JP7552029B2 - Product storage device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a product storage device, and more specifically, to a product storage device that cools the products stored in it.

Conventionally, there are known product storage devices that cool stored products to a desired temperature, and such product storage devices have a storage cabinet and a machine room inside the device body.

The storage unit is used to store products. The machine room is separated from the storage room, and is equipped with refrigeration equipment such as a condenser that constitutes a cooling unit for cooling the interior atmosphere of the storage unit. The front opening of this machine room is closed by a kick plate that is removably attached to the device body, and an external ventilation fan and a filter member are provided.

When the external ventilation fan is driven, it takes in outside air through the ventilation holes formed in the kick plate and sends it to the condenser, promoting heat exchange in the condenser. The filter member is installed between the kick plate and the condenser, and has a filter section that captures dust particles in the outside air passing through the ventilation holes.

The kick plate is also provided with a brush member that is movable in the left-right direction. The brush member has bristles that can come into contact with the front surface of the filter section, and the bristles slide against the filter section when the brush member moves in the left-right direction.

In the above-mentioned product storage device, the brush member is manually moved left and right so that the brush bristles come into sliding contact with the filter portion and remove dust particles adhering to the filter portion (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Patent No. 6415657

However, in the above-mentioned product storage device, the brush member was moved left and right so that the brush bristles came into sliding contact with the filter section to remove dust particles, and there was a risk that some of the dust particles would be pushed into the mesh structure of the filter section and remain there.

In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a product storage device that can effectively remove dust particles adhering to a filter member.

In order to achieve the above object, the product storage device according to the present invention comprises: a kick plate arranged in a manner to close the front opening of a machine room inside the device main body and having a plurality of ventilation holes; an external ventilation fan installed in the machine room, which, when driven in a forward rotation, sends outside air passing through the ventilation holes into the inside of the machine room, and when driven in a reverse rotation, sends air inside the machine room forward; a filter member arranged between the kick plate and the external ventilation fan, which has a filter part that collects dust contained in the air that has passed through the ventilation holes; and a brush member having brush bristles that can contact the front surface of the filter part and is provided on the kick plate so as to be movable in the left-right direction, and the brush bristles come into sliding contact with the filter part when moving in the left-right direction. The product storage device stores products in a storage compartment separated from the machine room inside the device main body, and is characterized by comprising a control unit that drives the external ventilation fan in the reverse direction when the movement in the left-right direction by the brush member is completed.

The present invention is also characterized in that, in the above-mentioned product storage device, a brush sensor is provided which is turned on when the brush member is placed in a standby position and turned off when the brush member moves away from the standby position, and the control unit drives the external ventilation fan in reverse rotation when the brush sensor changes from on to off and then from off to on.

The product storage device according to the present invention is characterized in that it includes a kick plate arranged in a manner to close the front opening of a machine room inside the device main body and having multiple ventilation holes formed therein, an external ventilation fan installed in the machine room and configured to send outside air passing through the ventilation holes into the inside of the machine room when driven in a forward rotation, and to send air inside the machine room forward when driven in a reverse rotation, a filter member arranged between the kick plate and the external ventilation fan and having a filter part that collects dust contained in the air that has passed through the ventilation holes, and a brush member having brush bristles that can contact the front surface of the filter part and is provided on the kick plate so as to be movable in the left-right direction, and the brush bristles come into sliding contact with the filter part when moving in the left-right direction, and the product storage device stores products in a storage compartment separated from the machine room inside the device main body, and is characterized in that it includes a control unit that drives the external ventilation fan in the reverse rotation when the brush member moves in the left-right direction.

According to the present invention, when the brush member has completed its movement in the left-right direction, the control unit drives the external air blowing fan in the reverse direction. This not only removes dust particles with the brush member, but also removes dust particles pushed in by the brush member from the filter member, providing the effect of efficiently removing dust particles adhering to the filter member.

According to the present invention, when the brush member moves in the left-right direction, the control unit drives the external air blowing fan to rotate in the reverse direction. This not only removes dust particles with the brush member, but also removes dust particles pushed in by the brush member from the filter member, providing the effect of efficiently removing dust particles adhering to the filter member.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic internal structure of a product storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a characteristic control system of the product storage device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the kick plate shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the kick plate shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the kick plate shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing a main part of the kick plate shown in FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the process of driving the outside air blowing fan performed by the control unit shown in FIG.

Below, a preferred embodiment of the product storage device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a schematic internal structure of a product storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a characteristic control system of the product storage device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The product storage device illustrated here is an ice case installed in a store such as a convenience store or supermarket, and includes a case body 10, which is the device body.

The case body 10 is a rectangular heat-insulated housing with an opening 10a on the top surface (hereinafter also referred to as the top opening). The case body 10 defines a storage compartment 11 and an air passage 12 inside, and is also provided with an air circulation unit 20.

The storage 11 is a chamber defined in such a manner as to face the top opening 10a, and is intended for storing a mesh-structured basket-like object containing products such as ice cream inside. An intake port 13 is formed at the upper rear part of the storage 11, and an exhaust port 14 is formed at the upper front part of the storage 11.

The intake port 13 is an opening for drawing in air from inside the storage cabinet 11, and extends along the left-right direction of the storage cabinet 11. The exhaust port 14 is an opening for blowing air into the inside of the storage cabinet 11. This exhaust port 14 extends along the left-right direction of the storage cabinet 11.

The air passage 12 is an air passage that runs from the intake port 13 to the exhaust port 14. This air passage 12 is configured in such a way that a rear passage 12a that is connected to the intake port 13 and is located outside and to the rear of the storage 11, a lower passage 12b that is located outside and below the storage room, and a front passage 12c that is located outside and in front of the storage room and is connected to the exhaust port 14 are connected to each other.

The air circulation unit 20 is composed of a refrigerant circuit 21, a circulation fan 22, and an external air blowing fan 23.

The refrigerant circuit 21 is composed of a compressor 211, a condenser 212, an expansion mechanism 213, and an evaporator 214 connected in sequence by a refrigerant pipe 215, and a refrigerant is sealed inside.

The compressor 211 is installed inside the case body 10 in the machine room 15 below the storage 11 and the air passage 12. This compressor 211 operates in response to commands given from the control unit described below, and when operating, it draws in refrigerant and compresses the refrigerant.

The condenser 212 is installed in front of the compressor 211 in the machine room 15. This condenser 212 condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor 211. The expansion mechanism 213 is composed of, for example, an electronic expansion valve, and its opening is adjusted according to an opening command given by the control unit. This expansion mechanism 213 adiabatically expands the refrigerant condensed by the condenser 212.

The evaporator 214 is installed at an arbitrary position in the lower passage 12b of the air passage 12. This evaporator 214 cools the air around itself by evaporating the refrigerant supplied from the expansion mechanism 213. The refrigerant evaporated by this evaporator 214 is sucked into the compressor 211.

The circulation fan 22 is installed in the lower passage 12b. This circulation fan 22 is driven by a circulation fan motor 22a that rotates in response to a command given by the control unit. When driven, the circulation fan 22 draws in air from inside the storage 11 through the suction port 13, sends the air through the air passage 12 in the order of the rear passage 12a, the lower passage 12b, and the front passage 12c, and then blows the air out through the blowing port 14 into the inside of the storage 11, thereby circulating air between the inside of the storage 11 and the air passage 12.

The machine room 15 in which the compressor 211, condenser 212, etc. are installed has an opening 15a on the front side (hereinafter also referred to as the front opening), and this front opening 15a is closed by a kick plate 30. This kick plate 30 will be described later.

The external ventilation fan 23 is installed behind the condenser 212 in the machine room 15. The external ventilation fan 23 is driven to rotate by the ventilation fan motor 23a being driven by a command given from the control unit.

In this embodiment, the exterior air blower fan 23 can rotate forward and backward. When a forward rotation drive command is sent from the control unit to the air blower fan motor 23a, the air blower fan motor 23a rotates forward, and the exterior air blower fan 23 rotates forward. On the other hand, when a reverse rotation drive command is sent from the control unit to the air blower fan motor 23a, the air blower fan motor 23a rotates in the reverse direction, and the exterior air blower fan 23 rotates in the reverse direction. When the exterior air blower fan 23 rotates forward, it blows air (outside air) that passes through the ventilation holes 35 formed in the kick plate 30 into the machine room 15, and when it rotates in the reverse direction, it blows air inside the machine room 15 forward.

Figures 3 to 5 show the kick plate 30 shown in Figure 1, with Figures 3 and 4 being perspective views and Figure 5 being an exploded perspective view. As shown in Figures 3 to 5, the kick plate 30 is made, for example, by processing sheet metal or the like, and is a flat member with an upper end 31, a lower end 32, and both left and right ends 33, 34 bent backwards. The upper end 31 of the kick plate 30 has both left and right end portions bent downward to form plate lower extensions 31a, and the lower end 32 of the kick plate 30 has a part of its rear end bent upward to form plate upper extensions 32a.

The kick plate 30 is detachably attached to the case body 10, and when attached to the case body 10, it closes the front opening 15a of the machine room 15. The kick plate 30 has a ventilation hole 35 and an operation hole 36.

The ventilation holes 35 are formed in a plurality of areas in the ventilation area of the kick plate 30. The ventilation area is an area located in front of the condenser 212. The operation hole 36 is a long hole extending in the left-right direction in the upper area of the ventilation area.

An upper rail 40 and a filter member 50 are attached to such a kick plate 30. The upper rail 40 is an elongated member formed, for example, by processing a metal plate, with the left-right direction being the longitudinal direction. As shown in FIG. 6, the upper rail 40 has a rail base 41, a rail lower extension 42, a rail upper extension 43, and a rail rear extension 44.

The rail base 41 is a horizontally extending portion that extends in the left-right direction. A rail hole 41a having a long hole shape that extends in the left-right direction is formed in this rail base 41. The rail lower extension 42 is a flat portion that extends downward from the rear end edge of the rail base 41. The rail upper extension 43 is a flat portion that extends upward from the front end edge of the rail base 41. The rail rear extension 44 is a pair of left and right flat portions that extend rearward from the left and right extending ends of the rail upper extension 43. Of these rail rear extensions 44, the right end portion of the right rail rear extension 44 and the left end portion of the left rail rear extension 44 each have an attachment piece portion 44a that extends downward from the extending end.

Such an upper rail 40 is inserted into the kick plate 30 in such a manner that the rail upper extension 43 contacts the rear surface of the upper portion of the operating hole 36 in the kick plate 30, the rail rear extension 44 contacts the underside of the upper end 31 of the kick plate 30, and the mounting piece 44a contacts the front surface of the plate lower extension 31a, and the mounting pin P, which passes through the mounting support hole 311 formed in the plate lower extension 31a from the rear, is inserted through the rail mounting hole 441 formed in the mounting piece 44a and screwed into the kick plate 30.

The filter member 50 is made by processing, for example, sheet metal, and has multiple (four in the illustrated example) filter openings 51. The filter member 50 has a filter section 53 that captures dust particles contained in the air passing through by blocking the filter openings 51 with a porous mesh material 52.

As shown in FIG. 5, such a filter member 50 is attached to the kick plate 30 to which the upper rail 40 is attached in such a manner that it covers the rear side of the ventilation area of the kick plate 30 by inserting a mounting pin P, which penetrates from the rear through the filter mounting holes 54 formed on both the left and right sides of the upper end 31 and the lower end 32, through the mounting support holes 312, 322 formed in the plate lower extension 31a and the plate upper extension 32a and screwing them together.

In other words, the upper rail 40 is interposed between the kick plate 30 and the filter member 50, and supports the brush member 60 by suspending it. Such a brush member 60 is an elongated member whose longitudinal direction is the up-down direction, and the tips of the brush bristles 61 are in contact with the filter portion 53. Therefore, an operator such as a store employee can grasp the operating portion 62 protruding forward from the operating hole 36 and move it along the extension direction (left-right direction) of the operating hole 36, so that the brush member 60 can move along the extension direction of the upper rail 40. As a result, the brush bristles 61 come into sliding contact with the filter portion 53, and dust particles collected and attached to the filter portion 53 can be removed from the filter portion 53.

In addition to the above configuration, such a product storage device is equipped with a brush sensor 65 and a control unit 70. When the brush member 60 is placed in the rightmost standby position, i.e., when the operating unit 62 is placed on the right edge of the operating hole 36, the brush sensor 65 turns on and sends an ON signal to the control unit 70, whereas when the brush member 60 leaves the standby state, i.e., when the brush member 60 is moved leftward from the standby position, the brush sensor 65 turns off and sends an OFF signal to the control unit 70.

The control unit 70 controls the overall operation of each part of the product storage device according to the programs and data stored in the memory unit 71.

The control unit 70 may be realized, for example, by having a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) execute a program, i.e., by software, or may be realized by hardware such as an IC (Integrated Circuit), or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

In a product storage device configured as described above, the control unit 70 issues a drive command to the compressor 211 to drive it, while also issuing a drive command to the circulation fan motor 22a to rotate the circulation fan 22, and further issues a forward rotation drive command to the blower fan motor 23a to rotate the external blower fan 23 forward, so that the air inside the storage cabinet 11 circulates between the storage cabinet 11 and the air passage 12, and the air passing through the air passage 12 is cooled by the evaporator 214, thereby cooling the internal atmosphere of the storage cabinet 11 and cooling the products in the storage cabinet 11 to the desired temperature and maintaining them there.

By driving the external ventilation fan 23 in the forward direction, the outside air entering through the ventilation holes 35 passes through the filter member 50 and is sent out toward the rear, which promotes heat exchange in the condenser 212, and the filter section 53 collects dust particles contained in the outside air, preventing clogging of the condenser 212.

Figure 7 is a flow chart showing the process of driving the external air blower fan performed by the control unit 70 shown in Figure 2. The operation of the product storage device will be explained while explaining the external air blower fan driving process. Note that, as a premise for the explanation, it is assumed that the compressor 211 and the circulation fan 22 are driving, and that the external air blower fan 23 is also driving in the forward direction.

In the external ventilation fan drive process, the control unit 70 determines whether the brush sensor 65 has switched from on to off (step S101). If the brush sensor 65 has switched from on to off (step S101: Yes), the operator grasps the operating unit 62 and moves the brush member 60 to the left along the upper rail 40, and the control unit 70 determines whether the brush sensor 65 has switched from off to on (step S102).

If the brush sensor 65 switches from off to on (step S102: Yes), the control unit 70 waits for a predetermined period of time (e.g., about 5 to 30 seconds) to elapse (step S103).

Here, when the brush sensor 65 switches from off to on, the brush member 60, which has been removed from the standby state by the operator's operation, moves to the left, and then moves to the right to be placed in the standby state, and the brush bristles 61 come into sliding contact with the filter portion 53, removing dust particles that have been captured and attached to the filter portion 53 from the filter portion 53. Therefore, the control unit 70 can give the operator time to retreat from the front area of the case body 10 by waiting for a predetermined time to elapse when the brush sensor 65 switches from off to on.

If the predetermined time has elapsed (step S103: Yes), the control unit 70 issues a reverse rotation drive command to the blower fan motor 23a to drive the exterior blower fan 23 in reverse (step S104), and waits for a predetermined drive time (e.g., about 1 to 5 minutes) to elapse (step S105).

By driving the external ventilation fan 23 in reverse in this way, the air inside the machine room 15 passes around the condenser 212 and flows forward, so that the dust particles removed from the filter member 50 by the brush member 60 can be brushed out to the outside of the case body 10, and the dust particles pushed into the mesh material 52 of the filter section 53 by the brush member 60 can be sent forward and removed from the filter member 50.

If the drive time has elapsed (step S105: Yes), the control unit 70 issues a forward rotation drive command to the blower fan motor 23a to drive the exterior blower fan 23 in the forward direction (step S106), and then returns to the procedure to end the current process.

As described above, according to the product storage device of the embodiment of the present invention, when the brush sensor 65 changes from on to off and then from off to on, the control unit 70 drives the external air blowing fan 23 to rotate in the reverse direction. This not only removes dust particles with the brush member 60, but also removes dust particles pushed in by the brush member 60 from the filter member 50, thereby allowing dust particles adhering to the filter member 50 to be effectively removed.

In addition, when the brush sensor 65 changes from on to off and then from off to on, the control unit 70 drives the external air blowing fan 23 in reverse rotation after a predetermined time has elapsed, giving the operator an opportunity to evacuate from the front area of the case body 10 and preventing the operator from feeling uncomfortable when the external air blowing fan 23 is driven in reverse rotation while operating the unit.

The above describes a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to this and various modifications can be made.

In the above-described embodiment, the brush member 60 is moved manually by the operator, but in the present invention, a brush mechanism may be provided that moves the brush in response to a command given from the control unit. When the brush is moved automatically by the brush mechanism in this manner, the control unit may drive the interior ventilation fan in reverse rotation while the brush is moving, without waiting for the brush sensor to switch from off to on. This also makes it possible to remove dust particles not only by the brush, but also by dust particles pushed in by the brush from the filter member, thereby allowing dust particles adhering to the filter member to be removed satisfactorily.

10...Case body, 10a...Top opening, 11...Storage compartment, 12...Air passage, 15...Machine room, 15a...Front opening, 20...Air circulation unit, 21...Refrigerant circuit, 212...Condenser, 22...Circulation fan, 23...External ventilation fan, 30...Kick plate, 35...Ventilation hole, 50...Filter member, 53...Filter section, 60...Brush member, 61...Brush bristles, 62...Operation section, 65...Brush sensor, 70...Control section.

Claims (1)

a kick plate disposed in a manner to close a front opening of a machine chamber inside the device body and having a plurality of ventilation holes formed therein;
An exterior ventilation fan that is installed in the machine room and, when driven in a forward rotation, sends outside air passing through the ventilation hole into the inside of the machine room, and, when driven in a reverse rotation, sends air inside the machine room forward;
A filter member having a filter portion disposed between the kick plate and the external blower fan and configured to collect dust particles contained in the air passing through the ventilation hole;
a brush member having brush bristles capable of contacting a front surface of the filter portion, the brush member being movably mounted on the kick plate along the left-right direction, the brush bristles coming into sliding contact with the filter portion when the brush member is manually moved along the left-right direction; and
A control unit that drives the outside air blowing fan in reverse rotation when the movement of the brush member along the left-right direction is completed;
a brush sensor that is turned on when the brush member is disposed at a standby position and that is turned off when the brush member is separated from the standby position,
The control unit drives the external air blowing fan in reverse rotation when the brush sensor changes from on to off and then from off to on, provided that a predetermined period of time has elapsed.

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