WO1997033504A1

WO1997033504A1 - Refrigerating counter

Info

Publication number: WO1997033504A1
Application number: PCT/NO1997/000072
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Egil FLØYSVIK
Original assignee: Floeysvik Jan Egil
Priority date: 1996-03-13
Filing date: 1997-03-12
Publication date: 1997-09-18
Also published as: AU2047297A; NO300344B1; NO961022A; NO961022D0

Abstract

Refrigerating counter with an access opening (68c, 68d) above each drawer (12a-12d) for refrigerated articles. Each drawer has a double bottom. A fan is arranged for the supply of cold cooling air, respectively for the leading away/return of used air through canals to be cooled by means of the refrigerating aggregate of the refrigerating counter, and then reused as cooling air. The fan brings cold air to flow upwards in a channel which communicates through holes (26) with cavities (18a-18d) in the double bottom of the drawers, while the fan drawing in air radially in an upper area of a lower compartment in the refrigerating counter, causes the formation of a negative pressure zone at the lower end of said lead-away/return channels for withdrawing used air from the upper, rear area of the drawers (12a-12d), whereby a desired air circulation is established for the continuous cooling of the refrigerated articles.

Description

REFRIGERATING COUNTER

The present invention relates to a refrigerating counter for the continuous cooling of articles of food by means of cold air which is supplied to the articles by means of a fan, and which refrigerating counter is provided with preferably pull-out/push-in drawers, and in which each drawer is provided with a double bottom having a cavity between an upper and a lower bottom, and in which each cavity, through holes in the rear wall of the respective drawer, communicates with holes leading to a flow channel for the supply of cold air to the drawers. The articles may comprise drinks in bottles or cans and more typical refrigerated articles, such as so-called semi-preserves, for example anchovies, tubes of caviar, soft cheeses etc. Provision may have been made for leading away cold air which has fulfilled its cooling function, and thereby have taken up heat from the articles to be cooled.

A refrigerating counter of this kind is disclosed in NO patent application No. 953211 (not published) . Each pull-out drawer consists of two loosely joinable parts configured in such a manner that a chamber is formed underneath the bottom of the upper part, which chamber is divided into three separate subchambers located side by side, of which three subchambers the central one receives cold cooling air through holes in the rear wall of the lower drawer part, whereby holes in the outer subchambers enable used cooling air to be led away. Holes for the supply of cold air to the lower drawer part communicate with a vertical supply channel formed in the rear portion of the refrigerating counter, while holes for leading away used cooling air from the outer subchambers, communicate with one vertical lead-away-channel each, extending on both sides of said supply channel, the three channels being separate from each other in a tightening manner. Each channel has its own fan organ arranged thereto.

Each pull-out drawer is formed so that the supply of cold air through the chamber underneath the upper bottom, is brought to flow out of a series of relatively small holes in the front portion of the upper drawer part, the outflow orifices of these holes being directed towards the articles to be cooled, i.e. in the direction of the rear portion of the drawer, in which the bottom of the upper drawer part has outlet openings formed therein, which communicate with the underlying outer subchambers in the lower drawer part. During its flow from the outflow holes at the front edge of the upper drawer part to said outlet holes at the rear portion of the upper drawer part, the supplied cold air effects its cooling function.

For this relatively high, multi-storey refrigerating counter to work efficiently, each of said vertical channels must have in the rear portion of the refrigerating counter an own fan organ arranged thereto, which makes the refrigerating counter not insignificantly more expensive.

According to the present invention the aim has, therefore, been to eliminate or substantially reduce imperfections, drawbacks and limitations of application attached to known and conventional techniques, and thereby provide a refrigerating counter with a particularly efficient cooling, in which the flow of cold air is such, that it is suitable for articles within a wide range, comprising refrigerated articles of relatively small volumes, such as tubes, and in which few fans are required.

Said objective has according to the invention been realized by means of a refrigerating counter whose characteristics will appear from the characterizing part of claim 1.

The present invention is based on a flow of cold air, in which, through the application of vertical channels, known in themselves, a supply channel for cold air and at least one channel for leading away used air, is effected a forced supply of fresh cold air to holes in the rear wall of each drawer, in such a level that the cold air enters into a chamber, known in itself, located below the upper bottom, from where the cold air flows upwards through holes, spaced across said upper bottom, and downwards through holes spaced across the lower bottom, so that the refrigerated articles in one drawer receive a supply of cold cooling air from below, from its own underlying chamber for the supply of cold air, as well as from above, from the chamber for the supply of cold air of the abovelying drawer. Such a diverse flow of cold air ensures effective use of the available cooling energy, and seems to have a very favourable effect for the cooling of refrigerated articles which individually have a relatively small volume with small surface portions accessible for cooling contact with flowing fresh cold air.

It is known in itself to have some small holes in the bottom of such a drawer at a small front portion, for the downward supply of small amounts of cold air, with the intention to let air touch the customer's hand in the drawer below, to give it a pleasant feeling of the flow of cold air from above. In refrigerating counters of the kind in question, perforated upper bottom and perforated lower bottom are not known in the form of through holes spread across a major portion of the upper bottom and a major portion of the lower bottom.

The parallel running rear channels are separated in a tightening manner from one another, to a lower area in the refrigerating counter, in which the fan for the supply of cold air is arranged. It has been arranged for said lower area to be enclosed in a lower cavity which is relatively tight, and in which the refrigerating machine of the refrigerating counter is positioned. The suction side of the fan will, therefore, cause a suction or negative pressure effect in said vertical channel(s) for leading away used air, which channel(s) communicates (communicate) through holes in its (their) front wall, above the upper, rear edge of the drawer(s) with the space above the individual drawers, i.e. the space above the upper drawer, the space between the lower drawer and an intermediate drawer, and one or more possible spaces between further intermediate drawers. Said fan is preferably positioned in the lower portion of the refrigerating counter, below the lower end of the cold air channel. The suction side of said fan will, therefore, cause air to be drawn in from this lower area in the refrigerating counter, in which returned used air is cooled by means of the refrigerating aggregate of the refrigerating counter, which aggregate is of a kind, known in itself, and again blows cooled air up through the supply channel for cold air, at the same time as the suction side of the fan creates a downward suction/negative pressure effect in the channel or channels for leading away used air, so that the necessary air circulation is maintained by means of one single fan.

With the exception of the positionings of the holes, the drawers of a refrigerating counter according to the invention are in principle configured corresponding to the drawers according to said NO patent application No. 953211, but used air is let out of the drawer over a low rear wall, which simplifies the configuration of the drawer.

At the front side of each drawer a preferably transparent plastic foil may advantageously hang down from the upper edge. This plastic foil suitably extends down to about one half of the free space above the upper, front edge of the respective front wall. The plastic foil prevents an excessive escape of cooling air through the front of the refrigerating counter.

The invention will be explained further in the following with reference to the exemplary embodiments of refrigerating counters shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a refrigerating counter having four drawers in which the refrigerated articles comprises tubes, seen from the front of the refrigerating counter;

Fig. 2 is likewise a front/split view in which the four drawers are pulled out completely, at the same time as their supporting rails, along which they slide in and out, and the wall behind the refrigerating counter having the out- and inflow holes for fresh cold air, respectively, used cooling air, can clearly be seen.

Fig. 3 shows the refrigerating counter in perspective, seen from behind, in which a back door which is swingable about a vertical edge by means of not shown hinges, is swung open to show the three vertical flow channels, of which the central one leads fresh cold air from below upwards, while the two outer channels lead used cooling air from above in a downward direction;

Fig. 4 is a perspective side view of the refrigerating counter, in which a side wall portion of the refrigerating counter and a side wall portion of each drawer has been removed;

Fig. 5 shows a perspective front view illustrating a special down-hanging foil at the access openings to the drawers, which is to prevent excessive escape of air containing refrigerating energy, through the access openings at the front;

Fig. 6 shows, on a larger scale, a perspective split view of a drawer constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment, in which one side wall has been removed and is shown beside the rest of the drawer construction;

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a drawer filled with four perforated boxes for refrigerated article packed in tubes;

Fig. 8 shows a perspective view of a box, filled with for layers of tubes, in which box one longitudinal side has been swung aside to show the internal configuration of the box.

The refrigerating counter in the drawings is basically a combined four-drawer refrigerating counter and display rack which in the shown embodiments has been given the shape of a tube.

In the illustrated embodiments the refrigerating counter 10 has four pull-out/push-in drawers 12a, 12b, 12c and 12d, ref. fig. 2 in particular, which have a front element 12a', 12b', 12c' and 12d', two side elements 12a", 12b", 12c" and 12d", and a back element 12 • ' ' , 12b' •', 12c* ' • and ^d''', whose upper edge is at a lower level than the upper edges of the two side elements.

The drawer 12a has a horizontal lower bottom 14a and an upper bottom 16a sloping from the low back wall 12a¹ • ' downwards in the direction towards the front element 12a', ref. fig. 6 in particular. Thereby a cavity 18a is formed between the bottoms 14a and 16a, which cavity 18a according to the shown embodiments has the form of a rectangular prism having a triangular cross-section. In its front portion, immediately at the back of the front element 12a• , there are formed in the upper bottom 16a a few vertically directed, through holes 20. These holes 20 serve to let cold air down into the front area of the drawer below.

In accordance with the invention the upper as well as the lower bottom 16a, 14a are provided with holes 22, respectively 24, distributed over a major portion of the respective bottoms 16a, 14a. The supply of cold air to each drawer 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d takes place via holes 26 in the low back element 12a''', 12b¹'¹, 12c''¹ and ^d¹¹'. When cold air is supplied to the cavity 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, it will flow out of the holes 22 and 24, so that each drawer, with the exception of the uppermost one, receives a supply of cold fresh air from below, from its underlying cavity 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d and from above, from the underlying cavity 18b, 18c, 18d of the abovelying drawer 12b, 12c, 12d. Such a supply and distribution of cold air will optimally utilize the at all times available refrigerating energy, and will be particularly advantageous in cooling refrigerated articles of relatively small volumes.

The reference numerals 28a - 28d indicate the access openings above the front element 12a* - 12d' of each drawer 12a - 12d, while 30a - 30c indicate horizontal, stationary guide rails for the displaceable support of the drawers 12b - 12d, a wide horizontal area 32 defining the front, rectangular cut-out replacing the guide rails 30a - 30c for the lowermost drawer 12a.

In the rear wall portion of the refrigerating counter, along a substantial part of its vertical extension, are formed three separate air leading flow channels 36a, 36b and 36a', which are formed with horizontally ending, through holes, which in the central flow channel 36b are indicated by 38, and in the outer channels 36a and 36a' by 40. The channels are formed by means of vertical partition walls 34a and 34b. The two vertical partition walls 34a and 34b are terminated in a somewhat lower level than that of a horizontal plate 32 defining a lower cavity 44 which is essentially tightened, except at the lower ends of the channels 36a, 36b and 36a'. In the lower compartment 44 is arranged a refrigerating aggregate 46, known in itself, comprising evaporator, compressor, electronics box etc. providing the cooling of air being supplied to the lower compartment 44.

According to the shown embodiments, the central air leading flow channel 36b receives a supply of cooled air from an underlying fan which is indicated by the reference numeral 48. This fan 48 is a multi-purpose organ as it primarily provides a forced flow upwards in the central channel 36b, including a flow out through the outflow holes 38 corresponding with the inflow holes 26 in the low back wall 12a''' - 12d' ' ' of each drawer 12a - 12d, for fresh cold air to flow into the underlying cavity 18a - 18d of each drawer, while the fan 48 at the same time, because of its suction effect, draws in air from the upper portion of the lower compartment, so that on each side of the fan there is created a suction effect with a negative pressure zone at the lower areas of the outer channels 36a and 36a', which causes a downward air flow in both outer channels 36a and 36a¹, serving to lead used cooling air from the rear area of the drawers 12a - 12d out through the holes 40 in a rear wall of the refrigerating counter, in front of a swingable door 50. Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a refrigerating counter, as seen at an angle from above/the front, in which in the upper portion of the access opening 68a - 68d above the front element 12a* - 12d' of each drawer 12a - 12d, there is positioned a down-hanging, preferably transparent piece of plastic foil 52a - 52d, which is to prevent cooling air, which is to be returned to the cooling aggregate to be cooled again, from escaping through the respective access opening 68a - 68d.

Figs. 7 and 8 show special boxes for use in refrigerating counters according to the invention. In the illustrated embodiment four parallelepiped-shaped boxes for tubes are positioned in each drawer 12a. The longitudinal side walls 54a, 54a' are without perforations, while the short sides 58a, 58a' and the bottom 60 are provided with a great number of holes 62.

Claims

1. Refrigerating counter for the continuous cooling of articles of food by means of cold air which is supplied to the articles by means of a fan (48) , and in which the refrigerating counter is provided with preferably pull-out/push-in drawers (12a - 12d) , and in which each drawer (12a - 12d) is provided with a double bottom having a cavity (18a - 18d) between an upper and a lower bottom (16a - 16d, 14a - 14d) , each cavity (18a - 18d) communicating via holes (26) in a rear wall

(12a''' - 12d''') of the respective drawer (12a - 12d) with holes (38) leading to a flow channel (36b) for the supply of cold air to the drawers (12a - 12d) , characterized in that the upper and lower bottoms (16a - 16d, 14a - 14d) of the drawers (12a - 12d) are provided with a large number of holes (22, respectively 24) distributed across a major part of the surface area of the respective bottom (16a - 16d; 14a - 14d) , so that cold air supplied through the rear wall (12a''¹ - 12d''') of each drawer (12a - 12d) , flows out in an upward direction to cool articles in the particular drawer and downwards to cool articles in drawer located below.

2. Refrigerating counter according to claim 1, characterized in that each drawer (12a - 12d) is provided with so low a rear wall (12a'¹' - 12d''') that it barely extends beyond the upper bottom (16a - 16d) , so that holes (40) in a rear wall defining said return channel(s) (36a, 36a') ends directly in the area above the upper bottom (16a - 16d) of each drawer (12a - 12d) , at the rear end thereof.