Swing seal for a rack-aisle freezing and chilling system

1. A pallet racking assembly comprising:

a pallet receiving space sized and configured to receive a pallet assembly;

an airflow chamber including an air inlet and an air outlet;

a fan positioned to direct air into the airflow chamber from the air inlet and exhaust air from the airflow chamber through the air outlet;

a wall disposed between the pallet receiving space and the airflow chamber, the wall having an airflow opening defining an opening periphery, the airflow opening sized and positioned to be engaged by the pallet assembly when the pallet assembly is pressed against the opening periphery; and

a swing seal disposed over a portion of the airflow opening and connected to the wall, the swing seal having a movable portion at least partially disposed within the adjacent pallet receiving space and positioned to engage an upper edge of the pallet assembly, the moveable portion being yieldably movable rearwardly away from the pallet receiving space toward the airflow chamber, such that the movable portion of the swing seal is positioned to be yieldably moved toward the airflow chamber when the pallet assembly is pressed against the opening periphery.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the swing seal comprises:

a front panel having an exterior surface facing into the pallet receiving space; and

side panels disposed at respective side peripheral edges of the front panel and having a thickness,

the front panel protruding into the pallet receiving space at a distance corresponding to or less than the thickness of the side panels, whereby the side panels prevent air passage past the front panel as the swing seal yieldably moves rearwardly away from an at-rest position.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , in combination with a pallet assembly received in the pallet receiving space and sealingly engaged with the airflow opening, the pallet assembly including a pallet and a plurality of vertically stacked rows of cases disposed on the pallet.

4. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein the pallet assembly includes a spacer disposed between and abutting respective vertically stacked rows of cases, the spacer providing an airflow pathway through the vertically stacked rows of cases by separating respective ones of the plurality of vertically stacked rows of cases from one another.

5. The assembly of claim 4 , wherein the air inlet comprises the airflow opening in the wall such that, when the pallet assembly is sealingly engaged with the airflow opening, air received through the air inlet is drawn through the airflow pathway of the pallet assembly.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the air inlet comprises the airflow opening in the wall.

7. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the fan is disposed at the air outlet.

8. The assembly of claim 1 , in combination with a warehouse defining an interior warehouse space set to the desired air temperature, the pallet racking assembly disposed in the warehouse space.

9. The assembly of claim 8 , further comprising an air conditioner operably connected to the warehouse space to deliver conditioned air to the warehouse space, the conditioned air providing the desired air temperature.

10. The assembly of claim 9 , wherein the air conditioner comprises a chiller producing freezing air, whereby the freezing air can through the airflow pathway of the pallet assembly to thereby quickly freeze the product contained in the vertically stacked rows of cases.

11. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pallet racking assembly further comprises peripheral seals disposed about respective sides of the opening periphery and positioned to engage respective sides of the pallet assembly, the peripheral seals cooperating with the swing seal to avoid leakage of air around the sides and top of the pallet assembly to induce passage of the air at the desired air temperature primarily through the airflow pathway of the pallet assembly.

12. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the wall of the pallet racking assembly comprises a first wall on a first side of the airflow chamber such that the pallet receiving space comprises a first pallet receiving space at the first side of the airflow chamber, the pallet racking assembly further comprising:

a second pallet receiving space at a second side of the airflow chamber opposite the first side, the second pallet receiving space sized and configured to receive a second pallet assembly; and

a second wall on the second side of the airflow chamber, the second wall disposed between the second pallet receiving space and the airflow chamber, and having a second airflow opening sized and positioned to be sealingly engaged by the pallet assembly.

13. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of the pallet receiving spaces arranged in vertically spaced horizontal rows; and

the wall includes a plurality of the airflow openings respectively disposed at each of the plurality of the pallet receiving spaces, whereby the pallet racking assembly is configured to accommodate a plurality of pallet assemblies each exposed to the air at the desired air temperature via the airflow chamber of the pallet racking assembly.

14. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the swing seal hangs downwardly over the airflow opening and is hingedly mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis.

15. A method for transferring heat between air at the desired air temperature and the palletized product in an installation for warehousing palletized product, the installation including a warehouse space set to a desired air temperature and an air chamber having an airflow opening in a wall thereof, a swing seal disposed over the airflow opening and extending away from the air chamber and into an adjacent pallet receiving space, the method comprising:

moving a palletized product into the pallet receiving space and over the airflow opening, such that the palletized product contacts the swing seal,

pushing the swing seal rearwardly as the palletized product is sealed around a periphery of the opening, such that a top seal is formed along a top edge of the palletized product against an adjacent face of the swing seal; and

with the palletized product sealed at the opening and the swing seal, inducing air to pass through the palletized product between the chamber and the ambient air of the warehouse to thereby transfer heat between the air and the product stack.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the palletized product comprises a first palletized product having a first height and contacting the swing seal at a first vertical position, the method further comprising:

moving a second palletized product having a second height different from the first height against the airflow opening to contact the swing seal at a second vertical position different from the first vertical position.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the swing seal hangs downwardly over the airflow opening and is hingedly mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein:

the swing seal rotates a first amount when engaged with the first palletized product; and

the swing seal rotates a second amount different from the first amount when engaged with the second palletized product.

19. The method of claim 15 , further comprising the step of providing a filler panel disposed between a top peripheral wall of the air intake opening and a top panel of the swing seal.

20. The method of claim 15 , wherein providing the swing seal comprises providing the swing seal having a front panel including an exterior face facing exteriorly away from the chamber, the swing seal including a top panel, a bottom panel, and a pair of side panels, each top, bottom, and side panel including a thickness and respectively disposed around the periphery of the front panel.