Ice cream display cabinet and ice cream drawers

Abstract

An ice-cream display cabinet for storing and displaying bulk ice-cream in tubs includes a technical counter and a refrigerable display cabinet arranged above the technical counter. The refrigerable display cabinet extends in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal floor and houses ice-cream tubs arranged on planes parallel and spaced from each other along the vertical direction in the inner compartment of the display cabinet. The ice-cream tubs are removable from the inner compartment to reach the extracted configuration in which they are supported cantilevered by the refrigerable display cabinet. An ice-cream drawer is suitable for being inserted and extracted from the ice-cream display cabinet and comprises a refrigerable element made at least partially in a heat-storing material.

1 . Ice-cream display cabinet for storing and displaying bulk ice-cream in tubs, comprising:
 a technical counter, suitable to be placed on a horizontal floor and to contain refrigeration means;   a refrigerable display cabinet placed above the technical counter and comprising structural walls that define an inner compartment refrigerable by the refrigeration means;   
       said refrigerable display cabinet extending in a vertical direction perpendicular to the horizontal floor and housing ice-cream tubs suitable to hold bulk ice-cream, 
       wherein said ice-cream tubs are placed on parallel floors spaced in a vertical direction when contained in the inner compartment, 
       said ice-cream tubs being removable from the inner compartment in an extraction direction to reach the extracted configuration in which said ice-cream tubs are supported cantilevered by the refrigerable display cabinet. 
     
     
         2 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein each of said ice-cream tubs comprises a refrigerable element placed at least partially around and in contact with the ice-cream tub, said refrigerable element being made at least partially in a heat-storing material, suitable to accumulate refrigerant thermal energy when the ice-cream tub is inserted in the inner compartment and to give off refrigerant thermal energy (heat exchange) to the ice-cream when the ice-cream tub is extracted from the inner compartment. 
     
     
         3 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 1 , comprising sliding ice-cream drawers slidingly supported by the refrigerable display cabinet, wherein said tubs are contained in said sliding drawers. 
     
     
         4 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 3 , wherein the sliding ice-cream drawers are extractable in the extraction direction and so as to allow access to the ice-cream tub by an operator. 
     
     
         5 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 2  in which the refrigerable element is a container having an inner chamber containing a refrigerable liquid. 
     
     
         6 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 2  in which the refrigerable element is a container having an inner chamber containing a eutectic mixture. 
     
     
         7 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 1 , wherein the ice-cream tubs are also arranged juxtaposed with each other in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the vertical direction to form longitudinal rows of tubs, so that said tubs are arranged in a matrix configuration, in which the rows of the matrix are represented by longitudinal rows and the columns of the matrix are represented by tubs of ice-cream stacked on said planes parallel and spaced in the vertical direction. 
     
     
         8 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 7 , wherein between one of said longitudinal rows of ice-cream tubs and an adjacent row in the vertical direction at least one evaporator is placed to refrigerate the inner compartment. 
     
     
         9 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 8 , wherein between one of said longitudinal rows of tubs and an adjacent row in the vertical direction a condensate collection pan is interposed, placed under the evaporator. 
     
     
         10 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 3 , wherein the refrigerable display cabinet comprises
 a display wall, made at least partially from transparent material and suitable to be placed on a display side for a consumer customer,   and an operating side, placed opposite the display wall and accessible by an operator to take the ice-cream from the ice-cream tubs,   
       and wherein on said sliding ice-cream drawers, on the operating side, handles are fixed for the extraction of the sliding ice-cream drawers from the operating side toward the operator. 
     
     
         11 . Ice-cream display cabinet according to  claim 10 , wherein the display wall, at a perimeter side, thereof is connected to the refrigerable display cabinet in a manner rotatable about an axis of rotation, so as to be rotated to allow access to the inner compartment from the display side, by an operator. 
     
     
         12 . Ice-cream drawer, suitable to be inserted and extracted from an ice-cream display cabinet for the sale of bulk ice-cream, comprising a refrigerable element made at least partially in a heat-storing material, suitable to accumulate refrigerant thermal energy when the drawer is inserted in the ice-cream display cabinet and to give off refrigerant thermal energy (heat exchange) to the ice-cream when the drawer is extracted from the ice-cream display cabinet, said refrigerable element comprising a tub seat suitable to house a tub of ice-cream. 
     
     
         13 . Ice-cream drawer according to  claim 12 , in which the refrigerable element is a container having an inner chamber containing a refrigerable liquid or eutectic mixture. 
     
     
         14 . Ice-cream drawer according to  claim 12 , comprising a drawer frame which supports the refrigerable element and which is suitable to slide in the refrigerable display cabinet on runners. 
     
     
         15 . Ice-cream drawer according to  claim 13 , in which the refrigerable element comprises structural container walls in contact on one side with the inner chamber and on the other side suitable to receive in contact the ice-cream tub by means of a shaped coupling.