OPEN DISPLAY REFRIGERATORS INCLUDING WEIRS

Abstract

An open display refrigerator is provided, comprising: a refrigerated interior space, air in the refrigerated interior space being separated from air in a space exterior to the open display refrigerator by an air curtain established by a fan which blows air through an air outlet towards a corresponding air inlet which recovers air from the air curtain for recirculation to the air outlet; and a weir screen positioned proximal to the exterior space relative to the air inlet, wherein the weir screen is moveable between a retracted position in which the weir screen does not limit access to a base of the refrigerator and a deployed position in which the weir screen acts as a barrier to prevent air from the air curtain spilling into the exterior space.

Claims

1. An open display refrigerator, comprising: a refrigerated interior space, air in the refrigerated interior space being separated from air in an exterior space of the open display refrigerator by an air curtain established by a fan which blows air through an air outlet and towards an air inlet which recovers air from the air curtain for recirculation to the air outlet, the air inlet being disposed in a bottom portion of the open display refrigerator; and a weir screen in the bottom portion of the open display refrigerator, the weir screen being moveable between a retracted position in which the weir screen does not limit access to a base of the refrigerator and a deployed position in which the weir screen acts as a barrier to prevent air from the air curtain spilling into the exterior space.

2. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is rotatable about a hinge coupling it to the refrigerator such that it can move between the retracted position and the deployed position.

3. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is slidable between the retracted position and the deployed position.

4. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen comprises a plurality of slats hinged together.

5. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is formed of a single piece of material.

6. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is perpendicular to the air inlet in the retracted position.

7. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is parallel to the air curtain in the retracted position.

8. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen lies at the level of the base of the refrigerator in the retracted position.

9. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen lies below the level of the base of the refrigerator in the retracted position.

10. The open display refrigerator of claim 3, wherein the weir screen is configured to slide into the body of the refrigerator when the weir screen is moved from the deployed position to the retracted position.

11. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen further comprises one or more receiving features configured to correspond to and receive a product and/or a product container when the weir screen is in the retracted position.

12. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising a motor coupled to the weir screen to move the weir screen between the retracted position and the deployed position.

13. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the weir screen is retained by a bolt and/or a clip in the deployed position.

14. The open display refrigerator of claim 1, further comprising an air curtain guide configured to guiding the flow of air within the air curtain.

15. The open display refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the air curtain guide is an airfoil.

16. The open display refrigerator of claim 14, further comprising a light source disposed in the air curtain guide that is configured to illuminate the refrigerated interior space.

17. The open display refrigerator of claim 14, wherein the air curtain guide further comprises a front portion that includes a housing formed of a transparent plastic material configured to display a product label.

Description

[0031] An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a conventional open display refrigerator without a fixed screen;

[0033] FIG. 2 shows the open display refrigerator of FIG. 1 fitted with a fixed screen;

[0034] FIG. 3 shows how the fixed screen of FIG. 2 restricts access for loading;

[0035] FIG. 4 shows an open display refrigerator with a moveable screen according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0036] FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through a conventional open display refrigerator 1. The refrigerator has an interior space 2 which is maintained at a lower than ambient temperature. Within the interior space 2, there are five shelves 3a-3e. The refrigerator 1 establishes an air curtain by blowing cold air from an air outlet 4 towards an air inlet 5. Air inlet 5 recovers air from the air curtain and a fan (not shown) within the refrigerator 1 recirculates the air to the air outlet 4 via a cooling heat exchanger (not shown) within the refrigerator 1 which maintains the recirculated air (and hence the air blown through the air outlet 4 to form the air curtain) at a desired temperature. The desired temperature is chosen to be lower than ambient and acts to prevent cold air in the interior space 2 from mixing with warm air exterior to the refrigerator 1.

[0037] The first arrow 6 shows the general path of the air curtain flowing from the air outlet 4 to the air inlet 5 and the second arrow 7 shows how some of the air in the air curtain spills out of the refrigerator when a weir screen is not present.

[0038] FIG. 2 shows a similar open display refrigerator 1 to that of FIG. 1, but with a fixed weir screen 12 attached proximate the air inlet. The first arrow 6 again shows the general path of the air curtain flowing from the air outlet 4 to the air inlet 5. The second arrow 8 shows how the air that would have spilled out of the refrigerator without the weir screen 12 (like arrow 6 in FIG. 1) is now retained behind the weir screen 12 and also flows into the air inlet 5.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows the same open display refrigerator 1 to that of FIG. 2. The close proximity of the bottom shelf 3e and the fixed weir screen 12 makes it difficult to load the product 9 onto the base deck 10.

[0040] FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an open display refrigerator 13, in accordance with the present invention. A weir screen 11 is attached with a hinge 14 proximate the air inlet 5 at the lower edge of the weir screen 11. This hinge allows the weir screen 11 to be moved between an upright, deployed, position and a retracted position. When the weir screen 11 is in the upright position, the air curtain flows from the air outlet 4, is retained by the weir screen 11 and flows into the air inlet 5. When loading a product, onto the base deck 10, the weir screen 11 is moved into the retracted position, the product is loaded and the weir screen 11 is returned back to the upright position.