Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: DOOR ASS~BLY
This invention relates to a glazed door for
refrigerating or freezing chambers of the type used in
everyday commodities trade, especially in grocery shops.
Refrigerating or freezing chambers are by such doors
partitioned off from the remaining shop space, at the same
time as the goods in the refrigerating or freezing chamber
are exposed to the customers in the shop. Such doors are
now relatively usually installed in grocery shops.
One great desire is that the transparent surface of
such a door should cover as great a portion of the door as
possible, whereby an exposing surface as great as posslble
iY obtained. The aim, therefore, is that the door frames
should be as narrow as possible.
Such doors, however, must be self-closlng and in
thelr closed po~ition tightly abut with a certain force a
sealing strip against the door case, ln order to
effectively seal the refrigerating or freezing chamber
when the door is closed.
The requiremen~ on the doors to be self-closing has
enforced a relatively coarse frame on the side where the
door is æuspended, in order to provide sufflcient space
for necessary springs. Such doors, furthermore, are
relatively wide, for example 600-800 mm, and at the same
time must be provided with at least two glass pane~ for
having a sufficient insulating effect. This has implied
that also the remaining part of the frame had to be
designed sturdy so as to be capable to sup~ort the glass
panes.
The aforesaid desire is met by tha present invention,
which offers a door haviny a very thin frame in relation
to the door size. The door is at the same time self-
closing and can support a single pane or an insulating
3~ pane comprising two or more panes.
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Therefore, the present invention comprlses ln a
general aspect a door asæembly for refrigerat~ng and
freezing chambers, comprising:
- a door frame including bearing means;
S - a glazed panel mounted in the door frame, the
glazed panel including:
a) at lQast one glass pane ~or viewing ~oods in
a chamber;
b) a panel fxame supporting the glass pane, the
panel frame including an elongated panel frame member with
a U-shaped groove extanding along the entire length
thereof and receiving a single edge of the glass pane, the
panel frame member solely constituting a supporting
structure of the panel frame for the glass pane, the panel
frame member comprising an inner cavity extending
longitudinally along the entire length of the panel frame
member, the panel frame further including at least one
non-load bearing strip mounted along each of the remaining
free edges of the glass pane;
- a torsion spring mounted in the cavity and
extending along substantially the entire length of the
panel frame member, the tor~ion spring having one end
fixed relative to the door frame and an opposite end fixed
relative to the panel frame;
- a nipple mounted to each end of the torsion spring,
the nipple~ con~tituting journals recelved in the bearing
means, whereby allowing a pivotal movement of the glazed
panel in the door frame against the resiliency of the
torsion sprin~.
The invention is described in greater detall ln the
following, wlth reference to the accompanyin~ drawings, in
which Fia. 1 is a view of a door assembly in accordance
with the invention, Fi~. 2 shows a glazed panel accordlng
to the invention on an enlarged scale, Fi~. 3 ls a section
along the line A-A in Fig. 2, Fi~. 4 æhow~ portions of a
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vertical section at the upper and, raspectively, lower
attachment of the glazed panel in the door frame.
Fig. 1 is a view of a door assembly including three
glazed panels 1 mounted in a door frame 2 in a wall 3,
which sapara~es a refriyerating or freezing chamber from
a shop space or the like. The glazed panels comprise one
or more glass panes 4 for exposing the goods in the
refrigerating or freezing chamber. Handles 5 are provided
for opening the glazed panels L.
The glazed panels 1 include a panel frame, which
comprises a straight section 6 designed so as to support
the glass 4 along only one vertical edge 7 of the glass 4.
At said edge 7 the glazed panel is intended to be
suspended on the door frame 2.
The glass 4 preferably is fixed in the section 6 by
glueing. For this purpose the section 6 is formed along
its entire length with a groove 8 of U-shaped cross-
section. The glue 9 is marked by dotted area in Fig. 3.
In Fig. 3 the glass is a two-pane insulating glass o~
conventional design.
Along the entire length of the section 6 an inner
cavity 10 i5 provided, in which a torsion spring 11
extends substantially along the entire length of the
section 6. The torsion spring 11 is fixed at one end
relative to the section 6 and at its other end relative to
the door frame 2, as shown by way of example in Fig. 4.
According to a pre~erred embodiment, the torsion
spring 11 is square in cross-section. Square cross-
section in combination with a great length implies that
the torsion spring delivers uniform spring force, i.e.
uniform resistance to turning the glazed panel in all it~
turning positions. It is hereby achieved that the glazed
panel even in its closed position abuts the door frame
with sufficient force and at the same time is not slow to
open. It may be mentioned that in the case of short
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torsion sprlngs, when the ~orce in closed position shall
be sufficient, tha resistance to maintain the glazed panel
in open position i5 troublesome great.
In Fig. 4 portions o~ a vertical sectlon at the upper
12 andr respectively, lower 13 attachment of the glazed
panel 1 in the door frame 2 are shown. The torsion spring
11 is at least at one end 12 connected to a nipple 1~,15
or the like ~ormed as a journal 8, which is intended to be
suspended non-rotary in a corresponding bearing place 20
in the door frame 2.
According to a preferred embodiment, also the other
end o~ the torsion spring 11 is connected to a nipple 16
or the llke, which i~ in~ended to he suspended pivotally
ln a corresponding bearing place 21 in the door frame 2.
The nipples 14-16, of course, can be designed in any
suitable way, irrespective of that one end of the torsion
spring shall be connected non-rotary to the door frame 2,
and the other end shall be connected non-rotary to the
section 6.
At the embodiment in Fig. 4, the nipple at the upper
end conslsts of two nipples 14,15.
At one nipple 14 the square torsion spring 11
projects into a square bore. The second, upper, nipple 15
is square and projects into the lower nipple 14. The
upper portion of the upper nipple iæ a square journal 18,
which is attached non-rotary in the bearing place 20 in
the door frame 2. At its lower end the torsion spring 11
is connected to the nipple 16, which at its upper portion
has a square bore, and which at lts lower end has a square
journal 17. Said journal 17 is inserted into a bushing
22, which ls square in~ernally and round externally. The
bushing 22 is inserted down into the bearing place 21 in
the door frame 2.
In order to attach the torsion spring 11 non-rotary
relative to the section 6 r a threaded bore 23 is made in
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the section 6 close to its lower end. A screw 24,
preferably a so-called æocket head cap screw, is screwn
into the bore 23 and intended to act against the torsion
sprlng 11.
When the spring is to be stretched, its upper end is
locked by the journal 18. The screw 24 is loosened, and
the spring is turned in that the journal 17 is turned by
means of a suitable tool, whereafter the screw ls
tightened.
By designing the attachment members in the form o~
nipples at the ends of a long torsion spring, the section
6 can be designed extremely tenderly, at the same time as
a good spring action is obtained. The dimenslon L1 in
Fig. 3. is only a few centimeters. A dimension used at
test doors is 28 mm at a total door width o~ 700 mm.
About the remaining three sides o~ the glass 4 a
light-weight and tender strip 25 can be attached, which is
not required to have any carrying capacity. At ~ertain
designs, a strip of only thin stainless sheet metal can be
used. The dimension L2 of the s~rip 25 in Fig. 3, of
course, can be smaller than the dimension L1. The
dimension L2, for example, can be 10-20 mm.
A sealing strip in the form of a so-called magnet
strip preferably is provided on the strip 25 or door frame
in order to ensure yood abutment between the panel frame
and the door frame when the glazed panel is in a closed
position.
It is fully obvious that such a panel frame in the
form of said section 6 and strips 25 implies that
substantially the entire surface of the panel is
transparent.
The suspension of the glazed panel, furthermore, and
its built-in springs imply that obscuring external spring
attachments can be avoided, which also implies that door
frame pillars located between two adjacent glazed panels
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can be designed narrower than before, whereby the surface
of the entire door arrangement substantlally is
transparent.
Due to the very narrow panel frame, the said handles
5 are attached directly to the glass pane located farthest
away from the refrigerating or freezing chamber. The
handle preferably is of transparent glass and glued onto
~he pane with a transparent glue, which additionally
contributes to an increase of the exposing surface.
It was mentioned above that the section 6 is glued
onto the ylass 4.
Another attachm0nt method, of course, can be used,
for example a screw connection.
As mentioned above, also the attachment of the
torsion spring in the door frame and, respectively, the
glazed panel can be varied in several ways. Such
modifications are considered comprised in the present
invention.
The invention, thus, must not be regarded restricted
to the embodiment described above, but can be varied
within the SCOp2 of the attached claims.
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