DE102022005102A1 - Display counter - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a display counter with a cooling space that is always at least partially open at the top, in particular a display space for displaying foodstuffs to be stored away, which is set up and intended to cool and/or store foodstuffs to be stored away in a cool place, preferably at at least -10 degrees Celsius and at most +10 degrees Celsius, preferably from at least 0 degrees Celsius to at most 5 degrees Celsius, and a method for cooling refrigerated goods on a display counter.

Description

The present invention relates to a display counter with a cooling space that is always at least partially open at the top, in particular a display space for displaying foodstuffs to be stored away, which is designed and intended to cool and/or store foodstuffs to be stored away in a cool place, preferably at at least -10 degrees Celsius and at most +10 degrees Celsius, preferably from at least 0 degrees Celsius to at most 5 degrees Celsius.

The present invention relates to a display counter with a cooling chamber and an access opening at the front for unhindered access of a consumer to refrigerated goods cooled within the display counter, wherein the access opening cannot be closed and is thus permanently open, as well as a method for cooling refrigerated goods of a display counter.

Display cabinets with an air curtain have become widely used in grocery stores over the past 15 to 20 years. Such display cabinets have advantages in the storage and display of refrigerated foods, etc. The display cabinets generally employ two or three air curtains which cross the open front of the cabinet; the innermost air curtain and the one adjacent to it are normally circulated around the display cabinet by flow paths provided therein. The innermost air curtain is normally the coldest, the second is somewhat warmer, and the third, outermost, if present, is at substantially ambient temperature and serves to enhance the jet energy of the two inner curtains. Cooling means are arranged in the innermost passage to cool the air passing therethrough. From time to time this innermost passage and the cooling means must be defrosted during operation to remove ice accumulated on the cooling coil which originates from the refrigerated air and tends to impede the proper operation of the equipment.

Basic types of defrosting devices can be used in commercial units of this type. The warmer air passing over the cooling coils melts the snow or ice that has accumulated on the cooling coils. A second type of defrosting device is used much less frequently because of its complexity.

Defrosting systems that use air are not new in themselves, but are well known. In known systems, such as those shown in the above patents, special fans are turned on during the defrosting phase to remove air from the flow path of the first cooled air curtain and blow this air into the atmosphere, while at the same time ambient air is drawn into the flow path of this air curtain. During the defrosting phase, in the known systems, the air curtain completely dissolves over the open front of the display counter, so that moisture-laden ambient air can penetrate into the storage area of the display counter during the defrosting phase. This promotes the formation of ice in the storage area during the cooling phase.

In the US Patent 3 082 612 is shown a refrigerated display cabinet with air curtain and defrosting device in which the cooling coils can be defrosted without the need to completely shut down the display cabinet. This refrigerated display cabinet uses the existing fan for circulating the air in the main passage to draw in ambient air through a passage in the form of openings in the lower part of the front of the unit. The openings are closed by covers during normal operation. The ambient air drawn in through these passages is discharged from the main cooling stream at a point beyond the cooling coils through another passage in the form of openings in the rear of the unit.

According to the invention, a display counter is shown with a cooling space that is always at least partially open at the top, in particular a display space for displaying foodstuffs to be stored away, which is set up and intended to cool and/or store foodstuffs to be stored away in a cool place, preferably at at least -10 degrees Celsius and at most +10 degrees Celsius, preferably from at least 0 degrees Celsius to at most 5 degrees Celsius.

According to the invention, the display counter is provided with a cooling chamber and an access opening on the front for unhindered access by a consumer to a refrigerated item cooled within the display counter, wherein the access opening cannot be closed and is thus permanently open, characterized in that the means for forming an essentially horizontal air curtain is provided, which extends from the access opening at least partially in the direction of a floor of the cooling chamber and/or in the direction of an operator's operating window, which prevents the ambient air from passing through the access opening into the cooling chamber, wherein the return flow of the air curtain partially heated by the ambient air is cooled by the means and thus a cooling flow is generated below the return flow to generate the air curtain, in particular wherein the means has at least one vertical channel which runs substantially perpendicular to the cooling flow along a side wall and within the means, wherein within the cooling chamber the return flow and/or the cooling flow runs in a direction starting from the floor of the cooling chamber in the direction of the opening of the cooling chamber and an increasingly stronger cooling of the air flow takes place along the course along the vertical channel, wherein the cooling flow is thus directed directly towards the floor and at least partially, in particular directed, hits it.

This has the advantage of saving energy.

According to at least one embodiment, the display counter is different from a freezer.

According to at least one embodiment, the display counter has at least one side wall of the vertical channel running in the vertical direction, through which a coolant is cooled.

According to at least one further embodiment, at least one side wall of the vertical channel is formed with a side facing the air flow and a side of the vertical channel opposite this side in the horizontal direction from different material.

According to at least one embodiment, the display counter is characterized in that a surface of at least one side of the vertical channel is formed with a plastic and/or with a cold-conducting material, in particular wherein cooling is provided to the air flow via this plastic material in order to cool it.

According to at least one embodiment, the means is designed and intended to generate a temperature difference of the cooling flow compared to the return flow of at least 3 degrees, preferably of at least 10 degrees.

According to at least one embodiment, a lower cooling chamber zone has a lower temperature than an upper one.

According to at least one embodiment, movable closures are provided on the rear side of the display counter, which allow access to the cooling chamber through the closure openings.

According to at least one embodiment, the display counter has a mechanical, electrical and/or pneumatic control element by means of which a cooling temperature of the cooling flow can be adjusted.

In addition, the invention described here comprises a method for cooling refrigerated goods of a display counter with at least one display counter according to claim 1, wherein cooling of the refrigerated goods is achieved by switching on the means for forming the air curtain.

As shown below, the following 3D printing technologies can be used to produce a display counter:

1. The FDM process (Fused Deposition Modeling)

Alternative names: Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF), Fused Layer Modeling (FLM)

The process involves the layer-by-layer application (extrusion) of a material through a hot nozzle. The consumable material is in the form of a long wire (so-called filament) on a roll and is pushed into a print head by the conveyor unit, where it is melted and applied to a print bed. The print head and/or print bed can be moved in three directions. This means that plastic layers can be applied step by step on top of each other.

2. The SLS process (selective laser sintering)

In contrast to the sintering process, in which materials in powder form are bonded together using heat, the SLS process does this selectively using a laser (alternatively an electron beam or infrared beam). This means that only a certain part of the powder is fused together.

For this purpose, a thin layer of powder is always applied to the print bed by the coating unit. The laser (or other energy source) is then precisely aimed at individual points on the powder layer to form the first layer of the print data. The powder is melted or solidified and then solidifies again by cooling slightly. The unmelted powder remains around the sintered areas and serves as support material. After a layer has solidified, the print bed lowers by a fraction of a millimeter. The coating unit now moves over the print bed and applies the next layer of powder. The second layer of the print data is then sintered by the laser (or another energy source). This creates a three-dimensional object layer by layer.

3. Three-Dimensional Printing (3DP)

The 3DP process works very similarly to selective laser sintering, but instead of a directed energy source, a print head moves over the powder. This releases tiny droplets of binder onto the underlying powder layers, which are then bonded together. Otherwise, this process is the same as the SLS process.

4. Stereolithography (SLA)

Instead of a plastic wire or printing material in powder form, the stereolithography process uses liquid resins, so-called photopolymers. They are hardened layer by layer by UV radiation and thus create three-dimensional objects. To do this, the construction platform is gradually lowered into the resin tank. There are also variants (so-called polyjet processes) without a whole tank of liquid resin. For this, an epoxy resin is applied drop by drop from a nozzle and immediately hardened by a UV laser.

5. Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM)

Alternative name: Layer Laminated Manufacturing (LLM)

The process is based neither on chemical reactions nor on a thermal process. A film or plate (e.g. paper) is cut along the contour using a separating tool (e.g. a knife or carbon dioxide laser) and then glued together layer by layer. By lowering the construction platform, a layered object is created from glued, superimposed films.

In the following, the above-mentioned invention is described in more detail with reference to a figure.

1 shows a display counter 1 with a cooling chamber 3 and an access opening 2 at the front for unhindered access of a consumer to a chilled item cooled within the display counter 1, which is characterized in that the means for forming an essentially horizontal air curtain 70 is provided, which extends from the access opening 2 at least partially in the direction of a floor of the cooling chamber 4 and/or in the direction of an operator's operating window, which prevents the ambient air 80 from passing through the access opening 2 into the cooling chamber 3, wherein the return flow 90 of the air curtain 70 partially heated by the ambient air 80 is cooled by the means 100 and a cooling flow 60 is generated below the return flow 90 to generate the air curtain 70, in particular wherein the means 100 has at least one vertical channel 101 which runs essentially perpendicular to the cooling flow 60 along a side wall and within the means 100, wherein within the Return flow 90 and/or the cooling flow 60 runs in a direction starting from the floor 4 of the cooling chamber 3 in the direction of the opening 2 of the cooling chamber 3 and an ever stronger cooling of the air flow takes place along the course along the vertical channel 101.

1 also shows that at least one side wall of the vertical channel 101 running in the vertical direction V is cooled by a coolant 100 and that at least one side wall of the vertical channel 101 with a side facing the air flow 70 is formed with a side of the vertical channel 101 opposite this side in the horizontal direction H of different material.

In addition, 1 It can be seen that a surface of at least one side of the vertical channel 101 is formed with a plastic and/or with a cold-conducting material, in particular wherein cooling is provided to the air flow 70 via this plastic material in order to cool it.

1 shows that the means 100 is designed and intended to generate a temperature difference of the cooling flow 60 compared to the return flow 90 of at least 3 degrees, preferably of at least 10 degrees, and that a lower cooling chamber zone 50 has a lower temperature than an upper one.

In addition, the 1 It can be seen that movable closures 18 are provided on the rear side of the display counter, which allow access to the cooling chamber through the closure openings 68, and that the display counter 1 has a mechanical, electrical and/or pneumatic control element 69, by means of which a cooling temperature of the cooling stream 60 can be adjusted.

Also shows 1 a method 1000 for cooling refrigerated goods of a display counter 1 with at least one display counter 1 according to claim 1, wherein cooling of the refrigerated goods is achieved by switching on the means 100 for forming the air curtain 70.

The invention is not limited by the description based on the embodiment. Rather, the invention includes any new feature, as well as any combination of features, which in particular includes any combination of features in the patent claims, even if this feature or this combination itself is not explicitly specified in the patent claims or in the embodiments.

List of reference symbols

1

Display counter

2

Access opening

3

Cold room

4

Floor

18

movable closures

50

lower cooling zone

60

Cooling current

68

Closure openings

69

mechanical, electrical and/or pneumatic control element

70

horizontal air curtain

80

Ambient air

90

Backflow

100

Medium

101

Vertical channel

102

Side wall

103

Side wall

1000

Proceedings

V

vertical direction

H

horizontal direction

QUOTES INCLUDED IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of documents listed by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA accepts no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• US3082612 [0006]

Claims (8)

Display counter (1) with - a cooling chamber (3) which is always at least partially open at the top, in particular a display chamber (3) for displaying foodstuffs to be stored, which is set up and intended to cool and/or store foodstuffs to be stored in a cool place, preferably at at least -10 degrees Celsius and at most +10 degrees Celsius, preferably from at least 0 degrees Celsius to at most 5 degrees Celsius, and - an access opening (2) on the front for unhindered access by a consumer to a refrigerated item cooled within the display counter (1), wherein the access opening (2) cannot be closed and is thus permanently open, - characterized in that - means (100) are provided for forming an essentially horizontally extending air curtain (70) which, starting from the access opening (2), is directed at least partially towards a floor of the cooling chamber (4) and/or towards an operator's operating window, and which blocks the ambient air (80) from passing through the access opening (2) into the cooling chamber (3). prevents, wherein - the return flow (90) of the air curtain (70) partially heated by the ambient air (80) is cooled by the means (100) and a cooling flow (60) is thus generated below the return flow (90) for generating the air curtain (70), in particular wherein the means (100) has at least one vertical channel (101) which runs essentially perpendicular to the cooling flow (60) along a side wall and within the means (100), wherein within the cooling chamber (3) the return flow (90) and/or the cooling flow (60) runs in a direction starting from the floor (4) of the cooling chamber (3) in the direction of the opening (2) of the cooling chamber (3) and an ever stronger cooling of the air flow (70) takes place along the course along the vertical channel (101), whereby the cooling flow (60) is thus directed directly at the floor (4) and at least partially, in particular directed, hits it, whereby this has a mechanical, electrical and/or pneumatic control element (69) by means of which a cooling temperature of the cooling stream (60) can be adjusted. Display counter (1) after Claim 1 , characterized in that it is different from a freezer. Display counter (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one side wall (102, 103) of the vertical channel (101) extending in the vertical direction (V) is cooled by a coolant (100). Display counter (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one side wall (102, 103) of the vertical channel (101) is formed with a side facing the air flow (70) with a side (103) of the vertical channel (101) opposite this side (102) in the horizontal direction (H) of different material. Display counter (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a surface of at least one side (102, 103) of the vertical channel (101) is formed with a plastic and/or with a cold-conducting material, in particular wherein cooling is provided to the air flow (70) via this plastic material in order to cool it. Display counter (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means (100) is designed and provided to generate a temperature difference of the cooling flow (60) compared to the return flow (90) of at least 3 degrees, preferably of at least 10 degrees. Display counter (1) according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a lower cooling zone (50) has a lower temperature than an upper one. Method (1000) for cooling refrigerated goods of a display counter (1) with - at least one display counter (1) according to Claim 1 , - wherein cooling of the goods to be cooled is achieved by switching on the means (100) for forming the air curtain (70).

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