Patent ID: 8647183

Claim:
A refrigerated display case comprising: a housing having an open front and defining a space adapted to receive objects; a cooling system providing an air curtain with a refrigerated primary layer and a cooled secondary layer, the refrigerated primary layer exiting from a first opening and extending at least partially across the open front, the cooled secondary layer exiting from a second opening and formed of ambient air cooled by exposure to the refrigerated primary layer that is drawn into a duct within the housing after spilling over a front surface of the housing; a dehumidification device separate from the cooling system and operatively coupled to the duct to provide dehumidification alone of the cooled ambient air drawn into the duct; and an adjustable airflow device operably communicating with the duct, wherein the adjustable airflow device can be tuned in response to the signal representative of the temperature of the cooled ambient air to collect substantially all of the ambient air cooled by exposure to the refrigerated primary layer after spilling over a front surface of the housing, while minimizing the introduction of ambient air that has not been cooled by the refrigerated primary layer; wherein the air flow device comprises one or more variable speed fans; wherein at least one of the cooling system and the dehumidification device comprises a heat pipe system; and wherein the heat pipe is used between a first flowpath inner plenum and a secondary flowpath outer plenum.