JP2023513226A - Improvements to open display refrigerators - Google Patents

Abstract

A shelf (14) for a refrigerator (1), said shelf comprising a first surface (17) for receiving items when said shelf (14) is in use, said The first surface (17) is spaced from the second surface (18) to form a duct between said first surface (17) and said second surface (18), said A duct enables fluid communication between an air inlet (15) and an air outlet (19), said duct being in contact with said air such that the cross-sectional area of said air inlet (15) is greater than the cross-sectional area of said duct. Shelves widening to form the entrance (15). [Selection drawing] Fig. 3

Description

The present invention relates to shelves for refrigerators and improvements in refrigerators equipped with such shelves.

Open display refrigerators are commonly used in retail settings such as supermarkets and grocery stores. Open display refrigerators allow customers to view and quickly access chilled foods stored within the refrigerator.

Refrigerators of this type typically have perforated walls adjacent the interior of the refrigerator, and perforations (or holes) in the perforated walls allow cooled air to flow, typically behind the perforated walls. A duct or cavity located in the refrigerator passes into the interior of the refrigerator, thereby cooling the interior of the refrigerator and any items stored therein. The perforated wall is usually the back wall of the refrigerator, but can be any wall (or walls) adjacent to the interior of the refrigerator. The air may be cooled by a heat exchanger built into the refrigerator, or alternatively the cooled air may be conveyed to the refrigerator. Typically, at least some of this air will be collected from the interior of the refrigerator by an air inlet near the base of the refrigerator. This recovered air will typically enter a duct or cavity and be recirculated to the interior of the refrigerator by a fan via a heat exchanger.

It is known to retrofit conventional refrigerators with one or more "duct shelves". Typically, these ducted shelves have an air inlet at the rear of the shelf and a duct formed between the first and second surfaces of the shelf, wherein the first surface is The second surface corresponds to the bottom surface of the shelf in use. The air inlet is flush with the shelf and covers one or more perforations in the rear wall. This means that when the ducted shelf is attached to the perforated wall of the refrigerator, the cooled air in use enters the interior of the ducted shelf through the perforations in the wall. The cooled air then circulates within the ducted shelf and cools the surface of the shelf containing the items to be refrigerated, which cools the item more effectively. However, because the air inlet at the rear of the duct shelf is relatively narrow, having only the same height as the shelf height, the air inlet does not cover many perforations, and as a result, very little air passes through the perforations to the duct shelf. do not enter the

A solution to this problem is taught in British patent application GB2540021, which patent includes at least one ducted shelf, but through the rear wall of the refrigerator and a cavity behind the refrigerator wall. discloses a refrigerator that partially blocks the cavity by further including a deflector extending into the cavity. As described above, the cavity carries cooled air from the heat exchanger to other parts of the refrigerator. Cooled air is deflected by a deflector from the cavity, through the back wall of the refrigerator, through the interior of the shelf, and optionally out through an air outlet located near the front of the shelf, to the items located below the shelf. head to The advantage of such shelving is that when compared to standard duct shelving, the cooling effect for the items placed on the shelving is reduced by deflectors that deflect more of the cooled air from the cavity into the interior of the shelving. It is to raise. However, the shelf described in GB 2540021 has deflectors which are hollowed through the rear wall of the refrigerator, thus making it suitable for existing refrigerators where the rear wall is provided with a plurality of relatively small perforations. Retrofitting such shelves is not feasible. Such a solution would require a custom rear wall to receive the shelf and deflector, making it impractical or expensive to retrofit existing refrigerators with perforated rear walls.

Therefore, it is desirable to provide more effective shelf cooling for refrigerators, which can be retrofitted to existing refrigerators.

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A shelf for a refrigerator,
said shelf having a first surface for receiving items when said shelf is in use;
the first surface is spaced from the second surface to form a duct between the first surface and the second surface;
The duct enables fluid communication between an air inlet and an air outlet, and the duct widens to define the air inlet such that the cross-sectional area of the air inlet is greater than the cross-sectional area of the duct. ,
A shelf is provided.

A technical advantage of the shelf is that, in use, the air circulating through the shelf cools the items located on the first surface of the shelf, and the air outlets are directed over additional items located below the shelf. It can be used to direct cooled air. The flared air inlet covers more perforations than a shelf with air inlets flush with the shelf, thereby allowing more air than would normally flow through the perforations into the interior of a standard cooling shelf. Collect cooled air. Since the cross-section of the air inlet is widened and relatively large, a diverter need not be used to collect air from the cavity behind the perforated wall.

Typically the shelf is made of metal, but the shelf may be made of any material, such as plastic, that is capable of forming a duct between the first and second surfaces.

The cross-sectional area of the air inlet may be 1.5, 2, 3 or any other multiple of the cross-sectional area of the duct.

Typically, in use, the shelf is retrofitted to a refrigerator having perforated walls adjacent to the interior of the refrigerator, where the perforations (or holes) allow cooled air to flow from the ducts or cavities into the interior of the refrigerator, This cools the interior of the refrigerator. This shelf can be retrofitted to existing refrigerators with perforated walls since there is no need to insert a deflector into the duct or cavity behind the perforated rear wall. The shelf may be attached to a perforated wall of the refrigerator such that the flared duct covers one or more perforations, thereby channeling the chilled air that would otherwise immediately flow from the perforations into the interior of the refrigerator. , collect inside the shelf.

Throughout this specification, "perforations" or "perforations" cover a hole or group of holes of any size through which air can pass. This may include a large number of relatively small perforations and/or a small number of large perforations. Further, the air inlet and/or blanking plate (as discussed below) has perforations that are substantially the width of the rear wall and/or the height of the blanking plate of the air inlet and/or shelf. can cover The air inlet and/or shelf blanking plate may only partially cover the perforations or may cover the perforations completely.

In one embodiment, at least a portion of said air outlet is formed in said second surface of said shelf.

A technical advantage of having at least a portion of the air outlets formed in the second surface of the shelf (the lower surface in use) is that, in use, the cooled air flows over the items on the lower shelf. to thereby provide additional cooling for those items. Thus, in use, the items can be cooled from below by air passing through the shelves and from above by air flowing out of the air outlets of the upper shelves.

In one embodiment, at least part of the air outlet is formed at the end of the shelf opposite the air inlet (ie the front end of the shelf, facing the user of the refrigerator in use).

In one embodiment, the shelf further comprises a diverter positioned at said air outlet and extending into said air outlet.

A technical advantage of providing a diverter positioned at and extending into the air outlet is that air can be directed more accurately than an air outlet having only a simple opening. The diverter may have smooth surfaces and/or may have a quadrant cross-section, thereby reducing vortices in the airflow and/or making the airflow more laminar and reducing the airflow. Improve flow accuracy.

In one embodiment, said first surface is substantially planar and said second surface widens to form said air inlet.

A technical advantage of such a configuration is that when the shelf is installed in a refrigerator, the flared portion extends downward toward the floor (where in use the first surface corresponds to the top surface and the second surface corresponds to the bottom surface). This advantage arises because there is typically a gap between the top of the item stored on the first refrigerator shelf and the second shelf above the item. If the second shelf has a downwardly extending flared portion, the flared portion typically extends into space in the interior of the refrigerator that would not be used by the items on the first shelf. Thus, the provision of downwardly extending flares is less likely to have the effect of reducing the load capacity of the refrigerator, which typically occurs when interior space is reduced.

In one embodiment, said first surface widens to form said air inlet and said second surface is substantially planar.

In one embodiment, the shelf further comprises a blanking plate proximate said first surface, said blanking plate extending away from said second surface.

In one embodiment, the shelf further comprises a blanking plate proximate said second surface, said blanking plate extending away from said first surface.

The blanking plate may be integral with the shelf or alternatively separate from the shelf. If the blanking plate is provided separately from the shelf, it is conceivable that a kit comprising the blanking plate and the shelf could be provided. Typically the blanking plate is made of metal, but may be made of any other suitable material such as plastic.

A technical advantage of the blanking plate is that it prevents air from flowing through the perforations and entering the interior of the refrigerator when in use. This allows for increased air pressure through the shelf without the need for special perforated walls and thus can be retrofitted to existing refrigerators. An advantage of the increased pressure is that more chilled air flows through the shelf, thereby increasing the cooling efficiency of the items placed on the shelf.

In one embodiment, said blanking plate extends away from said surface (ie first surface or second surface) of said shelf in the same plane as said air inlet.

A technical advantage of having a blanking plate extending away from the first surface or the second surface of the shelf in the same plane as the air inlet is that, when the shelf is in use, the blanking plate The goal is to get as close as possible to the perforated rear wall of the refrigerator. In use, the closer the blanking plate is to the rear wall of the refrigerator, the more effectively it blocks the perforations in the rear wall and prevents cooled air from escaping through the perforations. Ideally, in use, the blanking plate should be flush with the rear wall of the perforation. However, in use it can be seen that there may be a relatively small gap between the blanking plate and the rear wall.

According to the second aspect of the present invention,
a cooled interior space;
A wall adjacent to the interior space,
the wall comprises one or more perforations;
a wall through which, in use, cooled air flows into the cooled interior space through the one or more perforations in the wall;
A shelf according to claims 1-9,
in use, said shelf is attached to said perforated wall such that cooled air flows through at least one of said perforations in said wall and into said air inlet of said shelf. is provided.

In use, air flows out of one or more perforations and into the air inlet of the shelf. The cooled air then continues through the interior of the shelf, exiting the air outlet at the opposite end of the shelf, and entering the air inlet. In one alternative, the air outlet may be co-located with the air inlet such that the air returns through one or more different perforations in the rear wall. In such an alternative, the forward path of the air away from the air inlet and the return of the air towards the air outlet through at least one perforation in the rear wall (other than the at least one perforation through which the air originally passed). The interior of the shelf may be divided into two large halves so that there is a return passage into the cavity behind the back wall of the refrigerator.

In one embodiment,
the wall comprises at least a first perforation and a second perforation;
said cooled air flows through at least said first perforations into said air inlets of said shelves but not through said second perforations into said air inlets of said shelves;
The blanking plate covers at least the second perforations but not the first perforations.

In one embodiment,
The air in the interior space being cooled is
said open display refrigerator by means of said air curtains created by fans blowing air through said air curtain outlets in the direction of corresponding air curtain inlets that collect air from the air curtains and recirculate to the air curtain outlets; separated from the air in the space outside the

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an open display refrigerator with conventional shelves. FIG. 2 shows air flow through an open display refrigerator with conventional shelves. FIG. 3 shows an open display refrigerator fitted with shelves according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates air flow through a shelf according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 shows a known prior art duct shelf. FIG. 6 shows how the shelf air inlets cover an expanded number of perforations according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 illustrates enhanced cooling of items stored in a refrigerator using shelves according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 illustrates enhanced cooling of items stored in an open display refrigerator using shelves according to an embodiment of the present invention and air flow through the open display refrigerator.

FIG. 1 shows a cross section through a conventional open display refrigerator 1 . The refrigerator has an interior space that is maintained at a temperature below ambient temperature. In the interior space there are five shelves 3 and a base. In use, refrigerator 1 creates an air curtain (as shown in FIG. 2) by blowing cool air from air outlet 2 towards air inlet 4 . In use, the air inlet 4 collects air from the air curtain and at least one fan 5 in the refrigerator 1 recirculates the air through the cooling heat exchanger 6 and duct 8 to the air outlet 2 . A cooling heat exchanger 6 is typically located within the refrigerator 1 to cool the recirculated air (and thus the air blown through the air outlet 2 to form an air curtain) below ambient temperature. Maintain desired temperature. In use, cooled air from duct 8 also passes through perforations in perforated rear wall 7 of the refrigerator to help cool items stored in refrigerator 1 .

FIG. 2 shows air flow through the conventional open display refrigerator 1 of FIG. In particular, the arrows in FIG. and duct 8 to recirculate the air to the air outlet 2 . Furthermore, Figure 2 shows how the cooled air in the duct 8 (arrow 10) passes from the duct 8 through perforations in the rear wall of the refrigerator (arrow 11). The air then passes the shelf 3 of the refrigerator 1 (arrow 12) and finally this air passes the end of the shelf 3 (arrow 13) and then descends towards the air inlet 4. The air from the air curtain 9 prevents at least part of the air from flowing out of the refrigerator 1 through the open front of the refrigerator.

Figure 3 shows an open display refrigerator 1 fitted with five shelves 14 according to the invention. Although this example is shown attached to an open display refrigerator, the shelf may be attached to any refrigerator with perforated walls through which air passes. The shelf 14 is provided with an air inlet 15 covering one or more perforations in the perforated rear wall 7 in use. This figure shows the air inlets covering the height of two perforations, but as mentioned above, the perforations can be of any size. The shelf also includes a flared portion 16 such that the air inlet has a larger cross-section than the duct formed between the first surface 17 and the second surface 18 of the shelf 14 . Flared portion 16 is shown extending downward toward the base of refrigerator 1 . Although not shown, flared portion 16 may alternatively extend upward toward the top of refrigerator 1, or there may be two flared portions extending away from shelf 14 in opposite directions. Conceivable. In use, air may flow through the perforations, through the air inlet 15 , through a duct formed between the first surface 17 and the second surface 18 , and optionally out the air outlet 19 . Although not shown here, other configurations are possible. If the shelf does not have an air outlet 19, air may circulate inside the shelf and exit through the air inlet 15. Shelf 14 also includes an optional diverter 20 to direct air from air outlet 19 . Also shown is an optional blanking plate 21 to cover the perforations on the shelf 14 . Although not shown, the blanking plate 21 may extend downward toward the base of the refrigerator 1, or the shelf may be provided with two blanking plates extending away from the shelf 14 in opposite directions. It is also possible that The blanking plate 21 may be integrated with the shelf or, alternatively, the blanking plate and shelf may be provided separately as part of a kit for retrofitting existing refrigerators. It is contemplated that shelves made in accordance with the present invention can be retrofitted to existing refrigerators with perforated walls. The shelf may be provided with a knob for inserting into the receptacle of the refrigerator. The shelves are provided with corresponding "male" and/or "female" mountings that are received by corresponding "female" or "male" mountings provided on the refrigerator wall in use. may Alternatively, the shelf may be screwed or riveted to the back wall of the refrigerator when in use.

Figure 4 shows the air flow through a shelf 14 for a refrigerator according to the invention. As shown, in use air passes through perforations in the perforated rear wall 7 (arrow 11). In use, air passes through the duct formed by first and second surfaces 17 and 18 of shelf 14 (arrow 22 ) and exits air outlet 19 . In use, diverter 20 directs air downwardly exiting through air outlet 19 .

Figure 5 shows a known ducted shelf 23 (as described above) for a refrigerator. The known ducted shelf 23 differs from the shelf of the present invention in that the air inlets are not widened. Instead, the known duct shelf 23 uses a diverter 24 to help collect air from the duct behind the back wall 26 of the refrigerator. Air flows through the interior of the shelf (arrow 25) and out the air outlet. As shown, the perforations typically will not be large enough to accommodate the diverter 24, so retrofitting such a duct shelf 23 to refrigerators having standard perforated rear walls is feasible. It is difficult. Thus, a standard perforated rear wall would need to be replaced.

FIG. 6 shows the shelf 14 of FIG. As shown by the arrows adjacent to the air inlet 15, the flared portion 16 ensures that more perforations are covered than if the air inlet were flush with the shelf as shown in FIG. become. This increase in covered perforations allows more cooled air to enter the interior of shelf 14, eliminating the need for a diverter shown in FIG. Thus, the shelf 14 can be used in existing refrigerators with perforated walls, since the air inlet simply covers the perforations and no arrangement for housing the diverter (similar to the known shelf shown in FIG. 5) is required. can be retrofitted to

FIG. 7 shows the shelf 14 of FIGS. 4 and 6 in use. As before, in use the cooled air flows from the duct through the perforations in the perforated wall 7 (arrow 11). In use, the items 28a on the first surface 17 are cooled by chilled air flowing through the interior of the shelf 14. As shown in FIG. In use, items 28b located on shelves below the current shelf 14 are cooled by the cooled air flowing out of the air outlet 19 and directed by the diverter 20. As shown in FIG. Although this configuration is more efficient than simply passing air through the perforations in the perforated rear wall 7, it does so because the cooled air cools the first surface 17 of the shelf and the cooled first surface 17 This configuration is particularly dependent on the use of convection as well as conduction in that the heat is drawn from the item 28a. Air outlets 19 and diverters 20 direct air over the items at the front of the shelf, which provides additional cooling that would not be achieved by air flowing out of the perforations and over the items on the shelf. . Typically, items at the front of the shelf are farther from the perforations and thus farther from the chilled air flowing out of the perforations, so items at the front of the shelf are more likely than items at the back of the shelf. It will go cold. As shown, in typical use, the flared portion does not interfere with how items are stacked on the shelves because items are typically not stacked all the way to the rear of the refrigerator. Figure 7 also shows how the blanking plate 21 deflects the cooled air into the ducts and prevents it from exiting through the perforations on the shelf. In use, this allows more air to escape through the shelf located above the current shelf.

FIG. 8 shows an open display refrigerator with shelves 14 attached according to the present invention. As shown, in use an air curtain 9 is created between the air outlet 2 and the air inlet 4 . In use, cooled air flows from the duct 8 through perforations in the perforated wall 7, through the air inlet 15 of the shelf 14, through the interior of the shelf 14, and out the air outlet 19 of the shelf 14. As shown in FIG. 7, in use, shelf 14 conductively cools items 28a disposed on first surface 17 of shelf 14 and directs cooled air over items 28b to Cool the items 28b located on the bottom shelf. As mentioned above, in use, providing a more effective cooling effect than conventional open display refrigerators, shelf 14 can be retrofitted to existing refrigerators with perforated walls.

Claims (12)

A shelf for a refrigerator,
said shelf having a first surface for receiving items when said shelf is in use;
the first surface is spaced from the second surface to form a duct between the first surface and the second surface;
The duct enables fluid communication between an air inlet and an air outlet, and the duct widens to define the air inlet such that the cross-sectional area of the air inlet is greater than the cross-sectional area of the duct. ,
shelf. 2. The shelf of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said air outlets are formed in said second surface of said shelf. 3. The shelf of claim 2, wherein at least a portion of said air outlet is formed at an end of said shelf opposite said air inlet. A shelf according to any one of claims 1-3, further comprising a diverter positioned at said air outlet and extending into said air outlet. the first surface is substantially planar;
A shelf according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein said second surface widens to form said air inlet. said first surface widens to form said air inlet;
A shelf according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein said second surface is substantially planar. further comprising a blanking plate proximate the first surface;
A shelf according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said blanking plate extends away from said second surface. further comprising a blanking plate proximate the second surface;
A shelf according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said blanking plate extends away from said first surface. 9. A shelf according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said blanking plate extends away from said surface of said shelf in the same plane as said air inlet. a cooled interior space;
A wall adjacent to the interior space,
the wall comprises one or more perforations;
a wall through which, in use, cooled air flows into the cooled interior space through the one or more perforations in the wall;
A shelf according to any one of claims 1-9,
wherein, in use, said shelf is attached to a perforated wall such that cooled air flows through at least one of said perforations in said wall and into said air inlet of said shelf. the wall comprises at least a first perforation and a second perforation;
said cooled air flows through at least said first perforations into said air inlets of said shelves but not through said second perforations into said air inlets of said shelves;
11. A refrigerator as claimed in claim 10 and a shelf as claimed in claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein said blanking plate covers at least said second perforations but not said first perforations. The air in the interior space being cooled is
The exterior of said refrigerator is created by said air curtains being created by fans blowing air through said air curtain outlets in the direction of corresponding air curtain inlets which collect air from the air curtains and recirculate to the air curtain outlets. 12. A refrigerator according to claim 10 or 11, which is separated from air in a space of .

Images