Open showcase

Abstract

The invention is intended to provide an open showcase which allows efficient displaying of frozen and refrigerated foods even in a retail store with a limited sales floor space. Thus, the open showcase, as it comprises a lower showcase whose top face is open and an upper showcase which is arranged above and at a prescribed distance from the top face of the lower showcase, is enabled to display frozen foods in the lower showcase and refrigerated foods in the upper showcase. For instance, frozen foods such as ice cream and sherbet and refrigerated items such as custard pudding and yogurt can be displayed at the same time in a single showcase. Accordingly goods can be efficiently displayed even in a retail store having only a limited sales floor space.

1 . An open showcase comprising: 
 a lower showcase whose top face is open,    a cooler for cooling the inner space of the lower showcase,    an upper showcase which is arranged above and at a distance from the top face of the lower showcase and whose front and rear faces are open, and    a cooler for cooling the inner space of the upper showcase.    
   
   
       2 . The open showcase according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said lower showcase comprises a lower showcase body, an air duct formed along the front, rear and bottom sides of the lower showcase body, and an air blower arranged together with a cooler within the air duct; and    air sucked through one end in the lengthwise direction of the opening in the top face of the lower showcase into the air duct is cooled by the cooler, and the air cooled by the cooler is discharged toward that one end in the lengthwise direction of the opening in the top face from the other end.    
   
   
       3 . The open showcase according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said upper showcase is supported by a pair of supporting members extending upward from the right and left sides of the lower showcase.    
   
   
       4 . The open showcase according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 said upper showcase comprises an upper showcase body, an air duct formed along the bottom side of the upper showcase body, an air blower arranged together with said cooler within the air duct, and a current plate disposed in the central part in the lengthwise direction of the top face side of the upper showcase body; and    air sucked through the lower end sides of the front side opening and the rear side opening of the upper showcase body into the air duct is cooled by the cooler and discharged upward from the central part in the lengthwise direction of the air duct, and at the same time is divided by the current plate toward the forward and backward faces of the upper showcase body.    
   
   
       5 . The open showcase according to  claim 4 , wherein: 
 the air blower of the upper showcase is arranged the central part in the lengthwise direction of the air duct, and one each of said cooler is disposed before and behind the air blower.    
   
   
       6 . The open showcase according to  claim 4 , wherein: 
 a partitioning plate to divide the space inside said upper showcase body in the lengthwise direction is provided, and    air discharged from an air blow-off port is caused to circulate upward along the front and rear faces of the partitioning plate.    
   
   
       7 . The open showcase according to  claim 5 , wherein: 
 a partitioning plate to divide the space inside said upper showcase body in the lengthwise direction is provided, and    air discharged from an air blow-off port is caused to circulate upward along the front and rear faces of the partitioning plate.    
   
   
       8 . The open showcase according to  claim 4 , wherein: 
 an illuminating device is disposed on the under face in the central part in the lengthwise direction of said current plate.    
   
   
       9 . The open showcase according to  claim 8 , wherein: 
 said illuminating device is provided with an illumination cover whose front and rear faces are inclined obliquely upward.    
   
   
       10 . The open showcase according to  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the lower showcase body is provided with a machinery compartment to suck external air from the lower part of the front face of said lower showcase body and discharge from the lower part of the rear face, and    a forced draft unit to cause air descending from the rear side opening of said upper showcase to circulate along the under face of the upper showcase toward the front of the lower showcase.    
   
   
       11 . The open showcase according to  claim 10 , wherein: 
 said forced draft unit comprises a duct to blow air sucked from the rear side of the upper showcase toward the front side, and an air blower arranged within the duct.    
   
   
       12 . The open showcase according to  claim 1 , further provided with: 
 a forced draft unit which blows air from the under face of the upper showcase toward the front and rear sides of the lower showcase against air flows descending from the front and rear openings of said upper showcase.    
   
   
       13 . The open showcase according to  claim 12 , wherein: 
 said forced draft unit comprises a duct to blow air toward the front and rear sides of the upper showcase and an air blower arranged within the duct.    
   
   
       14 . The open showcase according to  claim 10 , further provided with: 
 a temperature detector for detecting the temperature within the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of temperatures detected by the temperature detector.    
   
   
       15 . The open showcase according to  claim 12 , further provided with: 
 a temperature detector for detecting the temperature within the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of temperatures detected by the temperature detector.    
   
   
       16 . The open showcase according to  claim 10 , further provided with: 
 temperature detector for detecting the temperature in the vicinities of the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of temperatures detected by the temperature detector.    
   
   
       17 . The open showcase according to  claim 12 , further provided with: 
 a temperature detector for detecting the temperature in the vicinities of the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of temperatures detected by the temperature detector.    
   
   
       18 . The open showcase according to  claim 10 , further provided with: 
 an air velocity detector for detecting the velocities of air flowing out of the openings in the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of the air velocities detected by the air velocity detector.    
   
   
       19 . The open showcase according to  claim 12 , further provided with: 
 an air velocity detector for detecting the velocities of air flowing out of the openings in the lower showcase, and    a control unit for controlling the air flow rate of said forced draft unit on the basis of the air velocities detected by the air velocity detector.