or 2 wherein: a plurality of shelves are supported, each shelf being sloped forwardly to expose goods thereon to light from the light assembly. I,
2. 4. A display cabinet as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein: the elongate section is an extrusion which comprises an arcuate web portion with radially convergent flanges leading to outurned flanges which engage against the upper and lower front transparent panels. A display cabinet as claimed in Claim 4 wherein wherein: the outurned flanges lead to generally tangential flanges which incorporate channels in which the longitudinal edges of a parabolically curved reflector are received. S6. A display cabinet as claimed in either one of Claims 4 or 5 wherein: the light source is a fluorescent tube mounted between end connectors which are attached to mounting plates which are slotted into opposed channels in the radially convergent flanges.
3. 7. A display cabinet as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this sixth day of February 1991. JOHN WALTER FERGUSON, by his Patent Attorneys, GRANT ADAMS COMPANY. S t 'Is