Ice cream counter provided with one or more rotating drums for the support of ice cream tubs

The present patent application relates to an ice cream counter provided with one or more rotating drums with housings to hold the ice cream tubs.

Normally, the stores that sell homemade ice cream make use of refrigerated counters capable to ensure the correct conservation of the ice cream tubs at low temperature while displaying the ice cream for the customers.

The counters have a quite standardised structure that includes a large support base for a canopy, whose front wall, that is the one facing the customers, is made of glass. The canopy is open in the back to allow for easy fast preparation of ice cream cups or cones with the flavours requested by the customers.

The tubs with the ice cream are usually arranged in two rows on the bottom of the glass canopy that often has a forward inclination for a better display of the ice cream.

This type of structure, however, is not completely satisfactory from the functional viewpoint, in terms of display mode and capacity.

More precisely, the only way to increase the capacity of such counters, keeping the length unchanged, is to make them deeper so that the bottom can accommodate more than two rows of tubs. This solution is not feasible since the depth of the counter cannot exceed a certain value imposed by the fact that the operator behind the counter needs to comfortably reach the tubs located in the first row, that is the tubs next to the front glass wall of the canopy.

This does not allow for building canopies capable of accommodating more than two rows of tubs.

For a better display of the ice cream, it would be advisable to give a high forward inclination to the bottom of the canopy so that the tubs located in the second row (that is the row at the highest distance from the glass wall) could be clearly visible for the customers located in front of the glass wall.

Even in this case, however, the inclination is limited by the aforementioned requirement since the highest the inclination is, the most difficult it is for the operator to reach the front row of tubs.

In view of the above, the refrigerated counter according to the invention has been devised, characterised in that it is provided with one or more rotating drums, with housings to hold the ice cream tubs.

The location of the ice cream tubs in rotating drums allows for overcoming the dimensional limitations set by the need to reach the space behind the lower edge of the glass wall that closes the front of the counter to get ice cream from the tubs located in such space or replace the empty tubs.

According to the present invention, it is no longer necessary for the operator to stretch his/her arms inside the display area to reach the furthest ice cream tubs since the tub can get closer by simply rotating the drum.

In this perspective, there are no limitations on the dimensions of the display area, both as regards its depth and the inclination of the bottom surface.

It must be noted that the drums rotate around a sub-vertical axis with forward inclination so that the upper surface of the drums (that is where the opening of all the tubs is located) faces the front glass wall of the canopy for better display. For major clarity the description of the ice cream counter according to the invention continues with reference to the enclosed drawings, which are intended for purposes of illustration and not in a limiting sense, whereby:

• Fig. 1 is a top view of the counter according to the invention, in which the "roof' has been removed to completely show the display area below;
• Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the counter shown in Fig. 1 with a vertical transversal plane II-II.

With reference to the above figures, the counter (1) according to the invention traditionally includes a base (2) that supports a canopy (3) comprising a large refrigerated compartment (3a), whose front edge (3b) features an inclined glass surface (4) that frontally covers the canopy (3) which is closed by two side walls (3c) and a "roof' (3d).

The counter according to the invention is characterised in that the compartment (3a) houses one or more rotating drums (5), each of them with housings to hold the ice cream tubs.

The compartment (3a) contains two drums (5), one with a radial series of housings (6a) shaped like sectors of a circle used to hold suitable ice cream tubs (not shown), and another one with a series of circular housings (6b) used to hold cylindrical ice cream containers.

Each drum (5) is supported by a central shaft (7) capable of rotating around its axis. The rotation of the shaft is determined by the action of an electrical engine (8) with the interposition of a gear reduction unit (9) located under the compartment (3a) inside the base (2).

The numbers (10) and (11) indicate the evaporators of the refrigerating system of the compartment (3a) and the fan used to ensure the forced circulation of air inside the compartment (3a), respectively.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in the figure, the shaft (7) is tilted forwards, so that the upper surface (5a) of each drum (5) faces the front glass wall (4) of the canopy.

The forward inclination favours the display of the product since the opening of the tubs (6a) or containers (6b) housed in the drum is flush with the surface (5a).

It is understood that, within the scope of the patent protection, the drum (5) may be rotated manually or by means of hydraulic, pneumatic or electromechanical actuators, as illustrated in the constructive version shown in the enclosed figures.

The same is true for the location and configuration of the housings for the ice cream tubs, which may have any shape, as long as suitable for the housings located in the rotating drums.

Although reference is made to ice cream tubs, it is understood that the counter according to the invention may be used with the same efficacy and utility for any other food product, such as sweets, chocolates, spices, etc.