Air guide brackets for refrigerators
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Open display refrigerators suffer from inefficient air curtain systems due to air leakage and external warm air entrainment, necessitating a cost-effective and time-efficient solution for retrofitting air guides.
Innovation Solution
A bracket system that attaches an air curtain guide to the ticket strip of open display refrigerators, utilizing flexible and resilient clips and a transverse member to securely hold the air guide in place, allowing for easy installation and improved air flow containment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If custom fabrication of air guides is performed to improve air curtain containment, then air leakage is reduced, but installation time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The air guide system is divided into separate components: a bracket portion that attaches to the ticket strip and an air guide portion that attaches to the bracket. This segmentation allows for standardized, pre-fabricated components that can be quickly assembled on-site, reducing installation time while maintaining effective air curtain containment.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket serves as an intermediary component between the existing ticket strip structure and the air guide. This intermediary element enables attachment to common refrigerator structures without requiring custom fabrication, thus reducing both installation time and cost while effectively preventing air leakage.
2Loss of energy
If custom fabrication of air guides is performed to improve air curtain containment, then air leakage is reduced, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the air guide into standardized bracket and guide portions, each component can be mass-produced using conventional manufacturing processes. This eliminates the need for expensive custom fabrication while maintaining effective air leakage prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket is designed to attach to common refrigerator structures like ticket strips, making the air guide system universally applicable across different refrigerator models. This universality reduces manufacturing costs by eliminating custom fabrication requirements while effectively addressing air leakage issues.
3Loss of energy
If air guides are installed to reduce warm air entrainment, then refrigeration efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The air guide system is segmented into simple, discrete components (bracket and air guide portion) that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation reduces overall system complexity while maintaining effectiveness in preventing warm air entrainment.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket acts as a simple intermediary component that connects the air guide to existing refrigerator structures. This intermediary approach adds minimal complexity to the overall system while effectively reducing warm air entrainment and improving refrigeration efficiency.
Data Source
AI summary
Open display refrigerators, commonly used in retail environments, typically include air curtains. It can be desirable to attach air curtain guides to the front edge of shelves within the refrigerator using brackets that are capable of being attached to a ticket strip. The bracket can include teeth oriented in opposite directions that are configured to be received by corresponding grooves of the ticket strip. A screw, cam, or other transverse member can be configured to urge the teeth apart and secure the bracket within the grooves of the ticket strip.