Abstract:
A refrigerated merchandiser and a method for operating a refrigerated merchandiser. The refrigerated merchandiser can include a case, a first modular refrigeration unit, and a second modular refrigeration unit. The first modular refrigeration unit can be removably coupled to the case in fluid communication with a first refrigeration zone to maintain the first refrigeration zone at a first temperature. The second modular refrigeration unit can be removably coupled to the case in fluid communication with a second refrigeration zone to maintain the second refrigeration zone at a second temperature. The method can include removably positioning the first modular refrigeration unit and the second modular refrigeration unit in the refrigerated merchandiser, and maintaining the first refrigerated zone at a first temperature and the second refrigerated zone at a second temperature.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Priority benefit is claimed to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/529,556, filed Dec. 15, 2003. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     This invention relates to a refrigeration system for a refrigerated merchandiser of the type used in retail stores, convenience stores, snack bars, and restaurants for storing and cooling food and/or beverage products.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     Typically, refrigerated merchandisers have a refrigerated compartment or product display area that is accessible to a consumer through an open face of the merchandiser or through glass doors which may be hinged or which may slide for easy access to the display shelves positioned within the product display area. The product display area is typically cooled by a refrigeration system that includes an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly arranged in a closed circuit. Typically, the evaporator assembly, generally including an evaporator, fan, and expansion valve, is positioned in the merchandiser, while the condenser assembly, generally including a compressor and a condenser, is remotely positioned from the merchandiser.  
         [0004]     In a retail store setting including multiple refrigerated merchandisers in a closed-circuit refrigeration system, one or more compressors may be positioned in a back room to compress the refrigerant, while one or more condensers may be positioned on the rooftop of the retail store to receive compressed, substantially vaporized refrigerant from the compressor and discharge pressurized, substantially liquid refrigerant to evaporators that are individually positioned in the merchandisers.  
         [0005]     In the merchandiser, the pressurized, substantially liquid refrigerant is metered to the evaporator by the expansion valve. The fan distributes incoming return air from the product display area through the evaporator, where heat exchange between the return air and the refrigerant occurs, to reintroduce cooled air into the product display area. The refrigerant exits the evaporator in a substantially vaporized state and is drawn back into the compressor to repeat the refrigeration cycle.  
         [0006]     In addition, the evaporator assembly is typically sized to provide the product display area of the merchandiser with a fixed refrigeration capacity. As a result, the merchandiser may only be suited to store a narrow range of products, and dedicated merchandiser configurations may be required to store specific products.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a modular refrigeration system for use in cooling a product display area of a refrigerated merchandiser. The refrigeration system comprises one or more modular refrigeration units that are positionable in an accessible compartment of the merchandiser and are capable of cooling at least a portion of the product display area of the merchandiser. The modular refrigeration units can be easily installed into and removed from the accessible compartment. The refrigeration units may also be interchangeable with one another.  
         [0008]     Some embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigerated merchandiser that can include a case including a first accessible compartment and a second accessible compartment spaced from the first accessible compartment. The refrigerated merchandiser can further include a first modular refrigeration unit configured to be installed into the first accessible compartment such that the first modular refrigeration unit is in fluid communication with a first refrigeration zone when installed in the first accessible compartment to maintain the first refrigeration zone at a first temperature. The first modular refrigeration unit can include a first evaporator assembly and a first condenser assembly. The refrigerated merchandiser can further include a second modular refrigeration unit configured to be installed into the second accessible compartment such that the second modular refrigeration unit is in fluid communication with a second refrigeration zone when installed in the second accessible compartment to maintain the second refrigeration zone at a second temperature. The second modular refrigeration unit can include a second evaporator assembly and a second condenser assembly.  
         [0009]     In some embodiments of the present invention, a method for operating a refrigerated merchandiser is provided. The method can include providing a first refrigerated zone in a case of the refrigerated merchandiser, and providing a second refrigerated zone in the case. The method can further include removably positioning a first modular refrigeration unit in the refrigerated merchandiser such that the first modular refrigeration unit is in fluid communication with the first refrigerated zone. The first modular refrigeration unit can include an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly. The method can further include maintaining the first refrigerated zone at a first temperature with the first modular refrigeration unit. The method can further include removably positioning a second modular refrigeration unit in the refrigerated merchandiser such that the second modular refrigeration unit is in fluid communication with the second refrigerated zone. The second modular refrigeration unit can include an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly. The method can further include maintaining the second refrigerated zone at a second temperature with the second modular refrigeration unit.  
         [0010]     Some embodiments of the present invention provide a refrigerated merchandiser including a case, and a first modular refrigeration unit removably coupled to the case in fluid communication with a first refrigeration zone to maintain the first refrigeration zone at a first temperature. The first modular refrigeration unit can include an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly. The refrigerated merchandiser can further include a second modular refrigeration unit removably coupled to the case in fluid communication with a second refrigeration zone to maintain the second refrigeration zone at a second temperature. The second modular refrigeration unit can include an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly.  
         [0011]     Other features and aspects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the modular refrigeration system of the present invention, illustrating multiple modular refrigeration units coupled to a refrigerated merchandiser.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one of the modular refrigeration units of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the modular refrigeration unit of  FIG. 2 , illustrating a support panel or shelf removed.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the modular refrigeration system of  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4 . 
     
    
       [0017]     Before any features of the invention are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. The use of letters to identify elements of a method or process is simply for identification and is not meant to indicate that the elements should be performed in a particular order.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a modular refrigeration system is shown comprising a refrigerated merchandiser  10  and a plurality of modular refrigeration units  14  that are removably coupled to the merchandiser  10 . Although the exemplary merchandiser  10  of  FIG. 1  is configured to be positioned against a wall, the merchandiser  10  of the present invention may also include any of a number of different forms of merchandisers (e.g., an island merchandiser, a convertible merchandiser, a service merchandiser, and so forth).  
         [0019]     The refrigerated merchandiser  10  includes a case  18  generally defining an interior rear wall  22  and an interior top wall  26 , while each modular refrigeration unit  14 , when coupled to the merchandiser  10 , generally defines at least a portion of an interior bottom wall  30  of the case  18 . The area bounded by the interior bottom wall  30 , interior rear wall  22 , and the interior top wall  26  defines a refrigerated compartment, or a product display area  34 , in which food and/or beverage products are stored on a plurality of shelves  38 . The case  18  includes an open front face to allow customers access to the food and/or beverages stored in the case  18 . Alternatively, the product display area  34  may be enclosed by hinged or sliding front door panels.  
         [0020]     The case  18  also generally defines an exterior rear wall  40  adjacent the interior rear wall  22  and an exterior top wall  42  adjacent the interior top wall  26 . A rear flue  27  is defined between the interior and exterior rear walls  22 ,  40  to allow for a substantially vertical refrigerated airflow  28  throughout the rear flue  27 . An opening  29  into the rear flue  27  is defined between the interior and exterior rear walls toward the bottom of the merchandiser  10 . An upper flue  31  is defined between the interior and exterior top walls  26 ,  42  and is fluidly connected with and adjacent to the rear flue  27 . The upper flue  31  allows for substantially horizontal airflow  32  throughout the upper flue  31 . The interior top wall  26  includes an opening  33  to communicate with the upper flue  31  and allow the airflow  32  in the upper flue  31  to be discharged from the upper flue  31  into the product display area  34 .  
         [0021]     The interior rear wall  22  includes a plurality of apertures  35  therein. The apertures  35  may be positioned in groups along the height of the interior rear wall  22  to fluidly connect the product display area  34  and the rear flue  27 . The apertures  35  allow some of the refrigerated air of the airflow  28  in the rear flue  27  to exit the rear flue  27  and enter the product display area  34 . Products located in the product display area  34  may then be cooled by the refrigerated air.  
         [0022]     The remaining portion of the refrigerated airflow  28  that does not pass through the apertures  35  is routed vertically through the rear flue  27 , and horizontally through the upper flue  31  before being discharged from the upper flue  31  via the opening  33  in the interior top wall  26 . After being discharged from the opening  33  in the interior top wall  26 , the refrigerated air moves downwardly along the open front face of the refrigerated merchandiser  10  to form an air curtain  36  over the open front face of the case  18 .  
         [0023]     A plurality of spaces in the bottom of the merchandiser  10  generally define a plurality of accessible compartments  46  capable of accommodating a single modular refrigeration unit  14 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the modular refrigeration units  14  are removably coupled with the merchandiser  10  via brackets  50  in each accessible compartment  46 . In the illustrated construction, brackets  50  are positioned on opposing sides in each accessible compartment  46  to support the respective opposing sides of each modular refrigeration unit  14 . The brackets  50  may be configured in any of a number of conventional forms to inter-engage corresponding structure (not shown) on the modular refrigeration units  14 . Alternatively, the modular refrigeration units  14  may be coupled to their respective accessible compartments  46  via other methods known to those skilled in the art.  
         [0024]     Each modular refrigeration unit  14  generally includes a housing  54  substantially enclosing the refrigeration components of the refrigeration system. In addition, the housing  54  generally at least partially defines a lower flue  37  between a fan plenum  58  (see  FIG. 3 ) of the housing  54  and a bottom wall  59  of the housing  54  through which the refrigerated air produced by the refrigeration components is allowed to move. Each refrigeration unit  14  may also include a shelf  62  supported on the top portion of the housing  54  to support products thereon.  
         [0025]     The lower flue  37  may also be at least partially defined between the shelf  62  and the fan plenum  58 , such that incoming return air from the air curtain  36  may enter the lower flue  37  via one or more openings  39  in the front portion of the top shelf  62  or a gap between the front edge of the top shelf  62  and the housing  54  to be drawn into the housing  54 . A filter  64  may be positioned in the gap between the front edge of the top shelf  62  and the housing  54  or adjacent the one or more openings  39  in the top shelf  62  such that debris and/or dust may be filtered from the incoming return air from the air curtain  36 . The filter  64  may be configured in any of a number of different forms such that particulate debris entrained in the incoming return air is separated from the incoming return air, while the filtered incoming return air is allowed to pass through the filter  64 . In addition, cooled air discharged from the housing  54  may exit the lower flue  37  via a gap  68  between the rear edge of the top shelf  62  and the housing  54 .  
         [0026]     Upon coupling the modular refrigeration unit  14  and the merchandiser  10 , the lower flue  37  is fluidly connected with the rear flue  27  via the gap  68  between the rear edge of the top shelf  62  and the housing  54 , and into the rear flue  27  via the opening  29  in the rear flue  27 . When combined, the lower flue  37 , the rear flue  27 , and the upper flue  31  comprise an air passage  41  separate from the product display area  34 .  
         [0027]     Each modular refrigeration unit  14  includes refrigeration components, such as an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly, supported by the housing  54 . The evaporator and condenser assemblies may be separated from each other by a dividing wall  72  in the housing  54 .  
         [0028]     The evaporator assembly may include an evaporator  80  and a motorized fan  81  to move air through the evaporator  80 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the evaporator  80  is positioned substantially horizontally in the discharge opening  66  of the housing  54 . In addition, the fan is positioned adjacent the fan plenum  58  to draw an airflow  43  through the intake opening  70 . In the illustrated construction of the modular refrigeration unit  14 , the fan draws the airflow  43  into the housing  54  such that the airflow  43  is upwardly re-directed by a bottom wall  59  of the housing  54  to flow horizontally through the evaporator  80  for cooling. Alternatively, the evaporator  80  may be oriented substantially vertically in the discharge opening  66  such that the airflow  43  is caused to travel a different path (e.g., vertically) to exit the housing  54 . As a further alternative, the evaporator  80  may extend above the upper portions of the housing  54 , such that a notch is required in the case  18  to allow clearance for the evaporator  80  when inserting the modular refrigeration unit  14  into the accessible compartment  46 . The housing  54  may then include an upstanding panel to complement, or “fill in” the notch in the case  18  when the modular refrigeration unit  14  is inserted into the accessible compartment  46 .  
         [0029]     Multiple fans may also be used to move air through the evaporator  80 . The evaporator assembly may also include an expansion valve to provide the modular refrigeration unit  14  with a desired refrigeration capacity.  
         [0030]     The condenser assembly may include a compressor  84 , a motorized fan (not shown), and a condenser  88 . To decrease the amount of vibration transmitted by the compressor  84 , the compressor  84  may be mounted to the housing  54  through vibration damping mounts. The condenser  88  may be mounted to the housing  54  through a support tray, and the fan may be mounted to the condenser  88 . The condenser assembly may also include a receiver (not shown) in which to store liquid refrigerant. With reference to  FIGS. 2-3 , the fan may generate an airflow through the condenser  88  in any of a number of different directions. In the illustrated construction, the fan may generate an airflow moving from side to side of the housing  54  or from front to back of the housing  54 . In other embodiments, the condenser  88  can be fluid cooled by, for example, a glycol solution provided by a central fluid distribution system, which supplies cooling fluid to each of the modular refrigeration units  14 . In this embodiment, cooling lines of the condenser unit can be coupled to the central fluid distribution system when the modular refrigeration unit  14  is installed into the refrigerated merchandiser  10 .  
         [0031]     Refrigerant may be circulated in a closed circuit between the evaporator assembly and the condenser assembly, leaving the evaporator as a low-pressure gas for compression by the compressor. From the compressor  84 , the refrigerant may be discharged through the condenser  88 , in which the refrigerant is substantially condensed to a high-pressure liquid before being fed to the evaporator assembly by an expansion valve.  
         [0032]     The modular refrigeration units  14  may be powered using line power. The merchandiser  10  may include a power distribution system (not shown) to distribute power from a single source of line power (e.g., a power cord) to the one or more modular refrigeration units  14 . The power distribution system may include electrical connectors (e.g., conventional quick-release electrical connectors, not shown) positioned in the accessible compartments  46  that are configured to engage mating electrical connectors (not shown) coupled to the individual modular refrigeration units  14 . Further, the electrical connectors coupled to the individual modular refrigeration units  14  may be electrically connected to one or more of the refrigeration components (e.g., the compressor  84 ) to provide line power distributed by the power distribution system.  
         [0033]     Since all of the refrigeration components associated with providing a refrigerated airflow to the product display area  34  are located in the housing  54  of the modular refrigeration unit  14 , repairs to the refrigeration components may be readily performed without affecting the products stored in the product display area  34 . For example, if a particular modular refrigeration unit  14  stops functioning, it can be easily replaced with a functioning stand-by modular refrigeration unit  14  to avoid loss of any of the refrigerated products. The non-functioning or ill-functioning modular refrigeration unit  14  may then be repaired at a location remote from the merchandiser  10 .  
         [0034]     In addition, since the modular refrigeration units  14  are self-contained, a skilled technician may not be required to install and/or remove the modular refrigeration unit  14  from the merchandiser  10 . Rather, if repairs are required of a particular modular refrigeration unit  14 , it may be removed from the merchandiser  10  by an employee of the retail store in which the merchandiser  10  is used, and shipped to a repair facility for repair by a skilled technician. As a result, the costs associated with maintaining the merchandiser  10  may be reduced compared to a conventional merchandiser.  
         [0035]     Each modular refrigeration unit  14  may be independently configured to provide a desired refrigeration capacity. As a result, the plurality of modular refrigeration units  14  may provide the product display area  34  with a plurality of different refrigeration zones. A refrigeration zone may be considered a portion of the product display area  34  that is maintained at a different temperature than an adjacent portion of the product display area  34 . In the illustrated construction of  FIG. 1 , four modular refrigeration units  14  are shown that could potentially be configured to provide the product display area  34  with four different refrigeration zones in which to store products. By providing the capability of multiple different refrigeration zones in a single merchandiser  10 , the usefulness of the merchandiser  10  is enhanced as being able to store a wider variety of products, as opposed to a conventional merchandiser, which has a fixed refrigeration capacity and may only be suited to store a narrow range of products.  
         [0036]     The modular refrigeration units  14  are interchangeable with one another, such that the refrigeration zones in the product display area  34  may be re-configured by interchanging one modular refrigeration unit  14  for another. This allows the merchandiser  10  to be tailored to the products to be stored therein, as opposed to conventional merchandisers, which are custom-built to store a particular range of products.  
         [0037]     Each modular refrigeration unit  14  may be constructed having a pre-selected refrigeration capacity. Alternatively, each modular refrigeration unit  14  may include user-manipulatable controls (not shown) accessible to an operator to vary the refrigeration capacity of the modular refrigeration unit  14 . For example, such user-manipulatable controls may be configured to adjust a temperature level of the modular refrigeration unit  14 , which, in turn, may adjust the capacity of the compressor. The user manipulatable controls may be located in a front panel  78  of each refrigeration unit  14 . A display window  82  on the front panel may display the temperature on which the refrigeration unit  14  is set. Additionally, the user manipulatable controls may be located within the display window  82 .  
         [0038]     A plurality of dividing walls  74  may also be positioned in the rear flue  27  and/or the upper flue  31  of the merchandiser  10  to fluidly separate the rear flue  27  and/or the upper flue  31  into a plurality of rear flues  27  and/or upper flues  31  associated with the plurality of modular refrigeration units  14 . As a result, the refrigerated airflow from each modular refrigeration unit  14  may be maintained within its associated rear flue  27  and/or upper flue  31  before being discharged into the product display area  34 .