EQUIPMENT FOR USE IN GALLEYS IN VESSELS

Abstract

An item of galley equipment is disclosed. The item includes an interior liner, a first and a second door, and a catch. The interior liner defines an interior (V) and an access mouth. The catch comprises a static part and a mobile part. The first door comprises a first part of the catch and is hingedly connected to a part of the galley equipment which is not the second door or supported on the second door. The first door may reversibly rotate about the hinge connection between an open position and a closed position. The second door comprises a second part of the catch and is hingedly connected to a part of the galley equipment which is not the first door or supported on the first door. The second door may reversibly rotate about the hinge connection between an open position and a closed position.

Claims

1. An item of galley equipment comprising an interior liner, a first and a second door, and a catch, in which the interior liner defines an interior and an access mouth, the catch comprises a static part and a mobile part, the first door comprises a first part of the catch and is hingedly connected to a part of the galley equipment which is not the second door or supported on the second door, the first door may reversibly rotate about the hinge connection between an open position and a closed position, the second door comprises a second part of the catch and is hingedly connected to a part of the galley equipment which is not the first door or supported on the first door, the second door may reversibly rotate about the hinge connection between an open position and a closed position, and when both the first and second doors are in their closed position the first and second doors are adjacent to each other and close the access mouth and the static and mobile parts of the catch may reversibly engage with each other.

2. The item of galley equipment according to claim 1 in which the access mouth is rectangular and the first and second doors are of substantially the same dimensions as each other.

3. The item of galley equipment according to claim 1 in which the first and second doors each have a first edge, the first edges of the first and second doors are adjacent to each other when both the first and second doors are in their closed position, one of the parts of the catch is supported on the first door adjacent to a portion of the first edge of the first door, the other part of the catch is supported on the second door adjacent to a portion of the first edge of the second door, and when both the first and second doors are in their closed position the mobile part of the catch may reversibly move between an open configuration in which the mobile and static parts of the catch are not engaged with each other and a closed configuration in which the mobile and static parts of the catch are engaged with each other.

4. The item of galley equipment according to claim 3 in which the mobile part of the catch does not extend from the first edge of the door on which it is supported when the mobile part of the catch is in the open configuration and does extend from the first edge of the door on which it is supported when the mobile part of the catch is in the closed configuration, and the static part of the catch does not extend from the first edge of the door on which it is supported.

5. The item of galley equipment according to claim 1 in which the mobile part of the catch comprises at least one catch element that may reversibly engage with a part of the galley equipment that is not a door or the static catch part when both the first and second doors are in their closed position.

6. The item of galley equipment according to claim 5 in which the engagement of the mobile and static catch parts causes engagement of the or each catch element with the or each part of the galley equipment that is not a door or the other catch part.

7. The item of galley equipment according to claim 1 in which the galley equipment comprises a support structure, in which the support structure is so configured that it will fit within the interior and pass through the access mouth, one of the first and second doors is coupled to the support structure via a coupling, and movement of the door coupled to the support structure between its closed position and an open position causes the support structure to be moved from a retracted position in which the support structure is substantially wholly within the interior to an extended position in which at least part of the support structure extends out of the interior through the access mouth.

8. The item of galley equipment according to claim 7 in which the other of the first and second doors is also coupled to the support structure via a second coupling element and movement of the first and second doors between their closed positions and open positions causes the support structure to be moved from the retracted to the extended position.

9. The item of galley equipment according to claim 7 in which a user to contact and move one of the first and second doors from the closed position to an open position causes the support structure to be moved from the retracted to the extended position and the other of the first and second doors which is not contacted by the user to move from its closed position to an open position.

10. The item of galley equipment according to claim 7 in which the movement of the door or doors coupled to the support structure from an open position to the closed position causes the support structure to move from an extended position to the retracted position.

11. The item of galley equipment according to claim 7 in which the support structure reversibly latches in an extended position when the or each door to which the support structure is coupled moves into a predetermined open position, and the latching of the support structure needs to be released before each door to which the support structure is coupled may move towards its closed position.

12. The item of galley equipment according to claim 7 in which at least one of the couplings comprises a pivot and a channel along which the pivot may move when the or each door to which the support structure is coupled moves between the closed position and an open position.

14. The item of galley equipment according to claim 1 in which the item of galley equipment comprises one of a heater element and is a food heater or oven, or the item of galley equipment comprises a chiller element and is a fridge.

15. A vessel comprising a galley in which the galley comprises at least one item of gallery equipment according to claim 1, and the vessel is an aircraft, ship, boat, train, or railway carriage.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The present invention will be further described and explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which

[0046] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of an item of galley equipment according to the present disclosure with the doors closed;

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of an interior liner of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1;

[0048] FIG. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of a support structure of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1;

[0049] FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a coupling of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1;

[0050] FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1 with the doors open;

[0051] FIG. 6 shows a sectional view along the line A-A′ of a part of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1 when the doors are closed;

[0052] FIG. 7 shows a sectional view along the line A-A′ of a part of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1 when the doors are open;

[0053] FIG. 8 shows a schematic detail an embodiment of the catch of the item of galley equipment of FIG. 1;

[0054] FIG. 9 shows a schematic detail of the second door supporting a part of the catch of FIG. 8 without the part of the catch present;

[0055] FIG. 10 shows a schematic detail of the second door supporting a part of the catch of FIG. 8 with the part of the catch present;

[0056] FIG. 11 shows a schematic detail of the first door supporting a part of the catch of FIG. 8;

[0057] FIG. 12 shows a schematic detail of the catch of FIG. 8 with the doors not shown and the catch in the open position;

[0058] FIG. 13 shows a schematic detail of the catch of FIG. 8 with the doors not shown and the catch in the closed position; and

[0059] FIG. 14 shows a schematic detail of a second embodiment of an item of galley equipment according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0060] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 6, an oven 2 is an item of galley equipment. The oven 2 includes an outer shell 4, a first door 6 and a second door 8. A control panel 10 is also provided to control a heating means within the oven (not shown). The first and second doors 4, 6 are held in a closed position (as shown) by a catch 12. The first and second doors 4, 6 are attached to the outer shell 4 by hinges 56. The hinges 56 have parallel axis of rotation (not shown) and allow the first and second doors 4, 6 to rotate around the hinges 56. From the closed position where the edges 76 of the first and second doors 4, 6 remote from the hinges 56 (termed first edges 76) are adjacent to each other, to an open position in which access to the interior of the oven 2 may be gained.

[0061] Each of the first and second doors 6, 8 have a closure face 46 (which is the face that partially closes the access mouth 26 when the first or second door 6, 8 is in its closed position and which is shown in FIGS. 4 to 7) and an outer face 80.

[0062] With reference to FIGS. 2 and 6, housed within the shell 4 is an interior liner 14. The interior liner 14 is formed from first and second side walls 16, 18, a top wall 20, a bottom wall 22 and a back wall 24. Those walls 16, 18, 20, 22, 24 collectively define and surround 5 sides of an interior V which is a substantially rectangular cuboid volume. The edges 16E, 18E, 20E, 22E of walls 16, 18, 20, 22 which are not shared with a different wall define an access mouth 26. The interior liner 14 is spaced from the outer shell 4 and the space between the interior liner 14 and outer shell 4 is filled with an insulating material 78.

[0063] With reference to FIG. 3, within the interior V a support structure in the form of a support frame 28 may be located. The support frame 28 is dimensioned to wholly fit within the interior V and to be able to pass through the access mouth 26. The support frame is formed from upright frame members 30A, 30B, 30C, 30D and eight cross members 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D, 32E, 32F, 32G 32H to form a rectangular cuboid shaped frame. Extending between upright frame members 30A and 30B are a plurality of tray supports 34A, extending between upright frame members 30B and 30C are a plurality of tray supports 34B, and extending between upright frame members 30C and 30D are a plurality of tray supports 34C. In FIG. 3 three of each of tray support members 34A, 34B, and 34C are shown. Other numbers of tray supports 34A, 34B, and 34C may be present and fall within the scope of this disclosure. Each of the tray supports 34A, 34B, and 34C are substantially parallel to cross members 32A, 32B, and 32C respectively.

[0064] Attached to the upright frame members 30A and 30D are coupling plates 36A and 36D. Each of the coupling plates 36A and 36D includes an aperture 54 passing through the coupling plate 36A and 36D.

[0065] With reference to FIG. 4, a coupling 38 comprises a coupling plate 36A, a pivot block 40, a channel 42, a coupling pin 44 and a tension spring 58. The channel 42 is attached to the closure face 46 of the first door 6 by means not shown.

[0066] The channel 42 is configured to receive a base part 48 of the pivot block 40, to loosely retain the base part 48 within the channel 42, and to allow the base part 48 to travel along the channel 42. The ends of the channel 42 are blocked by stops 58A, 58B which prevent the base part 48 exiting one of the ends of the channel 42. Extending from the base part 48 of the pivot block 40 in a direction away from the channel 42 is a pivot plate 50. The pivot plate 50 includes an aperture 52.

[0067] A biasing element 60 in the form of a tension spring has a first end 60A and a second end 60B. The first end 60A of the biasing element 60 is adapted to be engaged with the stop block 58A via an engagement element (not shown). The second end 60B of the engagement element 60 is adapted to engage with the pivot block 40 via an engagement element 62. The biasing element 60 causes the pivot block to be biased toward a position along the channel 42 that is adjacent to the stop 58A, that is a position at the end of the channel 42 remote from the hinge 58.

[0068] The channel 42 and the coupling plate 36A are so located on the first door 6 and upright 30A respectively that the when the support frame 28 is at least partially located in the interior V the pivot block 40 can be moved along the channel 42 so that the apertures 52 and 54 in the pivot plate 50 and coupling plate 36A are adjacent to each other and approximately co-axial. The coupling pin 44 can then be passed through both of the apertures 52 and 54 and the pivot plate 50 and coupling plate 36A loosely and pivotally coupled to each other.

[0069] A coupling 38 is formed between the second door 8 and the support frame 28 in the same fashion as is described above in connection with the first door 6. The only difference to the coupling with the first door 6 is that the pivot plate 50 on the second door 8 couples to the coupling plate 36D.

[0070] With reference to FIGS. 5, and 7, the oven 2 is shown with the first and second doors 6, 8 in their fully open positions. The first and second doors 6, 8 are coupled to the support frame 28 by the couplings 38 (not shown in FIG. 5). The first and second doors 6, 8 are each attached to the outer shell 4 by the hinge 56.

[0071] The effect of coupling the first and second doors 6, 8 to the support frame 28 is that when the first and second doors are rotated about their hinges 56 the support frame 28 is caused to move into and out of the volume V. A further effect is that a user moving only one of the first and second doors 4, 6 between the closed position and an open position of the door will cause both the above described movement of the support frame 28 and movement of the other of the first and second doors 4. The biasing means 60 helps the pivot blocks 40 move along the channels 42 when the first and second doors 6, 8 are opened and to help avoid jamming of the first and second doors 6.8 and the support frame 28.

[0072] With reference to FIGS. 8 to 13, the catch 12 is so configured that it can reversibly retain the first and second doors 6, 8 in their closed position by forming an engagement between the two doors 6, 8. The catch 12 is formed from a mobile catch element 12A and a static catch element 12B.

[0073] The mobile catch element 12A is, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 13, mounted in the second door 8, and the static catch 12B mounted in the first door 6.

[0074] As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the mobile catch element 12A is formed from a user actuation means in the form of a handle 64, a rotation means in the form of a shaft 66 and a latch arm 68.

[0075] As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the second door 8 includes a surface recess 70A in the outer surface 80. The recess 70A is adjacent to and intersects the first edge 76 of the second door 8. The recess 70A is of sufficient depth that the handle 64 is fully within the volume defined by the recess 70A and does not extend out of the plane defined by the outer surface 80 of the second door 8.

[0076] The second door 8 also defines slot 82. The slot 82 has a mouth 84 in the first edge 76 of the door 8, and extends into the body of the second door 8. The boundaries of the slot 82 are shown by dashed lines 86. Intersecting the slot 82 is a bore 88 which has a mouth 92 opening into recess 70A, and a blind end 90.

[0077] The shaft 66 of the mobile catch element 66 is attached at a first end to the handle 64 and is dimensioned to fit within the bore 88 in the second door 8. The bore 88 and shaft 66 are both of circular cross-section and the shaft 66 may rotate around it's longitudinal axis whilst within the bore 88. Also attached to the shaft 66 is the latch arm 68. The latch arm 68 is attached to the shaft 66 at a position that allows the latch arm 68 to extend into the slot 82 in the second door 8. Rotation of the shaft 66 around its longitudinal axis causes the latch arm to sweep through a portion of the slot 82.

[0078] The bore 88 is so located in the second door 8 that the rotation of the shaft 66 around its longitudinal axis causes the latch arm to sweep through a portion of the slot 82 and in some parts of the rotation a portion of the latch arm 68 extends out of the slot 82 through the slot mouth 84.

[0079] The positioning of the recess 70A in the outer surface 80 of the second door 8 is such that the handle 64 of the mobile catch element 12A may rotate with the shaft 66 and not interfere with the portions of the second door 8 that define the recess 70A.

[0080] The static catch element 12B, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, is formed from a catch bar 94.

[0081] As shown in FIG. 11, the first door 6 includes a surface recess 70B in the outer surface 80. The recess 70B is adjacent to and intersects the first edge 76 of the first door 6. The recess 70B allows a space between the end of the handle 64 of the mobile catch element 12A and the body of the first door 6.

[0082] The first door 6 also defines slot 96. The slot 96 has a mouth 98 in the first edge 76 of the door 6, and extends into the body of the first door 6. The boundaries of the slot 96 are shown by dashed lines 100. The catch bar 94 extends across the slot 96. The slot 96 is so dimensioned that the end of the latch arm 68 can, when the first and second doors 6, 8 are in their closed positions extend into the slot 96 through the mouth 98 and pass behind the catch bar 94 into the latching void 102. This position is illustrated in FIG. 13 which, for clarity, shows only the mobile and static catch elements 12A, 12B.

[0083] When the mobile and static catch elements 12A, 12B are orientated as shown in FIG. 13 the location of the end of the latch arm 68 in the latching void 102 (shown in FIG. 11) has the effect that the first and second doors 6, 8 cannot rotate about their hinges 56 and away from each other because the catch bar 94 prevents the latch arm 68 leaving the slot 96 in the first door 6.

[0084] As may be seen in FIGS. 12 and 13, the orientation of the handle 64 relative to the second door 8 is directly linked to the position of the latch arm 68 and may thus give a viewer of the handle 64 an indication of the orientation of the latch arm 68 and hence whether the catch elements 12A, 12B are in a closed or locked configuration (as shown in FIG. 13) or an open configuration (as shown in FIG. 12).

[0085] With reference to FIG. 14, a second embodiment of an oven 2 is as the above described embodiment with the addition of a cam arm 104 and a pair of catch elements 106. The cam arm 104 is fixed to the shaft 66 and so configured that rotation of the shaft 66 to move the latch arm 68 from the closed position illustrated in FIG. 14 to an open position causes the catch elements 106 to withdraw from the extended position shown in FIG. 14 (where a part of each catch element 106 projects out of the door 8) to a position where all or substantially all of the catch element is within the structure of the door. When the catch elements 106 are in their extended position they can engage with the outer shell 4 of the oven to assist in securely holding the first and second doors 6, 8 in the closed position.

[0086] The above description is meant to be exemplary only, and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention disclosed. Still other modifications which fall within the scope of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in light of a review of this disclosure.

[0087] Various aspects of the items of gallery equipment disclosed in the various embodiments may be used alone, in combination, or in a variety of arrangements not specifically discussed in the embodiments described above. This disclosure is therefore not limited in its application to the details and arrangement of components set forth in the foregoing description or illustrated in the drawings. For example, aspects described in one embodiment may be combined in any manner with aspects described in other embodiments. Although particular embodiments have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects. The scope of the following claims should not be limited by the embodiments set forth in the examples, but should be given the broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the description as a whole.