Refrigerator display case
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing refrigerated display cases face challenges in maintaining food freshness and safety due to condensation, microbial growth, and complex cleaning processes, particularly with exposed coils and hidden areas that are difficult to access and clean, leading to reduced product quality and increased labor.
Innovation Solution
A modular conductive chilled floor component with integrated cooling coils that replaces traditional deck and tank structures, providing a sealed and removable cooling system that eliminates condensation and bacterial growth, allowing for easy cleaning and adjustment of expansion valves without product removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If forced air convection is used to cool products, then cooling efficiency is improved, but product moisture is lost through increased evaporation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical forced air convection system with a passive conduction-based cooling system. The chilled floor component conducts cooling directly to products through thermal contact, eliminating the need for fans and forced air circulation. This substitution prevents moisture evaporation while maintaining effective cooling, as products are cooled through direct thermal contact rather than air flow.
2Temperature
If cooling coils are exposed in the tank area, then cooling function is improved, but condensation and microbial growth are promoted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cooling coils from the exposed tank area and integrates them into the sealed chilled floor component. The coils are completely enclosed within the chilled floor structure, removing them from the environment where condensation and microbial growth occur. This allows the cooling function to be maintained while eliminating the harmful effects of exposed coils in the tank area.
Solution Approach 2:
The chilled floor component acts as an enclosing shell that contains the cooling coils and prevents condensation formation. The sealed structure of the chilled floor component creates a barrier that prevents moisture accumulation and microbial growth, while still allowing the cooling coils inside to function effectively.
3Temperature
If traditional deck and tank structures are used, then cooling capability is maintained, but cleaning complexity and labor are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the deck and tank structures into a single integrated chilled floor component. This consolidation eliminates the separate tank area and exposed coils, creating a unified structure with fewer crevices and hidden areas. The merged design maintains full cooling capability while dramatically simplifying cleaning operations, as there are no separate components or hidden areas requiring complex cleaning procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The chilled floor component is designed as a removable, modular unit that can be easily separated from the case structure. This segmentation allows the chilled floor to be quickly removed for thorough cleaning or replacement, simplifying maintenance operations while maintaining effective cooling capability during normal operation.
4Reliability
If expansion valves are positioned inside the case, then cooling control is improved, but accessibility for adjustment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the chilled floor component as an intermediary structure that houses the expansion valves in a location accessible from outside the case. The valves are positioned on the exterior surface of the chilled floor component, allowing technicians to access and adjust them without removing products or disassembling case structures, while the valves remain integrated into the cooling control system.
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 design enhances food freshness by preventing condensation and microbial growth, simplifies maintenance and cleaning, and increases product shelf life while reducing labor and contamination risks.
Implementation Method 1
a removable chilled floor component comprising a perimeter, cooling means, a cooling surface, and a lower surface opposite the cooling surface
Implementation Method 2
Refrigerated display cases typically rely on the process of convection to transfer heat out of the products and the case to keep the products they display cold
Implementation Method 3
the compression and condensing of volatile gas to a liquid, allowing the liquid to flow through an expansion valve which causes the liquid to boil and vaporize almost immediately, resulting in a temperature drop
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure provides a refrigerated display case for maintaining food freshness and improving food safety while reducing the possibility of spoilage and reducing the labor otherwise required for cleaning a standard case where contaminates commonly accumulate. This structure improves humidity levels by avoiding condensation on lower coils while reducing the complexity of adequately cleaning the case and maintaining food safety. Elimination of this hidden cavity reduces cleaning time. The disclosure employs a removable floor assembly or chilled floor component which may be employed in gravity cases or forced air cases. The removable assembly comprises encased cooling coils which may be foamed in or otherwise secured therein. The floor assembly is removable, making the floor and cooling system an integrated and replaceable component. The novel case further incorporates accessible expansion valves which may be adjusted without removing the food product from the case. Electro thermal cooling means may be alternatively employed.