Rapid Chill and Freeze Cabinet

Abstract

A rapid freeze cabinet includes a frame structure, product storage shelves within the frame structure, and a restricting air flow chill air plenum attached to the frame structure. The plenum defines an interior chill air volume, and a blower at an upper end of the plenum blows chill air into the interior volume. The plenum includes chill air deflectors which extend from a rear of each product shelf into the interior volume. The cabinet further includes panels covering the exterior of the cabinet, with the exception of the front, which includes product access doors. Product compartment panels inside the cabinet segregate the cabinet into product storage cells. Air exits the cabinet at spaces beneath the doors and along the product shelves.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A rapid freeze cabinet, comprising:
 a frame structure comprising
 a horizontally disposed rectangular upper frame; 
 a horizontally disposed rectangular lower frame; 
 two vertically disposed and spaced apart front frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, and 
 two vertically disposed and spaced apart rear frame members connected to the upper frame and the lower frame, to thereby form the frame structure as a rectangular parallelepiped; 
   a plurality of spaced apart and horizontally disposed product storage shelves disposed within the frame structure between the upper frame and the lower frame;   a restricting air flow chill air plenum attached to the frame structure at the rear frame members, the restricting air flow chill air plenum defining an interior chill air volume, the restricting air flow chill air plenum comprising:
 a blower disposed proximate an upper end of the of the restricting air flow chill air plenum, the blower configured to blow chill air into the interior chill air volume; 
 a rear panel covering a back of the rapid freeze cabinet; and 
 a plurality of chill air deflectors, each chill air deflector extending from a rear of an associated product storage shelf into the interior chill air volume; 
   the rapid freeze cabinet further comprising:   a top panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the upper frame, the top panel extending from a front of the rapid freeze cabinet to the back of the rapid freeze cabinet;   a bottom panel secured to the rapid freeze cabinet proximate the lower frame, the bottom panel extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet to the back of the rapid freeze cabinet;   a first side panel secured to a first side of the rapid freeze cabinet, the first side panel extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet to the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet;   a second side panel secured to a second side of the rapid freeze cabinet opposite the first side of the rapid freeze cabinet, the second side panel extending from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet to the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet;   at least one product compartment panel horizontally disposed between the top panel and the bottom panel, and beneath at least one of the product storage shelves, to thereby segregate the rapid freeze cabinet into at least two product storage cells; and   a plurality of product access doors secured to the front of the rapid freeze cabinet, each product access door being associated with a respective product storage cell, and wherein a gap is defined at a lower edge of each product access door to thereby define an exhaust air outlet to allow chill air to escape from the front of the rapid freeze cabinet.   
     
     
         2 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 1 , and wherein the top panel, the bottom panel, the rear panel, the first side panel, and the second side panel are all are fabricated from continuous sheet material having no openings defined therein which allow chill air to move out of the rapid freeze cabinet, other than at an air inlet defined in the top panel to allow air to move through the blower and into the interior chill air volume. 
     
     
         3 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 1 , and wherein each chill air deflector comprises a horizontal strip of sheet material having an upturned end section disposed within the interior chill air volume. 
     
     
         4 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 3 , and wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel is the same for all chill air deflectors. 
     
     
         5 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 4 , and wherein a distance is defined between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the distance between the upturned end of each chill air deflector and the rear panel increases as the chill air deflectors approach the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet. 
     
     
         6 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 1 , and wherein in side view the chill air plenum describes a right triangle, with a short side of the right triangle proximate the top panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the rear panel of the rapid freeze cabinet defining a hypotenuse of the fight triangle. 
     
     
         7 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 1 , and wherein in side view the chill air plenum describes rectangle. 
     
     
         8 . The rapid freeze cabinet of  claim 1  and wherein the interior chill air volume is defined by a horizontal cross section at any given position between the top panel and the bottom panel of the rapid freeze cabinet, and the cross section of the interior chill air volume increases as a function of a distance away from the bottom panel.