Refrigerated commodity cabinet

Abstract

A refrigerated merchandise cabinet (1) comprises an upright insulating enclosure (2) having an interior forming a refrigerating chamber (3). The housing (2) is open on the front side and has a front access opening (4) which is closed by a plurality of juxtaposed hinged access doors (5). The interior of the refrigerating chamber (3) is divided into three independent cooling compartments by two vertical inner partition plates. Three refrigeration modules (7) are mounted in rows on the top of the housing (2), which are operable to circulate cold air in a controlled manner through the refrigeration compartment (3) to cool or freeze the product for sale stored within the refrigeration compartment (3). Each refrigeration module (7) is associated with one of the cooling compartments and operates independently of the other refrigeration modules (7) in response to sensed climate conditions within the associated cooling compartment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to refrigerated merchandisers and, more particularly, to refrigerated merchandisers for storing and displaying refrigerated and frozen products for sale in retail establishments. Background Art

[0002] In a previous patent application (publication number EP 3785574 A1), we disclosed a refrigerated merchandise cabinet, comprising an upright insulating shell forming a refrigerated chamber, the shell having a rectangular base, the rectangular base having upright side walls, the upright side walls comprising end walls located on both sides of the base and a rear wall located at the rear of the base, and a top wall located on the top of the side walls, the base, side walls and top wall defining a refrigerated chamber having a front inspection opening, the front inspection opening being closed by at least two inspection doors, each inspection door having a transparent window for viewing the products stored in the storage chamber, at least two refrigeration modules being installed at intervals on the top of the top wall, each refrigeration module having a cold air outlet connected to a cooling air inlet of the refrigerated chamber and a return air inlet connected to a related cooling air outlet of the refrigerated chamber.

[0003] The present invention relates to various developments and improvements of refrigerated merchandisers of this type. Summary of the invention

[0004] According to the present invention, there is provided a refrigerated commodity cabinet, comprising:

[0005] an upright insulating housing which forms a cold storage compartment,

[0006] The housing has a rectangular base with upright side walls, the upright side walls including end walls located on both sides of the base and a rear wall located at the rear of the base, and a top wall located on top of the side walls, the base, side walls and top wall defining a refrigerated compartment with a front access opening,

[0007] The front access opening is closed by at least two access doors, each of which has a transparent window for viewing the product stored in the refrigerated compartment.

[0008] at least two refrigeration modules are mounted at intervals on the top of the top wall, each refrigeration module having a cold air outlet connected to the cooling air inlet of the refrigerated compartment and a return air inlet connected to the associated cooling air outlet of the refrigerated compartment,

[0009] a cool air duct formed in the rear wall of the housing and having a plurality of vertically spaced air outlets for discharging cool air into the refrigerated compartment toward an access door at the front of the refrigerated compartment and then conveying the air upwardly along the inner surface of each access door to the cool air outlet at the top wall of the refrigerated compartment, the cool air duct communicating with an air distribution manifold mounted at the front of the base via a cool air conveying duct in the base and having an outlet to direct the air flow upwardly along the inner surface of the access door.

[0010] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one upright divider is mounted within the refrigerated compartment substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the end wall to divide the refrigerated compartment into at least two separate cooling compartments, each cooling compartment having its own refrigeration module mounted on top of the cooling compartment.

[0011] In another embodiment, each cooling compartment has an independent refrigeration module and associated cold air ducts, cold air delivery ducts, and air distribution manifolds.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, two partition plates are installed in the refrigerating chamber at intervals to divide the refrigerating chamber into three independent cooling compartments.

[0013] In another embodiment, each refrigeration module operates independently of the other refrigeration modules in response to climate conditions sensed within the associated cooling compartment.

[0014] In another embodiment, each refrigeration module is capable of controlling cooling air velocity to limit air turbulence at the inner surface of the access door.

[0015] In another embodiment, the air outlet comprises a plurality of vertically spaced apart rows of horizontally spaced apart air outlet ports.

[0016] In another embodiment, each cooling air outlet of the refrigerated compartment includes an outlet manifold located on the inner surface of the top wall of the housing.

[0017] In another embodiment, each manifold has a bottom panel spaced downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall, the bottom panel extending between the end walls and extending outwardly from the inner surface of the rear side wall of the housing toward the access door, and has a perforated front panel extending downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall of the housing to the bottom panel and spaced inwardly from the access door.

[0018] In another embodiment, the perforated front panel is sloped, angled outwardly and downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall.

[0019] In another embodiment, the manifold has an inclined rear panel that aligns with the associated rear cold air outlet in the top wall and extends between the cold air outlet and the inlet of the cold air duct in the rear side wall of the housing to direct cold air from the evaporator into the cold air duct.

[0020] In another embodiment, the divider comprises a transparent panel.

[0021] In another embodiment, the divider plate comprises a rigid plastic material.

[0022] In another embodiment, the divider panel comprises an acrylic material.

[0023] In another embodiment, at least one of the separator panels is an insulating panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0024] The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0025] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerated merchandiser according to the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of an enlarged portion of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0027] Figure 3 It is a front view of a refrigerated commodity cabinet;

[0028] Figure 4 is a side view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0029] Figure 5 It is a plan view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0030] Figure 6 It is a bottom plan view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0031] Figure 7 is a side cross-sectional view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0032] Figure 8 It is a cross-sectional plan view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet;

[0033] Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a refrigerated merchandiser according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0034] Fig.10 yes Fig. 9 A front view of the refrigerated merchandise cabinet shown in ;

[0035] Fig.11 is along Fig.10 A cross-sectional view taken along line XI-XI;

[0036] Fig.12 yes Fig. 9 A side cross-sectional view of a refrigerated merchandise cabinet as shown in;

[0037] Fig.13 is along Fig.12 A cross-sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII of ;

[0038] Fig.14 is along Fig.12 A detailed cross-sectional view taken along line XIV-XIV of ; and

[0039] Fig.15 is along Fig.12Detailed cross-sectional view taken along line XV-XV of . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] Referring to the accompanying drawings, there is shown a refrigerated merchandiser according to the present invention, generally indicated by reference numeral 1. The refrigerated merchandiser 1 comprises an upright insulating housing 2, within which a refrigerated chamber 3 is formed. The housing 2 is open at the front and has a front access opening 4 which is closed by a plurality of juxtaposed hinged access doors 5. In this case, three access doors 5 are provided. The interior of the refrigerated chamber 3 is subdivided into three separate cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c ( Figure 8 ). Three refrigeration modules 7 are mounted in a row on top of the housing 2 and are operable to circulate cooling air in a controlled manner through the refrigerated chamber 3 to cool or freeze products for sale stored within the refrigerated chamber 3. Each refrigeration module 7 is associated with one of the cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c and operates independently of the other refrigeration modules 7 in response to climate conditions sensed within the associated cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c.

[0041] The housing 2 comprises a rectangular base 8 having upright side walls including end walls 10, 11 and a rear wall 12. A top wall 14 located on top of the side walls 10, 11, 12 is substantially parallel to the base 8. The base 8, side walls 10, 11, 12 and top wall 14 define a refrigerated compartment 3 having a front access opening 4.

[0042] Two partition panels 6 are mounted in the refrigerating chamber 3, substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the end walls 10, 11, to divide the refrigerating chamber 3 into three independent cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c. An independent refrigeration module 7 is associated with each cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c. Conveniently, the partition panels 6 may comprise a transparent acrylic material.

[0043] A cold air duct 15 is formed in the rear side wall 12 of the housing 2, and has a plurality of vertically spaced cooling air inlet ports 16 for discharging cold air into the refrigerating chamber 3 toward the access door 5 at the front of the refrigerating chamber 3. The cooling air inlet ports 16 are arranged in a plurality of rows of vertically spaced, horizontally spaced cooling air inlet ports 16.

[0044] Each refrigeration module 7 is located above an associated opening 17 extending vertically through the top wall 14 at the top of each cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c. A cross member 18 divides the opening 17 into a front return air inlet 19 and a smaller rear cold air outlet 20, which is connected to the top of the cold air duct 15. The fan 21 of the refrigeration module 7 draws air from the cold storage chamber 3 through the return air inlet 19 to be transported through the evaporator 22 of the refrigeration module 7. The cold air from the evaporator 22 is discharged to the top of the cold air duct 15 through the cold air outlet 20. The cold air travels downward through the cold air duct 15 and is discharged into the cold storage chamber 3 through the rows of air outlet ports 16, and the cold air flow passes from the inner surface of the rear wall 12 through the cold storage chamber 3 toward the inner surface of the access door 5 at the front of the cold storage chamber 3, cooling the products placed on the shelves 27 in the cold storage chamber 3. When the cold air flows reach the access door 5 , they travel up along the inner surface of the access door 5 to the top of the refrigerated chamber 3 , located at the front of the refrigerated chamber 3 , to be extracted through the air outlet manifold 23 forming the cooling air outlet of the refrigerated chamber 3 .

[0045] The air outlet manifold 23 is mounted on the inner surface 24 of the top wall 14 of the housing 2. The air outlet manifold 23 has a bottom panel 25 spaced downwardly from the inner surface 24 of the top wall 14. The bottom panel 25 extends between the end walls 10, 11 and extends outwardly from the inner surface 26 of the rear side wall 12 of the housing 2 toward the access door 5 and is substantially parallel to the inner surface 24 of the top wall 14. The perforated front panel 28 of the air outlet manifold 23 extends downwardly from the inner surface 24 of the top wall 14 of the housing 2 to the bottom panel 25 spaced inwardly from the access door 5. The perforated front panel 28 is inclined, angled outwardly and downwardly from the inner surface 24 of the top wall 14, toward the inner surface 26 of the rear wall 12. The angled rear panel 29 of the air outlet manifold 23 is aligned with the associated rear cold air outlet 20 in the top wall 14 and extends between the cold air outlet 20 and the inlet of the cold air duct 15 in the rear side wall of the housing 2 to direct cold air from the evaporator 22 into the cold air duct 15 .

[0046] Return air from the refrigeration chamber 3 enters the air outlet manifold 23 through the perforated front panel 28 and is then delivered from the air outlet manifold to the fan 21 of the refrigeration module 7 through the return air inlet 19 .

[0047] See especially Figure 7The cold air duct 15 is connected to the air distribution manifold 41 installed in the front of the base 8 through the cold air delivery duct 40 in the base, and has an outlet 42 to guide the air upward along the inner surface of the access door 5. Therefore, the cold air flow travels upward along the inner surface of the access door 5 from the manifold 41 at the base 8, forming an air curtain, which maintains a layer of warm air on the inner surface of the access door 5 to prevent frost on the inner surface of the access door 5. The still air retained behind each access door 5 reduces the need to heat the door 5. The shelves installed in the cold storage room 3 have a front edge that ends inwardly at about 50mm-75mm of the inner surface of the access door 5, thereby leaving an air curtain channel at the inner surface of the door 5 and between the shelves and the door 5.

[0048] It is worth noting that each refrigeration module 7 has an evaporator 22 mounted outside the refrigerating chamber 3, so any defrosting of the evaporator 22 will not affect the refrigerating chamber 3. The evaporator 22 is mounted in its own insulating housing 44.

[0049] In this case, three refrigeration modules 7 are mounted on the top wall 14. Each refrigeration module 7 is independent and can be easily and quickly removed and replaced for maintenance if necessary, without or with little interruption to the smooth and continuous operation of the refrigerated merchandiser 1. The refrigerant used in each refrigeration module 7 is R290 refrigerant.

[0050] An independent refrigeration module 7 is associated with each cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c. Each refrigeration module 7 operates independently of the other refrigeration modules 7 in response to the sensed climate conditions within the associated cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c. Therefore, if one of the access doors 5 is opened, only the associated cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c is affected by the influx of warm air, and the air within the cooling compartment 9a, 9b, 9c is cooled by the associated refrigeration module 7.

[0051] One or more partitions 6 may be made of insulating material. This makes it convenient to keep adjacent cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c at different temperatures. For example, one cooling compartment 9a may be set to cool products at a temperature of -2°C to -5°C, while the adjacent cooling compartment 9b may be kept at a temperature of about -20°C to freeze the products therein.

[0052] Each access door 5 is hingedly mounted on the front of the housing 2 and comprises a triple glazed transparent panel mounted within an outer rectangular support frame. Thus, customers can clearly see the products stored within the refrigerated chamber 3. The triple glazing, combined with the controlled delivery of cooling air flow through the refrigerated chamber 3, helps to minimize the formation of frost on the inner surface of the access door 5 when it is opened and closed in use.

[0053] The access door 5 is mounted on a door mounting frame 30 at the front of the housing 2. The frame 30 has a horizontal bottom rail 31 and a horizontal top rail 32, the ends of which are connected to each other by vertical side rails 33, 34. Intermediate vertical dividers 35, 36 extend vertically between the bottom rail 31 and the top rail 32. Each divider 6 extends between the rear wall 12 and the vertical dividers 35, 36 and between the base 8 and the top wall 14 to subdivide the interior of the refrigerated chamber 3 into three independent cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c. Each divider 6 does not necessarily have to be airtight, as long as it can provide good separation between adjacent cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c, and minimize air leakage therebetween.

[0054] Although the refrigerated merchandise cabinet 1 has three refrigeration modules 7, in other cabinets of the present invention, two refrigeration modules 7 or more than three refrigeration modules 7 may be provided as required, each refrigeration module having associated cooling compartments 9a, 9b, 9c.

[0055] It is worth noting that there are many advantages to providing multiple smaller compressors compared to one large compressor. Smaller compressors tend to be more efficient. They are also quieter, which will be an important consideration when refrigerated merchandisers are installed in public retail stores.

[0056] Mounting each refrigeration module 7 outside the refrigeration chamber 3 advantageously means that the evaporator 22 of each refrigeration module 7 is located outside the refrigeration chamber 3 so that when the evaporator 22 is in a defrost cycle, it does not heat the refrigeration chamber 3.

[0057] Reference now Figures 9 to 15 , another refrigerated merchandiser according to a second embodiment of the present invention is shown, generally indicated by reference numeral 50. This is very similar to the refrigerated merchandiser 1 described previously, and like parts are assigned like reference numerals. Each shelf 27 has a cut-out portion 52 at the leading edge to define a cooling air channel or air curtain channel extending vertically along the inner surface of the associated access door 5 for allowing airflow from the air distribution manifold 41 to pass. Each shelf 27 has an upright product holding rail 53 at the leading edge of the shelf 27 to hold the product on the shelf 27 and prevent the product from moving outwardly into the cut-out portion 52.

[0058] The terms "comprises" and "includes" and any variations required for grammatical reasons are to be considered interchangeable and to be given the broadest possible interpretation.

[0059] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above but may be varied in structure and details within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A refrigerated commodity cabinet, comprising: an upright insulating housing which forms a cold storage compartment, The housing has a rectangular base with upright side walls, the upright side walls including end walls located on both sides of the base and a rear wall located at the rear of the base, and a top wall located on top of the side walls, the base, side walls and top wall defining the refrigerated chamber with a front access opening, The front inspection opening is closed by at least two inspection doors, each of which has a transparent window for viewing the products stored in the refrigerated chamber. at least two refrigeration modules mounted at intervals on the top of the top wall, each refrigeration module having a cold air outlet connected to the refrigerated compartment and a return air inlet connected to an associated cooling air outlet of the refrigerated compartment, a cool air duct formed in the rear wall of the housing and having a plurality of vertically spaced air outlets for discharging cool air into the refrigerated compartment toward an access door at the front of the refrigerated compartment and then conveying air upwardly along the inner surface of each access door to a cool air outlet at the top wall of the refrigerated compartment, The cold air duct communicates with an air distribution manifold mounted at the front of the base through a cold air delivery duct in the base, and has an outlet to direct air flow upward along the inner surface of the access door.

2. The refrigerated merchandiser according to claim 1, wherein: At least one upstanding divider is mounted within the refrigerated compartment substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the end wall to divide the refrigerated compartment into at least two separate cooling compartments, each cooling compartment having its own refrigeration module mounted on top of the cooling compartment.

3. The refrigerated merchandiser according to claim 2, wherein: Each cooling compartment has an independent refrigeration module and associated cold air ducts, cold air delivery ducts and air distribution manifolds.

4. The refrigerated commodity cabinet according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: Two partition plates are installed in the refrigerating chamber at intervals to divide the refrigerating chamber into three independent cooling compartments.

5. The refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein: Each refrigeration module operates independently of the other refrigeration modules in response to climate conditions sensed within the associated cooling compartment.

6. A refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: Each refrigeration module is capable of controlling cooling air velocity to limit air turbulence at the inner surface of the access door.

7. A refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: The air outlets include a plurality of rows of vertically spaced-apart, horizontally spaced-apart air outlets on the rear wall.

8. A refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: Each cooling air outlet of the refrigerated compartment includes an outlet manifold located on an inner surface of a top wall of the housing.

9. The refrigerated merchandiser according to claim 8, wherein: Each manifold has a bottom panel spaced downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall, the bottom panel extending between the end walls and extending outwardly from the inner surface of the rear side wall of the housing toward the access door, and has a perforated front panel extending downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall of the housing to the bottom panel and spaced inwardly from the access door.

10. The refrigerated merchandiser according to claim 9, wherein: The perforated front panel is inclined, angled outwardly and downwardly from the inner surface of the top wall.

11. The refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein: The manifold has an inclined rear panel that is aligned with an associated rear cold air outlet in the top wall and extends between the cold air outlet and an inlet of a cold air duct in a rear side wall of the housing to direct cold air from the evaporator into the cold air duct.

12. The refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of claims 2 to 11, wherein: The divider includes a transparent panel.

13. The refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of claims 2 to 12, wherein: The separator plate comprises a rigid plastic material.

14. The refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of claims 2 to 10, wherein: The partition plates are insulating panels.

15. A refrigerated merchandiser according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein: Product display racks are mounted in each cooling compartment, each rack having a cut-out portion at a front edge to define a cooling air passage at an inner surface of an associated access door for passage of air flow from the air distribution manifold.

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