Patent Description:
As one well-known refrigerated showcase, a patent document <NUM> below discloses a refrigerated showcase comprising a display chamber in which foodstuffs to be refrigerated are displayed, and a transparent cover which covers at least the front side of the display chamber, wherein the displayed foodstuffs are put on show while being refrigerated by refrigerated air flowing through the interior. In addition to the above, a refrigerated showcase in which an air curtain is formed at a portion opened to the front side of a display chamber, as disclosed in a patent document <NUM> below, is also well known.

In regards to the refrigerated showcase as disclosed in the patent document <NUM>, there is a possibility that the direct contact of air flowing through the display chamber with the foodstuffs would occur, thereby leading to deterioration of the quality of the foodstuffs due to dehydration of the foodstuffs, for instance.

The refrigerated showcase as disclosed in the patent document <NUM> is of a structure which makes it possible to form the air curtain in such a way that a ceiling part covering the upper side of the display chamber is extended ahead of the front end of a mounting lateral surface which constitutes a surface on the side where the foodstuffs in the display chamber are placed, thereby forming, in the ceiling part, a flow passage which permits refrigerated air to flow forward, and forming, at the front end side of the ceiling part, an air vent for the air flowing through the flow passage, wherein the direction in which the air is vented from the vent is oriented directly downward. This structure for forming the air curtain is complicated as described the above. Besides, refrigerated air is easily discharged from the front side of the display chamber to the outside, thereby resulting in causing the problem that energy efficiency is degraded.

Similar refrigerated showcases are already disclosed in <CIT> and <CIT>.

An object of the present invention is to provide a refrigerated showcase comprising a display chamber in which foodstuffs are displayed, a mounting lateral surface which is formed in the display chamber and constitutes a surface on the side where the foodstuffs are placed, and a vent which is positioned directly above the mounting lateral surface and from which refrigerated air is vented, whereby the refrigerated showcase makes it possible to keep the quality of the foodstuffs satisfactory and to achieve satisfactory energy efficiency, without the need for any complicated structure.

To solve the above problems, the present invention provides a refrigerated showcase with which foodstuffs are displayed, the refrigerated showcase comprising a display chamber in which the foodstuffs are displayed, a cover which covers at least the front side of the display chamber, a mounting lateral surface which is formed in the display chamber and constitutes a surface on the side where the foodstuffs are placed, and a vent which is positioned directly above the mounting lateral surface and from which refrigerated air is vented, wherein the cover is configured such that the foodstuffs displayed in the display chamber can be viewed from the outside, wherein the vent is positioned behind the front end of the mounting lateral surface in plan view, and wherein the direction in which the air is vented from the vent is oriented forward in plan view.

The vent may also be configured such that the air is vented slantly downward to the front toward the front end of the mounting lateral surface.

A space positioned on the front side of the mounting lateral surface in regards to the display chamber may also be formed with a suction port through which the air is sucked.

The cover may also be formed ranging from the front end side of a ceiling part covering at least a part of the upper side of the display chamber to the front surface side of the suction port, wherein the ceiling part is formed with a ceiling-side flow passage which constitutes a flow passage of refrigerated air and communicates with the vent.

The vent may also be of a laterally long shape.

According to the invention, the refrigerated showcase has an inside openable/closable opening constituting an openable/closable opening to open and close the back surface side of the display chamber, and an outside openable/closable opening constituting an openable/closable opening to open and close a back surface-side portion of an outer wall of the refrigerated showcase, wherein the inside (front-side) openable/closable opening and the outside (rear-side) openable/closable opening are respectively positioned such as to be at least partly overlapped together in back view, and wherein a back surface-side flow passage constituting a flow passage which permits the refrigerated air to flow therethough is formed between the inside (front-side) openable/closable opening and the outside (rear-side) openable/closable opening.

The openable/closable opening may also be an opening constituted of a plate-shaped sliding door which is capable of laterally sliding for opening and closing.

An inside sliding door serving as the sliding door constituting the inside openable/closable opening may also be formed with an air introducing part through which the air flowing through the back surface-side flow passage is introduced into the display chamber.

This refrigerated showcase may also be provided with another display chamber or a stock chamber which is formed, as a separate space, directly below the display chamber and in which the foodstuffs are displayed or stocked.

This refrigerated showcase may also be equipped with a voltage generator in which one output terminal thereof is connected to an electrode disposed in the display chamber.

According to the present invention with the above configuration, the cover is provided to cover at least the front side of the display chamber, and the position and direction in which the air is vented are appropriately oriented such that the direct contact of the refrigerated air with the foodstuffs displayed in the display chamber hardly occurs. For that reason, it can be appreciated that the quality of the foodstuffs can be kept satisfactory, while satisfactory energy efficiency can be achieved, without the need for any complicated structure.

<FIG> is a side sectional view of a refrigerated showcase to which the present invention is applied, <FIG> are respectively a front view, a side view and a back view of the refrigerated showcase of the present invention, <FIG> is a back view of an inside sliding door, <FIG> is a sectional view taken on line A-A' of <FIG>, and <FIG> is a circuit diagram of a voltage generator. A refrigerated showcase <NUM> is a box-shaped face-to-face showcase having outer dimensions of approximately <NUM> wide in a lateral direction, <NUM> tall and <NUM> long. The refrigerated showcase <NUM> has a body part <NUM> made of stainless steel. The interior of the body part <NUM> is formed with a display chamber <NUM>, a stock chamber <NUM> and an equipment chamber <NUM>. The display chamber <NUM>, the stock chamber <NUM> and the equipment chamber <NUM> are disposed in this order from the top toward the bottom in a multilayered manner.

The body part <NUM> has a front surface wall <NUM> which covers the front side of each of the stock chamber <NUM> and the equipment chamber <NUM>, a pair of lateral surface walls <NUM> which respectively cover both the right and left sides of each of the stock chamber <NUM> and the equipment chamber <NUM>, a back surface wall <NUM> which covers the back surface side of each of the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM>, and a ceiling part <NUM> which covers a display chamber portion near the rear of an upper part of the display chamber <NUM>.

Each of the right and left sides of the display chamber <NUM> is covered with a side plate <NUM>. A display chamber portion ranging from the front surface side of the display chamber <NUM> to a portion near the front on the upper part side thereof is covered with a cover <NUM>.

The cover <NUM> covers the display chamber <NUM> over the entire range thereof in a lateral direction. The cover <NUM> is of a circular arc shape in side cross-section view with the rear end thereof positioned in an upper end position and with the front end thereof positioned in a lower end position. It is to be noted that the cover <NUM> is not limited in shape to such curved shape but may be of a bent shape so as to widen a space slantly upward to the front of the display chamber <NUM>.

The cover <NUM> is composed of a transparent material (specifically, transparent glass or transparent plastic, for instance) such that the foodstuffs displayed in the display chamber <NUM> can be viewed from the outside of the display chamber <NUM>. A cover portion on the front-end side in the lower end position of the cover <NUM> is joined to the upper end of the front surface wall <NUM> which covers the front surface side of the stock chamber <NUM>. A cover portion on the rear end side in the upper end position of the cover <NUM> is joined to the front end of the ceiling part <NUM>. The joining range in this case is the entire region of both the cover <NUM> and the display chamber <NUM> in the lateral direction. In this way, the display chamber <NUM> can be a refrigerated space isolated from the outside.

The display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> disposed directly below the display chamber are partitioned by a display floor <NUM> constituting a floor part of the display chamber <NUM>. The upper surface of the display floor <NUM> constitutes the floor surface of the display chamber <NUM> and can also be a mounting lateral surface 14a constituting a surface on the side where the foodstuffs are placed and displayed. A ventilation space <NUM> serving as a space through which air is passed while being refrigerated is formed between the stock chamber <NUM> and the equipment chamber <NUM>. The stock chamber <NUM> and the ventilation space <NUM> are partitioned by a stock floor <NUM> constituting a floor part of the stock chamber <NUM>. The upper surface of the stock floor <NUM> constitutes the floor surface of the stock chamber <NUM> and can also be a mounting lateral surface 16a constituting a surface on the side where the foodstuffs are stocked. The ventilation space <NUM> and the equipment chamber <NUM> are partitioned by a floor part <NUM> of the ventilation space <NUM>, for instance.

Each of the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> has, at the rear end side thereof, a pair of laterally long rectangular plate-shaped inside sliding doors (sliding door, inside openable/closable opening) <NUM> which are respectively fitted so as to be capable of laterally sliding for opening and closing, as an openable/closable opening constitution which is to communicate the inside of each of the display chamber and the stock chamber with the outside thereof in an openable/closable manner. The back surface wall <NUM> constituting a back surface-side portion of an outside wall (an outside wall of the refrigerated showcase) of the body part <NUM> also has a pair of laterally long rectangular plate-shaped outside sliding doors (sliding door, openable/closable opening) <NUM> which are respectively fitted so as to be capable of laterally sliding for opening and closing, as an openable/closable opening constitution which is to communicate the inside of the body part <NUM> with the outside thereof in an openable/closable manner.

Like the inside sliding doors <NUM>, the outside sliding doors <NUM> are also provided individually for each of the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM>. Specifically, the upper inside and outside sliding doors <NUM> and <NUM> provided to constitute the openable/closable opening for taking in and out the foodstuffs stored in the display chamber <NUM> are positioned such that most part of these sliding doors is overlapped in back view. Meanwhile, the lower inside and outside sliding doors <NUM> and <NUM> provided to constitute the openable/closable opening for taking in and out the foodstuffs stocked in the stock chamber <NUM> are also positioned such that most part of these sliding doors is overlapped in back view. Namely, the inside and outside sliding doors <NUM> and <NUM> constitute a double sliding door structure.

A space between the inside sliding doors <NUM> and the outside sliding doors <NUM> constitutes a back surface-side flow passage <NUM> serving as a flow passage of refrigerated air. In other words, the back surface-side flow passage <NUM> is formed between the back surface wall <NUM> and both the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM>. The back-surface side flow passage <NUM> and both the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> communicate with each other in a manner of being openable and closable by the inside sliding doors <NUM>. The back surface-side flow passage <NUM> and the outside communicate with each other in a manner of being openable and closable by the outside sliding doors <NUM>.

The lower end of the back surface-side flow passage <NUM> communicates with the rear end of the ventilation space <NUM>. An upper part of each inside sliding door <NUM> has air introducing holes (an air introducing part) <NUM> which are bored therein in the form of slits to permit air flowing through the back surface-side flow passage <NUM> to be introduced into the display chamber <NUM> or into the stock chamber <NUM>. The process of introducing refrigerated air into the display chamber <NUM> or into the stock chamber <NUM> in this way results in also allowing the interior of each of the display chamber and the stock chamber to be refrigerated.

The upper end of the back surface-side flow passage <NUM> communicates with the rear end of a ceiling-side flow passage 26a (which will be described later) constituting an air flow passage formed on the ceiling part <NUM>-side.

Specifically, the ceiling part <NUM> formed ranging over the laterally entire region in a rear half part of the display chamber <NUM> in plan view is formed with a cavity part 11a in which both the front and rear sides thereof are respectively fully opened. The cavity part 11a occupies most part of the ceiling part <NUM>, wherein the rear end of the cavity part communicates with the upper end of the back surface-side flow passage <NUM>.

A vent duct <NUM> in which the ceiling-side flow passage 26a is formed therein is inserted, in a removably fitted state, into the cavity part 11a from the opened front end of the cavity part 11a. The vent duct <NUM> occupies most part of or the entirety of the cavity part 11a, wherein the front end of the vent duct faces the display chamber <NUM>-side, while the rear end thereof faces the back surface-side flow passage <NUM>. In regards to the vent duct <NUM>, the front end thereof facing the interior of the display chamber <NUM> is integrally extended slantly downward to the front to form a vent <NUM>, while the rear end thereof is opened downward so as to communicate with the back surface-side flow passage <NUM>.

The vent <NUM> is of a laterally long rectangular shape enough to permit the front-end side of the vent duct <NUM> to be opened fully. The vent <NUM> is positioned behind the front end of the mounting lateral surface 14a (specifically, in a position near the rear of the display chamber <NUM>) in plan view in regards to the ceiling part <NUM>-side within the display chamber <NUM>. The direction in which the air is vented from the vent <NUM> is oriented slantly downward to the front toward a suction port <NUM> (which will be described later) in accordance with the extension direction of the vent duct.

A fixing means for the vent duct <NUM> will be now described in brief. A spacer <NUM> which is of a channel shape or rectangular shape in front view and in which both the front and rear sides thereof are respectively opened is inserted, in a fitted state, into the ceiling-side flow passage 26a to meet the vertically dimensional stability of the ceiling-side flow passage. The right and left sides of the upper end or the lower end of the spacer <NUM> are respectively formed with longitudinally long flange parts 30a which are integral with the spacer and are projecting in the direction away from each other. The vent duct <NUM> is fixed to the ceiling part <NUM> together with the spacer <NUM> in such a way as to detachably mount, with bolts and the like, the right and left flange parts 30a of the spacer <NUM> to a ceiling body 11b constituting a ceiling portion other than the cavity part 11a of the ceiling part <NUM>. Incidentally, the spacer <NUM> is provided in three positions in total, that is, a rightward position, a leftward position and a center position of the ceiling-side flow passage 26a.

Of course, the front end of the cavity part 11a may also be the vent, provided that the cavity 11a itself constitutes the ceiling-side flow passage, whereas it is to be noted that when a separate vent duct <NUM> is formed with both the ceiling-side flow passage 26a and the duct <NUM>, appropriate change of various settings for both the ceiling-side flow passage 26a and the vent duct <NUM> is made possible by replacement of the separate vent duct, thereby leading to enhancement of versatility.

A front surface-side flow passage <NUM> constituting the air flow passage is formed between the stock chamber <NUM> and the front surface wall <NUM>. The front surface-side flow passage <NUM> communicates with the display chamber <NUM> through the suction port <NUM>. The suction port <NUM> is positioned at a portion which is in the vicinity of the front surface side of the mounting lateral surface 14a in regards to the display chamber <NUM>, wherein the suction port is adjacent to the back surface of the lower end of the cover <NUM>. The air vented into the display chamber <NUM> with a configuration (which will be described later) is sucked by the suction port <NUM>, followed by being introduced into the front surface-side flow passage <NUM>. The lower end of the front surface-side flow passage <NUM> communicates with the front end of the ventilation space <NUM>.

The front surface-side flow passage <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> are partitioned by a partition wall <NUM> composed of a material such as metal with which heat conduction easily takes place. The refrigerated air flowing through the front surface-side flow passage <NUM> is supplied to the stock chamber <NUM> through the partition wall <NUM>. Incidentally, the stock chamber <NUM> is also refrigerated by the air introduced into the stock chamber through the introducing holes <NUM> as described the above.

In the interior of the ventilation space <NUM>, a fan <NUM> which blows the air toward the rear and a refrigerator <NUM> which refrigerates the air blown by the fan <NUM> are disposed in this order from the front toward the rear.

The air subjected to flowing by the fan <NUM> is firstly refrigerated by the refrigerator <NUM>, and thereafter, flows into the back surface-side flow passage <NUM>, followed by ascending therein. In regards to the air flowing upward through the back surface-side flow passage <NUM>, one part thereof is introduced into both the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> through the introducing holes <NUM>, while the other thereof is introduced into the ceiling-side flow passage 26a. The air introduced into the ceiling-side flow passage 26a flows forward, followed by being vented from the vent <NUM> into the display chamber <NUM>.

Thanks to the above setting of the vent position and of the direction in which the air is vented, the air flowing slantly downward to the front in the display chamber <NUM> is sucked into the front surface-side flow passage <NUM> upon reaching the suction port <NUM> in a state where the direct contact of the air with the foodstuffs is suppressed or prevented. The air inside the front surface-side flow passage <NUM> flows downward while refrigerating the partition wall <NUM>, followed by being introduced into the ventilation space <NUM>. The air introduced into the ventilation space <NUM> is supplied again toward the rear by the fan <NUM>, and thereafter, this cycle is repeated.

Namely, a circulation passage for circulation of the air in the order of the ventilation space <NUM> → the back surface-side flow passage <NUM> → the ceiling-side flow passage 26a → the display chamber <NUM> → the front surface-side flow passage <NUM> → the ventilation space <NUM> → ··· is formed inside the refrigerated showcase <NUM>. The circulating air is refrigerated by the refrigerator <NUM> as described the above. Thus, the process of refrigeration and circulation of the air in this way results in allowing both the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM> to be appropriately refrigerated.

Incidentally, the refrigerator <NUM> is composed of a vaporizer by which a refrigerant is subjected to vaporization. The refrigerator <NUM> constitutes a refrigerating equipment together with an equipment body <NUM> installed in the equipment chamber <NUM>. The equipment body <NUM> has a compressor by which a low-temperature and low-pressure refrigerant resulting from vaporization by the refrigerator <NUM> is subjected to compression into a high-temperature and high-pressure state, a condenser by which the refrigerant from the compressor is refrigerated to promote liquification (condensation), and an expansion valve by which the refrigerant from the condenser is subjected to expansion and decompression. The refrigerant from the expansion valve is again subjected to vaporization by the refrigerator, and consequently, the air is refrigerated by the resultant heat of vaporization. Thereafter, this refrigerating cycle is repeated.

Moreover, the equipment chamber <NUM> is provided with a fan <NUM> by which the air warmed by the heat generated from the condenser and the like is discharged to the outside and refrigerated, a drain tank <NUM> and an electric equipment <NUM> (which will be described later) which performs control of application voltage, for instance, for both the display chamber <NUM> and the stock chamber <NUM>. This electric equipment <NUM> includes a voltage generator <NUM> for the control of application voltage as shown in <FIG>. Liquid such as water resulting from dew condensation in the ventilation space <NUM> during refrigeration is discharged to the equipment chamber <NUM> through a waste liquid discharge hole 2a. The discharged liquid is stored in the drain tank <NUM>.

Each of the mounting lateral surface 14a of the display chamber <NUM> and the mounting lateral surface 16a of the stock chamber <NUM> has a flat plate-shaped, meshed or latticed electrode <NUM> which is arranged thereon to generate an electric field inside each of the display chamber and the stock chamber. The electrode <NUM> is connected to the voltage generator <NUM> shown in <FIG>. The foodstuffs are supposed to be directly placed on the electrode <NUM>. The voltage generator <NUM> is a well-known voltage generator as disclosed in <CIT>, for instance, wherein the voltage generator according to the above patented invention can be used as it is.

The voltage generator <NUM> is equipped with a leakage transformer <NUM> having a primary circuit connected to a power supply (AC100V) and a booster transformer <NUM> having a primary circuit connected to a secondary circuit of the leakage transformer <NUM>. Both terminals 43a and 43b of the secondary circuit of the booster transformer <NUM> are integrated, together with the booster transformer <NUM>, by a mold <NUM> composed of an insulating material such as epoxy resin. One terminal 43b of the secondary circuit of the booster transformer <NUM> is sealed inside the mold <NUM>, while the other terminal 43a thereof is connected to an external circuit <NUM> via a resistor <NUM>. The external circuit <NUM> is connected to the electrode <NUM> on the mounting lateral surface 14a and that on the mounting lateral surface 16a as described the above.

The above configuration results in allowing the foodstuffs placed on the electrodes <NUM> to be held in an electric field generating atmosphere, thereby making it possible to refrigerate and preserve the foodstuffs in a satisfactory condition without accompanying inconveniences such as generation of drip and food deterioration. Incidentally, it may be possible also that one or both of the inside and outside sliding doors <NUM> and <NUM> are provided with a detection means such as a sensor for detecting the open or closed state of the sliding doors, whereby application of voltage to each electrode <NUM> is automatically stopped in the middle of being detected that the inside and outside sliding doors <NUM> and <NUM> are in the open state.

In regards to the refrigerated showcase <NUM> having the above configuration, the air vented from the vent <NUM> into the display chamber <NUM> is supposed to flow slantly downward to the front toward the suction port <NUM> positioned on the front surface side of the display chamber <NUM>, so that the direct contact of the vented air with the foodstuffs displayed in a display space 3a serving as a space ranging from a middle part of the display chamber <NUM> to the rear end thereof is suppressed or prevented. In particular, the air reaching the front-end side in the lower end position of the display chamber <NUM> is sucked into the suction port <NUM>, so that turbulence of air flow hardly occurs. It is to be noted that the direction in which the air is vented from the vent <NUM> may also be oriented frontward.

Further, as previously described, the air flows inside the refrigerated showcase <NUM> in a manner of circulation in a refrigerated state, in which case, however, because of the fact that the stock chamber <NUM> is not positioned on the circulation passage of the air flow, the contact of the air flow with the foodstuffs stocked in the stock chamber <NUM> hardly occurs, thereby resulting in preventing dehydration of the stocked foodstuffs. Furthermore, the display chamber <NUM> positioned on the circulation passage of the air flow is designed such that the inventive ideas are applied to the direction in which the air is vented and to the vent position, the contact of the air flow with the foodstuffs displayed in the display chamber <NUM> is also prevented, thereby making it possible to keep the quality of the displayed foodstuffs.

Claim 1:
A refrigerated showcase (<NUM>) with which foodstuffs are displayed, the refrigerated showcase comprising:
a display chamber (<NUM>) in which the foodstuffs are displayed;
a cover (<NUM>) which covers at least the front side of said display chamber;
a mounting lateral surface (14a) which is formed in said display chamber and constitutes a surface on the side where the foodstuffs are placed; and
a vent (<NUM>) which is positioned directly above said mounting lateral surface and from which refrigerated air is vented;
wherein said cover is configured such that the foodstuffs displayed in said display chamber can be viewed from the outside,
wherein said vent is positioned behind the front end of said mounting lateral surface in plan view, and
wherein the direction in which the air is vented from said vent is oriented forward in plan view,
characterized in that
the refrigerated showcase has an inside openable/closable opening (<NUM>) constituting an opening to open and close a back surface side of said display chamber, an outside openable/closable opening (<NUM>) constituting an opening to open and close a back surface side portion of an outer wall of the refrigerated showcase, wherein said inside openable/closable opening and said outside openable/closable opening are respectively positioned such as to be at least partly overlapped together in a back view, and wherein a back-side flow passage (<NUM>) serving as a flow passage which permits the refrigerated air to flow therethrough is formed between said inside openable/closable opening and said outside openable/closable opening.