Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a door stop comprising fastening elements for fastening the door stop to a frame and a first damping device for slowing down a door which moves towards the door stop during operation after said door reaches a first receiving distance. Another aspect of the present invention relates to a cooling device comprising a frame and one or more glass doors mountable in the frame.

Prior art

International patent publication WO2011090377 discloses a damper for a door, which prevents doors closing with a bang or continuing to rattle. The damper consists of a pin with a spring, which is fastened into a fixed part of a door frame and receives the door in a damping fashion when the door is closing.

German patent publication DE-A-10 2009 019107 discloses a door stop having two damping elements arranged in parallel for damping a closing door, for example, in stages. The door stop is fastened to a hinge side. In an embodiment, the inner damping element is arranged in a hinged fashion and the outer damping element comprises an adjusting screw for adjusting both the height and the level of damping. This document does not specify any features relating to the alignment of doors in combination with the door stop.

US patent publication US 2003/213663 discloses a door stop for damping a closing door, for example, in stages. The door stop functions on the basis of two pistons which move telescopically and enable damping in stages. In an embodiment, a first piston is gently damped by means of a spring, for example, and a second piston is damped to a greater extent by means of air. This document also does not disclose any features relating to the alignment of doors in combination with the door stop.

US patent publication US-A- 1,579,265 discloses a damping mechanism for damping doors which are slammed, for example, comprising a door stop, a block and a rubber ball hanging from a chain, which is connected to a rotatable pin. The damping effect is achieved by a combination of the displacement of the door stop, the resulting rotation of the pin and the displacement of the rubber ball. The damping mechanism is mounted on the vertical parts of the frame. This document also does not disclose any features relating to the alignment of doors in combination with the damping mechanism.

Summary of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a door stop which is specifically suitable for use in combination with glass doors in, for example, a refrigerated display case in a supermarket.

According to the present invention, a door stop of the kind described in the preamble is provided, wherein the door stop further comprises a second damping device for receiving the moving door after it reaches a second receiving distance, wherein the second receiving distance is smaller than the first receiving distance. The door stop further comprises an adjustment device for adjusting the position of the door stop with respect to the frame after the door stop has been fitted. It is hereby possible to provide a dual and stepped damping effect using a simple construction in itself, enabling quiet use in practice. It is also possible to achieve a pleasing and neat adjustment when there is a plurality of doors attached in the frame, creating a level surface of the doors, even after long-term use.

In a further embodiment, the second damping device is combined with the adjustment device. The adjustment device comprises, for example, an adjusting screw and the second damping device comprises a cap of deformable material, such as silicone, which fits onto the head of the adjusting screw. It is therefore possible, in a very simple manner, to construct a door stop having a combination of functions which enable a door to be mounted in a frame in a simple manner, which door stop is adjustable (pleasing level surface of a plurality of doors) and slows down and damps the movement of the door in an excellent manner as the door closes, as a result of which there is no noise pollution.

In a further embodiment, the first damping device comprises a damper which is based on spring force, hydraulic damping and/or friction damping. The first damping device can also have an adjustable damping action, as a result of which it is possible to use said damping device for different types of doors (in terms of material and dimension).

In a further embodiment, the first damping device is fastened to the door stop by means of a fastening device which comprises a third damping device disposed on a front surface of the door stop, for example in the form of a collar of (slightly) flexible material. This results in an even better damping effect and an associated noise reduction.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a cooling device having a frame and one or more glass doors mountable in the frame, wherein the cooling device comprises one or more door stops according to one of the above-described

embodiments per glass door. A door stop is fastened to the frame close to the centre of a glass door, for example. This makes it possible to provide a cooling installation, for example as used in supermarkets for various fresh products, which can be adjusted very well from an aesthetic perspective, so that the cooling installation has a pleasing frontal surface. This frontal surface will remain intact even after multiple uses of the (glass) doors. In addition, a noise reduction is achieved by the combined damping effect of the door stop, which is particularly important in this type of cooling installation where the doors are opened and closed numerous times per day.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention will now be described in more detail by means of a number of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a door stop fastened to a frame according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 shows a front view of the door stop of Fig. 1 ; and

Fig. 3 shows a side view of the door stop of Fig. 1.

Detailed description of exemplary embodiments

In many applications where doors are frequently opened and closed, use is made of dampers in order to slow down the last part of the closing action of doors. The embodiments of the door stop according to the present invention make it possible to further reduce undesired mechanical (background) noise. The present invention is particularly suitable for use in cooling installations such as those used more and more often in supermarkets and the like, because of the energy saving. In this case, (glass) doors are positioned in the frame of the cooling installation, in order to keep the cool air as much as possible inside the cooling installation. In the case of these cooling installations having (glass) doors, other demands also play a role, for example the aesthetic appearance.

Dutch application NL2005520 discloses a cooling installation having glass doors, wherein special hinges and door stops result in a front surface of the doors which closes in a pleasing manner. The door stops are of a type which as such is known, for example of plastic material. There is indeed some damping, which means that the doors do not break when they hit the door stop, but the low level of damping still produces noise when the doors are closed.

An embodiment of the door stop according to the present invention is shown in perspective view in Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows a front view of part of the cooling installation with door stop 1 and glass door 3, while Fig. 3 shows a side view of the door stop 1.

As shown in the embodiment from Figs 1 and 2, the door stop 1 is fastened to an upper edge of a frame 2 of a cooling installation. This can be achieved in various ways, as is known to the person skilled in the art, for example using fastening elements, such as one or more (adjustable) screw connections on the (frequently metal) frame 2.

The door stop 1 comprises a first damping device 7 for slowing down a door 3 which moves towards the door stop 1 during operation after said door reaches a first receiving distance \ _\ . Fig. 3 clearly shows, in side view, the first receiving distance li as the distance between the front surface of the door stop 1 and the end of a cap 4 on the stem 9 of the damping device 7.

The door stop 1 further comprises a second damping device 6 for receiving the moving door 3 after it reaches a second receiving distance h, wherein the second receiving distance is smaller than the first receiving distance li . Fig. 3 also clearly shows, in side view, the second receiving distance as the distance between the front surface of the door stop 1 and the end of the second damping device 6.

The door stop 1 also comprises an adjustment device 5 for adjusting the position of the door stop 1 with respect to the frame 2 after the door stop 1 has been fitted. This makes it possible to neatly align all glass doors 3 of a cooling installation with one another, thereby creating a pleasing and even surface at the front of the cooling installation.

In an embodiment, such as the embodiment shown in Figs 1-3, the second damping device 6 is combined with the adjustment device 5. The adjustment device 5 comprises an adjusting screw, for example, and the second damping device 6 comprises a cap 6 of deformable material which fits onto the head of the adjusting screw 5. In an embodiment, this material is silicone, which is an excellent material in combination with glass doors 3. Alternative materials which are also deformable include rubber or other flexible plastic materials.

In the interior of the door stop 1, the adjusting screw 5 is in contact with an adjusting body (not shown), for example, which moves forwards or backwards with respect to the door stop 1 as the adjusting screw 5 is turned and is fixedly connected to the fastening elements.

In an embodiment, the first damping device 7 comprises a damper which is based on spring force, hydraulic damping and/or friction damping. This can be combined in a simple fashion with a door stop 1. In an embodiment, the first damping device 7 has an adjustable damping action, which can be adapted to the size (or mass) of the associated door 3.

The first damping device 7 is fastened into the door stop 1 by means of a fastening ring 8. In the embodiment shown in Figs 1-3, the end of the stem 9 is provided with a cap 4 of damping material, such as silicone, to improve the appearance and provide extra damping.

In a further embodiment, the outside of the fastening ring 8 can be made of damping material, as a result of which the fastening ring 8 would be able to function as a third damping device.

The door stop 1 according to the present invention can, as described above, advantageously be used in a cooling device having a frame 2 and one or more glass doors 3 mountable in the frame, wherein the cooling device comprises one or more door stops 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention per glass door 3.

In an embodiment, the door stop 1 is fastened to the frame 2 close to the centre of a glass door 3. This results in a good damping action and therefore less noise is produced when the door 3 is closed.

The present invention is described above by means of a number of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the drawings. It will be clear that there are (functional) alternatives for various elements and that even more examples of embodiments are possible. It is for example possible for the second damping device 6 to be separate from the adjusting screw 5, and the adjusting screw 5 can be arranged on the opposite side of the door stop 1 from the side of the door stop where the second damping device 6 is arranged. All of these variants and modifications are considered to be covered by the scope of protection defined by the attached claims.