Locker assembly and associated insert assembly for a cabinet

Abstract

A locker assembly insert 10 for a cabinet 11. The cabinet 11 is a two door cabinet having a first door 12 and a second door 13. A central mullion 19 having a rear cover plate divides the cabinet 11 down the middle and the doors 12 and 13 close the cabinet. The locker assembly insert 10 in this case is applied to a two door cabinet and has a central support member 20 (which is put in place by first removing the rear cover plate behind the central mullion 19, the rear cover plate is tucked in behind the central support member 20 before assembly allowing it to be reused if the refrigerator is ever restored to its original condition). The insert is completed using vertical divider sets 27, 28 and 29 and ten door locker door assemblies 30 and 31.

Claims

1. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet; the refrigerated cabinet having an inner wall, a rear, a front and at least two outer doors at the front; the locker assembly being positioned inside the refrigerated cabinet, and comprises a locker door assembly in front of and spaced from vertical and horizontal locker dividers, the vertical and horizontal locker dividers defining locker spaces; the locker door assembly further comprising a main locker door having separately operable locker doors within the main locker door, so that each locker door may be aligned with a corresponding locker space; the main locker door being operably disposed inside of the outer doors of the refrigerated cabinet and being spaced from the locker spaces for independent operation; the refrigerated cabinet having a cooled space and further having an airflow passage means for flow of air from the rear of the cabinet toward the front and as a vertical airflow through the cabinet, and the horizontal dividers and the vertical airflow being so made and arranged for air flow preferentially through the horizontal dividers; the horizontal dividers being wire shelves located inside the cabinet with the vertical and horizontal dividers and the inner wall of the cabinet defining locker spaces so that adjacent locker spaces share the inner wall of the cabinet as a continuous inner wall of and across the said adjacent locker spaces and are located and aligned behind a respective one of the separately operable locker doors of the main locker door when the main locker door is closed.

2. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the horizontal dividers pass between the vertical dividers.

3. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the locker assembly is made up of components retro-fitted to the refrigerated cabinet comprising a substantially flat locker door assembly including a grid frame defining grid spaces, each grid space having a said separately operable locker door pivoted to the grid frame in each of the grid spaces, the vertical dividers comprising fitted flat plates aligned in respective vertical planes and being located behind and aligned with corresponding vertical cross members of the grid frame, the horizontal dividers being aligned in respective horizontal planes and being located behind and aligned with corresponding horizontal cross members of the grid frame and the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and is shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces.

4. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein an air intake is adjacent a top of the cabinet and the locker assembly has aligned individual vertical plates inserted between the horizontal dividers.

5. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein substantially all airflow through the locker spaces is through the horizontal dividers.

6. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the dividers are separate inserts positioned inside the cabinet independently of the locker door assembly, the locker door assembly being operatively secured in position over the locker spaces.

7. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the horizontal dividers pass between the vertical dividers and further wherein the locker assembly is made up of components retro-fitted to the refrigerated cabinet comprising a substantially flat locker door assembly including a grid frame defining grid spaces, each grid space having a said separately operable locker door pivoted to the grid frame in each of the grid spaces, the vertical dividers comprising fitted flat plates aligned in respective vertical planes and being located behind and aligned with corresponding vertical cross members of the grid frame, the horizontal dividers being aligned in respective horizontal planes and being located behind and aligned with corresponding horizontal cross members of the grid frame and the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and is shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces.

8. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and is shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces.

9. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein substantially all airflow through the locker spaces is through the horizontal dividers, the horizontal and vertical dividers being separate inserts positioned inside the cabinet such that the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and is shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces.

10. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 wherein substantially all airflow through the locker spaces is through the horizontal dividers, the horizontal and vertical dividers being separate inserts positioned inside the cabinet, the horizontal dividers passing between the vertical dividers such that the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and is shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces with the vertical and horizontal dividers being spaced from the rear wall of the cabinet.

11. A locker assembly in a refrigerated cabinet according to claim 1 the horizontal and vertical dividers are separate inserts positioned inside the cabinet such that the inner wall of the cabinet comprises a rear wall of the cabinet and the vertical and horizontal dividers are spaced from the rear wall of the cabinet which is thereby shared as a common rear wall of the adjacent the locker spaces.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order that the present improvements may be more readily understood and put into practical effect reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 is a front pictorial view of a locker assembly for a cabinet, the cabinet being shown in phantom;

(3) FIG. 2 is a is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with the cabinet lines have been removed showing the assembled insert;

(4) FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of the insert of FIG. 2 from the back;

(5) FIG. 4 is a pictorial view showing operation of the main insert doors in an environment where there are further external doors, as in a two door refrigerated locker assembly;

(6) FIG. 5 is a drawing similar to FIG. 4 showing operation of the individual locker doors;

(7) FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are exploded views showing how the insert is assembled, in respect of the shelving and dividers in FIGS. 6 and 7, and with respect to the base, doors and top in FIG. 8; and

(8) FIGS. 9, 10 and 11 illustrate flow of air during application of the insert of FIG. 1-8 to a refrigerated cabinet FIG. 10 being a section through A-A of FIG. 11.

METHOD OF PERFORMANCE

(9) Referring to the drawings and initially to FIGS. 1-4 there is illustrated a locker assembly insert 10 for a cabinet 11 (shown in phantom). In this case the cabinet 11 is a two door cabinet having a first door 12 and a second door 13 (these doors are shown open in FIG. 4). The cabinet has a base 14 opposite sides 15 and 16, a back 17 and a top 18. A central mullion 19 having a rear cover plate divides the cabinet 11 down the middle and the doors 12 and 13 close the cabinet from the position shown in FIG. 4 to the position shown in FIG. 1.

(10) It should be appreciated that when applied to a refrigerator the doors 12 and 13 provide the refrigerator seal in the usual way. The description below will deal with application of the present invention to a two door refrigerator but the invention could be applied to any cabinet. However, in the case of a refrigerated cabinet the relative dimensions, air inlets and vents, the relative disposition of the refrigeration elements and the parts of the insert are selected to optimise airflow and cooling characteristics for the example of a two door refrigerated cabinet given herein. It will be appreciated that in this example the components of the locker assembly are arranged to minimise interference with the normal operation of the refrigerator but this is only exemplary and it should be appreciated that the invention embraces the broad concept as modified for other refrigerator configurations that might have different air flow characteristics.

(11) The locker assembly insert 10 in this case is applied to a two door cabinet and has a central support member 20 (which is put in place by first removing the rear cover plate behind the central mullion 19, the rear cover plate is tucked in behind the central support member 20 before assembly allowing it to be reused if the refrigerator is ever restored to its original condition), a pair of vertical side rails 21 and 22, a pair of bases 23 and 24, a pair of tops 25 and 26. This gives the basic door frame. The insert is completed using vertical divider sets 27, 28 and 29 and ten door locker door assemblies 30 and 31. The wire shelves 32, there being eight of these illustrated, are usually supplied with the refrigerator and accordingly are not part of the insert, however the invention also embodies the whole combination of a locker assembly inclusive of the cabinet with the insert shown whether they be assembled from the same parts illustrated below or configured from other parts to give the equivalent, or substantially equivalent result.

(12) FIG. 4 illustrates the locker door assemblies 30 and 31 open. The tops and bases 23-26 have locks 33-36 so that the outer door frames 37 and 38 may be locked. This permits the use of master keys, pass card or other electronic means to open all the doors at once. The individual doors 39 (only one numeral is used) are individually locked with locks 40 so a master key can be used to unlock and open all the doors as a main door 30 and 31 with the individual users having separate keys pass card or other electronic means for the doors 39, six of these doors 41-46 are shown open in FIG. 5.

(13) FIGS. 6-8 show the assembly method by which an insert is located inside the two door cabinet 11. In the illustrated embodiment the parts are made from metal, typically stainless steel, but any material suited to the purpose may be used. If the assembly were to be used in a lunchroom the parts might be plastic in a more secure situation as in blood storage facility they might be stainless steel.

(14) As depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 each of the divider sets 27, 28 and 29 comprises five dividers 47. Each of bases 23 and 24 has spaced slots 48, 49 and 50. These take tabs 51, 52 and 53. A further slot in each base that is not visible in FIG. 8 but this is present and takes tab 54 on the divider. Lower and upper divider coupling rails 55 and 56 are similarly slotted to take tabs and to thereby receive the divider 47 and so on this is repeated to build up the set. The coupling rails are U-shaped and fit over the central wire in a wire shelf 32. Where two wire shelves 32 meet, divider coupling rails 57 and 58 as depicted in FIG. 7 are used in a similar fashion to the coupling rails 55 and 56. The coupling rails 57 and 58 are slightly wider. The coupling rails are rolled, folded or moulded and include spaced grooves such as shown at 59 and 60 which aid to assist localisation of the coupling rails over cross wires 61 and 62 of the wireframe shelves 32. Other grooves and slots shown are to fit around the wires.

(15) Each door 30 and 31 is formed as a grid frame having an outer peripheral frame 63, a central frame member 64 and four cross frame members 65, these together form a grid for the individual locker doors 39. Each door assembly 30 and 31 has a pivot pin top and bottom locatable in holes 66 and 67 in the bases 23 and corresponding holes in the top sections 24. Thus as illustrated in FIG. 8, where a refrigerated cabinet is already equipped with two doors and wire formed shelves 32, the locker assembly insert may be shipped as a flat pack and the refrigerator may be transformed into a refrigerated locker assembly by using the present invention. Since vertical dividers are the only parts that enter the cooled space as long as the air flow is vertical and the outlets into the space are uniform across the space the cooling characteristics of the refrigerator remain effectively the same. An example is given below.

(16) Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10 the circulation of cool air is illustrated in relation to the arrows shown in the drawings. In particular the top sections 25 and 26 have respective grilles 68 and 69 and these are located adjacent top intake grilles 70 and 71 of the refrigerated cabinet. The cabinet itself has a rear manifold 71 and there are back outlet grilles 72, 73, 74, 75, and 76 on one side and the same on the opposite side, so that inner wall 77 (shown in phantom) of the cabinet is shared by the locker spaces. These grilles bridge across the vertical dividers as concerns the sets 27 and 29. Air then flows up through the wire shelves 32 to the intakes 70 and 71.

(17) Whilst the above has been given by way of illustrative example many variations and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the broad ambit and scope of the invention as herein set forth. For example, the number and types of spaces and doors could be of any configuration, one side may have five full width lockers and one side may have ten half width lockers as a combo, or one whole fridge may have five full width lockers on each side, ten in total, and so on. Further, any shape of cabinet may be accommodated using a suitably modified variation of the present invention.