CA2724799A1 - Double-door vertical freezer - Google Patents

Double-door vertical freezer Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CA2724799A1
CA2724799A1 CA2724799A CA2724799A CA2724799A1 CA 2724799 A1 CA2724799 A1 CA 2724799A1 CA 2724799 A CA2724799 A CA 2724799A CA 2724799 A CA2724799 A CA 2724799A CA 2724799 A1 CA2724799 A1 CA 2724799A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
compartment
freezer
coils
lower compartment
freezer according
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA2724799A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Maurizio Ascani
Dario De Angelis
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Angelantoni Industrie SpA
Original Assignee
Angelantoni Industrie SpA
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Angelantoni Industrie SpA filed Critical Angelantoni Industrie SpA
Publication of CA2724799A1 publication Critical patent/CA2724799A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25DREFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D23/00General constructional features
    • F25D23/06Walls
    • F25D23/061Walls with conduit means
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25DREFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D11/00Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators
    • F25D11/02Self-contained movable devices, e.g. domestic refrigerators with cooling compartments at different temperatures

Abstract

The present invention relates to a freezer 10 of the very low temperature vertical type.
The freezer 10 comprises: a thermally insulating cabinet 12 comprising in turn two side walls 14 and 16, an upper wall 18, a lower wall 20 and a rear wall 22; a thermally conducting shelf 24 suitable for defining, inside the cabinet, an upper compartment 26 and a lower compartment 28; an upper door 30 for closing the upper compartment 26;
and a lower door 32 for closing the lower compartment 28. The freezer comprises a single cooling plant 34 designed to cool the upper compartment and the lower compartment. Moreover, the thermally conducting shelf defines an air-tight closure between the upper compartment and the lower compartment. Finally, the cooling plant comprises a coil circuit 36 running through the upper wall, the side walls and the rear wall of the cabinet. The coils are distributed with a variable density along the height of the cabinet.

Description

"Double-door vertical freezer"
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to a double-door vertical freezer, in particular a very low temperature freezer.

It is known, for example in the sector of scientific laboratories, to use very low temperature freezers, i.e. freezers which are suitable for maintaining internally temperatures of between -40 C and -$0 C.

These freezers may have different configurations, for example may have a substantially horizontal or substantially vertical extension. This latter configuration offers the advantage that, for the same useful internal volume, its occupies a smaller floor area.

There exist furthermore some configurations which envisage a single refrigerated compartment closed by a single door, while other configurations envisage two separate compartments which are closed by two independent doors. This latter configuration is able to limit the problems associated with the variations in temperature which are recorded inside the refrigerated compartments upon opening the door. The double door and the double internal compartment allow, for example, separation of the samples which must be stored for a long period of time from those which must be stored for a shorter period of time. In this case, the latter samples may be placed in the compartment where the door is opened more frequently, while the other samples may be kept in an environment which comes into contact with the exterior less frequently and therefore is less exposed to variations in temperature.

Moreover, the double door allows, by means of the use of keys or other means for controlling access, two different users to have a specific dedicated space, without the activity of one interfering with the activity of the other one.

The configuration described above of the double-compartment and double-door vertical freezer is at present achieved by means of two different constructional designs. These constructional designs, although widely used, are however not without drawbacks.
A first constructional design envisages the substantial arrangement on top of one another, within a single cabinet, of two different freezers which are independent of each other. In this design, therefore, there is a clear duplication of the plants and apparatus associated with cooling of the internal compartments. This obviously results in a substantial increase in the freezer production and operating costs.
A second constructional design envisages instead the division, into two, of the internal compartment and of the door of a conventional vertical freezer. This design envisages that, in order to ensure a temperature of the two compartments which is as uniform as possible, a communication channel between the two compartments is maintained so that it is possible to establish an airflow between one compartment and the other one. This communication channel between the two compartments constitutes a potential path via which the samples stored in the upper compartment and the samples stored in the lower compartment may contaminate each other.

An object of the present invention is therefore to overcome at least partly the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.
In particular, one task of the present invention is to provide a double-door freezer which ensures complete isolation between the upper compartment and the lower compartment and which at the same time ensures temperatures which are substantially the same in both compartments.
Another task of the present invention is to provide a double-door freezer which is able to ensure lower production and operating costs.
The present invention provides a very low temperature vertical freezer, comprising:
a thermally insulating cabinet comprising two side walls, an upper wall, a lower wall and a rear wall;

a thermally conducting shelf suitable for defining, inside said cabinet, an upper compartment and a lower compartment;
an upper door for closing the upper compartment;
a lower door for closing the lower compartment;
wherein:

the freezer comprises a single cooling plant designed to cool the upper compartment and the lower compartment;

2a the thermally conducting shelf forms an air-tight closure between the upper compartment and the lower compartment; and the cooling plant comprises a coil circuit running through the upper wall, the side walls and the rear wall of the cabinet, said coils being distributed with variable density along the height of the cabinet.
The volume of the upper compartment can be smaller than or equal to the volume of the lower compartment and the extension of the coils around the upper compartment can be greater than or equal to the extension of the coils around the lower compartment. The cooling plant can be designed to cool the compartments to a temperature of between -40 C and -80 C. The coils can be distributed in the walls bounding the upper compartment with a greater average density than in those bounding the lower.
compartment. The upper wall can have a density of coils greater than that in the side walls and in the rear wall.
The coils can be distributed in the side walls and in the rear wall in such a way as to have an almost constant average density along the section bounding the upper compartment and in such a way as to have a variable density along the selection bounding the lower compartment. The density of the coils can increase from the bottom to the top of the lower compartment.

In one embodiment, 54% of the total of the coils can extend around the upper compartment and the remaining 46% can extend around the lower compartment. The air-tight closure between the upper compartment and the lower compartment can be obtained by means of a silicone bead. The overall inner volume of the freezer can be divided up differently between the upper compartment and the lower compartment. The volume of the upper compartment can be about the 45% of the total volume cooled by the freezer, while the volume of the lower compartment can be about 55% of the total volume cooled by the freezer. The upper door and the lower door can be identical to each other.
In one embodiment, the freezer can further comprise a thermally insulating band between the two doors, the shelf having a smaller thickness than the band and being mounted above, flush with band, and can further comprise control means for allowing separate access to the two compartments.
The characteristic features and further advantages of the invention will emerge from the description provided hereinbelow, of some examples of embodiment, provided by way of a non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 shows a first perspective view of a freezer according to the invention;

- Figure 2 shows a second perspective view of a freezer according to the invention;

- Figure 3 shows a third perspective view of a freezer according to the invention where the doors have been removed for greater clarity;

- Figure 4 shows a transparent perspective view of a freezer according to the invention in which part of the cooling plant is shown.

With reference to the accompanying figures, 10 denotes in its entirety a very low temperature vertical freezer according to the invention. The freezer 10 comprises:

- a thermally insulating cabinet 12 comprising in turn two side walls 14 and 16, an upper wall 18, a lower wall 20 and a rear wall 22;

- a thermally conducting shelf 24 suitable for defining, inside the cabinet 12, an upper compartment 26 and a lower compartment 28;

an upper door 30 for closing the upper compartment 26; and - a lower door 32 for closing the lower compartment 28.

The freezer 10 according to the invention comprises a single cooling plant 34 designed to cool the upper compartment 26 and the lower compartment 28.

Moreover, the thermally conducting shelf 24 defines an air-tight closure between the upper compartment 26 and the lower compartment 28. Finally, the cooling plant comprises a coil circuit 36 running through the upper wall 18, the side walls 14 and 16 and the rear wall 18 of the cabinet 12. The coils 36 are distributed with a variable density along the height of the cabinet 12.

In connection with the present description the expression "very low temperature", as conventionally used in the sector, is understood as meaning a temperature of between -40 C and -80 C.

The density of the coils 36 may be defined in various manners, for example as the ratio between the overall length of the linear extension of the coils which travel along a wall and the area of the wall itself. As the person skilled in the art may easily understand, this definition may be applied also to surfaces smaller than the entire wall, but cannot be meaningfully applied if the surfaces in question are very small.

According to one embodiment of the freezer 10, the coils 36 are distributed so as to achieve a greater average density in the walls which bound the upper compartment 26 than in the walls which bound the lower compartment 28. In particular, the upper wall 18 has preferably a greater density than the side walls 14 and 16 and the rear wall 22.
According to some embodiments of the freezer 10, the volume of the upper compartment 26 is smaller than or equal to the volume of the lower compartment 28 and the extension of the coils around the upper compartment 26 is greater than or equal to the extension of the coils 36 around the lower compartment 28.

According to one embodiment of the freezer 10, the coils are distributed in the side walls 14 and 16 and in the rear wall 22 so as to have an almost constant average density along the section which bounds the upper compartment 26 and so as to have a variable density along the section which bounds the lower compartment 28. In particular, the density increase preferably from the bottom towards the top of the lower compartment 28.

According to some embodiments of the freezer 10, more than half of the coils 36 extend around the upper compartment 26. According to the embodiment of the freezer 10 shown in Figure 4, 54% of the total of the coils extend around the upper compartment 26 and the remaining 46% extend around the lower compartment 28.

With such a.distribution of the coil density, it is possible to exploit in an optimum manner the natural convention which tends, as a result of gravity, to displace the cold air downwards.

As mentioned above, the shelf 24 defines an air-tight closure between the upper 5 compartment 26 and the lower compartment 28. This seal may be achieved, for example, by means of a silicone bead and prevents any mutual contamination of the samples stored in the two compartments. In this respect, the fact that the shelf 24 is thermally conducting, makes it easier to achieve a uniform temperature inside the two compartments even when there is no circulating air flow.

As already mentioned, according to some embodiments of the freezer 10, the overall internal volume is divided up differently between the upper compartment 26 and the lower compartment 28, preferably so that the lower compartment 28 has a volume greater than that of the upper compartment 26. For example, in the embodiment of the accompanying figures, the volume of the upper compartment 26 constitutes 45%
of the total cooled volume, while the remaining 55% is destined for the lower compartment 28. Applying this proportion, a freezer 10 according to the invention with an overall cooled volume of 800 litres has preferably an upper compartment 26 with a volume of 360 litres and a lower compartment 28 with a volume of 440 litres.

In the front view of the freezer 10, the two thermally insulating doors 30 and 32 are separated by a band 38 which is also thermally insulating.

According to one embodiment, the upper door 30 and the lower door 32 of the freezer 10 are identical to each other. Considering that the doors 30 and 32 are identical to each other, the difference in the volumes of the respective compartments 26 and 28 is due to the fact that the shelf 24 has a thickness smaller than that of the band 38 and the fact that the shelf 24 is mounted above, flush with the band 38. For this reason, the lower compartment 28 is internally higher than the upper compartment 26.

Moreover, mounting of the shelf 24 above, flush with the band 38, facilitates substantially the operations for internal cleaning of the upper compartment 26. This particular configuration of the freezer 10 is clearly visible from a comparison of Figure 1 with Figure 2. In Figure 1, in fact, the view from above shows how the surface 24 is mounted flush with the band 38, while in Figure 2 the view from below shows the difference in thickness between the shelf 24 and the band 38.

This type of distribution of the volumes acts in synergy with the particular distribution of the coil density, allowing the natural convection to be exploited.. even more effectively.

With the particular configuration described above, where the density of the coils 36 is variable along the height of the cabinet 12 and, preferably, where the volumes of the two compartments 26 and 28 are different, it is possible to obtain, during operation, a temperature which is substantially the same in both compartments 26 and 28.
Specific tests carried out by the applicant have shown how the temperatures in the two compartments 26 and 28 differ at the most by 1 C. This difference is the same as or less than the differences which commonly occur between the two compartments of conventional freezers with air circulation.

According to one embodiment, the freezer 10 also comprises control means for allowing separate access to the two compartments 26 and 28. For example, each of the two doors and 32 may be protected by an independent control system based on identification of the user by means of an electronic key. A control system of this type is already used by the applicant on other devices with the trade name Bioguard . By means of this system, the users may be provided with a programmable electronic key (for example a card) 25 which allows access to only one compartment or to both compartments.
In the light of the above description it will be clear to the person skilled in the art how the freezer according to the invention is able to overcome the drawbacks mentioned above with reference to the prior art.

In particular, in the light of all that described above, it will be clear how with the freezer 10 according to the invention it is possible to obtain a temperature which is substantially the same inside the two compartments 26 and 28, without at the same time the risk of mutual contamination and without the need for duplication of the refrigeration plant.
With regard to the abovementioned embodiments of the double-door freezer, the person skilled in the art may, in order to satisfy specific requirements, make modifications to and/or replace elements described with equivalent elements, without thereby departing from the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims (14)

1. A very low temperature vertical freezer, comprising:
a thermally insulating cabinet comprising two side walls, an upper wall, a lower wall and a rear wall;
a thermally conducting shelf suitable for defining, inside said cabinet, an upper compartment and a lower compartment;
an upper door for closing the upper compartment;
a lower door for closing the lower compartment;
wherein:
the freezer comprises a single cooling plant designed to cool the upper compartment and the lower compartment;
the thermally conducting shelf forms an air-tight closure between the upper compartment and the lower compartment; and the cooling plant comprises a coil circuit running through the upper wall, the side walls and the rear wall of the cabinet, said coils being distributed with variable density along the height of the cabinet.
2. A freezer according to claim 1, wherein the volume of the upper compartment is smaller than or equal to the volume of the lower compartment and the extension of the coils around the upper compartment is greater than or equal to the extension of the coils around the lower compartment.
3. A freezer according to claim I or 2, wherein the cooling plant is designed to cool the compartments to a temperature of between -40°C and -80°C.
4. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the coils are distributed in the walls bounding the upper compartment with a greater average density than in those bounding the lower compartment.
5. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the upper wall has a density of coils greater than that in the side walls and in the rear wall.
6. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the coils are distributed in the side walls and in the rear wall in such a way as to have an almost constant average density along the section bounding the upper compartment and in such a way as to have a variable density along the section bounding the lower compartment.
7. A freezer according to claim 6, wherein the density of the coils increases from the bottom to the top of the lower compartment.
8. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein 54% of the total of the coils extend around the upper compartment and the remaining 46% extend around the lower compartment.
9. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the air-tight closure between the upper compartment and the lower compartment is obtained by means of a silicone bead.
10. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the overall inner volume of the freezer is divided up differently between the upper compartment and the lower compartment.
11. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the volume of the upper compartment is about the 45% of the total volume cooled by the freezer, while the volume of the lower compartment is about 55% of the total volume cooled by the freezer.
12. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the upper door and the lower door are identical to each other.
13. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a thermally insulating band between the two doors, the shelf having a smaller thickness than the band and being mounted above, flush with the band.
14. A freezer according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising control means for allowing separate access to the two compartments.
CA2724799A 2010-02-12 2010-12-09 Double-door vertical freezer Abandoned CA2724799A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
ITMI2010A000220 2010-02-12
ITMI2010A000220A IT1397927B1 (en) 2010-02-12 2010-02-12 DOUBLE DOOR VERTICAL FREEZER.

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2724799A1 true CA2724799A1 (en) 2011-08-12

Family

ID=42668619

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA2724799A Abandoned CA2724799A1 (en) 2010-02-12 2010-12-09 Double-door vertical freezer

Country Status (3)

Country Link
US (1) US20110197623A1 (en)
CA (1) CA2724799A1 (en)
IT (1) IT1397927B1 (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP5128424B2 (en) * 2008-09-10 2013-01-23 パナソニックヘルスケア株式会社 Refrigeration equipment
WO2014173761A1 (en) * 2013-04-26 2014-10-30 BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH An efficient cooling device having a coil
WO2021014865A1 (en) * 2019-07-22 2021-01-28 Phcホールディングス株式会社 Refrigeration apparatus

Family Cites Families (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2559367A (en) * 1947-11-10 1951-07-03 Willard L Merrison Refrigerator
FR2193186A1 (en) * 1972-07-20 1974-02-15 Soissonnais Manufacture
IT213782Z2 (en) * 1988-05-04 1990-03-01 Eurodomestici Ind Riunite EVAPORATOR FOR STATIC REFRIGERATORS.
JPH0674939B2 (en) * 1989-11-16 1994-09-21 三洋電機株式会社 Vertical freezer
FR2655717B1 (en) * 1989-12-12 1995-02-10 Selnor Electromenager Nord MULTIPLE TEMPERATURE REFRIGERATION APPARATUS.
FR2678720A1 (en) * 1991-07-02 1993-01-08 Selnor Method of manufacture of appliances with several compartments such as fridge-freezers and doors resulting therefrom
US5600966A (en) * 1995-05-19 1997-02-11 Forma Scientific, Inc. Ultra low temperature split door freezer
US5842179A (en) * 1996-01-22 1998-11-24 Venturedyne Limited Method and apparatus for inventorying laboratory specimens
US6648637B2 (en) * 2001-11-27 2003-11-18 General Signal Technology Corporation Seal and sealing method for temperature control chamber doors
TR200804594A2 (en) * 2008-06-23 2010-01-21 Bsh Ev Aletleri̇ San. Ve Ti̇c. A.Ş. Refrigerator

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20110197623A1 (en) 2011-08-18
ITMI20100220A1 (en) 2011-08-13
IT1397927B1 (en) 2013-02-04

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP1581777B1 (en) Refrigerator
US20170059237A1 (en) Modular interface for pantry temperature control
JP5481311B2 (en) refrigerator
KR102073328B1 (en) Accommodation container and refrigerator having the same
KR101810736B1 (en) A refrigerator and a method controlling the same
US9726415B1 (en) Insulated storage systems and methods
US10415875B2 (en) Sealed crisper
US20110197623A1 (en) Double-door vertical freezer
WO2007010267A2 (en) Improvements in or relating to cold storage
EP2982918B1 (en) Door holding apparatus and refrigerator having the same
WO2015109981A1 (en) Separator used for refrigerator refrigeration compartment, refrigeration compartment and refrigerator
US11357342B2 (en) Freezer cabinet and method for adapting a freezer cabinet
AU2016389530A1 (en) Refrigerator
US9835370B2 (en) Freezer, in particular ultra-low temperature freezer
JP2006250465A (en) Refrigerator
US11333425B2 (en) Freezer cabinet and method for adapting a freezer cabinet
KR200481531Y1 (en) Refrigerator for rice with improved open and close mechanism of container
CN219913672U (en) Drawer assembly for refrigeration equipment and refrigeration equipment
CN220507398U (en) Horizontal refrigerator
JP6501831B2 (en) refrigerator
CN109477678B (en) Door device of refrigerator
JP2006010167A (en) Refrigerator
KR100792053B1 (en) Drawer-car used in a refrigerator
JP2006250424A (en) Refrigerator
JP2006220316A (en) Refrigerator

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
FZDE Discontinued

Effective date: 20131210