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US20100000230A1 - Thermoelectric refrigerated secondary shelf - Google Patents

Thermoelectric refrigerated secondary shelf Download PDF

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Publication number
US20100000230A1
US20100000230A1 US12/521,736 US52173609A US2010000230A1 US 20100000230 A1 US20100000230 A1 US 20100000230A1 US 52173609 A US52173609 A US 52173609A US 2010000230 A1 US2010000230 A1 US 2010000230A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
heat transfer
inner container
receptacle
fins
thermoelectric
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US12/521,736
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Abbas A. Alahyari
Trevor E. Bailey
Rolf A. Segerstrom
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Hill Phoenix Inc
Original Assignee
Carrier Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Carrier Corp filed Critical Carrier Corp
Assigned to HILL PHOENIX, INC. reassignment HILL PHOENIX, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CARRIER COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION, INC., CARRIER CORPORATION
Assigned to CARRIER CORPORATION reassignment CARRIER CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: ALAHYARI, ABBAS A., BAILEY, TREVOR E., WINCH, GARY D.
Assigned to CARRIER CORPORATION reassignment CARRIER CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: SEGERSTROM, ROLF, ALAHYARI, ABBAS A., BAILEY, TREVOR E.
Publication of US20100000230A1 publication Critical patent/US20100000230A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D25/00—Charging, supporting, and discharging the articles to be cooled
    • F25D25/02—Charging, supporting, and discharging the articles to be cooled by shelves
    • F25D25/028—Cooled supporting means
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D17/00—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces
    • F25D17/04—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection
    • F25D17/06—Arrangements for circulating cooling fluids; Arrangements for circulating gas, e.g. air, within refrigerated spaces for circulating air, e.g. by convection by forced circulation
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25B—REFRIGERATION MACHINES, PLANTS OR SYSTEMS; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
    • F25B21/00—Machines, plants or systems, using electric or magnetic effects
    • F25B21/02—Machines, plants or systems, using electric or magnetic effects using Peltier effect; using Nernst-Ettinghausen effect
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D19/00—Arrangement or mounting of refrigeration units with respect to devices or objects to be refrigerated, e.g. infrared detectors
    • F25D19/04—Arrangement or mounting of refrigeration units with respect to devices or objects to be refrigerated, e.g. infrared detectors with more than one refrigeration unit
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25—REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25D—REFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D2400/00—General features of, or devices for refrigerators, cold rooms, ice-boxes, or for cooling or freezing apparatus not covered by any other subclass
    • F25D2400/14—Refrigerator multi units

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to cooling of enclosed spaces and, more particularly, to thermoelectric cooling of structures therein.
  • Foods that require cooling to be kept fresh are often offered for sale in food stores by displaying such foods in the interiors of glass front, cooled display cases.
  • the food that is being offered is made visible to customers through the glass front thereof by displaying same in the interior space of the case on one or more shelves in that case.
  • the cooling in this interior space has commonly been provided by a cyclic refrigeration system based on the vapor-compression cycle of a circulating refrigerant with the system evaporator coils positioned along shelves or overhead, or both, in the display case, and often accompanied with an air circulation fan.
  • thermoelectric cooling has been used with portable coolers and various electronic devices, and in other cooling arrangements.
  • Thermoelectric cooling devices are entirely solid state devices using the Peltier effect in semiconductor or semimetal materials to convert controlled electrical currents into corresponding thermal gradients between an input surface of the device module, thermally coupled to that which is to be cooled, and an output surface thereof thermally coupled to some sort of heat sink.
  • Such output surface coupling adds to the difficulty in providing a display case shelf remote from the display case interior space bottom which is the convenient location to provide such a heat sink structure, and therefore there is a desire for a more convenient thermoelectric cooling arrangement for a display shelf remote from the display case interior space bottom.
  • the present invention provides an enclosure cooling system for cooling an interior space in an enclosure having therein a first shelf with a side thereof adjacent to an evaporator coil in a cyclic refrigeration system with a second shelf positioned in the interior space apart from and on a side of the first shelf opposite that to which the evaporator coil is adjacent.
  • a thermoelectric cooling module is affixed and thermally coupled to the second shelf.
  • FIG. 1 shows a cross section side view of a representation of a cooled display case embodying the present invention
  • FIG. 2 shows a top view of an alternative representation of the present invention.
  • a cooled display case, 10 is shown in a cross section side view in FIG. 1 , and has a base or bottom shelf, 11 , for supporting cooled items offered for sale such as food displayed behind a pair of adjacent glass sheets, 12 , at the front of case 10 covering the interior space thereof. Shelf 11 of thermally conductive material is supported in the interior of case 10 from underneath at opposite sides thereof in FIG. 2 by shelf supports, 13 .
  • a companion evaporator coil, 14 as a part of the case cyclic refrigeration system, is supported on the bottom interior surface of case 10 adjacent to bottom shelf 11 with a fan, 15 , adjacent thereto to circulate cooled air through the interior space of case 10 as is conventional.
  • Shelf 11 relatively near the bottom of the interior space of case 10 typically leaves substantial room above such displayed items so that one or more additional shelves can be added there remote from the bottom of the interior space of case 10 and shelf 11 to provide additional display support for offering further items for sale.
  • the cooling of such items has usually been by use of an overhead gravity evaporator coil in the case refrigeration system or just by directing some of the cooled air circulated by fan 15 over the added shelf or shelves and the items displayed thereon.
  • a shelf, 16 of thermally conductive material, is shown added in FIG. 1 in the interior space of case 10 above shelf 11 supported on shelf supports, 17 , and positioned there remote from the bottom of the interior space of case 10 and shelf 11 .
  • a thermoelectric cooling module, 18 is shown in that figure affixed to, and thermally coupled at its input surface to, the underside surface of added shelf 16 to form a heat sink for items such as food supported thereon.
  • Each module 18 is also appropriately interconnected to the electrical power supply and control system provided for case 10 , and added shelf 16 is easily disconnected at the mating electrical plug and removed from the case 10 interior space with module 18 affixed thereto.
  • each thermoelectric cooling module 18 has a finned heat sink structure, 19 , of a thermally conductive material affixed and thermally coupled thereto.
  • Fan 15 circulates air cooled by evaporator coil 14 over finned heat sink structure 19 to cool same by forced convection and the output surface of module 18 .
  • a heat sink structure thermally coupled to the outside of a side wall of case 10 perhaps supported on supports 17 , could be thermally coupled to the output surface of module 18 to provide sequential heat sinking thereto.
  • other shelves cooled in the manner of shelf 16 could also be added.
  • the degree of cooling on each of shelves 11 and 16 can differ because of the different cooling source arrangements for each.
  • the providing of such differing cooling zones can be provided to a finer degree along a shelf of the type used for shelf 16 by segmenting it into separately cooled parts such as is shown for a segmented shelf, 16 N, in the top view thereof in FIG. 2 . That shelf is shown segmented along its length into separate parts, 16 NN, each again of a thermally conductive material, by intervening thermally nonconductive spacers, 16 NNN.
  • Each of shelf parts 16 NN has a thermoelectric cooling module 18 affixed and thermally coupled to the underside surface of each (shown in the center of the shelf part although this positioning need not be the one used), and which modules can be operated at a different heat transfer rates to thereby cool the shelf part to which each is affixed to a temperature that can differ from that of the others.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)
US12/521,736 2006-12-29 2006-12-29 Thermoelectric refrigerated secondary shelf Abandoned US20100000230A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US2006/049596 WO2008082391A1 (fr) 2006-12-29 2006-12-29 Clayette thermoélectrique secondaire réfrigérée

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20100000230A1 true US20100000230A1 (en) 2010-01-07

Family

ID=39588901

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US12/521,736 Abandoned US20100000230A1 (en) 2006-12-29 2006-12-29 Thermoelectric refrigerated secondary shelf

Country Status (2)

Country Link
US (1) US20100000230A1 (fr)
WO (1) WO2008082391A1 (fr)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9518766B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2016-12-13 Altria Client Services Llc Method and system for thermoelectric cooling of products on display at retail

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11906209B2 (en) 2020-02-19 2024-02-20 Hill Phoenix, Inc. Thermoelectric cooling system

Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3804481A (en) * 1972-12-27 1974-04-16 Whirlpool Co Refrigerator cabinet structure
US20060144073A1 (en) * 2004-12-30 2006-07-06 Lg Electronics Inc. Hybrid cooling system, and refrigerator and freezer using the same
US20060277924A1 (en) * 2005-06-09 2006-12-14 Robert Platkin Cold hot server
US20100158660A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2010-06-24 Rakesh Radhakrishnan Thermoelectric Device Based Mobile Freezer/Heater

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3804481A (en) * 1972-12-27 1974-04-16 Whirlpool Co Refrigerator cabinet structure
US20060144073A1 (en) * 2004-12-30 2006-07-06 Lg Electronics Inc. Hybrid cooling system, and refrigerator and freezer using the same
US20060277924A1 (en) * 2005-06-09 2006-12-14 Robert Platkin Cold hot server
US20100158660A1 (en) * 2005-09-29 2010-06-24 Rakesh Radhakrishnan Thermoelectric Device Based Mobile Freezer/Heater

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US9518766B2 (en) 2013-03-15 2016-12-13 Altria Client Services Llc Method and system for thermoelectric cooling of products on display at retail

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2008082391A1 (fr) 2008-07-10

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Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AS Assignment

Owner name: HILL PHOENIX, INC., GEORGIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CARRIER COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION, INC.;CARRIER CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:022659/0634

Effective date: 20090507

Owner name: HILL PHOENIX, INC.,GEORGIA

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:CARRIER COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION, INC.;CARRIER CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:022659/0634

Effective date: 20090507

AS Assignment

Owner name: CARRIER CORPORATION, CONNECTICUT

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ALAHYARI, ABBAS A.;WINCH, GARY D.;BAILEY, TREVOR E.;REEL/FRAME:022889/0228

Effective date: 20071102

AS Assignment

Owner name: CARRIER CORPORATION, CONNECTICUT

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ALAHYARI, ABBAS A.;BAILEY, TREVOR E.;SEGERSTROM, ROLF;REEL/FRAME:023370/0355;SIGNING DATES FROM 20070102 TO 20071218

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION