A refrigerated merchandiser including a case defining a product display area and including an air inlet and an air outlet in communication with the product display area to form an air curtain across a front of the product display area. The refrigerated merchandiser also includes a shelf that is coupled to the case within the product display area. The shelf includes insulation between a top and a bottom of the shelf, and a passive heat exchanger that has a heat pipe embedded in the shelf within the insulation and that extends from a front of the shelf to a back of the shelf. Ambient air infiltrating the air curtain initiates passive heat transfer within the plurality of heat tubes.

A refrigerator has an open front, an air curtain system having at least one upper air egress having an outer edge and at least one lower air-recovery ingress. The air curtain system is adapted to produce a substantially vertical air curtain over at least part of the open front of the refrigerator. The refrigerator has a plurality of shelves between the egress and the ingress a plurality of shelves between the egress and the ingress including a first shelf that has an aerofoil positioned in front of it, the first shelf being located in the upper half of the open front of refrigerator. The refrigerator also includes a second shelf that does not have an aerofoil positioned in front of it, the second shelf being located below the first shelf.

A refrigerator with a refrigerated interior space can have an air curtain separating air in the refrigerated interior space from air exterior to refrigerator. The air curtain can be established by a fan that blows air though an air outlet towards a corresponding air inlet that recovers air from the air curtain for recirculation to the air outlet. A first weir screen can be positioned proximal to the exterior space and a second weir screen can be positioned distal to the exterior space. A channel can be formed between the first weir screen and the second weir screen for receiving air from the air curtain before it is recovered by the air inlet.

A bracket for clamping an aerofoil to a shelf of a refrigerator is described. The bracket comprises a mounting portion for holding part of an aerofoil in use, an upper jaw configured to engage the forward lip of shelf and a lower jaw member configured to engage a lower lip on the underside of refrigerator shelf. The bracket may also comprise clamping means configured to enable the upper jaw member and the lower jaw members to be drawn towards one another to clamp the bracket on the refrigerator shelf.

A refrigerated merchandiser includes a case having a lower wall, an upper wall, a rear wall, and a rear panel. A product support area is at least partially defined by the lower wall, the upper wall, and the rear panel. A first air passageway is formed in the case for supplying refrigerated air to the product support area. A fan is positioned in the first air passageway for creating airflow. An evaporator coil is disposed in the air passageway to condition the airflow. A duct is coupled to the rear panel to create a second air passageway.

A temperature controlled case includes a housing that defines a temperature controlled space and a multi-circuit cooling element in thermal communication with the temperature controlled space. The multi-circuit cooling element includes two or more cooling coils. Each of the cooling coils is coupled to a different circuit structured to selectively circulate coolant through the multi-circuit cooling element. Each circuit is fluidly separate from each remaining circuit such that the coolant circulated through each circuit is not shared with each remaining circuit. The multi-circuit cooling element further includes a plurality of heat exchange fins coupled to each of the two or more cooling coils such that each of the heat exchange fins facilitates heat removal from the temperature controlled space by each of the two or more cooling coils.

The present invention includes various types of open-air display cases for displaying, storing, and/or vending food, beverages, or other products having a movable barrier that can be automatically positioned over an open front or side of such a unit to prevent access to the products therein when temperatures, component failure, lost power supply, or other variables affect the condition of the items stored in the display case, and methods of using such units.

A refrigeration system having a refrigerant circuit including a condenser, a flow control device, an evaporator, and a compressor connected in series. The compressor is configured to circulate a cooling fluid through the refrigerant circuit. The refrigerant circuit has an inlet line fluidly connecting the condenser to the evaporator and a suction line fluidly connecting the evaporator to the compressor. A heater is positioned to heat the cooling fluid during a defrost mode, and a pressure control is coupled to the refrigerant circuit downstream of the evaporator. In the defrost mode, the pressure control apparatus is configured to increase system pressure during the defrost mode to maintain flow of refrigerant into the evaporator and to control flow of cooling fluid to the compressor.

A temperature controlled case includes a number of shelves, an air-curtain, and a number of air-straighteners. The number of shelves individually support a displayed product. The number of shelves are mounted to the temperature controlled case. The air-curtain originates at an air-curtain discharge and terminates an air-curtain return. The number of air-straighteners is equal to the number of shelves. The number of air straighteners individually include a flow guide and are individually coupled to one of the number of shelves. The flow guides are located at locations within the air-curtain. The flow guides are configured to control the air-curtain. The flow guides individually include a luminaire comprising a number of LEDs coupled to a number of PCBs. The luminaires are configured to illuminate a number of illumination targets. The number of illumination targets correspond to at least one of the displayed products.

A refrigerated display case having a bottom assembly with lower lateral edges, a top assembly with upper lateral edges, a rear wall assembly and side walls; a cooling chamber at the bottom assembly; and lower securing elements in a lower region of the sidewalls and upper securing elements in an upper region of the sidewalls. The lower lateral edges of the bottom assembly near the side walls are provided with securing elements adapted to interact with lower counterpart securing elements and the upper lateral edges of the top assembly near the side walls are provided with upper counterpart securing elements, the side walls being detachably secured to the refrigerated display case by connecting the lower securing elements to the lower counterpart securing elements and by connecting the upper securing elements to the upper counterpart securing elements.