Npi, Llc.

Mobile Product Services, Inc.

Robert H Dench

Victor J Dervin

Richard E Curtis

A produce cooler is for use with produce disposed in an enclosure. A vertically extending cooling compartment is located adjacent the enclosure. Within the cooling compartment is a horizontally extending heat exchanger substantially above the bottom of the compartment and well below the top thereof. A demister also extends across the cooling compartment below the top of it and sufficiently above the heat exchanger to leave an intervening chamber. There is a plenum between the produce enclosure and the cooling compartment in communication with produce in the compartment and in communication with the cooling compartment. A fan circulates air from the produce in the compartment through the plenum and into the bottom of the cooling compartment so that the air is made to rise upwardly therethrough and return from the top thereof to the produce in the cooling compartment. The heat exchanger comprises a series of superposed, generally horizontal plates of expanded metal held apart by spacers and subject to a cold water spray from spray nozzles. The spray falls through the heat exchanger and onto the floor of the cooling compartment, from which the water discharges into a sump and flows over a cooling coil, thus having its temperature reduced. The cooled water collects in the bottom of the sump and is restored by a pump to the spray nozzles. The air flowing upwardly interchanges heat with the water droplets falling downwardly. The rising air entrains some mist and in going upwardly through the demister loses water droplets and emerges as cool, dry air to flow in heat exchanging relationship with the produce, to withdraw heat therefrom and then to recirculate.

Produce cooler

An air handler especially for use with a produce storage room has a housing with an air inlet near the bottom and an air outlet near the top. A fan or blower supplies air above atmospheric pressure to the inlet for flow through the housing and discharge from the top thereof and through a duct leading to the storage room. Adjacent the housing there is a water cooler, usually operated in a refrigerator circuit, into which water is introduced from a collector near the bottom of the housing and from which the cooled water is discharged into a distributor in the housing near the top thereof. The distributor, preferably a number of sprays, discharges the cooled water to fall over and through a water and air baffle unit within the housing between the inlet and the outlet thereof and into the collector. The water and air baffle unit has a plurality of expanded metal plates, conveniently of aluminum, extending substantially horizontally across the interior of the housing between the distributor and the collector, with the metal plates vertically separated and supported to provide intervening, cross spaces for air and water flow.

Air handler

A produce warmer for raising the temperature of cold produce taken from a cold environment and about to be processed includes a refrigerant circuit in which an evaporative cooler and a heat exchanger are arranged in series for circulation of a refrigerant between them. The direction is such that heat is taken from the heat exchanger and is transferred to the evaporative cooler. There is a first housing for warm produce to be cooled, and this housing is included in a secondary water circuit also inclusive of the heat exchanger. The water in the secondary circuit is circulated in a direction to pick up heat from the produce and to transfer such heat to the heat exchanger. Following this the returning cool water is sprayed over the warm produce in the first housing and is recirculated. Should there be no warm produce for the first housing, an alternative supply of heat is afforded by a fan introducing warm air to the first housing. A tertiary water circuit includes a second housing for produce to be warmed and also includes the evaporative cooler. In the tertiary circuit a pump takes relatively warm water from the evaporative cooler and sprays it over produce to be warmed in the second housing. The sprayed water, which has been cooled by yielding heat to and so warming produce in the second housing, is returned to the evaporative cooler, wherein it is again warmed and from which it is recirculated.

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Monte Sereno, CA, United States of America

Robert H Dench