JPH0548043Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a cooler unit mainly used in large freezers and refrigerators.

(Prior Art) In freezers and refrigerators, when the door is opened, cold air inside the refrigerator flows out of the refrigerator and at the same time, outside air flows into the refrigerator, which causes the temperature inside the refrigerator to rise.

Conventionally, in order to solve the above problem, the cold air outlet of the cooler unit was separately arranged at the top of the door, and when the door was opened, the cold air blown out from the cold air outlet formed an air curtain at the door opening. (For example, Utility Model Application Publication No. 54-85464, No. 56-65371)
Publication No.).

(Problem that the invention aims to solve) However, in the conventional method, a part of the cooled air is blown out from the air outlet at the top of the door to form an air curtain, which creates cold air for workers near the door. There was a problem in that the cold air used in the air curtain leaked outside the refrigerator, causing a sense of discomfort, and the cooling efficiency was significantly reduced.

This idea was created in view of the above problems.
The purpose is to provide a cooling unit that does not cause discomfort to workers near the door when the door is opened, and that can prevent a decrease in cooling efficiency due to leakage of cold air to the outside of the refrigerator.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a cooler unit in which an evaporator and a cooling blower are housed in a unit body having an air inlet and an air outlet. An air curtain forming duct with one end communicating with the air suction port and the other end extending above the door is installed integrally with the unit main body, and an air curtain blower with a larger blowing capacity than the cooling blower is installed inside the duct. In addition, a switch means is provided in the door portion to send an activation signal to the air curtain blower when the door is opened.

(Function) According to the cooling unit of the present invention, when the door is opened, the air curtain blower operates together with the cooling blower, and the air sucked in from the air suction port is divided into the evaporator side and the duct side, and the air curtain blower operates together with the cooling blower when the door is opened. The air that has flowed into the evaporator is cooled by the evaporator and then blown out from the air outlet into the refrigerator. Moreover, the air that has flowed into the duct is blown out to the upper part of the door through the duct without being particularly cooled.

That is, when the door is opened, the inside of the refrigerator is cooled by the cold air blown out from the air outlet of the unit main body, while an air curtain can be formed at the door opening part by the uncooled air blown out from the duct. Also,
Since the air volume of the air curtain is larger than the amount of cold air blown into the refrigerator, the inside and outside of the refrigerator can be reliably shielded.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a large-sized refrigerator 11 in which a cooler unit of the present invention is installed.

The refrigerator 11 includes a main body 12 having a heat-insulating structure and an entrance/exit door 13, and is placed on a pedestal 14. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the door 13 has one end attached to the main body 12 via a hinge 15, and the other end is provided with a handle 16 so that it can be opened and closed. In addition, the inner surface of the door 13 has a packing 1.
7 is attached to maintain airtightness when the door is closed.

A box-shaped unit main body 10 constituting the cooler unit is fixed with a mounting bracket 18 above the door inside the refrigerator 11, and has an evaporator 19 and a fan 2 inside.
0 and a motor 21 for driving the fan. Since the fan 20 is used to circulate cold air, its blowing capacity is relatively small. The evaporator 19 also has a tube 19a for refrigerant circulation.
(see FIG. 2), and the tube 19a is connected to a separate compressor and condenser (both not shown).

Furthermore, a duct 22 for forming an air curtain, which will be described in detail later, is integrally provided on one side of the unit main body 10.

Furthermore, a drain pan 24 (see FIG. 3) is provided at the bottom of the unit body 10, and an evaporator 19
An air suction port 23 is formed on the lower surface between the duct 22 and the duct 22 . In addition, an air outlet 2 having a net-like guard is provided on the left side of the unit body 10 in the figure.
5 is formed.

2 and 3, the duct 22 protrudes downward from the unit body 10 toward the upper part of the door 13, and a movable duct 22a is slidably connected to its lower end. An opening 22b that leads to an air intake port 23 is formed above the duct 20, and the lower end of the movable duct 22a opens to the upper inside of the door 13. Furthermore, a limit fan 26 is installed inside the duct 22, and a grill 27 for changing the direction of the air is provided near the outlet.

As shown in FIG. 4, the limit fan 26 includes a cylinder and a number of blades 26 formed around the cylinder.
A, and one end of the shaft is connected to a motor 28. The air blowing capacity of this limit fan 26 is larger than that of the cold air fan 20 described above.

On the other hand, a limit switch 29 is installed near the upper end of the door 13 mentioned above, which is activated when the door is opened or closed (see Figure 1), and an activation signal is sent from the limit switch 29 to the motor 28 when the door is opened. There is.

The above-described cooler unit constructed as described above operates as follows.

When the door 13 is closed, the motor 28 for the limit fan 26 is stopped, and the fan 2
Only the motor 21 for 0 is operating. That is, the air inside the refrigerator is sucked in through the air suction port 23 of the unit main body 10, cooled by the evaporator 19, and then blown out from the air outlet 25 into the refrigerator 11 as shown by the solid line arrow in FIG. circulate within. In addition, the defrosting water generated from the evaporator 19 is drained from the drain pan 2 below.
4 and is drained by removing the stopper 25 at a predetermined time. As this circulation state is repeated, the air temperature inside the refrigerator gradually decreases, and desired cooling is achieved.

When the door 13 is opened from the above state, the motor 28 for the limit fan 26 is switched to the motor 21 for the fan 20 based on the operation of the limit switch 29.
works with. That is, the air sucked in from the air suction port 23 of the unit main body 10 is branched into the evaporator 19 side and the duct 22 side, and the air flowing into the evaporator 19 side is cooled by the evaporator 19 and then divided into the above-mentioned. Similarly, air is blown into the refrigerator from the air outlet 25. Further, the air flowing into the duct 22 side is blown out downward from the upper part of the door 13 through the duct 22 and the movable duct 22a, as shown by the dashed-dotted line arrow in FIG. 1, without being particularly cooled. Each fan 20,2
6, the amount of air blown out from the duct 22 is larger than the amount of air blown into the warehouse from the air outlet 25.

In other words, when the door is opened, the inside of the refrigerator is cooled by the cold air blown out from the air outlet 25 into the unit main body 10, while an air curtain is formed in the non-opening part by the uncooled air blown out from the duct 22. Can be done.

Thus, according to the above-mentioned cooler unit,
When the door is opened, an air curtain can be formed at the door opening part by uncooled air that does not pass through the evaporator 19, so that the cold air does not hit workers near the door 13 and cause discomfort.

Further, since the air curtain is formed of uncooled air and the air volume of the air curtain is larger than the volume of cold air blown into the refrigerator, the door 13
Even when the air curtain is opened forcefully, the cold air inside the air curtain will not leak out of the refrigerator, and the leakage of cold air can be eliminated and the inside and outside of the refrigerator can be reliably shielded. Moreover, since there is no intrusion of high-humidity outside air, there is less ice on the evaporator 19, and the defrosting time is correspondingly shortened.

Further, since the duct 22 for forming the air curtain, the limit fan 26, etc. are provided integrally with the unit main body 10, the unit itself can be made compact and easy to handle, and the installation work can be easily performed.

Furthermore, since the movable duct 22a that blows out the air curtain is configured to be able to move up and down, even if the height of the ceiling or door size of the refrigerator 11 changes, the same cooler unit can be used. The angle at which the air curtain is formed, that is, the angle at which the wind blows out, can be adjusted using the grille 27.

In the above embodiment, the limit fan 26 constitutes the air curtain, but other air blowing means may be used.

(Effects of the invention) As detailed above, according to the invention, when the door is opened, an air curtain can be formed at the door opening by uncooled air that does not pass through the evaporator. The cold air will not cause discomfort to the person.

In addition, since the air curtain is formed of uncooled air and the air volume of the air curtain is larger than the amount of cold air blown into the refrigerator, the inside and outside of the refrigerator can be reliably shielded, and the cold air can also be blocked. It is possible to prevent a decrease in cooling efficiency by eliminating leakage and intrusion of outside air.

Furthermore, since the duct for forming the air curtain and the blower are provided integrally with the unit body, the unit itself can be made compact and easy to handle, and the installation work can be easily performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a large refrigerator to which the cooler unit of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the cooler unit, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a large refrigerator to which the cooler unit of the present invention is applied. It is a top view of a limit fan. In the figure, 10... unit body, 11... refrigerator, 13... door, 19... evaporator, 20... fan, 21... motor, 22... duct, 22a...
...Movable duct, 23...Air inlet, 25...Air outlet, 26...Limit fan, 28...Motor, 29...Limit switch.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) In a cooler unit in which an evaporator and a cooling blower are housed in a unit body having an air inlet and an air outlet, one end is connected to the air inlet of the unit body, etc. A duct for forming an air curtain with the end extending above the door is installed integrally with the unit body, and an air curtain blower with a larger blowing capacity than the cooling blower is installed inside the duct, and the air curtain is closed when the door is opened. A cooler unit characterized in that a switch means for sending an activation signal to a commercial blower is provided in a door portion. (2) The cooler unit according to claim 1 of the utility model registration, in which the length of the duct for forming the air curtain is adjustable.