JP2000199672A - Refrigerator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a domestic refrigerator, saved in space and provided with a quick freezing chamber capable of being utilized for various uses. SOLUTION: In a domestic refrigerator constituted of a refrigerating chamber 12, a freezing chamber 13 and a vegetable chamber 14, a quick freezing chamber 16, surrounded by a heat insulating material 15, is provided at the side of the freezing chamber 13 to cool the quick freezing chamber 16 employing the cold heat of a cryogenic temperature of lower than -100 deg.C, obtained by a Stirling refrigerating machine 9, arranged at the lower part of a refrigerator main body and driven by a Stirling cycle. Further, an indication panel 17 is provided at the opening side bottom of the quick freezing chamber 16 while a temperature in the quick freezing chamber can be switched freely in accordance with a use into three temperature bands of ice making (strong), freezing of food stuffs (middle) and ice cream making (weak) by selecting the changeover switch of the indication panel 17.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a refrigerator for cooling by a reverse Stirling cycle, and more particularly, to a Stirling refrigerator capable of obtaining a cryogenic temperature of -100.degree. Ice making (strong), food freezing (medium), ice cream production (weak) by machine
The present invention relates to a refrigerator for cooling by freely switching the temperature zone in three stages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, refrigerators used at home employ a vapor compression refrigeration cycle.
A large amount of chlorofluorocarbon is used as an operating medium. CFCs have extremely high chemical stability, and when released into the atmosphere,
Since the stratosphere reaches the stratosphere and destroys the ozone layer, its production and use are being regulated worldwide in terms of environmental protection.

Therefore, as an alternative to the vapor compression type refrigeration cycle using chlorofluorocarbon, an inverse Stirling refrigeration cycle has attracted attention. This Stirling cycle employs a gas such as helium gas, hydrogen gas, or nitrogen gas, which has a smaller effect on the global environment, as compared with Freon, as an operating medium. Also, a Stirling refrigerator driven by a Stirling cycle is known as a type of small refrigerator capable of obtaining an extremely low temperature of -100 ° C or lower.

The prior art of a refrigerator using this Stirling refrigerating cycle is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-4767. As shown in FIG. 11, for example, this conventional Stirling refrigerator has a cooling power providing unit 42 driven by a Stirling cycle, and a cooling power that performs a refrigeration function by using cold heat provided from the cooling power providing unit 42. Application part 4
1 is comprised.

The cooling power providing unit 42 includes a Stirling refrigeration unit 43, a motor 44 for driving the Stirling refrigeration unit 43, and a heat receiving unit 45 for transmitting the cooling power of the Stirling refrigeration unit 43.

On the other hand, the cooling power application section 41 includes a case 46 having a predetermined shape, a cover 47 put on the case 46, and a stirring motor 48 provided on the cover 47.
And a stirring motor 48 provided inside the case 46.
The stirring shaft 49 rotated by the drive, the stirring blade 50 rotated together with the stirring shaft 49, and the heat radiation formed at the bottom of the case 46 and transmitted by the heat receiving unit 45 of the cooling power providing unit 42. It comprises a unit 51.

The upper surface of the heat receiving section 51 of the cooling power providing section 42 and the lower surface of the heat radiating section 51 of the cooling power applying section 41 are connected so as to make surface contact with each other, and the power supply 52 is turned on. It can be used for quick freezing of food or for making ice cream. For example, when manufacturing ice cream, the undiluted ice cream is put in the case 46 and the case 46
While cooling the inside, the ice cream stock solution is
The production of ice cream becomes possible by stirring with.

[0008]

However, among the above-mentioned prior arts, in a vapor compression type refrigerator using chlorofluorocarbon, some quick freezing is functionally possible, but the freshness and quality of food are maintained. At present, it is difficult to freeze for a short time (within about 30 minutes), which is said to be important in performing the freezing.

In addition, the Stirling refrigerator disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-4764 requires a new installation space separately from a home refrigerator, and it is difficult to secure a storage space and space. Although it is possible to obtain a very low temperature, it is impossible to switch the temperature zone and use it only at a certain temperature, so that it cannot be avoided that the usage is limited.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and by using a refrigerator using a Stirling cycle, it is not only non-fluorocarbon and environmentally friendly, but also space-saving, and furthermore, it is possible to reduce the temperature depending on the application. It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigerator having a quick freezing room in which a belt can be freely switched.

[0011]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator having a free-piston Stirling refrigerator driven by an inverted Stirling cycle and formed in a part of a freezing room. A rapid freezing room is provided, which is cooled by using cryogenic cold heat obtained by the Stirling refrigerator.

According to this configuration, the function of quick freezing is added to the home refrigerator.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the refrigerator according to the first aspect of the present invention, by selecting a changeover switch provided on an opening side of the refrigerator, the quick freezing chamber is made of ice (high) and food. It can be switched to each temperature zone of freezing (medium) or producing ice cream (weak).

According to this configuration, the use of the quick freezing room is expanded.

The refrigerator according to a third aspect of the present invention is the refrigerator according to the first or second aspect, wherein a cylindrical container for producing ice cream is provided in the quick-freezing chamber such that a bottom surface and a top surface of the refrigerator are horizontal. It is characterized by being arranged to face.

According to this configuration, when ice cream is manufactured by putting the ice cream raw material into the container, the space for installing the container in the quick freezing room is reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the refrigerator according to the first or second aspect, wherein a cylindrical container for producing ice cream is provided in the quick freezing chamber such that a bottom surface and a top surface of the refrigerator are horizontal. And the container is rotated by container rotating means provided between the container and the quick freezing compartment.

According to this configuration, the space for installing the container in the quick freezing room is reduced, and it is not necessary to separately provide a means for stirring the ice cream stock solution in the container.

The refrigerator according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the refrigerator according to the first or second aspect, wherein the hollow portion of the hollow container is filled with water or antifreeze, and the container is filled with water. After being stored in the quick freezing room for a long time, ice cream can be manufactured using this container in a state where the ice cream is taken out at room temperature.

According to this configuration, ice cream can be easily made at room temperature without disposing a special ice cream manufacturing mechanism in the quick freezing room.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the refrigerator according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the Stirling refrigerator has a portion in contact with the rapid freezing chamber. Is provided.

According to this configuration, when the Stirling refrigerator is operated, the vibration of the Stirling refrigerator is transmitted to the quick freezing room.

A refrigerator according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the refrigerator according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein when the food is frozen in the quick-freezing room, a dedicated plate or tray having a handle is provided. Is used.

According to this configuration, the food can be taken in and out of the quick freezing room without directly touching the food.

The refrigerator according to claim 8 is the refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, formed by combining a plurality of plates coated with fluorine or the like in a container having an open upper surface. The heat transfer grid plate is inserted into the container, and the container is filled with water and stored in the quick freezing chamber, whereby block-shaped ice can be made.

According to this configuration, the container functions as an ice tray.

A refrigerator according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the refrigerator according to the eighth aspect, wherein the heat transfer lattice plates having different numbers of plates are used.

According to this configuration, by increasing or decreasing the number of plates, the size of the ice making frame of the heat transfer grid plate changes.

[0029]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the entire configuration of a free-piston Stirling refrigerator according to the present invention. First, the operation of this Stirling refrigerator will be described.

FIG. 1 shows the inside of the Stirling refrigerator 9.
As shown in FIG. 3, a working gas such as helium is charged, and a compression space 8 for compressing the working gas and an expansion space 7 for expanding the working gas discharged from the compression space 8 are formed.

The piston 2 is driven by a linear motor 6 and performs a sine motion by a coil spring 5 for resonance. Due to the movement of the piston 2, the working gas in the compression space 8 exhibits a sinusoidal pressure change with respect to time. The working gas compressed in the compression space 8 emits heat of compression in the heat radiating section 10, is precooled in the regenerator 3 near the displacer 1, and then enters the expansion space 7. The working gas that has entered the expansion space 7 pushes down the displacer 1 and expands, thereby contracting the resonance coil spring 4. At this time, the cold head 11 provided at the tip of the expansion space 7 can obtain extremely low-temperature cold of −100 ° C. or less. The pressure of the working gas in the expansion space 7 changes sinusoidally with a predetermined phase difference from the pressure in the compression space 8. That is, the displacer 1 reciprocates with a predetermined phase difference with respect to the piston 2 as the resonance coil spring 4 expands and contracts.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the structure of an example of the refrigerator according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the refrigerator main body includes three cooling chambers (refrigerating chamber 12, freezing chamber 13, and vegetable chamber 14 in order from the top) having different set temperatures. Further, the free piston type Stirling refrigerator 9 described above is disposed below the main body. On the right side of the freezing room 13, a quick freezing room 16 is formed, which is surrounded by a heat insulating material 15 except for the opening side. Allow the chamber 16 to cool.

Stirling refrigerator 9 from which cold is extracted
The cold head 11 and the quick freezing chamber 16 are communicated by a duct (not shown), and exchange of cool air is performed between the two via the duct. That is, the cool air obtained by the operation of the Stirling refrigerator 9 is sent to the rapid freezing room 16 through the duct, circulates in the rapid freezing room 16, and again passes through the duct to the heat exchange part of the Stirling refrigerator 9. Come back. By repeating this series of cycles, cool air is continuously circulated.

A display panel 17 is mounted on the front surface of a partition member for separating the freezing compartment 13 and the vegetable compartment 14 and at the bottom of the quick freezing compartment 13. As shown in FIG. 3, the display panel 17 is provided with a changeover switch 18 for switching the temperature zone in the quick freezing room 16.

The changeover switch 18 is set to, for example, ice cream (weak) when manufacturing ice cream.
By adjusting to, an ice cream can be produced at an extremely low temperature of -100 ° C or lower. In addition, during the quick freezing of meat or fish, or the freezing (medium) and the ice making (strong) of the food, respectively, at the time of ice making, the inside of the quick freezing chamber 16 is extremely frozen together with the ice cream production (weak). The temperature can be freely switched to a three-stage temperature zone at a low temperature (below -100 ° C).

When adjusting the temperature in the quick-freezing chamber 16, the temperature of the refrigerator body is controlled in accordance with the temperature information in the quick-freezing chamber 16 detected by a temperature sensor (not shown) provided in the quick-freezing chamber 16, for example. It can be performed by controlling the flow rate of cold air and the like with a microcomputer embedded in the CPU.

Next, an embodiment in which ice cream is manufactured in the quick freezing chamber 16 will be described. FIG.
The cylindrical ice cream container 20 is shown as being vertical and installed on the inner wall surface of the quick freezing compartment 16. As shown in FIG. 5, sheet-like magnets (22 and 21 respectively) are attached to the bottom of the ice cream container 20 and the inner wall on the right side of the quick-freezing chamber 16, so that the ice cream container 20 is vertically set. When the magnet 22 is brought closer to the magnet 21 on the inner wall of the quick-freezing compartment 16, the ice cream container 2
Numeral 0 is tightly fixed to the inner wall surface of the quick freezing chamber 16 as shown in the figure. At this time, if the changeover switch 18 is set to the ice cream production (weak) and the ice cream stock solution that has been sufficiently stirred in advance is put in the container 20,
Ice cream can be produced quickly and easily at very low temperatures (below -100 ° C).

The ice cream container 20 is arranged vertically in the quick freezing room 16 so that the container 2
Spaces are created above, below, and beside 0. Therefore, using this space, other uses, for example, ice making, can be performed simultaneously with the production of ice cream. FIG. 5 shows a case where the ice cream container 20 is fixed using a magnet. However, one or more projections are provided at the bottom of the ice cream container 20, for example. The container 20 may be fixed to the rapid-feeding freezing chamber 13 by fitting a groove provided on the inner wall of the quick-freezing chamber 16 into which the protrusion fits. Moreover,
The ice cream container 20 may be provided on the inner wall surface on the left side of the quick freezing room 16.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment in which ice cream is manufactured in the quick freezing room 16. In this embodiment, the ice cream container 20 is rotated using two large and small gears 24 and 25 that mesh with each other. As shown in FIG. 6, a motor 26 is provided on the quick freezing room 16 side, and the motor 26 is connected to the quick freezing room 3.
It is connected to the small gear 24 via a shaft protruding inward. On the other hand, below the small gear 24, the small gear 24
A large gear 25 meshing with the quick freezing chamber 16 is rotatably provided on the inner wall surface. Therefore, when the motor 26 is operated, the small gear 24 rotates in conjunction therewith. And
As the small gear 24 rotates, the large gear 25 meshing with the small gear 24 rotates, and the ice cream container 20 also rotates.

In this embodiment, the small gear 24 is rotated by the motor 26, and the large gear 2 meshing with the small gear 24 is rotated.
5, the large gear 25 may be directly rotated by a motor or the like. in this case,
It is not necessary to use the large gear 25 as a gear, and the number of parts is reduced, so that the assembling workability is improved.

Here, the large gear 25 is a member having a gear formed on a circular outer peripheral portion and having a concave portion 25a which is concaved in a cylindrical shape inside. Since the concave portion 25a of the large gear 25 has an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the substantially cylindrical ice cream container 20, the ice cream container 20 can be fitted vertically into the concave portion 25a. The ice cream container 20 is attached to the large gear 25 by making the bottom of the ice cream container 20 and the sheet-like magnet (not shown) adhered to the flat surface behind the concave portion 25a of the large gear 25 adhere. Can be

At this time, the ice cream material can be easily manufactured by putting the ice cream raw material into the ice cream container 20 and operating the motor 26 by setting the changeover switch 18 to the ice cream manufacturing (weak). Moreover, since the raw material inside the container 20 always exerts a force in the direction of gravity due to the rotation of the container 20 without stirring with a stirring rod or the like, the raw materials in the container 20 are finely mixed as if they were uniformly mixed and stirred in the container 20. You can make ice cream.

When the motor 26 is stopped, the switch of the motor 26 can be automatically turned off after a predetermined time elapses by a timer or the like, instead of being turned off manually. Furthermore, ice cream container 2
A means for detecting the degree of agglomeration of the ice cream raw material within 0 may be separately provided, and the motor 26 may be stopped based on a signal from this means.

The large and small gears 24, 25 and their associated members (shafts, etc.) shown in FIG. 6 are detachable, and are used for purposes other than ice cream production, for example, when making ice or freezing food. Can be performed in a state where it is detached from the rapid freezing room 16.

FIG. 7 shows still another embodiment for producing ice cream. As shown in FIG. 7, the ice cream container 28 is a cylindrical container having an upper surface opened and water 27 sealed in a hollow portion between an inner wall and an outer wall. First, the ice cream container 28 is placed in the quick freezing room 16 for a while.

When the ice cream container 28 is sufficiently cooled until the water 27 freezes, the container 28 is taken out of the quick freezing room 16. At this time, the ice cream container 28
The water 27 in the inside is iced and the ice cream container 28 itself is very cold. Therefore, the ice cream container 2 immediately after being taken out of the quick freezing compartment 16
The ice cream can be easily produced simply by putting the ice cream raw material in 8 and stirring for a while.

In FIG. 7, the ice cream container 28 is made cylindrical in consideration of the ease of stirring the ice cream raw material, but the external shape of the ice cream container 28 is not limited to this. Further, the ice cream container 28
An antifreeze liquid other than water may be sealed in the hollow portion of.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment in which ice is made in the quick freezing chamber 16. As shown in FIG. 8A, a shaft 31 is attached to the cold head 11 of the Stirling refrigerator 9 according to the present invention, and the Stirling refrigeration is performed so that the tip of the shaft 31 contacts a part of the outer wall surface of the rapid freezing chamber 16. Machine 9 is installed. An ice tray 32 filled with water in advance is placed in the quick freezing room 16. When the Stirling refrigerator 9 is operated with the changeover switch 18 switched to ice making (strong), −1
Ice can be quickly made at an extremely low temperature of 00 ° C. or less, and vibration 30 caused by the operation of the Stirling refrigerator 9
The water 27 is transmitted to the rapid freezing chamber 16 via 1 and vibrates the water 27 that has fallen on the ice tray 32 as shown in FIG. Thereby, the water 27 is degassed at the time of freezing, and ice with higher transparency can be made.

FIG. 9 shows another embodiment in which ice is made in the quick freezing chamber 16. 33 and 34 in FIG.
Is a heat transfer grid plate formed by combining a plate coated with fluorine or the like to form a square ice making frame in order to make the ice made ice easier to separate, 33 is a small number of plates, and 34 is a conversely I have a lot. Both of the heat transfer lattice plates 33 and 34 are designed so that they can be inserted into a cylindrical container 35 having an open upper surface. By placing the ice, block-shaped ice can be made.

Now, when 33 having a small number of plates is used as the heat transfer grid plate, a relatively large ice block can be made, while when 34 is used, many small ice blocks can be made at once. In this embodiment, two types of heat transfer grid plates 33, 3 having different numbers of plates are used as the heat transfer grid plates.
Although the case where the ice block is made by using No. 4 has been described, a plate having a larger number of plates may be used. In this case, the number of ice blocks that can be made at one time further increases.

FIG. 10 shows an embodiment in which foods such as meat and fish are frozen in the quick freezing chamber 16. First, the changeover switch 18 is set to the freezing (medium) of the food. Next, the food is placed on the food exclusive tray 29 and placed in the flash freezing room 16.

The food tray 29 is formed of a material having high heat transfer efficiency, such as stainless steel, and has handles 29a, 29a having openings at both ends. Therefore, after placing the food on the food tray 29 and holding the handle 29 by placing a finger on the opening of the handle 29a, the food tray 29 can be easily put in and out of the quick freezing chamber 16. . Thereby, the food can be rapidly frozen at an extremely low temperature of −100 ° C. or lower, and the cold heat is transmitted to the food via the tray 29 as compared with a case where the food is wrapped in a wrap or the like and directly placed in the rapid freezing chamber 16. Therefore, the food can be frozen while maintaining the freshness and quality of the food without causing the so-called freeze-burn that changes the structure of the food.

[0053]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a rapid freezing chamber for cooling at a very low temperature (-100 ° C. or lower) by a Stirling refrigeration cycle is provided. In addition, freezing of food, production of ice cream or ice making can be performed in a short time, and the time can be reduced, and the food can be frozen while maintaining freshness and quality of the food.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the temperature zone in the quick freezing room is set to produce ice cream (weak),
By providing means for switching the food into three stages of freezing (medium) and ice making (strong), the temperature zone can be freely selected according to the use of the quick freezing room.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the cylindrical ice cream container is disposed in the quick freezing room such that the bottom surface and the top surface are oriented in the horizontal direction, space can be saved. At the same time, the free space in the quick freezing room can be used for other purposes such as ice making at the same time as the production of ice cream.

According to the invention of claim 4, when the ice cream is produced by providing a rotating means for rotating the ice cream container in the quick freezing chamber,
Since the ice cream stock solution put in the ice cream container is stirred without the use of a stirring rod by the rotation of the container itself, uniform and fine ice cream can be manufactured in a short time.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the periphery of the ice cream container is hollow, and water or antifreeze is sealed in the hollow portion. After being stored for a while, the ice cream can be easily produced at room temperature simply by putting the ice cream stock solution into the container and stirring.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the Stirling refrigerator is arranged so that a part of the Stirling refrigerator is in contact with the quick freezing chamber, so that when the ice is made in the quick freezing room, the Stirling refrigerator is used. The vibration of the refrigerator is transmitted to the quick freezing room, and the water in the ice tray is degassed by this vibration, so that transparent ice can be produced.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, when freezing food in the quick freezing chamber, a dedicated plate or tray having a handle is used.
Compared to the case where food is placed directly in the freezing compartment and frozen, it is possible to prevent freezing and burning without changing the structure of the food, and by holding the plate or tray to the freezing compartment. Food can be taken in and out quickly and reliably.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, after a plate is inserted into a container and a heat transfer lattice plate is inserted, water is put into the container and the container is placed in a quick freezing room, so that block-shaped ice is made. it can. Further, since the surface of the plate is processed with fluorine or the like, the ice block made of ice is easily separated from the heat transfer lattice plate.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the size and number of ice blocks can be freely adjusted by inserting ice into a container with heat transfer lattice plates having different numbers of plates. Become.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a free piston type Stirling refrigerator.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of a refrigerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a display panel and a changeover switch.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a refrigerator which is an embodiment for producing ice cream in a quick freezing room.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an attached state of an ice cream container.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an essential part showing another embodiment for producing ice cream in a quick freezing room.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an ice cream container.

FIG. 8 (a) is a sectional view of a principal part showing one embodiment for making ice in a quick freezing room.

FIG. 8 (b) is a sectional view taken along line XX in FIG. 8 (a).

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment when ice making is performed.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a usage example of a food tray.

FIG. 11 is a front view of an example of a conventional Stirling refrigerator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Displacer 2 Piston 3 Regenerator 4,5 Resonance coil spring 6 Linear motor 7 Expansion space 8 Compression space 9 Refrigerator body 10 Heat radiating unit 11 Cold head 12 Refrigerator room 13 Freezer room 14 Vegetable room 15 Insulation material 16 Rapid freezer room 17 Display Panel 18 Changeover switch 20, 28 Ice cream container 24 Small gear 25 Large gear 26 Motor 27 Water 29 Food tray 30 Vibration 31 Shaft 32 Ice tray 33, 34 Heat transfer lattice plate 35 Container

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A rapid freezing room provided with a free piston type Stirling refrigerator driven by an inverse Stirling cycle, wherein the quick freezing room is formed in the freezing room and is cooled using cryogenic cold obtained by the Stirling refrigerator. A refrigerator characterized by the following. 2. Selecting a changeover switch provided on the opening side of the refrigerator to switch the quick freezing chamber to each temperature zone of ice making (strong), food freezing (medium) or ice cream manufacturing (weak). The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a cylindrical container for producing ice cream is disposed in the quick-freezing room such that a bottom surface and a top surface are oriented in a horizontal direction. . 4. A cylindrical container for producing ice cream is provided in the quick-freezing compartment such that the bottom surface and the top surface face in a horizontal direction, and is provided between the container and the quick-freezing compartment. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the container is rotated by container rotating means. 5. A hollow part of a hollow container is filled with water or antifreeze, and the container is stored in the rapid freezing chamber for a long time and then taken out at room temperature. The refrigerator according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an ice cream can be produced by heating. 6. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the Stirling refrigerator is arranged so that a part of the Stirling refrigerator is in contact with the quick freezing chamber. 7. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a dedicated plate or tray having a handle is used when freezing the food in the quick-freezing room. 8. A heat transfer lattice plate formed by combining a plurality of plates coated with fluorine or the like into a container having an open upper surface, and inserting the water into the container to perform the quick freezing. The refrigerator according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the block-shaped ice can be made by being housed in a room. 9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the heat transfer lattice plates having different numbers of plates are used.