US2936597A - Refrigerated display units - Google Patents

Description

May l7, 1960 D, E. STEVENS ETAL 2,936,597

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS m 00 INVENTORS N m DONALD E. STEVENS WILUAM J. DEAu A'r'roRNEY May 17, 1960 D. E. STEVENS ETAL 2,936,597

' REFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS Filed Aug. 2l, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Mo'roR I 3 AND CoMPaEssoa INVENTORS DoNALD E. STEVENS Ar-roRNEY May 17, 1960 D. E; STEVENS ETAL 2,936,597

REIFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS Filed Aug. 21, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 l H l .it ilil I |I 4 3 0 www INVENTORS DoNALD E. STEVENS May 17, 1960 D. E. sTEvl-:Ns ET ALv 2,936,597

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS Filed Aug. 21, 1958 `5 sheets-sheet 4 l INVENTORS DoNALo E. STEVENS WlLuAM J. DEAu May 17, 1960 D. E. STEVENS ETAL 2,936,597

REFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS Filed Aug. 2l, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 3\/ W WaLuAM J. DEAU BY & )WA

ATTORNEY United States Patent() REFRIGERATED DISPLAY UNITS Donald E. Stevens and William J. Dean, Manitowoc, Wis.,

assignors to Osceola Equipment Corporation, Manitowoc, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application August 21, 1958, Serial No. 756,454

S Claims. (Cl. 62-2S6) ience and adverse effects were produced. Among these adverse features is the tact that the chilling progresses from the bottom upwardly' of the packaged foods and consequently it is impossible to have the temperature of thepackaged foods uniform or homogeneous throughout each package.

f This invention is designed to overcome the above noted defects and the primary objects of this invention are to `provide a refrigerated display unit which receives packaged or other types of foods, and which chills the foods -by directly immersing the foods in a tub of chilled air and does not chill the packaged foods by conducting Athe heat from the bottom of the package.

Further objects are to provide a construction for refrigerated display units in which there is no frosting on the walls or on the packages stored in the unit.

In greater detail, a primary object of this invention e is to provide an insulated tub, for containing the refrigerated packaged foods, in which the walls are formed of insulating material so that there is practically no con- Aduction of heat through these walls, and so that the V,chilling comes solely from the pool of cold, dense,

`chilled air within the tub directly to all portions of each fof the packages of food, as the packages are complete- V ly immersed in the cold air within the tub.

Further objects are to provide a refrigerated display unit in which the top portion of the unit remains open at alltimes so that the public can reach through the open top portion and select the particular packaged -ood desired and yet in which the cold air is in continuous motion and `is passed downwardly and under the bottom-of this insulated tub, and upwardly on the outside of the front wall of the tub and then is projected,

at a relatively rapid rate, directly across the open top .lof the refrigerated display unit and continually circulates .in this manner. Aof operating may be said to completely wrap the cold air around the insulated tub.

This construction and manner Further objects are to provide a construction in which a solid sheet of chilled air is arranged to sweep direct- Hly across the open top of the tub and to pass from there directly over or through the cold coils of the refrigerat- 'iiigunitso that most ofthe entrained moist room air `will be scooped /orskimmed off the top layer of the rapidly moving sheet and in which whatever remains `of Vtheroorn air that had become entrained in the rapidly moving solid sheet of `chilled air passes directly to the refrigerating portion or coils of the refrigerating unit itself, and Vis there condensed and deposited on the coils "and never comes in contact With the packaged foods or 2,936,597' Patented May 17, 1960 ice with the inner walls of the open refrigerated insulated tub.

Further objects are to provide an open refrigerated display unit in which the several component parts of the unit are nested, one in the other, and may be removed or assembled in a very simple way by successively removing or assembling the different vertically arranged successive units.

In greater detail further objects are to provide an open, insulated, refrigerated display unit which is extremely simple in construction and may be relatively cheaply produced from readily available material, and in which the insulated refrigerated tub is constructed from a nonabsorbent, insulating material such as that commonly known as Dylite.

An embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional View through the upper portion of the device.

Figure 2 is a sectional view drawn to a smaller scale than 'Figure 1 and corresponding to Figure 1 and show- `ing the lower portion of the device as well as the upper portion thereof.

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view drawn to a larger scale of the rear portion of the device.

Figure 5 is an isometric view of the device.

Figure 6 is a sectional viewV on a line 6-6 of Figure 4.

`Figure 7V is a fragmentary sectional view through the device such viewbeing an exploded View and showing the parts partially separated from their nested condition.

` Figure 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures 1, 2 and 7, it will be seen that the refrigerated display unit comprises an inner tub which is composed of a plastic member 10, an insulating outer jacket 11, an insulating bottom portion 12, and an insulating cap portion 13 and the insulating members 11 and 15. 'I'hese parts may be seen very clearly in their separated condition as shown in the partially unnested expanded View in Figure 7. The insulating material from which the parts 11, 12, 13, 11', 15 and 16 are made may be an expanded cellulose composition or product, which is commonly known in the trade as Dylite The insulating tub is adapted to hold packaged foods, as shown for example in dotted lines in Figure 1, and indicated by the reference character 14.

AIt is to be notedthat thelrnain insulating portion 11 isprovided with a series of channels indicated by the reference character 17. These are air channels and extend downwardly on the rear side of the unit and pass under the insulating bottom portion 12 of the tub, and upwardly through the front upper portion of the channels,

The front wall of the tub 10 has openings indicated by the reference character 18, see Figures l, 2 and 3. These openings register with the upturned front portion of the channels 17, as shown in Figures l and 2.

When the insulated refrigerating unit is assembled, as shown inFigures l and 2, it will be seen that the upper i insulating hood 13 is covered by means of a plastic memberor shroud indicated generally at 19. This plastic member extends ,downwardly and -has a` scooplike lip 29 formed integrally therewith, which lip is arranged to i sco'op up or skim of the upper portion of moist and warm V,room air that maybe entrained, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 1, by the rapidly sweeping streams or sheet of cold air passing transversely across the upper p portion of the tub and directly over the stacked foods.

It is to be noted that a small insulating portion 11 completes the insulating member 11 on the lefthand upper po'rtion, and is a triangular shape in cross-section. This part 11 fills out the space that would otherwise exist between the main body 11 of insulating material and the wall 21 of the food receiving plastic tub 10. The downwardly extending wall 21 forms a part of a rim cap portion indicated generally at 22 in Figures l, 2 and 7.

The rim cap 22 has a downwardly extending outer wall 23 and downwardly extending slanting inner wall 21 as previously described. The member 22 in its entirety is an integral portion o'f the tub l@ and extends completely around the upper edge of the insulation of the tub 10.

It will be noted that the hood 13 of insulating material is capped by the plastic shroud or cap 19. The hood V13a houses refrigerating coils 25 of the refrigerating unit. These refrigerating coils are supplied from the compresso'r indicated at 26 in Figure 2, through the incoming and outgoing pipes 27 and 2S, see Figure 4.

It is to be noted that the pipes 27 and 2S for the refrigerating apparatus, as well as the drain pipe 29, see

'Figure 4, have been omitted in the similar views, as they would be too small to Vconveniently illustrate. The drain pipe 29 is located in one of the ribs 30, see Figures 4 and 6, which separate the air channels 17 from each other.

It is to be noted that the entire device is carried by a lower wooden or other type of supporting lower portion indicated generally at 31, see particularly Figures 2, and 7. This lower body portion houses the compressor'and motor of the refrigerating unit as indicated generally at 26 in Figure 2, and has a lower section, which is provided with-one or more Ventilating screens 32, see Figure 5. The compressor unit or refrigerating unit is, of course, controlled automatically by suitable means, not shown, from the `temperature of the air within the insulating refrigerating food receiving tub in the usual manner. I

It is to be noted that the member 16 has an upturned lip 33 which provides a drip collecting portion emptied or drained by the pipe 29, previously described. The device is provided with defrosting means not shown, but which is well known, so that defrosting occurs periodically, preferably at night when the device is not in active use. The drip from the refrigerating coils 25 during defrosting or at any other time is collected and discharged through the pipe 29 and disposed o'f in any suitable well known manner not shown in the drawings.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The cold air from the refrigerating coils 25 drops downwardly into the funnel-like collecting portion A, see Figure l, formed of the insulating members 15, 16 and adjacent parts of the tub 10, with the vertical wall extending downwardly through a slot in the rear wall of the tub 10. This cold air flows downwardly through therestricted lower portion of the funnel-.like part A into the channels 17,V and inasmuch as it is quite dense it ows rapidly and has somewhat of a venturi effect at the constricted bottom of the portion A, and thus passes into the channels 17 in a very rapid manner, and carries with it any air that is in the member A downwardly through the channels 17 as stated. This cold air, which is carried in many sheets or streams may be considered as a single sheet of cold air, which is wrapped around the food compartment indicated generally at B, which is the inner portion of the insulated tubV composed ofv the many portio'ns hereinabove described, and passes around vthe insulated tub and under the tub and up on its lefthand fside. It is discharged through the openings 18 as a sheet of rapidly moving cold air which sweeps across the top of the food receiving chamber or tub B as shown most clearly in Figure l. Any entrained moist air or room ..air is carried acro'ss the open upper portion of the in- "1y warm and 'moist room air, immediately condenses on c 4 the coils 25, and fresh substantially dry chilled air passes downwardlyA into the channels 17 and the cycle is repeated.

It is to be noted that the lip 20, see Figure l, scoops or skims off the upper layer of the relatively warm moist room air, and discharges the air back into the room, as shown in Figure l. Any entrained air that may still be carried by the rapidly transversely sweeping sheet of co'ld air is carried directly to the coils 25 before it has a chance to contact any of the packaged foods.' It is merely carried on the top strata of the chilled dense air, which is rapidly swept across the top of the insulating tub. Further, it is to be noted that this cold dry air is wrapped around the tub but separated` fro'm the plastic tub by the insulation. There is thus a very small temperature differential between the inner and outer walls of the insulating tub.

There is thus practically no conduction of heat from the foods to the tub, and consequently, there is no freezing of the foods in the lower portio'n of their containers.

The above noted feature is an extremely important feature as it prevents uneven chilling of the foods in each individual package or container. Instead Vthe-food within the containers is chilled homogeneously or uniformly from the bottom to the top because each package is immersed in the well or tub of chilled air.

Further than this, there is no frosting whatsoever on the individual containers or cartons o'f food, as has been found out by actual trials as the moist room air is swept directly out of contact with the foods, and into contact with the cold coils of the refrigerating unit. This moist entrained air, therefore, contacts the refrigerating coils `first of all, and as a matter of interest, very little of the moist room air is entrained as most of it is scooped off and passes back into the room as described hereinabove.

The air that contacts the cartons of food stored inthe insulating refrigerating tub B is substantially moisturefree chilled air, and consequently there is no frosting on these containers or on the walls of the tub.

It is to be understood that although the cold air has been described as being projected or discharged transversely across the inner tub in several streams, that nevertheless these separate streams of cold air actually coalesce or combine to form a solid sheet of rapidly travelling dense, cold air substantially forming a dense cold air rapidly moving cover for the open tub with the packaged goods located well below this sheet of cold air so that any room air that may be entrained is conned to the upper stratum of this sheet of air. It is therefore clear that where the skimming of the upper stratum of the air takes place, that this skimming removes the major portion, at least, of any entrained moist room air. The purpose of this, as explained in detail in the body of the specification, is to prevent any moist entrained room air from contacting the goods. Instead of this, any entrained moist room air is partly skimmed off yand any remaining moist room air is passed directly to the refrigerating element of the refrigerating unit and condenses thereon as frost.

It is to be noted also that the different parts which constitute this refrigerated display unit are stacked or nested, and may be readily disassembled and readily assembled, as is shown in the exploded view of Figure 7, Where the parts are partly separated one from the other. i

It will be seen further that the device is extremely simple, and is free from parts diiiicult to clean. In-

' stead it may be most easily and readily cleaned as the parts are non-absorbent and also as they are readily accessible when a thorough overall cleaning and inspection is taking place. Y

Further than this, it is to be noted that the device is very attractive in appearance and is a complete unit in itself.

It is to be noted that the vbottom 10 is saw-toothed v'e A Apreviously illustrated forms only in that the bottom insulation 12 is extended upwardly as indicated at 12" to keep even the small upwardly extending front wall of the inner tub 10 from direct contact with the cold air in the channels 17.

` These open display refrigerated units are usually emi ployed for storing and refrigerating packaged foods but this,` of course, is not their only use, as any kind of vgoods whether foods or not or whether packaged or not could be stored and refrigerated in the refrigerated display unit forming the subject matter of this mvention.

blt" "isftherefore to be understood that wherever the expressions packaged foods, packaged goods or just foods or goods are used, such expressions `are used to indicate any material to be stored and refrigerated and held in open displayed position, and such terms are not intended as limiting but are merely used for illustrative purposes and -that these terms therefore are to be interpreted in the broadest possible sense to mean any kind of stored refrigerated goods.

Therefore, although this invention has been described in considerable detail, it is to be understood that such description is intended as illustrative and not as limiting as the invention may be variously embodied and is to be interpreted as claimed.

We claim:

1. An insulated, refrigerated, open display unit comprising an insulating open main tub; an inner tub nested within said insulating main tub for receiving packaged goods, said inner tub having an insulated bottom; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element positioned adjacent the upper rear part of the main tub; said insulating main tub having cold air channels wrapped around the inner tub and including rear, bottom, and front channels opening at the upper front part of the insulating main tub for conducting dense, cold air from the refrigerating element downwardly into the rear channels, transversely through the bottom channels and upwardly through the front channels; said inner tub having openings for receiving and directing the cold air as a sheet of air passing transversely across the open upper part of the inner tub; means for receiving and guiding the sheet of air into contact with the refrigerating element; and funnel-like collecting means for guiding dense, cold air downwardly from the refrigerating element into the rear channels.

2. An insulated refrigerated, open display unit comprising an insulating open main tub; an inner tub within said insulating main tub for receiving packaged goods; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element positioned adjacent the upper rear part of the insulating main tub; said insulating main tub having cold air channels wrapped around the inner tub and including rear, bottom, and front channels opening at the upper front part of the insulating main tub for conducting dense, cold air from the refrigerating element downwardly into the rear channels, transversely through the bottom channels and upwardly through the front channels; said inner tub having openings for directing the cold air as a sheet of air transversely across the open upper part of the inner tub; means for guiding the sheet of air into contact with the refrigerating element; means for guiding dense cold air downwardly from the refrigerating element into the rear channels; and an insulating member between the bottom channels and the bottom of the inner tub.

3. An insulated, refrigerated, open display unit comprising an insulating open' main tub; an open inner tub :"in cross-section so that the packaged goods can be` d stacked as shown. This gives a better display of the removably nested within the main tub for receiving packf aged goods; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element positioned adjacent the upper rear part of the main tub; said insulating main tub having cold air chanv nels wrapped around the inner tub and including rear, bottom, and front channels opening at the upper front part of the linsulating main tub for conducting dense, `cold air from the refrigerating element downwardly into the rear' channels, transversely through `the bottom channels and upwardly through thefront channels; said inner tub having an insulated bottom and having openings for discharging the cold air as a sheet across the top of the inner tub; receiving means for receiving the sheet of air passing transversely across the open upper part of the inner tub and guiding the air into contact with the refrigeratinggelement; and funnel-like means for guiding dense, cold air downwardly from the refrigerating element into the rear channels; said receiving means having means for skimming ott the top layer of the sheet of air passing transversely across Ithe upper part of the tub.

' 4. An open display unit comprising a pair of nested elements the outermost of which consists of an insulating main tub; an inner tub `of waterproof material nested Within the outer tub, said inner tub having an insulated bottom; an insulating hood located above and removably supported from the outer tub adjacent the rear portion of the outer tub; a directing and guiding insulating member coacting with the hood and with a portion of the inner tub for collecting dense cold air; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element located below the hood for chilling lthe air collected from. the upper portion of the open inner tub; and means for directing the chilled cold air as a rapidly passing sheet of dense air transversely across the open upper part of the inner tub `directly to the refrigerating element.

5. An open refrigerated display unit for goods comprising a main insulating tub; an innerl tub removably nested within the main insulating tub and open at its upper portion for receiving the goods; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element for chilling air; means for directing the chilled air transversely across the open top of the inner tub as a rapidly travelling sheet of dense cold air; means for skimming 01T .the top layer of the transversely travelling sheet of air to remove at least a part of any entrained room air; and means for collecting ythe sheet of air after it has traversed :the inner tub and passing lthe collected air ydirectly into contact with the refrigerating element.

6. An open display refrigerated unit comprising an outer, open, main tub of insulating material; an open, inner, waterproof tub removably nested within the outer tub and having an insulated bottom; a lrefrigerating unit including a refrigerating element located .adjacent the upper portion of the inner tub; a removable insulating hood located above the refrigerating element; and insulating means for guiding and collecting the chilled air and means for receiving the chilled air and discharging it into the inner tub and projecting it transversely across the open upper part of Ithe inner tub and directly under the hood and into direct contact with the refrigerating element.

7. A refrigerated, open display unit comprising an open main insulating tub; a goods receiving open, inner tub of waterproof material removably nested within the main insulating tub and having insulating means for insulating the bottom of the inner tub; a refrigerating unit including a refrigerating element located adjacent the upper portion of one side of the inner tub; an insulating hood removably positioned above the refrigerating element; means for removably holding the hood in position; means for collecting the chilled air and passing it transversely across the open upper portion of the inner tub as a rapidly travelling sheet of cold air; said hood acting as a collecting means for the sheet of air after it has passed across the inner tub; the chilling of the goods within the inner tub being accomplished wholly by the 'chilled air collected within the inner tub;A and means for skimming oi the upper layer oli the transversely -passf ing sheet of air to discharge any entraine'd'roorn air back f into the `room whereby, no moist air is allowed to comey ing element positioned adjacent the upper rear partV of the main tub; said insulating mainl tub having cold channels wrapped around the inner tub and including yr'ea'r, bottom, and iront channels opening at the upper front part of the insulating main tub for 'conducting dense, cold air from the refrigerating `element downwardly into the `rear channels, transversely through the bottom channels and upwardly through the4 front channels;

said inner tub having an insulated bottom and.having 'openingsffor receiving and directingr the cold air as a sheet ofair Ipassing transversely across Ith`e open upper part of the inner tb;means for receiving and guiding the sheet of air into contact with the refrigerating element; and funnel-like collecting means for guiding dense, cold air downwardly yfrom the refrigerating element into the rear channels.

References Cited in the le of this patent i UNITED STATES PrrElsiTs' 2,474,130 Tully f June 2 1, 19,49

2,836,039 Weber May 27, 1958 v FOREIGN PATENTS 83,341 Netherlands f Nov. l5, 1956 n iwan:- u

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