TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention concerns a door for a refrigerator cabinet.

PRIOR ART

Refrigerator cabinets are known comprising a refrigerated compartment, which has an opening to access the inside of the compartment itself, and one or more doors adapted to selectively occlude or disengage at least partially the opening.

Such doors generally each comprise at least one panel in a thermally insulating and optically transparent material, for example in glass or polymeric material.

The doors may comprise a frame of support of the panel, formed by a plurality of rectilinear edge profiles that substantially frame the panel and by means of which the panel is movably connected to the refrigerated compartment.

It is also possible for the panel to be of the frameless type, that is, without a support frame but in which the plates that make up the panel are joined together by means of spacer elements so as to form a gap between the plates filled with an inert gas.

The refrigerator cabinets are arranged in areas where there is external lighting to allow the products arranged inside the refrigerator cabinets themselves to be seen.

An object of the present invention is to provide a door for a refrigerator cabinet provided with a lighting apparatus inside the same door.

An object of the present invention is therefore to overcome this drawback of the prior art within the framework of a rational, effective and cost-effective solution.

Such object is achieved by the features of the invention reported in the independent claim. The dependent claims outline preferred and/or particularly advantageous aspects of the invention.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTIO

The invention makes available a door for a refrigerator cabinet, comprising a thermally and optically transparent insulating type panel, said door comprising lighting means connectable to an external electrical power source, characterized in that it comprises a support arranged along a portion of the perimeter side edge of said panel and configured to receive said lighting means in a removable manner.

In this way, the door is provided with lighting elements inside the door itself. In addition, in the event of failure or malfunction, it is possible to remove the lighting means from the support to replace them with others or to repair them.

According to one aspect of the invention, the support is arranged inside the panel.

In this way, the door is more compact since the lighting means are arranged inside the panel.

According to another aspect of the invention, the portion of the perimeter side edge of the panel has a cavity and the support is arranged in said cavity.

In this way, the support is easily inserted during the assembly of the door.

According to another aspect of the invention, the panel is a frameless panel preferably formed by at least two plates and by spacer elements adhering to the two plates and adapted to create a hermetic gap between the two plates; the cavity is formed by the space delimited by the inner faces of the two plates and by the outer wall of said spacer elements.

Preferably, the door comprises a connection element between the outer wall of said spacer elements and the support.

Preferably said support comprises a through hole for the insertion of said lighting means. In this way the lighting means are easily insertable and removable from the support. Preferably the lighting means are at least one LED bar.

In this way, the lighting means emit a low thermal energy that does not cause problems for the refrigeration of the refrigerator cabinet, have a low consumption of electrical energy and have a light weight such that they are easily supported inside the door.

Preferably the panel is rectangular in shape and the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge comprises at least one vertical rectilinear edge.

Still preferably the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge comprises the two vertical rectilinear edges.

The invention also makes available a refrigerator cabinet comprising:

- a refrigerated compartment,

- an opening to access the refrigerated compartment,

- a door according to claim 1 , adapted to selectively occlude or disengage at least partially the access opening.

BRIEF DESC IPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the invention will be more apparent after reading the following description provided by way of a non-limiting example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is an exploded view of a door for a refrigerator cabinet according to the invention. Figure 2 is a front view of the door according to the invention.

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional view of Figure 2 according to the sectional plane Ill-Ill.

Figure 4 is an enlargement of detail IV of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a side view of the door of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a top view of the door of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a partial sectional view of Figure 6 according to the sectional plane VII-VII.

Figure 8 is a perspective and schematic view of a refrigerator cabinet provided with the door of the previous figures.

Figure 9 is a first embodiment of the door depicted like in Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a second embodiment of the door depicted like in Figure 7.

Figure 9 is substantially Figure 7 in which the conformation of a first embodiment of lighting means of the door according to the invention is clarified.

BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

With particular reference to these figures, a door for a refrigerator cabinet (not shown in the figures) comprising a body provided with a refrigerated compartment, inside which the products to be refrigerated are stored has been globally indicated with 10.

Said compartment has an access opening, for example rectangular in shape, through which it is possible to access the compartment from the outside.

The door 10 is hinged to the framing of the access opening of the compartment, and adapted to selectively occlude or disengage, at least partially, the access opening for access to the compartment. In particular, the door 10 is movable with respect to the compartment between a closed position, in which it at least partially occludes the access opening of the compartment, and an open position, in which it allows access to the refrigerated compartment.

In particular, in the case where the refrigerator cabinet comprises only one door, when it is in the closed position it entirely occludes the access opening.

In the case where the refrigerator cabinet comprises a plurality of doors, such as two doors, each door occludes a respective portion of the access opening or allows access thereto. Overall, the access to the access opening is completely prevented when all the doors are in the closed position (in which the doors are also coplanar with each other). In the case where the refrigerator cabinet comprises only one door, the door 10 has the same shape as the access opening of the compartment; since preferably the access opening is rectangular in shape, the closing door will also be of the rectangular type.

The door 10 is hinged to the body of the refrigerator cabinet.

For example, the door comprises a hinge provided with a first portion integral with the door and a second portion movable with respect to the first portion around the hinge axis and adapted to be fixed to the body of the refrigerator cabinet, i.e. to the framing of the access opening of the compartment.

The door 10 comprises a panel 30, for example rectangular in shape, made of thermally insulating material.

Preferably the panel 30 is also made of optically transparent material, for example such optically transparent and thermally insulating material may be glass or a polymeric material or a combination of both.

In particular, the panel 30 can be formed by a single plate or by a plurality of plates of said thermally insulating and optically transparent material, for example spaced apart from each other so that there is a gap between the plates, preferably containing only one (refractory) gas.

Preferably, the panel 30 is of the frameless type, that is, the plates that make it up are joined together by means of a plurality of spacer elements that form an annular path such as to delimit the gap; the spacer elements, thanks to the use of adhesives (silicone glues or double-sided adhesive tapes), are fixed to the respective plates and make the gap a sealed chamber.

The first portion of the hinge for example is rigidly fixed to one of these spacer elements. In the illustrated embodiment, the panel 30 comprises two (rectangular) plates 31 , 32 parallel to each other. For example, such plates have uniform thickness between them.

For example, in the case where the panel comprises two plates 31 , 32, a plurality of spacer bars 40,90 are provided interposed between the two plates 31 , 32 and in contact with them so as to form an annular path, for example a rectangular framing formed by four rectilinear spacer bars, which delimits a gap 34 made between the two plates and makes it a sealed chamber. The chamber is filled with inert gas.

The spacer bars may be made of metal, such as for example aluminium, or preferably of an optically transparent polymer, such as for example methacrylate. The panel 30 comprises a front greater face 36 (rectangular in shape) and an opposite rear greater face 37 (rectangular in shape), for example the first one directed to the direction opposite to the inside of the compartment and the second one directed towards the inside of the compartment when the door is in the closed position.

The front greater face 36 is made available by the outermost plate of the panel, e.g. the plate 32, and the rear greater face 37 is made available by the innermost plate, e.g. the plate 31 .

Such faces 36 and 37 are, in the illustrated embodiment, flat and parallel to each other, for example lying on vertical lying planes.

In one embodiment not illustrated, such faces may be curved, e.g. the front greater face may be curved (e.g. like a portion of cylindrical side surface) with concavity directed towards the inside of the compartment and positioned so that a plane tangent at one point to the first greater face is parallel to the hinge axis C.

The panel 30 comprises a perimeter side edge 50 extending from the front greater face 36 to the rear greater face 37. In particular, the perimeter side edge substantially extends from a perimeter of the front greater face 36 to a perimeter of the rear greater face 37.

The perimeter side edge 50, in the case where the panel 30 is rectangular in shape, comprises a plurality of rectilinear edges 51 -54 consecutive to each other that together define the perimeter side edge itself.

In particular, in the illustrated embodiment, the perimeter side edge is rectangular and comprises a first vertical rectilinear edge 51 (normally parallel to the hinge axis), a second vertical rectilinear edge 53 parallel to the first vertical rectilinear edge, a first horizontal rectilinear edge 52 and a second horizontal rectilinear edge 53 that connect the first and second vertical rectilinear edge on opposite ends of the latter.

In accordance with the invention, along a portion of the perimeter side edge 50 of the panel 30 there is arranged an at least partially (preferably entirely) optically transparent or semi-transparent (preferably entirely optically transparent) support 60 adapted to receive lighting means 70,70’ (comprising one or more light sources) in a removable manner.

These lighting means are oriented towards the plate 31 , i.e. they are facing onto its greater face 37. In other words, the lighting means are oriented towards the inside of the refrigerator cabinet. The support 60 can be elongated in shape along a respective longitudinal axis, for example parallel to the axis of the hinge with which the panel is connected to the refrigerator cabinet.

The lighting means 70,70’ are connectable to an external power supply source not visible in the figures.

Preferably, the lighting means consist of at least one LED bar 70,70’; the latter is a bar made of plastic material containing, i.e. on which there are positioned, a plurality of LED diodes arranged in succession the one after the other in a column and electrically connected to each other so that the bar 70,70’ presents a single inlet for the electrical power supply of the bar that allows switching on all the LED diodes of the bar 70,70’.

Each LED of the LED bar 70,70’ emits a conical light beam (with vertex of the cone in the LED) a central axis of which of the light cone crosses (only) the plate 31 (and does not cross the plate 32).

This central axis is directed towards the inside of the refrigerator cabinet.

The support 60 is a support (entirely) made of plastic material, preferably of PMMA, which is configured to receive the lighting means 70,70’, i.e. at least one LED bar, in a removable manner. The support 60 may have a cavity or a groove adapted to receive the LED bar 70,70’. Preferably the support 60 is rectangular in section and preferably consists of a transparent material.

Preferably, the support 60 has a through hole 61 (totally) inside the support, adapted to accommodate at least one LED bar 70,70’ in its inside in a removable manner, for example that develops along the longitudinal axis of the support itself. The hole 61 may have a circular section but preferably a rectangular section.

Still preferably the through hole 61 is closed at the ends by means that can be easily removed from their seat for the removal of the entire LED bar 70,70’.

Preferably the support 60 is arranged inside the panel 30, i.e. interposed between the plate 31 and the plate 32, but it can also be arranged outside the panel itself and adjacent and in contact with the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge 50, for example thus interposed between two imaginary planes of which a first plane is a lying plane of the plate 31 and a second plane is a lying plane of the plate 32.

Preferably, the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge 50 of the panel 30 has a cavity 80 shaped to receive the support 60 and in which the support 60 is arranged. The cavity 80 is formed by the space between the at least two plates that make up the panel 30 and the spacer elements 40,90 that delimit the gap enclosed between the two plates.

Preferably, considering for example a panel formed by at least two plates, the cavity 80 is the space delimited by the opposite faces of the two plates and by the spacer elements. For example, considering the rectangular-shaped panel 30 formed only by the two plates 31 and 32, as illustrated in the figures, the cavity 80 is the space delimited by the opposite faces 38, 39 of the respective plates 31 , 32 and by the outer wall 42 of a spacer bar 90 of the plurality of spacer bars 40,90 delimiting the gap 34. In particular, the face 38 is the rear face of the plate 31 and the face 39 is the rear face of the plate 32, opposite the face

38 and spaced from it by the spacer bar 41 ; the wall 42 is orthogonal to the faces 38 and

39 so that cavity 80 has a U-section. The plurality of spacer bars 40,90 preferably consists of an opaque composite plastic material.

Preferably, the support 60 is arranged inside the cavity 80 so as not to protrude outside the portion of the perimeter side edge 50 of the panel 30. The outer profile of the support 60 is aligned with the outer profile of the plates 31 , 32.

In the case where the panel 30 has a rectangular shape, the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge 50 is at least one vertical rectilinear edge 51 ,53; in a preferred embodiment, the aforesaid portion of the perimeter side edge 50 coincides with both vertical rectilinear edges 51 ,53.

For example, considering a panel 30 formed only by the two plates 31 and 32, as illustrated in the figures there is provided a cavity 80 in both the vertical edge 51 and in the vertical edge 53. Each cavity 80 extends over the entire length of the vertical rectilinear edge 51 , 53 and is delimited by the outer wall 42 of the respective spacer bar 90 over almost the entire length of the vertical rectilinear edge. Each cavity 80 contains therein the support 60 which extends over the entire length of the cavity 80. The support 60 is connected to the respective spacer bar 90, in particular to the outer wall 42 of the spacer bar, by means of an adhesive.

The spacer bar 90, which we can also consider as a connection element (fork) 90, is an element made of polymeric material glued to the two plates, as well as a support 60 which in turn is fixed by means of a strip of adhesive material (double-sided adhesive) to the plate 31 and by means of another strip of adhesive material to the plate 32. The through hole 61 of each support 60 extends over the entire length of the support 60 and is capable of receiving therein the LED bar 70,70’.

Plugs 62 are provided to close each hole 61 at the ends 64 of the perforated support 60; the plugs are removable so that the LED bar 70,70’ can be inserted into the hole 61 or the LED bar 70,70’ can be removed from the hole 61 .

Each perforated support 60 also comprises two holes 66, communicating with the hole 61 and arranged at the respective ends 64, for the passage of the ends of power supply connectors 65 of the LED bar 70,70’. Preferably the axis of the holes 66 is orthogonal to the axis of the hole 61 .

The power supply connectors 65 are arranged inside cavities 68 made in the horizontal edges 52, 54 of the panel 30, always between the faces 38, 39 of the respective plates

31 , 32 and delimited by spacer bars 41 ; the cavities 68 are closed by means of plastic elements arranged on the edges 52, 54. The connectors 65 are connected by means of electrical wires 69 to an external power supply source not visible in the figures preferably by means of the passage of the same electrical wires inside a perforated pin of the hinge to connect with the electrical power supply of the refrigerator cabinet.

Preferably the plate 31 has a slightly lower extension than the plate 32 in the upper part of the panel; in this way the outer profile of the plate 32 is always aligned with the outer profile of the plate 31 on the vertical edges 51 and 53 and on the horizontal edge 54 but not on the edge 52 where the profile of the plate 32 protrudes with respect to the profile of the plate 31 .

The door may also comprise a handle glued directly in contact with the panel 30, i.e. from the front greater surface 36, on the contact areas 33.

Figures 9 and 10 illustrate two different embodiments of the applicable lighting means, in which the respective LED strips emit a light beam, i.e. light beams, which cross the plate

32.

In both embodiments, the through hole 61 comprises a support surface 67 parallel to the plates 31 and 32, which is planar, for example flat and on which a back of the LED bar 70,70’ is positioned, where the back is a face of the bar opposite to a face from which the individual LEDs of the bar protrude.

In the embodiment of Figure 9, the axes of the light cones of the LEDs of the LED bar 70 are substantially perpendicular to the plate 31 , i.e. to the face 37. In particular, the LEDs comprise an emission face 68 arranged parallel to the support surface and the axis of the light cone is substantially perpendicular to the emission face.

In the embodiment of Figure 10, the axes of the light cones of the LEDs of the LED bar 70’ are inclined with respect to the plate 31 , i.e. to the face 37. In particular, the LEDs comprise an emission face 68’ arranged perpendicularly to the support surface and the axis of the light cone is substantially inclined with respect to the emission face. In particular, each LED is lifted from the respective bar by means of a plurality of electric electrodes 69 of the LEDs themselves.

Although not illustrated in the figures, the plate 32, (only) in a portion at the lighting means 70,70’, is covered by a layer of opaque paint, i.e. by a strip of opaque paint that extends parallel to a longitudinal axis of the support 60, adapted to avoid that the light generated by the lighting means, and therefore the reflections that are generated in the support 60 when the LEDs are switched on, are visible to an observer outside the refrigerator. This avoids blinding, or otherwise annoying, a user looking in the direction of the refrigerator. This layer of paint develops along the perimeter edge of the plate 32 at the support 60 and for example has a width (measured in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support) substantially equal to the width of the support (measured in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the support).

The invention thus conceived is susceptible to many modifications and variants, all falling within the same inventive concept.

Furthermore, all of the details can be replaced with other technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent shapes and sizes, can be whatever according to the requirements without for this reason departing from the scope of protection of the following claims.