GB2112511A

GB2112511A - Refrigerated display unit

Info

Publication number: GB2112511A
Application number: GB08138334A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Weeden
Original assignee: SAGELINE Ltd
Current assignee: SAGELINE Ltd
Priority date: 1981-12-19
Filing date: 1981-12-19
Publication date: 1983-07-20

Abstract

A refrigerated display unit has an open upper portion with shelves for displaying produce for sale. The unit is cooled by refrigerated fluid supplied through an evaporation unit 36 by a circulating unit consisting of a condenser 48 and compressor and motor 50. The circulating unit is mounted on a trolley 52 so that it may be slid in and out of the lower portion of the display unit without being disconnected. The circulating unit is connected to the evaporator unit by flexible hoses (44,46) with automatic self- sealing connections. The upper portion of the display unit has perforated back panels for ready circulation of air and a roller shutter 28 for closing the front of the unit at night and when it is not in use. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Refrigerated display unit This invention relates to a refrigerated display unit, of the type used to display meat and dairy produce.

Refrigerated display units, especially the 'mobile' type, incorporate their own refrigeration plant, which like other machinery requires frequent maintenance and servicing. In known designs of refrigerated display units, this maintenance is awkward as the accessibility of the refrigeration plant is severely limited.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a display case, means for refrigerating at least part of the display case and comprising an evaporator unit within the case, means for circulat ing refrigerant fluid through the evaporator unit and hoses connecting the evaporator unit to the circulat ing means, so as to provide sealed paths therebetween for refrigerant fluid, the circulating means being mounted on a support movable by sliding or rolling from the display case without disconnecting the hoses, so that the evaporator means, in cooperation with the circulating means, may continue to refrigerate the display case whilst removed therefrom.

Preferably said hoses are further provided with connectors, which are self sealing when disconnected, to avoid loss of refrigerant fluid, thus allowing for the easy disconnection and replacement of a compressor unit.

Preferably the circulating means is mounted on a trolley which may locked in position in the display case, or unlocked to allow the circulating means to be rolled out of the display case. Typically the locking in position of this trolley is achieved either by braking the trolley wheels, or raising the trolley wheels so that the trolley rests on its underside when in position in the display case.

Advantageously the display case is divided into a portion to hold the displayed goods, and a second portion, partitioned from the first, to hold the circulating means. The portion holding the displayed goods may have an opening to allow access to said goods, this display portion being the one that is cooled. The advantage of the partition is that any heat generated by the circulating means cannot freely enter the cooled portion, and reheat said portion.

The air to be cooled within the display case may be blown over the evaporator unit by tangential blowers, which are advantageously located near the front of the display case and mounted on a removable panel for easy servicing.

The walls and outer panels of the display unit may be thermally insulated, and any outer glass panels may be double glazed, these measures being taken to reduce the power consumption of the unit.

The temperature of the display portion of the display case is preferably controlled by a thermostat arrangement. This thermostat may be of a well known type employing a Bimetallic strip, or may consist of a temperature probe and an associated electronic circuit.

There may also be provided a night shutter, arranged to close the display portion of the display case and to retain the cooled air in this portion when so closed, thus reducing the power consumption of the refrigerated display unit when access to display ed goods is not required.

Typically there are shelves and back panels in the display portion of the display case which are easily removable for cleaning, these shelves may also be movable to accomodate different sizes of object for display.

Preferably, sequential control may be provided to activate an automatic defrost cycle at regular time intervals. Typically a tray is provided to collect moisture arising from the defrosting operation. The evaporation of the water in this tray may be assisted by the heat from the circulating means.

Optionally, the display case may be connected via the flexible hoses to an external circulating means which is supplying a plurality of similar display cases.

The details of a preferred embodiment of this invention will be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the display case, Figure 2 is a frontal view of the display case, Figure 3 is a sectional view of the display case through the section Ill, Ill with the circulating means, in position in the case, and Figure 4 is a sectional view of the display case through the section lil, Ill with the circulating means removed from the case.

The display case 10 has an upper portion 12 to contain the objects for display. Within this portion 12 there arethree movable shelves 14,16 and 18 and four perforated back panels 20. The portion 12 is limited on either side by double glazed glass panels 24 and 26, and has an open front to enable displayed objects to be easily removed from the display case.

This open front may be closed by a night shutter 28 which is rolled up out of the way during use of the display case, and which may be pulled across the open front when the display case is not required to display the objects contained. When the night shutter is pulled across the open front, the shutter is guided by running in two channels 30,32.

This night shutter is formed from many hollow extruded plastic slats, the air trapped within these slats giving the night shutter good thermal insulation properties.

Near the front of the display case there are two tangential blowers 34 affixed to a removable panel to ease maintenance and repair. Air is blown by these tangential blower 34 over the evaporator unit 36 and up a channel 38 behind the back panels 20.

Some of this cooled air passes through the perforations in the back panels 20, 22 and over the objects displayed on shelves 14, 16, 18. The remaining cooled air enters the display portion 12 through a row of vents 40 and is directed across the opening at the front of this portion.

Air within the display portion 12 is drawn out through another row of vents 42 by the tangential blower to be blown across the evaporator unit again.

Obviously this cycle is not closed as some air from outside the display case will enter the vents 42, just as some air from the vents 40 will escape from the display unit to its surroundings. Vents 40 are such, however, as to direct the air issuing from them to maximize the amount of cooled air retained within the upper portion 12 of the display case.

The top and back of the display case 10 are all thermally insulated to reduce heat loss through them. This insulation consists of foamed polyurethane, although another insulator such as glass fibre could be used instead.

Refrigerated fluid is supplied to and from the evaporator unit by flexible hoses 44, 46, which are connected at their other ends to the circulating unit.

This circulating unit consists of a condenser 48 and a compressor and electric motor 50. The condenser 48, and the compressor and motor 50 are mounted on a trolley 52 which rolls on wheels 54, 56,58 and 60 in and out of the bottom portion 62 of the display case. Each of the hoses 44,46 is connected to the condenser by connectors 64, 66 respectively. These connectors are 'quick couple' connectors such that, when they are disconnected they automatically seal themselves to prevent the loss of any refrigerant fluid. Thus if, for instance, a fault developed in the compressor, the condenser compressor and motor could be removed from the display case, disconnected and another unit of condenser compressor and motor connected in its place. The display case could thus be functioning again very quickly.

The trolley 52 may be locked in place when in position inside the display case. This is achieved by braking the back two wheels 54, 56. These back wheels run on tracks in the bottom of the display case, the front wheels 58, 60 running on the ground in front of the display case. The display case 10 is also mounted on wheels so as to be easily movable.

When the trolley 52 is locked in place within the display case 10, it will move with the display case, when the display case is being moved. The front 68 of the bottom portion 62 is removable to allow access to the compressor. Also within this bottom portion 62 is a drip tray positioned so as to collect all the water resuiting from condensation or defrosting.

This tray is such that when there is any water in it, the water has a large free surface area, so as to assist in evaporating offthiswater.

Within the display case there is situated a control unit. This control unit includes a timing device, so as to periodically enable a defrost cycle within the display case. This defrost cycle will typically occur every six hours, and will consist of switching off the compressor motor 50 to prevent further refrigeration from taking place, until the evaporator unit 36 has warmed up sufficiently that any ice formed upon it has melted. Electric heating elements provided to assist this defrost operation.

In front of the roller on which the night shutter 28 is mounted, there is a strip light 64, partially surrounded by a reflector 66 for lighting the display portion 12 of the display case.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiment described above. For example, heat generated by the compressor may be used to heat the water in the drip tray to assist evaporation. Also, if the need arises, it may be possible to run two units from one compressor, by linking the second compressorless unit to the compressor in the first using the flexible hoses. Also the circulating unit may have no motor, the circulating unit and evaporator unit together forming a refrigerator of the so calied adsorption type, having no moving parts. The section containing the circulating unit need not necessarily be underneath the display portion either, it could equally well be situated beside the display portion.

Instead of braking the wheels to lock the trolley in place, the trolley wheels, or at least the rear ones, may be jacked up off of their tracks, the trolley thus resting on its underside.

Claims

1. A display case, means for refrigerating at least part of the display case and comprising an evaporator unit within the case, means for circulating refrigerant fluid through the evaporator unit and hoses connecting the evaporator unit to the circulating means, so as to provide sealed paths therebetween for refrigerant fluid, the circulating means being mounted on a support movable by sliding or rolling from the display case without disconnecting the hoses, so that the evaporator means, in cooperation with the circulating means, may continue to refrigerate the display case whilst removed therefrom.

2. A display case, as claimed in claim 1, the flexible hoses further provided each with a connector which may be quickly and easily disconnected and connected, and which is self-sealing when disconnected to avoid loss of refrigerant fluid, thus allowing for easy disconnection and reconnection of the circulating means to the display case.

3. A display case, as claimed in either preceding claim in which the circulating means is mounted on a trolley, which trolley may be locked in position in the display case, or unlocked to allow the circulating means to be rolled out of the display case.

4. A display case, as claimed in claim 3, in which the trolley is locked in position in the display case by means of a brake on at least one of the wheels of said trolley.

5. A display case, as claimed in claim 3, in which the trolley is locked in position in the display case by the raising of the wheels of the trolley once in position inside the display case, so that the trolley rests on its underside.

6. A display case, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, and provided with at least one tangential fan to assist the circulation of air, cooled by the evaporator unit, through the part of the display case that is to be cooled.

7. A display case, as claimed in claim 6, in which the or each tangential fan is mounted on a removable panel.

8. A display case, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display case is divided into a portion to hold the displayed goods, this portion to be cooled and to have an opening to allow access to displayed goods, and a second portion, partitioned from the first, to hold the circulating means.

9. A display case, as claimed in claim 8, in which the outer panels of at least the portion to hold the displayed goods are thermally insulated.

10. A display case as claimed in claim 9, in which at least some of the panels of the portion holding the displayed goods are glass, the thermal insulation being effected by double glazing said panels.

11. A display case, as claimed in either of claims 8 or 9, which includes a night shutter to close the portion for holding displayed goods from the environs of the display case, said night shutter being thermally insulated.

12. A display case, as claimed in any of claims 8 to 10, which has a device to limit the range of temperatures found within the portion holding the displayed goods.

13. A display case, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which at least some of the goods to be displayed are placed on shelves being supported by a wall of the case and movable to accomodate different sizes of goods for display.

14. A display case, as claimed in any of the preceding claims, in which a time control is provided to periodically initiate a defrost cycle.

15. A display case, as claimed in claim 13, where a drip tray is provided to collect water arising from the defrost operation.

16. A display case, as claimed claim 14, wherein the evaporation of water from the drip tray is assisted by heat diverted from the compressor.

17. A display case, as claimed in claim 12 in which the wall on which the shelves are mounted is perforated to allow cooled air to pass through the wall and play over the displayed goods.

18. A refrigerated display unit substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.