US2956420A

US2956420A - Refrigerated display counter

Info

Publication number: US2956420A
Application number: US743562A
Authority: US
Inventors: James B Replogle
Original assignee: Union Stock Yard & Transit Co Chicago
Current assignee: Union Stock Yard and Transit Co
Priority date: 1958-06-23
Filing date: 1958-06-23
Publication date: 1960-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 1977-10-18

Description

Oct. 18, 1960 J. B. REPLOGLE 2,956,420

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY 0011mm Filed June 23, 1958 1 NVENT OR.

. wvm'saflipzoazi BY fiee reeankre Arroewers United States Patent O Stock Yard and Transit Company of Chicago, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed June 23, 1958, Ser. No. 743,562

'3 Claims. (Cl. 62-256) My invention relates to improvements in refrigerated display counter and has for one object to provide a method and apparatus whereby foodstuffs may be maintained in cold or frozen condition in a display counter, open to the room in which the customer stands whereby the customer may help herself from the display counter.

Cold air is heavier than the warm ambient room air and so if the foodstufis are displayed in a counter having walls extending sufficiently above the level of the foodstuffs a bath of cold air may be maintained in the area between the walls and above the foodstuffs so that chilled or even frozen foodstuffs may be visible to the customer and may be easily taken out of the counter by the customer.

One important difliculty that faces such an apparatus is that the ceiling of the room, other fixtures and furniture are all warm, much warmer than the goods on display and while the goods are exposed to a cold air bath, they are also exposed to and receive a substantial quantity of radiant lTeat from the surrounding area.

It is essential also that the customer be given a substantial angle of vision, looking into the counter or purchase will not result.

I propose to provide over the open counter an opaque cover which will be so disposed as to leave an ample opening above the walls of the counter for customer vision and help herself. This cover will be spaced above the display, may be generally horizontal or if desired, slightly upwardly inclined toward the customer and will mask a substantial part of, if not all of, the area above the display, leaving an opening generally above the front wall of the counter for access.

This cover will support a cold surface of any suitable type, the temperature of which will be preferably substantially below the temperature of the display so that when radiant heat enters and contacts the display, such radiant heat will be deflected therefrom or radiated therefrom to the cover. Thus, the cover will tend to pass from the displayed goods on the counter some of the radiant heat which otherwise would have to be taken care of by the cold air in the cold air bath.

My invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a front elevation;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1.

Like parts are indicated by like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

A counter has a front wall 1, a back wall 2, a bottom wall 3 and a display shelf 4 between the front and back walls and above the bottom wall 3. This shelf carries foodstuffs as indicated at 5, preferably upwardly, rearwardly inclined so that the customer looking over the wall 1 may inspect the goods on display and if desired, reach in above the wall 1 to take them out.

The

walls

1, 2 and 3 are hollow. At 6 is shown diagrammatically a cooling means which discharges cold air in the direction of the arrows for discharge at the "ice 2 lower edge of the display at 7. An air impervious floor below the shelf 4 insures that as the air rises in tempas ure i trav rw d yl ath display f di sbarsaat? i t me low wa 2 o e u n t i Thus there is a continuous stream of cold air. It may well be cold, supersaturated air. It may be below freezing or above but in any event, it will always be far below the temperature of the ambient air in the room in which the counter is located. The wall 2 is extended upwardly above the display shelf 4 to carry a canopy 10. This canopy may contain a series of cold coils 11 forming a cold surface on the underside of the canopy. The cold coils may be cooled perhaps to -20 degrees F. or any other very low temperature, the cooling means being not illustrated except that the coolant may enter and leave through the ducts 12 and 13. The canopy extends out substantially to the line of the wall 1. Thus the customer may see and reach into the space between the canopy and the display. Radiant heat from above cannot reach the display because the canopy makes that impossible. Radiant heat from the side may reach the display in the general direction of the arrow 14 but since the display is much warmer than the underside of the canopy, heat reaching the display by radiation along the arrow 14 will be returned by radiation to the cold canopy because it is an established fact that radiation goes from hot to the cold, the room and its contents being much hotter than the display, heat radiates to the display. The display being much hotter than the canopy, heat radiates to the canopy. Thus, there is a continuous flow of heat radiated from the room to the display and from the display to the canopy.

The cold coils may be insulated by transparent insulation -16, such as hermetically sealed, spaced apart sheets of glass so that condensation will not form to interfere with heat radiation from the foodstuffs on display to the canopy.

The cold canopy thus serves in a real sense as a radiation sink into which radiant heat will flow to be disposed of so that the foodstuffs will not be warmed.

I claim:

1. In a display counter, a housing open at the top, a shelf mounted in said housing below the top thereof, refrigerating means associated with said housing for circulating cold air along said shelf, a support extending above the top of said housing, said refrigerating means mounted on said support, and being at a lower temperature than said shelf and positioned so heat energy in said shelf may radiate thereto, a material substantially transparent to radiant energy mounted on said support in spaced relation to the refrigerating means thereon, said material enclosing said refrigerating means on said support to provide a dead air space between said portion of said refrigerating means and said material so that condensation will not form and freeze on the refrigerating means on said support to interfere with the heat radiation from said shell.

2. In a display counter, a housing open at the top, a shelf mounted in said housing below the top thereof, means associated with said housing for circulating cold air along said shelf, a canopy mounted on said housing completely covering and substantially above said shelf to permit access thereto and to substantially decrease heat radiation from the ceiling and walls of the room in which the display counter is placed to said shelf, said refrigerating means mounted on said canopy, and being at a lower temperature than said shelf and facing said shelf so that heat energy in said shelf may radiate thereto, a material substantially transparent to radiant energy mounted on said canopy in spaced relation to the refrigerating means thereon, said material enclosing said refrigerating means on said canopy to provide a.

dead air space between the refrigerating means on said in inspecting any refrigerated merchandise on said shelf References Cited in theme of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Haschke Mar. 9, 1937 Hill July 9, 4940 Webster June 3, 1941 Shreve Nov. 7, 1950 Schmid n,- IHIY 13, 1954