Compact food package display refrigerator
First Claim
1. A compact retail display refrigerator for displaying refrigerated, like form, food packages maintained at super chilled temperatures, said refrigerator comprising a small size cabinet having an open top, front and back walls, a pair of side walls, and a bottom wall, said cabinet being provided with an upper inner refrigeration compartment containing a plurality of vertically extending guideways arranged in an orthogonal row array for supporting a plurality of stacks of the food packages in spaced apart orthogonal relation therein for progressive upward step-by-step movement in the guideways, said guideways each comprised of a plurality of vertically extending spaced guide pins upstanding from a perforated base support plate spaced above the said bottom wall of the cabinet to define a lower refrigerated compartment portion therein including a bottom cooling chamber portion, self-acting spring loaded lift devices mounted within the respective said guideways for supporting the said stacks of food packages therein in rested position on said lift devices and continuously urging them upwardly in their respective said guideways to locate the existing topmost package in each stack at an exposed predetermined selection level at the open top of the cabinet, refrigerating mechanism including cooling coil means located within said bottom cooling chamber portion for providing chilled air at the said super chilled temperatures, and chilled air flow creating means including a vertical air duct located at the back of said cabinet and provided with a closed top end and an air circulating electric fan located within said cooling chamber adjacent the open bottom end of said air duct for forcing the said chilled air from said cooling chamber portion upwardly through said air duct to the top of the cabinet and directing a horizontally flattened stream of the chilled air forwardly across the tops of the said row array of package stacks and downwardly therebetween to maintain the individual packages at the said super chilled temperatures.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A compact retail display refrigerator for displaying refrigerated food packages maintained at super chilled temperature comprises a small cabinet with a refrigerated upper compartment containing a row array of package guideways formed of a plurality of vertically extending guide pins upstanding from a perforated base support plate. Self acting spring loaded lift devices mounted within the guideways support stacks of food packages therein and urge them upwardly step-by-step to automatically locate the existing topmost package in each stack at a predetermined selection level. Refrigerating mechanism located within a lower compartment of the cabinet includes a pair of cooling coils having alternately operating cooling and defrosting cycles and mounted in a bottom cooling chamber portion of the cabinet, and an electric fan forces the cooled air from the cooling chamber upwardly through a vertical duct at the back of the cabinet and having a forwardly directed side outlet opening at its top end for directing a stream of the chilled air forwardly across the top of the row array of package stacks and downwardly therebetween and through the perforated base support plate back into the cooling chamber.
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Citations
17 Claims
- 1. A compact retail display refrigerator for displaying refrigerated, like form, food packages maintained at super chilled temperatures, said refrigerator comprising a small size cabinet having an open top, front and back walls, a pair of side walls, and a bottom wall, said cabinet being provided with an upper inner refrigeration compartment containing a plurality of vertically extending guideways arranged in an orthogonal row array for supporting a plurality of stacks of the food packages in spaced apart orthogonal relation therein for progressive upward step-by-step movement in the guideways, said guideways each comprised of a plurality of vertically extending spaced guide pins upstanding from a perforated base support plate spaced above the said bottom wall of the cabinet to define a lower refrigerated compartment portion therein including a bottom cooling chamber portion, self-acting spring loaded lift devices mounted within the respective said guideways for supporting the said stacks of food packages therein in rested position on said lift devices and continuously urging them upwardly in their respective said guideways to locate the existing topmost package in each stack at an exposed predetermined selection level at the open top of the cabinet, refrigerating mechanism including cooling coil means located within said bottom cooling chamber portion for providing chilled air at the said super chilled temperatures, and chilled air flow creating means including a vertical air duct located at the back of said cabinet and provided with a closed top end and an air circulating electric fan located within said cooling chamber adjacent the open bottom end of said air duct for forcing the said chilled air from said cooling chamber portion upwardly through said air duct to the top of the cabinet and directing a horizontally flattened stream of the chilled air forwardly across the tops of the said row array of package stacks and downwardly therebetween to maintain the individual packages at the said super chilled temperatures.
Specification