Cooling storage

Abstract

To prevent reduction in storage capacity of a storage caused by applying an ice-making function, in a pass-through type cooling storage in which doors are provided on both front and back surfaces of the storage.SOLUTION: A cooling storage of the present invention comprises a storage chamber 4 with openings on both front and back surfaces, and a machine chamber 7 adjacent to the lateral side of the storage chamber 4. A cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage chamber 4 is housed in the front of the machine chamber 7, and an ice maker 10 is installed in the rear part of the machine chamber 7. Consequently, it is possible to prevent reduction in storage capacity of the storage chamber 4 and effectively utilize a space behind the cooling unit 8 in the machine chamber 7 as an installation place for the ice maker 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pass-through type refrigerated storage cabinet in which doors are provided on both the front and rear sides of a storage compartment. [Background technology]

[0002] The refrigerated storage according to the present invention has not only a cooling function but also an ice-making function, and such a refrigerated storage is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1. The refrigerated storage in Patent Document 1 comprises an insulated box having a storage compartment for storing an object to be stored, a first cooling device for cooling the storage compartment, and an ice-making unit for making ice. The insulated box, which has a vertically elongated rectangular parallelepiped shape, is divided into four compartments, one above the other and one to the left and right, and the ice-making unit is housed in the lower right compartment. The ice-making unit is composed of an ice-making section that freezes water, an ice storage section that stores ice made by the ice-making section, and a second cooling device that cools the ice-making section. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2022-106149 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The inventors considered assembling an ice-making unit in a pass-through type refrigerated storage cabinet, similar to the invention of Patent Document 1. However, simply assembling the ice-making unit in the insulated box that contains the storage chamber of the refrigerated storage cabinet inevitably results in a significant reduction in the storage capacity of the storage chamber by the external dimensions of the ice-making unit.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to prevent a reduction in the storage capacity of a pass-through type refrigerated storage facility having doors on both the front and rear sides of the storage compartment due to the addition of an ice-making function. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The present invention is directed to a pass-through type refrigerated storage cabinet that includes a storage compartment 4 with openings on both the front and rear sides, and a machine compartment 7 adjacent to the side of the storage compartment 4. A cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage compartment 4 is housed in the front of the machine compartment 7, and an ice maker 10 is installed in the rear of the machine compartment 7.

[0007] Ice making machine 10 includes ice storage compartment 40 with an opening on the rear surface, and ice storage compartment door 43 that opens and closes said opening. Ice storage compartment door 43 is adjacent to storage compartment door 5 on the left and right that opens and closes the rear opening of storage compartment 4.

[0008] Ice maker 10 includes ice-making unit 36, which freezes ice-making water to produce ice, and condensing unit 39, which supplies refrigerant to ice-making unit 36. The floor board that defines the area below cooling unit 8 is positioned above the floor board that defines the area below ice maker 10, and an exhaust space S is formed between cooling unit 8 and installation surface F of the cooling storage cabinet, through which heat exchange air that has air-cooled condensing unit 39 is exhausted. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] As in the pass-through type refrigerated storage cabinet of the present invention, by accommodating the cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage compartment 4 in the front part of the machine compartment 7 and installing the ice maker 10 in the rear part of the machine compartment 7, it is possible to prevent a reduction in the storage capacity of the storage compartment 4. Furthermore, compared to installing a separate ice maker on the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet, i.e., installing the refrigerated storage cabinet and the ice maker separately, it is possible to reduce the installation space for the kitchen equipment (refrigerated storage cabinet) in the kitchen. Compared to a configuration in which the ice maker is simply connected to the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet, it is possible to make the kitchen equipment more compact.

[0010] In addition, in conventional pass-through refrigerated storage cabinets, two refrigeration units were installed in the machine room, and these two refrigeration units ensured the refrigeration capacity of the refrigerated storage cabinet. However, in light of recent improvements in the refrigeration performance of refrigeration units, the inventor believes that a single refrigeration unit is sufficient for a pass-through refrigerated storage cabinet. In other words, the required refrigeration capacity for a pass-through refrigerated storage cabinet can be sufficiently ensured with a single refrigeration unit, and that a single refrigeration unit in the machine room is sufficient. However, reducing the number of refrigeration units in the machine room from two to one would create a new inconvenience of creating a large amount of dead space in the machine room. However, in the present invention, refrigeration unit 8 is installed in the front of machine room 7 and ice maker 10 is installed in the rear of machine room 7. Therefore, by reducing the number of refrigeration units to one, the dead space created in machine room 7 can be effectively utilized as a location for ice maker 10, thereby reducing the installation space for kitchen equipment (refrigerated storage cabinets) in the kitchen. In addition, kitchen equipment can be made smaller.

[0011] By arranging ice storage compartment door 43, which opens and closes the rear opening of ice storage compartment 40 of ice maker 10, and storage compartment door 5, which opens and closes the rear opening of storage compartment 4, adjacent to each other on the left and right, it becomes more convenient for the user of the refrigerated storage compartment to successively remove ice from ice storage compartment 40 and stored items from storage compartment 4. Furthermore, if an opening is formed on the side of ice storage compartment 40, that side must be separated from the kitchen wall. However, in the present invention, since the opening is formed on the rear of ice storage compartment 40, there is no such restriction, and therefore the refrigerated storage compartment can be positioned more freely within the kitchen.

[0012] If the floorboard defining the area below cooling unit 8 is positioned higher than the floorboard defining the area below ice-making machine 10, and an exhaust space S into which heat exchange air that has air-cooled condensing unit 39 is exhausted is formed between cooling unit 8 and installation surface F of the refrigerated storage cabinet, the heat exchange air that has air-cooled condensing unit 39 of ice-making machine 10 can be exhausted from ice-making machine 10 toward exhaust space S, i.e., toward the front from ice-making machine 10. For example, in a configuration in which the heat exchange air is exhausted to the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet, it is necessary to separate the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet from the wall of the kitchen to ensure a heat exhaust gap to the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet. However, if the heat exchange air is exhausted into exhaust space S formed between cooling unit 8 and installation surface F as in the present invention, there is no need to ensure such a heat exhaust gap, and the degree of freedom in arranging the refrigerated storage cabinet within the kitchen can be increased. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a longitudinal side view showing a machine compartment of a refrigerated storage facility according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] (a) Front and (b) rear perspective views of the cooling storage facility. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the refrigeration cycle of the cooling unit in the machine room and the ice maker. [Figure 6] 1 is a timing chart of the ice making process and ice removing process of an ice maker. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] (Embodiment) Figures 1 to 6 show an embodiment of a refrigerated storage cabinet according to the present invention. In this embodiment, front, back, left, right, and top and bottom refer to the crossed arrows shown in Figures 1 and 2 and the indications near each arrow. As shown in Figure 2, the refrigerated storage cabinet comprises a main body 1 in the shape of a horizontally long rectangular box with openings on the front and back sides, a side housing 2 fixed to the left side (one side) of the main body 1, and a top plate 3 covering the top surfaces of the main body 1 and the side housing 2. The interior of the main body 1, which is made up of insulated walls, is a storage chamber 4 for storing refrigerated goods, and the front and rear openings of the storage chamber 4 are each opened and closed by swinging three (or multiple) storage chamber doors 5.

[0015] The side housing 2, together with the left side wall (one side wall) of the main body 1, defines a machine compartment 7. As shown in FIG. 1, a cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage compartment 4 is housed in the front half of the machine compartment 7. The entire cooling unit 8 can be pulled out forward through the front opening of the machine compartment 7, and a machine compartment panel 9 is removably attached to said opening. Meanwhile, an ice maker 10 is installed in the rear half of the machine compartment 7.

[0016] First, the cooling unit 8 will be described. The cooling unit 8 is composed of a unit base 13 made up of a horizontal base plate, a vapor compression type refrigerator 14 mounted on the unit base 13, and the like. The refrigerator 14 is composed of a first compressor 15 arranged at the rear of the unit base 13, a first condenser 16 arranged at the front end of the unit base 13, an evaporator 17 arranged above the first compressor 15, and the like, all connected by refrigerant piping. The refrigerant compressed by the first compressor 15 is cooled and condensed in the first condenser 16, and then reduced in pressure in a first expansion section 18 (see FIG. 5) before reaching the evaporator 17, where it cools the air around the evaporator 17.

[0017] The first condenser 16 faces an air intake port 21 opened at the bottom of the machine room panel 9 and is cooled by outside air taken into the machine room 7 through the air intake port 21. A first cooling fan 22 that forcibly takes in outside air and generates heat exchange air that passes through the first condenser 16, and a first wind tunnel 23 that supports the first cooling fan 22 and defines a ventilation path in the front-to-rear direction, are installed behind (inside) the first condenser 16. The heat exchange air that has air-cooled the first condenser 16 then air-cools the first compressor 15 located behind it, and is then discharged out of the machine room 7 from a first exhaust port 24 provided at the rear of the unit base 13, specifically downward toward the exhaust space S formed between the installation surface F of the cooling storage cabinet and the cooling unit 8. The first cooling fan 22 is on / off controlled in conjunction with the first compressor 15.

[0018] As shown in Figure 3, the evaporator 17, together with a circulation fan 27 located above it, is fixed in an insulated case 28 made of insulated walls. The opening of the insulated case 28 faces rightward, and this opening faces a communication port 29 opened in the upper half of the left wall of the main body 1. The air cooled around the evaporator 17 is carried by the circulation fan 27 through the communication port 29 to the storage chamber 4, where it cools the storage chamber 4.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, a control box 31 that houses electrical components such as a control board for the cooling unit 8 is fixed to the front of the heat-insulating case 28. The control box 31 faces the upper inner surface of the machine room panel 9, and the top of the control box 31 faces an operation window 32 provided in the machine room panel 9. By opening the operation window 32, a user of the cooling storage cabinet can expose the operation panel provided on the upper outer surface of the control box 31 and operate it from outside the machine room 7.

[0020] Furthermore, the insulating case 28 is supported by a support member 33 with an L-shaped cross section fixed to the top surface of the wind tunnel 23 so that it can be displaced left and right, that is, so that it can move toward and away from the main body 1. In its normal state, the insulating case 28 is located near the right end of its displacement stroke and is in close contact with the main body 1. When the entire cooling unit 8 is pulled forward from the machine room 7, the insulating case 28 is moved leftward together with the evaporator 17, circulation fan 27, and control box 31, and moves away from the main body 1.

[0021] Next, ice maker 10 will be described. Ice maker 10 includes ice-making unit 36, which freezes ice-making water to produce ice, an insulated ice-making case 37 that houses ice-making unit 36, a lower housing 38 that supports ice-making case 37 from below, and a condensing unit 39 that supplies refrigerant to ice-making unit 36. Ice-making unit 36 ​​is housed in the upper part of ice-making case 37, and below it is ice storage chamber 40, which stores ice produced by ice-making unit 36. Ice-making case 37 is composed of a square-box-shaped case body 41 with openings on the top and rear faces, an upper lid 42 that closes the top opening of case body 41, and an ice storage chamber door 43 that swings open and closes the rear opening of case body 41. A user of the refrigerated storage facility can remove ice from ice storage chamber 40 through the rear opening of case body 41 by pulling ice storage chamber door 43 backward to open it.

[0022] Condensing unit 39 is comprised of a second compressor 46, a second condenser 47, and other components, and is housed in equipment compartment 48 defined by the bottom wall of ice-making case 37 and lower housing 38. Equipment compartment 48 opens to the rear, and a ventilation panel 49 with a group of vents is attached to the opening. Inside (in front of) second condenser 47, a second cooling fan 50 is installed, which forcibly draws in outside air and generates heat exchange airflow that passes through second condenser 47, and a second wind tunnel 51 is installed, which supports second cooling fan 50 and defines a ventilation path in the front-to-rear direction. The heat exchange airflow that has air-cooled second condenser 47 then air-cools second compressor 46 located in front of it, and is then discharged to the outside of machine compartment 7 through second exhaust port 52 located in front of second compressor 46 below. Second exhaust port 52 faces exhaust space S formed between installation surface F of the cooling storage cabinet and cooling unit 8, and heat exchange air is discharged forward from equipment compartment 48 toward exhaust space S. As shown in FIG. 2(b), an operation cover 53 is provided on the side of ventilation panel 49 to cover an operation section that allows a user to operate ice maker 10.

[0023] As shown in Figure 4, ice-making unit 36 ​​has a conventionally known configuration and is composed of ice-making mold 56 having a group of cells that open downward, heat exchanger 57 that is in close contact with the top surface of ice-making mold 56, water supply tank 58 that stores water for ice-making, water supply tray 59 that sprays the water toward each cell of ice-making mold 56, and tray operation mechanism 60 that moves water supply tray 59 toward and away from ice-making mold 56. Water supply tray 59 is swung together with water supply tank 58 by tray operation mechanism 60 between an ice-making position in which it faces each cell of ice-making mold 56 directly and an ice-release position in which it is separated from ice-making mold 56 to open each cell. Ice-making unit 36 ​​alternates between an ice-making process in which water supply tray 59 is in the ice-making position to freeze the water for ice-making in each cell, and an ice-release process in which water supply tray 59 is in the ice-release position to drop the ice in each cell toward ice storage chamber 40.

[0024] In the ice-making process, low-temperature refrigerant is supplied from condensing unit 39 to heat exchanger 57 to cool ice-making molds 56. Specifically, the refrigerant compressed by second compressor 46 of condensing unit 39 is cooled and condensed in second condenser 47, then decompressed in second expansion section 63 (see FIG. 5), and supplied to heat exchanger 57. The heat of vaporization of the refrigerant flowing through heat exchanger 57 cools ice-making molds 56 to the freezing temperature. Furthermore, water supply pump 64 provided in water supply tank 58 is driven, and ice-making water in water supply tank 58 is sprayed from each nozzle in water supply tray 59 toward each cell of ice-making mold 56. As a result, the ice-making water freezes in each cell, forming ice.

[0025] As shown in Fig. 5, the second compressor 46 and the heat exchanger 57 are connected by a bypass pipe 66 that bypasses the second condenser 47 and the second expansion section 63. The bypass pipe 66 is provided with a solenoid valve 68 that is opened and closed by a control section 67 of the cooling storage. The solenoid valve 68 is a normally closed type that opens only when energized. As shown in the timing chart of Fig. 6, in the ice-making process, the control section 67 drives the second compressor 46 and the second cooling fan 50 and closes the solenoid valve 68, i.e., the bypass pipe 66. Therefore, the refrigerant compressed by the second compressor 46 passes through the second condenser 47 and the second expansion section 63 and reaches the heat exchanger 57.

[0026] Meanwhile, during the ice-releasing process, control unit 67 drives second compressor 46 and opens solenoid valve 68, i.e., bypass pipe 66 (time t1). Therefore, the high-temperature refrigerant (hot gas) compressed by second compressor 46 flows through bypass pipe 66 to heat exchanger 57, heating ice-making mold 56 to a temperature above the melting point of ice. This melts the surface of the ice in each cell, causing the ice to fall under its own weight and detach from the cell. The detached ice slides down the surface of water supply tray 59, which is in the ice-releasing position, and falls into ice storage chamber 40. During the ice-releasing process, second cooling fan 50 is controlled to stop, preventing second compressor 46 and the high-temperature refrigerant (hot gas) from being air-cooled by second cooling fan 50. Excess ice-making water during the ice-releasing process is discharged from water supply tank 58 to drain pan 71 below and then drained to the outside of ice-making machine 10 via drain hose 72.

[0027] As shown in FIG. 1 , solenoid valve 68 of bypass pipe 66 is supported by bracket 74 on unit base 13 of cooling unit 8 described above. More specifically, it is disposed between first cooling fan 22 and first compressor 15 in a position where it receives the heat exchange airflow generated by first cooling fan 22. As shown in FIG. 6 , when controller 67 opens solenoid valve 68 to start the ice-removing process, if first cooling fan 22 is stopped in conjunction with first compressor 15, controller 67 starts first cooling fan 22 regardless of the operating state of first compressor 15 (time t1). This allows solenoid valve 68, which generates heat when energized, to be properly air-cooled by the heat exchange airflow generated by first cooling fan 22. Furthermore, when controller 67 closes solenoid valve 68 to end the ice-removing process, if first compressor 15 is stopped, controller 67 stops first cooling fan 22 because air cooling by first cooling fan 22 is unnecessary (time t2). In addition, instead of driving the first cooling fan 22 only when the solenoid valve 68 is open, regardless of the operating state of the first compressor 15, as in this embodiment, the first cooling fan 22 may be driven at all times.

[0028] As described above, in the pass-through refrigerated storage cabinet according to this embodiment, the cooling unit 8 for cooling the storage compartment 4 is housed in the front of the machine compartment 7, and the ice maker 10 is installed in the rear of the machine compartment 7, thereby preventing a reduction in the storage capacity of the storage compartment 4. Furthermore, compared to installing a separate ice maker to the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet, i.e., installing the refrigerated storage cabinet and the ice maker separately, the installation space for the kitchen equipment (refrigerated storage cabinet) can be reduced. Compared to a configuration in which the ice maker is simply attached to the side of the refrigerated storage cabinet, the kitchen equipment can be made more compact. Furthermore, the dead space inside the machine compartment 7 can be effectively utilized without waste as a location for installing the ice maker 10, which also reduces the installation space for the kitchen equipment (refrigerated storage cabinet) in the kitchen.

[0029] Ice storage compartment door 43, which opens and closes the rear opening of ice storage compartment 40 of ice maker 10, and storage compartment door 5, which opens and closes the rear opening of storage compartment 4, are located adjacent to each other on the left and right, which improves convenience for the user of the refrigerated storage compartment when successively removing ice from ice storage compartment 40 and stored items from storage compartment 4. Furthermore, if an opening were formed on the side of ice storage compartment 40, that side would need to be separated from the kitchen wall. However, in this embodiment, since the opening is formed on the rear of ice storage compartment 40, there is no such restriction, which increases the freedom of placement of the refrigerated storage compartment within the kitchen.

[0030] In this embodiment, the floorboard defining the area below cooling unit 8 is positioned higher than the floorboard defining the area below ice maker 10, and an exhaust space S into which heat exchange air that has air-cooled condensing unit 39 is exhausted is formed between cooling unit 8 and installation surface F of the refrigerated storage compartment. The heat exchange air that has air-cooled condensing unit 39 of ice maker 10 is exhausted from ice maker 10 toward exhaust space S, i.e., toward the front from ice maker 10. For example, in a configuration in which heat exchange air is exhausted to the side of the refrigerated storage compartment, it is necessary to separate the side of the refrigerated storage compartment from the wall of the kitchen to ensure a heat exhaust gap to the side of the refrigerated storage compartment. However, if the heat exchange air is exhausted into exhaust space S defined between cooling unit 8 and installation surface F as in this embodiment, there is no need to ensure such a heat exhaust gap, and the degree of freedom in arranging the refrigerated storage compartment within the kitchen can be increased. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 4. Storage Room 5 Storage Room Door 7 Machine room 8 Cooling Unit 10 Ice Maker 36 Ice making unit 39 Condensing Unit 40 Ice storage room 43 Ice storage compartment door F Installation surface S Exhaust space

Claims

1. A pass-through type refrigerated storage facility comprising a storage chamber (4) having openings on both the front and rear surfaces, and a machine room (7) adjacent to the side of the storage chamber (4), A cooling unit (8) for cooling the storage room (4) is housed in the front part of the machine room (7), A refrigerated storage facility characterized in that an ice maker (10) is installed at the rear of the machine room (7).

2. The ice making machine (10) is provided with an ice storage compartment (40) having an opening on the rear surface and an ice storage compartment door (43) for opening and closing the opening, 2. The refrigerated storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the ice storage compartment door (43) is adjacent to a storage compartment door (5) on the left and right sides for opening and closing the rear opening of the storage compartment (4).

3. The ice maker (10) includes an ice making unit (36) that freezes ice-making water to produce ice, and a condensing unit (39) that supplies a refrigerant to the ice making unit (36).

3. The cooling storage cabinet according to claim 1, wherein the floor board defining the area below the cooling unit (8) is positioned above the floor board defining the area below the ice maker (10), and an exhaust space (S) is formed between the cooling unit (8) and the installation surface (F) of the cooling storage cabinet, through which heat exchange air that has air-cooled the condensing unit (39) is exhausted.

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