Supports: cabinet structure – Show-case type – Refrigerator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-25
2002-08-20
Hansen, James O. (Department: 3637)
Supports: cabinet structure
Show-case type
Refrigerator
C312S296000, C052S786130
Reexamination Certificate
active
06435630
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an environmental cabinet comprising at least one opening leaf consisting of an insulating glazing unit composed of at least two glass sheets between which a vacuum has been created, the said sheets being joined together by an inorganic seal.
The invention will be more particularly described in the case of a refrigerated cabinet in which fresh, chilled or deep-frozen products are displayed, the usual name for which is a “refrigerated display cabinet”, but the invention is not limited to this type of cabinet, any cabinet with a hot, wet or dry environment also falling within the scope of the invention.
2. Discussion of the Background
When products preserved in a refrigerated chamber have to remain visible, as is the case in many current commercial premises, the refrigerated chamber is equipped with glazed parts which convert it into a refrigerated display cabinet. There are many variants of such refrigerated display cabinets. Some are in the form of upright cabinets, and then it is the door itself which is transparent, others are in the form of chests, and it is the horizontal lid which is glazed in order to allow the contents to be seen, while yet others are in the form of display counters, and it is that part which separates the public from the merchandise that is glazed. Whatever the variant of these refrigerated display cabinets, it is also possible to produce glazed walls so that the entire contents are visible from the outside.
The invention will be more particularly described in the case of refrigerated display cabinets in the form of an upright cabinet, but the invention is not limited to this type of cabinet.
In this type of display cabinet, it is necessary for the merchandise to remain completely visible to the customers so that it is possible to preselect the merchandise without opening the cabinet. Consequently, it is necessary to prevent the glazed parts of the cabinet from being covered with condensation.
To avoid condensation, the method used consists generally in maintaining that surface of the glazing unit facing the controlled environment at a temperature above the dew point of the atmosphere in question. This objective is achieved by increasing the insulation performance of the glazing unit and sometimes, in addition, heating the surface of the side in question. The simplest means of improving the thermal insulation performance of a single-glazing unit consists in replacing it with a multiple-glazing unit. This technique is easy to employ in the case of refrigerated chests or upright cabinets since multiple-glazing units, consisting of two flat glass sheets mounted so as to be parallel to each other and separated by a gas layer, are easily fitted to this type of refrigerated display cabinet. However, the use of such multiple-glazing units turns out not to be completely satisfactory from a thermal standpoint.
Several solutions have been envisaged for further improving the thermal insulation performance of these multiple-glazing units, such as, for example, the use of thin films which reflect the infrared radiation or else the use of triple-glazing units, one of the gas layers of which may be a krypton layer. However, the improvement generally remains modest and the use of such multiple-glazing units, because of their thickness and their weight, requires a support frame which provides them with good mechanical integrity, but which makes them particularly bulky.
French Patent Application filed in the name of Saint-Gobain Vitrage under the number FR97/09772 proposes a door or wall for an environmental chamber which obviates the various drawbacks mentioned above. It thus proposes a door or wall for an environmental chamber consisting essentially of an insulating panel composed of at least two glass substrates between which a vacuum has been created, which substrates are separated from each other by mounts distributed over the entire surface and are joined together around their periphery by an inorganic seal. In this way, conventional insulating glazing units are therefore substituted with an insulating glazing unit consisting of at least two glass sheets between which a vacuum has been created, which we will hereafter call an insulating vacuum glazing unit. This type of insulating vacuum glazing unit has, for a markedly smaller total thickness than that of conventional insulating glazing units, markedly improved thermal insulation properties.
The structure of such an insulating vacuum glazing unit has the advantage of providing it with strength and integrity that are equivalent to those of a monolithic glazing unit having a thickness equal to the sum of the thicknesses of glass sheets, that is to say the glass sheets behave as a single sheet whose thickness is the sum of those of the two glass sheets. In this way, it is no longer necessary to combine this type of glazing unit with a support frame. Thus, the bulkiness is greatly reduced and the unit can be fitted into the environmental chamber in an appreciably simplified manner.
However, the use of such an insulation vacuum glazing unit is not without consequences with regard to the actual structure of the environmental cabinet, particularly when it is a cabinet in which the internal ambient temperature is greatly different from the external ambient temperature. In fact, because of the presence of the vacuum between the two glass sheets, there is a difference in expansion between the two glass sheets which results in the appearance of a bowing deformation of the glazing unit. The inventors have illustrated that the presence of such a bowing deformation of the glazing unit prevents the usual cabinet structures from being used, particularly for sealing reasons. Moreover, the fact that the use of a vacuum glazing unit makes it possible to dispense with the support frame, it has proved opportune to modify the structure of environmental cabinets so as to reduce the overall number of components and in this way to simplify assembly and to reduce the manufacturing costs of the cabinets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to produce an environmental cabinet which obviates the various drawbacks mentioned above, meets the sealing criteria for these types of cabinet and provides an easily implementable and economically advantageous construction.
The invention thus provides an environmental cabinet comprising at least two opening leaves which consist of an insulating glazing unit composed of at least two glass sheets between which a vacuum has been created, the said sheets being joined together around their periphery by an inorganic seal, the sealing between the two opening leaves being achieved by means of a vertical member which overlaps the edges of both opening leaves and is fixed to one of the edges.
In this way, compared with conventional environmental cabinets, the intermediate vertical members on which the opening leaf came into abutment so as to achieve sealing are eliminated. By virtue of the fact that this vertical member is fixed to one of the two opening leaves, it is possible for the opening leaves to be sealed and blocked while at the same time simplifying the structure of the cabinet and also improving its aesthetic appearance.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the said sealing vertical member is made of plastic which follows the deformation due to the bowing of the insulating glazing unit. This embodiment has the advantage of not creating resisting stresses in the deformed glazing unit and of running no risk of a break in the sealing over the entire length of the vertical member.
Preferably, the said sealing vertical member has a magnetic strip at its point of contact with the edge of the adjacent opening leaf. Thus, good abutment contact between the said vertical member and the opening leaf is achieved, while at the same time hermetically sealing the said opening leaf.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, that part of the said sealing vertical member which comprises a ma
Anin Marc
Jorland Jean-Michel
Vasseur Lionel
Villeminot Eric
Bonnet-Neve
Hansen James O.
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