Abstract:
An electrical energy use saving system for the sales of purchasable amounts of beer, soda, bottled water, meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs or seafood products kept in a walk-in cooler, reach-in cooler or display case whose temperature is to be maintained includes a compressor, a thermostat, a suction fan and a thermometer in a network by which the cooler or case is cooled by outdoors ambient air when outside temperatures are cold and where the cooler or case is cooled by the compressor when outside temperatures are warm.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    NONE 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Research and development of this invention and Application have not been federally sponsored, and no rights are given under any Federal program. 
       REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
       [0003]    NOT APPLICABLE 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0005]    This invention relates to the commercial cooling and refrigeration systems found in such food and beverage stores as supermarkets, convenience stores and liquor stores. In general, the invention concerns itself with the equipment used in these stores as walk-in coolers, reach-in coolers, freezers and refrigerators—whether used for refrigerating 6 or 12 packs of beer, canned soda or bottle water, or for meat, vegetables, fruit, dairy, eggs or seafood products, for example. 
         [0006]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0007]    Food and beverage retail stores such as supermarkets, convenience stores and liquor stores are equipped with several types of refrigerators and coolers in order to keep their products cold and fresh. 
         [0008]    As is known and understood, electrical compressors are used to keep these refrigerator/coolers at regulated temperatures—typically 40° F. As such, whether the remainder of the store or market is being heated in the winter, or air-conditioned in the summer, a continuous amount of electrical energy is required to maintain these regulated refrigerator/cooler temperatures all year round. As will be understood, the costs for this electrical cooling ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars each month depending upon the size of the facility where the temperature is being so controlled. 
         [0009]    Moreover, such food stores as supermarkets and convenience stores currently employ complicated systems consuming huge amounts of electricity to operate the various coolers, freezers and refrigerators employed there. Typically, such systems include a rooftop unit containing numbers of compressors which pressurize the freon enclosed piping to reduce the temperatures in the refrigerator units to that which is desired. Besides this inordinate use of electricity (not only in the United States but globally, as well, extensive amounts of freon are employed, which studies indicate is harmful to the ozone layer. Such systems, furthermore, are extremely expensive, both as to their purchase and as to their required maintenance. 
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved way for the controlled cooling of all these type enclosures to reduce electrical energy usage as a component of reducing overall energy consumption throughout the world. 
         [0011]    It is an object of the present invention, also, to provide this improved way of controlled cooling to reduce the electrical energy cost of the store provider—whether it just be that of the convenience store facility, or that of a grocery store or supermarket operation. 
         [0012]    It is another object of the invention to provide this improved way of controlled cooling which can be adapted both to existing in-place operations as well as to future operations yet to be constructed. 
         [0013]    It is a further object of the invention to provide an improved way of cooling the refrigerators in these commercial settings using a minimum amount of electricity, while at the same time, operating in an environmentally safe manner. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    As a reading of the following description will indicate, this invention is concerned with one of the most critical issues in modern day times—that of energy conservation and saving the environment. While it is almost equally as important to consider the financial savings to a retailer that may follow, and to the consumer of perishable goods, to appreciate the advantages that follow, certain definitions might be helpful: 
         [0015]    a. Food Store—a supermarket, liquor store, convenience store or perishable goods warehouse; 
         [0016]    b. Rooftop Unit—machine equipment on a food store roof consisting of one or a number of compressors which pressurize freon in producing the cold temperatures required, and which push them through the coolers to reach the desired temperatures; 
         [0017]    c. Walk-in Cooler—a room of various size built from aluminum or galvanized steel, and having inner and outer skin walls between which insulation is packed as used in the storage of perishable goods; 
         [0018]    d. Reach-in Cooler—similar to the walk-in cooler, but with glass doors so that a consumer can open and reach in to grasp food or beverages on its shelves; 
         [0019]    e. Display Case—employed in the food stores to display vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood items, keeping them cool and fresh; and 
         [0020]    f. Thermostat—a mechanical or electronic device to measure temperature and connect or disconnect an electrical circuit. 
         [0021]    As will become clear from the following description, the present invention specifically covers an electrical energy use saving system for cooling by automatically controlling the operation of the electrically operated compressor(s) serving to maintain the temperature in the walk-in or reach-in cooler or display case within a predetermined range—for example, one centered substantially about 40° F. According to the invention, a suction device (such as a fan, valve or air pump) is coupled with the outdoors outside environment by an input end of a duct and to the inside of the cooler or case by an output end of the duct. A thermometer is provided for measuring the ambient air temperature in the outdoors outside environment, and a thermostat is coupled with the thermometer to activate the compressor(s) only when the outdoors ambient air temperature rises above the controlled cooler or case temperature range to be maintained. 
         [0022]    As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the walk-in or reach-in cooler and display case thus become cooled by the outdoors air when the outside temperatures are cold, while the cooler and case are cooled by the compressor only when the outside temperature is warm. The end result will be appreciated to be a savings in the use of electrical energy for the cooling—which could be quite substantial when the cooler and case are part of a food store complex in the northern portions of the United States and in Canada where, for at least 6 months of the year, the outdoors temperature dips below 40° F. As will be understood, the cost involved in operating the ducted fan is several times less than that involved with operating the compressor—such that in those colder months, a significant savings in electrical energy consumption follows. Obviously, this translates into a cost savings for the store operator. 
         [0023]    As will also become clear from the following description, where local ordinances may require—or just for purposes of general health—the suction device can be arranged to operate in conjunction with either a filtering or dehumidifying system (or both) in further regulating the colder air being inputted to the walk-in or reach-in cooler and the display case from the outdoors environment. For existing store constructions, furthermore, the suction device configuration could be arranged to extend through the walls of the cooler—while in new constructions to be built, the suction fan could be incorporated as part of a mounting on a rooftop of a walk-in cooler room, just as the electrically operated compressors are typically already mounted on the food stores roof. 
         [0024]    And, as will be appreciated, the same type of controlled cooling will be seen to be employable for produce coolers (where the preferred temperature range is commonly centered about 55° F.), and for freezers (where the temperature is desired to be kept below 32° F.). In these uses, the suction device would bring in the ambient air where the outside temperature falls below 55° F. on the one hand, and 32° F. on the other hand. With the use of additional thermostats set in this and like manners, the roof top compressor(s) could be controlled to provide the refrigerant only when it is needed, and to where it is needed, depending upon the outside temperature. The energy consumption savings will be seen to be apparent. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
         [0025]    These and other features of the present invention will be more clearly understood from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with  FIGS. 1 and 2  of the Drawings which schematically illustrate the electrical energy use savings system of the invention for a walk-in cooler, and for a walk-in cooler, reach-in cooler, and display case combination, respectively. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    Reference numeral  10  in  FIG. 1  represents an enclosed walk-in cooler room of a food store  15  housing purchasable amounts of beer, soda, bottled water, fruit or vegetable produce for off-site consumption. Constructed with inner metal or aluminum skin walls  12 , outer skin walls  14  of like fabrication, and with a foam insulate  16  in between, the cooler  10  is enclosed within the store  15  having a rooftop  18  upon which an electrically operated compressor  20  conventionally is mounted. Such compressor is selected of a size and capacity to maintain the temperature in the cooler within a predetermined range—which for the usage at hand may be centered substantially about 40° F. A door  22  allows entry into and exit from the cooler. In most present day usage, the compressor operates continuously on electrical energy drawn from above ground or below ground power lines. 
         [0027]    In accordance with the invention, a suction device  24  is provided within a duct  26  having an input end  28  at an outdoors outside environment location of the walk-in cooler and an output end  30  at an inside location. For an existing construction of the cooler, the duct  26  may be cut through the inner and outer skin walls  12 ,  14 , while in new constructions, the duct  26  may be mounted on the rooftop  18  in a manner similar to that by which the compressor  20  is mounted. 
         [0028]    To carry out the teachings of the invention, a thermometer means  40  temperature measuring device is provided to couple with the suction fan  24  as through electrical line  42  and to a thermostat means or thermostat  44  as by electrical line  46 . Such thermostat, in turn, is coupled by the electrical line  48  to the compressor in regulating the operation of the compressor in accordance with the outdoors ambient air temperature. In particular, the thermostat  44  is set so that the compressor  20  is not activated until the outdoors ambient temperature is in excess of the desired temperature in the walk-in cooler, some 40° F. At the same time, the suction device  24  is controlled to operate only when the outdoors ambient temperature is below that 40° F. or so temperature. 
         [0029]    As will be understood, the end result of the operation is that the walk-in room  10  is then cooled by the outdoors outside air when the temperatures in the ambient environment are measured to be below the 40° F. or so temperature, while the walk-in room  10  is cooled by the compressor  20  substantially only when the outdoors ambient temperature is measured to be in excess of the 40° F. or so temperature. The end result will be appreciated to be a savings in the electrical energy usage in those circumstances where the energy needed to operate the suction fan is less than that needed to operate the compressor (which almost always is the actual circumstance). Such savings in electrical energy usage will be appreciated as being directly translatable into a savings of electrical utility cost for the convenience store, grocery and supermarket operator of the walk-in room where the refrigerated products are housed, with the significant savings in cost expenditures which result. 
         [0030]    Reference numerals  50  and  52  respectively illustrate added options for the electrical energy use saving system in the nature of a filter system and a dehumidifier system where possibly required by local ordinance, or just where further issues of health are of concern. As illustrated, these options could be included to work with the ductwork operable with the suction fan inputting the outdoors outside ambient air as the coolant. As will be understandable, these options can be utilized singly, or in combination. 
         [0031]    In operation, then, if the temperature inside the walk-in cooler  10  exceeds that which is desired (for example, 40° F.) the electric circuit closes under the action of the thermostat  44 . With this in place, the suction fan  24  is actuated to bring in the outside air where the thermometer measures the outside temperature to be below 40° F. When the ducted-in outside air is sufficient to cool the walk-in room to that temperature, the suction fan is turned off. Where the outside temperature, however, is higher than that temperature desired to be maintained in the walk-in cooler  10 , the suction fan  24  is bypassed, and the compressor  20  is rendered operative. The refrigerant then drawn into the cooler  10 , as by means of a further duct  60 , continues to cool the room until the desired temperature is reestablished, at which time the compressor shuts down. An exhaust duct for the cooler  10  is shown at  68 . 
         [0032]    The schematic diagram of  FIG. 2  represents a similar type operation utilizing outside air as a coolant for a walk-in cooler  80 , a reach-in cooler  82  and a display case  84 . Each component would be provided with its own thermometer and thermostat connectable with the rooftop compressor  20  to utilize the outside air in providing the cooling through the ducts  86 ,  88 ,  90  under control of the suction device  92  as the case may be when the ambient air is to engage in the cooling, while the ductworks  95 ,  97 ,  99  provide the refrigerant directly from the compressor when the outside temperatures are higher than that desired in the cooler or display units. Depending on need, one or more such compressor units might be employable, each maintained on the roof of the food store, as at  100 , with an outside thermostat  102  controlling the suction fan  92  as well as via an electric line  104 . 
         [0033]    While there has been described what are considered to be preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the teachings herein. Thus, whereas the present invention has been described in the context of keeping purchasable amounts of beer, soda, bottled water, fruit or vegetable produce in an enclosed environment maintained at temperatures centered substantially about 40° F., 55° F., or 32° F., the thermostat control for the compressor(s)  20  could be set to operate at other temperatures in an identical manner—depending upon the temperature that is sought to be maintained in cooling the purchasable products that are to housed within. For an increased energy use savings, for example, the control could be such as to activate the compressor only when outdoors, outside ambient temperatures exceed even higher levels, for example. Essentially then, the commercial cooling system of the invention operates such that if the temperature inside the walk-in cooler, the reach-in cooler, the display case, or the food store is higher than that which is pre-set, the electrical circuit triggers the suction device to draw the air from outside, pushing it through the piping or ductwork until the cooler reaches that temperature. In other words, the rooftop compressors will only work if the outside temperature is higher than that desired. In those geographical areas of the world where the temperature is below 40° F., or 55° F., or 32° F., for example, the cooling will then be accomplished by the outside air—day or night—and the savings in the electrical energy otherwise needed would be substantial. Moreover, if the rooftop unit would then work only half the time or less, its life expectancy will double, and the maintenance required cut in half. Freon usage decreases, benefiting the environment and the ozone layer. The air going through the suction device possibly being filtered, and/or dehumidified, if need be, the end result in operating the cooler—wherever it may be and whatever form it may take, would necessitate only a minimum amount of energy, resulting in an overall significant savings in the energy which is used. Simply stated, the invention then allows utilization of cold air in the northern portion of the globe to cool food and beverages in food stores by drawing the cold air from outside, and pushing it through piping or duct into the various types of refrigerator/coolers, without the need to run the compressors to cool these units. For at least these reasons, resort should be had to the claims appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the invention.