JP7498620B2 - Cooling cabinet - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to refrigerators such as pass-through refrigerators in which a pair of left and right evaporators are located at the top inside the refrigerator, and reach-in refrigerators.

In relatively large refrigerators, a pair of evaporators, one on the left and one on the right, may be placed inside and above the main body case; this type of refrigerator is known, for example, from Patent Document 1. The refrigerator in Patent Document 1 has openings on the front and back of the insulated box that can be opened and closed by doors, allowing ingredients and cooked food to be taken in and out from either the front or back opening. Multiple such refrigerators are installed adjacent to each other on the left and right, mainly in food factories, hospitals, hotels, and other kitchens. For example, multiple refrigerators are placed between a food preparation chamber and a cooking chamber, so that ingredients stored in the refrigerators can be taken out from the cooking chamber side from the preparation chamber side and cooked.

In relatively large pass-through type coolers, the front and rear openings can be opened and closed by a pair of doors on the left and right, and two sets of evaporators are sometimes installed in the upper part of the interior. In such coolers, a drain pipe for discharging the drain water from the evaporators is provided for each evaporator, and each drain pipe is arranged between the side walls of the inner box and outer box that make up the insulated box. In many cases, the aforementioned drain pipe is arranged in the center of the front and rear of the side wall of the insulated box, and this type of drain pipe arrangement can be seen, for example, in the insulated box of Patent Document 2.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 08-110148 JP 2004-132661 A

In the pass-through type refrigerator described above, when drain pipes are arranged in the front-rear center of the left and right side walls of the insulated box, when multiple refrigerators are installed adjacent to each other, the side walls of the adjacent insulated boxes are in close contact with each other, and the drain pipes installed inside the side walls are adjacent to each other at close range. Incidentally, the temperature of the drain pipes, which are surrounded by foam insulation, is easily lowered, so the ambient temperature of adjacent drain pipes is likely to be lower than that of other parts of the insulated box. Therefore, when the temperature inside the refrigerator is set to the freezing temperature range or when the refrigerator is used in a low-temperature environment, the cold heat of adjacent drain pipes is concentrated in one place and falls below the freezing temperature, causing the inside of the drain pipes to freeze and making it impossible to discharge the drain water. It is possible to prevent the drain pipes from falling below the freezing temperature by arranging heaters around each drain pipe, but this inevitably increases the cost of the refrigerator.

The object of the present invention is to provide a cooling cabinet that can reliably drain the evaporator drain water by preventing freezing inside the drain pipes located inside the left and right side walls of the main body case.

The present invention is directed to a cooling cabinet 1 in which evaporators 11,11 of cooling units 7,7 are arranged on the upper left and right sides of the interior of a main case 2 consisting of an insulated box having openings 3,4 at least on either the front or rear, and drain pipes 22,22 for causing drain water generated in the evaporators 11,11 to flow down to the bottom of the main case 2 are arranged inside the left and right side walls 2L,2R of the main case 2, respectively. The drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main case 2 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main case 2 are arranged in a state of being shifted from one another in the front to the rear, and when two cooling cabinets 1,1 are arranged in a linear row with the left and right side walls 2L,2R adjacent to each other, on the adjacent surfaces of these two cooling cabinets 1,1, the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main case 2 of one cooling cabinet 1 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main case 2 of the other cooling cabinet 1 are arranged adjacent to each other in a state of being shifted from one another in the front to the rear .

Either the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left wall 2L of the main body case 2 or the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right wall 2R of the main body case 2 is arranged an offset distance E1 forward of the front-to-rear central plane P defined by a plane passing through the front-to-rear center of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R, and the other is arranged an offset distance E2 rearward of the front-to-rear central plane P, so that when two cooling cabinets 1.1 are arranged in a linear row with the left and right side walls 2L and 2R adjacent to each other, at the adjacent surface of these two cooling cabinets 1.1, the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left wall 2L of the main body case 2 of one cooling cabinet 1 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right wall 2R of the main body case 2 of the other cooling cabinet 1 are shifted forwards or backwards by the sum of the offset distances E1 and E2 .

A drain pan 21 is disposed below each evaporator 11 to collect drain water and allow it to flow down to the drain pipe 22. The drain pan 21 is provided with a water collection wall 26 that receives water droplets dripping from the evaporator 11, and an outlet gutter 27 that guides the drain water collected by the water collection wall 26 down toward the drain pipe 22. The outlet gutter 27 in the left and right drain pans 21 are offset forward and backward in accordance with offset distances E1 and E2 from the front-to-rear central plane P of the left and right drain pipes 22.

The offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P are set to be the same, and the left and right drain pans 21, 21 are formed to be the same shape and size and are arranged point-symmetrically when viewed from above.

A heater 35 is disposed on the semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipe 22 facing the outer surface of the main body case 2.

A drain trap 23 is disposed on the underside of the bottom wall 2B of the main body case 2 to drain condensation water that occurs inside the cabinet and flows down to the upper surface of the bottom wall 2B. The lower ends of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 are connected to the drain trap 23 by a lower drain pipe 24 disposed along the underside of the bottom wall 2B.

In the refrigerator 1 according to the present invention, the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main body case 2 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main body case 2 are arranged in a state of being shifted from each other in the front to back. With the refrigerator 1 configured in this way, when multiple refrigerators 1.1 are installed adjacent to each other in the left and right direction, the drain pipes 22.22 of the adjacent refrigerators 1.1 are adjacent to each other in a state of being shifted from each other in the front to back direction, so that the cold heat of the adjacent drain pipes 22.22 on the left and right is prevented from concentrating at one point in the front to back width direction of the left and right side walls 2L.2R, and freezing can be prevented inside the drain pipes 22.22. Therefore, it is possible to provide a refrigerator 1 that can reliably drain the drain water of the evaporators 11.11 and always operate normally.

In addition, either the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main body case 2 or the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main body case 2 is arranged forward of the front-rear central plane P defined by a plane passing through the center of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R in the front-rear direction by a bias distance E1, and the other is arranged rearward of the front-rear central plane P by a bias distance E2. With the cooling cabinet 1 configured in this way, the drain pipes 22 of adjacent cooling cabinets 1 are shifted forward and backward by the total distance of the bias distances E1 and E2, and the cold heat of the adjacent drain pipes 22 on the left and right is prevented from concentrating at one point in the front-rear width direction of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R, so that the drain water inside the drain pipes 22 can be more reliably prevented from freezing.

A drain pan 21 is disposed below each evaporator 11 to collect drain water and allow it to flow down to the drain pipe 22. The drain pan 21 is provided with a water collection wall 26 that receives water droplets dripping from the evaporator 11, and an outlet gutter 27 that guides the drain water collected by the water collection wall 26 to flow down toward the drain pipe 22. If the outlet gutter 27 of the left and right drain pans 21 are offset forward and backward in accordance with the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22 from the front-rear center plane P, each outlet gutter 27 can be positioned directly beside the left and right drain pipes 22, so that the drain pans 21 and the drain pipes 22 can be connected by the shortest outlet gutter 27. Therefore, the drain water collected by the water collection walls 26 can be quickly allowed to flow down to the drain pipes 22 by the outlet gutter 27.

By setting the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P to be the same, and forming the left and right drain pans 21, 21 with the same shape and size, and arranging them point-symmetrically when viewed from above, the left and right drain pans 21, 21 can be made into common parts, thereby reducing the overall cost of the refrigerator 1.

When the heater 35 is disposed on the semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipe 22 facing the outer surface of the main body case 2, the drain pipe 22 facing the outer surface of the main body case 2, which is likely to become below freezing temperature, can be actively heated, so that the temperature of the drain pipe 22 can be prevented from dropping below freezing temperature. In addition, even if the temperature inside the refrigerator 1 is set to the freezing temperature range or the installation environment temperature of the refrigerator 1 is low, the heater 35 can be operated to reliably prevent the temperature of the drain pipe 22 from dropping below freezing temperature, so that the drain water can be more reliably prevented from freezing inside the drain pipe 22. In addition, since the heater 35 is disposed only on the semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipes 22/22 facing the adjacent surfaces of each refrigerator 1/1, the heat generation capacity of the heater 35 can be reduced, and the power consumption of each refrigerator 1/1 can be reduced, compared to when the entire circumference of the drain pipe 22 is covered with the heater 35.

A drain trap 23 is disposed on the underside of the bottom wall 2B of the main body case 2 to drain condensation water that occurs inside the cabinet and flows down to the upper surface of the bottom wall 2B. The lower ends of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 are connected to the drain trap 23 by a lower drain pipe 24 disposed along the underside of the bottom wall 2B. By using the condensation water drain trap 23 to drain the drain water, odors from the drainage channel and outside air can be reliably prevented from entering the cabinet.

4 is a cross-sectional plan view of a main part of the cooling box according to the first embodiment of the present invention, which corresponds to a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3. FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG. 2.

(Example) An example in which the present invention is applied to a pass-through type refrigerator is shown in Figs. 1 to 5. In this example, front, back, left, right, and up and down refer to the crossed arrows shown in Figs. 2 and 3 and the notations for front, back, left, right, and up and down near the arrows. As shown in Fig. 2, a refrigerator (refrigerator) 1 has a main body case 2 which is a vertically elongated rectangular parallelepiped insulated box, and a pair of doors 5 and 6 on the left and right sides which open and close a front opening (opening) 3 and a rear opening (opening) 4 of the main body case 2. A pair of cooling units 7 and 7 on the left and right sides are provided above the main body case 2 to supply and circulate cold air inside the refrigerator 1.

Each cooling unit 7 is composed of a compressor 8, a condenser 9, and a condenser fan 10 housed in a machine room above the main body case 2, and an evaporator 11 and a circulation fan 12 located inside the main body case 2. The cooling units 7 are provided on the left and right sides of the refrigerator 1. The air inside the refrigerator is sucked in by the circulation fan 12 and sent toward the evaporator 11, where it is cooled while passing through the evaporator 11 and blown out into the refrigerator and circulated. As shown in FIG. 1, the main body case 2 is composed of an inner box 15 and an outer box 16 made of stainless steel plate material, and a foam insulation material 17 filled between the two boxes 15 and 16. At the center of the left and right sides of the front opening 3 and the rear opening 4, a support 18 that supports the doors 5 and 6 is fixed, and tray shelves (not shown) are provided in multiple stages on the left and right sides inside the main body case 2.

In order to discharge the drain water generated in the left and right evaporators 11 to the outside of the main case 2, a drainage structure is provided from the lower side of each evaporator 11 to the lower side of the bottom wall 2B of the main case 2. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the drainage structure is composed of a drain pan 21 that covers the lower side of each evaporator 11, a drain pipe 22 that causes the drain water collected in the drain pan 21 to flow down to the bottom of the main case 2, a drain trap 23 arranged on the lower surface of the bottom of the main case 2, and a lower drain pipe 24 that connects the drain pipe 22 and the drain trap 23. As shown in Fig. 1, a group of ventilation holes 25 is formed in the drain pan 21 directly opposite the circulation fan 12. The drain trap 23 is originally for condensation water that flows down to the upper surface of the bottom wall 2B of the refrigerator 1, but by using it to drain the drain water, it is possible to reliably prevent odors from the drainage channel and outside air from entering the inside of the main case 2 (inside the refrigerator) through the drain pipe 22. In addition, the cost of the drainage structure can be reduced by using the drainage trap 23 for condensation water to drain it.

The drain pan 21 is provided with a water collection wall 26 that receives water droplets dripping from the evaporator 11, and an outlet gutter 27 that guides the drain water collected by the water collection wall 26 to flow down toward the drain pipe 22, and the entire pan is inclined downward from the side of the ventilation hole 25 toward the side of the outlet gutter 27. As shown in FIG. 1, cold air outlets 28 are formed in front and behind the outlet gutter 27. The left and right drain pipes 22 are arranged inside the left and right side walls 2L and 2R of the main body case 2, but their arrangement positions are different between the left and right side walls 2L and 2R. In detail, one of the left and right drain pipes 22 is arranged forward of the front-rear center plane P defined by a plane passing through the center of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R in the front-rear direction, and the other is arranged rearward of the front-rear center plane P. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the drain pipe 22 on the left side wall 2L is positioned rearward of the front-rear central plane P by a bias distance E1, and the drain pipe 22 on the left side wall 2L is positioned forward of the front-rear central plane P by a bias distance E2. In addition, the bias distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P are set to be the same.

The outlet gutter 27 in each drain pan 21 is provided so as to be offset forward and backward in response to the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22 and 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P. In this embodiment, the drain pan 21 is arranged so that its front-rear central axis coincides with the front-rear central plane P, and is arranged point-symmetrically in a plan view. As described above, the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22 and 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P are set to be the same, so that the left and right drain pans 21 can be constructed from the same parts. With this configuration, each outlet gutter 27 and 27 can be positioned directly beside the left and right drain pipes 22 and 22, so that the drain pans 21 and the drain pipes 22 and 22 can be connected by the shortest outlet gutter 27 and 27. Therefore, the drain water collected by the water collection walls 26 and 26 can be quickly flowed down to the drain pipes 22 and 22 by the outlet gutter 27 and 27. In addition, the left and right drain pans 21, 21 can be made into the same shape and size and used as common parts, which reduces the overall cost of the drainage structure.

In order to allow the drain water collected in the drain pan 21 to flow down from the outlet gutter 27 to the drain pipe 22, the receiving pipes 31 are fixed to the upper ends of the drain pipes 22. The receiving pipes 31 are provided with a joint 32 connected to the drain pipe 22, a receiving section 33 that is continuous with the joint 32 and curves obliquely upward, and a receiving opening 34 that opens on the inner surface of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R of the main body case 2. The outlet gutter 27 that slopes downward toward the receiving pipe 31 is inserted into the inside of the receiving section 33 from the receiving opening 34, and the lower end of the slope of the outlet gutter 27 faces the curved wall of the receiving section 33. With this drainage structure, all of the drain water collected in the drain pan 21 can be reliably flowed down from the outlet gutter 27 to the drain pipe 22, so that water leakage at the connection between the drain pan 21 and the drain pipe 22 and seepage into the inside of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R can be reliably prevented.

When the temperature inside the refrigerator 1 is set to the freezing temperature range, the temperature of the drain water may approach the ice temperature. Even under such circumstances, the heater 35 is arranged on the circumferential surface of the drain pipe 22 to reliably prevent the drain water from freezing inside the drain pipe 22. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the heater 35 is arranged on the semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipe 22 facing the adjacent surface (the outer surface of the main body case 2) of the adjacent refrigerators 1 and 1. Even when the temperature inside the refrigerator 1 is set to the freezing temperature range or when the installation environment temperature of the refrigerator 1 is low, the heater 35 can be operated to reliably prevent the temperature of the drain pipe 22 from dropping below the ice temperature, so that the drain water can be more reliably prevented from freezing inside the drain pipe 22. In addition, since the heater 35 is arranged only on the semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipes 22 and 22 facing the adjacent surfaces of each refrigerator 1 and 1, the heat generation capacity of the heater 35 can be reduced and the power consumption of each refrigerator 1 and 1 can be reduced compared to when the entire circumferential surface of the drain pipe 22 is covered with the heater 35.

As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of refrigerators 1 configured as above may be used by arranging them in a straight line with the left and right side walls 2L and 2R adjacent to each other. For example, a plurality of refrigerators 1 may be arranged between a food preparation chamber and a cooking chamber, so that food stored in the refrigerator 1 from the food preparation chamber side (front opening 3 side) can be taken out from the cooking chamber side (rear opening 4 side) and cooked. When a plurality of refrigerators 1 are arranged in this manner, as shown in FIG. 5, the drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main body case 2 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main body case 2 are adjacent to each other with a positional shift in the front and rear on the adjacent surfaces of the refrigerators 1 and 1. Also, the positions are shifted forward and backward by the total distance of the deviation distances E1 and E2. This prevents the cold heat of the left and right adjacent drain pipes 22 and 22 from concentrating on one point in the front and rear width direction of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R, and prevents freezing inside the drain pipes 22 and 22. Therefore, it is possible to provide a pass-through type refrigerator 1 that can reliably drain the drain water from the evaporators 11 and 11 and can always operate normally.

In the above embodiment, the left and right drain pipes 22 are offset from each other with respect to the front-rear central plane P of the left and right side walls 2L and 2R, but this is not necessary. The drain pipe 22 arranged on the left side wall 2L of the main body case 2 and the drain pipe 22 arranged on the right side wall 2R of the main body case 2 may simply be offset from each other. For example, adjacent drain pipes 22 may be offset from each other in the front-rear central plane P in the front-rear central plane P. Either one of the drain pipes 22 may be disposed at the front-rear central plane P. Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22 and 22 from the front-rear central plane P are set to be the same, so that the left and right drain pans 21 and 21 can be formed to have the same shape and size. However, depending on the difference in the interior structure of the refrigerator 1, the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22 and 22 from the front-rear central plane P may be different. In this case, the position of the outlet gutter 27 in each drain pan 21 may be offset forward or backward in accordance with the offset distances E1 and E2 of the left and right drain pipes 22, 22 relative to the front-rear central plane P. With this drainage structure, each outlet gutter 27 can be positioned directly beside the left and right drain pipes 22, 22, and the drain pan 21 and the drain pipes 22 can be connected by the shortest outlet gutter 27. Therefore, the drain water collected by the water collection wall 26 can be quickly drained down to the drain pipes 22 by the outlet gutter 27.

In addition to the above, the outlet gutter 27 does not need to be provided on the side edge of the water collecting wall 26, and may be led out from the front edge or rear edge of the water collecting wall 26. Furthermore, the outlet gutter 27 does not need to be a gutter structure, and may be formed in a tubular shape. If necessary, the entire periphery of the drain pipe 22 may be covered with a heater 35, or a linear heater 35 may be spirally wrapped around the drain pipe 22. The cooling chamber 1 may be a dedicated freezer used only in the freezing temperature range. The compressor 8, condenser 9, and condenser fan 10 arranged in the machine room may be arranged outside the cooling chamber 1. The cooling chamber of the present invention can also be applied to a reach-in type cooling chamber in which the evaporators 11, 11 are arranged on the upper left and right sides of the chamber.

1. Refrigerator (cooler)
2 Body case 2B Bottom wall of body case 2L Left side wall of body case 2R Right side wall of body case 3 Opening (front opening)
4 Opening (rear opening)
7 Cooling unit 11 Evaporator 21 Drain pan 22 Drain pipe 23 Drain trap 24 Lower drain pipe 26 Water collecting wall 27 Outlet gutter 35 Heater P Front-rear central plane E1 Offset distance E2 Offset distance

Claims (6)

The evaporators (11, 11) of the cooling units (7, 7) are arranged on the upper left and right sides of the interior of a main body case (2) made of an insulated box having openings (3, 4) at least on either the front or the back,
A cooling cabinet (1) in which drain pipes (22, 22) for causing drain water generated in an evaporator (11, 11) to flow down to a bottom of the main body case (2) are respectively arranged inside left and right side walls (2L, 2R) of the main body case (2),
A drain pipe (22) arranged on a left side wall (2L) of the main body case (2) and a drain pipe (22) arranged on a right side wall (2R) of the main body case (2) are arranged in a state of being misaligned in the front-rear direction ,
This cooling cabinet is characterized in that, when two cooling cabinets (1, 1) are arranged in a straight line with their left and right side walls (2L, 2R) adjacent to each other, at the adjacent surfaces of the two cooling cabinets (1, 1), a drain pipe (22) arranged on the left side wall (2L) of the main body case (2) of one cooling cabinet (1) and a drain pipe (22) arranged on the right side wall (2R) of the main body case (2) of the other cooling cabinet (1) are arranged next to each other while being misaligned in the front-to-rear direction . one of the drain pipes (22) arranged on the left side wall (2L) of the main body case (2) and the drain pipes (22) arranged on the right side wall (2R) of the main body case (2) is arranged forward of a front-to-rear central plane (P) defined by a plane passing through the center in the front-to-rear direction of the left and right side walls (2L, 2R) by a biased distance (E1), and the other is arranged rearward of the front-to-rear central plane (P) by a biased distance (E2);
The cooling cabinet according to claim 1, wherein when two cooling cabinets (1, 1) are arranged in a linear row with their left and right side walls (2L, 2R) adjacent to each other, at the adjacent surface between the two cooling cabinets (1, 1), a drain pipe (22) arranged on the left side wall (2L) of the main body case (2) of one cooling cabinet (1) and a drain pipe (22) arranged on the right side wall (2R) of the main body case (2) of the other cooling cabinet (1) are shifted forward and backward by the sum of the deviation distances (E1, E2) . A drain pan (21) is disposed below each evaporator (11) to collect drain water and allow it to flow down into a drain pipe (22).
The drain pan (21) includes a water collection wall (26) for receiving water droplets dripping from the evaporator (11) and an outlet gutter (27) for guiding the drain water collected by the water collection wall (26) downward toward the drain pipe (22),
3. A refrigerator as described in claim 2, wherein the outlet gutters (27, 27) in the left and right drain pans (21, 21) are arranged so as to be offset forward and backward in accordance with an offset distance (E1, E2) from the front-to-rear central plane (P) of the left and right drain pipes (22, 22). The offset distances (E1, E2) of the left and right drain pipes (22, 22) with respect to the front-rear central plane (P) are set to be the same,
4. The refrigerator according to claim 3, wherein the left and right drain pans (21, 21) are formed to be the same in shape and size and are arranged in point symmetry when viewed from above. A refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 4, in which a heater (35) is disposed on a semi-circumferential surface of the drain pipe (22) facing the outer surface of the main body case (2). A drain trap (23) is disposed on the lower surface of the bottom wall (2B) of the main body case (2) to drain condensation water generated inside the container and flowing down to the upper surface of the bottom wall (2B);
A cooling cabinet as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the lower ends of the left and right drain pipes (22, 22) and a drain trap (23) are connected by a lower drain pipe (24) arranged along the lower surface of the bottom wall (2B).

Images