Air curtain guide mounting kit
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Solution Overview
Problem
Open display refrigerators face increased energy consumption due to air curtain infiltration, where cold air mixes with warm ambient air, and retrofitting air curtain guides is challenging without additional drilling, which complicates installation and can render existing shelf edge risers unusable due to varying ticket rail fixing points.
Innovation Solution
An air curtain guide mounting kit featuring a bracket with a through-hole for mechanical fastening and a clip with a snap-fit engagement section that grips the air curtain guide, allowing attachment to existing shelf holes without additional drilling, enabling flexible placement and compatibility with existing shelf edge risers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If air curtain guides are retrofitted by drilling additional holes in the shelf, then the air curtain infiltration is reduced, but the installation complexity increases and existing shelf edge risers become unusable
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting kit is divided into separate components: a bracket that attaches to the shelf using existing holes, and a clip that attaches to the bracket. This segmentation allows the air curtain guide to be mounted without drilling new holes in the shelf, reducing installation complexity while still achieving the energy-saving benefit of reduced air infiltration
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket acts as an intermediary component between the shelf and the air curtain guide. It attaches to the shelf using existing holes and provides a mounting surface for the clip and air curtain guide, thereby enabling installation without additional drilling in the shelf itself
2Loss of energy
If air curtain guides are retrofitted by drilling additional holes in the shelf, then the air curtain infiltration is reduced, but the installation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed to attach to existing holes in the shelf that were previously used for ticket rails, eliminating the need for preliminary drilling operations. The clip and air curtain guide are pre-assembled components that simply snap onto the bracket, significantly reducing installation time while maintaining the energy-saving functionality
3Loss of energy
If air curtain guides are retrofitted by drilling additional holes in the shelf, then the air curtain infiltration is reduced, but metal filings are produced near food products
Solution Approach 1:
The drilling operation is extracted from the shelf installation process and relocated to the bracket manufacturing process, which occurs during factory production rather than during on-site installation. This eliminates the generation of metal filings in the vicinity of food products during installation, while still achieving the energy-saving benefit of proper air curtain guide installation
4Ease of operation
If different holes are drilled for air curtain guide installation, then the air curtain guide can be mounted, but the shelf edge riser cannot be inserted over the new fixings
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed with a universal mounting approach that uses the same existing holes for both the ticket rail and the air curtain guide installation. This multi-functional use of the same holes ensures that the shelf edge riser remains compatible with the installation, as it can still be inserted over the original fixing points, while simultaneously enabling the air curtain guide to be properly mounted
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
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AI summary
An air curtain guide mounting kit for attaching an air curtain guide to a shelf of a refrigerator is provided, the kit comprising: a bracket (13) adapted to be fixed to a shelf of a refrigerator; and a clip (1) comprising an engagement section (2) adapted to grip an air curtain guide such that the air curtain guide is held captive by the engagement section, and a mounting section (3) connected to the engagement section and adapted to be connected to the bracket.