Next-to-be-purchased cold beverage merchandiser

Abstract

A beverage merchandiser for refrigerating and displaying single-serving containers disposed on gravity feed shelves has a refrigerated compartment accessed by sliding, multi-pane glass panel doors mounted on rollers engaging side-by-side overhead tracks. An evaporator is disposed inside the refrigerated compartment near the top and rear walls of same and is configured with a shallow height relative to the depth of the evaporator to save space. A duct panel forms a duct along the top wall of the refrigerated compartment to direct cooled air from the evaporator toward the product nearest the doors of the merchandiser to keep this product cool, since it is the next-to-be-purchased product. The glass panes of the doors are kept defogged by a defogging mechanism. One of the defogging mechanisms uses air warmed in a housing for the condenser and compressor and provides same to a slot oriented in a grill, which is disposed beneath the bottom edge of the doors. The warmed air is removed from the housing through a blower connected to the slot via a flexible conduit. In an alternative embodiment of the defogging mechanism, a slot is provided in an exit chute disposed above the top of the door panels. An enclosure is provided behind an illuminated sign in which is disposed a light fixture and a blower. The heat generated by the light used in the fixture is forced through the chute by the blower and directed into the glass panels from above the door panels.