Opening / closing cover device for flat open showcase

Abstract

To provide an opening / closing cover device for a flat open showcase capable of efficiently saving weight, taking out when purchasing a product, and replenishing operation of products into a case.SOLUTION: An opening / closing cover device 10 in a box-shaped case attached to a flat open showcase 1 whose upper surface is opened includes: a winding unit 11 attached to an upper part on a rear side of a box-shaped case 2 along a horizontal direction; a cover sheet 12 which is drawn forward from the winding unit 11 and whose opening is openable / closable; a support bar 13 extending in the horizontal direction attached to a front edge of the cover sheet 12; and a pair of left and right support rails 14 which extend upward a front side of the box-shaped case 2 from near both left and right end parts of the winding unit 11 and movably support both left and right end parts of the support bar 13 in the back and forth direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an opening and closing cover device that is attached to a flat open showcase having an open top. [Background technology]

[0002] In supermarkets, convenience stores, etc., flat open showcases with an open top are often used to keep frozen foods, etc., cold and sell them. In such flat open showcases, an air curtain of cool air is formed at the opening on the top to increase the cold insulation effect of the frozen foods inside the case, but if the air curtain is disturbed by the external environment, etc., the cold insulation effect is impaired.

[0003] To prevent such problems from occurring, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a flat open showcase with a sliding door installed at the opening on the top surface, so that an air curtain is reliably formed below it. When a customer purchases frozen foods or a store clerk replenishes products, the sliding door is slid back and forth. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5083875 (page 4, figure 1) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] As described in Patent Document 1, in the case of a flat open showcase with a sliding door installed at the opening, the sliding door is made of a transparent acrylic plate or the like, so that in the case of a large flat open showcase in particular, the sliding door is large and heavy, and packaging and transportation costs are also high. In addition, since it is a sliding door, the opening cannot be fully opened, and can only be opened about halfway at most. Therefore, there is also a problem that it is not possible to efficiently remove products when purchasing them or refill the case with products.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of such problems, and aims to provide an opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase which is lightweight and allows efficient removal of purchased products and refilling of products into the case. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, the opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase of the present invention is An opening and closing cover device that is attached to a flat open showcase having a box-shaped case shape with an open top, a winding unit attached to an upper portion of the rear side of the box-shaped case along the left-right direction; a cover sheet that is pulled forward from the winding unit and is capable of opening and closing the opening; a support bar attached to a front edge of the cover sheet and extending in the left-right direction; a pair of left and right support rails extending from near both left and right ends of the winding unit toward an upper portion of the front side of the box-shaped case and supporting both left and right ends of the support bar so as to be movable in the front-rear direction; The present invention is characterized by the following. According to this feature, since the conventional sliding door is not used, the opening and closing cover device for a large flat open showcase is not only lighter, but also reduces packaging and transportation costs. Also, since the top opening of the flat open showcase can be fully opened, it is possible to efficiently take out purchased products and refill the case. Furthermore, since the support bar is supported and guided by the left and right support rails and moves stably, the cover sheet can be moved in the front and rear directions parallel to the opening, and there is no risk of disturbing the air curtain of cool air formed at the top opening of the box-shaped case.

[0008] The winding unit is supported by a bracket that can be attached to the upper part of the rear side of the box-shaped case, and the rear ends of the pair of left and right support rails are connected to the left and right side ends of the bracket, respectively. According to this feature, the left and right support rails can be connected in parallel to the bracket in advance, so that no error in parallelism occurs when attempting to attach the left and right support rails individually. The left and right support rails maintain their parallelism, allowing the support bar to be moved stably and smoothly in the forward and backward directions.

[0009] The cover sheet is constantly biased toward the winding unit, and a locking means is provided on the front side of the support bar and the box-shaped case to prevent the support bar from moving rearward. According to this feature, the opening can be kept covered by the cover sheet, and the cover sheet can be prevented from sagging when the opening is covered by the cover sheet.

[0010] The pair of left and right support rails have a U-shaped cross-section that opens inward, and a regulating means is provided within the U-shaped space to regulate the rearward movement of the support bar against the biasing force in the winding direction of the cover sheet. According to this feature, the support bar and the cover sheet attached to it can be stopped at a midway position in the front-to-back direction of the opening, so that a customer does not need to open the opening more than necessary when taking out products from the front side of the case, thereby improving the cooling effect of the products in the case and enabling energy savings.

[0011] The restricting means is characterized in that it is a leaf spring elastically pressing against at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the support bar. According to this feature, the support bar and the cover sheet attached thereto can be stopped steplessly at any desired position in the front-rear direction of the opening by only the frictional force between the support bar and the leaf spring. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a flat open showcase equipped with an opening and closing cover device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a side end of the support bar attached to the support rail, leaf spring and cover sheet. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is an inner side view of the support rail with the leaf spring and support bar attached thereto. [Figure 7] FIG. 13 is an inner side view of a support rail to which a modified example of a leaf spring is applied. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional side view of a flat open showcase equipped with an opening and closing cover device in a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment for carrying out an opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. EXAMPLES

[0014] An opening and closing cover device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 6. First, the configuration of a flat open showcase will be briefly described with reference to Fig. 1. A flat open showcase (hereinafter, abbreviated as showcase) 1 includes a box-shaped case 2 with an open top, and a product storage space S is formed inside the case.

[0015] The box-shaped case 2 is made up of an inner case 3 and an outer case 4, and a top panel 5, which is rectangular in plan view, is attached to the upper ends of the inner case 3 and outer case 4. A frame-shaped windshield 6 made of glass, acrylic or the like is provided on the top surface of the center of the top panel 5 and faces upward.

[0016] A cold air circulation path 7 is formed between the inner case 3 and the outer case 4. When a blower (not shown) installed in the cold air circulation path 7 is operated, cold air blown backward from a cold air outlet 8 formed at the upper end of the front side of the inner case 3 is sucked in by a cold air inlet 9 on the rear side of the inner case 3 opposite to the cold air outlet 8 and flows into the cold air circulation path 5. A part of the cold air blown out from the outlet 8 flows downward, but for convenience of explanation, the arrow is omitted. The cold air flowing into the cold air circulation path 7 is further cooled by the cooler R and convects in the direction of the arrow, so that frozen foods and the like stored in the product storage space S are kept at a predetermined temperature. In addition, an air curtain C is formed at the top opening of the box-shaped case 2 by the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet 8 to the cold air inlet 9, so that the cold air in the product storage space S is prevented from flowing out to the outside and the outside air is prevented from flowing into the product storage space S. Furthermore, a windshield 6 is provided on the upper surface of the top plate portion 5, so that outside air is prevented from being drawn into the product storage space S.

[0017] Next, an opening / closing cover device according to the present invention will be described. The opening / closing cover device 10 is attached to the opening on the top surface of the box-shaped case 2 of the flat open showcase 1, and includes a winding unit 11 whose left-right dimension is slightly longer than the left-right width of the opening, a cover sheet 12 that can be pulled forward from the winding unit 11, a support bar 13 that is long in the left-right direction and attached to the front edge of the cover sheet 12, and a pair of left and right support rails 14, 14 that movably support and guide both left and right ends of the support bar 13. An upward-facing handle 15 is attached to the left-right center of the top surface of the support rail 14.

[0018] 3, the winding unit 11 includes a winding pipe 111 having a left-right dimension equal to or slightly smaller than the left-right width of the opening on the top surface, rotating shafts 111a, 111a protruding outward from both left and right ends of the winding pipe 111, and bearings 112, 112 for rotatably supporting the left and right rotating shafts 111a, and the cover sheet 12 is wound around the winding pipe 111 so as to be able to be pulled out forward. The winding pipe 111 is biased in the clockwise direction as viewed from the side in FIG. 1 by a torsion spring (not shown) or the like. As a result, the cover sheet 12 is constantly biased in the winding direction, that is, toward the winding unit 11 (rearward).

[0019] A bottom plate 16a facing left and right of a bracket 16 for mounting the winding unit 11 is screwed to the upper surface of the top plate portion 5 on the rear side of the box-shaped case 2, forward of the windshield 6, and bearings 112, 112 are fixed to the inner surfaces of support plates 16b, 16b that stand up from both the left and right ends of the bottom plate 16a.

[0020] The cover sheet 12 is formed, for example, from a transparent polypropylene resin so that the products in the product storage space S can be seen from above, and its left and right dimensions are formed to be equal to or slightly smaller than the left and right width of the opening surrounded by the inner case 3.

[0021] The support bar 13 is made of, for example, synthetic resin material, and a metal plate 17 made of a magnetic material is fixed to its front surface along the left-right direction. This metal plate 17 is adapted to be attracted to a magnet 18 fixed to the inner surface of the windshield 6 so as to face the left-right direction when the opening on the top surface is covered with the cover sheet 12 (see FIG. 2). The metal plate 17 and magnet 18 correspond to the locking means according to the present invention.

[0022] Making the metal plate 17 and magnet 18 long in the left-right direction like this is preferable because it allows the entire length of the support bar 13 to be in close contact with the windshield 6, but they may also be fixed only to the center of the support bar 13 and windshield 6 in the left-right direction, or to multiple parts at regular intervals, or to the front of the handle 15 and the opposing rear surface of the windshield 6. Also, contrary to the above, the magnet 18 may be fixed to the support bar 13 side and the metal plate 17 to the windshield 6 side. If the entire support bar 13 is made of a magnetic material, the metal plate 17 can be omitted.

[0023] 4 and 5, the left and right support rails 14, 14 (only one is shown as they are symmetrical) have a U-shaped cross section when viewed from the front that opens inward, and are made of, for example, synthetic resin, etc. In the U-shaped space of the support rails 14, 14, protrusions 13a, 13a protruding outward from both side ends of the support bar 13 are loosely fitted.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the front-rear dimension of the support rail 14 is formed to a length that allows it to be horizontally installed on the upper surfaces of the side ends of the top plates 5, 5 facing each other between the front and rear windshields 6, 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the outer surfaces of the rear ends of the left and right support rails 14, 14 are connected in advance to the outer surfaces of the left and right support plates 16b, 16b of the bracket 16 supporting the winding unit 11 via connecting plates 19, 19 so as to be parallel to each other, so that there is no error in the parallelism when the left and right support rails 14, 14 are attached individually. As a result, the left and right support rails 14, 14 can be installed on the upper surfaces of the front and rear top plates 5, 5 of the box-shaped case 2 while maintaining their parallelism. In this way, the opening and closing cover device 10 has high durability against frequent opening and closing operations because the winding unit 11 is fixed to the flat upper surface of the top plate 5 provided at the upper opening edge of the box-shaped case 2.

[0025] Two upper and lower leaf springs 20, 20 as restricting means are attached in the U-shaped space between the left and right support rails 14, 14 as follows. The length of the upper and lower leaf springs 20, 20 is formed to be approximately equal to the front-to-rear dimension of the support rail 14, and horizontal fixing parts 20a, 20a bent upward and downward are formed at both front and rear ends of the springs, respectively, and the upper front and rear fixing parts 20a, 20a are fixed to the lower surface of the U-shaped space and the lower front and rear fixing parts 20a, 20a are fixed to the upper surface of the U-shaped space by screws 21, respectively. When attached in this manner, as shown in FIG. 6, the parts of the upper and lower leaf springs 20 excluding the front and rear fixing parts 20a are separated from the upper and lower surfaces of the U-shaped space and can elastically deform upward and downward, respectively.

[0026] The upper and lower leaf springs 20, except for the front and rear fixed parts 20a, function as regulating parts 20b, 20b, respectively, and the rearward movement of the support bar 13 and the cover sheet 12 attached thereto is regulated by fitting the protruding part 13a of the support bar 13 between the upper and lower regulating parts 20b, 20b. The dimension between the opposing faces of the upper and lower regulating parts 20b, 20b is set to a predetermined dimension smaller than the vertical dimension of the protruding part 13a, so that the upper and lower regulating parts 20b, 20b are elastically pressed against the upper and lower surfaces of the protruding part 13a. As a result, a frictional force is generated when the protruding part 13a moves in the front-rear direction between the upper and lower regulating parts 20b, 20b, and the rearward movement of the support bar 13 is regulated against the biasing force in the winding direction of the cover sheet 12, so that the cover sheet 12 can be stopped steplessly at any position in the front-rear direction of the opening.

[0027] As described above, the opening / closing cover device 10 according to the embodiment does not use a sliding door for opening and closing the opening on the top of the showcase 1 as in the past, so that not only can the opening / closing cover device 10 for a large showcase be made lighter, but also packaging and transportation costs can be saved. In addition, since the opening on the top of the showcase 1 can be fully opened, operations such as taking out purchased products and refilling products into the product storage space S can be performed efficiently.

[0028] Furthermore, when there are no customers in the store, the cover sheet 12 can be pulled out and the support bar 13 can be brought into close contact with the windshield 6 to keep the top opening of the showcase 10 covered by the cover sheet 12, preventing outside air from flowing into the product storage space S. In addition, at this time, the cover sheet 12 is constantly biased in the winding direction and tension is applied to it, so it does not sag.

[0029] When a customer wishes to purchase an item in the item storage space S, the customer can place his / her hand on the handle 15 to move the support bar 13 backward, and move the cover sheet 12 in the winding direction to open the opening. At this time, the upper and lower leaf springs 20 can stop the support bar 13 at any position, so that, for example, when a customer wants to take out an item from the front side of the item storage space S, there is no need to open the opening more than necessary, which improves the cooling effect of the items in the item storage space S and enables energy saving.

[0030] In addition, the left and right support rails 14, 14 are fixed to the bracket 16 in advance to maintain parallelism, so the support bar 13 can be moved stably and smoothly in the front-rear direction by the left and right support rails 14, 14. As a result, the cover sheet 12 can be moved in the front-rear direction parallel (horizontally) along the opening surface, and disturbances in the air curtain of cool air formed at the top opening of the box-shaped case 2 can be prevented, which would impair the cooling effect.

[0031] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiment, and additions and modifications that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included in the present invention.

[0032] For example, in the above embodiment, two leaf springs 20, one above the other, are used as the restricting means for restricting the rearward movement of the support bar 13, but it is also possible to omit one of the leaf springs 20. In this case, the elastic pressure force against the protruding portion 13a of the support bar 13 should be increased.

[0033] In the above embodiment, the support bar 13 can be stopped steplessly. However, as shown in FIG. 7, if a plurality of recesses 20c are formed in the lower leaf spring 20 at the front and rear and the protruding portion 13a is inserted into these recesses 20c, the support bar 13 can be stopped stepwise in the front and rear direction. When the protruding portion 13a comes out of the recess 20c, the upper leaf spring 20 is elastically deformed upward. Instead of the leaf spring 20 as in the embodiment, a restricting means such as a felt-like sheet material or a napped sheet material having a large frictional resistance can be used to sandwich the upper and lower surfaces of the protruding portion 13a, so that the rearward movement of the support bar 13 can be restricted against the biasing force in the winding direction of the cover sheet 12. Instead of providing a member such as the leaf spring 20 as in the embodiment, a weight can be built into the support bar 13 to increase the load, thereby increasing the frictional resistance.

[0034] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the locking means for the support bar 13 consists of a metal plate 17 made of a magnetic material fixed to the support bar 13, and a magnet 18 fixed to the windshield 6. However, it is also possible to use a locking means consisting of, for example, a hook provided on the handle 15 and a groove-shaped or ring-shaped or other locking portion provided on the windshield 6 or the top plate 5 to which the hook can be locked.

[0035] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the components of the opening and closing cover device 10 are attached directly to the showcase 1. However, it is also possible to assemble the components in a frame and then attach this frame to the showcase 1.

[0036] In the above embodiment, the winding unit 11 of the opening / closing cover device 10 is fixed to the flat upper surface of the top plate 5 provided at the upper opening edge of the box-shaped case 2, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in a modified example of FIG. 8, a locking piece 51a that is locked from above to the windshield 6 may be provided behind the winding unit 51 to support the windshield 6. In this case, the front end of the support rail 54 is attached to the front windshield 6 by a fixing means (not shown), and the support rail 54 is installed on the front and rear windshields 6, 6. In addition, when such a configuration is adopted, a locking means configured to magnetically attach the tip of the support bar 53 to the metal part 6a at the upper end of the windshield 6 by fixing a magnet (not shown) to the tip of the support bar 53 can also be used. In this way, the opening / closing cover device 10 can be arranged on the top of the windshield 6, which is the top of the opening of the flat open showcase 1, and the opening / closing cover device 10 is excellent in energy saving and easy to access the handle 15, resulting in excellent operability. The winding unit may be fixed to the top plate 5, and only the front side of the support bar may be supported by the windshield 6.

[0037] 8, a configuration may be adopted in which the winding unit 51 is disposed on the cool air outlet 8 side. This makes it possible to effectively prevent cool air from escaping regardless of the degree to which the cover sheet 52 is open, i.e., regardless of the opening area. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1 Flat open showcase 2 Box Case 3 Inner case 4 Outer case 5 Top plate 6 Windshield 7. Cold air circulation route 8 Cold air outlet 9. Cold air intake 10 Opening and closing cover device 11 Winding unit 12 Cover Sheet 13 Support bar 13a Projection 14 Support Rail 15 Handle 16 Bracket 16a Bottom plate 16b Support plate 17 Metal plate (locking means) 18 Magnet (locking means) 19 Connecting plate 20 Leaf spring (control means) 20a Fixed part 20b Regulatory Department 20c Recess 111 Winding pipe 111a Rotation axis 112 Bearings

Claims

1. An opening and closing cover device that is attached to a flat open showcase having a box-shaped case shape with an open top, a winding unit attached to an upper portion of the rear side of the box-shaped case along the left-right direction; a cover sheet that is pulled forward from the winding unit and is capable of opening and closing the opening; a support bar attached to a front edge of the cover sheet and extending in the left-right direction; a pair of left and right support rails extending from near both left and right ends of the winding unit toward an upper portion of the front side of the box-shaped case and supporting both left and right ends of the support bar so as to be movable in the front-rear direction; An opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase, comprising:

2. The opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase as described in claim 1, characterized in that the winding unit is supported by a bracket that can be attached to the upper part of the rear side of the box-shaped case, and the rear ends of the pair of left and right support rails are respectively connected to the left and right side ends of the bracket.

3. An opening and closing cover device for a flat open showcase as described in claim 1, characterized in that the cover sheet is constantly biased toward the winding unit, and a locking means is provided on the front side of the support bar and the box-shaped case to prevent the support bar from moving rearward.

4. The pair of left and right support rails have a U-shaped cross-section opening inward, and within the U-shaped space there is provided a regulating means for regulating the rearward movement of the support bar against the biasing force in the winding direction of the cover sheet.

5. 5. The openable / closable cover device for a flat open showcase according to claim 4, wherein the restricting means is a leaf spring elastically pressing against at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the support bar.

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