EP1621831B1

EP1621831B1 - Freezer suitable to quickly cool food and refrigerator comprising said freezer

Info

Publication number: EP1621831B1
Application number: EP20040425583
Authority: EP
Inventors: Silvano Fumagalli
Original assignee: Candy SpA
Current assignee: Candy SpA
Priority date: 2004-07-29
Filing date: 2004-07-29
Publication date: 2013-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2024-07-29
Also published as: ES2434103T3; EP1621831A1

Description

The present invention refers to a freezer suitable to quickly cool food and to a refrigerator comprising said freezer.
Current household refrigerators normally comprise at least two compartments at different temperature, one with a higher temperature (typically between +3°C and +6°C) for fresh food and the other one at a lower temperature and (typically -18°C) for frozen and shock frozen food. Each one of the two compartments is provided with a respective evaporator, or with a respective portion of a same evaporator, which is part of an unusual refrigeration circuit with compressor and condensator.
These refrigerators are generally "no frost", which means they are provided with means suitable to prevent the formation of frost on the wall of the evaporator. For such reason in the compartment at lower temperature a so called "ventilated" evaporator is provided, which is subjected to forced circulation of air.
In the stage of refrigeration of the food each food, which has previously been cooked at a temperature greater or equal to 90°C, starts to irreversibly deteriorate due to the very quick proliferation of bacteria present in the air and of the spores which survived to the cooking. The temperature range within which there is the highest development of bacteria is comprised between +70°C and +3°C. The longer is the permanence in this zone, the greater is the alteration of the product and this occurs when a food is let cool at room temperature and/or in a normal refrigerator. In order to prevent this, blast chillers are utilised which allow to bring the core temperature of food from +70°C to +3°C in 90 minutes. In this way the ageing process of the product, which can be stored in the refrigerator for 5/7 days, is slowed.
In the same way, in order to ensure to the food to be frozen that the initial quality is not compromised in any way during the freezing stage, it is necessary that the latter takes place quickly. In fact with the quick freezing the food liquids turn into micro-crystals which do not damage in any way the tissue structure of the product. To this purpose quick freezers are utilised which allow to bring the core temperature of food from +90°C to -18°C in 240 minutes.
Both blast chillers as well as quick freezers are usually part of a single household appliance, and such household appliance is made in a way separate from household refrigerators.
In the application for European patent EP 1074802 a refrigerator with compartment for the quick cooling of food is described. Said compartment has small dimensions and it quickly cools by means of a circulation of air forced by the ventilator through the evaporator by means of openings for the inlet of air whose opening and closing is regulated by thermostatically controlled valve means.
JP 2000 002476 discloses a freezer according to the preamble of claim 1.
In view of the state of the art herein described, the object of the present invention is to provide a freezer suitable to quickly cool food that is different from the known freezers.
According to the present invention, said object is attained by means of a freezer as defined in claim 1.
Always according to the present invention it is possible to provide a refrigerator as defined in claim 6.
The characteristics and the advantages of the present invention will become evident in the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof, which is illustrated as non-limiting example in the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical schematic section of a refrigerator provided with a freezer suitable to quickly cool food according to an embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2 is a vertical schematic section of a single freezer according to a variation of the embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a vertical schematic section of the single freezer according to an other variation of the embodiment of the present invention.

In Figure 1 a refrigerator having two compartments, respectively 1 and 2, respectively at lower (freezer) and at higher temperature separated by a horizontal separation wall 3 inside a common cabinet 4 is shown. Such compartments are closed by respective independent doors 5 and 6.
On the top of the freezer 1 an evaporator 7 is present which is part of a refrigeration circuit 8 which comprises a compressor 9, a filter 11, a condensator 12 and flow laminators 13. The evaporator 7 is arranged in a housing or interspace 70 obtained inside the cabinet 4 and on top of the compartment 1.
A ventilator 14, cyclically set in action by an appropriate electric motor 15 and placed on top of the refrigerator, facing the evaporator 7, allows the circulation of air inside the refrigerator. Said ventilator 14 is suitable to intake the air which passes through the evaporator 7 and it is suitable to convey the cooled air into the compartments 1 and 2.
Inside the freezer 1 two racks are arranged, a top rack 20 and a bottom rack 30; the top rack 20 bears a container 21 movable along the rack 20, more precisely slidable on the rack 20.
The freezer 1 is provided with mouths 101-103 for the access of the cool air forcedly circulated by the ventilator 14 and with an opening 105 for the outflow of air from the compartment 1 toward the evaporator 7.
The mouth 101 directly communicates with the ventilator 14 and the evaporator 7in such a way that the cooler air is conveyed by said mouth 101 on the rack 20. If the container 21 is moved from a position of rest A, in proximity of the door 5 and far from the mouth 101, to a working position B, below the mouth 101, the food arranged in said container is influenced by the cooler air coming from the ventilator 14 and from the evaporator 7; in such way a quick cooling of the food arranged in the container 21 is provided and more particularly a quick freezing of the food present in the container 21 since said food reaches the temperature of about -18°C in a more rapid way than other food arranged in the same compartment 1.
The cool air which circulates in the compartment 1 exits through the opening 105, passes through the evaporator 7 while cooling and it is conveyed by the ventilator 14 toward the compartments 1 and 2.
The air which circulates in the compartment 2 enters through the duct 90, the mouths 104 and 106 and it outflows through the opening 107, it runs through the duct 109 and the duct 110 so as to go back to the ventilator 14. The openings 104 and 106 are provided with suitable valves 121, 122 controlled by a thermostat 120. The forced circulation of air prevents the formation of frost.
In a variation of the embodiment of the freezer according to the present invention, which is shown in Figure 2, the same freezer compartment 1 has instead three mouths for the inlet of cool air, a larger opening 130 to convey all the cooler air coming from the ventilator 14 toward the container 21 arranged on the lower rack 30.
Another variation of the second embodiment of the invention, which is shown in Figure 3, provides the presence of two containers 21 arranged one on the rack 20 and the other one on the rack 30 in such a way so as to have two zones for the quick cooling of food. The two containers 21 are arranged in proximity of the mouths 140 and 141 for the inlet of cool air. The mouth 140 is also provided with a valve 142 to close it in the case of absence of the container 21 or in the case one wants to utilise only the container 21 of the rack 30 for the quick cooling of food.
The freezers shown in Figures 1- 3 can be considered to be as single or part of a refrigerator.

Claims

Freezer comprising a cabinet (4), a compartment (1) and refrigeration circuit with relative condensator (12), compressor (9), evaporator (7) and ventilator (14), said ventilator (14) being suitable to forcedly circulate air through said evaporator (7) and inside said compartment by means of at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141) in said compartment (1), the last comprising at least one container (21) and having a closure door (5), said at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141) for the inlet of the forced air by the ventilator (14) inside said compartment (1) being arranged in proximity of the ventilator (14) which conveys the air cooled by the evaporator (7) on said at least one container (21), characterised in that it comprises at least one rack (20, 30) and, with the closure door in closed position, said at least one container (21) is slidable on said rack (20, 30) from a first position (A) in which said container (21) is arranged far from said at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141) and adjacent to said closure door (5), the length of the container being such that it is not influenced by cool air conveyed by the ventilator, to a second position (B) in which said container (21) is arranged in proximity of said at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141) and it is influenced by the cool air conveyed by the ventilator (14) through it and vice-versa, said freezer comprising an interstice (70) formed by said cabinet (4) and said compartment (1) on top of the freezer, said opening (101, 130, 140, 141) being arranged on the back part of the compartment which is opposite to the door (5), said evaporator (7) being arranged in said interstice (70) and being supplied by air deriving from the compartment (1) through another opening (105).
Freezer according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises two openings (140, 141) for the inlet of cool air, two racks (20, 30) arranged inside compartment freezer (1) and two containers (21), one for each rack, and movable between said first (A) and said second (B) position.
Freezer according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a top rack (20) and a bottom rack (30), said container (21) being slidable along the top rack (20).
Freezer according to claim 1, characterised in that it comprises a top rack (20) and a lower rack (30), said container (21) being slidable along said lower rack (30).
Freezer according to claim 2, characterised in that it comprises a valve (142) for the closing of one (140) of said two openings.
Household refrigerator comprising a cabinet (4), at least one freezer compartment (1) and at least one compartment (2) at a temperature greater than said freezer compartment (1), comprising a refrigeration circuit (8) with relative condensator (12), compressor (9), evaporator (7) and ventilator (14), said ventilator (14) being suitable to forcedly circulate air through said evaporator (7) and inside said compartment (2) at a temperature greater than freezer compartment (1) and inside said freezer compartment by means of at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141), characterised in that said compartment freezer (1) comprises at least one rack (20, 30) and, with the closure door in closed position, said at least one container (21) is slidable on said rack (20, 30) from a first position (A) in which said container (21) is arranged far from said at least one opening (101,130,140,141) and adjacent to said closure door (5), the length of the container being such that it is not influenced by cool air conveyed by the ventilator, to a second position (B) in which said container (21) is arranged in proximity of said at least one opening (101, 130, 140, 141) and it is influenced by the cool air conveyed by the ventilator (14) through it and vice-versa, said freezer comprising an interstice (70) formed by said cabinet (4) and said compartment (1) on top of the freezer, said opening (101, 130, 140, 141) being arranged on the back part of the compartment which is opposite to the door (5), said evaporator (7) being arranged in said interstice (70) and being supplied by air deriving from the compartment (1) through another opening (105).
Refrigerator according to claim 6, characterised in that said freezer compartment (1) comprises two openings (140, 141) for the inlet of cool air, two racks (20, 30) arranged inside said freezer compartment (1) and two containers (21), for each rack, and movable between said first (A) and said second (B) position.
Refrigerator according to claim 6, characterised in that said freezer compartment (1) comprises a top rack (20) and a bottom rack (30), said container (21) being slidable along the top rack (20).
Refrigerator according to claim 6, characterised in that said freezer compartment (1) comprises a top rack (20) and a bottom rack (30), said container (21) being slidable along the bottom rack (30).
Refrigerator according to claim 7, characterised in that said freezer compartment (1) comprises a valve (142) for the closing of one (140) of said two openings (140, 141).