JP4908892B2 - Showcase - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a showcase provided with a lighting device.

  Conventionally, showcases installed in supermarkets, convenience stores, etc. have a plurality of illuminating lamps, which are fluorescent lamps for illuminating the display room, the front of the showcase, etc., mounted in the display room formed in the main body. . The illuminating lamp is attached to the front surface of the lower surface of the canopy in the display room, or in the case where a plurality of shelves are installed on the front surface of the lower surface of the shelf (see Patent Document 1).

In recent years, it has become possible to finely control the illuminance of an illuminating lamp using an electronic ballast, and a showcase that changes the illuminance and exerts a staging effect has been developed.
JP-A-7-143828

  Here, this type of showcase is equipped with a function to issue an alarm when the cooling device fails or when the internal temperature rises abnormally. It was output by. However, the buzzer has a risk of causing discomfort to the customer, so the volume cannot be increased and the function is often cut off in many cases. In addition, employees sometimes did not notice the lamp.

  It is also possible to output an alarm to the office, etc., but it could not be adopted if the store's alarm system was not in place, and it was often difficult for employees to understand even in the office.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional technical problems, and provides a showcase that can easily recognize that an alarm has been issued without using any special alarm means. It is intended to do.

The showcase of the present invention includes a lighting device, and includes a control device that controls the lighting device. The control device includes an effect function that changes the illuminance of the lighting device in a predetermined pattern, and an alarm. It is characterized by changing the illuminance of the lighting device in a pattern different from the pattern of the production function when it is necessary to emit

  The showcase of the invention of claim 2 is characterized in that a plurality of illumination devices are provided in the above, and the control device changes the illumination device that changes the illuminance according to the content of the alarm.

  The showcase of the invention of claim 3 is characterized in that, in each of the above inventions, the control device changes a pattern for changing the illuminance in accordance with the content of the alarm.

  According to the present invention, the showcase provided with the lighting device includes a control device that controls the lighting device, and the control device changes the illuminance of the lighting device when it is necessary to issue an alarm. The occurrence of an abnormality can be notified by a change in the illuminance of the lighting device without providing any special warning means such as a buzzer or a lamp. This makes it possible to reduce the cost by reducing the number of parts.

  In particular, since the illuminance of the lighting device is changed, it is possible for employees and the like to exhibit a reliable alarm function that is easy to understand and to realize quick maintenance.

In this case, the control device has an effect function for changing the illuminance of the lighting device in a predetermined pattern, and when issuing an alarm, the illuminance of the lighting device is changed in a pattern different from the pattern of the effect function. Enables the customer to have a recognition like a part of the production function while clearly distinguishing the production function and the alarm.

Further, if a plurality of lighting devices are provided as in the invention of claim 2, the warning content is changed depending on which lighting device the illuminance is changed by changing the lighting device that changes the illuminance according to the content of the warning. Can be identified. As a result, the maintenance work can be further speeded up and smoothed.

Further, the alarm contents can be identified by changing the pattern for changing the illuminance according to the alarm contents as in the invention of claim 3. In this case, the alarm and its contents can be impressed more clearly.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a showcase 1 to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the showcase 1 of FIG. The showcase 1 is a vertical open showcase that is installed in a store such as a supermarket, for example, and is attached to the side surface of the heat insulating wall 2 at the installation site, and a heat insulating wall 2 having a substantially U-shaped cross section that opens to the front. It is comprised from the heat insulating side plates 5 and 5.

  An inner wall 4 is attached to the inside of the heat insulating wall 2 of the showcase 1 with a predetermined interval, and a partition wall 40 is attached between the inner wall 4 and the heat insulating wall 2 with an interval therebetween. An inner layer duct 41 is formed between 4 and the partition wall 40, and an outer layer duct 42 is formed between the partition wall 40 and the heat insulating wall 2. In front of the lower end of the back inner wall 10 constituting the inner wall 4, a bottom plate 9 is attached with a gap for a duct between the bottom wall 2 </ b> A of the heat insulating wall 2, and the inside of the inner wall 4 and the bottom plate 9 is disposed inside. A display room 11 is provided.

  In the display chamber 11, the height and the mounting angle can be changed, and a pair of brackets 31 attached to a column (not shown) on the back of the display chamber 11 and a shelf plate 32 that forms a shelf device together with these brackets 31. It is constructed over several stages. A price rail 34 formed of hard synthetic resin is attached to the front edge of the shelf board 32, and the price rail 34 also serves as a decorative body for the shelf board 32. Further, a predetermined interval is formed between the front wall of the shelf board 32 and the price rail 34, and a guard 35 for preventing the products on the shelf board 32 from falling is provided at the interval. It is attached. In addition, an illuminating lamp (illuminating device) 36 for illuminating commodities displayed on the lower shelf 32 is disposed in front of the lower surface of each shelf 32. Note that the illumination lamp 36 is controlled in ON-OFF control and applied power by a control device 20 as will be described in detail later.

  An inner layer outlet 16 and an outer layer outlet 17 to which the honeycomb members 13 and 14 are respectively attached are arranged in parallel at the upper edge of the front opening 12 of the heat insulating wall 2, and the inner layer outlet 16 and the outer layer outlet 17 are The inner layer duct 41 and the outer layer duct 42 communicate with each other. The inner layer outlet 16 and the outer layer outlet 17 are partitioned by a partition member 45 at the front end of the partition wall 40. On the other hand, an inner layer suction port 18 and an outer layer suction port 19 are arranged in parallel at the lower edge of the opening 12. An illumination lamp (illuminating device) 39 for illuminating the inside of the display chamber 11 from above is provided on the top inner wall 8 on the display chamber 11 side of the inner layer outlet 16. Note that the ON / OFF control and applied power of the illumination lamp 39 are also controlled by the control device 20 in the same manner as the illumination lamp 36.

  In addition, a canopy 33 is attached to the front end of the ceiling wall 2B of the heat insulating wall 2, and an illuminating lamp for attaching an illuminating lamp (illuminating device) 37 located behind the canopy 33 inside the canopy 33. A reflector 50 is attached. As for the illuminating lamp 37, the ON / OFF control and applied power are controlled by the control device 20 in the same manner as the illuminating lamp 36. By this illumination lamp 37, the front of the showcase 1 and the front part in the display chamber 11 are illuminated from above.

  In the embodiment, each of the illumination lamps 36, 37, 39 uses a fluorescent lamp, but it is also effective to use an LED.

  In addition, an air outlet outer wall 52 that extends downward and is positioned on the front side of the outer layer air outlet 17 and closes the front end of the outer layer duct 42 is attached to the front end of the top wall 2B of the heat insulating wall 2. Note that the blower outlet outer wall 52 is formed with an engaging portion (not shown) whose lower end is folded back to the rear side, and the front end of the honeycomb material 14 attached to the outer layer blower outlet 17 is supported by the engaging portion. The And on the upper surface of this blower outlet outer wall 52, the roll-up type night cover 51 is accommodated in the front end of the top wall 2B of the heat insulation wall 2.

  On the other hand, a plurality of blowers 27 and 28 (shown only in FIG. 3) corresponding to the inner layer duct 41 and the outer layer duct 42 are installed on the bottom wall 2 </ b> A of the heat insulating wall 2 at the lower rear portion of the bottom plate 9. A cooler (not shown) of the cooling device is vertically installed in the inner layer duct 41 behind the back inner wall 10. The compressor 26 (only FIG. 3 is illustrated), the condenser, the condenser blower 43 (only FIG. 3 is illustrated), etc., which constitute the refrigeration cycle together with this cooler, are provided separately from the showcase 1, for example, in a store It is provided in a machine room or the like, and the showcase 1 and the compressor 26 are connected by a refrigerant pipe (not shown). The compressor 26, the blowers 27 and 28, and the electromagnetic valve 29 for controlling the refrigerant flow rate in the refrigerant circuit are connected to the control device 20, and the cooling operation is controlled as will be described in detail later. To do.

  Next, the control device 20 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the control device 20 of the showcase 1. The control device 20 is constituted by a general-purpose microcomputer and includes a timer 21 as a time limit means. A temperature sensor 22 for cooling control, a power switch 23 and a lighting switch 24 are connected to the input of the control device 20. Further, the compressor 26, the blowers 27, 28, 43, the electromagnetic valve 29, and the lighting devices 36, 37, 39 are connected to the output of the control device 20. It is assumed that the temperature sensor 22 is attached to, for example, the ceiling in the display room 11, and the lighting devices 36, 37, and 39 are connected via electronic ballasts 46, 47, and 48, respectively.

  The operation of the showcase 1 of the embodiment of the present invention with the above configuration will be described. First, when the power switch 23 is turned on, the control device 20 activates the compressor 26 and the fans 27 and 28. When the compressor 26 is started, the cooler vertically provided in the inner layer duct 41 exhibits a cooling action. The cool air exchanged with the cooler is raised in the inner layer duct 41 by the operation of the blower 27 and blown out from the inner layer outlet 16 toward the inner layer suction port 18. Then, the cool air sucked from the inner layer suction port 18 is accelerated by the blower 27 again. Thereby, a cold air curtain is formed in the front opening 12.

  On the other hand, when the blower 28 corresponding to the outer layer duct 42 is operated, the protective airflow in the outer layer duct 42 is raised in the outer layer duct 42 and blown out from the outer layer outlet 17 toward the outer layer inlet 19. Then, the air sucked from the outer layer suction port 19 is accelerated by the blower 28 again. As a result, a protective air curtain is formed outside the cool air curtain in the front opening 12, and a front and rear double air curtain is formed in the opening 12. A part of the inner cool air curtain is circulated in the display chamber 11 to cool the display chamber 11.

  The control device 20 continuously operates the blowers 27 and 28, and executes ON-OFF control for the compressor 26 and the condenser blower 43 based on the output of the temperature sensor 22, for example, starting at + 5 ° C. and stopping at + 3 ° C. To do. As a result, the inside of the display chamber 11 is cooled to an average refrigeration temperature of + 4 ° C. In the present embodiment, the temperature in the display chamber 11 is controlled only by the ON / OFF control of the compressor 26 and the condenser blower 43, but the present invention is not limited to this. The temperature control may be performed by performing the opening degree control by the valve 29.

(1) Effect function When the lighting switch 24 is turned on, the control device 20 applies usually 100% power to the lighting lamps 36, ..., 37, 39 by the electronic ballasts 46, 47, 48. And turn on (illuminance 100%) (FIG. 4). In this case, the control apparatus 20 adjusts the electric power applied to each illumination lamp 36 ..., 37, 39 by the electronic ballasts 46, 48, and changes the illuminance (dimming) so as to exhibit the effect. I have.

  This effect function is executed by a predetermined mode switching operation of the control device 20. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, the control device 20 gradually reduces the illuminance of the illuminating lamps 39, 36,... A pattern is executed in which the gradual change back to is sequentially performed from the upper lamp to the lower lamp. This coincides with the flow of the air curtain formed in the opening 12, and has an effect of making the customer symbolically recognize the air curtain flowing down due to the change in illuminance.

(2) Alarm function 1
Here, in the showcase 1, for example, various abnormalities such as a high temperature abnormality and a low temperature abnormality in the display chamber 11 may occur. When a low temperature abnormality occurs, the control device 20 stops from the normal lighting state or when the effect function is being executed, and then stops the lowermost stage as shown in FIG. After gradually reducing the illuminance of the illuminating lamp 36 on the shelf 32, a change to gradually return to 100% illuminance is executed to issue a low temperature alarm.

  The employee is informed in advance that the lighting state indicates a low temperature alarm, and can thereby grasp that a low temperature abnormality has occurred in the showcase 1. In particular, because of the change in illuminance of the illuminating lamp 36, the employee can clearly confirm the alarm. On the other hand, when a high temperature abnormality occurs, the control device 20 is similarly in a normal lighting state or after stopping the effect function, the electronic ballast 48 uses the electronic ballast 48 to turn on the illumination lamp 39 on the top wall as shown in FIG. After gradually lowering the illuminance, a change to gradually return to 100% illuminance is executed and a high temperature alarm is issued. The employee is known in advance that the lighting state indicates a high-temperature alarm, so that the employee can grasp that an abnormality has occurred in the showcase 1. In particular, unlike the case of the low temperature alarm, the illuminance of the illuminating lamp 39 changes, so it can be clearly determined that the abnormality is a high temperature abnormality.

  Thus, since the alarm is issued by changing the illuminance of the illuminating lamps 36 and 39, it is not necessary to provide special alarm means such as a buzzer or a lamp, so that the number of parts and the cost can be reduced. become. Further, by changing the illuminance of different illumination lamps, it is possible to clearly distinguish the contents of the alarm.

(3) Alarm function 2
Next, another alarm function will be described. In this case, when a low temperature abnormality occurs, the control device 20 gradually decreases the illuminance of the illumination lamps 36... 39 that illuminate the inside of the display room 11 by using the electronic ballasts 46 and 48, for example, as shown in FIG. Thereafter, a low temperature alarm is issued by executing a pattern in which a change gradually returning to 100% illuminance is sequentially performed from the lower illumination lamp toward the upper illumination lamp. The employee is also informed in advance that this pattern indicates a low temperature alarm.

  This is a change opposite to the illuminance change pattern of the above-described effect function, so that the employee is not the effect function that is usually performed, a low temperature abnormality has occurred in the showcase 1, and an alarm is issued. I can understand that. Since the illuminance change of the illumination lamps 36... 39 can be clearly grasped, the employee can quickly cope with the low temperature abnormality.

  Further, when a high temperature abnormality occurs, the control device 20 uses the electronic ballasts 46, 47, and 48 to add canopies in addition to the illumination lamps 36... After gradually reducing the illuminance of the 33 illumination lamps 37, a high temperature alarm is generated by executing a pattern in which the change is gradually returned to 100% illuminance from the lower illumination lamp toward the upper illumination lamp. To emit. The employee is also informed in advance that this pattern indicates a high temperature alarm.

  This is also a change opposite to the illumination change pattern of the production function described above. Similarly, the employee is not the production function that is usually performed, but an abnormality has occurred in the showcase 1, and an alarm is issued. I can grasp that. Further, in this case, since the illumination lamp 37 of the canopy 33 is also changed in illuminance, the employee can clearly determine that the alarm being issued is not a low temperature alarm but a high temperature alarm. Thereby, the employee can take a quick response to the high temperature abnormality.

  In particular, if the alarm contents are identified by changing the illuminance change pattern in this way, the alarm and its contents can be more clearly impressed. Furthermore, when the alarm is issued, the illuminance of the illuminating lamp is changed in a pattern different from the pattern of the production function, so that the employee clearly distinguishes the production function from the warning, while the customer seems to be part of the production function. It is also possible to have a good recognition.

  In the above embodiment, the high temperature alarm and the low temperature alarm have been described as examples. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and for example, clogging of the condenser and other various alarms can be notified by illuminance change. Moreover, the pattern shown in the Example is not restricted to it, It can change variously.

It is a perspective view of a showcase to which the present invention is applied. It is a vertical side view of the showcase of FIG. It is a block diagram of the control apparatus of a showcase. It is a figure which shows the normal lighting state of each illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG. It is a figure which shows the presentation function by the illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG. It is a figure which shows the low temperature alarm by the illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG. It is a figure which shows the high temperature alarm by the illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG. It is a figure which shows another low temperature warning by the illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG. It is a figure which shows another high temperature warning by the illumination lamp of the showcase of FIG.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Showcase 2 Heat insulation wall 11 Display room 12 Opening 20 Control apparatus 22 Temperature sensor 23 Power switch 24 Illumination switch 26 Compressor 27, 28 Blower 29 Solenoid valve 36, 37, 39 Illumination lamp 46, 47, 48 Electronic ballast

Claims (3)

In a showcase with lighting equipment,
A control device for controlling the lighting device, the control device having a rendering function for changing the illuminance of the lighting device in a predetermined pattern, and different from the pattern of the rendering function when it is necessary to issue an alarm; A showcase in which the illuminance of the lighting device is changed by a pattern .   2. The showcase according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the lighting devices are provided, and the control device changes the lighting device that changes illuminance according to the content of the alarm.   The showcase according to claim 1, wherein the control device changes a pattern for changing illuminance according to the content of the alarm.

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