US2279521A - Vegetable display and conditioning stand - Google Patents

Description

V. A. PETERSON VEGETABLE DISFLAY AND CONDITIONING STAND April 14, 1942.

Filed June, 17, 1940 1 1%.5 vflti fi j/wf/vro/e v yg yvolv ziPET/SRSd/V ATTORNE y iiurllull i llal -l-wu i. a l

Patented Apr. 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,279,521 VEGETABLE DISPLAY AND CONDITIONING STAND Vernon A. Peterson, Palm Springs, Calif.

1940, Serial No. 340,978

Application June 17,

10 Claims.

My invention relates generally to display stands that are particularly designed for use in displaying various perishable commodities, for instance, fresh vegetables, fruits, and the like, and the principal objects of my invention are, to generally improve upon and simplify the construction of the existing forms of vegetable display and conditioning stands and to provide a relatively simple, practical and inexpensive stand having means for subjecting the displayed products to moisture in the form of spray or mist and at the same time to circulate fresh air through the stand in order to maintain the vegetables or other commodities fresh and to preserve their natural characteristics.

Further objects of my invention are, to provide a display stand of the character referred to wherein the displayed vegetables and other products are maintained in a moist condition by means of moisture that discharges from spray heads disposed above the displayed products, which spray heads are supported from the rear of the stand, further, to provide means for forcing humidified and conditioned air from a chamber in the lower portion of the stand upwardly through the trays or racks that carry the vegetables and products displayed for sale and further, to provide time controlled means for automatically opening and closing the valve that controls the flow of water to the spray heads.

A further object of my invention is, to provide a display stand which, with the exception of an air filter of fabric, is composed wholly of metal, thereby providing a strong and substantial structure that is not subject to rapid deterioration as a result of the presence of practically continuous moisture.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts that will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1' is a front elevational view of a display and conditioning stand constructed in accordance with my invention, with parts thereof broken away and in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line r 3--3 of Fig. 2.

the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and illustrating one of the spray heads used on As illustrated in the stand. the drawing, the body of the stand is substantially rectangular in form and comprises a bottom l0, rear wall ll, front wall l2 and end walls l3. All of these walls are preferably constructed of metal, such as galvanized sheet iron, and in order to provide clearance and ventilation beneath the stand, it is supported at the corners by short legs IA.

The front wall I2 inclines slightly forward and the intermediate and rear portions of the end walls are higher than said front wall. The upper edges of the front portions of the end walls l3 are inclined so as to conform with the inclined positions occupied by the trays containing the displayed vegetables or other products.

The rear wall ll extends a substantial distance above the upper rear portions of the end walls l3 and projecting forwardly from the upper edge of said rear wall is a narrow horizon tally disposed plate l5 that extends the entire length of the stand and secured to and depending from the front edge of this plate is a narrow vertically disposed plate l6.

Arranged in the upper rear portion of the stand and positioned parallel with the rear wall H is a wall H, the upper edge of which terminates just behind the lower portion of plate I6. The ends of this wall I! are suitably connected to the end walls l3 and positioned immediately in front of wall I1 is a horizontally disposed plate l8 that extends the entire length of the stand with its ends secured to the upper rear edges of the end walls I3.

Secured to the upper portions of the end walls 13 between the upper edge of front wall 12 and the front edge of plate l8 are longitudinally disposed rails l9, presumably formed of metal, and secured to these longitudinally disposed rails are short cross rails 20 that occupy positions parallel with the end walls and these rails l9 and 20 provide a skeleton rack or racks for receiving and supporting the trays T that are packed with vegetables or other products displayed for sale.

Suitably secured to brackets or flanges 2] that project forwardly from the lower edge of wall H, from the upper portion of front wall [2 just below the tray supporting racks and from the end walls, is a shallow pan 22 that gradually declines from all four edges toward its center and said pan providing a receptacle that receives the water that is sprayed, onto the displayed products after said water has passed downwardly through the trays and the racks on which said trays are supported. Formed in the center of this tray is a fairly large opening in which is seated a ring 23 and secured on top of the tray and disposed above and spaced apart from said ring is a combined hood and deflector 24 that declines gradually from its center in all directions toward its edge.

Secured on the under face of the central portion of this hood is a small circular deflector 25, preferably formed of sheet metal, and the under face of which inclines gradually in all directions from its center toward its edge.

Suitably secured to the lower end of the ring 23 is the upper end of a circular wall 26 of suitable air-conditioning fabric and the lower end of this fabric wall is suitably secured to a collar 27 that projects upwardly from the housing 28 of a blower, preferably of the squirrel cage type. This blower is driven from a small electric suitably supported in the lower portion of the body of the stand and the housing 28 of this blower is provided in one or both sides with air inlet openings.

Secured to and depending from the tray 22 adjacent the ring 23 is a drain outlet 32 for the water that accumulates in said pan and disposed over said outlet is a screen 33 which prevents leaves, scraps of paper, or the like, from clogging the outlet. Suitable connections are made from this outlet to the sewer.

A water supply pipe 34 provided with a valve 35 leads into the lower portion of the stand and is connected to a horizontally disposed pipe 35 located beneath the tray 22. Connected to one end of this pipe 36 is a pipe 3? that extends upwardly through the tray, thence to a point above the hood 34 and secured to the end of this pipe 31 and arranged to discharge directly onto the elevated central surface of the hood is a spray head 33. Connected to the opposite end of pipe 36 is the lower end of a vertically disposed pipe 39 that extends upwardly inside one of the end walls of the stand and connect-ed to the upper end of this pipe is a horizontally disposed Water distributing pipe 40 that is suitably supported beneath plate I 5 and behind plate it.

Connected to' and extending forwardly from pipe 40'are horizontally disposed branch pipes 4i and connected to the forward ends of said pipes and projecting downwardly therefrom are short pipe sections 42, each carrying on its lower end a spray head illustrated in detail in Fig. 4. Each spray head comprises a short tubular nipple 43, on the lower end of which is screw seated a cap 44 provided in its lower end with an open ing 45.

Removably seated in the lower portion of cap 44 is a disc 46 through the center of which is formed a small aperture 41 and the upper portion of this aperture is countersunk as designated by 48. Resting on top of disc is the lower end of a cap 49 that projects upwardly into the lower portion of nipple 43 and a short portion of the edge of cap 49 between its upper and side surfaces is cut away to form a notch 50, the inner portion of which notch communicates with the opening through nipple 43.

Leading through the wall of cap 49 from the lower portion of notch 50 is an inclined port 5| that is adapted to discharge a small jet of water downwardly in an inclined direction into and through the chamber in cap 49.

Located in pipe 36 adjacent one of the end walls of the stand is a valve 52 for controlling the flow of water from supply pipe 34 to pipes 39, 40 and the branch pipes 4|, and this valve is opened. and closed by conventional electrically operated means contained within a housing 53 motor 29 and said electrically operated means being controlled by a clock 54.

This clock 54 is of the type that may be set so as to cause the electrically operated means associated therewith to open and close valve 50 at pre-determined time intervals, thus permitting the vegetables or other products displayed on the stand to be intermittently subjected to spray from the spray heads carried by the tubes 42 and also enabling the periods of spraying to be varied as desired.

During the spraying of the displayed vegetables or other products and the circulation of conditioned air upwardly through the trays and the goods contained therein, electrically operated valve 52 which is controlled by the clock 54 is opened, thereby permitting water to flow from supply pipe 34 into and through pipes 36, 39, and 43, and from the latter the water passes through the pipes 42 that carry the spray heads.

This water which is under a certain degree of pressure flows through notch 59 and thence through inclined port 5| so that it is discharged in a downwardly inclined path into the chamber within cap 49 and from said chamber the water in the form of a fine spray or mist discharges from aperture 47 directly onto the vegetables or other products contained in the trays that occupy inclined positions in the upper front portion of the stand.

Simultaneously with this spraying of the displayed products, water will issue from spray head 38 onto the hood 24 and after passing downwardly therecver this water discharges from the marginal edge of said hood, thus providing in effect a thin film of water entirely around the edge of the hood.

Motor 29 drives the blower within the housing 28 and air is drawn through the openings in the side of the housing and this air after passing upwardly through the blower is forced upwardly through tube 27 and ring 23 and also through the chamber surrounded by the air-conditioning fabric 26. I

This air striking against the deflector 25 on the under side of hood 24 causes the air to pass radially outward in all directions beneath said hood and to pass through the thin film of Water discharging from the edge of said hood and the air thus moistened aft-er filling the space in the stand immediately above the pan 22, will pass upwardly through the trays and their contents, thus combining with the moisture that is discharged from the spray heads on the tubes 42 in maintaining the displayed vegetables in fresh condition.

The wall of air-conditioning fabric 26. is for the purpose of providing a flexible connection between tube 27 and ring 23 and thus no vibration of the motor driven blower will be transmitted to the pan 22 and parts carried thereby.

By using a time controlled electrically operated valve in the water line .to' which the spray heads are connected, the spraying operation may be caused to take place intermittently and. the timing of the spraying periods may be regulated as desired and in accordance with the condition of the displayed products.

Among the particularly desirable features of my invention are, the location of the spray heads above the trays that are packed with the vegetables or other products, the supportingof said spray heads from the upper rear portion of the stand, the forcing of. conditioned humidified 'air upwardly through the products displayed upon the stand, and the mounting cfthe blower and its motor underneath the water after it has passed through the displayed products and which latter arrangement eliminates possibility of short circuiting of the motor as a result of an excess of moisture in the chamber in which the motor is located.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided a vegetable display and conditioning stand that is relatively simple in construction, inexpensive of manufacture and very effective in performing the functions for which it is intended.

It will be understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved vegetable display and conditioning stand, may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing having a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall and end walls, the rear wall extending above the front and end walls of the housing, of means for supporting trays in the upper portion of said housing, a pan supported within said housing below said trays, said pan being provided with an opening, means for forcing air from the chamber below said pan upwardly through said opening and upwardly through the trays supported in the upper portion of the housing, a hood positioned above the opening in said pan and means for discharging water onto said hood.

2. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 1 and with a time controlled electrically operated valve located in the water supply pipe.

3. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing having a bottom, a front wall, a rear wall and end walls, the rear wall extending above the front and end walls of the housing, of

pan that receives the means for supporting trays in the upper portion of said housing, a pan supported within said housing below said trays, a tubular structure leading from the chamber beneath said pan upwardly through said pan, said tubular structure including a wall of flexible material and means for forcing air from the chamber beneath said pan upwardly through said tubular structure.

4. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 3, with means for humidifying the air that discharges from the upper end of said tubular structure.

5. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 3, with a hood positioned on the pan above the upper end of said tubular structure and means for delivering water onto said hood.

6. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing of means for supporting trays in the upper portion. of said housing, a pan positioned within the housing below said trays and dividing the space within the housing into upper and lower chambers, said pan being provided with an opening and means including an electric motor for forcing air from the lower chamber upwardly through the opening in said pan and through the trays in said upper chamher.

'7. A vegetable display and conditioning stand as set forth in claim 6, with menas for humidifying the air discharged into said upper chamber.

8. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing and means within said housing for dividing upper and lower cha bers, of means for supporting vegetable trays in the upper portion of the upper chamber, means located in the lower one of the chambers within said housing for forcing air from said lower chamber upwardly into the upper chamber and upwardly through said vegetable trays, means for humidifying the air discharged into said upper chamber and means supported by the upper rear portion of said housing for delivering water spray onto the trays and their contents.

9. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing, of a pan positioned within said housing and dividing the space therein into upper and lower chambers, means for supporting vegetable trays in the upper portion of the upper housing, there being an opening in the central portion of said pan, means located in the chamber below said pan for forcing air upwardly through said opening, a hood positioned above the opening in the pan, a deflector on the under side of the central portion of said hood and means for delivering water spray onto said hood.

10. In a vegetable display and conditioning stand, the combination with a substantially rectangular housing, of a pan positioned within said housingand dividing the space therein into upper and lower chambers, means for supporting vegetable trays in the upper portion of the upper housing, there central portion of said pan, means located in the chamber below said pan for forcing air upwardly through said opening, above the opening in the pan, a deflector on the under side of the central portion of said hood, means for delivering water spray onto said hood and means suported by the upper portion of said housing for delivering water spray onto said trays and their contents.

VERNON A. PETERSON.

the space therein into separate,

being an opening in the" a hood positioned

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