JPH1054645A - Cold air circulation type open showcase - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To product an open showcase from emission of foul smell due to burning of combustible foreign matter, such as wastepaper or the like and ignition thereof, which has fallen into a cold air circulating passage from the suction port of a cold air curtain opened at the front side upper end of a main body case and is brought into contact with a defrosting heater, laid in a ventilating passage, upon energizing the heater. SOLUTION: A cooler and a fan are arranged in a cold air circulation passage 2, defined between the outer casing 1a and inner casing 1b of a main body case, while a defrosting heater 5 is arranged at the inside of a cold air curtain suction port 2b, opened at the front side upper end of the main body case. In such a cold air circulation passage 2, a protecting cover 6 is provided in the passage so as to cover the front area of a defrosting heater as the preventing means of contact between foreign matters, falling into the passage through the suction port, and the defrosting heater while a ventilating port 6b, guiding the circulating air stream into the defrosting heater, is opened on the front surface wall of the cover 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cold air circulating open showcase for flat open showcases, multi-stage open showcases, and the like, and more particularly, to a structure for mounting a defrost heater incorporated in a cool air circulation path in a refrigerator. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art First, the configuration of a flat open showcase to which the present invention is applied is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1
Is a main body case having an open top surface composed of an outer box 1a and an inner box 1b constructed of heat insulating walls, and 2 is a cool air circulation path defined between the outer box 1a and the inner box 1b. Is equipped with a cooler (evaporator of a refrigerator) 3 and a cool air circulation fan 4. A cool air curtain outlet 2a is open at the rear upper end of the main body case toward the open surface, and a cool air curtain inlet 2b is open at the front upper end. Reference numeral 10 denotes a transparent glass fence provided at an upper portion on the front side for preventing cold air leakage.

[0003] A cold air circulation type open showcase having such a configuration is well known, and cool air cooled to a low temperature by heat exchange with the cooler 3 is circulated by the fan 4 through the cool air circulation path 2 as indicated by a dotted arrow during the cold-holding operation. A cool air curtain is blown out and formed on the upper surface of the main body case 1 from the outlet 2a toward the inlet 2b. In addition, during the cold-holding operation, frost is generated on the cooler 3 and the suction-port-side duct wall surface of the cool-air circulation path 2, and the amount of frost increases with the elapse of the cold-holding operation time. To perform defrosting. Conventionally, as the defrosting means, a defrost heater 5 is laid below the suction port 2b along the longitudinal direction of the main body case, and the defrost heater 5 is energized during defrost to heat the circulating air flow. A heater defrosting method for melting and removing frost formed on the duct wall surface of the cool air circulation path 2 and the cooler 3 is generally adopted.

[0004] In this case, in the conventional showcase, the defrost heater (seeds heater) 5 is laid so as to cross the center of the duct of the cool air circulation path 2 almost bare.

[0005]

By the way, in the operation state of the showcase in which the above-mentioned open-air case of the cool air circulation type is installed in the store at the location, the main case 1
Combustible foreign substances such as paper dust, styrofoam, wood chips, etc. of the product wrapping paper may fall into the cool air circulation path 2 through the gap of the cool air curtain suction port 2b opened to the front side of the cold air. In this case, since the defrost heater 5 is laid bare inside the suction port 2b as described above, the foreign matter that has fallen into the cool air circulation path has caught or contacted the defrost heater 5. There is a danger that it will be heated by energization of the heater at the time of defrosting and burn and produce a bad smell, or in the worst case, a flammable foreign substance will ignite and burn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and has as its object to solve the above-mentioned problems. A cool air circulation type open system with safety measures to prevent combustible foreign matter, such as paper debris, falling into the circulation path from coming into contact with the defrost heater laid in the ventilation path and burning it when the heater is energized, emitting a bad smell, or igniting. The purpose is to provide a showcase.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a defrost heater laid in the interior of a cold air curtain suction opening opening at an upper end portion of a front side of a main body case. A protective cover is provided to cover the front area and prevent foreign matter falling into the cool air circulation path from coming into contact with the defrost heater, and is specifically configured in the following manner.

1) The protective cover is a cover in which ventilation holes for guiding the circulating airflow sucked from the cold air curtain suction port to the defrost heater are dispersed and opened on the plate surface. 2) A support piece cut and raised toward the back side is formed on a part of the plate surface of the protective cover, and the support piece carries a defrost heater. 3) The distance between the tip of the protective cover and the wall surface of the outer case is set to be larger than the opening width of the cold air inlet.

According to this configuration, foreign matter such as paper debris that has fallen into the cool air circulation path from the gap of the suction port is blocked by the protective cover and does not directly touch the defrost heater. It falls down through the passage between the walls. Therefore, there is no danger of the falling foreign matter being scorched due to the energization of the heater during defrosting, emitting a strange odor, or being ignited, which is safe. Further, the protective cover is provided with ventilation holes for introducing circulating air to the defrost heater, so that the heater defrost function is not hindered at all. Furthermore, by supporting the defrost heater with a support piece cut and raised from the protective cover, the defrost heater can be assembled integrally with the protective cover, heat transfer to the protective cover due to the heat generated by the heater, and further through the protective cover. The amount of heat transferred to the boxes in the showcase can be kept low, and the thermal effect on the displayed products in the refrigerator can be reduced.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings of the embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals. First, FIG. 1 (a),
In (b), a protective cover 6 made of a thin steel sheet bent into a channel shape having an inverted U-shaped cross section is provided in the front side passage of the cool air circulation path 2 leading to the cool air curtain inlet 2b from directly below the inlet 2b. The defrost heater 5 is attached to the inside of the protective cover 6 via a clip 7 so as to fit into a stepped corner formed at the lower end of the inner box 1b in a state of being retracted into the inside of the box. At this mounting position, the front wall portion 6a of the protective cover 6 is substantially flush with the duct partition plate of the inner box 1b, and the plate surface of the front wall portion 6a covers the circulating air flowing down the cool air circulation path 3. A large number of ventilation holes 6b are dispersedly opened to guide air to the defrost heater 5 laid on the back side of the heater. At this mounting position, between the lower end of the protective cover 6 and the inner wall surface of the outer box 1a opposed thereto (the inclined surface of the bottom, called the bottom of the boat), a cool air curtain suction opening opened at the upper end on the front side. The passage gap B is set to be wider than the opening width A of the opening 2b. Reference numeral 8 denotes a rib-shaped mounting metal which fixes one end to the outer box 1a and serves as a spacer for securing the cool air circulation path 2 between the inner box 1b and the protective cover 6, and 9 denotes a front side of the inner box 1b. It is a wire fence that stands up from the upper edge to prevent falling off of displayed products.

With this configuration, foreign matter such as paper dust, styrofoam, and wood chips that have fallen into the cool air circulation path 2 through the gap between the suction ports 2b during the operation of the showcase 2 are protected by the protective cover 6.
Without being contacted by the defrost heater 5 because of the front wall 6a of the outer case 1a, freely passing through the gap between the protective cover 6 and the front side wall surface of the outer case 1a, and sliding down the inclined wall surface of the outer case 1a. To collect at the bottom of the outer box. Therefore, there is no danger of falling foreign substances coming into contact with the heater due to energization of the heater at the time of defrosting, giving off a bad smell, or causing ignition. Further, a ventilation hole 6b for guiding the circulating air flow to the defrost heater 5 laid on the back side is opened in the front wall portion 6a of the protection cover 6, so that the defrost function of the heater is provided by the installation of the protection cover 6. It doesn't hurt anymore.

FIG. 2 shows an applied embodiment according to claim 3 of the present invention. In this embodiment,
A part of the front wall portion 6a of the protective cover 6 is cut and raised toward the rear surface to form a small width support piece 6c, on which the defrost heater 5 is carried. Although not shown, the protective cover 6 is not shown.
As shown in FIG. 1 (b), a large number of ventilation holes are opened in the plate surface of the front wall portion.

As described above, by supporting the defrost heater 5 with the small supporting piece 6c cut and raised from the protective cover 6, the defrost heater 5 can be easily mounted and can be assembled integrally with the protective cover 6. The amount of heat transferred to the protective cover 6 due to the heat generated by the defrost heater 5 and the amount of heat transferred to the showcase inner box 1b via the protective cover 6 are reduced, and the thermal effect on the products displayed near the inner box 1b is reduced. Damage can be prevented.

Although the illustrated embodiment has been described with reference to a flat open showcase, it goes without saying that the present invention can be similarly applied to a multistage open showcase.

[0015]

As described above, according to the structure of the present invention, the gap of the cool air curtain inlet opening at the upper end of the front side of the showcase can be used to remove paper debris, styrofoam, etc., which fall into the cool air circulation path. The combustible foreign matter is blocked by the protective cover and does not directly touch the defrost heater laid in the passage, so that the combustible foreign matter that has fallen and entered the passage when the heater is energized during defrost is heated. Danger such as burning or burning can be surely prevented.

In addition, a normal defrosting function can be maintained by opening ventilation holes in the protective cover and guiding the circulating air flow to a defrost heater laid on the back side of the protective cover. Furthermore, by supporting the defrost heater with a support piece cut and raised from a part of the protective cover, the defrost heater can be easily mounted and assembled, and the heat generated by the heater can be transferred to the protective cover and the inner box. It is possible to satisfactorily prevent thermal damage to products displayed in the refrigerator while keeping the temperature low.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a front portion of a showcase according to an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a longitudinal side view and (b) is an overhead view of a main part.

FIG. 2 is an overhead view of a main structure showing an application example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural view of a flat open showcase to which the present invention is applied;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Main body case 1a Outer case 1b Inner case 2 Cool air circulation path 2b Cool air curtain inlet 3 Cooler 4 Fan 5 Defrost heater 6 Protective cover 6a Front wall 6b Ventilation hole 6c Support piece

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cool air circulation type open showcase in which a cooler and an internal fan are provided in a cool air circulation path defined between an outer case and an inner case of a main body case. In the case where a defrost heater is laid below the opened cool air curtain suction port, the defrost heater covers the front area of the defrost heater and falls into the cool air circulation path from the suction port to the inside of the cool air circulation path leading to the suction port. A cool air circulation type open showcase characterized by a protective cover for preventing contact between foreign matter and the defrost heater. 2. The open-air showcase according to claim 1, wherein the protective cover is a cover having a ventilation opening through which ventilation air for guiding the circulating air flow to the defrosting heater is dispersedly opened on its plate surface. Open showcase. 3. The open showcase according to claim 1, wherein a support piece cut and raised toward the back side of the plate surface of the protective cover is formed, and the support piece carries a defrost heater. A cool air circulation type open showcase. 4. The open showcase according to claim 1, wherein a distance between a tip of the protective cover and a wall surface of the outer case is set to be larger than an opening width of the cool air inlet. A cool air circulation type open showcase characterized by the following characteristics.