Open-front refrigerator and a method of cooling items therein
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Open-front refrigerators face challenges in maintaining a stable cool air curtain due to positive air pressure, which destabilizes the airflow and reduces the effectiveness of cooling items within the display cabinet.
Innovation Solution
An air circulation system with an air inlet and outlet adjacent to the open front face, an air conduit that directs air through shelves, and an air pump to circulate cool air, ensuring that at least a portion of the air passes from a wall of the cabinet through the shelves and back, creating a continuous cooling path without disrupting the air curtain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If air is blown into the display cabinet to cool goods, then cooling effectiveness is improved, but positive air pressure destabilizes the air curtain
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into separate pathways: one for cooling goods (through shelves) and another for maintaining the air curtain (along walls). This segmentation allows independent optimization of each function without mutual interference.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the display cabinet are assigned different air flow qualities: cool air is directed through shelves to contact goods, while separate air flow maintains the curtain at the open face. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing targeted cooling without disrupting overall air curtain stability.
2Temperature
If air is circulated from back to front to cool goods, then cooling coverage is improved, but air curtain flow from top to bottom is destroyed
Solution Approach 1:
The air circulation system is segmented into separate pathways: one for cooling goods (through shelves) and another for maintaining the air curtain (along walls). This segmentation allows independent optimization of each function without mutual interference.
Solution Approach 2:
The air circulation transitions from a single-dimensional back-to-front flow to a multi-dimensional system where air flows both through shelves (horizontal cooling) and along walls (vertical curtain maintenance). This dimensional expansion resolves the contradiction by accommodating both cooling coverage and air curtain flow requirements simultaneously.
3Productivity
If positive air pressure is produced within the display cabinet, then air circulation is enhanced, but the stable flow of air curtain is pushed outward and destroyed
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the display cabinet are assigned different air flow qualities: cool air is directed through shelves to contact goods, while separate air flow maintains the curtain at the open face. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing targeted cooling without disrupting overall air curtain stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The air circulation system is segmented into separate pathways: one for cooling goods (through shelves) and another for maintaining the air curtain (along walls). This segmentation allows independent optimization of each function without mutual interference.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration effectively cools items by circulating cool air through the shelves while maintaining a stable air curtain, ensuring that goods within the display cabinet remain cooled without air pressure destabilization.
Implementation Method 1
an air pump configured to draw air from the air inlet, move the air thus drawn through the air conduit to the air outlet, and blow the air thus moved out of the air outlet toward the air inlet
Implementation Method 2
an air conduit for conveying air from the air inlet to the air outlet
Implementation Method 3
a cool air curtain produced by blowing cold air across an open front face of the cabinet, typically from the top to the bottom, which keeps the air within the display cabinet from mixing with ambient air outside the display cabinet
Implementation Method 4
cool air is circulated through the shelves themselves in order to cool the products through contact with the shelves
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a display cabinet (1) having an open face; an air circulation system comprising: an air inlet (9) located adjacent to a perimeter of the open front face; an air outlet (7) located adjacent to the perimeter of the open front face opposite the air inlet (9), and configured to blow air across the open front face toward the air inlet (9); an air conduit (11, 17) for conveying air from the air inlet (9) to the air outlet (7); and an air pump configured to draw air from the air inlet (9), move the air thus drawn through the air conduit (11, 17) to the air outlet (7); and at least one shelf (3) disposed within the display cabinet (1); wherein the air conduit (11, 17) is arranged such that at least a portion (19) of the air from the air inlet (9) follows a path that passes out from a wall of the display cabinet (1) through the at least one shelf (3), and back through said at least one shelf (3) to the wall of the display cabinet (1), before being passed to the air outlet (7).