Reversible door

The present invention relates generally to reversible refrigerator doors and more particularly to a selectively reversible electrical mounting arrangement for such doors.

Many supermarkets and other stores use refrigerated display cases - refrigerators - refrigerators. It is desirable to have the refrigerator doors for these stands reversible so that they can be hung along either their left or right sides. A reversible suspension arrangement for such doors is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,972. Such doors are generally electrically heated and it is desirable to provide electrical outlet sockets in the frames in which the doors are suspended.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a selective, reversible electrical outlet arrangement for reversible refrigerator doors which may be suspended to open either to the veins or to the right.

A more special object is to provide a central ramp for refrigerators or outdoor counters which includes an eccentrically mounted full base which can be rotated 160 ° to fit an electrical plug to a heated refrigerator door which can be suspended along either the left or right edge of the post. .

A more special object is to provide such an eccentric electrical base with a cover plate which can be used as a crank hose to rotate the base around its eccentric mounting.

A refrigerator door is thus arranged comprising a mounting ring frame with upper and lower horizontal parts, left and right vertical side parts and at least one vertical post arranged between the side parts and connecting the upper and lower parts. At least a pair of reversible doors are pivotally mounted in the frame in selectable opening directions to the left and right.¹. Joint means are provided for mounting the doors in the frame about hinge shafts arranged along vertical edges of each of the doors, each having a rearwardly facing recess adjacent the hinge axis substantially centrally between opposite ends of the door, and handles mounted on the other vertical edge of respective door mainly between its opposite ends. Electric heating means in each of the doors

458 475 has a flexible conduit connected at one end thereto and the conduits have plug means at the other end arranged in the recess. An electrical socket is mounted in the left and right vertical frame portions substantially centrally between the receiving ends thereof for receiving the plug means, when the hinge axis of the door is located therein. Selectively reversible electrical socket means are mounted in the central poet mainly between its ends. The reversible socket member is eccentrically mounted in the post and rotatable between positions to the left and right of the poet's centerline to selectively receive the electrical plug member, when the door hinge axis is located adjacent the left and right edges of the post, respectively.

These and further objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a side view of a pair of reversible refrigerator doors in accordance with the present invention, showing the doors openable from the center; Fig. 2 shows an enlarged partial view along substantially line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows a front view corresponding to that of Figs. 1 with the refrigerator doors suspended on the left side and opening to the right, Fig. 4 shows a section corresponding to that in Fig. 2 along substantially the line 4-4 in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 shows an enlarged broken front view of the frame supporting the refrigerator doors. Fig. 6 shows an enlarged divided view of the reversible refrigerator doors; 7 shows an exploded view of the selectively reversible electrical socket according to the invention, fig. 8 shows an enlarged front view of the electrical socket and a mounting plate shown in Fig. 7, Fig. 9 shows a further enlarged section along substantially line 9-9 in Figs. 8 and Figs. 10-12 show views corresponding to those of Figs. 7-9, with the electrical socket reversed 180 °.

Referring now to Fig. 1, this shows a refrigerator door construction 20 comprising a pair of refrigerator doors 22 supported in a mounting frame 24. Although the door construction 20 shown comprises two doors 22, it should be understood that used commercially, door kits can be provided with any number of doors, e.g. one to ten doors, mounted in a single frame. Preferably, the doors 22 can be mounted either 40 to turn left or right and are reversible so that

458 475 they can be mounted to swing in the same direction or opposite.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the doors 22 are mounted in the frame 24 to pivot up in opposite directions from the center. In Figs. 3 and 4, both doors 22 are suspended along their left edges to open from the right.

Each of the doors 22 shown consists of a rectangular door frame 26 of metal, in which a number of spaced glass panels 26 are mounted with an insulating air space between them. Preferably, the glass panels are tempered and the outside may be provided with a heat-conducting film on the inside. The insulated space can be filled with dry air or with an inert gas such as nitrogen.

As shown in Figs. 1-4, each of the doors 22 is provided with a handle 34, which the customer uses to open the door. Preferably, the handle 24 is mounted midway between the upper and lower ends of the door and is designed long enough to function equally well when the doors are mounted for either left or right opening.

The frame 26 for each door 22 includes a vertical hinge side portion 36, a vertical handle side portion 38 and two horizontal end portions 40 and 42. All four portions 36-42 are preferably made of aluminum or other extruded metal alloy so that they all have the same cross-sectional shape. The frame members 36-42 may be formed with beveled ends suitably joined together to form the rectangular door frame 26.

In the embodiment shown, the mounting frame 24 includes vertical left and right side portions 44 and 46 as well as upper and lower horizontal portions 48 and 50. All four portions 44-50 are preferably made of aluminum or other extrudable alloy metal, so that all have the same cross-sectional shape. The frame members 44-50 may be formed with beveled ends which are suitably joined together to form the rectangular mounting frame 24.

Centrally between the doors 22 is a vertical part or post 52 connected to its ends at the horizontal parts 48, 50 at their respective center points. In the embodiment shown, only one poet 52 is used, but it should be understood that additional items may be used between adjacent doors if more than two doors are mounted in a single

458 4.75 ram 24.

In Fig. 5, the front of the mounting frame 24 is shown with the doors 22 removed (the doors are shown in broken lines). Fig. 6 shows the rear side of the doors 22 as they appear from the rear side side according to Fig. 1 with the doors unmounted in the frame 24. Thus, in order to mount the doors 22 according to Fig. 6 in the frame 24 according to Fig. 5, it becomes necessary to turn the pair of doors 22 according to Fig. 6 180 ° from left to right.

To mount the doors 22 in the frame 24, hinge elements 10 are arranged in each of the doors and in the mounting frame. In the preferred embodiment, the hinge elements are arranged so that both doors can be switched between left and right opening positions. Furthermore, the hinge elements can co-operate with a closing spring Cej shown in each door, so that the door is resiliently moved to its closed position.

Preferred embodiments of hinge elements and closure springs are shown and described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,972, which is incorporated herein by reference. Suffice it to say in this connection that the doors comprise upper and lower hinge pins 70 which are respectively received in openings in upper hinge fittings 126 and lower hinge plates 136 releasably attached to the upper and lower frame portions 48 and 50.

The hinge pins 70 may be provided with square ends to fit in square openings in the upper fittings 126 and the lower mounting plates 136, in order to actuate the closing springs, even described in said patent specification. The lower hinge pins also extend through lower stop plates 146 which are releasably attached to the lower end of the mandrels 30, such as by means of a suitable screw 150. To keep the door open at approximately a 90 ° angle, a slidable locking member 158 is mounted on the lower mounting plate 136 and is selectively capable of engaging the stop plate 146 mounted on the door 22.

As previously mentioned, each of the doors is preferably provided with an internal heating means such as an electrically conductive film applied to the inside of the outer glass panel 28. To activate the heating film, a flexible electrical line 172 is connected thereto. The conduit is received in the hollow door portion 36, which is formed with a rearwardly facing recess 116 hu40 substantially midway between its ends. The other end of the hinge 458 475 172 is provided with a pole-connected plug 174, through which an electrical connection can be made to activate the internal heating element.

Pole-guided electrical sockets 186, 188 are located in each of the vertical mounting frame members 36, 38 and are connected to a suitable electrical source (not shown). From Fig. 5 it can be seen that each of the sockets 186, 188 has three-pin receiving openings a, b and c, the middle of which is arranged eccentrically. The opening in socket 186 is thus located below the center line, while the opening in socket 188 is located above the center line.

As previously mentioned, the doors 22 in Fig. 6 are shown from behind and, to mount the doors 22 in the frame 24 according to Fig. 5, the doors are rotated 180 ° out of the plane of the drawing to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is to be understood that the plugs 174, arranged in the recesses 116 are inserted into the sockets 186, 188 in the left and right frame part 36 and 36, respectively. 38. Preferably, each plug 174 includes an eccentric mounting pin 176 through which a suitable mounting screw can be inserted and screwed into an opening 178 in the mounting members 36, 38, which are identical but arranged 180 ° end to end relative to the other.

According to Fig. 5, the frame 24 is arranged to receive the doors 22 so that they open at the center, as shown in Fig. 1. The upper hinge fittings 126 (shown in solid lines) are thus located at the left and right ends of the upper mounting frame part 48. Likewise, the lower mounting plates 136 (shown in solid lines) are located at the left and higher ends of the lower frame portion 50. In other words, the left door is suspended to the left on a hinge shaft along the vertical frame portion 44 and the right door is suspended to the right on a hinge shaft along the vertical frame portion 46. As shown in Fig. 2, the plugs 174 are inserted in the left and right sockets 186 resp. 188. - _

In accordance with the present invention, a selectively reversible socket 196 is mounted in the central poet 52 to receive the plug 174 when it is desired to have one of the doors 22 suspended at the post. This is the arrangement shown in Figs. 3 and 4. To accomplish this, it is necessary to move the upper right hinge bracket 126 to near

458 475 the middle poet 52 (shown dashed in Fig. 5). It is also necessary to move the lower mounting plate 136 and the slidable locking part 158 ​​from the lower higher position to in the vicinity of the central post 52 (as shown in dashed line 5 in Fig. 5). Furthermore, it is necessary to move the stop plate 146 on the door 22 from the lower left position, shown in Fig. 6, to the right corner of the door 22, (shown in phantom in Fig. 6).

According to the invention, the reversible socket 196 is electrically mounted to the central poet 52. The figures

7-9 show the socket 196 as it is assembled during manufacture and appears according to Figs. 1, 2 and 5. As shown in Figs.

and 9, the post 52 is substantially box-shaped with a channel-shaped base portion 54 having a backing 56 preferably made of aluminum or other metal alloy. The duct 54 is shaped to receive the heating elements 56 and is closed at the front by a front panel 60.

The socket 196 includes a body 198, an eccentric rear portion 200 and a front, plug receiving portion 202 axially aligned with the body 198. The rear portion 56 of the poet is provided with a centrally located opening 90 for receiving the eccentric end 200 of the socket 196. The front panel 60 is formed with an enlarged opening 92 and a pair of mounting holes 94 which receive fasteners shown here as screws 96.

To hold the socket 196 in the poet 52 and set it in its proper position, a mounting plate 210 is provided. As best seen in Figures 7 and 8, the plug receiving portion 202 of the socket 196 is non-circular in shape, with a flattening opposite the opening b. Likewise, the mounting plate 210 is formed with a complementary non-circular opening 212 for receiving the front portion. 202 of the socket. The mounting plate 210 is also provided with holes 214, through which the fixing screws 96 are inserted.

In accordance with the invention, the non-circular opening 212 in the mounting plate 210 is located eccentrically with respect to the vertical centerline of the plate. Thus, as shown in Figs. 7-9, when the socket 196 is installed in the post 52 with the cover plate 210 in place, the plug receiving end 202 of the socket is arranged to the left of the center 40 of the post with a distance e representing the eccentricity of

458 475 the rear portion 200 of the socket 196. It should also be noted that the plug receiving end 202 of the socket 196 is disposed in the left portion of the enlarged opening 92 in the front panel 60 of the poet 52. The mounting screws 96 are inserted through the holes 214 in the mounting plate 210 and screwed into the openings 94 in the front panel 60 of the poet 52. It should be noted that the lower screw 96 is inserted through the opening in the mounting tab 176 of the plug 174 to hold the plug securely in place.

When it is desired to suspend one of the doors 22 along the right side of the central poet 52, it is a simple operation to restore the selectively reversible socket 196. First, the lower screw 96 (Fig. 7) and the plug 174 are removed and the door 22 is lifted. off from its lower mounting plate 136 and then lowered from its upper hinge fitting 126. The upper screw 96 (fig. 7> is then removed and the mounting plate 210 can be used as a fabric length to rotate the socket 180 ° clockwise to the position shown in Figs. 10-12, where it is offset eccentrically to the right from the center line of the post 52. The lower screw 96 is then reinserted through the mounting plate 210 and after the door 22 is re-suspended in the frame 24, the plug 174 is reinserted into the socket 196. This is the position shown in Figs. 3-4 and 10-12.

From the foregoing it will be seen that an improved electrical mounting arrangement has been provided for reversible refrigerator hood doors. The socket 196 can be pre-connected and installed in the central post in the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 7-9. This position also connects to the suspension of a door along the left side of the central post (position not shown). When it is desirable to hang one of the doors 22 along the right side of the central poet, shown in FIG. 3 and 4, the selectively reversible socket 174 is rotated from the factory-installed position shown in Figs. 7-9 to the on-site installation position shown in Figs. 10-12. As indicated above, the mounting plate 210 can be used as a weave length to rotate the socket 174 about the eccentric end portion 200. It should be understood that the socket 174 need not be removed from the post. Thus, there is no danger of the socket falling out of the opening 92 in the front panel 605, which would require either fishing for the socket or removal of the front panel itself.