Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TEMPERATURE CONTROLLED COMPRESSOR FOR
ELECTRICAL ENERGY SAVINGS IN ENCLOSED ROOM COOLING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the commercial cooling and
refrigeration systems found in such food and beverage stores as
supermarkets, convenience stores and liquor stores. In general,
the invention concerns itself with the equipment used in these
stores as walk-in coolers, reach-in coolers, freezers and
refrigerators -- whether used for refrigerating 6 or 12 packs of
beer, canned soda or bottle water, or for meat, vegetables,
fruit, dairy, eggs or seafood products, for example.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Food and beverage retail stores such as supermarkets,
convenience stores and liquor stores are equipped with several
types of refrigerators and coolers in order to keep their
products cold and fresh.
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As is known and understood, electrical compressors are used
to keep these refrigerator/coolers at regulated temperatures --
typically 40'F. As such, whether the remainder of the store or
market is being heated in the winter, or air-conditioned in the
summer, a continuous amount of electrical energy is required to
maintain these regulated refrigerator/cooler temperatures all
year round. As will be understood, the costs for this electrical
cooling ranges from hundreds to thousands of dollars each month
depending upon the size of the facility where the temperature is
being so controlled.
Moreover, such food stores as supermarkets and convenience
stores currently employ complicated systems consuming huge
amounts of electricity to operate the various coolers, freezers
and refrigerators employed there. Typically, such systems
include a rooftop unit containing numbers of compressors which
pressurize the freon enclosed piping to reduce the temperatures
in the refrigerator units to that which is desired. Besides this
inordinate use of electricity (not only in the United States but
globally, as well, extensive amounts of freon are employed,
which studies indicate is harmful to the ozone layer. Such
systems, furthermore, are extremely expensive, both as to their
purchase and as to their required maintenance.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to
provide an improved way for the controlled cooling of all these
type enclosures to reduce electrical energy usage as a component
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of reducing overall energy consumption throughout the world.
It is an object of the present invention, also, to provide
this improved way of controlled cooling to reduce the electrical
energy cost of the store provider -- whether it just be that of
the convenience store facility, or that of a grocery store or
supermarket operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide this
improved way of controlled cooling which can be adapted both to
existing in-place operations as well as to future operations yet
to be constructed.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an
improved way of cooling the refrigerators in these commercial
settings using a minimum amount of electricity, while at the
same time, operating in an environmentally safe manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
As a reading of the following description will indicate,
this invention is concerned with one of the most critical issues
in modern day times -- that of energy conservation and saving
the environment. While it is almost equally as important to
consider the financial savings to a retailer that may follow,
and to the consumer of perishable goods, to appreciate the
advantages that follow, certain definitions might be helpful:
a. Food Store -- a supermarket, liquor store, convenience
store or perishable goods warehouse;
b. Rooftop Unit -- machine equipment on a food store roof
consisting of one or a number of compressors which pressurize
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freon in producing the cold temperatures required, and which
push them through the coolers to reach the desired temperatures;
c. Walk-in Cooler -- a room of various size built from
aluminum or galvanized steel, and having inner and outer skin
walls between which insulation is packed as used in the storage
of perishable goods;
d. Reach-in Cooler -- similar to the walk-in cooler, but
with glass doors so that a consumer can open and reach in to
grasp food or beverages on its shelves;
e. Display Case -- employed in the food stores to display
vegetables, fruit, meat and seafood items, keeping them cool and
fresh; and
f. Thermostat -- a mechanical or electronic device to
measure temperature and connect or disconnect an electrical
circuit.
As will become clear from the following description, the
present invention specifically covers an electrical energy use
saving system for cooling by automatically controlling the
operation of the electrically operated compressor(s) serving to
maintain the temperature in the walk-in or reach-in cooler or
display case within a predetermined range -- for example, one
centered substantially about 40'F. According to the invention, a
suction device (such as a fan, valve or air pump) is coupled
with the outdoors outside environment by an input end of a duct
and to the inside of the cooler or case by an output end of the
duct. A thermometer is provided for measuring the ambient air
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temperature in the outdoors outside environment, and a
thermostat is coupled with the thermometer to activate the
compressor(s) only when the outdoors ambient air temperature
rises above the controlled cooler or case temperature range to
be maintained.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the
walk-in or reach-in cooler and display case thus become cooled
by the outdoors air when the outside temperatures are cold,
while the cooler and case are cooled by the compressor only when
the outside temperature is warm. The end result will be
appreciated to be a savings in the use of electrical energy for
the cooling -- which could be quite substantial when the cooler
and case are part of a food store complex in the northern
portions of the United States and in Canada where, for at least
6 months of the year, the outdoors temperature dips below 40'F.
As will be understood, the cost involved in operating the ducted
fan is several times less than that involved with operating the
compressor -- such that in those colder months, a significant
savings in electrical energy consumption follows. Obviously,
this translates into a cost savings for the store operator.
As will also become clear from the following description,
where local ordinances may require -- or just for purposes of
general health -- the suction device can be arranged to operate
in conjunction with either a filtering or dehumidifying system
(or both) in further regulating the colder air being inputted to
the walk-in or reach-in cooler and the display case from the
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outdoors environment. For existing store constructions,
furthermore, the suction device configuration could be arranged
to extend through the walls of the cooler -- while in new
constructions to be built, the suction fan could be incorporated
as part of a mounting on a rooftop of a walk-in cooler room,
just as the electrically operated compressors are typically
already mounted on the food stores roof.
And, as will be appreciated, the same type of controlled
cooling will be seen to be employable for produce coolers (where
the preferred temperature range is commonly centered about
55'F), and for freezers (where the temperature is desired to be
kept below 32'F). In these uses, the suction device would bring
in the ambient air where the outside temperature falls below
55'F on the one hand, and 32'F on the other hand. With the use
of additional thermostats set in this and like manners, the roof
top compressor(s) could be controlled to provide the refrigerant
only when it is needed, and to where it is needed, depending
upon the outside temperature. The energy consumption savings
will be seen to be apparent.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
These and other features of the present invention will be
more clearly understood from a consideration of the following
description, taken in connection with FIGURES 1 and 2 of the
Drawings which schematically illustrate the electrical energy
use savings system of the invention for a walk-in cooler, and
for a walk-in cooler, reach-in cooler, and display case
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combination, respectively.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Reference numeral 10 in FIGURE 1 represents an enclosed
walk-in cooler room of a food store 15 housing purchasable
amounts of beer, soda, bottled water, fruit or vegetable produce
for off-site consumption. Constructed with inner metal or
aluminum skin walls 12, outer skin walls 14 of like fabrication,
and with a foam insulate 16 in between, the cooler 10 is
enclosed within the store 15 having a rooftop 18 upon which an
electrically operated compressor 20 conventionally is mounted.
Such compressor is selected of a size and capacity to maintain
the temperature in the cooler within a predetermined range --
which for the usage at hand may be centered substantially about
40'F. A door 22 allows entry into and exit from the cooler. In
most present day usage, the compressor operates continuously on
electrical energy drawn from above ground or below ground power
lines.
In accordance with the invention, a suction device 24 is
provided within a duct 26 having an input end 28 at an outdoors
outside environment location of the walk-in cooler and an output
end 30 at an inside location. For an existing construction of
the cooler, the duct 26 may be cut through the inner and outer
skin walls 12, 14, while in new constructions, the duct 26 may
be mounted on the rooftop 18 in a manner similar to that by
which the compressor 20 is mounted.
To carry out the teachings of the invention, a thermometer
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means 40 temperature measuring device is provided to couple with
the suction fan 24 as through electrical line 42 and to a
thermostat means or thermostat 44 as by electrical line 46. Such
thermostat, in turn, is coupled by the electrical line 48 to the
compressor in regulating the operation of the compressor in
accordance with the outdoors ambient air temperature. In
particular, the thermostat 44 is set so that the compressor 20
is not activated until the outdoors ambient temperature is in
excess of the desired temperature in the walk-in cooler, some
4D'F. At the same time, the suction device 24 is controlled to
operate only when the outdoors ambient temperature is below that
40'F or so temperature.
As will be understood, the end result of the operation is
that the walk-in room 10 is then cooled by the outdoors outside
air when the temperatures in the ambient environment are
measured to be below the 40'F or so temperature, while the walk-
in room 10 is cooled by the compressor 20 substantially only
when the outdoors ambient temperature is measured to be in
excess of the 40'F or so temperature. The end result will be
appreciated to be a savings in the electrical energy usage in
those circumstances where the energy needed to operate the
suction fan is less than that needed to operate the compressor
(which almost always is the actual circumstance). Such savings
in electrical energy usage will be appreciated as being directly
translatable into a savings of electrical utility cost for the
convenience store, grocery and supermarket operator of the walk-
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in room where the refrigerated products are housed, with the
significant savings in cost expenditures which result.
Reference numerals 50 and 52 respectively illustrate added
options for the electrical energy use saving system in the
nature of a filter system and a dehumidifier system where
possibly required by local ordinance, or just where further
issues of health are of concern. As illustrated, these options
could be included to work with the ductwork operable with the
suction fan inputting the outdoors outside ambient air as the
coolant. As will be understandable, these options can be
utilized singly, or in combination.
In operation, then, if the temperature inside the walk-in
cooler 10 exceeds that which is desired (for example, 40'F) the
electric circuit closes under the action of the thermostat 44.
With this in place, the suction fan 24 is actuated to bring in
the outside air where the thermometer measures the outside
temperature to be below 40'F. When the ducted-in outside air is
sufficient to cool the walk-in room to that temperature, the
suction fan is turned off. Where the outside temperature,
however, is higher than that temperature desired to be
maintained in the walk-in cooler 10, the suction fan 24 is
bypassed, and the compressor 20 is rendered operative. The
refrigerant then drawn into the cooler 10, as by means of a
further duct 60, continues to cool the room until the desired
temperature is reestablished, at which time the compressor shuts
down. An exhaust duct for the cooler 10 is shown at 68.
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The schematic diagram of FIGURE 2 represents a similar type
operation utilizing outside air as a coolant for a walk-in
cooler 80, a reach-in cooler 82 and a display case 84. Each
component would be provided with its own thermometer and
thermostat connectable with the rooftop compressor 20 to utilize
the outside air in providing the cooling through the ducts 86,
88, 90 under control of the suction device 92 as the case may be
when the ambient air is to engage in the cooling, while the
ductworks 95, 97, 99 provide the refrigerant directly from the
compressor when the outside temperatures are higher than that
desired in the cooler or display units. Depending on need, one
or more such compressor units might be employable, each
maintained on the roof of the food store, as at 100, with an
outside thermostat 102 controlling the suction fan 92 as well as
via an electric line 104.
While there has been described what are considered to be
preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may
be made without departing from the scope of the teachings
herein. Thus, whereas the present invention has been described
in the context of keeping purchasable amounts of beer, soda,
bottled water, fruit or vegetable produce in an enclosed
environment maintained at temperatures centered substantially
about 40'F, 55'F, or 32'F, the thermostat control for the
compressor(s) 20 could be set to operate at other temperatures
in an identical manner -- depending upon the temperature that
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is sought to be maintained in cooling the purchasable products
that are to housed within. For an increased energy use savings,
for example, the control could be such as to activate the
compressor only when outdoors, outside ambient temperatures
exceed even higher levels, for example. Essentially then, the
commercial cooling system of the invention operates such that if
the temperature inside the walk-in cooler, the reach-in cooler,
the display case, or the food store is higher than that which is
pre-set, the electrical circuit triggers the suction device to
draw the air from outside, pushing it through the piping or
ductwork until the cooler reaches that temperature. In other
words, the rooftop compressors will only work if the outside
temperature is higher than that desired. In those geographical
areas of the world where the temperature is below 40 F, or 55'F,
or 32'F, for example, the cooling will then be accomplished by
the outside air -- day or night -- and the savings in the
electrical energy otherwise needed would be substantial.
Moreover, if the rooftop unit would then work only half the time
or less, its life expectancy will double, and the maintenance
required cut in half. Freon usage decreases, benefiting the
environment and the ozone layer. The air going through the
suction device possibly being filtered, and/or dehumidified, if
need be, the end result in operating the cooler -- wherever it
may be and whatever form it may take, would necessitate only a
minimum amount of energy, resulting in an overall significant
savings in the energy which is used. Simply stated, the
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invention then allows utilization of cold air in the northern
portion of the globe to cool food and beverages in food stores
by drawing the cold air from outside, and pushing it through
piping or duct into the various types of refrigerator/coolers,
without the need to run the compressors to cool these units. For
at least these reasons, resort should be had to the claims
appended hereto for a true understanding of the scope of the
invention.
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