FR2855871A1 - REGRIGERATION DEVICE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a refrigeration device for cooling the interior of a thermally insulated cabinet (1). The refrigeration device comprises a condensation stage (8), an evaporation stage (7) in which circulates a refrigerant, a fan (21) making it possible to establish a first air circulation (9) circulating in the evaporation stage (7). The device being intended to cool the inside of the cabinet (1) by means of the first air circulation (9). The device further comprises a frame (16), carrying the condensation (8) and evaporation (7) stages. The frame (16) can be plugged into the cabinet (1) so that the refrigeration device forms a one-piece and autonomous sub-assembly.

Description

REFRIGERATION DEVICE

  The invention relates to a refrigeration device for refrigerating the interior of a thermally insulated enclosure. The invention is advantageously implemented in the field of commercial refrigeration and more particularly for the cooling of drinks packaged in 5 bottles and in cans arranged inside a thermally insulated enclosure having, for example, the shape of a wardrobe. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the cooling of beverages or to the field of commercial refrigeration. However, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, it will be described in relation to a cabinet 10 for packaging beverages. This type of cabinet is mainly located in public places such as airports, hotels, shopping centers and is intended for the sale of drinks. The cabinet includes a rigid box closed by a door, generally glazed, allowing access to the products placed in the cabinet. A refrigeration device, arranged in the cabinet, makes it independent. More specifically, to ensure its operation, the cabinet only needs an external electrical supply.

  In known manner, the refrigerating cabinet refrigeration device comprises an evaporation stage located in the upper part of the cabinet above a useful compartment of the cabinet, compartment containing the drinks to be refrigerated. The refrigeration device also includes a condensation stage located in the lower part of the cabinet below the useful compartment. This arrangement on either side of the useful compartment facilitates the circulation of air cooling the drinks inside the useful compartment. In fact, this arrangement favors the descent into the useful compartment of the refrigerated air supplied by the evaporation stage.

  However, this arrangement has a drawback. Indeed, the refrigerant used in the refrigeration device must pass through sealed pipes between the condensing stage and the evaporation stage. In the event of a breakdown of the refrigeration device, it is often necessary to move or empty the cabinet to reach the device. And if the latter cannot be repaired on site, the entire cabinet must be returned to the factory.

  The invention aims to overcome this problem by providing a refrigeration device that can be easily removed from the cabinet.

  To this end, the invention relates to a refrigeration device comprising a condensation stage, an evaporation stage in which 5 circulates a refrigerant, a fan making it possible to establish a first circulation of air circulating in the stage evaporator, the device being intended to refrigerate the interior of a thermally insulated cabinet, by means of the first air circulation, characterized in that the device also comprises a frame, carrying the stages of condensation and evaporation, and in that the chassis is pluggable into the cabinet so that the refrigeration device forms a monobloc and autonomous sub-assembly.

  This new arrangement of the two stages also makes it possible to reduce the length of the pipes transporting the refrigerant, which makes it possible to confine the fluid in a small part of the cabinet thereby reducing the amount of fluid necessary for the operation of the device. This reduction in the quantity of fluid makes it possible, for example, to use certain fluids of the family of hydrocarbons for which safety standards impose not to exceed a given mass depending on the use.

  The invention will be better understood and other advantages will appear on reading the detailed description of an embodiment, description illustrated by the attached drawing in which: - Figure 1 shows a cabinet comprising a refrigeration device according to l invention, - Figure 2 schematically shows the operation of a refrigeration device, - Figure 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of means for pressurizing a seal ensuring the tightness of the refrigeration device relative to the cabinet, 30 - FIG. 4 represents a first variant of implantation of the components of the two compression and evaporation stages, variant in which the condensation stage is completely located under the evaporation stage, - FIG. 5 represents a second alternative layout of the components of the two stages, making it possible to increase the dimensions of a compressor, - Figure 6 shows an example the support sheet used for the first variant, - Figure 7 shows an example of support sheet used for the second variant, - Figure 8 shows an example of shoe plate used for the second variant, - Figure 9 shows an example of separation sheet used for the first variant, - Figure 10 shows an example of a separation sheet used for the second variant, - Figure 11 shows an example of a fan plate 15 used for the first variant, - Figure 12 shows a example of fan door plate used for the second variant.

  For simplicity, the same objects have the same references in the different figures.

  FIG. 1 represents a cabinet 1 forming a thermally insulated enclosure containing in a useful compartment 2 products 3, here drinks, to be cooled or maintained at a temperature below ambient temperature. The cabinet 1 has a door 4 providing access to the products 2. The cabinet 1 also has a location 5 25 o can be inserted a refrigeration device 6 comprising an evaporation stage 7 and a stage of condensation 8. The operation of the two stages 7 and 8 will be explained in detail using FIG. 2. The refrigeration device 6 is intended to cool the interior of the cabinet 1, and more precisely of its useful compartment 2 , by means of an air circulation 30 cooled in the evaporation stage 7. The air circulation in the cabinet 1 is shown in FIG. 1 by arrows 9. An outlet orifice 10 of the evaporation stage 7 allows the air to leave the evaporation stage 7 to circulate in the useful compartment 2. An inlet orifice 11 of the evaporation stage 7 allows the air coming from the compartment useful 2 to enter 35 in the evaporation stage 7 to be cooled there. Preferably, the outlet orifice 10 is located in the vicinity of the bottom of the useful compartment 2. The inlet orifice 11 is located in the vicinity of the door 4. The bottom of the useful compartment 2 is defined as the zone furthest from the door 4. Thus, the circulation of air in the useful compartment 2 takes place essentially from the bottom towards the door 4. Advantageously, the walls of the useful compartment 2 comprise a cap 27 preventing the flow of air coming from the outlet 10 to mix in the useful compartment 2 with the air flow entering the inlet 11.

  Furthermore, a second air circulation, represented in FIG. 1 by the arrows 12, crosses the condensation stage. The second air circulation enters the refrigeration device 6 by a grid 13 closing the location 5. The grid 13 is located under the door 4. The second air circulation leaves the refrigeration device by a grid 14 closing an orifice 15 of location 5, orifice 15 located on the bottom of cabinet 1.

  The refrigeration device 6 comprises a chassis 16 carrying the two stages 7 and 8. In other words, the chassis 16 serves as a support for the various components each constituting the two stages 7 and 8. The chassis 16 is pluggable into the cabinet 1 and, more precisely, in location 5. Advantageously, the mounting of the chassis 16, in location 5, is done by translation in a direction substantially perpendicular to the door 4 when the latter is closed. The direction of translation is shown in Figure 1 by the arrow 17. Thus, one can mount or dismount the cooling device 6 in the cabinet 1 even when at least one side face of the cabinet 1 (face perpendicular to door 4) is not accessible because it is positioned against another cabinet or against a wall. The assembly and disassembly of the refrigeration device 6 is done after removal of the grid 13 from the front of the cabinet 1, that is to say by the face of the cabinet 1 containing the door 4.

  FIG. 2 schematically represents an example of operation of the refrigeration device 6. The two stages 7 and 8 are each shown in a dashed line. The evaporation stage 7 comprises an evaporator 20 in which the air circulating in the cabinet is cooled. The air is driven by a fan 21 arranged downstream of the evaporator 20. The fan 21 belongs to the evaporation stage 7.

  Furthermore, a refrigerant circulates in an expansion member 22 then in the evaporator 20. Downstream of the evaporator 20, the refrigerant in the gaseous state sees its pressure increase in a compressor 23 belonging to the stage of condensation 8. The refrigerant is then cooled in a condenser 24 by thermal contact with the second circulation of forced air by a fan 25 shown downstream of the condenser 24. At the outlet of the condenser 24, the refrigerant goes towards the expansion device 22 located in the evaporation stage 7. The functional diagram of the refrigeration device 6 has been deliberately simplified. It is, of course, possible to add other components to improve its operation.

  Advantageously, the refrigeration device 6 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a seal 30 ensuring the sealing of the evaporation stage 7 and of the interior of the useful compartment 2 vis-à-vis the exterior of the enclosure 1. 15 The refrigeration device 6 also comprises means for pressurizing the seal 30 when the chassis 16 is plugged into the enclosure 1 and more precisely in the location 5.

  In other words, the seal 30 makes it possible to avoid, or limit, any air leakage in the first air circulation at the junction between the refrigeration device 6 and the useful compartment 2. The seal 30 a, for example, the shape of an open plate at the level of the two openings 10 and 11 to allow the first air circulation to take place without obstacle at the level of the two openings 10 and 11. The seal 30 is made of a flexible material itself allowing to marry any imperfection of the parts between which it is in contact when it is put under pressure. The means for pressurizing the seal 30 comprise, for example, shapes 31 and 32 of the base of the chassis 16, intended to cooperate with ramps 33 and 34 of the cabinet 1, ramps located on a floor 35 of the cabinet 1 in location 5.

  Figure 3 provides a better understanding of how the seal 30 is pressurized. A first position where the chassis 16 is partially removed from the location 5 is shown in phantom and a second position where the chassis 16 is completely inserted in the location 5 is shown in solid lines. The chassis 16 and the various parts forming it are assigned a sub-mark "a" when the chassis 16 is in the first position and a sub-mark "b" when the chassis 16 is in the second position. The form 31 is, for example, a boss and the form 32 is, for example, a second boss of thickness less than that of the boss 31 or even a planar form extending a slide 36 of the frame 16. The slide 36, in position 36a, cooperates with a slide 37 of the floor 35 5 of the cabinet 1. When the chassis 16 moves from position 16a to position 16b, the boss 31 rises on the ramp 33 until it reaches the level of the slide 37 At the same time, the boss 32 rises on the ramp 34 which allows it to rise above the level of the slide 37.

  Thus, the two bosses 31 and 32 rise simultaneously and the chassis 16 10 reaches position 16 b thus allowing the pressurization of the seal 30 against an upper part 38 of the location 5. The shapes 31 and 32 do not cooperate with the ramps 33 and 34 only at the end of the travel between position "a" and position "b". Thus, during most of the movement of the chassis 16 to insert it into the location 5, the seal 30 does not rub on the upper part 38 of the location 5. This limits the wear of the seal 30 and facilitates the 'insertion of the chassis 16 thanks to the inertia that the chassis 16 acquires during its movement. It is only at the end of the race that the chassis 16 rises and thus presses the seal 30. Furthermore, the ramps 33 and 34, arranged in the lower part of the location 5, make it possible to produce a seal 20 30 plan. Indeed, one could make ramps in the upper part of location 5 and compress a joint against these ramps but the shape of the joint would then be much more complex.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second air circulation, represented by the arrows 12, is substantially rectilinear from the front towards the bottom of the cabinet 1. Thus a user situated in front of the cabinet 1 will not feel air flow in the feet. Furthermore, the first air circulation, represented by the arrows 9, comprises several changes of direction which are a source of pressure drop. Advantageously, to push the air from the first circulation towards the useful compartment 2 of the cabinet 1, the fan 21 comprises a centrifugal turbine 40 forcing the air from the first air circulation into the orifice 10 perpendicular to the direction of the air in the evaporator 20. The centrifugal turbine 40 provides a change of direction in the first circulation. More specifically, the air circulates substantially horizontally in the evaporator 20 and substantially vertically in the orifice 10. Thus, the fan 21 is used to effect a change in direction of the first circulation of the air.

  Advantageously, the device comprises thermal insulation means, produced for example by means of a polyurethane foam 41, 5 of the evaporation stage 7 relative to the condensation stage 8.

  Advantageously, the thermal insulation means also guide the first air circulation in the evaporation stage 7 upstream of the evaporator 20. More precisely, the first air circulation has a substantially vertical direction in the useful compartment 2 10 immediately upstream of the orifice 11 and has a substantially horizontal direction in the evaporator 20. To ensure this change of direction, the thermal insulation means locally form an inclined face 42 disposed between a front part 43 of the chassis 16 at the joint 30 and a lower part 44 of the evaporator 20.

  In a first alternative embodiment, represented in FIG. 4, the condensing stage 8 is completely located under the evaporation stage 7. The inclined face 42 makes it possible to have in the condensing stage 8 a height more important than the height available immediately below the evaporator 20 and below the fan 20 21. This greater height makes it possible to have large components such as, for example, the condenser 24. Thus the height of the refrigeration is less than the sum of the heights of the highest component of the condensation stage 8, the highest component of the evaporation stage 7 and the thickness of the thermal insulation means.

  This has the effect of reducing the height of the refrigeration device 6 while retaining the largest possible dimensions, in particular the dimension perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1, for the orifices 10 and 11, thus limiting the pressure losses in the first circulation. air.

  In a second alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 5, it is sought to have a compressor 23 whose dimensions (in particular the height) are larger than those of the compressor 23 shown in the first alternative embodiment. In the second variant, the compressor 23 has a height at most equal to the total height 35 of the refrigeration device. The compressor 23 is then placed next to the inclined face 42 and not below it as in the first variant. The second variant has the drawback of reducing the dimensions of the orifice 11. On the other hand, the compressor 23 can in the second variant (more easily than in the first variant), be positioned in the path 5 of the second circulation of air represented by arrow 12, which improves its cooling.

  Advantageously, the chassis 16 is made up of a small number of main parts, examples of which are given in FIGS. 6 to 12.

  The chassis 16 comprises a support plate 50 shown in FIG. 6, a partition plate 51 represented in FIG. 9 as well as a fan support plate 52 shown in FIG. 11. These three parts are adapted to the variant embodiment shown in Figure 4. For the alternative embodiment shown in Figure 5, the parts are slightly different.

  The chassis 16 comprises, for this second variant, a support plate 53 shown in FIG. 7, a shoe plate 54 shown in FIG. 8, a partition plate 55 shown in FIG. 10 and a fan plate 56 shown in the figure 12.

  More specifically, the support sheets 50 and 53 have the essential functions of positioning and fixing the components of the condensing stage 8, namely the compressor 23 by means of holes 60, the condenser 24 and the fan 25, to allow guiding the chassis 16 and placing it in position in the location 5 by means of the bosses 31 and 32, to allow accessibility to the components of the condensing stage 8 by lateral openings 61 and 62, to position and fix the partition plate 51 or 55 by means of brackets 63 and finally by guiding the second air circulation by means of the lower plate 66 of the chassis 16. Furthermore, the grid 14 can be part of the chassis 16.

  In the second variant, represented in FIG. 5, the support sheet 53 is completed by the shoe sheet 54 ensuring in particular the lateral support 30 of the partition sheet 55 by means of a bracket 70. A face 71 of the shoe sheet 54 is mounted in the chassis 16 so as not to hinder the movement of air from the second air circulation.

  The separation plates 51 and 55 essentially ensure the separation of the evaporation stage 7 and the condensation stage 8 by carrying the thermal insulation means 41, the rigidity of the chassis while maintaining the spacing of its faces protection of electrical components for controlling and monitoring the operation of the refrigeration device. The electrical components are placed in a box 75 formed in a recess of the partition plate 51 or 55. The box 75 is placed at the level of the front part 43 of the chassis 16 thus allowing the components to be accessible from the front of cabinet 1. Accessibility of components from the front is useful for making adjustments to cabinet operation or for performing component maintenance without having to move cabinet 1. In addition, the housing 75 is located in the upper part of the chassis 16. This situation makes it possible to limit the risks in the event of a refrigerant leak. This is of particular interest when a hydrocarbon is used as the refrigerant. Indeed this type of fluid is flammable and is heavier than air. A hydrocarbon leak could create a concentration of fluid in the lower part of the chassis 16. This concentration would be removed from the electrical components located in the upper part of the chassis 16, thus limiting any risk of explosion. Furthermore, the separation plates 51 and 55 each have an inclined part 76 on which the inclined face 42 is positioned.

  The fan carrier plates 52 and 56 essentially ensure the positioning and fixing of the components of the evaporation stage 7 and in particular of the evaporator 20 and of the fan 21. They also make it possible to ensure the aerolic seal between the fan inlet and outlet 21.

Claims (10)

  1. A refrigeration device comprising a condensation stage (8), an evaporation stage (7) in which a refrigerant circulates, a fan (21) making it possible to establish a first circulation of air (9) circulating in the 'evaporation stage (7), the device being intended to cool the interior 5 of a cabinet (1) thermally insulated, by means of the first air circulation (9), characterized in that the device comprises in in addition to a chassis (16), carrying the condensation (8) and evaporation (7) stages, and in that the chassis (16) is pluggable into the cabinet (1) so that the refrigeration device forms a self-contained one-piece sub-assembly 10 2. Refrigeration device according to claim 1, characterized in that the fan (21) belongs to the evaporation stage (7).   3. Refrigeration device according to one of the preceding claims 15, characterized in that it comprises a seal (30) ensuring the tightness of the evaporation stage (7) and of a useful compartment (2) of the cabinet (1) vis-à-vis the outside of the cabinet (1) and means for pressurizing the seal (30) when the chassis (16) is plugged into the cabinet (1 ).   4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the means for pressurizing the seal (30) comprise several ramps (33, 34) arranged on a floor of the cabinet (1), shapes (31, 32) arranged on the chassis (16) and intended to cooperate with the ramps (33, 25 34) when the chassis (16) is plugged in to put the seal (30) under pressure.   5. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the fan (21) comprises a centrifugal turbine (40).   6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the evaporation stage (7) comprises an evaporator (20) disposed upstream of the fan (21) in the first air circulation (9), that it comprises thermal insulation means (41) of the evaporation stage (7) with respect to the condensation stage (8), and in that the thermal insulation means (41) ensure also guiding the first air flow (9) in the evaporation stage (7) upstream of the evaporator (20).   7. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the condensation stage (8) is completely located under the evaporation stage (7) and in that the components (23, 24, 25) of the condensing stage (8) and the components (20, 21, 22) of the evaporation stage (7) are interposed so that the height of the refrigeration device is less than the sum of the heights of the component the highest (24) of the condensation stage (8), the highest component (20, 21) of the evaporation stage (7) and the thickness of the thermal insulation means (41) .   8. Device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the condensation stage (8) comprises a condenser (24), a fan (25) forcing a second circulation of air (12) intended to cool the condenser (24) and a compressor (23), and in that the compressor (23) is also cooled by the second air circulation (12).   9. Device according to claim 8 as a dependent claim of claim 6, characterized in that the frame (16) comprises three main parts: - a support plate (50, 53) ensuring in particular the positioning and the fixing of the components of the condensation stage (8), the guiding of the frame (16) when it is plugged into the cabinet (1) and the guiding of the second air circulation (12); - A separation sheet (51, 55) ensuring in particular the separation of the evaporation stage (7) and the condensation stage (8) by carrying the thermal insulation means (41), the separation sheet (51, 55) being carried by the support sheet (50, 53); - a fan support plate (52, 56) ensuring in particular the positioning and fixing of the components of the evaporation stage (7).   10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that the partition plate (51, 55) provides protection for electrical components for command and control of the operation of the refrigeration device.