JP7222280B2 - Showcase - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a showcase, and more particularly to a showcase that maintains products placed on product shelves at a desired temperature.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the following showcases are known for keeping products placed on product shelves at a desired temperature.

For example, a plurality of product shelves are arranged in a vertical direction in the storage chamber of the case body, and products are placed and displayed on each product shelf. A ventilation passage is formed inside the case main body and outside the storage chamber, through which the air sucked through the suction port provided at the front lower portion of the storage chamber passes. This ventilation path is provided with an evaporator that cools the passing air driven by the installed blower fan, and the air cooled by this evaporator is blown out from the outlet provided in the front upper part of the storage room. be done.

By the way, if an intermediate duct is attached to the lower part of any product shelf in such a manner that it penetrates the back plate that constitutes the back surface of the storage room, the intermediate duct blocks the ventilation path. As a result, in the showcase to which the intermediate duct is attached, the air is sucked into the ventilation passage through the suction port, cooled by the evaporator, and then introduced from the inlet provided at the rear end of the intermediate duct to the front end. An air curtain is formed by blowing out from an intermediate outlet provided in the .

As a result, in the showcase, when the intermediate duct is attached, the storage chamber is vertically partitioned by the intermediate duct, and the upper area with the intermediate duct as a boundary is a high temperature area, and the lower area is a low temperature area. , different temperature ranges can be formed, and as a result, products can be held at different temperatures (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 4636505

By the way, in the showcase, since the angle of the intermediate outlet of the intermediate duct is formed at a constant angle, there are the following problems.

The intermediate duct can be attached to the lower part of any product shelf, that is, at any height level of the storage room, and the angle of the intermediate outlet facing the suction port changes according to the height level. However, because the angle of the intermediate air outlet is constant, depending on the mounting position of the intermediate duct, the air blown out from the intermediate air outlet may not reach the air inlet, causing variations in the air curtain. . Such variations in the air curtain are not preferable because they cause variations in the internal temperature of the storage chamber due to changes in the amount of outside air entering the storage chamber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a showcase capable of forming a good air curtain regardless of the installation position of an intermediate duct.

In order to achieve the above object, a showcase according to the present invention comprises a storage room in which a plurality of product shelves are provided in the vertical direction on the front side of a vertically extending back panel; A ventilation passage that communicates with the storage chamber through an air outlet opening in the upper front portion and a suction port opening in the lower front portion, a blower fan that circulates air between the storage chamber, and the back plate. By being attached to the lower part of any product shelf, the storage chamber is partitioned vertically while blocking the ventilation path, and the air passing through the ventilation path is directed through the inlet provided at the rear end. and an intermediate duct that introduces and blows out from an intermediate outlet provided at a front end, wherein a lower region and an upper region of the intermediate duct in the storage room are made into two different temperature regions, wherein the intermediate duct The duct is provided so that the outlet member constituting the intermediate outlet can swing in the front-rear direction about the axis of the shaft portion extending in the left-right direction, and the intermediate duct is attached. A blowout angle adjusting means is provided for swinging the blowout port member forward as the height level becomes lower.

Further, in the above-described showcase, the blow-out angle adjusting means includes a displacement portion provided so as to be displaceable along the front-rear direction in such a manner that the front end portion is in sliding contact with the blow-out port member, and the back plate. a plurality of protrusions provided in a manner protruding forward under each of the through-holes that allow insertion of the intermediate duct in the A rear end portion of the displacement portion abuts on one of the protrusions and is displaced forward to swing the intermediate outlet.

Further, according to the present invention, the showcase is characterized by comprising an evaporator arranged in the ventilation passage and cooling air passing through the ventilation passage.

According to the present invention, in the intermediate duct, the blowout port member constituting the intermediate blowout port is provided so as to be swingable in the front-rear direction about the axis of the shaft extending in the left-right direction. The lower the height level at which the intermediate duct is installed, the more the angle adjustment means swings the outlet member forward. Air can be blown out toward the suction port. As a result, it is possible to form a good air curtain regardless of the installation position of the intermediate duct.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view schematically showing a showcase that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the structure of the intermediate duct shown in FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the intermediate duct shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the storage chamber. FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the intermediate duct shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the storage chamber.

A preferred embodiment of a showcase according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional side view schematically showing a showcase that is an embodiment of the present invention. The showcase exemplified here is for storing products in stores such as supermarkets and convenience stores, for example, and includes a case body 10 and an intermediate duct 30 .

The case main body 10 includes a bottom surface portion 11, a rear surface portion 12 and a top surface portion 13, and a storage chamber 14 is formed in a portion surrounded by the bottom surface portion 11, the rear surface portion 12 and the top surface portion 13, the front surface and the left and right sides of which are open. ing. Further, the case main body 10 is provided with a ventilation passage 15 so as to be separated from the storage chamber 14 . The ventilation passage 15 is formed inside the bottom surface portion 11, the rear surface portion 12, and the top surface portion 13, and includes a lower ventilation duct 15a, a rear ventilation duct 15b, and an upper ventilation duct 15c.

The lower ventilation duct 15 a is formed in a portion of the bottom surface portion 11 below the bottom plate 11 a forming the bottom surface of the storage chamber 14 . A suction port 16 extending in the left-right direction is formed in the front end portion of the bottom plate 11a. That is, the suction port 16 opens in the lower front portion of the storage chamber 14 .

The rear ventilation duct 15b is formed in a portion of the rear surface portion 12 behind the rear plate 12a forming the rear surface of the storage chamber 14. As shown in FIG. The rear ventilation duct 15b communicates at its lower end with the rear end of the lower ventilation duct 15a.

The upper ventilation duct 15c is formed in a portion of the top plate 13 above the top plate 13a forming the top surface of the storage chamber 14. As shown in FIG. The upper ventilation duct 15c communicates at its rear end with the upper end of the rear ventilation duct 15b. A blowout port 17 extending in the left-right direction is formed in the front end portion of the top panel 13a. In other words, the blowout port 17 opens in the front upper portion of the storage chamber 14 .

A blower fan 18 and an evaporator 19 are installed inside the ventilation passage 15 . The blower fan 18 circulates air. In the showcase, by driving the blower fan 18, the air sucked into the ventilation passage 15 through the suction port 16 is sent to the blowout port 17, and blown out from the blowout port 17 into the storage chamber 14. and the ventilation passage 15 to circulate the air.

The evaporator 19 constitutes a refrigeration cycle that circulates a refrigerant together with a compressor, a condenser, and an expansion mechanism (not shown). The compressor compresses the refrigerant, and the condenser condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor to radiate heat. The expansion mechanism adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed in the condenser to a low temperature and low pressure state.

The evaporator 19 is driven by a blower fan 18 to exchange heat between the air passing through the ventilation passage 15 and the refrigerant brought to a low-temperature, low-pressure state by an expansion mechanism, more specifically, a low-temperature, low-pressure refrigerant. is a temperature adjusting means for cooling the air passing through the ventilation passage 15 by evaporating the The refrigerant evaporated in this evaporator 19 is sucked into the compressor and circulated through the refrigeration cycle.

Thus, in the showcase, when the compressor and the blower fan 18 are driven, the air passing through the evaporator 19 is circulated and supplied to the storage room 14 through the air passage 15, and the storage room 14 is maintained at a desired refrigerating temperature. will be

A plurality of stages (six stages in the illustrated example) of product placement shelves 20 are provided along the top and bottom of the storage room 14 . The product placement shelf 20 is attached to shelf supports (not shown) provided on both left and right sides of the back plate 12a, and is used to place and display products.

The intermediate duct 30 has a generally flat plate shape as a whole. The intermediate duct 30, whose structure will be described later, passes through a through-hole 40 at any height level provided in the mounting area A of the rear plate 12a, and the rear end of the intermediate duct 30 extends to the rear surface of the rear ventilation duct 15b. is detachably attached to the storage chamber 14 by contacting the abutment plate 41 constituting the . The contact plate 41 extends in the vertical direction and constitutes the rear surface of the rear ventilation duct 15b.

Here, the mounting area A of the back plate 12a is an area extending from the bottom of the uppermost product placement shelf 20 to the lower part of the fourth product placement shelf 20 from the top. , the lower part of the product placing shelf 20 on the second level from the top, the lower part of the product placing shelf 20 on the third level from the top, and the lower part of the product placing shelf 20 on the fourth level from the top. A through hole 40 is formed in the .

Further, in the mounting area A of the back plate 12a, a plurality of projecting portions 42 are provided below each through hole 40 in a manner projecting forward. The projecting portion 42 is a horizontally extending member that extends in the left-right direction, and the amount of forward projection increases as the height level decreases. That is, the uppermost projecting portion 42 has the smallest amount of forward projection, and the lowest projecting portion 42 has the largest amount of forward projection.

The intermediate duct 30 is composed of an intermediate duct body 31 as shown in FIG. A wind tunnel 32 is provided inside the intermediate duct body 31 . The wind tunnel 32 extends along the front-rear direction. The intermediate duct main body 31 is provided with an inlet 33 and an outlet member 34 .

The introduction port 33 is formed on the lower surface of the rear end portion of the intermediate duct main body 31 and communicates with the wind tunnel 32 . It is an opening for introducing air passing through the rear ventilation duct 15 b into the wind tunnel 32 .

The outlet member 34 is arranged at the front end of the intermediate duct main body 31 so as to be swingable in the front-rear direction about the central axis of a shaft portion 35 extending in the left-right direction. The outlet member 34 constitutes an intermediate outlet 34a that communicates with the wind tunnel 32, and has, for example, a honeycomb structure rectifying member, although not shown in the figure. The intermediate outlet 34a is an opening for blowing out the air passing through the wind tunnel 32. As shown in FIG.

At the lower portion of the intermediate duct body 31, a plate-like displacement portion 36 is supported by a support member 37 so as to be displaceable in the front-rear direction. A front end portion of the displacement portion 36 is in contact with the outlet member 34 .

Such an intermediate duct 30, as shown in FIG. 3, when installed in the storage chamber 14 through an arbitrary through hole 40, the rear end blocks the ventilation path 15 (rear side ventilation duct 15b). . In this case, the rear end portion of the displacement portion 36 abuts on the projecting portion 42 below the through hole 40 and is displaced forward. By swinging, the intermediate outlet 34a is swung forward. Here, the forward swing angle of the intermediate outlet 34 a is an angle at which the intermediate outlet 34 a faces the suction port 16 . In other words, the amount of forward protrusion of the projecting portion 42 is determined in advance so that the intermediate outlet 34 a swings at an angle facing the suction port 16 .

In the showcase, the air sucked into the lower ventilation duct 15a of the ventilation passage 15 through the suction port 16 by driving the compressor and the blower fan 18 is allowed to pass through the lower ventilation duct 15a, It passes through the rear ventilation duct 15b.

The air that has passed through the rear ventilation duct 15b is cooled by the evaporator 19, the air cooled by the evaporator 19 is introduced into the wind tunnel 32 from the inlet 33, and the air that has passed through the wind tunnel 32 is sucked from the intermediate outlet 34a. Blow out toward the mouth 16 . The air blown out from the intermediate blowout port 34a is passed through the front end region of the product placement shelf 20 and then sucked into the ventilation passage 15 from the suction port 16, thereby circulating between the storage room 14 and the ventilation passage 15. can be done. As a result, an air curtain of air cooled by the evaporator 19 can be formed on the front surface of the area below the intermediate duct 30 in the storage room 14 .

Since an air curtain is formed in front of the area below the intermediate duct 30 by the air (cold air) blown out from the intermediate outlet 34a in this manner, the area below the intermediate duct 30 in the storage room 14 is It can be cooled more than the area. Thereby, the upper region and the lower region of the intermediate duct 30 in the storage room 14 can be set to different temperature zones, and the products in the storage room 14 can be held at two different temperatures.

By the way, when the intermediate duct 30 is inserted into the storage chamber 14 through the through hole 40 below the through hole 40 shown in FIG. The intermediate outlet 34a is swung further forward while the front end portion of the outlet member 34 is in sliding contact with the outlet member 34. swing forward.

As a result, the air cooled by the evaporator 19 can be introduced from the inlet 33 into the wind tunnel 32, and the air that has passed through the wind tunnel 32 can be blown out from the intermediate outlet 34a toward the suction port 16. An air curtain can be well formed in front of the lower region of the .

As described above, in the showcase that is the embodiment of the present invention, the lower the height level at which the intermediate duct 30 is installed, the more the projection 42 and the displacement portion 36 direct the outlet member 34 forward. It constitutes a blowing angle adjusting means for swinging by.

According to the showcase that is the embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate duct 30 is configured such that the outlet member 34 constituting the intermediate outlet 34a extends back and forth around the axis of the shaft portion 35 extending in the left-right direction. The lower the height level at which the intermediate duct 30 is mounted, the more the blowout port member 34 is swung forward. It can be swung, and air can be blown out from the intermediate outlet 34 a toward the suction port 16 . Thereby, a good air curtain can be formed regardless of the installation position of the intermediate duct 30 .

Since a good air curtain can be formed in this way, the amount of outside air entering the area below the intermediate duct 30 can be reduced, the cooling performance can be improved, and the energy loss can be reduced. Energy saving can be achieved.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made.

In the above-described embodiment, the projecting portion 42 has been described as a horizontally extending member that extends along the left-right direction. It may be provided at predetermined intervals along the line.

In the above-described embodiment, the projecting portion 42 and the displacement portion 36 constitute the blowing angle adjusting means, but in the present invention, various forms can be adopted as the blowing angle adjusting means. That is, a motor is also provided as a driving source for swinging the outlet member in the front-rear direction, and the angle of the intermediate outlet is adjusted by changing the driving time of the motor according to the installation height level of the intermediate duct. may

Although not specifically mentioned in the above-described embodiment, the outlet member 34 may be swung downward by its own weight as an initial state, or a spring or the like attached to the shaft portion 35 may The initial state may be a downward swinging posture due to being biased by the biasing means. Also, the displacement portion 36 may be biased by biasing means such as a spring mounted between itself and the support member 37, so that the posture displaced rearward is the initial state. good. When the displacement portion 36 is in the initial state as described above, the front end portion may be separated from the outlet member 34 .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Case main body 12a... Back plate 14... Storage room 15... Ventilation path 15a... Lower side ventilation duct 15b... Rear side ventilation duct 15c... Upper side ventilation duct 16... Suction port 17... Air outlet, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18... Blower fan 19... Evaporator 20... Product mounting shelf 30... Intermediate duct 31... Intermediate duct main body 32... Wind tunnel 33... Inlet 34... Air outlet member 34a... Intermediate outlet 35 Axial portion 36 Displacement portion 37 Support member 40 Through hole 41 Contact plate 42 Protrusion A Mounting area.

Claims (3)

a storage room in which a plurality of product shelves are provided along the vertical direction on the front side of the vertically extending back plate;
a ventilation passage communicating with the storage chamber through an air outlet opening at the front upper portion of the storage chamber and an air intake opening at the front lower portion of the storage chamber; and a blower fan for circulating air between the storage chamber and the storage chamber;
By being attached to the lower side of any product shelf in a manner penetrating the back plate, the storage chamber is partitioned vertically while blocking the ventilation path, and the air passing through the ventilation path is blocked from the rear end. and an intermediate duct that introduces air from an inlet provided in the part and blows out from an intermediate outlet provided at the front end, wherein the area below and the area above the intermediate duct in the storage chamber are made to have two different temperature ranges. is a showcase,
The intermediate duct is provided so as to be able to swing in the front-rear direction around the axis of a shaft portion extending in the left-right direction, wherein
A showcase comprising blowout angle adjusting means for swinging the blowout port member forward as the height level at which the intermediate duct is installed becomes lower. The blowing angle adjusting means is
a displacement portion provided so as to be displaceable along the front-rear direction in such a manner that the front end portion is in sliding contact with the outlet member;
A plurality of protruding portions provided in a manner protruding forward below each of the through-holes in the rear plate for allowing insertion of the intermediate duct, and the amount of forward protruding increases as the height bell becomes lower. and
2. The showcase according to claim 1, wherein the rear end portion of the displacement portion abuts against one of the protrusions and is displaced forward to swing the intermediate outlet. 3. The showcase according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an evaporator arranged in the ventilation path and cooling air passing through the ventilation path.

Images