Roof top refrigeration equipment housing

A housing for roof top refrigeration equipment has a metal frame supporting at least one compressor unit on a building roof. A pair of end panels and a roof panel are attached to the frame with the roof panel being leakproof to protect the equipment in the housing. A hinged access panel is attached to the frame and has a closed position and an open position and a pair of panel support members to hold the panel in an open position so that the side panel forms a roof canopy in the open position for sheltering a person working on the equipment in the housing. An electrical box is attached to the exterior of one of the end panels and has an access opening thereinto for rapid access to the power for the refrigeration equipment. An open metal floor, such as a heavy metal screen, is formed onto the frame above the building roof and below the roof panel for supporting the equipment thereon while allowing the drainage of liquids therethrough onto the building roof so that equipment in the housing is protected from the weather and prevents the accumulation of liquids in the housing. The housing also has a blower housing attached to the frame over one side of the housing which blower housing has a plurality of blower openings therein to exhaust air from the housing in a generally horizontal direction.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to refrigeration equipment and especially to 
a housing for roof mounted refrigeration equipment for refrigerators in 
commercial buildings. 
In the past, it has been common to mount the compressors, blowers, and the 
like for refrigeration equipment outdoors and typically on the roof of a 
building, such as a supermarket. The equipment produces a cooling in the 
refrigeration and freezer equipment within the building refrigeration 
units. Supermarkets, which require large amounts of refrigeration, 
typically have sizable equipment and use plural compressors which may be 
operated in parallel and mounted in a housing attached to the roof of a 
building. The equipment on the building roof is typically subjected to the 
elements since the top of the housings are typically open for upward 
facing blowers. In addition, oil and water entering the housing will 
accumulate on the floor which will accelerate the corrosion of components. 
Repair personnel attempting to repair the roof equipment work in the open 
sun or in the rain because of the openness of the roof top areas. 
The present invention is directed towards an improved housing for 
refrigeration equipment which allows repair personnel to be shaded as well 
as protected from the weather upon opening the access panel to the 
equipment and the equipment has been laid out for ready access from the 
access panel. In addition, the housing is such that the build-up of 
liquids is prevented in the housing and rain and weather elements are 
blocked from readily entering the top of the housing. 
Prior art U.S. patents relating to housings for refrigeration equipment may 
be seen in the Arnold et al. U.S. Pat. No., 3,205,674, for a unitized 
refrigeration station which has the equipment for a refrigeration station 
mounted within a small metal building having an entrance door and a blower 
at one end thereof. In the Vandervaart U.S. Pat. No., 4,415,023, a heat 
exchanger housing with an air deflecting baffle and hinged door is 
provided in which one hinged door is opened by the blower swinging the 
door open. The unit also has a top which is hinged and can be raised and 
which has serpentine air inlets around the top for the passage of air into 
the housing and through the heat exchanger coils. In the Bowman et al. 
U.S. Pat. No., 3,242,686, a unitary machine housing is provided in which 
the blowers are mounted on the side of the housing behind a series of 
hinged louvers. Entrance to the housing is from one end through a pair of 
panel doors. 
The Ramsey U.S. Pat. No., 3,735,602, is an air conditioning condensor unit 
having a housing with an air blower mounted for horizontally blowing the 
air out one side. Similarly, the Manning U.S. Pat. No., 4,976,114, is an 
air conditioning unit having an internal combustion engine for mounting on 
the roof of a building and exhausts air through the side of the housing. 
The LaBrecque U.S. Pat. No., 4,803,848, shows a typical supermarket 
cooling system which is CPU controlled using parallel connected equipment. 
In contrast, the present housing for refrigeration equipment is designed to 
improve the life of the equipment by the design of the housing and frame 
by making for easier access by repair personnel while providing them a 
protective covering while working on the equipment. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A housing for roof top refrigeration equipment has a metal frame supporting 
at least one compressor unit on a building roof. A pair of end panels and 
a roof panel are attached to the frame with the roof panel being leakproof 
to protect the equipment in the housing. A hinged access side panel is 
attached to the frame and has a closed position and an open position and a 
pair of panel support members to hold the panel in an open position so 
that the side panel forms a roof canopy in the open position for 
sheltering a person working on the equipment in the housing. An electrical 
box is attached to the exterior of one of the end panels and has an access 
opening thereinto for rapid access to the power for the refrigeration 
equipment. An open metal floor, which may be a heavy metal screen, is 
formed onto the frame above the building roof and below the roof panel for 
supporting the equipment thereon while allowing the drainage of liquids 
therethrough onto the building roof so that equipment in the housing is 
protected from the weather and prevents the accumulation of liquids in the 
housing. The housing also has a blower housing attached to the frame over 
one side of the housing which blower housing has a plurality of blower 
openings therein to exhaust air from the housing in a generally horizontal 
direction.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings and especially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a housing 10 is 
for roof top refrigeration equipment and is mounted on a frame 11, shown 
in FIG. 2, and having a top panel 12 and a pair of end panels 13. An 
entire multiple blower unit 14 is mounted to one side of the housing 10 
and holds the blower units therein while the opposite side has a pair of 
louvered panels 15 and 16 and a main access panel 17. Access panel 17 is 
hinged to the frame along the top edge 18 thereof and is supported in the 
open position with a pair of pneumatic cylinders 20 hinged between the 
side edges of the panel 17 and the frame. The frame, as seen in FIG. 2, 
has a plurality of base frame units 21 welded to a plurality of vertically 
extending frame units 22 with a plurality of floor and equipment 
supporting frame members 23 welded into a unitary structure and supported 
from the top with a frame section 24 in a rectangular shape having the top 
panel 12 attached thereto. The housing 10, as shown in FIG. 1, has a UL 
approved electrical panel box 25 attached to the end panel 13 and having a 
panel access door 26 for rapid access to the electrical power for the 
refrigeration equipment from the outside of the housing 10. 
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, the housing 10 has the blower unit 14 and in which 
FIG. 4 shows the plurality of blower openings 27, each having a grill 28 
mounted thereover and blower fans 30 behind the grills 28. The three 
blowers are illustrated in FIG. 4 which blow air horizontally out of the 
housing while drawing air through the louvered panels 15 and 16. The roof 
12, as seen in all the figures, is a one-piece watertight roof section 
which prevents rain, snow, or other weather elements from direct access 
into the housing 10 to reduce the amount of water and other elements that 
enter the housing. Inside the housing, the framework 11 can be shown to 
have a heavy steel screen 31 welded to frame members above the roof and 
the refrigeration equipment 32 can be seen mounted over the screen floor 
31. The open floor work 31 allows any water or other liquids that enter 
the housing to drain therethrough onto the roof rather than accumulating 
onto the floor and also allows the drainage of any oils or liquids from 
the equipment to pass therethrough. 
FIG. 4 has the electrical connecting lines 30 passing into the panel box 25 
where it is then connected through circuit breakers and into the housing 
to connect the equipment. In addition, a plurality of high pressure 
refrigerant lines 34 pass into the housing 10. 
In FIG. 3, the excess panel 17 has a handle 36 and is shown in a closed 
position while in FIG. 5 access panel 17 is shown in a raised or open 
position raised on the hinged portion 18 and supported by a pair of 
pneumatic cylinders 20. Thus, the access panel can be grasped by the 
handle 36 and pulled open where it is held in position while a workmen is 
therebeneath working on the equipment in the housing protected from the 
rain, sun, or other weather elements while working on roof top equipment 
where it would otherwise be exposed. In addition, the layout of the 
housing is such that easy and rapid access is obtained to the equipment. 
Thus, the electrical panel box 25 can be accessed for controlling the 
power to the equipment and the access panel 17 can be opened for access to 
the equipment. In addition, the blower unit housing 14 is separately 
attached and can be removed for extensive work or replacement. 
It should be clear at this point that a housing for a roof top 
refrigeration equipment has been provided which advantageously provides 
rapid access to the equipment in the housing while protecting a repairman 
while working on the equipment. It is also designed to protect the 
equipment from the weather elements and the accumulation of liquids in the 
housing. However, the present invention is not to be construed as limited 
to the forms shown which are to be considered illustrative rather than 
restrictive.