Internal Lighting for Refrigerated Display Cabinets

Abstract

Internal lighting for refrigerated display cabinets, chillers, cold rooms or freezers, has rearwardly-directed light assemblies incorporated in the rear faces of the vertical stiles (and / or top and bottom rails) of the door frames of the cabinet doors to illuminate the contents of the cabinets. The light assemblies may be provided in recesses, grooves or channels, and may comprise LED(s), lamps or lighting strips, connected to an electricity supply. Door switches can de-energise the light assemblies when the doors are open.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]1. Field of the Invention[0002]This invention relates to internal lighting for refrigerated display cabinets.[0003]The invention is particularly suitable for, but not limited to, internal lighting for refrigerated display cabinets which have a mullion-less door system, or which have respective mullions provided for adjacent pairs of doors; but may also be used for other controlled- or ambient-environmental applications, including chillers and freezers, for the storage of foods or other articles.[0004]Throughout the specification, the term “refrigerated display cabinets” shall be used to include, but not be limited to, (i) refrigerated cabinets, chillers and freezers of the types for the display of the refrigerated products typically sold in upright multi-level display refrigerators and freezer cases at supermarkets, grocery shops, fuel outlets, bottle shops, butcher shops, fruit shops, pet-food shops and the like, together with (ii) all other types o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0024]It is a preferred object of the present invention to provide such lighting which seeks to minimize as many obstructions to the clear view, by consumers, of the products displayed within the refrigerated display cabinets, while still maintaining a high degree of thermal efficiency.

[0025]It is a further preferred object of the present invention to provide such lighting which provides effective illumination of their displayed products, controlled operation, such as being switched off when the door(s) are opened, and / or ease of installation and / or maintenance.

[0033]Preferably, LED(s) are preferred as the light assemblies for their compactness & low heat emission. Other suitable lighting types e.g. LCD(s), light strips, covered dichroic- or halogen lamps, and / or other suitable (low-heat-emitting) lamps or light sources may be used

[0037]The, or each, lighting assembly may be covered by a transparent panel, or housing, which may be coloured and / or have pattern(s) applied thereto to illuminate the contents in selected colour(s) e.g. pink for red meat and / or design(s) for improved aesthetic display.

Problems solved by technology

The open display cabinets are not as energy efficient as the display cabinets using glass doors, as heat is drawn from the adjacent environment; but there is a resistance by many retailers to use the display cabinets having the glass doors, as these retailers believe the glass doors act as a “barrier” to their customers, resulting in reduced sales.

While glass doors maybe retrofitted to existing open display cabinets, many retailers are concerned by the disruption to trading due to the complicated installation procedures.

The fitment of the doors, and the mullions, adds to the difficulty in illuminating the contents in the refrigerated display cabinets, as the quantity of light available externally from the cabinets is reduced.

Of course, in mullion-less door systems, there are no mullions available to mount the internal lighting for the cabinets.

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