Patent Application
20220252322
This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910680455.5 filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) on Jul. 25, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present application relates to the field of item storage technology, for example, a locker with a valve assembly.
To satisfy the storage requirements of fruits, vegetables, meat, aquatic products or meals that require refrigeration and heat preservation, some lockers are provided with a refrigeration assembly or a heating assembly in a locker body. However, in the actual use of these lockers, an operator may forget to close the door after taking out items. Therefore, cold air or hot air is prone to loss. As a result, energy is wasted.
The present application provides a locker with a valve assembly to alleviate the problem of easy loss of cold air or hot air in a case where an operator forgets to close the door of the locker.
The locker with a valve assembly according to the present application includes a locker body and an air supply assembly disposed on the locker body. A main air duct communicating with the air supply assembly is disposed inside the locker body. The locker body includes at least one storage box. Each storage box includes a box body, a box door and a valve assembly. The box body includes a sidewall that surrounds a circle and further includes an inner wall connected to the rear end of the sidewall. The front end of the sidewall forms an opening. The sidewall is provided with an air vent communicating with the main air duct. The box door has a closed position for closing the opening, and an open position for opening the opening. The valve assembly includes a valve and a reset member. The valve is configured to move relative to the sidewall.
When the box door is located at the closed position, the box door is configured to drive the valve to open the air vent. When the box door is located at the open position, the reset member is configured to drive the valve to close the air vent.
Solutions of the present application are clearly and completely described below with reference to embodiments.
In the description of the present application, it is to be noted that orientations or positional relations indicated by terms such as “front”, “rear”, “up”, “down”, “left” and “right” are based on the drawings. These orientations or positional relations are intended only to facilitate and simplify the description of the present application and not to indicate or imply that a device or element referred to must have such particular orientations or must be configured or operated in such particular orientations. Thus, these orientations or positional relations are not to be construed as limiting the present application. Moreover, terms like “first” and “second” are merely for description and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.
It is to be noted that in the embodiments, the direction indicated by the ab arrow in a figure represents the front-rear direction; the direction indicated by the cd arrow in the figure represents the left-right direction; and the direction indicated by the of arrow in the figure represents the up-down direction.
As shown in
Continuing to refer to
During the use of the locker with a valve assembly according to this embodiment, when the box door 140 of the storage box 100 is closed, the box door 140 is configured to drive the valve 150 to open the air vent. The air vent communicates with the main air duct 200. The air supply assembly 20 is configured to send air (such as cold air or hot air) into the main air duct 200. The air enters the box body through the air vent. The box door 140 is configured to prevent the loss of the air from the opening to an external environment. When the box door 140 of the storage box 100 is open, the reset member 160 is configured to drive the valve 150 to close the air vent to prevent the air in the main air duct 200 from entering the box body through the air vent and further losing to the external environment from the opening. In this manner, the problem of air loss in the main air duct 200 in a case where an operator forgets to close the door is effectively alleviated. Thus, energy is saved. Moreover, cost is also reduced since a requirement for an additional driving mechanism of the valve 150 is eliminated due to the force of closing the door.
In this embodiment, the air supply assembly 20 may be an individual refrigeration assembly, an individual heating assembly, or an assembly with dual functions of refrigeration and heating. For example, the air supply assembly 20 may be a structure similar to an air conditioner including an evaporator, an evaporator fan, a compressor, a condenser, and a condenser fan. The compressor, the condenser and the evaporator are sequentially in a pipeline connection to form a circuit. When refrigeration is required, the evaporator fan is configured to blow the air around the evaporator into the main air duct 200. At this time, the air is cold. The cold air may enter the inside of the box body from the main air duct 200 through the air vent to cool the items stored in the box body to achieve good storage of the items. When heating is required, the condenser fan is configured to blow the air around the condenser into the main air duct 200. At this time, the air is hot. Similarly, the hot air may enter the inside of the box body from the main air duct 200 through the air vent to heat the items stored in the box body to achieve the good storage of the items.
The refrigeration assembly or the heating assembly, or the assembly with the dual functions of refrigeration and heating is common in relevant technologies. This is not limited in the present application. As long as the cold air or the hot air can be sent to the main air duct 200.
In this embodiment, a plurality of storage boxes 100 may be divided into two columns and disposed in the locker body 10. The two columns of storage boxes 100 are bilaterally symmetric to each other. The main air duct 200 is disposed between the two columns of storage boxes 100. The air supply assembly 20 may simultaneously provide the cold air or the hot air to the left and right columns of storage boxes 100 through the main air duct 200 in the middle. In this manner, the volume of the locker body 10 is reduced, and the utilization of the space in the locker body 10 is improved.
In this embodiment, the shape of the storage box 100 may be a cuboid, that is, the box body of the storage box 100 includes four rectangular sidewalls connected in sequence and one rectangular inner wall.
The shape of the storage box 100 may also be other shapes. For example, the shape of the storage box 100 may also be cylindrical, that is, the box body of the storage box 100 includes one cylindrical sidewall and one circular inner wall. As long as a storage function can be achieved, and the disposition requirement of the valve assembly can be satisfied, the shape of the storage box 100 is not limited in the present application.
In this embodiment, the sizes of a plurality of storage boxes 100 may be different. As shown in
The number, size and arrangement of the storage boxes 100 may be combined in different ways according to requirements to satisfy different storage requirements.
In this embodiment, as shown in
In this embodiment, continuing to refer to
As shown in
In this embodiment, continuing to refer to
In this embodiment, as shown in
The sidewall further includes a third sidewall and a fourth sidewall disposed opposite to each other in the height direction of the box body (that is, the up-down direction in
In other embodiments, the pivot 170 may also be adjacent to the first sidewall, the third sidewall or the fourth sidewall. Alternatively, the pivot 170 may also be directly disposed on a sidewall to make the box door 140 pivoted to a box body. In other embodiments, the box door 140 may also be connected to the box body in a slidable manner. This is not limited in the present application.
In this embodiment, as shown in
In this embodiment, a plurality of air inlet vents 111 are arranged apart in the moving direction of the valve 150. The number of air inlet holes 151 is the same as the number of the air inlet vents 111. When the box door 140 is located at the closed position, each of the air inlet holes 151 is opposite to a respective one of a plurality of air inlet vents 111. A plurality of air outlet vents 112 are also arranged apart in the moving direction of the valve 150. The number of air outlet holes 152 is the same as the number of the air outlet vents 112. When the box door 140 is located at the closed position, each of the air outlet holes 152 is opposite to a respective one of a plurality of air outlet vents 112.
A plurality of air inlet vents 111 and a plurality of air inlet holes 151 are disposed, which increases the amount of inlet air, and accelerates the temperature change of the items in the box body, and is beneficial to maintain a good quality of the items. A plurality of air outlet vents 112 and a plurality of air outlet holes 152 are disposed, which increases the amount of return air, and air flow efficiency. Further, a guarantee is provided for maintaining the good quality of the items in the box body.
The sidewall includes a housing 310. The long groove is formed by the housing 310. The housing 310 includes a first plate 311, a second plate 312 and a third plate 313 vertically connected in sequence. The first plate 311 and the third plate 313 are disposed opposite to each other. The valve 150 is located between the first plate 311 and the third plate 313. Under the joint guidance of the first plate 311 and the third plate 313, the valve 150 can move more smoothly and stably.
The second plate 312 of the housing 310 is provided with a plurality of positioning pins 320. The valve 150 is provided with a plurality of limiting grooves 158. A plurality of limiting grooves 158 extend in the moving direction of the valve 150. Each of limiting grooves 158 sleeve on a respective one of a plurality of positioning pins 320. The reset member is a compression spring located in one limiting groove 158. One end of the compression spring is configured to abut against the inner wall of one limiting groove 158. Another end of the compression spring is configured to abut against the positioning pin 320. Under the action of the compression spring, the valve 150 always has a tendency to move to the first position. In this embodiment, the second plate 312 of the housing 310 is provided with two positioning pins 320. The valve 150 is provided with two limiting grooves 158.
When a box door 140 is located at a closed position, the box door 140 is configured to make the valve 150 move to the first position. At this time, the compression spring is compressed. An inlet hole 151 is opposite to an air inlet vent 111. The air inlet vent 111 communicates with an air inlet duct 210. When the box door 140 is located at an open position, under the action of an elastic restoring force of the compression spring, the valve 150 is configured to move to the second position where a blocking part is opposite to the air inlet vent 111. Therefore, the air inlet vent 111 is closed. Moreover, when the box door 140 is open, the force exerted by the box door 140 to the valve 150 disappears. At this time, under the action of the reset member 160, the valve 150 is reset, and the air inlet vent 111 is closed. This configuration ensures a stable state when the valve 150 is configured to move between the first position and the second position.
Moreover, the problem of loss of cold air or hot air in a main air duct 200 in the case where the operator forgets to close the door is effectively alleviated. Thus, the energy is saved.
The first plate 311 and the third plate 313 are each provided with a hook 314. The opening of the hook 314 faces the inner wall 130. Correspondingly, the sidewall is provided with a groove. The hook 314 is configured to engage with the groove in a snap-in manner. One end of the compression spring is configured to abut against the inner wall of the limiting groove 158 of the valve 150, and another end of the compression spring is configured to abut against the positioning pin 320. Therefore, under the action of the compression spring, the valve 150 always has a tendency to move to the second position. Under the action of the compression spring, the hook 314 of the housing 310 always maintains a tendency to engage with the groove in a snap-in manner. This configuration not only achieves a reliable guidance during the movement of the valve 150, but also ensures the reliability of the switching of the valve 150 between the first position and the second position. Moreover, under the action of the reset member 160, the configuration in which the housing 310 engages with the sidewall in a snap-in manner is maintained. Therefore, the mounting and the disassembly of the valve 150 can be completed without a fastener or a special tool. This configuration enables good assemblability and maintainability and simplifies the structure.
In use, when the box door 140 is closed, the box door 140 is configured to abut against a first end 155 of a valve 150 in the first valve assembly 180, and a first end 155 of a valve 150 in the second valve assembly 190. Therefore, two valves 150 are driven to move towards an inner wall 130. The air hole of the first valve assembly 180 is opposite to the upper air inlet vent 111. The air hole of the second valve assembly 190 is opposite to the lower air outlet vent 112. Thus, the inflow and outflow of cold air or hot air can be achieved. When the box door 140 is opened, in the first valve assembly 180, a reset member 160 is configured to drive the valve 150 to move towards the opening, and the blocking part of the valve 150 is configured to close the air inlet vent 111. In the second valve assembly 190, a reset member 160 is configured to drive the valve 150 to move towards the opening, and the blocking part of the valve 150 is configured to close the air outlet vent 112. Thus, the loss of cold air or hot air in a main air duct 200 is prevented.
In addition, the air inlet vent 111 and the air outlet vent 112 are disposed apart in the vertical direction to make the distance between the air inlet vent 111 and the air outlet vent 112 far. Thus, after the cold air or the hot air enters a box body through the air inlet vent 111 and before the cold air or the hot air flows out the box body through the air outlet vent 112, the cold air or the hot air can more fully exchange heat with air or items in the box body. Further, a refrigeration effect or a heating effect is improved.
Other features of this embodiment are the same as those of embodiment one. The technical effects of each solution have been described in embodiment one. Thus, the details are not repeated here.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 201910680455.5 | Jul 2019 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2020/103821 | 7/23/2020 | WO |
