Refrigeration – Gas controller or director – Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-27
2001-08-07
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Gas controller or director
Cooled gas directed relative to cooled enclosure
C062S239000, C062S416000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269652
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a refrigerated body for a truck, trailer or semi-trailer.
Such bodies are known from practical experience. In most cases the refrigeration unit is positioned at the front wall such that the cool air stream hits the articles to be cooled in the interior of the bodies from above. These articles, e.g., can be fresh meat, deep frozen food, ice cream, fruit, etc., cattle or pork halves or containers with sensitive goods.
In refrigerated vehicles with compulsory air guiding, which previously has been the rule only in semi-trailers, it is usual to draw the air from the bottom to cool it in an evaporator and guide it backwards through an air duct at the ceiling. However, in oversea containers because of the required very high temperature control occurrence, e.g., for transporting bananas, the compulsory air guiding principle is reversed, and air is drawn above the cargo by the evaporator, is cooled in the evaporator, and in the bottom area the cooled air is blown below the goods into the container.
Because of the limited space previously practically all smaller refrigerated vehicles, and also the so called interchangeable bodies, and mostly also the bodies for large trucks, have no compulsory air guiding such that with tight pallet loading temperature differences in the cargo up to 10° C. cannot be avoided, during heating operation these temperature differences may rise to 20° C. as the circulated wann air will stall above the cargo by convection. With the new stringent EU-temperature-requirements, however, only 2 to 3° C. temperature differences, and even less, may be accepted in the future.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to further develop a generic body such that the cooling in the interior of the body, even with tight loading, is mostly uniform and in particular is effective in the lower area.
By the fact that the heat exchanger serving as a heat sink is arranged below the ceiling of the body at one of the front walls, or at both sides in the form of two heat exchangers spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the body, with their longitudinal axis arranged crosswise to the longitudinal axis A of the body, that at least one fan is arranged between the two heat exchangers with the fan blowing air preferably in the direction of the longitudinal axis A of the body through the two heat exchangers, that a guiding plate is arranged in parallel spaced relationship from the front wall opposite to the door such that a part of the total air volume from the heat exchanger adjacent to the front wall flows downwards between this front wall and the guiding plate, and discharges near a bottom of the body, and that the other part of the total air volume flows through the other heat exchanger and discharges in the direction of the longitudinal axis A, the advantageous effect is attained that the air stream from the fan is split into two parts with one of them, after being refrigerated in one of the heat exchangers, will flow along the ceiling of the body, and the other part of the air stream, after refrigeration in the other heat exchanger, will flow downwards between guiding plate and front wall and along the bottom, such that the refrigeration will be mostly uniform.
Advantageously it is provided that about 40 to 60% of the total air volume refrigerated in the ceiling vaporizer is guided downwards through a very narrow slot in the front wall area under high pressure, and that 40 to 60% of the cooled air is discharged along the ceiling backwards with a high discharge velocity (8 to 15 m/s). As only about 50% of the total air volume is blown downwards to the bottom with high pressure by the flat radial fan through the compulsory air guiding, a spacing of the slot of only 20 to 70 mm from the front wall, instead of the previously required 80 to 120 mm, for the first time is possible with a sufficient effect, and refrigeration in a compulsory air guiding even in very tight room conditions in interchangeable bodies. A small slot will generate a relatively high power-loss of the refrigeration unit, however, space is gained. Furthermore, the absolute power loss is small because of the partial air volume.
Advantageously, it is provided that up to four fans are arranged side by side in a direction crosswise to the longitudinal axis A of the body, wherein for practical reasons the fans are alike radial fans with vertically arranged shafts. Thereby a wide air stream is generated which will flow almost uniformly along the bottom and the ceiling of the body.
In order to enhance the effect of the air stream even further, it is provided for practical reasons that at the air discharge side each of the two heat exchangers is provided with a guiding device in form of a nozzle which narrows the air stream and is preferably equipped with control blades. Thereby the velocity of the discharging air and the ejection distance thereof is further increased.
In order to cool the area opposite to the refrigeration unit adjacent to the door in a sufficient manner it is preferably provided that below the ceiling, a ceiling air duct is arranged extending from the one heat exchanger or the guiding device, respectively, to the area of the opposite front wall.
Preferably the exchangers and/or the fans are controllable individually or in groups. Furthermore they are selectively to be defrosted at the one side such that the other side is furthermore operable.
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patent: 4410544 (1994-12-01), None
Doerrler William
Frigoblock Grosskopf GmbH
Shulman Mark
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
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