WO1997003593A1

WO1997003593A1 - Refrigerating counter for bottles, cans and similar containers

Info

Publication number: WO1997003593A1
Application number: PCT/NO1996/000173
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Egil FLØYSVIK
Original assignee: Electrolux AB
Current assignee: Electrolux AB
Priority date: 1995-07-18
Filing date: 1996-07-11
Publication date: 1997-02-06
Anticipated expiration: 1998-01-18
Also published as: NO300155B1; JPH11509445A; AU6633296A; EP0839012A1; NO952842D0; NO952842L

Abstract

A refrigerating counter for bottles - a so-called bottle cooler. The bottles lie offered for sale while continuously cooled by cold air. The bottle cooler comprises an annulus which is defined between an upright pipe (36) and a concentric jacket (38a, 38b) surrounding said pipe (36) along a certain vertical section, said annulus forming the filling member and storage of readiness of the bottle cooler for the bottles. Below said annulus, an outlet place for bottles is situated, said outlet place below being defined by a perforated support shelf (34) for the bottles. An improved cooling of bottles is achieved by means of a first fan (32) surrounded by a jacket (30), which is in communication with an annulus surrounding the outside thereof and which uppermost is defined by the perforated support shelf (34), the room in which first fan (32) is disposed, being defined by the jacket (30) and a portion of the perforated support shelf (34).

Description

REFRIGERATING COUNTER FOR BOTTLES, CANS AND SIMILAR CONTAINERS

The present invention relates to a refrigerating counter for bottles, cans and similar containers, preferably containing beverages - a socalled bottle cooler - wherein the bottles, etc. are offered for sale while they are continuously cooled by means of cold air which, in a forced circulation circuit, is brought to pass a refrigerator and to circulate around the bottles, etc., and wherein the refrigerating counter comprises an annulus e.g. defined between an upright pipe and a jacket/hood surrrounding said pipe partly and forming the refrigerating counter's filling member and storage for the bottles, etc., and where it immediately below the annulus is a bottle outlet which below is defined by a bottle support shelf, on which the bottles, etc. are resting, offered for sale.

A refrigerating counter/bottle cooler of the kind defined introductorily is shown and described in NO patent application No. 940486. A great advantage of this refrigerating counter/ bottle cooler is that the bottles are available from all directions, as the support shelf and, thus, the outlet extends across 360° about a central, vertical axis.

A refrigerating counter/bottle cooler of this kind suffers from two basic disadvantages: (1) Bottles, especially bottles having a somewhat wedge-like design, are liable to bunch together within the annulus¹ filling member and storage of the annulus, in which they get wedged between adjacent bottles, forming interlocked bottle heaps; (2) the cooling of the bottles, cans, etc. is unsatisfactory. First disadvantage has been eliminated through a later provided refrigerating counter/bottle cooler (the subject matter of a NO patent application, not published at the filing date of the present priority application) through the provision of at least one partition within at least said annulus, said partition, possibly, extending down into the underlying outlet for bottles, etc.

However, second disadvantage has not been eliminated through said later provided refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, where substantially the very same cooling system and circulation circuit for cooled air has been used as before.

With these previously known refrigerating counter designs which primarily are intended for use in self-service stores, air to be cooled by means of a refrigerator at a lower level, e.g. below said support shelf for bottles, cans, etc., is blown by a fan upwardly through an upright pipe which, along a portion of the height thereof, from the top thereof, is surrounded by a jacket/casing/hood, such that said annulus is formed between said pipe and said hood. At the upper end thereof, the pipe is formed with at least one discharge opening for the cooled air, which flows out through the same and drops - due to its larger specific weight than hot air - down among the underlying bottles, etc. in bottle storage of the annulus and the underlying outlet for bottles, etc. available through 360° in a horizontal plane.

In said previously known refrigerating counter designs, said support shelf is assigned a radially inwardly situated, hollow frustum of a cone similar lateral support body formed with perforations, which ensure that cold air supplied to the bottles in storage and outlet and which has dropped down over said bottles and absorbed heat therefrom, has the opportunity of flowing into the refrigerator once more. In such refrigerating counter designs, the refrigerator is usually disposed in the lower portion of the counter.

It has been found that bottles, etc. within the counter's storage as well as within the outlet are not supplied with sufficient cold from the circulating air. This is probably due to the fact that a considerable portion of the cooled air which has passed the bottles, etc. within the storage of the counter, leaves the counter in the area of its 360° open outlet, which is available from all directions, without having passed the bottles resting on the support shelf and against the radially inwardly situated lateral support body.

An object of the present invention has been to provide an improved circulation system for cold air to cool bottles, cans and similar containers containing beverages, wherein is achieved - by means of a refrigerator having the same capacity and energy efficiency as the described known refrigerating counter designs - a substantially better cooling of the bottles, cans, etc., which for the goods in question - "cold drinks" - obviously represents a quality improvement.

According to the invention, this object is realized through shaping and designing a refrigerating counter/ bottle cooler of the kind concerned, in accordance with the characterizing clause of claim 1.

Subordinate features in a refrigerating counter/bottle cooler shaped according to claim 1, are defined in the following sub claims.

By means of the invention one has aimed at obtaining relatively short circulation circuits for cooling air. A first fan blows air cooled by the refrigerator directly out through perforations in the support shelf for bottles, cans, etc. From the bottle outlet, first fan, the suction side thereof facing towards the support shelf, sucks cooling air which has accommodated some heat from the bottles at said outlet, in again into the interior of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, in order to "feed" the refrigerator again. The pressure side of first fan is, thus, of course facing towards the refrigerator which may comprise an evaporator, a condenser and a compressor.

In the embodiment according to the invention, in order to cool the bottles, etc. within the storage portion of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, a part of cooled air supplied to the bottle outlet is utilized. An amount of air is sucked into the central upright pipe of the refrigerating counter by means of a fan of its own (second fan) through inlet holes, and out through outlet holes in the pipe, into said annulus occupied by bottles in "storage position" or "position of readiness".

Particularly the bottles in the outlet, but also the bottles within the storage of the refrigerating counter will, thus, be supplied with cooled air from the refrigerator over a substantially shorter circulation path. Moreover, cooling air for bottles within the outlet place has a very short circulation circuit, the loss of cooling air, therefore being small. Likewise, cooling air from the bottles within the annulus will be supplied to the refrigerator again, substantially in non-reduced quantities, because the fan assigned to the outlet carries out a sucking effect directed into the interior of the refrigerating counter in the area of the support shelf, i.e. in an area located immediately beneath the annulus and the downwardly sinking cooling air which has accommodated heat from the bottles within the bottle storage/annulus.

First fan which has been assigned to the bottle outlet place for circulating cooling air, is disposed in the interior of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, and second fan for supplying cooling air to the bottle storage is disposed in the lower portion of an upright pipe which, preferably, is included as a component of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, and which is provided with inlet holes in a lower portion, beneath second fan, and outlet holes, above second fan, and directed into said annulus of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler, defined by the pipe and a hood.

An examplary embodiment of a refrigerating counter/bottle cooler according to the invention is further explained in the following with reference to the attached drawing which, in a single figure, illustrates a refrigerating counter/bottle cooler design in a vertical axial section.

In the figure of the drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a base through which an upright refrigerating counter for bottles, cans and similar containers containing beverages rests on the floor. The refrigerating counter is of the type called bottle cooler and comprises, above the base 10, a double walled underframe 12 which is insulated (14) in an upper portion. Just beneath the insulation 14, a horizontal plate 16 with a central hole 18 has been placed. In the interior of the underframe 12, an in per se known cooling aggregate (refrigerator) has been disposed, comprising an evaporator 20, a compressor 22 and a condenser 24. To the hole 18 in the horizontal plate 16 is joined a vertically downwardly directed pipe 26, the lower mouth thereof being located just above a heating plate 28.

Above the cooling aggregate 20,22,24, inside a jacket 30, a first fan 32 has been disposed. First fan's 32 pressure side is facing towards the cooling aggregate 20,22,24, the suction side facing in a direction towards a perforated bottle support shelf 34 having an annular course corresponding to 360° and a channel-shaped cross-section.

The channel-shaped, annularly extending support shelf 34 surrounds an upright, central pipe 36 carrying a divided hood 38a and 38b, of which the lower hood part 38b is stationary, serving as an filling member and a "storage of readiness" for bottles, cans, etc., the upper hood part 38a being displaceable in the axial direction of the pipe 36, in order to - in an elevated position - provide access to the filling opening (at 40) of the lower hood part 38b.

First fan 32 blows air towards the evaporator 20 of the cooling aggregate, and the thusly cooled air is, thereafter, brought to circulate such that it first passes downwardly until it reaches the lower edge of the jacket 30, then upwardly within the annulus between the jacket 30 and the inner face of the insulation 14 of the underframe 12, said annulus uppermost being defined by the perforated bottle support shelf 34, such that the cooled air penetrates through the perforations 34' of the shelf 34 and in between the bottles, cans or the like (not shown) supported by the shelf 34. Usually, there will be a tubular stack of bottles, cans and the like, said tubular bottle/can stack exhibiting a vertical axis and extending partly into the annulus between the pipe 36 and the lower hood part 38b and down to the support shelf 34. As bottles, cans or the like are removed from the outlet place of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler at the shelf 34, said outlet place is supplied with bottles, cans or the like from the "storage" within the lower hood part 38b. In order to brake and damp the falling movement of the bottles, flexible damping means 42, 44 have been disposed, said means extending from the pipe 36 into the falling path of the bottles within the annulus between pipe 36 and lower hood part 38b.

The cooling air supplied to the bottles resting on the support shelf 34 will, due to the suction effect of first fan 32, be sucked into the interior of the refrigerating counter again subsequently to having received heat from the bottles on the shelf 34. This cooling air becomes sucked into the interior of the jacket 30, through the perforations 34", where first fan 32 let it pass the cooling aggregate 20,22,24 for, thereafter, to let it flow upwardly through the annulus between the outside of the jacket 30 and the inside of the insulation 14 and so forth in the thusly established circulation circuit.

The bottles, cans or the like in the storage of readiness 38b are not cooled worth mentioning through this cooling air circulation and they are, therefore, assigned their own cooling air circulation circuit, derived from the first one.

To this end, in the lower part of the pipe 36, a second fan 46 has been disposed, the pressure side thereof facing upwardly. The suction side of second fan 46 occupies a somewhat higher level than the upper level of the support shelf 34 and, below the same, the pipe 36 has been formed with through-going holes 36', through which cooling air is drawn from the area immediately above the shelf 34, into the pipe 36, from where the cooling air drawn in is blown out through holes 36" at a higher level within the pipe 36, namely in the area of the storage of readiness for the bottles, cans, etc. within the lower hood part 38b.

Between first fan 32 and second fan 46, a horizontal plate 48 has been disposed. Cooling air used in the storage 38b, drops gradually downwardly and is received by the support shelf 34 as well as being sucked through the perforations 34" thereof into the interior of the jacket 30 surrounding first fan 32.

The cool air providing the cooling of the bottles within the outlet place which, downwardly is restricted by the support shelf 34, may cause the formation of condensate on the bottles externally, exposing the cooling effect. This condensate is drained through the perforations 34' and lands, possibly together with other condensate, within the central, vertical pipe 26 extending through the horizontal plate 16, and drips from there down onto the heating plate 28 which evaporates condensate supplied thereto.

In order to get rid of the moisture which i.a. the evaporated condensate gives rise to in the interior of therefrigerating counter/bottle cooler, the double walled underframe 12 is, in outer, or inner and outer wall thereof, respectively, formed with holes 12' and 12• ' , 12"', respectively. In the area of the condenser 24, a third fan (not shown) has been arranged, sucking ambient air inwards through upper holes 12' in the outer wall of the double walled underframe, blowing the ambient air, together with moist air from the interior of the refrigerating counter, out through the lower holes 12" and 12' ' ' formed in the inner and outer wall of the double walled underframe 12.

Claims

C l a i s

1. A device for a refrigerating counter for bottles, cans and similar containers, preferably containing beverages

- a socalled bottle cooler - wherein the bottles, etc. lie offered for sale while they are continuously cooled by cold air which in a forced circulation circuit is brought to pass a cooling aggregate (20,22,24) and to flow around the bottles, etc., and wherein the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler comprises an annulus, which e.g. is defined between an upright pipe (36) and a concentric jacket/casing/hood (38a,38b) surrounding said pipe (36) along a certain vertical section, said annulus forming the filling member and storage of readiness of the refrigerating counter/bottle cooler for the bottles, etc., and wherein, immediately below said annulus, an outlet place for bottles, etc. is situated, said outlet place downwardly being defined by a perforated support shelf (34) for the bottles, etc. and which, preferably, is available 360° about a vertical axis, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y a first fan (32) surrounded by a jacket (30) which is in communication with an annulus surrounding the outside thereof and which uppermost is defined by the perforated support shelf (34) , the room in which first fan (32) is disposed, being defined by the jacket (30) and a portion of the perforated support shelf (34) .

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that first fan (32) above is defined by a horizontal plate (48) extending laterally, covering said upright pipe (36) from below.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 or 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y a second fan (46) disposed in the upright pipe (36) above the horizontal plate (48) , and that in the upright pipe (36) inlet holes (36') in a lower pipe portion and outlet holes (36") in a pipe portion thereabove have been formed, the inlet holes (36') being positioned in the area just above the highest level of the support shelf (34) , the outlet holes (36") being positioned at the same level as an annulus defined between said upright pipe (36) and a concentric jacket/casing/hood (38b) , which is positioned immediately above the outlet place for the bottles, etc., and which serves as a filling member and storage of readiness for bottles, cans and/or similar containers for beverages.