Airflow arrangement for a refrigerator

Abstract

A refrigerated display cabinet ( 10 ) has a chamber ( 12 ) accessible via the doors ( 12 ) of the cabinet. The bottommost shelf ( 16 ) in the chamber is a substantially imperforate shelf which is spaced from the bottom wall ( 17 ) of the chamber to form a duct-like passage through which air is drawn by a fan ( 15 ). The air is directed past an evaporator ( 17 ) of a refrigerating mechanism so as to be cooled. The cooled air is recirculated into the chamber ( 12 ) by passing it through apertures in a perforate inclined rear internal wall ( 18 ) of the chamber. The remainder of the cooled air is directed downwardly through openings ( 24 ) at the top of the chamber past the front of the shelves.

1 . A refrigerated cabinet having 
 a housing with internal walls defining a chamber closed by at least one door of the refrigerated cabinet,    a refrigerating mechanism including an evaporator, and    fan means for creating a flow of air from the chamber, past the evaporator so as to be cooled thereby, and back to the chamber,    wherein the cabinet includes a substantially imperforate shelf extending horizontally across a major part of the chamber, the shelf being adjacent to, but spaced from, the horizontal internal wall of the chamber which is nearest the evaporator, such that a duct-like passage is formed between the shelf and said wall for channeling the airflow to the evaporator.    
     
     
         2 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 1   , wherein the evaporator is located under the chamber, and the duct-like passage is formed between the lowermost shelf in the chamber and the bottom internal wall of the chamber.  
     
     
         3 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 1   , wherein the chamber has an inclined perforated rear internal wall, and at least part of the cooled airflow from the evaporator is directed through the inclined perforated rear wall back into the chamber.  
     
     
         4 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 3   , wherein the inclined perforated rear internal wall forms part of a duct having a cross sectional area which reduces progressively in the upward direction.  
     
     
         5 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 4   , further comprising an airflow passage between the evaporator and the upright duct, the passage including a curved wall providing a directional change to the airflow prior to entering the upright duct.  
     
     
         6 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 1   , wherein at least a portion of the cooled airflow is directed back into the chamber by being directed vertically along the front of the chamber.  
     
     
         7 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 6   , wherein said portion of the airflow is directed downwardly from openings adjacent the top of the chamber.  
     
     
         8 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 7    wherein said portion of the airflow flows along a horizontal duct at the top of the chamber before being directed downwardly at the front of the chamber.  
     
     
         9 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 8   , further comprising a formation at the outlet end of the horizontal duct for ramping the airflow upwardly before it is directed downwardly into the chamber.  
     
     
         10 . A refrigerated cabinet having internal walls, including a bottom wall, defining a refrigerated chamber within the cabinet, a refrigerating mechanism including an evaporator located below the chamber, and a substantially imperforate shelf extending horizontally across a major part of the chamber, the shelf being the lowermost shelf in the chamber and spaced from the bottom wall so as to form a duct-like passage between the shelf and the bottom wall which communicates with the evaporator.  
     
     
         11 . A refrigerated cabinet as claimed in    claim 10   , wherein a rear wall of the chamber is an inclined perforate wall permitting cooled air to flow into the chamber through perforations therein.  
     
     
         12 . A refrigerated display cabinet having internal walls, including a bottom wall, defining a refrigerated chamber, the chamber having a plurality of generally horizontal, vertically spaced, shelves, 
 the bottom shelf in the chamber being substantially imperforate and extending from the rear wall of the chamber to near the front of the chamber so as to form a duct-like passage between the bottom shelf and the bottom wall,    a refrigerating mechanism having an evaporator located below the chamber,    a fan communicating with the duct-like passage to create a flow of air from the duct-like passage, past the evaporator to be cooled thereby, and back into the chamber,    a rear internal wall of the chamber having openings therein to permit at least a portion of the cooled airflow to enter the chamber through said openings,    and an opening located at the top of the chamber through which the remainder of the cooled airflow is directed downwardly into the chamber at the front of the shelves.