TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001]The present invention relates to the field of refrigeration equipment, and in particular, to a refrigeration display cabinet system.

BACKGROUND ART

[0002]Refrigeration display cabinets are common in large markets, supermarkets, or fresh food markets, and they are mainly used for providing a low-temperature environment for commodities stored therein, thus improving the freshness and the storage life of the commodities. Besides, the refrigeration display cabinets also have features such as being convenient for consumers to view and select commodities. In consideration of many aspects such as an application environment and a layout space, the refrigeration display cabinets may be designed in various forms such as a horizontal type and an upright type for selection.

[0003]For example, FIG. 1 shows a common upright refrigeration display cabinet 100, which includes a cabinet body 110 and a display region 120enclosedby the cabinet body 110. Several shelves may be disposed in the display region 120 and commodities are put on the shelves for placement and storage. The front face of the display region 120 is not closed by the cabinet body 110, and an inlet/outlet for consumers to view and select commodities is reserved here. In a use process, a consumer may view commodities in the display region 120 via the inlet/outlet, and decides whether to buy according to the need. The refrigeration function of the refrigeration display cabinet 100 is provided by an attached refrigeration system 200. The refrigeration system 200 may include a built-in evaporator 210at a rear part of the cabinet body 110 and a built-in evaporator fan 211at a bottom part of the cabinet body 110. The interior of the whole cabinet body 110 is of an air communication structure. In a working process of the refrigeration system 200, driven by the evaporator fan 211, the air enters the cabinet body via the bottom part of the cabinet body 110, and flows through the evaporator 210 and thus be fully cooled. The cooled air exchanges heat with the display region 120 via a wall surface of the cabinet body 110 on one hand, and on the other hand, directly enters the display region 120 via a vent hole opened on the wall surface of the cabinet body 110, to exchange heat with the commodities therein, thus achieving an effect of storing the commodities at a low temperature.

[0004]However, in a refrigeration display cabinet represented by this, due to the limitations on structural design and air flow, it is hard to ensure relatively uniform refrigeration for commodities in the display region. For example, in the refrigeration display cabinet 100 as shown in FIG. 1, there is a high-temperature area 121 at the front side of the lower portion of the display region, and commodities stored here are very likely to be damaged or go bad due to a relatively high temperature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005]An objective of the present invention is to provide a refrigeration display cabinet system that can enhance refrigeration for an area with a relatively high temperature in a display region.

[0006]Another objective of the present invention is to provide another refrigeration display cabinet system that can enhance refrigeration for an area with a relatively high temperature in a display region.

[0007]In order to achieve the foregoing objectives or other objectives, the present invention provides the following technical solutions.

[0008]According to an aspect of the present invention, a refrigeration display cabinet system is provided, including: a cabinet body; a display region enclosed by the cabinet body and having a display port in communication with the external through an air curtain; a refrigeration system including a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator that sequentially communicate with each other via a pipeline; and a bypass heat exchanger, of which an inlet end and an outlet end are both connected to the evaporator; wherein the bypass heat exchanger is disposed to be in contact with the cabinet body, and exchanges heat with the display region.

[0009] According to another aspect of the present invention, a refrigeration display cabinet system is further provided, including: a body; a display region enclosed by the cabinet body and having a display port in communication with the external through an air curtain; a refrigeration system including a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator that sequentially communicate with each other via a pipeline; and a bypass heat exchanger, of which an inlet end and an outlet end are both connected to the evaporator; wherein a main body part of the bypass heat exchanger is integrated in the cabinet body, and exchanges heat with the display region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a refrigeration display cabinet in the prior art; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a refrigeration display cabinet according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a bottom part of a cabinet body of the refrigeration display cabinet according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0011]Referring to FIG. 2, it shows a refrigeration display cabinet system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The refrigeration display cabinet system mainly includes a refrigeration display cabinet part for displaying and selling goods and a refrigeration system part for providing a refrigeration/freezing effect.

[0012]The refrigeration display cabinet 300 includes a cabinet body 310 and a display region 320 enclosed by the cabinet body 310. For an upright display cabinet, the bottom, the rear, and the top of the display region 320 are closed by a corresponding bottom part 311, rear part 312, and top part 313 of the cabinet body 310 respectively, and the front side of the upright display cabinet is provided with a display port which is in communication with the external through an air curtain, for consumers to view and select commodities placed in the display region 320.

[0013]In addition, a refrigeration system 400 needed by the refrigeration display cabinet system may include a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator 410 that sequentially communicate with each other through a pipeline. According to the size of an arrangement space and the structural condition of the refrigeration display cabinet, all components of the refrigeration system 400 may be arranged in the cabinet body 310, thereby providing an integrated refrigeration system. Alternatively, only the evaporator 410 of the refrigeration system 400 and an evaporator fan corresponding thereto are arranged in the cabinet body 310, to make sure that a refrigerating capacity needed by the refrigeration display cabinet 300 is provided. Besides, the refrigeration system 400 of the present invention further includes a bypass heat exchanger 420, of which an inlet end and an outlet end are both connected to the evaporator 410, and thus can guide part of the refrigerant from the evaporator 410 to exchange heat with a specified position via the bypass heat exchanger 420, and guide the refrigerant back to the evaporator 410 after the heat exchange process is completed. Specifically, the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be disposed to be in contact with the cabinet body 310, and exchange heat with the display region 320 at this position. In this case, as the refrigerant of the bypass heat exchanger 420 directly exchanges heat with the display region 320 via a wall surface of the cabinet body 310, this heat exchange effect will be much better than that of indirectly transferring, through air, the refrigerating capacity carried by the refrigerant in the evaporator410 to the display region 320, because the loss in the heat exchange process is minimized. Moreover, according to an actual application condition, the bypass heat exchanger 420may be disposed on a wall surface, of the cabinet body310, which corresponds to an area with a relatively high temperature in the display region320, to specifically cool this area, thus improving the work efficiency of the refrigeration display cabinet.

[0014]For the arrangement of the bypass heat exchanger in the above embodiment of the present invention, in principle, it should be arranged on the wall surface, in the area with a relatively high temperature, of the cabinet body as far as possible. However, multiple aspects such as an actual available space, arrangement costs, simplicity and reliability of the display cabinet should also be considered comprehensively in an actual process. Herein, several arrangement manners of the bypass heat exchanger are provided for reference.

[0015]For example, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be arranged in the bottom part 311 of the cabinet body 210, and contacts a top plate 311a of the bottom part from below, thus implementing heat exchange with the display region 320 at this position. Through experimental study, it is found that most refrigeration display cabinets300 have a relatively poor refrigeration effect at the lower portion of the display region 320. Therefore, it is very necessary to enhance heat exchange with the display region 320 at this position by means of the bypass heat exchanger 420. In such an arrangement manner, specifically, the connection between the top plate 311a and the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be implemented in multiple connection manners. For example, a clamping member may be disposed on the top plate 311a of the bottom part 311, and the bypass heat exchanger 420 is clamped to the top plate 311a of the bottom part 311 via the clamping member. For another example, an adhesive member may be additionally included, and the bypass heat exchanger 420 is adhered, from bottom up, to the top plate 311a of the bottom part 311 via the adhesive member. For example, the adhesive member may be a liner with an adhesive provided on its periphery, the main body part of the bypass heat exchanger 420 is covered by the liner, and the bypass heat exchanger is adhered to the top plate 311a via the adhesive on the periphery of the liner. In this way, a fixed connection between the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the top plate 311a is implemented on one hand, and on the other hand, downward heat transfer of the bypass heat exchanger 420 is substantially insulated, thus avoiding unnecessary frosting and moisture condensation, so that the refrigerating capacity is transferred upward via the top plate 311a as much as possible. [0016]There may also be multiple possibilities for the specific implementation manner between the bypass heat exchanger and the evaporator mentioned in the above embodiment of the present invention, as long as it can implement that the refrigerant in the evaporator is guided into the bypass heat exchanger at a suitable flow rate for heat exchange. Herein, several arrangement manners of the bypass heat exchanger are provided for reference.

[0017] Optionally, the evaporator may include several evaporation branches to reduce a flow pressure drop at the refrigerant side and improve the heat exchange effect, wherein a first evaporation branch is included. The inlet end and the outlet end of the bypass heat exchanger are both connected to the first evaporation branch. The first evaporation branch is selected on the basis of the following principle. That is, when the refrigeration display cabinet system works, the first evaporation branch accumulates the largest volume of liquid refrigerant among all the evaporation branches of the evaporator. In other words, the first evaporation branch has a poorer heat exchange environment, and thus a large volume of liquid refrigerant therein does not absorb enough heat and fully evaporate. Therefore, the refrigerating capacity acquired by the external environment from this evaporation branch is very limited, and in a severe case, phenomena such as frosting and freezing may even occur in a heat exchange pipeline of the evaporator at this position. In this case, the connection of the bypass heat exchanger may achieve an effect of specifically heating the refrigeration display cabinet on one hand, and on the other hand, can further effectively avoid the frosting and freezing phenomena in the heat exchange pipeline at this position. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the first evaporation branch 414 is located at the lower portion of the evaporator 410. In this case, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 are both connected to the first evaporation branch 414, thus guiding part of the relatively large volume of liquid refrigerant accumulated in the first evaporation branch 414 to enter the main body part 420c of the bypass heat exchanger 420, and after heat exchange with the display region 320 is implemented in the main body part 420c via the top plate 311a, this part of liquid refrigerant is guided back to the first evaporation branch 414, thus returning to the regular refrigeration cycle.

[0018] Optionally, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected into the evaporator 410 from an elbow joint of any heat exchange pipeline 412 of the evaporator 410. A conventional finned heat exchanger is generally assembled by inserting one end to a long U-shaped pipe and welding an elbow on the other end. Therefore, the connection of the bypass heat exchanger 420 into the evaporator 410 via the elbow joint can effectively use the existing connection end at this position, which does not need to make too many improvements on existing components, is easy to implement, and is low in costs. Optionally, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected into the evaporator 410 from a joint between any heat exchange pipeline 412 of the evaporator 410 and a fin, and this can also achieve the technical effect of guiding part of the refrigerant into the bypass heat exchanger 420. Optionally, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected into the evaporator 410 from a branch pipe of any dispenser 411 of the evaporator 410. Because the dispenser 411 is located outside the evaporator 410, machining is easier by selecting this position as a connection port. It should be understood that a steam return pipe413 is not suitable to be used as a connection point of the bypass heat exchanger 420, because the refrigerant at this position generally has relatively low dryness and relatively poor heat transfer performance.

[0019]Besides, there are also several embodiments for a specific connection manner of connecting the bypass heat exchanger 420 into the evaporator 410.

[0020]For example, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be directly welded to the evaporator 410. This connection manner is operated quickly, is easy to machine, and has excellent connection tightness. For another example, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected to the evaporator 410 through a pipe joint. When this connection manner is employed, the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be produced and processed as a standard component, and the connection between the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the evaporator 410 can be implemented by using different pipe joints according to different actual application conditions. Persons skilled in the art should understand that, the pipe joint herein is not limited to a connection device at an end portion of a heat exchange tube, but may further properly include a connection hose or connection pipe according to the actual condition. FIG. 3 shows an implementation of a pipe joint430 including a hose.

[0021]The bypass heat exchanger 420 itself may also have multiple structure forms. The embodiment in FIG. 3 provides a simple, feasible and efficient form. That is, the bypass heat exchanger 420 is designed as a single heat exchange tube in reciprocating arrangement, which not only facilitates the connection between the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the cabinet body 310 but also provides a heat exchange passage as long as possible, to enhance the heat transfer effect.

[0022] Optionally, the embodiment of the present invention further includes several improvements on conventional components of the refrigeration display cabinet system. For example, the air may be allowed to circulate among the bottom part 311, the rear part 312, and the top part 313 of the cabinet body 310; besides, the air curtain is formed between the bottom part 311 and the top part 313, and causes cold air to flow from the top down. From this, the air flow system coordinates with the refrigeration system in the refrigeration display cabinet system. After being cooled by the refrigeration system at the bottom part 311 of the cabinet body 310, the cold air flows through the rear part 312 and the top part 313 sequentially, and flows downward from the top part 313 back to the bottom part, thus forming an air curtain at the display port of the display region 320.

[0023] Optionally, the evaporator 410 may be disposed in the bottom part 311 or the rear part 312 of the cabinet body 310; both can achieve a desirable heat exchange effect with the air, without affecting the appearance of the display cabinet.

[0024] Optionally, the refrigeration display cabinet system further includes an evaporator fan, which may be disposed in the bottom part 312 of the cabinet body 310, thereby driving the air to enter the cabinet body 310, and completing the whole circulation from the bottom up.

[0025] Optionally, a vent hole may further be provided in the rear part 312 of the cabinet body 310, and the vent hole may be disposed corresponding to a goods display area in the display region 320, thereby ensuring a better refrigerating effect for commodities placed therein. Further, a specific implementation manner of the goods display area may be several shelves321 in the display region 320.

[0026]A working process of the present invention will be described below with reference to the above embodiments: on one hand, the air is suctioned into the bottom part 311 of the cabinet body 310 under the driving of the evaporator fan, and implements heat exchange with the evaporator 410 therein; the cooled air continues to flow to the rear part 312 of the cabinet body 310;one part of the air enters the display region 320 via the vent hole at this position and cools commodities on the shelves321; the other part of the air continues to flow upward to the top part 313 of the cabinet body 310, and flows downward from the front side of the top part 313 back to the bottom part 311, thereby forming an air curtain at the display port of the display region 320, to form effective insulation between the external environment and the inner side of the display region 320. On the other hand, in the refrigeration system, after being compressed by the compressor, the high-temperature gaseous refrigerant flows into the condenser for cooling, and the cooled refrigerant enters the evaporator 410 after being throttled by the throttling element. Most of the low-temperature liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator 410 will exchange heat with the air that flows by; the remaining low-temperature liquid refrigerant (for example, the refrigerant at the bottom of the evaporator) that fails to fully exchange heat with the air that flows by will flow to the top plate 311a of the bottom part 311 of the cabinet body 310 under the guidance of the bypass heat exchanger 420, directly contact the top plate 311a, provide the refrigerating capacity for the commodities in the display region 320to implement sufficient cooling of the commodities, and then flow back to the evaporator 410. All of the refrigerant will return to the compressor from the evaporator 410, to start a new round of refrigeration cycle.

[0027]As an alternative, the present invention further provides an implementation of another refrigeration display cabinet system. Part of the structure of the refrigeration display cabinet system has a structural arrangement similar to that in the above embodiment. That is, the refrigeration display cabinet 300 also includes a cabinet body 310 and a display region 320 enclosed by the cabinet body 310. The refrigeration system 400 also includes a compressor, a condenser, a throttling element, and an evaporator 410 that sequentially communicate with each other through a pipeline. The two major systems have similar structures and arrangement requirements. The distinguishing improvement thereof lies in that, a main body part 420c of a bypass heat exchanger 420 included in the refrigeration system 400 of the present invention is integrated in the cabinet body 310, to implement better heat exchange with the display region. In this case, as a refrigerant of the bypass heat exchanger 420 directly exchanges heat with the display region320 via a wall surface of the cabinet body310, such a heat exchange effect will be much better than that of indirectly transferring, through air, the refrigerating capacity carried by the refrigerant in the evaporator410 to the display region320, because the loss in the heat exchange process thereof is minimized. Moreover, according to an actual application condition, the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be disposed in a wall surface, of the cabinet body310, which corresponds to an area with a relatively high temperature in the display region320, to specifically cool this area, thus improving the work efficiency of the refrigeration display cabinet.

[0028]For the arrangement of the bypass heat exchanger in the above embodiment of the present invention, in principle, it should be arranged in the wall surface, corresponding to the area with a relatively high temperature, of the cabinet body as far as possible. However, multiple aspects such as an actual available space, arrangement costs, simplicity and reliability of the display cabinet should also be considered comprehensively in an actual process. Herein, several arrangement manners of the bypass heat exchanger are provided for reference. [0029]For example, the main body part 420c of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be integrated in a top plate 311a of a bottom part 311, and exchanges heat with the display region 320. Through experimental study, it is found that most refrigeration display cabinets300 have relatively poor refrigeration effects at the lower portion of the display region 320. Therefore, it is very necessary to enhance heat exchange with the display region 320 at this position by means of the bypass heat exchanger 420. For such an arrangement manner, multiple connection manners may be used to implement the connection between the main body part 420c of the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the cabinet body 310. For example, the main body part 420c of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be integrated, in a foamed form, in the cabinet body 310, and only the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420bthereof are exposed on the external side, to implement a connection with the evaporator 410.

[0030]For a specific connection manner between the bypass heat exchanger and the evaporator mentioned in this embodiment of the present invention, there are also several implementations similar to those in the above embodiment. Similarly, the evaporator may include several evaporation branches, wherein a first evaporation branch is included. The inlet end and the outlet end of the bypass heat exchanger are both connected to the first evaporation branch. The first evaporation branch is selected on the basis of the following principle. That is, when the refrigeration display cabinet system works, the first evaporation branch accumulates the largest volume of liquid refrigerant among all the evaporation branches of the evaporator. In this case, the connection of the bypass heat exchanger may achieve an effect of specifically heating the refrigeration display cabinet on one hand, and on the other hand, can further effectively avoid the frosting and freezing phenomena in the heat exchange pipeline at this position. For example, similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the first evaporation branch 414 is located at the lower portion of the evaporator 410. In this case, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 are both connected to the first evaporation branch 414, thus guiding part of the relatively large volume of liquid refrigerant accumulated in the first evaporation branch 414 to enter the main body part 420c of the bypass heat exchanger 420, and after heat exchange with the display region 320 is implemented in the main body part 420c via the top plate 311a, this part of liquid refrigerant is guided back to the first evaporation branch 414, thus returning to the regular refrigeration cycle.

[0031]Similarly, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected into the evaporator 410 from an elbow joint of any heat exchange pipeline 412 of the evaporator 410; and/or connected into the evaporator 410 from a joint between any heat exchange pipeline 412 of the evaporator 410 and a fin; and/or connected into the evaporator 410 from a branch pipe of any dispenser 411 of the evaporator 410.

[0032]In addition, for such a bypass heat exchanger 420 integrated in the cabinet body, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b thereof may also be directly welded to the evaporator 410. This connection manner is operated quickly, is easy to machine, and has excellent connection tightness. For another example, the inlet end 420a and the outlet end 420b of the bypass heat exchanger 420 may also be connected to the evaporator 410 through a pipe joint. When this connection manner is employed, the bypass heat exchanger 420 may be produced and processed as a standard component, and the connection between the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the evaporator 410 can be implemented by using different pipe joints according to different actual application conditions.

[0033]The bypass heat exchanger 420 itself may be designed as a single heat exchange tube in reciprocating arrangement similarly, which not only facilitates the connection between the bypass heat exchanger 420 and the cabinet body 310 but also provides a heat exchange passage as long as possible, to enhance the heat transfer effect.

[0034] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that direction or position relations indicated by "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right" and the like are direction or position relations based on the figures, are merely used to facilitate the description of the present invention and to simplify the description rather than indicating or implying that the indicated device or feature must have the specific direction or be constructed and operated in the specific direction, and therefore cannot be construed as a limitation to the present invention.

[0035] The above examples mainly describe the refrigeration display cabinet system, the refrigeration system having the same, and a control method thereof according to the present invention. Although only some implementations of the present invention are described, persons of ordinary skill in the art should understand that the present invention may be implemented in many other manners without departing from the purport and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the illustrated examples and implementations are regarded as illustrative rather than limitative, and the present invention may cover various modifications and replacements without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.